1 . Art Gallery of NSW(New South Wales) Exhibition
Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day?
25 November 2023-28 April 2024
Day and night, love and rage, calm and chaos. Enter a world of emotional extremes in this exhibition of the art of Louise Bourgeois, one of the most influential artists of the past century. Born in Paris in 1911 and living and working in New York until her death in 2010, Bourgeois is well-known for her fearless exploration of human relationships across a seven-decade career.
Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day? reveals the extraordinary reach and intensity of Bourgeois’ art, from unforgettable sculptures of the 1940s to her tough yet tender weaving works of the 1990s and 2000s. It also reveals the psychological tensions that powered her search, through a dramatic presentation in two contrasting exhibition spaces. Moving from the well-lit rooms of “Day” to the darkened area of “Night”, viewers will encounter more than 120 works, including many never seen before in Australia.
Tickets can be booked online via the exhibition or event page on our website, or in person at the welcome desk at the Art Gallery. Tickets cannot be exchanged, but if something unexpected happens that prevents you from attending, you can change the date of your reservation in your confirmation email.
1. What do we know about Louise Bourgeois?A.Her art is conservative. | B.She was an emotional artist. |
C.She was raised in Paris. | D.Her art explores human relationships. |
A.Various themes. | B.Contrasting layout. |
C.Intensive colors. | D.Extraordinary paintings. |
A.Reschedule the date. | B.Cancel the booking. |
C.Claim the money back. | D.Exchange the event. |
2 . What I will be hosting, to be exact, is a series of meditation retreats (冥想静修) to be held this spring. During each retreat, about a hundred
I can help them. I am so
A.employees | B.retirees | C.interviewees | D.devotees |
A.passers-by | B.old-times | C.trouble-makers | D.peace-lovers |
A.work | B.stay | C.tour | D.lecture |
A.doubt | B.memory | C.silence | D.surprise |
A.treated | B.interpreted | C.described | D.experienced |
A.commanded | B.reminded | C.forced | D.allowed |
A.equipped | B.moved | C.wanted | D.motivated |
A.talkative | B.sympathetic | C.aggressive | D.innocent |
A.read | B.record | C.express | D.reveal |
A.so that | B.now that | C.in case | D.even if |
A.put aside | B.taken on | C.turned down | D.got over |
A.guilt | B.satisfaction | C.wonder | D.embarrassment |
A.contributed to | B.relied on | C.left behind | D.prayed for |
A.strangers | B.opponents | C.friends | D.roommates |
A.job | B.adventure | C.dream | D.lifetime |
3 . Andy Kong has worked very hard to get to where he is today. He credits becoming a millionaire by 20 to his strict Asian parents who tutored him at a young age by working for the family.
Kong, of Danville, Virginia, started working when he was only nine. English wasn’t a strong suit for Andy’s parents, and that’s where he was able to assist his family the most. After school and on weekends he would help out at their family-owned restaurant and nail salons. Not only did he do the labor work, but he was also involved in creating online ads. This was his introduction to the world of online business.
Andy started his Amazon business in the eighth grade. When he learned about Amazon Dropshipping (代发货模式) from a kid he saw on Instagram, he got inspired and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, the store eventually got shut down because he was impatient with the growth. Instead of considering it a failure, he viewed this experience as a life lesson and learned from his mistakes. Meanwhile, his parents never stopped trying to talk him into focusing on school and their retail business.
“The biggest challenge when starting a business is getting someone to believe in you,” Andy says. He pushed through and did things for himself even when his loved ones discouraged it.
In 2019, Andy met his now business partners, and together, they created an Amazon management company called Project WiFi. This Project has proven to be extremely successful. They currently help over 55 clients run their online businesses, and plan to help many more in the future.
When asked about the secret to his success, Andy says, “Learning to sacrifice whether that’s family, friends, or soccer game for a single goal is the only way to succeed, rather than attempting multiple things. If it’s worth doing then it’s worth doing well with no shortcuts.”
1. Why did Andy work in his parents’ shops at a young age?A.Because he could earn some pocket money. |
B.Because his parents weren’t fluent in English. |
C.Because his parents could help with his study. |
D.Because he could get access to the Internet. |
A.A new online business model. | B.Results of working impatiently. |
C.Difficulties in Andy’s career. | D.Andy’s tense family relationship. |
A.His early working experiences. | B.Lessons learned from his failures. |
C.Gaining other people’s trust. | D.Focusing on the thing you choose. |
A.Committed and generous. | B.Open-minded and motivated. |
C.Creative and faithful. | D.Hard-working and sociable. |
4 . Studies have shown the mere exposure effect, also referred to as the familiarity principle, inspires our decisions. It is a helpful psychological mechanism that helps us sustain our energy and focus our attention on other things. Getting used to new things takes effort and it can be exhausting. So unless we have a terrible experience, we are likely to buy from companies we’ve got used to. That is why companies spend so much money on advertising and marketing and why insurance companies openly charge existing customers more than new ones.
It’s not the case that we only desire things we already know. Some studies suggest when invited to share our preferences, we sometimes see less familiar options as more desirable. But when acting on that preference, we fall back to what we know. This might explain why sometimes the things we want and the things we do don’t quite match up. We might even return to companies that treated us poorly in the past or stay in bad relationships.
It’s easy to paint the familiarity principle as an enemy or something to battle as if it is something that holds us back from living our dreams. But this attitude might be overwhelming because it tends to encourage us toward big-picture thinking. Where we imagine that change requires a substantial dramatic swing that we don’t feel ready for. Some articles suggest the solution to familiarity frustration is complete exposure to novelty. While this can appear effective in the short run, we may only end up replacing one problem with another. It also risks overwhelm and burnout.
So what if we can work with the familiarity principle instead? Familiarity is something we can learn to play with and enjoy. It is a setting for creativity and a pathway to expansion. We can broaden the zone of familiarity bit by bit. If we think of familiarity as something that can expand, we can consider changing the conditions in and around our lives to make more space for our preferences to take root and grow gently. From here, we will start to make decisions, drawing from an ever-deepening pool of valuable options.
1. What allows insurance companies to charge old customers more?A.The improved service. | B.The advertising cost. |
C.The familiarity principle. | D.The law of the market. |
A.Our preferences affect our decisions. |
B.Familiarity tends to generate disrespect. |
C.The familiarity principle is a double-edged sword. |
D.There can be a mismatch between desires and actions. |
A.Disapproving. | B.Tolerant. | C.Objective. | D.Reserved. |
A.Step Out Of Your Familiarity Zone | B.Spare A Thought For Your Preference |
C.Gently Expand Your Familiarity Zone | D.Give Priority To The Mere Exposure Effect |
5 . Bonobos often form friendly relationships with other bonobo s in separate social groups — the first time this has been seen in non-human primates (灵长类). This is in line with humans, but in contrast to chimpanzees, another primate, which frequently kill chimps in other groups. The findings challenge the idea that humans evolved (进化) from violent apes, says Surbeck at Harvard University. “This potential to form cooperative links between different groups is not uniquely human and it might have occurred earlier than we thought,” he says.
Many animals cooperate, but they seem to do so only with those within their social circle, or in-group. Hostile (敌对的 ) interactions between groups are common among animals, including chimpanzees, so scientists have often assumed that hostility towards other social groups in humans is natural, says Samuni, also at Harvard. However, humans also often cooperate with people in different social circles, for example, by trading or teaching.
Bonobos are one of our closest living relatives. They are less studied than chimpanzees, but are known to be more peaceful, says Surbeck. To learn more about interactions between groups, Surbeck and Samuni observed 31 adult bonobo s from two social groups in Congo over a two-year period. The pair documented 95 encounters between the groups, which represented about 20% of their total observation time. Unlike chimpanzees observed in previous studies, they showed cooperation with out-group members. In fact,10% of all mutual grooming (梳毛) and 6% of all food sharing occurred among members of different social groups.
While bonobo s that groomed others usually got an immediate benefit, food sharing rarely resulted in a gift in return. This suggests that their actions were “not just motivated by selfish interests or immediate rewards”, Surbeck and Samuni report.
Otten, a researcher from the Netherlands, finds the study “exciting”, especially as it “challenges the idea of human exceptionalism” with regard to out-group cooperation. Otten says the bonobo s that were most cooperative within their groups were the same ones that cooperated more with out-group members. This agrees with findings from humans. “Scholars used to believe that in-group ‘love’ goes together with out-group ‘hate’, but recent research suggests that often in-group cooperators are also out-group cooperators,” he says.
1. What is the focus of the study on bonobos?A.Their social behavior. | B.Their survival skills. |
C.Their evolutionary process. | D.Their intelligence level. |
A.They are humans’ closest relatives. | B.They can be taught to cooperate. |
C.They interact friendly beyond groups. | D.They share food for immediate rewards. |
A.By comparing different primates. | B.By observing bonobos’ interactions. |
C.By listing group members’ motivations. | D.By analysing statistics of previous studies. |
A.Forward-looking. | B.Groundbreaking. |
C.Controversial. | D.One-sided. |
6 . Do I think the sky is falling? Sort of.
My husband and I were recently in Egypt, where the temperature was a bit warm for my tiny princess self. So, we left Egypt. Back home, my dearest friends struggled with health stuff, with family craziness...
The game of life is hard, and a lot of us are playing hurt.
I ache for the world but naturally I’m mostly watching the Me Movie, where balance and strength are beginning to fail. What can we do as the creaking elevator of age slowly arrive? The main solution is to get outside every day, ideally with friends. Old friends — even thoughts of them — are my comfort.
Recently I was walking along a beach with Neshama. We go back 50 years. She is 84, short and strong. Every so often, she bent down somewhat tentatively (踌躇地) and picked up small items into a small cloth bag.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m picking up micro litter. I try to help where I can.”
I reminded her of an old story. A great warhorse comes upon a tiny sparrow (麻雀) lying on its back with its feet in the air, eyes tightly shut with effort. The horse asks it what it’s doing.
“I’m trying to help hold back the darkness.”
The horse laughs loudly, “That is so funny. What do you weigh?”
And the sparrow replies, “One does what one can.”
This is what older age means. We do what we can.
We continued our walk. Neshama bent tentatively to pick up bits of litter and started to slip, but I caught her and we laughed. We are so physically vulnerable in older age, but friendship makes it all a rowing machine for the soul. We can take it, as long as we feel and give love, and laugh gently at ourselves as we fall apart. We know by a certain age the great lie in our life — if you do or achieve this or that, you will be happy and rich. No. Love and service make us rich.
1. What does the author say about her present life?A.She leads a balanced life. | B.She enjoys meeting old friends. |
C.She is really into movies. | D.She struggles with family crises. |
A.To confirm Neshama’s fear. | B.To offer her comfort. |
C.To change Neshama’s mind. | D.To show her approval. |
A.Physical weakness. | B.The great lie. |
C.The rowing machine. | D.The broken soul. |
A.Achieving important life goals. | B.Enjoying life as you can. |
C.Living a life of love and service. | D.Loving what is being done. |
7 . The road to a Nobel Prize, the most respected scientific award in the world, is growing ever longer, with almost half of winners now waiting more than 20 years from making a Nobel-worthy discovery to receiving the prize.
One analysis shows that the average time between publishing the work and receiving one of the science prizes has nearly doubled in the past 60 years. Across the three science prizes, chemistry now has the longest “Nobel lag”—an average of 30 years over the past decade—and physiology or medicine has the shortest, at 26 years.
Alfred Nobel’s will stated that the prizes should be awarded “to those who, during the previous year, shall have given the greatest benefit to mankind.” In reality this has only happened a few times. But in the first half of the twentieth century, it was common for Nobel prize winners to be in their 30s -and that is unheard of now, says Santo Fortunato, now a computational social scientist at Indiana University.
There are a number of possible reasons for this, says Yian Yin, a computational social scientist at Cornell University. It could be that the overall number of breakthroughs is increasing each year, so awards cannot keep up with the number of people who deserve to be recognized, he says. It is also the case that the importance of some works, which Yin describes as “sleeping beauties” are only realized years or decades later. Besides, the lengthening gap could be a sign that there has been a decrease in “disruptive” science - important studies or discoveries that change the paradigm (范式) of their field. This could be causing the Nobel committees to focus more on the past.
Fortunato points out that, if the gap continues to grow, outstanding scientists could miss out on the award owing to the Nobel Committee’s rule banning posthumous prizes (追授奖项). “It has to stop at some point,” he says, adding that a rethink of the posthumous-awarding ban would allow more people’s work to get the recognition that it deserves.
1. Why does the writer mention the numbers in the first two paragraphs?A.To explain a rule. | B.To present a fact. |
C.To clarify a concept. | D.To make a prediction. |
A.None of them are in their 30s nowadays. | B.Their names are unheard of by the public. |
C.None of them receive the prizes several times. | D.They must make contributions the year before. |
A.The change in standards. | B.The requirement of the award. |
C.The increase in breakthroughs. | D.The tradition of the committees. |
A.Reconsidering the current rule. | B.Establishing a better committee. |
C.Stopping the award presentation. | D.Recognizing more people’s work. |
8 . Have you ever wondered what happens to your mobile phones and laptops after you throw them out to make way for a newer model? According to its latest Global E-Waste Monitor, India is the third top producer of e-waste in the world. E-waste in Indian landfill goes on to pollute soil and groundwater, affecting food supply systems and water sources.
Thankfully, the country has a new group of artists who are changing these thrown mechanical items-from mobile phones to old televisions- into large murals (壁画) and artworks to creatively show their concern for the waste problem.
Over the past quarter of a century, Mumbai’s Haribaabu Naatesan has transformed hundreds of tonnes of e-waste into art, integrating elements from nature and industry. “I get my waste material from friends, relatives and neighbours who know my interest in e-art and send me bags of thrown electronic appliances,” says Naatesan. Over his career, he has created huge murals for several companies. He has also showed his work at the India Art Fair, as well as several other national displays.
Another artist Vishwanath Davangere has also long worked with e-waste. He likes to take apart old laptops and reassemble (重新组装) them into birds, animals and plants. After retirement, he started pursuing this hobby more seriously and started selling his creations across the world. His most outstanding works include a robotic Egyptian statue with glowing red eyes and a Milky Way made from keyboard keys. He hopes to enable others to reconsider their own consumption habits and make more environmentally conscious choices.
“By giving e-waste a second chance, I aim to raise awareness about the environmental impact of electronic waste.” says Davangare, who today has a collection of more than 600 eco-art objects.
1. Why do the artists create artworks from E-waste?A.To promote their artistic career. | B.To update electronic appliances. |
C.To make profits for several companies. | D.To express their environmental concern. |
A.His creations are displayed globally. | B.He gains support from people around. |
C.He has been creating e-art for 10 years. | D.His works integrate technology and history. |
A.Reliable. | B.Confident. | C.Devoted. | D.Generous. |
A.E-waste Recycling Sweeping the World | B.Environmental Problems Worrying Indians |
C.An Art Movement Turning Trash into Cash | D.Indian Creatives Transforming E-waste into Art |
9 . Automation (自动化) certainly has its advantages. I am
Thus, I recently decided to spend a day to achieve all of my goals in a(n)
A.eager | B.ready | C.regretful | D.thankful |
A.And | B.But | C.So | D.Or |
A.advanced | B.non-digital | C.informal | D.self-service |
A.appreciated | B.impressed | C.remembered | D.attracted |
A.spreading | B.reporting | C.making | D.sharing |
A.excited | B.confused | C.satisfied | D.annoyed |
A.guiding | B.reminding | C.admiring | D.encouraging |
A.apartment | B.supermarket | C.bank | D.restaurant |
A.suggested | B.admitted | C.demanded | D.applied |
A.affair | B.challenge | C.experiment | D.behavior |
A.praised | B.commented | C.begged | D.protested |
A.more than | B.other than | C.less than | D.rather than |
A.missed | B.reserved | C.preferred | D.suffered |
A.talking | B.dealing | C.working | D.comparing |
A.while | B.though | C.if | D.because |
10 . The road to a Nobel Prize, the most respected scientific award in the world, is growing ever longer, with almost half of winners now waiting more than 20 years from making a Nobel-worthy discovery to receiving the prize.
One analysis shows that the average time between publishing the work and receiving one of the science prizes has nearly doubled in the past 60 years. Across the three science prizes, chemistry now has the longest “Nobel lag”- an average of 30 years over the past decade- and physiology or medicine has the shortest, at 26 years.
Alfred Nobel’s will stated that the prizes should be awarded “to those who, during the previous year, shall have given the greatest benefit to mankind.” In reality this has only happened a few times. But in the first half of the twentieth century, it was common for Nobel prize winners to be in their 30s and that is unheard of now, says Santo Fortunato, now a computational social scientist at Indiana University.
There are a number of possible reasons for this, says Yian Yin, a computational social scientist at Cornell University. It could be that the overall number of breakthroughs is increasing each year, so awards cannot keep up with the number of people who deserve to be recognized, he says. It is also the case that the importance of some works, which Yin describes as “sleeping beauties” are only realized years or decades later. Besides, the lengthening gap could be a sign that there has been a decrease in “disruptive” science -important studies or discoveries that change the paradigm (范式) of their field. This could be causing the Nobel committees to focus more on the past.
Fortunato points out that, if the gap continues to grow, outstanding scientists could miss out on the award owing to the Nobel Committee’s rule banning posthumous prizes (追授奖项). “It has to stop at some point,” he says, adding that a rethink of the posthumous-awarding ban would allow more people’s work to get the recognition that it deserves.
1. Why does the writer mention the numbers in the first two paragraphs?A.To explain a rule. | B.To present a fact. |
C.To give an opinion. | D.To make a prediction. |
A.Experts who are in their thirties. |
B.Teachers who study computer science. |
C.Researchers whose name has not been heard of. |
D.Scientists whose discovery benefits humans most. |
A.The change in standards. | B.The requirement of the award. |
C.The increase in breakthroughs. | D.The tradition of the committees. |
A.Reconsidering the current rule. | B.Establishing a better committee. |
C.Stopping the award presentation. | D.Recognizing more people’s work. |