1 . If dropping two studio albums within five months in 2020 wasn't enough of a surprise, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is now serving her fans a third one. Fearless (Taylor's Version), released on April 9th, is a remake of her 2008 country album Fearless, which follows in the wake of the singer's contract battle with her former label Big Machines back in 2019. Upon its release, the album sold 205,000 digital copies in China in less than five minutes and instantly topped the charts on Chinese song streaming platforms, including QQ Music and NetEase Music.
The re-recorded Fearless, a composition of 19 tracks from the songwriter's original album and 6 additional “From the Vault" songs, represents a retrieval of her past memories and love stories. The same brisk (轻快的)and bright lyrics and melodies are presented in a mellower (醇 美的)and warmer voice and have received tons of praise and celebration among Chinese Swifties-the nickname for Taylor's fans in the country.
“A break with the past to start all over again-that needs good faith and a strong heart,” read one comment on Tencent's QQ Music. “So dulcet and ear-catching. If you missed the 19-year-old Taylor, the 31-year-old Taylor will guide you to begin again,” a fan declared boisterously in NetEase Music's comments section.
Taylor Swift has now taken the crown as the best-selling artist of all time on major Chinese music streaming platforms, with her studio recordings earning more than a combined 159 million RMB ($24.3 million) as of April 14, outselling many famous Chinese singers including Jay Chou, Lay Zhang, and Li Yuchun.
The American singer's huge success in China is derived from her never — go — out — of — style artistry and inexhaustible creativity, while also being a product of her enormous fan base, which has succeeded with China's booming music industry. Taylor boasts about 10 million followers on China's Weibo, a microblogging platform, and has more than 9.3 million and 4.9 million followers on QQ Music and NetEase Music, respectively. Apart from their frequent trending on social media platforms, her songs have also repeatedly appeared in music competition shows and in the promos （预告片）for popular films, such as Detective Chinatown, a Chinese comedy-mystery series.
1. What can we learn about Fearless released on April 9th?| A．It's a 2008 country album. |
| B．It's labelled Big Machines. |
| C．It's a composition of 19 songs. |
| D．It's an album of 25 songs. |
| A．Fashionable. | B．Productive. |
| C．Creative. | D．Determined. |
| A．They are full of artistry and creativity. |
| B．They are dulcet and ear-catching. |
| C．They have brisk and bright melodies. |
| D．They are popular in Weibo platform. |
| A．Taylor took part in the music competition in China. |
| B．Taylor's fans made China's boom music industry. |
| C．Taylor benefits from China's music industry. |
| D．Taylor starred in Detective Chinatown, |
2 . If you’re looking for someone to make a realistic, three-dimensional (3D) portrait of your pet cat using felted wool, you’ll have a tough time finding someone better than Wakuneco, a Japanese artist who started creating needle felt art back in 2015. Using different colored wool, this artist creates life-like cat portraits. Just have a look at what she can do with a needle and wool thread.
Looking at some of the cat portraits created by the talented Japanese artist, it’s hard to believe they are made of felted wool and not taxidermy (动物标本剥制术) masterpieces. To achieve this level of realism, which translates as “frame cat”, Wakuneco spends hours on end poking wool with a needle to create solid layers that imitate cat fur, applying realistic glass eyes and finally adding the whiskers. After everything is just as she wants, the 3D portrait is framed and sent to the owner who ordered it.
Losing a beloved pet is never easy, but Wakuneco’s realistic cat portraits — made using photographs of real cats as a reference — help owners deal with their loss. And while not all of her customers are owners looking for something special to remember their pets, many of her portraits are ordered as a means of copying.
Wakuneco currently offers her amazing wool felting skills through Yahoo Auctions, but only to Japanese customers. However, after photos of her amazingly detailed portraits spread quickly online, she did express her intention to start taking international orders in the near future. In the meantime, you can admire her amazing creations on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and watch videos of the creative process on YouTube.
For more amazing felted wool artworks, check out the creations of Gardenia Miru and Terumi Ohta, two other very talented Japanese artists, as well as the felted wool animal portraits of Dani Ives.
1. What does the author mean by saying the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?| A．No one can do better than Wakuneco. |
| B．Wakuneco is too busy to be visited or invited. |
| C．It’s hard for you to get along well with Wakuneco. |
| D．You’ll find many other skillful persons like Wakuneco. |
| A．They’re widely considered as taxidermy masterpieces. |
| B．Their eyes are made of felted wool in most cases. |
| C．They’re made by modeling the pictures of authentic cats. |
| D．Their fur is taken from animals no longer alive. |
| A．Dani Ives’s wool animal portraits are gaining in popularity. |
| B．Only the Japanese can buy Wakuneco’s artworks for the time being. |
| C．Wakuneco decided to show her creative process on Twitter. |
| D．Wakuneco is unsure about selling her artworks internationally. |
| A．3D Technology Used in Art. |
| B．Four Talented Japanese Artists. |
| C．Needle Felting: An Art in Danger. |
| D．Wakuneco’s Realistic 3D Cat Portraits. |
