1 . Mary Poppins held on to her famous black umbrella while floating overhead and singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” The audience watched in amazement, and many sang along! Poppins floated for a bit and eventually landed in the midst of the excited crowd before getting on stage. No, this wasn’t a scene from a Disney movie.     1    His background helps explain his passion for music. The world-renowned violinist and conductor was born into a musical family in October 1949 in Maastricht, Netherlands. He began learning to play the violin at age five and immediately fell in love with the instrument!

    2     He started by creating a small ensemble (乐团). Then in 1978, Rieu established the Maastricht Salon Orchestra, from which he later developed the Johann Strauss Orchestra.

They had limited success until 1995 when Rieu was asked to provide entertainment for a soccer game. He got the entire stadium to sing along to a popular waltz.     3    

Today Rieu is the best-selling classical artist worldwide. He has sold in the ballpark of an astonishing 40 million records. He is the biggest male solo touring artist on the planet. His concerts sell more tickets than Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen!

Many classical concerts are serious events, but Rieu’s are the opposite. He’s been nicknamed “The King of the Waltz” because he loves waltzes.     4     Rieu says, “I love Johann Strauss, but I am also fascinated by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Bruce Springsteen.”

His shows are attended by people of all ages and always include surprises, like the delightful appearance by Mary Poppins. As Rieu says, “I only play music that touched my heart. And I know when it touches my heart, it will touch your heart.” During his performances, many audience members are visibly moved. They often clap, sing, dance, laugh, weep or hug one another. Rieu promises his audience, “You will have an evening that you will never forget.”And he is true to his word.

A．Afterward, he sold over 200,000 CDs and his popularity rising.

B．Rather, it was part of one of André Rieu’s amazing concerts.

C．As a result, Rieu became a house-hold name and won great popularity.

D．Yet his shows consist of an extensive variety of musical genres and performances.

E．Then, Rieu continued his style until he got his nickname.

F．From early on, Rieu knew what he wanted - his own orchestra.

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. supervising        B. serious        C. hit        D. illustrate        E. transformed F. practiced        G. contrasted        H. landscape        I. comparing        J. critical K. starts

If Stan Lee revolutionized the comic book world in the 1960s, which he did, he left as big a stamp on the even wider pop culture     1     of today.

Mr. Lee was a central player in the creation of all properties of Marvel Comics. Indeed, he was for many the father of Marvel,     2     the company^ emergence as an international media giant. A writer, editor, publisher, Hollywood executive and tireless promoter of Marvel, he played a     3     role in what comics fans call the medium’s silver age.

Stan Lee was born on Dec. 28, 1922, in Manhattan, the older of two sons born to Jack Lieber, and Celia Lieber, both immigrants from Romania. When graduated at 17 from high school, he aspired to be a writer of     4     literature. He was set on the path to becoming a different kind of writer. However, after a few false     5     at other jobs, he was hired at Timely Publications and the comics field.

In 1961, Mr. Lee and Mr. Kirby produced the first issue of The Fantastic Four, about a super-powered team with humanizing dimensions, which was a     6    .

Mr. Lee     7     what he called the Marvel method: Instead of handing artists’ scripts to     8    , he summarized stories and let the artists draw them and fill in a plot details as they chose. He then added sound effects and dialogues.

Under Mr. Lee, Marvel     9     the comic book world by filling its characters with the self-doubts, as well an awareness of trends and a sense of humor. In humanizing his heroes, giving them character flaws that     10     with their supernatural strengths,Mr. Lee tried “to make them real flesh-and-blood characters with personality.”

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. healing       B. prioritize       C. assigned       D. symbolizing E. secondary       F. peculiar G. featuring       H. engaged       I. patterned       J. followed K. embracing

The Healing Power of Art

Dreams have no age limit. A 79 year old lady who restarts her life by painting proves that it is never too late to     1     oneself.

Meeting the 77-year-old Li Yufeng at her workshop in the Lingang Special Area, I am soon infected by her energy and passion.     2     pumpkins, Hami melons, pebbles and playing cards, a number of her paintings hang on the walls. All her works are inspired by the everyday things in her life. As the Mid-Autumn Festival has just passed when we meet, Li's latest works portrays a moon-cake     3     with a dragon and phoenix.

Natural and peaceful, her paintings have     4     power.   They   enable   viewers to   feel the   beauty of small things, which we easily ignore in our daily lives. Last year, she was invited to hold a painting exhibition at the Xuhui Art Museum. To many people's surprise, Li     5     with art just three years ago.

Li spent her childhood in   the   confusion   of   civil   war.   Her father was     6     to Xinjiang   Uygur Autonomous Region as a teacher in a middle school, and Li and her mother     7     him to   the land of rugged mountains and vast desert basins.

"The green lawn and the camphor tree in front of our house in Human have always been impressed in my childhood memories," said Yin.

    8     prosperity and freshness, green is Li's favorite color, which she frequently uses in her paintings. She recalls that she wore a green tweed coat on her wedding day in 1963.

Li used to work as an electric welde（r   电焊工）. Lacking proper eye protection, the flash from the   welding equipment   eventually   damaged   her vision. However,   that   hasn't   stopped   her from     9     colors.

Li became fully engaged in painting after her husband's passing away in 2017. Painting brought her into the present moment and let her forget the pain of losing her husband and her diseases. In the flow of painting, it is hard to dwell on so many troubles. For Li, her improved painting skills are     10     to the joy that art brings her.