1 . 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。

Maxime Biou, a winner of the 2020 Yishu 8 Young French Artist Award, is holding     1     exhibition in Beijing. Biou, born in France in 1993, is based in Paris. He graduated from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2019 and the following year he     2     (win) the Yishu 8 Young French Artist Award. Over the past few years, he     3     (participate) in artistic residencies in cities such as Madrid, Avignon, and Nantes, showing his creations in exhibitions     4     (hold) in well-known locations like Paris, Venice, and Arles. In October, Biou began his residency in Beijing. Within a month, he toured world- famous landmarks     5     the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Beihai Park, and the Great Wall. He also explored exhibitions showcasing the works of young Chinese artists in the 798 Art Zone. Yet,     6     truly attracted him was the hutong where he chose to live. Biou     7     (skillful) pictures the essence of the hutong life on oil paintings in this exhibition. Displayed are four oil paintings     8     Biou employs his distinctive brushwork to paint the differences of time, light, scenery, and     9     (object) within the small alleys. Christine Cayol, the     10     (found) of Yishu 8, said that Biou enjoyed the nights of Beijing, where he illustrated his viewpoints and reflections on life. The exhibition runs until Dec. 10.

2 . Making marks or signing names in the sand is a great fun for most travelers on a vacation beach. But for Dubai-based Filipino artist Nathaniel A. Alapide, it’s how he became a Guinness World Record holder.

Dubai’s 72 kilometers coastline, and the vast Arabian Desert, are Alapide’s canvas (画布). Using only a simple garden tool, he draws enormous lines across the beaches and deserts, making huge and complex designs. His average drawing is around 20 meters squared. When he includes a written message, the pieces can be more than 100 meters long.

Alapide’s sand art began in 2014, when he drew a tree in memory of his late grandmother on the beach, near Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The size of the drawing appealed to the hotel which offered him his first full-time job as a sand artist in 2015. Since then, he has decorated the sands with around 1,900 drawings. He’s been assigned by big brands, and he created a work for National Geographic for the program “The Emirates From Above”. In 2022, Alapide set a new record for the world’s largest sand image.

Though Alapide has crafted a career from the practice, he says creating an artwork from sand isn’t always plain sailing. “On the 20th day of creating the world-record piece, we were almost 70% done but there was this weather that happened,” he says. “It was raining, and the wind was so strong, which removed almost the whole piece.”

“I think where I find this kind of work interesting,” Alapide continues. He says that the temporary nature of his work reminds him that everything is in constant change. “And I think making sand art is a great way to connect with people,” he adds. “I like to watch how people interact with the work and I have found that the kids notice the drawings more than the adults. I think because they’re more aware of their environment.”

1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about Alapide’s drawing?

A．Its origin.	B．Its size.
C．Its materials.	D．Its features.

2. How did Alapide start his career of sand drawing?

A．By decorating a hotel as required.

B．By impressing a hotel with his work.

C．By transplanting a tree on the beach.

D．By creating works for big brands.

3. What can we say about Alapide’s job according to paragraph 4?

A．Challenging.

B．Worthless.

C．Influential.

D．Impractical.

4. What does the last paragraph intend to convey?

A．A candle lights others but consumes itself.

B．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.

C．Happiness lies not in things, but in ourselves.

D．The longest journey begins with the first step

3 . There’s no end to the work to do with improving diversity in children’s media, especially for storybooks. Children need to be able to see themselves in the characters of the stories they hear and read, at a stage where they’re building their understanding of the world around them.

Shachi Kaushik’s new book, Diwali in My New Home, brings the festival of lights to life for an immigrant community.

This picture book is for children aged 5 to 8. It speaks to Indian children’s experiences living abroad when they’ve experienced life in India. The story is about a girl, Priya, who loves being with family and friends to celebrate Diwali. But Priya and her parents began living in the United States this year, and no one seems to know about the holiday. Priya misses the traditions in India. As she joins the lights together and creates rangoli art(地画艺术), Priya introduces the festival of lights to her neighbors. And even though the celebration is different this year, it’s still Diwali.

Kaushik was a lawyer before she discovered the joy of telling stories to young children. Storytelling began when she volunteered in Texas, where she hosted a monthly storytime for children. Seeing the joy on the children’s faces inspired her to write children’s books.

When asked “What’s the secret to making children pay attention to stories?”, she said, “I would say the secret is to be present and not to be shy from acting, singing or dancing. Be a performer. While reading, use facial expressions and voice to add excitement to the story. Also try asking questions like ‘What do you think will happen?’. Let the little ones’ imagination flow. Lastly, try adding a finger play song and some dance moves to get those little ones into the mood.”

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To give explanation of diversity.	B．To explain the aim of the storybooks.
C．To show the importance of children’s media.	D．To lead in the introduction of Shachi Kaushik’s book.

2. What is Diwali?

A．A festival.

B．A country.

C．A community.

D．A character.

3. What encouraged Kaushik to write children’s books?

A．The joy from children listening to stories.	B．The job as a lawyer.
C．The experience of selling storybooks.	D．The money earned by hosting storytime.

4. Why does Kaushik ask questions when telling stories to children?

A．To test if they are shy.	B．To attract their attention.
C．To encourage them to use facial expressions.	D．To teach them to be a performer.

4 . The Chinese written language originated very early. However, people began to like the art of writing, and pay attention to the creator’s thinking and spirit since the period between the Late Han Dynasty and Wei Jin Dynasty. The Chinese calligraphy fonts(字体) gradually evolved from oracle, Chinese bronze inscriptions and silk manuscripts to the following five main schools:

School	Representative Master	Feature
Seal Script	Li Si	There are Big Zhuan and Small Zhuan. The Big Zhuan includes all the ancient Chinese calligraphy fonts before Qin Dynasty. The Small Zhuan are the characters commonly used by officials after Qin united China. These characters feature balanced left and right parts and a bit complicated structures.
Official Script	Cai Yong	A simplified form of script since seal characters were too complicated for officials to use when copying documents.
Regular Script	Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan	Also named Zhenshu or Zhengshu, Kaishu is regular with a tight structure and fluent strokes.
Cursive Hand	Zhang Xu, Huai Su	Caoshu is characterized by sketchy, simplified forms of characters, often distorted or exaggerated to achieve an internal rhythmic appearance within the compositions of characters.
Running Hand	Wang Xizhi, Yan Zhenqing; Su Shi	Xingshu is something between the regular script and the cursive scripts in the initial period and now is between the official script and cursive(草写体的)hand. Chinese masters have always compared the three styles of writing, Kaishu, Xingshu, Caoshu to people standing, walking and running respectively.

1. The difference between Seal Script and Official Script lies in ______.

A．the difficulty to write	B．their function in use
C．who often wrote them	D．how cursive they are

2. Which school is compared to people walking according to the text?

A．Official Script.	B．Running Hand.
C．Cursive Hand.	D．Regular Script.

3. If you want to practice both Regular Script and Running Hand, who is a better choice to choose based on this article?

A．Ouyang Xun.	B．Yan Zhenqing.
C．Zhang Xu.	D．Wang Xizhi.

5 . In artist Roy Wang’s photos, mythical (神话的) creatures from The Classic of Mountains and Seas emerge in front of historical sites of Guangzhou.

The series of photographs is created by light painting in which the photographer uses light sources to produce different images which are captured by a camera, as if drawing on the photos. Roy Wang, the representative figure of light-painting photography in China, says, “What attracts me most about light painting is that, by using a simple light and against a dark background, I can paint in a free style.”

Wang was a professional athlete. However, his sports career ended in 2012 because of injuries. His travels led to his interest in photography. Once he saw light-painting photos by Spanish master Pablo Picasso online and was introduced to the technique. He began to try in this field.

In 2013, he started adding the dragon and other creatures from ancient texts to light painting. Wang’s work is inspired by mythical creatures that add a sense of mystery to his photography but at the same time it proves to be difficult to create such images with light.“The mythical creatures are as mysterious as light painting. They both emerge in the darkness, and without an exact shape or form, they are free. I let loose my imagination,based on the descriptions in ancient books,” said Wang.

To Roy Wang, the technique has a wide application in expressing different ideas. Apart from mythical creatures, he has been showing themes relevant to more recent events, such as a series in praise of medical workers during the outbreak of COVID-19.

Tradition will continue to be a creative force for Wang as he wants to add more Chinese elements in his works, including his next series, creating photos that have both aesthetic (美学的) and cultural values.

1. What is special about Roy Wang’s paintings?

A．They are made with light.

B．They are drawn on the photos.

C．They tell stories about ancient life.

D．They mainly show us historical sites.

2. What inspired Wang to start his new career?

A．Sudden injuries.	B．Travels with a master.
C．His sports career.	D．Photos by Pablo Picasso.

3. What problem does Wang have in photographing mythical creatures?

A．It needs a lot of light to draw the creatures.

B．There are few specific images of the creatures.

C．His technique is not suitable for the creatures

D．He has little knowledge of ancient books.

4. What can we infer about Wang’s future works?

A．They will mainly praise medical workers.

B．They will express Wang’s ideas about art.

C．They will focus on important recent events.

D．They will contain traditional Chinese culture.

6 . Growing up in rural Jiangsu Province, Yu Jigao showed a strong interest in fine arts at an early age and studied on his own for years. His hard work paid off later. In the early 1950s, he made his way to Nanjing Normal University, where he learned painting theories and techniques from some famous artists. It was then that Yu found his lifelong artistic passion for gongbi. Gongbi paintings usually describe birds and flowers, symbols of beauty and joy, in an artistic way with intense color.

After graduation from the art school in 1957, Yu began his professional career at the Chinese Painting Institute of Jiangsu. He has since published a series of art collections. Since 1959, Yu has contributed a series of works to many important sites. Yu’s works have also been displayed in a range of national and international exhibitions. From 1986 to 1997, he held his exhibitions in such places as Beijing, Guangzhou and New York. Both the themes and artistic techniques have won widespread praise in the past years.

While observing traditional rules, he uses accurate lines, powerful brush movements as well as the interplay between dark and light to represent the harmony of nature. Though he adopts a realistic style, he tries to enrich his works with spiritual beauty through his brush. Yu says, “That feeling turns into the images of singing birds and elegant flowers in my paintings.” Thanks to his careful observation of nature and artistic sensitivity, Yu is able to combine realistic description with artistic expression in his brushwork.

Now as deputy director of the Academy of Chinese Gongbi Painting of Flowers and Birds and a national top-level artist, Yu maintains a simple and easy-going style. In addition to artistic creation, Yu has devoted himself to promoting his painting style as the cultural heritage of China. “Art is part of my life,” Yu says. “I am proud to be a flower-bird painter. I hope to create a bright future for it through my efforts.”

1. Where did Yu discover his love for gongbi?

A．In Beijing.	B．In New York.
C．At Nanjing Normal University.	D．At the Chinese Painting Institute of Jiangsu.

2. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about Yu?

A．His school life.	B．His painting techniques.
C．His contributions to the art school.	D．His artistic achievements in painting.

3. Which is Yu’s painting feature?

A．Adopting abstract objects.

B．Excluding plants and animals.

C．Combining traditional rules with a realistic style.

D．Representing the imbalance between nature and humans.

4. What does Yu expect of his painting style?

A．It will change a lot.	B．It will be passed on.
C．It will look more complicated.	D．It will reach the top international level.

7 . 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.

8 . Wendo Musaly was born in Congo (DRC) on November 21, 1996. Two months after he was born, the situation in Congo went into a state of war causing unrest across the country. To keep their children, Wendo and his elder sister, safe, Wendo’s parents decided to flee to Tanzania, where they had to live in refugee (难民) camps, dependent on others for the basic necessities of life.

At 11, Wendo and his friends formed a music group. Guitars and drums were the only instruments they had to practice their music. After some time, they gained confidence in themselves and began performing in the street and even at parties. This was when Wendo realized that he had a talent in him.

After Wendo was hit with the realization that he was great with music, he began taking it more seriously. In 2016, when his family finally moved to the States, Wendo could see a future for himself. Although late, his parents got him and his sister in a high school to complete their studies in 2016. Wendo went to Winooski High School and completed his high school studies in 2020. All this time, he did not abandon his passion for music. Instead, he tried his hand at songwriting.

Musaly got his first break in August 2018 when he cooperated with Mr. Oli on a song named Pourquoi. As a newcomer, it was surprising for him to receive a positive response to his work, and this was just the beginning of his career. He started working on various projects and made tons of works produced by working with others. Wendo then released a song, Give Me That Eh, featuring Mr. Oli & Q-Boi and Tú’úndané featuring Lumiere. He also worked on some singles, including Kiboko WE and Je T’Aime.

Music was truly his talent, as he succeeded in each step that he took. Life has mysterious ways of rewarding people, and this was how Wendo Musaly was rewarded for his good spirit, positive attitude and perseverance (坚持不懈).

1. What was Wendo’s life like in Tanzania?

A．Comfortable.

B．Dangerous.

C．Promising.

D．Tough.

2. Which of the following best describes Wendo?

A．He’s kind-hearted.	B．He’s very determined.
C．He thinks highly of himself.	D．He has a gift for songwriting.

3. What does Paragraph 4 mainly talk about concerning Wendo?

A．His struggle for life.	B．His extraordinary gift.
C．His attempts at success.	D．His musical achievements.

4. What message does Wendo’s journey to success convey to us?

A．Parents are the best teachers.	B．Perseverance leads to success.
C．Opportunities favor the talented.	D．Suffering is the gateway to reputation

9 . On Lake Pitkajarvi, Pasi Widgren made an image of a fox that measures 90 meters from head to tail. For the sixth year in a row, the 40-year old building designer in Finland has ________ a very large work of art on the ________ lake. Widgren lives near the lake. He ________ a shovel (铲子) to create the artworks on ice. They melt from sight over time or ________ under snow.

Widgren made his first ice picture in the ________ of 2016. The idea to make such pieces came to him ________. He visited Lake Pitkajarvi on December 4. He tested the ________ of the ice after he arrived to ________ it was strong enough to walk and ________ on. It was about 10-15 centimeters thick. After four hours of work, Widgren was ________.

He then walked up a hillside about 150 meters above the lake to get a good ________ at his large artwork. He took some pictures to mark the ________.

However, several days later the image was harder to ________ because it then snowed a little. But its lack of permanence (永久) was not a ________ for its creator. He hoped the artwork would make people happy and move them to go for a walk in what he called “beautiful nature”. “It’s important to me that making this kind of art doesn’t leave any ________ on nature, ” Widgren said.

1.

A．identified

B．imagined

C．discovered

D．created

2.

A．clear

B．smooth

C．frozen

D．distant

3.

A．measures

B．steals

C．donates

D．uses

4.

A．disappear

B．escape

C．recover

D．prove

5.

A．spring

B．summer

C．autumn

D．winter

6.

A．suddenly

B．secretly

C．normally

D．absolutely

7.

A．weight

B．area

C．thickness

D．length

8.

A．give away

B．make sure

C．wake up

D．take over

9.

A．work

B．rely

C．concentrate

D．live

10.

A．nearby

B．done

C．prepared

D．concerned

11.

A．journey

B．time

C．look

D．impression

12.

A．effort

B．promotion

C．performance

D．course

13.

A．control

B．see

C．protect

D．confirm

14.

A．protest

B．balance

C．reason

D．problem

15.

A．values

B．marks

C．chances

D．evidences

10 . At just 21 years old, Nija Charles is one of today's most popular songwriters.

She has been ________ with Beyonce, Jay Z, Cardi B, and many other today's popular music artists. Their works have been ________ . And she was even included in three Grammy nominations（提名）.

But just a few years ago, Charles was only a（n） ________ in the crowd. She was ________ in a musical family. "My dad is a DJ. My mom is a dancer," Charles ________ . "So growing up in this family, I was always ________ by music and crazily chased after musicians."

Charles said she first ________ music at age 13, when she asked her mom for a mini keyboard because she was ________ to produce. "So she got one for me, and I started tapping on the keys," she said.

Charles continued to learn music at New York University, where she'd make songs in her dormitory and post them online. Soon she was ________ in flying across the country on weekends, performing on stage and then studying at school.

"It was tough for me. There were some classes I ________ had to skip. But yeah, it was must time management and 1 had to ________ and finish my homework before I got on the plane or I'd finish the ________ on the plane. I wrote songs during the weekend. I made sure I studied hard so I could finish ________ that year," she said.

Talking about her success, Charles said, "It's ________ that my favourite artists are now the people I cooperate with. Several years ago, I was at their ________ but now I'm in the studio with them."

1.

A．working

B．competing

C．arguing

D．entertaining

2.

A．unaddressed

B．labour-saving

C．award-winning

D．unsearchable

3.

A．clerk

B．artist

C．focus

D．fan

4.

A．born

B．introduced

C．invited

D．forced

5.

A．proposed

B．complained

C．sighed

D．recalled

6.

A．annoyed

B．surrounded

C．changed

D．rejected

7.

A．appreciated

B．evaluated

C．accessed

D．composed

8.

A．empty-handed

B．longing

C．absent-minded

D．unwilling

9.

A．honest

B．lacking

C．weak

D．engaged

10.

A．definitely

B．slightly

C．scarcely

D．indirectly

11.

A．call back

B．get along

C．hurry up

D．settle down

12.

A．favorites

B．assignments

C．advertisements

D．ambitions

13.

A．performance

B．career

C．school

D．training

14.

A．incredible

B．ridiculous

C．simple

D．obvious

15.

A．classes

B．concerts

C．families

D．weddings