1 . Lying on London’s famous Millennium Bridge, British artist Ben Wilson paints on a piece of dried gum (口香糖). It has been crushed flat into the ground. “The important thing is that there are tire marks on the gum with different patterns,” said the 60-year-old Wilson. “The beauty of them is that they’re of different shapes and sizes…” he continued, describing pieces of gum.

Wilson sees possibility in things most people avoid looking at. The flattened gum offers a chance to turn a piece of waste into something beautiful. The artwork is also a way to surprise walkers and get them to take a closer look at the path they are on.

“By painting a picture which is so small, I can let those who see it discover a hidden world beneath their feet,” Wilson said.

Back in his north London art room, Wilson paints on the surface of a small mosaic tile (瓷砖). It will be part of a collection that he is creating on the walls of London’s underground platforms. “The images are more personal than the chewing gum works,” Wilson says, “and represent a kind of visual diary.”

Wilson was born to artist parents in London. He remembers working with clay from the age of three. He had his first art show when he was around 10 years old. He began making sculptures and large pieces for display in natural settings. Then his interest turned to waste. He has been painting on gum and other pieces of rubbish for 19 years.

The top surface of the dried gum is not subject to local or national laws. As a result, the dried gum surface creates a space, where Wilson says he can paint without damaging public property.

Government officials have removed much of the artist’s public street art. But the hundreds of gum paintings on Millennium Bridge remain for all to see.

1. What is the dried gum like in the eyes of Wilson?

A．Dirty.

B．Strange.

C．Practical.

D．Attractive.

2. Which statement can best describe Wilson?

A．He creates a hidden world.	B．He keeps a diary with drawings.
C．He reminds people to walk carefully.	D．He makes the ugly become beautiful.

3. What does the author mainly tell us about Wilson in paragraph 5?

A．His great language talent.	B．His artistic career.
C．His unusual childhood.	D．His parents’ artistic achievements.

4. What do we know about the Wilson’s street paintings?

A．Some of them are protected by law.	B．All of them are not kept well.
C．They are valued by officials.	D．They polluted the streets.

2 . Monet gets his place in the art timeline because of his leading role in the impressionist art movement, and through the lasting appeal of his artistic style. The painting he titled Impression: Sunrise, done early in his career, may not seem one of Monet’s best paintings, but the big deal about it is that it was the painting that gave impressionism its name.

Done with oil paint on canvas, this painting is characterized by thin washes of rather mild colors, on top of which he painted short strokes of pure color. Monet gave depth and perspective to an otherwise flat painting by the use of aerial perspective (空间透视法). Look closely at the three boats, and you can see how these get lighter in the tone, which is the way aerial perspective works. The lighter boats appear to be further away from us than the darkest one.

Monet exhibited the painting in what we now call the First Impressionist Exhibition, in Paris. Monet and a group of about 30 other artists, frustrated by restrictions and politics of the official annual art salon, had decided to hold their own independent exhibition, an unusual thing to do at the time. They called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc., which included artists who are now world famous such as Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Morisot, and Cezanne. Monet said he’d called the painting “impression” because “it really couldn’t pass as a view of Le Harve”.

Louis Leroy, an art critic, in his review of the exhibition used the title of Monet’s painting as the headline, calling it the “Exhibition of Impressionists”. Leroy had meant it ironically as the term “impression” was used to describe a rapidly finished painting of an atmospheric effect, and artists rarely, if ever, exhibited pictures so quickly sketched. The label stuck. In his review published on 25 April, 1874, Leroy wrote,“Wallpaper in its embryonic (萌芽期的) state is more finished than that seascape.” Then in a supportive review published a few days later, Jules Castagnary was the first art critic to use the term “Impressionism” in a positive way.

1. What do we know about Monet’s Impression: Sunrise?

A．It was universally acknowledged as Monet’s best painting.

B．Leroy was deeply impressed by the painter’s remarkable skill.

C．The different tones of the three boats gave depth to the painting.

D．It was exhibited in the official annual art salon with 30 other artists.

2. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?

A．The label met strong opposition from other art critics.

B．The label was stuck to the surface of Monet’s painting.

C．The label was not regarded as a positive image.

D．The label stayed and became widely used after that.

3. Who is the first to use the term “Impressionists”?

A．Monet.

B．Leroy.

C．Renoir.

D．Castagnary.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Impression: Sunrise gave Impressionism its name.

B．Critics had a disagreement over Monet’s painting.

C．Monet is a leading artist of Impressionism.

D．Impressionism is an appealing artistic style.

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. When did Albert Bierstadt move to America?

A．In 1830.

B．In 1831.

C．In 1832.

2. What did Albert Bierstadt do in 1854?

A．He focused on improving his drawing skills.

B．He held exhibitions in different countries.

C．He started to work as an art teacher.

3. Why did Albert Bierstadt go to the Bahamas yearly in his old age?

A．To visit his sick family member.

B．To get inspiration for his paintings.

C．To engage in environmental protection.

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。

Paper-cutting artist Rich McCor creates small silhouetted (显出轮廓的)     1     (shape) and brings them to life by holding them against European monuments. He positions simply cut-outs at the perfect angle,     2     (make) it appear as though buildings, statues, and fountains are     3     (direct) interacting with his work. McCor then takes a photo     4     (document) the unusual scene.

The playful project     5     (start) when McCor decided to be     6     tourist in his own city—London. He wanted to explore the landmarks and history he had previously ignored, so he began researching for interesting facts and brainstorming     7     to photograph the place in an     8     (origin) way. McCor’s first photo transformed the Big Ben Tower into a wrist watch. While he was there, his work was appreciated by others nearby,     9     encouraged him to build on the idea.

Since he took his first photograph, McCor has applied the same playful treatment     10     many sites in London. And thanks to a commission (委托) from Lonely Planet, he’s created similar cut-outs for monuments in Stockholm. Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris, introducing each image with random facts about the respective landmark.

5 . 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.

6 . 语法填空

Undercurrent, a twenty-foot-tall stainless-steel sculpture by Beijing-based artist Zheng Lu, is    1    display until August 2024 in the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza,     2     is just outside the United Nations complex (建筑群) in New York. The sculpture,     3     (weigh) nearly 2.5 tons, was more than two years in the making. Zheng is the first Chinese artist     4     (have) his work exhibited there.

The public art project, initiated by Sundaram Tagore, is supported by the World Council of Peoples for the United Nations, a nonprofit organization     5     (found) in Europe after World War II, which is dedicated to facilitating international partnerships that promote awareness and implementation of UN goals.

The sculpture is created     6     (specific) for the site and relates to the United Nations’ recent action initiatives on clean water and climate change. Part of the     7     (artist) acclaimed Water in Dripping series, Undercurrent emphasizes the     8     (significant) of water. As a student of Chinese philosophy, Zheng views water as symbolic of change, the passage of time     9     self-reflection.

Zheng Lu’s sculptures     10     (exhibit) around the world in the past few years, including, most recently, in Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions at the Asia Society Texas.

7 . Norman Rockwell didn’t create his celebrated images using only brush and paint. They often took shape first as scenes that Rockwell literally acted out, not only for his editors at the Saturday Evening Post, but for his real-life models, too. “It was difficult,” he once explained, “but I felt it was the best way to get across my meaning.” And so he would enthusiastically play out his visions and ideas, a one-man show packed with just the right expressions, giving enough details of each character in the scene to inspire his models and more importantly, get his editors to buy his ideas.

Now, more than 30 years after his death, Rockwell is still acknowledged for skillfully documenting the best of 20th century American life with drawings of simple emotions inspired by everyday people. To create his detailed recollections of everyday American life, Rockwell worked much like a film director, not just acting out the scenes in his imagination, but looking for locations, casting everyday people from his town for particular parts.

The recognition he received strongly proves Rockwell’s superior skills as a storyteller and is the subject of another kind of one-man show: the upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., titled Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The exhibit, gathered together from the private collections of these two popular film directors, will feature rarely viewed pieces of Rockwell’s artworks.

That concentration of information as well as emotion is something essential in Rockwell’s art. Emotion certainly spoke to Steven Spielberg when he first saw one of his favorite Rockwell paintings, High Dive, the August 16, 1947 Post cover that describes a boy at the top of what must be a towering diving board. He crouches (蹲伏) high above a swimming pool, too afraid to either jump or climb back down. The painting hangs in Spielberg’s office at Amblin Entertainment because it holds a great deal of meaning for the filmmaker.

1. How did Norman Rockwell successfully influence his editors?

A．By performing his ideas.	B．By hiring more models.
C．By donating his paintings.	D．By drawing actual events.

2. What were the subjects of Rockwell’s works?

A．Film directors.	B．Folk storytellers.
C．Natural landscapes.	D．Ordinary citizens.

3. What may the boy in the painting High Dive inspire the viewers to do?

A．Develop artistic skills.	B．Learn how to act out.
C．Appreciate nature.	D．learn to swim.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To introduce an exhibit.	B．To recommend a painting.
C．To remember an artist.	D．To explain a cultural phenomenon.

8 . Frederick Phiri, known as the junk-art king of Zambia, set out on a remarkable journey at the age of 22 when he began earning an international reputation for being able to make complex and elegant sculptures from deserted metal found in his community.

Phiri’s path to artistic recognition was filled with challenges. His childhood was marked by the loss of his father and his mother leaving him behind, making him under the care of his grandfather. While his grandfather provided for his basic education, Phiri faced financial struggles when he entered secondary school, forcing him to take on various jobs to fund his studies. Yet, despite these obstacles, his passion for art remained growing, and he dedicated his free time to drawing and crafting in the classroom.

Upon completing his education, Phiri sought to support himself by creating wire animal sculptures (雕塑品), which he sold to tourists. It was during this period that his exceptional talent caught the attention of Karen Beattie, the director of Project Luangwa, a nonprofit organization committed to education and economic development in central Africa.

Teaming up with local welder (焊接工) Moses Mbewe in 2017, Phiri contributed to the creation of a complex set of doors for Project Luangwa during the rainy season. Impressed by his work, Beattie presented Phiri with a challenge: to create art from abandoned waste metal. Undiscouraged, Phiri embraced the opportunity, transforming forgotten keys, broken bike chains, and old metal bottles into attracting abstract animal sculptures, including elephants, cranes, giraffes, and monkeys.

Today, Phiri’s artistic pursuits continue to flourish as he transforms deserted junk into striking sculptures showcased at the Project Luangwa headquarters. His talent has earned recognition and admiration from the community, fueling his dreams of pursuing formal art education at the Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka and creating even more magnificent sculptures in the future. Through creativity and determination, Phiri has turned adversity (逆境) into artistic success, leaving a lasting impact on Zambia’s art scene.

1. What is Phiri distinguished for?

A．Serving his community.	B．Collecting works of art.
C．Being the king of Zambia.	D．Turning trash into treasure.

2. What aspect of Phiri’s childhood shaped his early life?

A．His struggle to pay for primary schooling by himself.

B．The loss of his father and abandonment by his mother.

C．His dedication to part-time jobs while attending school.

D．His responsibility to support his grandfather financially.

3. What challenge did Karen Beattie present to Phiri?

A．To create sculptures from wire.

B．To sell his sculptures internationally.

C．To create art from deserted waste metal.

D．To design a complex set of doors for Project Luangwa.

4. What attitude does Phiri exhibit towards his future?

A．Uncertain.

B．Confident.

C．Depressed.

D．Confused.

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.

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.

10 . That day when Ludwig van Beethoven died was one of the saddest of my life. I had stayed with him for more than twenty years and lived through many of his happiest moments and his triumphs as well as his most unhappy times.

He wasn’t, however, the easiest of men to work for. His moods were changeable so that he could be reasonable at one moment but most impatient and intolerant at the next. All these problems began in 1802 when he discovered his loss of hearing was not temporary.

The loss of hearing brought him to a crossroads in his life. It was then that he realized that his future lay in composing music. Luckily, although his deafness brought him fear and anxiety, he was able to use these emotions to inspire his work.

Dealing with his inner problems and worries, his music was obviously subjective, which was not the most popular type of its time. But people recognized his greatness. They did so even when they knew he could not acknowledge it. When he was conducting his ninth and last symphony on its first performance he was totally deaf. So he just didn’t realize that the music had finished and continued to conduct the orchestra. One of the singers had to turn him round so he could receive the cheers of the audience. From one angle it was a sad moment but from another it was an even greater triumph. That a man with such a condition could have written such dynamic music was overwhelming! It brought tears to my eyes to think that I had contributed in some small way by looking after him.

He dressed rather like a wild man himself. His hair was always untidy, his skin marked with spots and his mouth set in a downward curve. He took no care of his appearance and walked around our city with his clothes carelessly arranged. This was because he was concentrating on his next composition.

Helping him move house many times, preparing his meals and looking after his everyday comforts were my reward for a life living so close to such a musical genius. I consider myself a lucky man!

1. The author was most likely to be Beethoven’s _______.

A．student

B．doctor

C．servant

D．relative

2. What can be learned from this passage?

A．Beethoven’s music was underestimated at that time.

B．Beethoven’s work was inspired by his fear and anger.

C．Beethoven’s music stayed in step with the mainstream music of the time.

D．Beethoven lost his ability to hear when first conducting his ninth symphony.

3. Why did the author tear in Paragraph 4?

A．Because the performance was a complete success.

B．Because he played a part in Beethoven’s success.

C．Because Beethoven was completely deaf then.

D．Because the audience cheered for Beethoven.

4. According to the author, Beethoven could be described as ________.

A．intolerant but cheerful

B．stubborn but reasonable

C．changeable but dedicated

D．unsociable but easy-going