1 . 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。

When 35-year-old Chinese pianist WangYujia finished her last note on Tuesday, she received a standing applause from the audience. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, commonly     1     (know)as Yannick, the conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, even went down on his knees after watching her four-hour     2     (perform)at the Carnegie Music Hall.

She was considered as a superstar for her once-in-a-lifetime show. Yannick even compared the level of her excellence to     3     (climb)Mount Qomolangma. Despite the difficulty, however, it seemed she managed     4     (play)all the musical pieces with ease right to the last movement. Yannick noted that Wang was     5     ideal pianist because of her forceful and relaxed style. And he said that she was born for this kind of music. Wang showed a special interest     6     Rachmaninoff’s music when she was young. She began to play the piano when she was 6. At the age of 14, she entered the Curtis Institute of Music in the US and began to study it     7     (carefully)than before. She     8     (attract)by this Russian composer’s noble and pure music deeply at that time.

After graduation, she became one of the world’s most famous     9     (star)in classical music. Wang’s success also shows that her parents’ years of efforts have paid off,     10     will be very encouraging for other parents in China.

2 . Four Self-Portraits (自画像) by Famous Artists

Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)—“Self-Portrait”, 1506

One of the beautiful self-portraits by famous artist Raphael was drawn at the age of 23. It measures around 45cm×33cm and is located at the world-famous Uffizi Gallery. The Italian painter used oil on board to draw his self-portrait, which was the clearest and the most recognizable self-portraits of Raphael himself.

Leonardo da Vinci—“Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk”, 1512

“Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk”is a self-portrait of da Vinci at the age of 60 and measures around 33.3cm×21.6cm, which is on display in Biblioteca Reale, Turin, Italy. It is drawn with red chalk on paper and represents the head of an elderly man in a three-quarter view. In the portrait, the length of the hair is uncommon in Renaissance (文艺复兴) portraits.

Rembrandt van Rijn—“Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-up Collar”, 1659

Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn painted his self-portrait in 1659 when he was 53 years old. It shows his worried expression that clearly portrays the troubled condition of his mind at that point of his life since the year 1659 was a year of anxiety for him. This self-portrait found its place among the Benjamin Altman Collection, which has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1913.

Edgar Degas—“Degas Au Porte-Fusain’”, l855

Edgar Degas made this self-portrait only when he was twenty-one years old. It was one of the most remarkable of his fifteen self-portraits. Degas was seated as seemingly without fear and anxiety. The pose in the painting was formal and academic. The painting is located in the musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.

1. Where should visitors go if they want to admire Raphael’s self-portrait in 1506?

A．Uffizi Gallery.	B．Biblioteca Reale.
C．The musée d’Orsay.	D．The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

2. Which aspect of Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk was special during the Renaissance?

A．The red clothing.	B．The formal pose.
C．The long hair.	D．The worried expression.

3. Which painter was the youngest when painting the above-mentioned self-portraits?

A．Raphael.	B．Edgar Degas.
C．Leonardo da Vinci.	D．Rembrandt van Rijn.

3 . For more than 40 years, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has annually selected a group of Jazz Masters. Here are the NEA Jazz Masters selected for 2024.

Amina Claudine Myers

Amina Claudine Myers grew up in Dallas, Texas. She moved to New York City in the 1970s. The former elementary school teacher also worked in theaters and cooperated with musicians around the world.

Willard Jenkins

Willard Jenkins is familiar to jazz fans in New Orleans and Washington, D. C., where he’s hosted radio programs on stations such as WWOZ and WPFW. The Pittsburgh native first started writing about jazz for the Black student newspaper as an undergraduate at Kent State University. He also taught at various universities and contributed to leading jazz publications.

Gary Bartz

Gary Bartz has played with generations of jazz stars. In the 1960s, after graduating from Juilliard, he joined the Max Roach/ Abbey Lincoln Group and the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop. In the 1970s, he played with Miles Davis and founded the Ntu Troop, which united jazz with African folk and other kinds of music. He has published more than 40 personal albums.

Terence Blanchard

It’s almost amazing that Terence Blanchard was named the NEA Jazz Master. He is only 61. It’s relatively young for the recognition.

Born in New Orleans to an opera-loving father, Blanchard started playing the trumpet (小号) as a child. Over the years, he has won multiple Grammys and a Peabody Medal. He made history in 2021 when his opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones became the first by a Black composer to be staged by the Metropolitan Opera.

1. Who was born in Pittsburgh?

A．Gary Bartz.	B．Terence Blanchard.
C．Willard Jenkins.	D．Amina Claudine Myers.

2. When did Gary Bartz found the Ntu Troop?

A．In the 1950s.

B．In the 1960s.

C．In the 1970s.

D．In the 1980s.

3. Why does the author say that Terence Blanchard made history in 2021?

A．He is the first Black composer to be the NEA Jazz Master.

B．He is the youngest to be selected as the NEA Jazz Master.

C．He won a Grammy and a Peabody Medal in the same year.

D．One of his works was performed by the Metropolitan Opera.

4 . 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。

The creative concept of jinhuidui (literally “a pile of beautiful things from ash”), a Chinese art form which is said     1     (start) in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and boomed in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), shares similarities     2     pop art.

    3     (create) traditional jinhuidui artwork is much more difficult compared to pop art, as all the images are painted as if they were copied and pasted (粘贴). It requires     4     good command of calligraphy as well as excellent skill in painting flowers, birds, fish, insects, landscapes and     5     (figure), and a mastery of techniques such as seal carving.

Geng Xuezhi, 50, from Zibo city, Shandong Province, is one of the masters of jinhuidui. Geng has been learning Chinese painting and calligraphy     6     he was 16. He came into contact with jinhuidui painting skills through his father in 2006.

The artist says the distinctive feature of jinhuidui can be summed up as “broken”,     7     means that it has to present fragments in forms such as broken, rolled, overlapped,     8     (tear), burned or smoked. He adds it will take at least 10 years to master the skill.

The creation of jinhuidui is complex and lengthy, and     9     (it) dyeing process is laborious (费力的) and time-consuming. Sometimes a fragment needs to be dyed a dozen times. “A simpler work of jinhuidui takes about 20 days to complete, while a     10     (hard) one will take several months, and sometimes some extra effort has to be made,” Geng says.

5 . 阅读下面读文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Chopin was born on March 1st, 1810. He is a Polish French composer and pianist of the Romantic period, best     1    (know) for his pieces for piano. Although he wrote brief works, Chopin ranks as one of music’s greatest tone poets by reason of his superb imagination.

All Chopin’s family had artistic leanings, and even at an early age, Chopin was always strangely moved when listening to his mother or eldest sister playing the piano. By age six he was already trying to reproduce     2     he heard or to make up new tunes.     3     following year he started piano lessons with the 61-year-old Wojciech Zywny, an all-around     4    (music) with an intelligent sense of values. Zywny’s simple instruction in piano playing     5    (leave) behind soon by his pupil,     6     discovered for himself an original approach to the piano. Later, Chopin was allowed to develop     7    (smooth) by academic rules and formal training. Chopin found himself     8    (invite) at an early age to play at private parties, and at eight he made his first public appearance at a charity concert.

Piano playing was not alone responsible for his growing reputation as a child genius. At seven he also wrote a Polonaise in G Minor, which was printed. Chopin had a great gift     9     music and grew up with his efforts,     10    (become) a world-famous musician finally.

6 . 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。

Latin American music is one of the most popular music in the world. Sometimes it     1    (call) Latin music, which includes the music of many countries and comes in many varieties. Some critics have defined Latin music as a    2     (combine) of four elements: music style, geography, cultural background of artist and language, the first of which contains all music styles generated from Latin countries, such as salsa, merengue, bachata as well as others     3       (gain)   from more mainstream styles, such as Latin pop, rock, jazz and hip- hop. Latin music     4     (influence)   American popular music, jazz, rhythm and blues and even country music for long.

The Argentine tango was     5    worldwide success in the 1930's,     6     it was common in dance halls for a Latin orchestra to alternate with a big band. Latin music was    7       (extreme） popular with dancers.

    8     (start)   in the mid-1980's, Billboard introduced the Top Latin Albums and Hot Latin Tracks charts for Latin music albums and singles. During the next decade, Latini music gained interest into the mainstream. Ricky Martin’ s performance of Spanglish (含有西班牙语及英文的) version The Cup of Life at the 41st Grammy Awards in 1999 was     9    made him well-known and earned him much press attention. Today most mainstream artists and producers tend to feature more on songs     10    Latin artists.

7 . When Shao Tianshuai was 14, her dance teacher told her she had expressive eyes and an oval face, which were best suited for Kunqu Opera. She didn’t pay much ________to the comment until her mother __________ her to give the opera a try.

In 2001, Shao _________ for the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater in Beijing and came out with flying colors. The theater company is the only ________ platform in northern China devoted to Kunqu, an existing form of Chinese opera with a history of around 600 years.

Kunqu Opera, like many traditional Chinese operas, is _______ from one generation to another through singing demonstrations. It takes years to ________ basic skills, only after which performers can try and build their own _________.

“This type of opera was on the edge of decline (衰退) and the theater only had a dozen performances a year before I applied there,” says Shao. “However, the UNESCO tag gave the art a ________ life. The opera received government support and attracted the attention of young audiences.”

Usually, she performs her regular shows. ________, she arranges training for young performers and ______ on creating new pieces. She notes that two-thirds of the performers in the company are young, which injects energy to the theater founded over six decades ago.

Now, at 36, she is one of the leading ________ of Northern Kunqu Opera Theater and gives ________ 100 performances a year. Shao says, “In order to build up a young fan base, we use social media platforms and create original Kunqu Opera pieces, which ________   young people without changing the __________ of the art.”

“The heartwarming part is that so many young people like Kunqu Opera performances, whether online or offline. They are ________ to learn and explore, and as actors we cannot ask for more,” says Shao.

1.

A．attention

B．access

C．effort

D．emphasis

2.

A．aided

B．persuaded

C．requested

D．begged

3.

A．stood

B．asked

C．fought

D．applied

4.

A．professional

B．international

C．economical

D．technical

5.

A．turned down

B．set down

C．passed down

D．settled down

6.

A．master

B．design

C．admire

D．track

7.

A．audiences

B．companies

C．hobbies

D．styles

8.

A．smart

B．fresh

C．vivid

D．confident

9.

A．For reference

B．For instance

C．In addition

D．In advance

10.

A．holds

B．counts

C．lives

D．focuses

11.

A．hostesses

B．waitresses

C．actresses

D．authoresses

12.

A．nearly

B．merely

C．clearly

D．hardly

13.

A．admit

B．attract

C．account

D．attempt

14.

A．quantity

B．form

C．effect

D．nature

15.

A．intelligent

B．amazed

C．determined

D．cautious

8 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where did Aretha Franklin grow up?

A．In Memphis.

B．In Detroit.

C．In Atlantic City.

2. When did Aretha Franklin sign with Columbia Records?

A．In 1980.

B．In 1967.

C．In 1960.

3. Which was Aretha Franklin’s most popular music in the 1960s?

A．“Respect”.

B．“Freeway of Love”.

C．“Chain of Fools”.

4. What does the speaker mainly talk about?

A．Aretha Franklin’s life story.

B．Aretha Franklin’s musical style.

C．Aretha Franklin’s famous songs.

9 . Wang Fang, a Suzhou native, has given her heart and soul to Kunqu Opera. Wang, who has twice won the Plum Performance Award — China’s top award for theater and opera performances-started to learn the traditional art form in 1977.

Born with a melodic voice, Wang loved to sing and dance when she was little. She performed frequently, and was recruited by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe (剧团) when she was in middle school. However, her parents refused the troupe’s invitation, insisting that she should concentrate on her studies and not drop out of school. After members of the troupe visited the parents repeatedly and showed great sincerity,Wang’s parents finally agreed.

Learning the traditional art form was never easy. She started to learn how to pronounce words, sing them lyrically and make gestures gently. As an actress playing martial artists roles at first, she had to spend extra time practicing kung fu movements. Years later, Wang used the word “unimaginable” to describe how hard the days were when she first learned Kunqu. She was soaked in sweat when practicing movements in summer, while in winter she often had chilblains (冻疮) on her hands when training in shabby classrooms with broken windows. “But I was young and determined at the time. No matter how difficult, I always got up early the next morning to practice,” Wang recalls.

Wang says she did not love Kunqu at first, but in her early 20s,when she watched the show Peony Pavilion performed by Zhang Jiqing, a master of the art form, it clicked. “I was shocked,” Wang says. “Her every movement was full of elegance and delicacy. Each of her lines and songs was perfect. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Kunqu for the first time in my life, and it has stayed with me since.” Now, Wang has herself become a master of Kunqu. Her performances have impressed generations and helped to promote the art form among young people.

1. Why did Wang’s parents turn down the troupe’s invitation at first?

A．They didn’t think Wang had artistic talent.

B．They saw no future in learning Kunqu Opera.

C．They didn’t want Wang to ignore her studies.

D．They regarded members of the troupe as insincere.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly tell us?

A．Wang has made great efforts to learn Kunqu well.

B．Artists should be given more attention and care.

C．Traditional culture needs to be further promoted.

D．Wang has played a key role in the development of Kunqu.

3. What changed Wang’s attitude towards Kunqu Opera?

A．Winning the Plum Performance Award.

B．Joining the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe.

C．Watching Zhang’s masterly performance.

D．Being greatly admired by the audience.

4. What does Wang’s story show us?

A．It is never too late to learn.	B．Rome was not built in a day.
C．Doing is better than saying.	D．Don’t judge a book by its cover.

10 . To say that Spanish painter Pablo Picasso was a leader in Western art in the 20th century is to repeat an accepted fact, according to Time magazine. “No painter before him had enjoyed such a large following in his own lifetime.”

This year marks the 140th anniversary of Picasso’s birth. Born on Oct. 25, 1881, Picasso had created more than 20,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and other pieces of art by the time he died at 91.

That’s a long time to paint! The result is not only a lot of art, but a lot of different phases in Picasso’s work. On its website, Christie’s auction (拍卖) house lists eight different periods in the course of his painting career.

Over a century ago, the painter once said that, “Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” So the eight periods are all very different in their choice of subjects and yet unmistakably drawn by Picasso’s hands. Financial Express called his style unusual.

As his style changed over time, it became more simplistic. A common joke is that Picasso forgot how to paint. After all, he was classically trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona.

Now he is best known for leading an artistic movement known as “Cubism (立体派)”. It used geometric shapes to create human and animal figures. With this method, Picasso tried to show his figures from multiple perspectives (视角) in two-dimensional space. For example, a person’s left eye may be shown from straight ahead while his right eye and nose are shown from the side. The result is strange and beautiful, frightening and funny.

Picasso often said that he admired primitive art and drawings made by youngsters. “When I was the age I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like them,” he said. Maybe that’s why Picasso is still so popular. We look at his work and think, “Maybe I could do that!”

1. Which of the following best describes Pablo Picasso?

A．Productive.

B．Optimistic.

C．Traditional.

D．Generous.

2. Why did Financial Express call Picasso’s style unusual?

A．His act of creation was destructive.	B．He created a series of simple images.
C．His painting style remained unchanged.	D．He drew different subjects in different periods.

3. What is special about a cubist painting according to the text?

A．It is rather difficult to understand.	B．It shows figures from various perspectives.
C．It covers different subjects at the same time.	D．It reflects the relationship between humans and animals.

4. What does the underlined word “them” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Raphael’s works.

B．Artists.

C．Drawings.

D．Youngsters.