1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Was Air Pollution Monet’s Muse (灵感之源)?

Claude Monet was a French painter who lived at the turn of the 20th century, from 1840 to 1926. He is credited as the founder of impressionism, a painting style characterized by its use of many thin brushstrokes     1    (create) a dream-like quality. Impressionist paintings are celebrated for the way     2     seem to capture a sense of life in motion. Monet didn’t just simply paint landscapes; he wanted to convey the sensations he experienced when he saw them.

Many of Monet’s paintings portray the passage of time, like clouds     3     (drift) through the sky. The landscapes in his paintings often have a misty appearance,     4     fog is clouding edges, and concealing objects that are far away. Some researchers have suggested the mist of Monet’s landscapes     5     have actually been air pollution.

Monet was painting at a time when heavy industry was starting to seriously impact the environment. This was especially true in urban centers like London and Paris. The supposition is that Monet’s works reflect the increasing levels of air pollution that Europe       6     (witness) in the late 19th century and early 20th century.     7     Monet’s painting career progressing, background visibility in his paintings seems to gradually decrease.

In letters to his wife, Monet sometimes described the smoke and fog in London, for     8     he obviously had a preference. Evidence suggests that     9     significant number of Monet’s works were influenced, or even inspired, by the way air pollution affected light and vision.     10     air pollution was the muse for one of modern history’s greatest artists might be true.

2 . Artist Susan Shepherd is best known for her flower paintings, and the large garden that surrounds her house is the source of many of her subjects. It is full of her favourite flowers, most especially vancties of tulips and poppies. Some of the plants are unruly and seed themselves all over the garden. There is a harmony of colour, shape and structure in the two long flower borders that line the paved path which crosses the garden from east to west. Much of this is due to the previous owners who were keen gardeners, and who left plants that appealed to Susan. She also inherited the gardener, Danny. “In fact, it was really his garden,” she says. “We got on very well. At first he would say, “Oh, it’s not worth it” to some of the things I wanted to put in, but when I said I wanted to paint them, he recognized what I had in mind.”

Susan prefers to focus on detailed studies of individual plants rather than on the garden as a whole, though she will occasionally paint a group of plants where they are. More usually, she picks them and then takes them up to her studio. “I don’t set the whole thing up at once,” she says. “I take one flower up at once,” she says. “I take one flower out and paint it, which might take a few days, and then I bring in another one and build up the painting that way. Sometimes it takes a couple of years to finish.”

Her busiest time of year is spring and early summer, when the tulips are out, followed by the poppies. “They all come out together, and you’re so busy,” she says. But the gradual decaying process is also part of the fascination for her. With tulips, for example, “you bring them in and put them in water, then leave them for perhaps a day and they each form themselves into different shapes. They open out and are fantastic. When you first put them in a vase, you think they are boring, but they change all the time with twists and turns.”

1. In the first paragraph, the author describes Susan’s garden as ________.

A．being only partly finished

B．having a path lined with flowers

C．having caused problems for the previous owners

D．needing a lot of work to keep it looking attractive

2. What does Susan say about Danny?

A．He felt she was interfering in his work.

B．He immediately understood her feelings.

C．He was recommended by the previous owners.

D．He was slow to see the point of some of her ideas.

3. What is Susan’s approach to painting?

A．She creates her paintings in several stages.

B．She spends all day painting an individual flower.

C．She likes to do research on a plant before she paints it.

D．She will wait until a flower is ready to be picked before painting it.

4. Susan thinks that tulips ________.

A．look best some time after they have been cut.

B．should be kept in the house for as long as possible.

C．are not easy to paint because they change so quickly.

D．are more colourful and better shaped than other flowers.

3 . A pencil drawing of a broken old man, head in hands, looking extremely exhausted, has been identified as a newly-discovered work by Vincent Van Gogh.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said yesterday that it had _______ the authenticity (真实性) of the drawing. Senior researcher Teio Meedendorp described it as a(an) “_______” discovery, shining light on van Gogh’s early career as an artist in the Hague, a time less well-known than his years in Paris or the south of France.

The drawing has been titled Study for _______. It was drawn in late 1882s when the 29-year-old van Gogh was two years into his career as an artist. He was drawing as many studies of _______ as he could. He often recruited models from an almshouse for the elderly run by the Dutch Reformed church, _______ them a modest fee and gave them coffee.

He called these models his “orphan men” and “orphan women”. A favourite was the man in the newly discovered drawing, Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland, the only one of these models whose name is known.

Van Gogh used a thick carpenter’s pencil on rough watercolour paper. The sheet _______ 48.8 cm by 30 cm.

Experts have _______ the drawing back to the end of November 1882, linking it to several other works made at the time.

Van Gogh talked about the two drawings in a letter to his brother, Theo. “Today and yesterday I drew two _______ of an old man with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.... Perhaps I’ll do a lithograph (平版印刷画) of it. What a fine _______ an old working man makes, in his patched bombazine (斜纹布) suit with his bald head.”

At the time Van Gogh was ________ to work as a magazine illustrator, so he could earn money in his own right and be less dependent on his brother.

The drawing, which has been in a ________ collection in the Netherlands since about 1910, goes on display at the Amsterdam museum from 17 September, 2021, until 2 January, 2022, after which it will be returned to the owner.

Meedendorp recalled his ________ on making the discovery: “I’ve worked with Van Gogh for a substantial part of my life, especially the drawings, and it is always a delight to have them in your hand and looking at them up close. These drawings from the Hague are ________ delightful to look at — you can follow the working process of Vincent so well... the way he ________ the pencil.”

“Whenever you have a ________ at drawings like this, you want to pick up a pencil yourself and start drawing.”

1.

A．denied

B．doubted

C．recognized

D．concealed

2.

A．expensive

B．extraordinary

C．impossible

D．useless

3.

A．Worn Out

B．Reach Out

C．Hands Up

D．On the Way

4.

A．animals

B．people

C．buildings

D．nature

5.

A．lent

B．protected

C．showed

D．paid

6.

A．costs

B．values

C．measures

D．weighs

7.

A．traced

B．favoured

C．displayed

D．withdrew

8.

A．squares

B．figures

C．triangles

D．servants

9.

A．design

B．scenery

C．sight

D．drawing

10.

A．talented

B．ambitious

C．modest

D．pessimistic

11.

A．fine

B．new

C．private

D．public

12.

A．annoyance

B．disappointment

C．excitement

D．indifference

13.

A．absolutely

B．barely

C．hardly

D．instantly

14.

A．ruins

B．classifies

C．handles

D．accompanies

15.

A．purchase

B．laugh

C．scream

D．peer

4 . Contemporary artist Nick Smith creates pixelated (像素化的) works with hand colour-chips, synonymous with colour swatches (色块), cleverly combining text and image to create interesting and fascinating collaged (拼贴的) works.

With a previous career in Interior Design spanning 11 years, Nick references his concept design background throughout his work, reworking the design aesthetic using unique colours watches in hand-made collages, placing his work firmly in the fine art category. From his first collage experiment back in 2011 of Warhol’s ‘Marilyn’, when he assembled a tessellation (镶嵌技术) of swatches as a challenge, this eventually inspired his career as an artist and determined his unique style he is now known for.

The multi-layered element of his work, which marries image and word, allows Nick to explore complex art-historical concepts. The text employed is often narrative, which can be read in sequence adding another element of intrigue and interest to the work. This additional element of text, placed under the empty space of each swatch,   creates either complimentary or subversive meanings. Nick deliberately leaves these word/image constructions open to viewer interpretation, sparking new debates and meanings.

Each P-series, such as Psycolourgy 2015, Purgatory 2019, explores complicatedly researched concepts, which are always the crucial starting point for each new series of work.Producing large-scale works to micro-chip collages, and multiple sell out print editions, Nick continues to develop his popular and recognisable art.

PSYCOLOURGY—January 2015 Lawrence Alkin Gallery,London

Smith’s debut solo exhibition with Lawrence Alkin Gallery in Soho, London , launched his unique visual reworking of classic paintings from the 20th Century canon. Universally known works, including David Hockney’s’ The Bigger Splash’, Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans’ and Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ were all recast, creating original collages that enquire ideas of depiction, digitalisation and recognition. A sell out show, with numerous successful subsequent print releases, Psycolourgy forged Smith’s path to a place among Britain’s notable contemporary artists.

PURGATORY-December 2019 Context，Art Miami

Purgatory is a shiny , sticky, glossy exploration of our societies attitude and approach to our excess,addictions and desires.

Excerpts from Dante’s Purgatory are woven through colourful works depicting popular covetable consumables, creating symbolic representations of the seven sins. Dante explores possible penance (悔) for our earthly suffering leading to spiritual growth. The results of these pairings offer a humorous, nostalgic and subversive opportunity to question our choices.our history and our future.

1. What made Nick launch his art career?

A．His deep love of fascinating collaged works.

B．His first collage work Warhol’s ‘Marilyn’

C．The challenge of piecing a tessellation of swatches.

D．The collage experiment dating back to 2012.

2. Which of the following statements about the text Nick uses is true?

A．His text contains concepts of art.

B．His text is usually illustrative.

C．His text can be read sequentially.

D．His text elements are very simple

3. What do we know about PSYCOLOURGY?

A．It opened Smith’s unique visual reinvention of classic 21th-century paintings.

B．David Hockney’s’Mona Lisa’ has been recreated by Lawrence Alkin Gallery.

C．The original collages affirm the ideas of depiction , digitisation and recognition.

D．It opened Smith’s path to becoming one of Britain’s leading contemporary artists.

4. What is the topic of this passage?

A．Some useful ways to create collaged works.

B．The life of contemporary artist Nick Smith.

C．Information about Psycolourgy and Purgatory.

D．The introduction to Nick Smith’s works.

5 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Bob Dylan wins 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature

US music legend Bob Dylan won the Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the first songwriter to win the prestigious award in a decision     1     surprised prize watchers.

The 75-year-old Dylan —best known for tunes like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone”     2     (honor) “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”, the Swedish Academy said.

The choice was met by gasps and a long round of applause from reporters     3     (attend) the prize announcement. The folk singer has been mentioned in Nobel speculation in the past few years,     4     he was never seen as a serious competitor.

“Dylan has the status of     5     important symbol. His influence on contemporary music is profound,” the academy wrote in biographical notes about the famously private singer.

The Nobel is the latest award for the singer, who has come a long way from his humble beginnings as Robert Allen Zimmerman, born in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, and who taught     6     to play the harmonica, guitar and piano.

Initially     7     (encourage) by the music of folk singer Woody Guthrie, Robert Allen changed his name to Bob Dylan and began performing in local nightclubs.

    8     dropping out of college, he moved to New York in 1960. His     9     (early) album contained only two original songs, but the 1963 breakthrough The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan featured a number of his own songs,     10     (include) the classic Blowin’ in the Wind.

6 .

15 TH OCT 2023 CULTURE Gazelle Twin, a composer, producer, and musician, opens up about being a conceptual artist and establishing a unique identity ahead of the release of her new album (专辑), Black Dog. Q: Would you describe your music as conceptual? A: Conceptual is a good term. I don’t make music just for the sake of making music. My records are inspired by themes. I spend a considerable amount of time before writing the music, learning about subjects related to the theme. Then I work on the structure of the album. Ideas can change. For example, Black Dog was originally about ghosts (幽灵), but I ended up with an album about my childhood experiences, through to adulthood and parenthood, and the anxiety and fear that has been with me during that time. Q: Throughout the album, there is a sense of an observer. Is that person yourself, or another presence? A: Both. There is the voice of depression and anxiety, and also this other person you know is always there. I thought of having this ominous presence (不祥之兆) around you. There is also that sense of being out in the world, as a woman, aware of my vulnerability (脆弱). For example, just going for a walk is never simple. We have to build protective instincts around ourselves. Q: When you started out, did you have any idea of the kind of artist you wanted to be? A: I knew I didn’t want to fit a fixed style or be restricted by being female. I wanted to be flexible. I like to think in scale and of more than I can achieve as one person. I like artists with unique identities. Q: What would be your advice to anyone with ambitions to become a musician? A: Follow your instincts. Put yourself out there without pressure to be “finished”. Absorb things, experiment, and allow yourself to follow a journey where you don’t know where you will end up. Being successful commercially takes a team and time. You have to love it and be in it for the long journey. Q: Fast forward ten years, where do you want to be? A: I would love to carry on following my instincts and making albums. I would like more of a collection of TV and film scores because I enjoy writing scores and cooperative work.

1. Why is Gazelle Twin’s music conceptual?

A．Her records are usually about ghosts.	B．The album’s structure is a top priority.
C．The word “conceptual” itself is attractive.	D．Her music is highly motivated by themes.

2. In the second part of the interview, “this other person” most likely represents __________.

A．spiritual growth	B．vivid imagination
C．inner self-awareness	D．external intervention

3. Which of the following can be inferred from Gazelle Twin’s response in the interview?

A．She tends to take the bigger picture into account.

B．Her future planning is profit-driven to some extent.

C．Black Dog has already become a hit album worldwide.

D．She expresses willingness to help the potential musicians.

7 . The Beatles were a British rock group, led by the song writing team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They had a profound (深远的的) effect on the course of popular culture in the1960s, Their innovation (创新) led to revolution in pop music, fashion, and youth culture.

The group came together in Liverpool, England in the late 1950s, and soon found an enthusiastic audience. Then, in Hamburg, Germany, they developed their own song writing style.

In 1962, Ringo Starr joined the Beatles on the drums. They released Please, Please, Me, the first of many number one hits. In 1964. this phenomenon crossed the Atlantic. The Beatles appeared on a popular TV show in the US, and at first only young men watched their performances.

They recorded a variety of different styles of songs, from the simple Yellow Submarine to songs expressing political ideas. In their songs, their political activism and social ideas were reflected. It is said that the US government once sought to have Lennon deported(驱逐出境).

The Beatles made pioneering use of the modern recording studio, and released an album that is considered their best. After this album, however, the members pursued separate interests, and ended in breaking up. The group dissolved (解散) in 1971. John Lennon was murdered by a fan on the street in 1980. Fans around the world mourned his loss.

1. The Beatles had a great effect on the _________ of popular culture in the 1960s.

A．development

B．subject

C．matter

D．idea

2. The group __________ in England in the late 1950s.

A．found their sponsor

B．was set up

C．was found

D．was not noticed

3. The Beatles __________ in the US in 1964.

A．became a hit	B．was enjoyed by both sexes
C．appeared	D．began to appear on the stage

4. The Beatles expressed __________ in their songs.

A．the sadness in their hearts	B．complaints about society
C．their happiness	D．their social ideas

8 . To the music of Verdi’s Ave Maria, Bulgarian-born soprano Raina Kabaivanska opened the funeral service for her longtime friend and colleague Luciano Pavarotti in the cathedral of Modena. Archbishop Benito Cocchi read a message of condolence from Pope Benedict. In it, the pope said Pavarotti had “honored the divine gift of music through his extraordinary interpretative talent.”

Pavarotti’s white maple casket was covered in sunflowers-his favorite-and laid before the altar. Since his death on Thursday, some 100,000 people of all ages have filed past his coffin in the cathedral, paying last respects to the maestro. Music resounded throughout the service. Tenor Andrea Bocelli sang Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus.” Family members, close friends as well as dignitaries and celebrities attended the invitation-only service. Among those attending were Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, U2 lead singer Bono, and film director Franco Zeffirelli.

Across Italy, admirers watched the service live on television, and thousands of ordinary citizens gathered in the square outside the cathedral and followed the service on a giant screen. One admirer outside the church said Pavarotti would never die. He’s said he is convinced that Pavarotti is not dead because he will continue to live with his voice, with his songs, and he will always remain in our hearts.

Applause broke out as the casket was carried outside the church as loudspeakers amplified a recording of Pavarotti singing arias by Verdi.

As a special honor for a man of humble origins who became Italy’s greatest cultural ambassador, an air force team flew over the cathedral, streaking the sky in the white, red and green colors of the Italian flag.

1. The music played throughout the service was sung by         .

A．Raina Kabaivanska	B．Tenor Andrea Bocelli
C．Bono	D．Verdi

2. All attended Pavarotti’s funeral service except         .

A．People of all ages filing past his coffin in the cathedral.

B．family members and close friends of Pavarotti.

C．Italian Prime Minister and former U.N Secretary General.

D．dignitaries and celebrities invited.

3. Which of the following sentences is Not True?

A．Pavarotti is Italy’s greatest cultural ambassador with extraordinary talent.

B．Pavarotti will always remain in the heart of his admirers across the country.

C．Tenor Andrea Bocelli attended Pavarotti’s funeral solemnly and respectfully.

D．To show people’s respect, the funeral was completed with an air force gun salute.

9 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The Great Voice Actor

Since the creation of animated (动画的) motion pictures, the use of actors supplying voices     1    (be) invaluable. Behind every famous cartoon character’s personality is the actor standing in the recording booth and     2     (stretch) their manner of speaking in unrecognizable ways. For some of these performers, the voices they’ve provided have far surpassed them as people in both recognizability and adoration.

Mel Blanc, known as “The Man of Thousand Voices”,     3     (regard) as the most prolific actor to ever work in Hollywood with over a thousand screen credits. He developed and performed nearly 400 distinct character voices. Whether in legendary shorts or lesser-known commercials, Mel Blanc walked so the voice actors of today     4     run.

Mel Blanc lent his voice to many classic characters, but the one he is best known for is Bugs Bunny. There is little that can be said about Bugs’ impact     5     hasn’t already been said for decades. The character is     6     helped launch Warner Bros. animation into the mainstream. Bugs was even the face of Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, appearing at the beginning of many films.     7     a character may not talk, that doesn’t mean a fair bit of voice acting isn’t involved. Mel provided the various noises of the beloved pet dinosaur, Dino, in The Flintstones. While obviously not as quotable as his caveman companions, every fan knows the excited bark of Dino when he sees his master, Fred, arrive home. In January 1961, at the age of 52, Blanc was severely injured in a car accident and had to tape his part at home with a microphone     8     (suspend) over his bed.

Mel Blanc paved the way for voice acting as a true art, though it’s a skill that often goes unrecognized when praise is focused on movies and TV. The characters we all love wouldn’t be where they are in the public eye without     9     who put a voice to them. Many recognizable or popular voice actors of our modern era have Blanc     10     (thank) for their start, and hope to reach his level of unmatched expertise at bringing countless characters to life the way no one else can.

10 . 选词填空

A. exactly       B. requires       C. forced       D. perfectly       E. comfort F. rush       G. released       H. as       I. relates       J. asked             K.including

When Michael Wong was young, he was sensitive and shy. It was a huge task for him to talk to a stranger or go downstairs to the shops. But he found     1     through playing the piano.

Recently, the Malaysian piano star    2     his latest album “Never Apart”. It’s made up of ten catchysongs    3     the title song with the same name. Never Apart tells the story of a couple who are    4     to separate for a while, but they still cherish the beautiful memories they had.

“Music sounds better when it    5    to true feelings” he says

Now, Michael has grown, up to be one of the most popular singers in Taiwan. His slow love songs including First Time and Fairytale are hits with heartbroken young people.

Over the years, he has become bolder and learnt to voice opinions in his music. Once, he was    6     to sing a song someone else wrote. But he didn’t like the song lyrics, so he argued they should be changed. “If I broke up with someone, I don’t think I would have reacted in the same way    7     the story in the song,” he said. “I want to tell people     8     how I will behave. And it works.” He says the song sounds better when he can sing it his own way.

Michael is often called the piano prince. He’s elegant when he plays and sings along. “When I play, inspirations    9     to me like continuous streams. It     10    no effort.” But he still works hard to make his songs appealing. “I’ll go over every tiny detail to make the song worth listening to.”