1 . During the 19th and 20th centuries, Qi Baishi (1864-1957) was one of the best-known Chinese artists. He grew up in a poor peasant family, but this did not prevent him from pursuing his interest in painting.

Qi was schooled for less than a year due to illness, and he dropped out of school. However, he was too weak to do much of the work and this was why he became a carpenter. As a carpenter, he showed his creativity. He could carve figures of animals, woodblock prints, and sniff-boxes. At the age of 20, he taught himself to paint with Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. He met many mentors who greatly influenced his painting skills through his painting journey, among whom are the renowned artists Zhu Da and Xu Wei. When he was 28, he became a student of the famous artist Hu Qinyuan, and he began to study Chinese painting.

Qi arrived in Beijing in 1917. While he was in Beijing, he stayed devoted to painting. Most of his paintings represented Chinese tradition. Qi’s works are now found in several famous museums, including National Gallery Prague and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. His works now are the most expensive ever sold at auctions.

Qi got noticed by many institutions, one of which is the Ministry of Culture. In 1954 he was selected as the representative of the Chinese people. Also, in 1956, he was awarded the World Peace Prize by World Peace Council. A college was also named after him, the Baishi School of Art in Hunan University of Science Technology.

1. Why did Qi Baishi drop out of school?

A．He suffered from illness and was too weak.

B．He wanted to devote himself to painting.

C．He wasn’t interested in what he learned at school.

D．His family was too poor to afford his schooling fees.

2. According to the passage, which of the statements is TRUE?

A．He learned Chinese painting on his own.

B．He showed great creativity of art since childhood.

C．His works are one of the costliest ever sold at auctions.

D．At first he learned to paint from some renowned artists.

3. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us about Qi Baishi?

A．His painting style.	B．His painting works.
C．His achievements.	D．His contributions to his hometown.

4. How does the author mainly develop the text?

A．By giving examples.	B．By using data.
C．By raising questions.	D．By following the order of time.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Which date was Van Gogh born on?

A．March 30.

B．March 20.

C．March 13.

2. What did Van Gogh do when he was 15?

A．He began to learn French.

B．He decided to be an artist.

C．He started to work.

3. Which country did Van Gogh move to in 1886?

A．France.

B．Germany.

C．Britain.

4. How did Theo support Van Gogh according to the talk?

A．He made paintings for Van Gogh.

B．He sold Van Gogh’s paintings to others.

C．He bought Van Gogh’s works from others.

3 . Taylor Swift showed very early promise as a singer of country songs, performing from the age of nine. She learned the guitar and persuaded her family to move to Tennessee so she could further her career. She holds numerous records for achievements in music, has been named among the top 100 most influential people on more than one occasion and was named as Woman of the Decade and Artist of the Decade in the 2010s. Swift’s musical style has evolved from country to pop and her fans number in the millions.

Taylor Swift has a firm belief that we should all be ourselves. She tempers this by saying that we must be respectful of others, honest and strong-willed. Strength of purpose will carry a person through life and see them achieve great things. Do not, she says, be average. Stand out and be the best person that you can.

Her view of life is simple. We each have one life, and we must make sure we do not waste it. Life is there to be enjoyed and to be fulfilled. Only we can control what happens in our lives, and must not allow others to judge us or create false opinions of us.

To live a life that has meaning, we must be prepared to learn from mistakes and failures and deal with them without getting discouraged or distracted from our path. No one should tell you what you can’t do, and you must not let a mistake tell you that either. When someone tries to stop you from doing something, be eager to prove them wrong. Be keen, too, to show that your mistakes won’t hold you back.

Taylor Swift puts great store in happiness. Seeking happiness is a wonderful ambition, and everyone should see it as an aim. Success without happiness is a meaningless achievement. Aiming for happiness can go along with other goals too. Swift doesn’t rest when she has achieved one goal, but picks up another and pursues that with the same vigor and determination.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?

A．She moved to Tennessee to get a degree.

B．She has been named among the top 100 most influential people once.

C．Her musical style is single.

D．She has had a talent in music since childhood.

2. In the following statements, which one will Taylor Swift NOT agree with ?

A．We should accept that we are only ordinary people.

B．We are masters of our life.

C．Never let mistakes block our moving-forward way.

D．Without happiness, success equals zero.

3. Which words can best describe Taylor Swift?

A．Patient and passionate	B．Positive and ambitious
C．Hard-working and optimistic	D．Intelligent and humorous

4. Which is the text mainly about?

A．A brief introduction to Taylor Swift.	B．Taylor Swift’s autobiography.
C．Taylor Swift’s influence.	D．Taylor Swift’s childhood and dream.

4 . 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.

5 . 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.

6 . 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.

7 . 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。

Each time a medal was presented to a winner at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the award music was played. The music was written by Tan Dun,    1    is a world-famous composer.

Born in 1958 in central Hunan, China, Tan     2    (grow) up near the Liuyang River.When he was very young, he showed a great interest     3    music. He loves the     4    (sound) of the rushing water and blowing wind because, to him, the best music comes from nature. His amazing piece of music Water does not use any musical instruments. Instead, Tan makes over 50 sounds from water by     5    (control) the speed of water flow(流动).

Tan has helped build     6    bridge between the East and the West. He has     7    (successful) brought the Chinese and Western music together.    8     (make) the music for the Beijing Olympics special, Tan used     9    (tradition) Chinese music and the sounds of an ancient Chinese bell but in a Western style.

In     10    (he) works, the past and the present, common objects and musical instruments, traditional Chinese music and modern Western music all mix together to make anew type—music without boundaries.

8 . 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.

9 . CNN compared dozens of popular masterpieces and made a list of 10 most famous paintings in the world. The top 3 are as below:

1. ‘Mona Lisa’

Artist:Leonardo da Vinci

Estimated date: 1503 to 1519

Where to see it: Louyre Museum (Paris)

It should come as no surprise that the most famous painting in the world is that mysterious woman with the mysterious smile.

What’s so special about the Mona Lisa? Did you know? Before the 20th century, historians say the “Mona Lisa” was little known outside art circles. But in 1911, an ex-Louvre employee stole the picture and hid it for two years. That theft helped cement (巩固) the painting’s place in popular culture ever since and exposed millions to Renaissance (文艺复兴) art.

2. ‘The Last Supper’

Artist: Leonardo da Vinci

Estimated date: 1495 to 1498

Where to see it: Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan, Italy)

Leonardo, the original “Renaissance Man,” is the only artist to appear on this list twice.

Painted in an era when religious imagery was still a dominant artistic theme, “The Last Supper” catches the last time Jesus broke bread with his students before his crucifixion (十字架刑罚).

The painting is actually a huge fresco (壁画) — 4.6 meters (15 feet) high and 8. 8 meters (28.9 feet) wide, which makes for a memorable viewing

It is Leonardo da Vinci’s legacy. Did you know? The fresco has survived two wartime threats — Napoleon’s troops used the wall on which the fresco was painted as target practice. It also was exposed to the air for several years when bombing during World War II destroyed the roof of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

3. ‘The Starry Night’

Artist: Vincent van Gogh

Date:1889

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art (New York City)

The comparatively abstract painting is the signature example of van Gogh’s innovative and bold use of thick brushstrokes. The painting’s striking blues and yellows and the dreamy atmosphere have been attracting art lovers for decades.

1. What is special about the Mona Lisa?

A．A theft made it a household name.

B．It has survived two wartime threats.

C．It is a classic example of van Gogh’s creativity.

D．It shows a mysterious woman with a mysterious smile.

2. Which phrase can replace the underlined “broke bread with”?

A．Broke up with.	B．Quarreled with.
C．Had dinner with.	D．Made friends with.

3. Where can the text be found?

A．In a novel.	B．In a biography.
C．In a textbook.	D．In an art magazine.

10 . Have you ever thought of being an actress and having to finish a show you started and at the same time, battling a life-threatening illness? That is what Emilia Clarke did. You may know her for her famous role of Daenerys Targaryen from the hit TV series Game of Thrones. This role skyrocketed her to stardom and made a big impact on her life. However, behind the scenes, Clarke had been battling a life-threatening illness for most of the first few seasons.

Just after finishing the first scazon of Game of Thrones, she faced an awful situation following the events of being rushed to the hospital after a workout session at the gym. Her worst fears were realized when she was diagnosed with subarachnoid hemorrhage, a kind of disease that kills once out of three people diagnosed with it. She was immediately told that she needed to undergo surgery to remove her brain aneurysm (动脉瘤) but she was a bit skeptical about it since she had a busy life and a busy schedule.

Ultimately, she had to go under the knife and the recovery was very miserable for her. She felt so hard to memorize and remember that it came to the point that she couldn’t even remember her name. At that point, she was extremely desperate since she believed that her life depended on communication and memorization so her life wasn’t worth anything. Luckily, a month later, Clarke recovered well and was able to go home just a few weeks before the start of filming for the 2nd season of Game of Thrones.

After the third season, doctors found out that there was another brain aneurysm that needed immediate surgery. Recovery had been more painful than before and Clarke spent a month in hospital experiencing all sorts of anxiety and depression. Fortunately, she overcame this adversity again. She recovered well and was able to finish all eight seasons of Game of Thrones. Right now, she’s just waiting for all the beauty and surprises that life can bring.

1. What can we know about Emilia Clarke?

A．She hesitated about the first surgery.

B．She suffered less during the second recovery

C．She fought the disease for eight seasons of Game of Thrones.

D．She missed the filming of the 2nd season of Game of Thrones.

2. Why was Emilia Clarke frustrated by the first diagnosis?

A．She wasn’t sure of her sports ability.

B．She was afraid of her upcoming surgery.

C．She wasn’t confident of her acting skills.

D．She was worried about her career development.

3. What words can be used to describe Emilia Clarke?

A．Decent and talented.

B．Diligent and tough.

C．Daring and thoughtful.

D．Dedicated and trustworthy.

4. Which entry can help you access the text?

A．Fashion.

B．Science.

C．Health.

D．Celebrity.