1 . For Vishwanath Mallabadi from Bangalore, India, there is no such thing as a useless object or “waste”. Give him anything—abandoned metal or plastic items, old devices, dysfunctional printed circuit boards — and he’ll create art out of it.

Vishwanath’s passion is particularly relevant in the current age, where India generates more e-waste than it can recycle. From 2019 to 2020, the country generated a total of more than 1 million tonnes of e waste. Of this, only 22.7 percent was collected, taken apart and recycled. The eco-artist has upcycled and transformed nearly 200 kg of e-waste into usable products and proposes eco-art as a means to deal with waste management.

Vishwanath’s father, D M Shambhu, was a famous sculptor and painter, but he wanted his son to choose medicine and become a doctor. However, Vishwanath, who was interested in upcycling second-hand objects right from childhood, decided to pursue a BFA in Applied Art. He later went on to work in a company as a high-level administrator and retired two years ago. “In my free time and during the weekends. I used to conduct experiments in e-waste and try to develop something unique,” he recalled.

So far, the eco-artist has created more than 500 objects. These include a six-foot tall sculpture made from upcycled computer keyboard keys, and a painting inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, using upcycled resistors (电阻器) on wood. Among his other artworks are a 42×38 inch figure statue created from upcycled keyboard keys on a sun board finished with plastics, a deer made of colorful used wires, plants and flowers from computer parts, and eco jewellery from upcycled digital wrist watch parts.

“The work involves selecting the e-waste objects—the texture, shape, and colour etc, and visualising and conceptualising the final product. It might take weeks and months for sculptures. However, sustainable initiatives and upcycled art are nowadays in demand in multinational companies opting for a sustainable culture,” he said.

1. What does the author try to convey in paragraph 2?

A．The seriousness of e-waste in India.

B．Vishwanath’s passion for environment protection.

C．The achievements of waste management in India.

D．Vishwanath’s attitude towards dealing with e-waste.

2. What did Vishwanath work as before retiring?

A．A passionate eco-artist.	B．A private doctor.
C．A famous sculptor.	D．A senior manager.

3. Which of the artworks were made of the same materials?

A．The deer and the plants.	B．The sculpture and the figure statue.
C．The painting and the flowers.	D．The deer and the eco jewellery.

4. What does Vishwanath think of his working on eco-art?

A．Exciting but unprofitable.	B．Creative but useless.
C．Demanding but worthwhile.	D．Efficient but costly.

2 . 阅读短文内容，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

As one of the top contemporary Chinese painters     1     (major) in landscapes, Fan Yang, over the past decades, has used the traditional forms of Chinese painting to record major historical events in the country with his brush.

Fan Yang     2     (grow) up in Nantong, a city abundant in cultural riches dating back to ancient times. He came from a famous literary family,     3     influence grounded in him a solid foundation and love of traditional culture and painting.

After graduating from high school, Fan chose to work at the Nantong Arts and Crafts Research Institute. He applied     4     (he) to learning about folk art, which played a significant role in his future development.

In 1978, Fan Yang     5     (admit) to the Art Department of Nanjing Normal University,     6     school with a 120-year history. Over the past century, it has cultivated many Chinese artists such as outstanding Chinese artist known     7     horse paintings, Xu Beihong, revolutionizing Chinese ink painting master, Fu Baoshi , pioneer of 20th-century Chinese oil painting Lyu Sibai and China’s famous painter, fine art historian and     8     (educate) Qin Xuanfu (1906-1998).

During his four years of college life, Fan absorbed the skills and knowledge of his predecessors (先辈)     9     going on to form his own painting style.

After many years of     10     (create) experimentation, Fan gained a strong reputation among contemporary Chinese painting circles.

3 . Many people want to look away from injustice and other troubling issues. But visual artist Siyan Wong has chosen not to look away. Through her art, she helps us see what is right before our eyes.

Wong, who lives in New York City, was born in China. Her art focuses on women, the elderly, people who are experiencing homelessness, and clothing industry workers.

Wong has loved art since she was a child. Her family didn’t have much money, so she and her sister would draw and cut out paper dolls to play with. This early experience provided Wong with a creative outlet for her emotions.

After graduating from Stuyvesant High School, she went on to college and law school. She is now a workers’ rights lawyer, but her belief in the healing (治愈) power of art remains. “Whenever I’m stressed or sad, I draw,” Wong said. “I express my feelings through art. Art is a comfortable way to bring people together to talk about difficult issues.”

One of Wong’s series is called “Five Cents a Can: Making Visible the Invisible”. I was inspired by the artist’s meetings with an Asian-American woman in her neighborhood. During early morning runs, Wong noticed the woman, who was more than 90 years old, collecting deserted cans and bottles in the dustbins behind her apartment building.

She is currently working on a painting for her “Home and Homeless” series. In the painting, she describes both a person who is homeless and an elderly canner. “The difference between someone who collects cans and someone who is homeless is hope,” Wong said. Her goal is to highlight the difference between the two and bring about questions for the viewer. Why does the elderly canner have hope, while the homeless person doesn’t? How did these individuals end up here?

1. What does Wong’s art focus on?

A．Social problems.	B．Charity projects.
C．Natural environment.	D．Her childhood life.

2. What does Wong think of the creation of arts?

A．It can improve her emotions.

B．It needs much money to achieve.

C．It helps the world present itself clearly.

D．It is what people should pay attention to.

3. Where did Wong get her inspiration for Five Cents a Can: Making Visible the Invisible?

A．Her profession as a lawyer.	B．Cans and bottles in dustbins.
C．Poverty in her neighborhood.	D．An old lady leading a hard life.

4. What is Wong’s attitude towards the lady picking up cans?

A．Doubtful.

B．Grateful.

C．Favorable.

D．Uncaring.

4 . This painting Spring Bouquet has a precise structure. The flowers spill over into the lower left-hand corner, with an imbalance as free and as wild as nature. But at once the artist responds to this unbalance. To the right of the vase, Renoir has developed a heavy shadow area, rich in purples and sharply contrasted with the light below it. The placing of the straight line in the lower right side is necessary. If the reader covers this line, he will see that the composition becomes unbalanced.

The Impressionist technique had not yet developed when Renoir painted this picture. Yet the painting with light and color indicates Impressionism is around the corner; there is something of that school in the feeling of the out-of-doors that Renoir has acquired. The texture (纹理) of the flowers is described. Above all, one can’t help saying the very nice smell of the flowers is there, too.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in 1841. He began working as a young painter of porcelain and textiles. At age 21, Renoir entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and went on to study under the instructions of painter Charles Gleyre’s. Even though his paintings had been initially rejected by the Academy and the public, with time he became one of the most admired artists of his generation.

Unfortunately, in 1899, he was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (风湿性关节炎). It is a disease that causes a lot of pain. In addition, the person affected by it may also have deformities (畸形). Consequently, his movements became very limited and each movement was a big and certainly painful effort.

His son, Jean Renoir, writes in the book Renoir, My Father after his father passed away, the reaction of the people to the painting of the father, after seeing his hands:

Visitors who were unprepared for this could not take their eyes off his deformity. Though they did not dare to mention it, their reaction would be expressed by some such phrase as “It isn’t possible!” With hands like that, how can he paint those pictures? There’s some mystery somewhere.

1. What can readers see in the painting?

A．A vase in the left corner.	B．A shadow to the vase’s right.
C．A straight line at the bottom.	D．A natural light in the middle.

2. What seems quite special about this picture when people appreciate it?

A．The painting material.	B．The color choice.
C．The smelly flower taste.	D．The impressive feeling.

3. What does the underlined word “this” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Renoir, My Father.	B．Spring Bouquet.
C．Rheumatoid arthritis.	D．Renoir’s bravery.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Patience Is a Lifetime Practice	B．Pain Passes, but Beauty Remains
C．Impressionism Is a Unique Technique	D．Work hard, and You Will Catch Up

5 . Born in a musical family in 1925 in New Orleans, Renald Richard spent his childhood filled with music. At the age of 13, he went to see a band perform at a church where he fell in love with trumpet. So he started lessons on it, and later played it in the high school band. After high school, he was sent into military service and played his trumpet in the United States Navy Band. After ending up studying music at Xavier University of Louisiana, he played clubs on the famous Bourbon Street and also toured with many bands.

In 1954, Richard was approached by Jeff Brown, the manager of musician Ray Charles. He invited Richard to join Ray Charles’ new band. “To be selected by Ray Charles was an honor to me. Ray Charles was exacting.” said Richard, “He was a perfectionist and was rather demanding about his music.”

Renald Richard toured all over the South and West with Ray Charles. Sitting in the back seat of the car on the way to a concert, Richard wrote the song “I Got a Woman” for Charles, which became Ray Charles’ first number one radio hit. In 1954,Renald Richard left Ray Charles’ band. However, he stayed friendly with Ray Charles over the years. He became the high school’s band director in his hometown until 1962. Four years later, he moved again to New York City. Over the years, Richard has written many other songs that have been recorded by artists including Joe Turner, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley to name a few. Living now in Southern Florida, Richard is still active at the age of 92. As you can see, Renald Richard’s musical days are by no means near an end.

That is today’s Celebrity Introduction. Any comments? Please write to us in the Comments Section on this page.

1. How is the text organized?

A．In order of time.	B．In order of frequency.
C．In order of preference.	D．In order of importance.

2. The underlined word “exacting” (Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to___________.

A．devoted

B．careful

C．strict

D．enthusiastic

3. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．A Life Filled with Music	B．Active at an Advanced Age
C．The Influence of a Musician	D．Renald Richard and Ray Charles

4. Where would you be most likely to find this text?

A．In a textbook.

B．In a brochure.

C．In a newspaper.

D．On a website.

6 . On a table at his home in Rosetta, a port city in northern Egypt, self-taught artist Ibrahim Bilal displayed a variety of his signature mini sculptures made with pencil tips.

With about 80 works featuring landmarks and famous people in Egypt and beyond, the 30-year old artist said he was inspired four years ago to thoroughly grasp the art form after watching videos of a Chinese artist carving pencil lead into sculptures.

Fond of ancient Egyptian icons (象征物), Bilal dedicated one of his earliest works to the world-famous Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian relic unearthed in his city and kept in the British Museum. “Being the first Egyptian to master this kind of art, I wanted to present the Egyptian cultural relics in a modern way,” Bilal noted.

Bilal uses a microscope for an enlarged view, a set of pen cutters or carving detail knives, and quality pencils mostly made in Germany or China while working. Through his deft (灵巧的) hands，landmarks across the globe, including the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, emerge on the pencil tips. The size of each sculpture is no more than 6 mm unless it’s a tower, and each takes an average of 10 hours to finish. Some may take him more than 40 hours like his dearest King Tut’s mask. These pieces are so delicate and fragile that has to be wrapped in tissues before sliding into a lab tube for temporary storage.

After graduating from law school, Bilal taught himself to be a painter professional enough to give painting classes to junior artists. He started taking part in exhibitions two years ago. “We use magnifying glasses (放大镜) to allow visitors to see the showcased works on display in detail without having to come too close to them.” Bilal said, noting the feedback from visitors has been awesome. “It was a pencil. But once I turned it into a sculpture, it has to be treated as art as well,” he said.

1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the second paragraph?

A．To introduce the origin of the art form.

B．To highlight the short history of the art form.

C．To reveal how to turn pencils into mini sculptures.

D．To show what made Bilal an artist of pencil tips.

2. What was Bilal’s goal after becoming Egypt’s first pencil tip artist?

A．To teach young artists about the art form.

B．To hold exhibitions of pencil tip sculptures.

C．To promote foreign landmarks through the art form.

D．To show the Egyptian icons with a modern technique.

3. What do we know about Bilal from the text?

A．Bilal got the inspiration from an Egyptian professional.

B．All of Bilal’s sculptures are around 6 mm.

C．The King Tut’s mask cost Bilal much longer time than the average.

D．Bilal’s sculpture display famous structures and people within Egypt.

4. What is the attitude of the people towards the exhibitions?

A．Favourable.

B．Objective.

C．Critical.

D．Indifferent.