1 . Joao Carlos Martins is a famous pianist and conductor. However, his career has been ________ and his life has taken him in many different ________.

As a teenager Martins began to perform in concerts. But in his late twenties, he had to ________ after badly breaking his arm. It was really a terrible time. He couldn’t look at a piano or ________ listen to music. ________, he decided to become the manager of a boxer, who won the world championship later. This ________ Martins to take up the piano and practise much harder. Six years later, he gave his first concert at the Carnegie Hall, which was the most ________ moment of his life. He performed in concerts for years before he had to quit because of the unbearable ________ in his hands caused by too much ________.

Martins, in his forties, became a politician. However, he couldn’t stand this ________, so once again, he went back to the piano. All was going well until something unexpected ________ while leaving a concert. He ________ a serious brain injury and lost all the movement in his right hand. Again, with great ________ he played just with his left hand. Years later he lost the use of the left hand and ________ himself a conductor. Now, in his late seventies, Martins is still taking ________ to work and has conducted over a thousand concerts.

1.

A．smooth

B．tough

C．flexible

D．interesting

2.

A．cultures

B．forms

C．directions

D．levels

3.

A．give up

B．set out

C．turn up

D．hold out

4.

A．still

B．just

C．ever

D．even

5.

A．Generally

B．Ultimately

C．Occasionally

D．Naturally

6.

A．forced

B．promised

C．motivated

D．forbade

7.

A．realistic

B．emotiona1

C．struggling

D．striking

8.

A．pain

B．cuts

C．tension

D．sensitivities

9.

A．conducting

B．playing

C．instruction

D．competition

10.

A．career

B．popularity

C．condition

D．behavior

11.

A．existed

B．remained

C．occurred

D．continued

12.

A．found

B．suffered

C．cured

D．nursed

13.

A．patience

B．care

C．pleasure

D．determination

14.

A．fancied

B．considered

C．made

D．chose

15.

A．measures

B．chances

C．courage

D．trouble

2 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

The eleven-year-old had just arrived in famous Carnegie Hall. He was to appear as a violin performer with the New York Symphony Orchestra. On his way from the stage entrance to the artists’ room, he saw a large fire ax (斧子) on a wall. “What’s that for?” he asked a guard.

“To cut the heads off the performers who don’t play well,” was the reply.

“And how many heads have you already cut off?”

“Oh, quite a few,” said the guard, with a friendly smile.

Some in the audience that night, especially the music critics, expected the boy’s head to roll. He was to play a difficult violin piece by Beethoven. Critics felt that this great piece should be attempted only by a mature artist. For a child, the complicated fingering would be impossible, they added.

It was November 25, 1927. That night Carnegie Hall was packed. All eyes in the audience watched for Yehudi Menuhin, the eleven-year-old violin performer, to appear on the stage. News of his talent had already excited the public imagination. There was an outburst of applause when he came out in his white silk shirt and black pants.

In a businesslike manner, Yehudi took his place near the conductor and handed his violin to the first violinist to be tuned. There was a breathless silence in the hall. When the kettledrum (定音鼓) announced the opening of the music, Yehudi stood calmly, so absorbed in the music that some people feared he would not come in on time. But, with only seconds to spare, he adjusted his violin and raised his bow. At the great singing tone that filled the hall, there was a slight excitement, and then a silence.

注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Listeners were impressed by his pure tone, expert fingering and wonderful skill.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Even the newspaper critics stayed on to applaud Yehudi.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . John Myatt is an artist. He may not be the greatest artist in the world, but he is possibly the world’s greatest forger (伪造者). He is able to paint pictures in the style of famous artists like Monet and Matisse.

    1     This unusual skill got Myatt into a lot of trouble in the 1990s. For many years he taught art at a secondary school, but then he got divorced (离婚) and he gave up his job to spend more time with his children. In order to make some money he started painting pictures in the style of famous artists and selling them.

    2     He was honest about his work—he wrote his name on the back, and he sold them for ￡150 each. However, one of his customers, John Drewe, started to resell Myatt’s paintings as genuine, original works. Drewe had sold one of Myatt’s paintings for￡25,000. He contacted Myatt and suggested that they go into business together. Myatt agreed. He continued to paint and Drewe sold his paintings to art collectors around the world.     3    

The amazing thing is that Myatt painted his pictures with decorator’s paint.     4     But it soon came to an end. Drewe was divorced too, and his ex-wife found out about the forgeries. She went to the police and they arrested Dewe and Myatt. At their trial Drewe was sent to prison for six years and Myatt for less than one year.

    5     When he came out he started to produce pictures in the style of famous artists again. But he put his name on the back, as he’d done before he met Drewe. Myatt is now famous and instead of charging￡150 for a painting, he can charge￡40-50,000.

A．It wasn’t illegal.

B．Then he decided to stop copying famous paintings.

C．It was the same paint that people use to paint houses!

D．Myatt only spent four months in prison for good behavior.

E．That’s more than Drewe gave him for his ‘genuine’ paintings!

F．His pictures are so good that experts can’t tell that they are not originals.

G．Between 1986 and 1994 they sold about 200 paintings and made over a million pounds.

4 . Throughout history, many of the world’s greatest artists never achieved tremendous fame until after their death. That’s the case of Vivian Maier, who’s now considered to be one of the most important American street photographers of the last century, alongside famous names like Diane Arbus and Henri Cartier-Bresson. But she remained unknown for much of her life, and it was only a chance encounter with a box of negatives that put her in the spotlight.

Details of her life are unclear, but she was born in New York City in the 1920s to European parents. Maier grew up in France before returning to the U. S., where she spent several decades working as a nanny in Chicago to wealthy families. During her days off Maier is thought to have taken more than 100, 000 photographs of people and city scenes in Chicago, yet she kept the photos to herself-many of them never developed.

Skip ahead to 2007, a Chicago historian and collector, John Maloof, came across Maier’s work by accident after purchasing a box of tens of thousands of undeveloped negatives for $380 Sat an auction (拍卖) . As he developed them, Maloof realized they were more than just photos. He was looking at evocative (唤起) art illustrating a Chicago of the mid-20-century that nobody had never seen. Maloof worked to uncover who the photographer was, acquiring more and more of her work. But before he could locate her, Maier had already passed away in 2009, having slipped on ice and never recovering from her head injury.

While Maloof researched Maier’s work, more details emerged. She kept to herself, her employers said, and she would spend her free days taking photos on the streets of Chicago with a Rolleiflex camera. According to Maloof, the children Maier took care of knew she was constantly taking photos, yet she never showed her photos to anyone. Maier also traveled around the world, as indicated by some of her photos.

Other collectors began to acquire Maier’s photos, but Maloof owns much of her work. He released a book, Vivian Maier: Street Photographer, in 2011, and his documentary, Finding Vivian Maier, came out in 2013.

1. Which word can be used to describe Vivian’s life?

A．Risky.

B．Wealthy.

C．Mysterious.

D．Miserable.

2. What do we know about Vivian Maier?

A．She was born in France.

B．She never developed her photos.

C．She enjoyed great fame in her life.

D．She took photos of Chicago and other cities.

3. What did Maloof do after he found Maier’s photos?

A．He approached Maier’s former employers.

B．He managed to meet the artist in the flesh.

C．He released a collection of Maier’s work.

D．He purchased more developed negatives.

4. What can be inferred about Vivian Maier’s photos?

A．They were presented to her employers.

B．They were meant to earn her a fortune.

C．They were taken by a professional artist.

D．They were of artistic and historical value.

5 . Mariah Reading is an environmentalist, who grew up with an early appreciation for nature. While studying art at Bowdoin College, she saw the vast amounts of_______from her painting and sculpture classes. She began to seriously consider her footprint as a(n)_________“How can I paint landscapes if I’m _________them?” she thought. Then she started using the refuse as her canvas (画布).

After graduation, Mariah travelled throughout the country,_________ rubbish to bring to her studio. One day, a_________ hubcap (轮毂盖) she found by the side of the road gave her a new ___________ . She noticed the half hubcap had cracked off to_________the line of the mountain range that she was in. So she_________ the mountain landscape on it and held it up in front of the real _________ and took a photo. It became the first in her __________ series.

Over the years, she has painted more than 100 pieces of rubbish and photographed her transformations__________matching real-life landscapes. It’s like __________ new life into forgotten objects. Her practice__________the principle of “leaving no trace” by __________ painting with sculpture and photography.

Mariah hopes people see themselves and their own habits __________ into her works and make small changes in their everyday lives.

1.

A．paper

B．waste

C．power

D．work

2.

A．artist

B．cleaner

C．journalist

D．mechanic

3.

A．exploring

B．forgetting

C．harming

D．shaping

4.

A．taking out

B．learning about

C．complaining of

D．picking up

5.

A．broken

B．lost

C．new

D．hidden

6.

A．medium

B．idea

C．reason

D．life

7.

A．damage

B．connect

C．form

D．cross

8.

A．protected

B．enjoyed

C．changed

D．painted

9.

A．car

B．range

C．picture

D．road

10.

A．ongoing

B．outdated

C．energy-consuming

D．self-centered

11.

A．from

B．without

C．against

D．as

12.

A．forcing

B．turning

C．attracting

D．breathing

13.

A．highlights

B．replaces

C．compromises

D．ignores

14.

A．surrounding

B．filling

C．combining

D．comparing

15.

A．trapped

B．reflected

C．added

D．admitted

6 . Najma Hashi (also named Nujuum) is a respected female artist, whose paintings are winning a global following. But Nujuum is not your _________ next-generation rising star. Nujuum, 26, grew up in Somalia, where new artists, especially female ones, are _________ from pursuing art.

This young artist grew up in a _________ living environment, which she has _________ to watching a horror movie: war, drought, poverty and hunger. Since Nujuum was seven, _________ Nujuum went, she felt moved to paint. As a child, on her way home from school, she would sit by the _________ and draw pictures in the sand. “I was thinking of creating my own little world, getting away from the _________. Art has always been a form of _________ for me.” As she went through school, she drew a whole city on her bedroom wall using her school pencils.

However, Nujuum was _________ that art isn’t a respected profession in her country. “Art, __________, in the Somalian community is not a good thing to do,” she says. Her mother did not share her dreams, nor did her neighbors who considered them __________.

This __________ made her give up art for a while. However, she realized that she had a __________: “Either I continue drawing and painting and create a beautiful life or I stay unhappy for the rest of my life.” Finally, Nujuum turned her __________ in art into something she could make a living from.

She __________ opening a school one day for other talented local artists, enabling them to choose art as a career too.

1.

A．strange

B．intelligent

C．ambitious

D．typical

2.

A．protected

B．discouraged

C．helped

D．kept

3.

A．peaceful

B．comfortable

C．terrible

D．civilized

4.

A．compared

B．refused

C．determined

D．failed

5.

A．somewhere

B．nowhere

C．everywhere

D．where

6.

A．shore

B．table

C．station

D．store

7.

A．imagination

B．extinction

C．reality

D．danger

8.

A．survival

B．relief

C．excellence

D．reward

9.

A．concerned

B．likely

C．optimistic

D．aware

10.

A．in general

B．in person

C．in shock

D．in secret

11.

A．normal

B．confusing

C．useful

D．strange

12.

A．pressure

B．shame

C．consequence

D．extent

13.

A．advantage

B．opportunity

C．intention

D．choice

14.

A．tendency

B．appreciation

C．interest

D．entertainment

15.

A．approves of

B．dreams of

C．consists of

D．knows of

7 . Most artists have to wait decades for their talents to be recognized. Some, like Dutch painter Van Gogh, only achieve _______ after they die. But this is not the _______ for Andres Valencia. The 11-year-old boy has already _______ millions selling his contemporary paintings to art collectors.

Andres’ parents are art lovers and collectors. They began _______ Andres to modern paintings when he was just a kid. The young boy soon began _______ famous artworks with great accuracy. His father, Lupe, says, “When he was 4 or 5, my wife and I would _______ him paint and do sketches(素描), and we were really surprised at what he would do.”

By age six, the _______ artist was selling his watercolor paintings to family and friends for $20 a piece. Over time. Andres began creating large-scale paintings with a _______ of oil stick and oil and acrylic paints. His masterpieces were all _______ contemporary artists like Picasso.

Bernie Chase, a family friend and owner of an art gallery, recognized Andres’ __________ from the start. He bought the young boy’s artwork every time he __________ and even paid $5,000 for one. In 2022, the young boy held his first __________ at Chase’s gallery. The 35 paintings __________ were sold for between $50,000 and $125,000 each.

When not painting, Andres is a __________ fifth-grader with math homework. “My son is an artist, but he is a __________ first.” His mother said. “He is a child, not a celebrity.”

1.

A．victory

B．progress

C．fame

D．effect

2.

A．case

B．model

C．lesson

D．honor

3.

A．wasted

B．paid

C．spent

D．earned

4.

A．showing

B．leading

C．exposing

D．adapting

5.

A．learning

B．appreciating

C．analyzing

D．copying

6.

A．watch

B．make

C．help

D．find

7.

A．generous

B．ambitious

C．honest

D．brave

8.

A．variety

B．sort

C．mixture

D．system

9.

A．attached to

B．aimed at

C．recognized as

D．impacted by

10.

A．gift

B．courage

C．effort

D．intelligence

11.

A．discovered

B．visited

C．admired

D．analyzed

12.

A．ceremony

B．celebration

C．exhibition

D．party

13.

A．marked

B．restored

C．framed

D．displayed

14.

A．regular

B．wise

C．hardworking

D．naughty

15.

A．millionaire

B．kid

C．genius

D．master

8 . 语法填空

Ludwig van Beethoven     1    (recognise) as one of the greatest composers in the history of music.     2     his twenties, he had been very famous for his skills on the piano, but then he began to lose his hearing. Despite his deafness, he continued his composition until his death in 1827,     3    (finish) more than 130 musical works.

One day in February 1824, he sat back in his chair, with his     4    (nine) symphony finally completed. But before the performance, he was afraid that it would be     5     disaster because of his hearing loss.

To his surprise, the audience applauded loudly as he walked out onto the stage. For more than an hour, Beethoven jumped about, waving his arms wildly in the air and madly turning the pages of his score. The theatre’s musical director, Umlauf stood quietly by his side,     6    (skilful) guiding the orchestra through the most amazing piece of music the world had ever known.

As the final,     7    (joy) note signalled the end of the symphony, the audience jumped to their feet, cheering and clapping. But Beethoven continued conducting, his head buried in the score. He didn’t realise his symphony was a     8    (succeed) until Caroline Unger, one of the singers,     9    (turn) him to face the audience.

Later, Caroline remembered that Beethoven was not the only one     10     got a surprise. The audience was shocked too.

9 . Born on the 25th of February, 1841, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was the son of a painter. Renoir took an interest in painting early in his life; his family moved to Paris in 1844 and encouraged him to frequent the Louvre where he developed an interest in the French Rococo style of François Boucher and the Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix, admiring their loose brushstrokes (笔法) and emphasis on bright colours.

In 1862, Renoir began studying painting under Charles Gleyre, whose other pupils included Claude Monet, Frèdèric Bazille, and Alfred Sisley. These artists would form what would later be termed Impressionism. Although Renoir experienced some success exhibiting in the Salon, for example his 1867 painting, Lise with a Parasol, he frequently struggled to gain acceptance within the strict structure of the Salon. Renoir along with Monet, Sisley, and Pissarro put on the first ‘Impressionist’ exhibition.

The Impressionist painters often describe ordinary subject matter working en plein air (outdoors) to capture a spontaneous (自然的) moment. The style was characterised by broad loose brushstrokes, open composition and an interest in the effect of light. However, by 1878 Renoir had grown disillusioned (理想破灭的) with the Impressionists' emphasis on spontaneity. By the third Impressionist exhibition, his paintings, although still displaying an interest in the effect of light, presented a more carefully composed scene such as Bal du moulin de la Galette, 1876.

In the 1880s, Renoir travelled to Italy where he came to admire the structural compositions and underdrawing of the Renaissance artists, in contrast to the en plein air technique favoured by the Impressionists. The trip to Italy had a crucial effect on his artistic style, moving his work towards more classical conceptions of draughtsmanship (绘画才能) and composition, as can be seen in his Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir died on the 3rd of December, 1919. Producing over two hundred works during his lifetime, Renoir greatly influenced later artists, ensuring his legacy (遗产) as one of the most influential artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

1. What stirred up Renoir's interest in the French Rococo style?

A．His father's painting technique.

B．His frequent visits to the Louvre.

C．His encounter with François Boucher.

D．His painting study under Charles Gleyre.

2. What can be learned about Renoir's paintings in the Salon?

A．They met with insufficient recognition.

B．They were highly regarded by art experts.

C．They presented carefully composed scenes.

D．They were heavily influenced by Impressionism.

3. What is a feature of Impressionists' painting?

A．Thin brushstrokes.

B．Use of underdrawing.

C．Structural compositions.

D．Stress on the effect of light.

4. How did Renoir's trip to Italy influence him?

A．It made him adopt a classical painting style.

B．It brought him considerable fame and wealth.

C．It changed his view on life and his attitude to work.

D．It improved his relationship with other Impressionists.

10 . From woodworker to great artist—this was the course of Qi Baishi’s life. He achieved success by coupling talent with hard work. In 1953, he was honoured with the title “People’s Artist” by the Chinese government.

For most of the general public, his masterpieces are his paintings of shrimps. At the beginning, he painted these small animals by following ancient models. Later, he developed a personal style by using shades of black ink to show a shrimp’s body, giving it an almost real-life feel. Besides, his paintings of flowers and vegetables, indicating rich harvests (丰收), are famous as well. People love these nature-based paintings because the works remind them of the countryside and of their hometowns. The dove is another common image in Qi’s art during his later years, showing his wish for world peace.

Be it landscapes, birds, flowers or figures, Qi’s paintings are rich in expression and detail. Using heavy ink, bright colors and energetic strokes (运笔), he created works in a fresh and lively manner, expressing his love of nature and life. His art reflects an international trend (趋势) in modern art at the time, yet he expressed it in a typical Chinese way.

Qi was hard-working even in his 70s. He kept looking for higher goals, especially as he got older. While many other Chinese artists retire from public life at an old age, Qi actively took on more social responsibilities. He said: “I love my hometown, my country and all the lives there. In recent years, I have realized that what I run after is world peace.”

In 1956, he was awarded the International Peace Prize by the World Peace Council.

1. Why are Qi Baishi’s nature-based paintings popular?

A．They lift people’s spirits.	B．They touch people’s feelings.
C．They inspire people’s passions.	D．They reflect people’s wishes.

2. What does paragraph 3 focus on about Qi Baishi?

A．His masterpieces.	B．His influence.
C．His painting subjects.	D．His painting style.

3. Why was Qi Baishi still hard-working at an old age?

A．To popularize Chinese paintings.	B．To involve the youth in arts.
C．To shoulder more social responsibilities.	D．To earn international reputation.

4. Which of the following words can be used to best describe Qi?

A．Remarkable and admirable.	B．Passionate and confident.
C．Intelligent and generous.	D．Realistic and professional.