Mr Bean, a classic character in comedies,
Contrary to Mr Bean, Rowan Atkinson, the actor of Mr Bean, lived a normal life.
2 . Stephen Wiltshire is a famous artist.His drawings —often drawn from memory and at great speed—are sketched(素描) on the spot at street level.
Stephen,who was born in London in 1974,didn’t say a word as a small child,and found it hard to relate to other people.At the age of five,Stephen was sent to Queensmill School,London,where it soon became apparent that he communicated through the language of drawing.His teachers encouraged him to speak by taking away his art materials for a short time;eventually he said his first words—“paper” and “pencil”—but didn’t learn to speak fully until the age of nine.
Stephen loved drawing and he was seldom to be found without pen and paper.Once he took part in art competitions, news of his great talent began to spread.Early fans included the late Prime Minister Edward Heath who bought his drawing of Salisbury Cathedral，made when Stephen was just eight.
But Stephen came to wider public attention when the BBC featured him in the programme,The Foolish Wise Ones in 1987,when he was introduced by Sir Hugh Casson(a past president of the Royal Academy),as “the best child artist in Britain”．
After that,Stephen’s reputation grew worldwide.A second BBC documentary in 2001 showed Stephen flying over London in a helicopter and later completing a detailed drawing of London within three hours,which included 12 historic landmarks(地标性建筑)and 200 other structures.
In 2006 Stephen was recognised for his services to the art world,when he was made a member of the Order of the British Empire.Today wherever Stephen goes,people are attracted by his outstanding talent.
1. What problem did Stephen have when he was a small child?| A．No schools wanted him. |
| B．No teachers liked him. |
| C．He couldn’t speak. |
| D．He couldn’t spell. |
| A．After his second BBC documentary. |
| B．After the programme The Foolish Wise Ones. |
| C．After he met with the late Prime Minister Edward Heath. |
| D．After Sir Hugh Casson bought his drawing of Salisbury Cathedral. |
| A．It was his greatest work. |
| B．It was drawn in a helicopter. |
| C．It featured historic landmarks. |
| D．It was finished in a short time. |
| A．a novel | B．a biography |
| C．an official report | D．a history paper |
①人物名称；
②他或她的成就。
注意：词数80左右。
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4 . Robert Frost was an established American poet. Frost spent most of his life in the northeastern United States, which heavily inspired his poetic images. He used to take up different occupations before being able to make his living as a poet. Frost worked at a factory and as a teacher, and a farmer while he wrote poems and submitted to various magazines and publications. Frost studied at Dartmouth College and Harvard, but he quitted both without receiving degrees.
In 1912, Frost moved to England, and it was there that he published his first two collections of poetry. When he returned to the U. S. a few years later, he was a recognized poet. Frost and his family moved to a farm in New Hampshire. He soon published his third collection of poetry, which contained many of his best-known poems, such as The Road Not Taken and Birches. These poems showed a deep appreciation for the beauty and wisdom of the natural world and a drive for spiritual understanding. Frost’s down-to-earth approach made it easy for readers to relate to his personal experience.
By the end of his lifetime, Frost had become a famous and beloved American poet. His poems describe the everyday details of rural life and reveal his complexity, independent spirit, and often humorous view of the world. Frost’s biographer (传记作者) wrote of him:“He was a loner who liked company; a poet of isolation(孤独)who sought a mass of audience; an outsider who sought to fit in; while preferring to stay at home, he traveled more than any poet of his generation to give lectures and readings, even though he remained frightened of public speaking to the end. ”
1. Frost first worked at other jobs while writing poetry because he _______| A．enjoyed having a job as well as writing | B．wanted to contribute to his community |
| C．felt that working made him a better poet | D．didn’t make money from his poetry at first |
| A．He wrote about traveling around. | B．His poems contained nature themes. |
| C．His poems had animals as characters. | D．He described the difficulties of hard labor. |
| A．Natural and fresh. | B．Sensible and practical. |
| C．Flexible and direct. | D．Traditional and formal. |
| A．poets of Frost’s time didn’t like giving a lecture |
| B．Frost’s poetry is very complex but entertaining |
| C．there is apparent contradiction in Frost’s character |
| D．Frost’s biographer wasn’t honest about his experience. |
5 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Thin brushstrokes. |
| B．Use of underdrawing. |
| C．Structural compositions. |
| D．Stress on the effect of light. |
| 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. |
6 . Life can sometimes seem like endless series of exhibitions. For those of us involved in the art world, there are times when we’re constantly visiting gallery after gallery, taking in as much as possible and getting to know the works of artists from far and wide. But there are some artists whose works consistently stand out. Some artists’ works stay in the thought and heart of an audience long after the show is over. I’ve noticed over the years that these are often the artists who have understood fully the skill of telling the story behind their art. These artists aren’t just selling paintings—they’re selling an experience.
Roxanna Kibsey is one of these artists. Her paintings are often exact description of frozen tundra(冻原)or autumn trees—so bright that they could nearly burn a hole in the canvas. When I met her at an exhibition she couldn’t wait to tell me about the place in her paintings. “Where I grew up we had nine months of winter every year. It’s really quite a tough place,” she said. She relived a part of her childhood when we chatted in front of her paintings. The image brought to my mind memories of driving through the snow-covered countryside during my own first winter in Canada. I could almost hear the crunching ice under my feet as she described to me the countryside she grew up in.
Businessmen may have their elevator pitch, but artists, too, need their 30-second story which rolls freely off the tongue. That’s why it’s so important that for each piece you might be exhibiting, you can conjure up(唤起)a story behind it, and tell that story to your audience in a way that helps them connect with your work, and makes them want to buy a piece.
1. What kind of artists does the author like?| A．Those who have great skills. | B．Those who have held many exhibitions. |
| C．Those who paint scenes of their own home towns. | D．Those who tell their experiences through their paintings. |
| A．had a beautiful imagination | B．thought of a serious question |
| C．brought back his own memories | D．thought of his own home town |
| A．Kibsey’s work reflects her own life | B．Kibsey had an unhappy childhood |
| C．Kibsey doesn’t like her home town | D．Kibsey’s home town is beautiful in winter |
| A．A sales introduction. | B．A wise choice. | C．A small mistake. | D．A modern tool. |
7 . Having lived together in the same city for thirty years, it is almost certain that Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and Beethoven (1770-1827) must have met one another on some occasion. However, the surviving evidence cannot be proved and the related accounts disagree with each other. This can be partly explained by Schubert's natural modesty(谦逊)and shyness of character, as well as Beethoven's increasing social distancing in his later years because of his deafness.
Still, we have reason to believe that the admiration between the two great musicians was mutual. Around one month before his death, Beethoven was presented with handwritten copies of various Schubert songs. After looking into the works of the younger composer, Beethoven is said to have spoken excitedly: “Truly, in this Schubert there is a great talent(天赋)!”Schubert also visited Beethoven's sickbed, and on 29 March 1827, he went to his funeral(葬礼). Twenty months later, on 19 November 1828, Schubert would pass away at the age of thirty-one.
On his deathbed, Schubert expressed the wish to listen to one of Beethoven's works. His friend and violinist Karl Holz along with other musicians from the composer's circle played one for him. Just days before Schubert's death, Holz, who had also been a friend of Beethoven, said: “The King of Harmony has sent the King of Song a friendly bidding(请求)to the crossing.”
“Who can ever do anything after Beethoven?” These were said to be the words of Schubert while still at a young age. An admirer of Beethoven, Schubert was influenced by the great composer, whose towering figure had thrown a large shadow(阴影)over the whole of Vienna's musical world. At Schubert's own request, he was buried next to Beethoven in Vienna. Even though they hardly met in the physical world, the two great musicians would stay together in the hereafter.
1. What stopped Schubert and Beethoven from meeting each other?| A．Schubert's personality and Beethoven's disability. | B．Beethoven being much older than Schubert. |
| C．The competitive relationship between them. | D．The long distance between them. |
| A．Beethoven had a great interest in music. | B．Beethoven was productive and talented. |
| C．Beethoven appreciated Schubert's works. | D．Beethoven and Schubert died in the same year. |
| A．A piano player. | B．The King of Song. |
| C．The King of Harmony. | D．A friend of the two musicians. |
| A．To explain the reasons for developing lifelong friendships. |
| B．To describe the relationship between the two musicians. |
| C．To advise people to listen to great musical works. |
| D．To remember two world-famous musicians. |
Johann Sebastian Bach is everywhere. Weddings? Bach. Guitar solos (独奏)?Bach. Since the 19th century, he
Bach was born into a family of working
When Bach was sixty-five, he had
