1 . A year after Walt Disney made history with the release of Snow While and the Seven Dwarfs, his artists were struggling to find the right design for the woodland backgrounds of Bambi, the coming-of-age tale of a young deer. The film’s production team realized they needed an alternative to the style in their first feature length animated film. Soon they got their inspiration from Tyrus Wong, whose work was on display at New York City’s Museum of Chinese in American Wong, an immigrant (移民) from Taishan, China, arrived in California at 9 with his father in 1919. Wong eventually settled near Los Angeles, where he developed his passions for art and drawing and got trained at the Otis Art Institute.

In 1938, The Walt Disney Studio hired him to draw the frames between the main drawings of the animators. Wong soon learned that the studio was trying to turn Felix Salten’s novel Bambi into an animated film. After reading the story, he saw an opportunity to break out of his boring job.

Inspired by Chinese landscape paintings, he used watercolor and crayons that created the forest scenes with simple strokes (笔画) of color and special attention 10 light and shadow. Wong’s skills caught Disney’s eye and became the guide for Bambi s background artists, who were later trained to mimic (效仿) his style.

By the time Bambi hit theaters in 1942, a strike at The Walt Disney Studio had left Wong jobless after three years of working on the project. He later became an illustrator for Warner Bros, where he worked for more than two decades.

“People admire his work because of Bambi, but Bambi was just a rally small part of his art life,” said Wong’s youngest daughter. “He considers himself not a great artist but a lucky artist, who was at the right place at the right time.”

1. Why did Tyrus Wong catch the attention of The Walt Disney Studio?

A．His painting style fitted Bambi.	B．He impressed the studio with honors.
C．He was fond of taking photos.	D．His work won popularity with students.

2. How did Tyrus Wong probably feel about filming Bambi?

A．Annoyed.

B．Fearful.

C．Excited.

D．Regretful.

3. What can we infer about Tyrus Wong from the text?

A．He is generous.

B．He is demanding.

C．He is humorous.

D．He is productive.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Business.

B．Science.

C．Culture.

D．Health.

2 . Famous People Who Begin With Difficulties

Oprah Winfrey

Probably having one of the most famous success stories, Oprah was born into a poor family in Mississippi, raised by a single mother living on welfare. She was physically, and mentally abused during her childhood. Despite her initial struggles as a young girl, she turned herself into one of the most successful talk show hosts of our time.

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey has been the star of some of the most successful movies of all time. But Carrey grew up extremely poor in Canada. When he was a teenager, his family took security jobs in a factory to help pay the bills. And during his first stand-up comedy performance, he was booed off （喝倒彩） the stage. Not shortly after, he made it big on In Living Color and then went on to star in Dumb & Dumber, The Mask, and Ace Ventura in the same year!

James Dyson

If you thought Thomas Edison’s failures were bad, let me introduce you to James Dyson, the famous inventor of the Dyson vacuums （真空吸尘器） you see all over the television. Dyson developed over 5,000 failed prototypes （原型） before finding the bagless vacuum brand. Not only that, he put his entire savings account into his prototypes over fifteen years! Luckily, the bagless vacuum worked.

Stephen King

Before Stephen King became known as a great living writer—having written over 60 novels, many of which have been adapted for film and television—King was rejected over and over again. In his memoir, On Writing, King describes how he used to post his rejection letters on the wall for inspiration. His first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times.

1. What do Oprah and Jim have in common?

A．They were abused by parents.	B．They grew up in poor families.
C．They were hired as comedians.	D．They found jobs in a factory.

2. What did James Dyson do?

A．He repaired the failed prototypes.	B．He developed over 5,000 brands.
C．He put all efforts into marketing.	D．He invented the bagless vacuum.

3. Who is a novelist?

A．Oprah Winfrey.

B．Stephen King.

C．James Dyson.

D．Jim Carrey.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Bamboo weaving (编织) is a time-honored skill of weaving long and thin pieces of bamboo into various items by hand,     1     has been passed down from generation to generation.

Fu Yelin, a 58-year-old resident of Maoba Township and a skilled craftsman (手艺人),     2     (be) inseparable from bamboo weaving since he was 12. “Back then, I     3       (use) to get cut during bamboo weaving,” he says. It requires     4       (patient) to complete the work. After decades of practicing, Fu has equipped himself with the skill. Fu     5       (eventual) opened a store in 2003 in Yongshun’s Furong Town, a place famous for its typical customs and natural scenery, to observe the aesthetic (审美的) trends in     6       (people) consumption of daily items.

“I want to conduct exchanges with bamboo weavers of different styles     7    (widen) my vision and further train my skills, ” he says, adding that he is confident about his own     8    (create) ideas, and wants to expand the influence of bamboo weaving. Fu would like to teach more people to carry on     9     the craft. For Fu, bamboo weaving is not just a lifelong practice,     10     a reminder of who he is and where he was born.

4 . There’s a mural(壁画) in Winsted, Connecticut, which is 5 stories tall and 120 feet long. Artist Ellen Griesedieck came up with the idea in 1999. More than 20 years in the making, the massive artwork is now on display.

Griesedieck calls the work the American Mural Project (AMP), That’s also the name of the arts center where it’s displayed. Rather than display the portraits(肖像画) of the famous political figures in American history and the well-known great artists, Griesedieck preferred to meet people from different fields in small towns and cities all over the United States to create the mural. She took photos of them on the job. Then she painted them. There’s Pamela. She’s shown working at a Boeing aircraft factory in Everett, Washington, wiring a plane. There’s Nina, a farmer. And Edwin, a New York City police officer, and so on.

Student participation is a huge part of AMP. So far, it has worked with 15, 000 students, from preschool to high school, in 17 states. In West Virginia, fifth graders from Ceredo Elementary School worked with a glassblower to make a 42-foot picture of water on which a fishing boat is floating. In New Mexico, kids made ceramic tiles(瓷砖). They’re pieced together to form the red-and-white shirt of a mechanic named Stitch. Kathy Reddy teaches art in Fairfield, Connecticut. She and her students have been involved with AMP for more than a decade.

The AMP building is a former factory. Inside, parts are still being added to the mural. Students who go to see the mural can take art classes at AMP, which also leads programs in schools. “We’re really focusing on hands-on, open-ended creativity,” says Michelle Begley, the director of education programs. “Our school visits always get the students’ hands dirty in the excitement of great art-making.”

1. Who are the leading characters of the mural?

A．Famous artists.	B．High school students.
C．Ordinary laborers.	D．Political figures.

2. What can we learn about Ellen Griesedieck’s art project?

A．It is long-term team efforts.	B．It is inspired by the students.
C．It introduces local cultures.	D．It is intended for the young.

3. Which aspect of students should be valued according to Michelle Begley?

A．Their inner desire.	B．Their academic level.
C．Their own talent.	D．Their practical ability.

4. In which column of a newspaper can the text be found?

A．Sports.

B．Travel.

C．Education.

D．Business.

5 . Bessie Mae Kelley was an animation (动画) pioneer, yet much of her story and work was lost to history and left undocumented—until now. The incredible discovery of Kelley’s rich past was made by Mindy Johnson, who spent five years searching for evidence.

According to Mindy Johnson, Kelley was studying art at New York’s Pratt Institute, when, as a part of the first generation of cinema, she fell in love with the medium. Kelley began working in the industry doing menial jobs, but she worked her way up and she was eventually working alongside Max Fleischer, Paul Terry and Walter Lantz, animators who were household names.

Kelley hand-drew cartoons in cooperation with Paul Terry for his famed animated adaptation of Aesop’s Fables, including the mouse couple that came to be known as Milton and Mary. “Even Walt Disney publicly stated that when he began his studio in Kansas City, he wanted to make cartoons as good as Aesop’s Fables,” Johnson said.

And earlier this week, Johnson presented her discoveries at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, where she also premiered (首映) two restored short films hand-drawn and directed by Kelley. The first is a five-minute film entitled Flower Fairies, completed in 1921. The second three-minute film from 1922 is called A Merry Christmas. Previously, historians had considered Tissa David to be the earliest example of a woman who directed her own hand-drawn work Bonjour Paris in 1953. The earliest surviving animated film directed and animated by a woman would be Lotte Reiniger’s The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart from 1919, which is far from the hand-drawn variety.

Johnson, who teaches animation history at California Institute of the Arts and Drexel University, says, “Discovering Kelley’s contribution to animation isn’t just about filling in the gaps of history. It also motivates a new generation of animators. I can see my female students standing a little taller and more confident, about their work when they learn about Kelley.”

1. What does the underlined word “menial” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Unskilled.

B．Demanding.

C．Well-paid.

D．Risk-taking.

2. What does the author want to show by mentioning Kelley’s work on Aesop’s Fables?

A．Her fondness for animals.	B．Her good teamwork spirit.
C．Her early influence in animation.	D．Her close relationship with Walt Disney.

3. Which is the earliest-known animation hand-drawn and directed by a woman?

A．Bonjour Paris.

B．Flower Fairies.

C．A Merry Christmas.

D．The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart.

4. What does Johnson think of the discovery of Kelley’s role in animation?

A．It excites students’interest in history.

B．It is an inspiration to female animators.

C．It helps reexamine women animators’ work.

D．It is a reminder of the value of surviving films.

6 . The 19th century landscape paintings in the museum looked awfully familiar to climate physicist Albright. Artist Turner’s signature way of covering his views in fog and smoke reminded Albright of her own research — tracking air pollution. After all, Turner —a forerunner of the impressionist movement — was painting as Britain’s industrial revolution gathered steam and smoke.

To find out how much realism there is in impressionism, Albright teamed up with Harvard University climatologist Peter Huybers. Their analysis of nearly 130 paintings by Turner, Paris-based impressionist Claude Monet and several others tells a tale of two modernizing cities.

Low contrast and whiter colors are typical of the impressionist style. They are also typical of air pollution. Tiny aerosols (气溶胶) can absorb or distribute light. That makes the bright parts of objects appear less bright while also shifting the entire scene’s color toward white.

Albright and Huybers distinguished art from aerosols by first using a mathematical model to analyze the contrast and color of 60 paintings that Turner made between 1796 and 1850 as well as 38 Monet works from 1864 to 1901. They then compared the findings to sulfur dioxide emissions (二氧化硫排放量) over the century and estimated from the trend in the annual amount of coal sold and burned in London and Paris. When sulfur dioxide reacted with molecules (分子) in the atmosphere, aerosols formed.

As sulfur dioxide emissions increased over time, the amount of contrast in both Turner’s and Monet’s paintings decreased. However, paintings of Paris that Monet made from 1864 to 1872 have much higher contrast than Turner’s last paintings of London made two decades earlier. They owed the difference to the much slower start of the industrial revolution in France. Paris’ air pollution level around 1870 was about what London’s was when Turner started painting in the early 1800s. It confirmed that the similar progress in their painting styles couldn’t be coincidence, but was guided by air pollution, the pair concluded.

1. What is the purpose of Albright and Huyber’s analysis?

A．To distinguish between art and aerosols.

B．To understand different schools of painting better.

C．To figure out the effects of the real life on impressionism.

D．To find the relationship between realists and impressionists.

2. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The comparisons of aerosols and sulfur dioxide.	B．How the researchers carried out their research.
C．The effects of aerosols on the paintings.	D．Why aerosols formed in the atmosphere.

3. What did Albright and Huybers’s research find?

A．The paintings of Turner and Monet were closely linked to air pollution.

B．The industrial revolution in France started more slowly accordingly.

C．There were differences in Turner’s and Monet’s painting styles.

D．Turner’s and Monet’s painting styles were familiar to people.

4. In which section of a newspaper can you most probably find this text?

A．Entertainment.

B．Health.

C．Education.

D．Environment.

7 . 阅读下面材料, 在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

A self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh was recently uncovered at the National Galleries of Scotland,     1     (hide) for more than a century on the back of a painting called Head of a Peasant Woman.

Sjraar van Heugten, an independent expert on Van Gogh, said that, based     2     materials about the new discovery that the museum had posted online, he felt confident that the picture was a real self-portrait by     3     artist.

He added that it was ”very unlikely” that someone got a real Van Gogh painting in his hands and painted a fake painting on the back. There is a lot of     4     (evident) that this is the real thing.

It’s not clear yet whether it will be possible     5     (uncover) the self-portrait, but that doesn’t mean you can’t see it. An X-ray image of the ghostly portrait will be part of the upcoming exhibit, which makes it viewable     6     (use) a special lightbox.

A great number of Van Gogh’s self-portraits     7     (paint) during his stay in Paris. He was short on money,     8     he reused canvases(画布) that he had used for other works in Netherlands. Because he also could not afford to hire models, he     9     (frequent) used the mirror to see his own face.

    10     (far) research suggests that the painting is one of a series of experimental self-portraits painted on the back of earlier canvases from his time in Nuenen from December 1883 to November 1885.

8 . Ever made castles in the sand? Fun. Isn’ t it? All you need are your hands and some imagination.

Marjon Katerberg builds castles in the sand all the time. She is an international sand artist and has just carved the largest sand sculpture park in the world. The park is located at a place called Almeerderzand. For two years, Almeerderzand has been hosting a sand-sculpting festival and Marjon’ s sculptures are part of this festival.

It took Marjon more than just buckets and spades(锹)to build these sculptures. It took her a lot of effort. And about half a million dollars.

At first, she planned out what she was to do and the sculptures they would make. Then she had to find sand. Lots and lots of it. But not any sand. To make sculptures that last, she needed special sand—young river sand, sand that has been created recently. Its grains are almost like squares.

Fourteen hundred lorries were hired to bring the sand to the site. Following this, Marjon’ s team got to work. All of the sand was dumped in huge mounds(堆), some of which were 46 feet high. The artists had to go to the top of these mounds and begin their work of carving the shapeless mass into beautiful sculptures.

Most of the artists are architects or sculptors. They all have regular jobs. These artists were drawn to this job by a specific love for sand, the simplest of all building materials. “The beauty of sand is that it’ s so flexible,” says Marjon. “You can do pretty much any kind of sculpture with it.”

Still, it was not as easy as it sounds. They had to deal with something they didn’t expect—rain. Once Marjon’ s sculptures were all ruined after it rained for two weeks continuously. But they didn’t give up. As soon as the weather was fine, they resumed work and completed the project. More than 200,000 people are expected to visit the park to see their work.

1. What is essential in making sand sculptures?

A．Creativity.	B．Encouragement.
C．Bravery.	D．Dependence.

2. What matters as to the sand Marjon used?

A．Its water content.	B．Its color.
C．Its age.	D．Its weight.

3. Why does Marjon like sand?

A．It is very clean.	B．It is easy to shape.
C．It looks really beautiful.	D．It is environmentally friendly.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Sand Art Is Taking off	B．Castles That Are Made of Sand
C．A Sand-Sculpting Festival Welcomes You	D．A Woman Who Builds Sand Castles

9 . It’s a small piece — merely a square brick drawing a curly-haired Archangel Gabriel — but it may be the oldest surviving artwork by the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci. If confirmed, this painting may show historians what da Vinci looked like as a teenager. That’s because the 1471 creation may, in fact, be a self-portrait (自画像) da Vinci made when he was just 18 years old.

However, many doubt the artwork’s authenticity (真实性). Martin Kemp, an retired professor of art history at Oxford University who is a Leonardo expert, dismissed the claim absolutely, “The chance of its being by Leonardo is less than zero,” Kemp told The Guardian. “The silly season for Leonardo never closes.”

The nearly 8-inch-by-8-inch square brick may contain clues linking it to da Vinci, according to Ernesto Solari, an art historian and da Vinci expert, and Ivana Rosa Bonfantino, a handwriting expert. Both say that a signature and date written on the angel’s jawline — which reads “Da Vinci Lionardo” with the date“1471”—closely match da Vinci’s handwriting.

Next to the 1471 date are the numbers 52 and 72. It’s possible that the 52 is a reference to 1452, Leonardo’s birth year. Meanwhile, the 7 and 2 may refer to the letters “G” and “B” (G is the seventh letter of the alphabet, and B is the second), which could stand for Gabriel. These numbers are “more than a signature, it is typical of the famous puzzles that he loved all his life,” Solari said.

When analyzing the handwriting, Bonfantino reviewed documents known to belong to da Vinci. Bonfantino noticed that the “1” in the 1471 date was shorter than the other numbers, which matched the previous examples of da Vinci’s writing.

1. What does the passage tell about the painting?

A．It is higher more than eight-inch.

B．It is a self-portrait drawn by historians.

C．It may be the oldest artwork drawn by Leonardo da Vinci.

D．It is only a square piece with a curly-haired male character.

2. What does Martin Kemp think of “the self-portrait of da Vinci”?

A．Authentic.

B．Skeptical.

C．Valuable.

D．Silly.

3. Why do Solari and Bonfantino think the painting contains clues about da Vinci?

A．It is typical of him to express love.

B．It has an important influence on him.

C．The numbers next to the 1471 are his birthday.

D．The signature and date are the same as his handwriting.

4. What may be the best title for the text?

A．A Doubtful Painting from da Vinci	B．A Discussion about the Oldest Artwork
C．An Introduction about da Vinci’s Painting	D．A Description about da Vinci’s Handwriting

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式，并将答案填写在答题卡上。

Known for his playful style of watercolor works, Qi Baishi is a well-known Chinese painter. His works usually focus    1     birds and flowers and are admired and praised by many worldwide.

Qi Baishi was born to    2    peasant family in Xiangtan, China. During his early teenage years, he taught     3    (he) how to paint while working as a carpenter. Through his own efforts, he    4    (be) able to master the skills of painting, calligraphy, and even poetry at the age of 27. Some of his major influences include the early Qing Dynasty painter Bada Shanren (Zhu Da) and the Ming Dynasty artist Xu Wei.

His artworks mostly belong to the gongbi mode(风格), a style     5    features “fine brushwork and great detail”. Through his paintings, he puts into focus the small things of the world rather than large landscapes. The fishes, shrimps, crabs, and frogs were said to be his favorite     6    (subject).

He was most     7    (experience) in simple, freely sketched compositions, but he could also    8    (successful) perform a meticulous(细节的)style.    9    (use) heavy ink, bright colors and vigorous strokes, he created works in a fresh and lively manner which expressed his love of nature and life. In 1955, he     10    (honour) with the International Peace Award.