1 .

15 TH OCT 2023 CULTURE Gazelle Twin, a composer, producer, and musician, opens up about being a conceptual artist and establishing a unique identity ahead of the release of her new album (专辑), Black Dog. Q: Would you describe your music as conceptual? A: Conceptual is a good term. I don’t make music just for the sake of making music. My records are inspired by themes. I spend a considerable amount of time before writing the music, learning about subjects related to the theme. Then I work on the structure of the album. Ideas can change. For example, Black Dog was originally about ghosts (幽灵), but I ended up with an album about my childhood experiences, through to adulthood and parenthood, and the anxiety and fear that has been with me during that time. Q: Throughout the album, there is a sense of an observer. Is that person yourself, or another presence? A: Both. There is the voice of depression and anxiety, and also this other person you know is always there. I thought of having this ominous presence (不祥之兆) around you. There is also that sense of being out in the world, as a woman, aware of my vulnerability (脆弱). For example, just going for a walk is never simple. We have to build protective instincts around ourselves. Q: When you started out, did you have any idea of the kind of artist you wanted to be? A: I knew I didn’t want to fit a fixed style or be restricted by being female. I wanted to be flexible. I like to think in scale and of more than I can achieve as one person. I like artists with unique identities. Q: What would be your advice to anyone with ambitions to become a musician? A: Follow your instincts. Put yourself out there without pressure to be “finished”. Absorb things, experiment, and allow yourself to follow a journey where you don’t know where you will end up. Being successful commercially takes a team and time. You have to love it and be in it for the long journey. Q: Fast forward ten years, where do you want to be? A: I would love to carry on following my instincts and making albums. I would like more of a collection of TV and film scores because I enjoy writing scores and cooperative work.

1. Why is Gazelle Twin’s music conceptual?

A．Her records are usually about ghosts.	B．The album’s structure is a top priority.
C．The word “conceptual” itself is attractive.	D．Her music is highly motivated by themes.

2. In the second part of the interview, “this other person” most likely represents __________.

A．spiritual growth	B．vivid imagination
C．inner self-awareness	D．external intervention

3. Which of the following can be inferred from Gazelle Twin’s response in the interview?

A．She tends to take the bigger picture into account.

B．Her future planning is profit-driven to some extent.

C．Black Dog has already become a hit album worldwide.

D．She expresses willingness to help the potential musicians.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What was Willis Conover?

A．A jazz musician.

B．A radio announcer.

C．A music producer.

2. When was Willis told that he should work in radio?

A．When he acted in a school play.

B．When he attended a jazz concert.

C．When he entered a spelling competition.

3. Which city was the center of a very important jazz movement?

A．Washington D.C.

B．New York City.

C．Buffalo.

4. Who was the heart of jazz according to Willis?

A．Duke Ellington.

B．Count Basie.

C．Louis Armstrong.

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The Great Voice Actor

Since the creation of animated (动画的) motion pictures, the use of actors supplying voices     1    (be) invaluable. Behind every famous cartoon character’s personality is the actor standing in the recording booth and     2     (stretch) their manner of speaking in unrecognizable ways. For some of these performers, the voices they’ve provided have far surpassed them as people in both recognizability and adoration.

Mel Blanc, known as “The Man of Thousand Voices”,     3     (regard) as the most prolific actor to ever work in Hollywood with over a thousand screen credits. He developed and performed nearly 400 distinct character voices. Whether in legendary shorts or lesser-known commercials, Mel Blanc walked so the voice actors of today     4     run.

Mel Blanc lent his voice to many classic characters, but the one he is best known for is Bugs Bunny. There is little that can be said about Bugs’ impact     5     hasn’t already been said for decades. The character is     6     helped launch Warner Bros. animation into the mainstream. Bugs was even the face of Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, appearing at the beginning of many films.     7     a character may not talk, that doesn’t mean a fair bit of voice acting isn’t involved. Mel provided the various noises of the beloved pet dinosaur, Dino, in The Flintstones. While obviously not as quotable as his caveman companions, every fan knows the excited bark of Dino when he sees his master, Fred, arrive home. In January 1961, at the age of 52, Blanc was severely injured in a car accident and had to tape his part at home with a microphone     8     (suspend) over his bed.

Mel Blanc paved the way for voice acting as a true art, though it’s a skill that often goes unrecognized when praise is focused on movies and TV. The characters we all love wouldn’t be where they are in the public eye without     9     who put a voice to them. Many recognizable or popular voice actors of our modern era have Blanc     10     (thank) for their start, and hope to reach his level of unmatched expertise at bringing countless characters to life the way no one else can.

4 . “The arrow shot is so straight that it hits the bull’s eye, the young people will have good luck…” Dargye sang as he worked on his handmade bag.

Dargye, 56, an artist who excels at traditional craftsmanship and Tibetan folk music in Drinba village in Dragyib district, Nyingchi, Tibet autonomous region, remembers many folk songs he learned from his father and uncle. Now, it’s his turn to pass them on.

“I have liked traditional songs and dances since I was a child,” said Dargye, who has four apprentices (学徒).“The songs tell the histories of our ancestors and carry our unique culture, and-it’s always a lot of fun to perform these traditional songs and dances at various gatherings.” The song topics vary from archery, love, to labor and praise for the land. In addition to teaching these songs to/his family members and apprentices, he also uses social media platforms such as WeChat to teach songs.

His daughter, Chok Butri, also admires the folk culture. After posting a video of her daughter, Tsering Kyi, dancing on Douyin, she gained a lot of new fans on the popular short-video platform. “We are modern people living in a modern era, so it’s important and our responsibility that we use modern tools to pass on our traditional culture to make it last forever.” said Chok Butri, adding that she often posts songs and dances on WeChat and Douyin.

Dargye and his fellow villagers also recreate songs, adding modern elements such as aircraft and trains to the lyrics. Besides singing and dancing, Dargye makes handicrafts decorated with Tibetan cultural elements, including various hide and hair ropes, bags made of leather and cloth, and knife sheaths.

The local government encourages villagers to inherit (继承) and develop folk songs and other forms of traditional culture. Dargye’s efforts to preserve folk culture have been acknowledged by the government. In 2014, he was chosen as a county-level intangible (无形的) cultural inheritor and receives funds every year.

1. Why does Dargye want to pass the culture on?

A．He wants to satisfy his interest.	B．He wants to learn from the seniors.
C．He wants to bring people fun.	D．He wants to inherit and develop it.

2. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning Dargye’s daughter?

A．To show folk music’s effect on her.	B．To stress Dargye’s influence on her.
C．To emphasize her love for folk culture.	D．To reveal the popularity of folk culture online.

3. Which of the following best describes Dargye?

A．Ambitious and honest.	B．Talented and curious.
C．Devoted and creative.	D．Generous and determined.

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

A．All efforts to preserve culture pay off

B．Craftsman carries tunes to preserve culture

C．An artist prefers traditional songs and dances

D．Tibetan culture is being protected and passed on

5 . 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。

With simulated splits in the air, a man     1     (dress) in black jumps high and shows different poses before     2     (graceful) landing on the ground. So eye-catching is his dance    3     it often attracts crowds that take pictures and ask what he is doing.

He is Chinese dancer-choreographer Ma Jiaolong, who     4     (make) and shared short videos of his dances in London since 2020. Ma has nearly 5 million followers on Douyin,     5    major short-video platform known as TikTok overseas.

After Ma’s videos circulated widely online, he received lots of messages from people around the world, many of     6     were impressed by his ability     7     (dance) his moves perfectly. “I was fascinated by the dancers who portray roles of ancient     8     (hero) through the movements of Chinese classical dance. I wanted to be like     9     (they), who could bring ancient characters alive.”, recalls Ma. His devotion to dancing did lead him to a new approach    10     creating dance.

6 . “In the future, everybody will be famous for 15 minutes,” said US artist Andy Warhol (1928—1987). And he is quite right. Now it seems that anybody can become an instant online celebrity.

Warhol is best noted for his paintings that represent celebrity faces and US consumer goods, like Coca-Cola bottles or Campbel’s soup cans. As a great influence on the twentieth century pop art movement, Andy Warhol rose to become a cornerstone in the contemporary art world, devoted to bringing his views on materialism, politics and economics to the art. Actually, the visual world Warhol created is directly connected to his background.

In the mid-1950s, the working class gathered a great deal of fortune. They wanted to achieve a higher status in society. The consumer goods and Hollywood faces are a “working-class-coded iconography (肖像；意象) that is often misinterpreted as generally ‘American’.” Anthony E. Grudin, author of Warhol’s Working Class commented. Reproducing these themes in his work meant that people outside of the art world could immediately connect with Warhol’s pictures. Considered “a creature of transformation”, Warhol constantly explored with different forms of media to evoke resonance among people.

For example, in addition to being a painter, Warhol was, in the words of UK writer Peter Wollen: “A filmmaker, a writer, a photographer, a TV soap opera producer.” Warhol, in short, was what we might call a ‘Renaissance (文艺复兴) man’, even though he was a leader in pop or perhaps post-modern art.”

In his later years, he founded Interview Magazine and wrote several books, including The Philosophy of Andy Warhol. But UK artist Gillian Wearing said, “Warhol left his mark in many more ways than his actual work.” Warhol’s works are all about “America, money, fame and death”, UK writer Jon Savage remarked. “He summed up, defined and in many ways symbolized the world in which we now live.

1. What’s Andy Warhol’s purpose of creating his paintings?

A．To highlight Renaissance style.	B．To attain fame and higher status.
C．To combine art with materialism.	D．To challenge traditional art forms.

2. What do Andy Warhol’s paintings focus on?

A．Popular drinks.	B．Average people.
C．Commercial products.	D．Living scenes of working class.

3. What does the underlined phrase “evoke resonance” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Inspire connection.	B．Receive recognition.
C．Raise inspiration.	D．Gain sympathy.

4. What kind of person is Andy Warhol according to the text?

A．Creative and critical.	B．Conservative and realistic.
C．Optimistic and encouraging.	D．Constructive and multi-talented.

7 . About 20 years ago, Daniel Hoffman, a classically trained violinist met a young musician playing in the town square in Marrakech, an ancient city in Morocco. They communicated in the little French they both knew, but their main common language was music. On the back of a motorbike of the fellow violinist, Hoffman weaved through the back streets of the city and then learned his first lessons in Andalusian music, the classical music of North Africa.

That experience gave birth to an idea: What would it be like to try to learn how to play different violin styles around the world in just one week? Oh. yes, and at the end of that week, play a concert. He even got a name for the concept “musical extreme sports”.

It took him almost two decades to launch that dream with a friend, who introduced him to the wonders of Kickstarter, a funding platform for creative projects. Up to now, the dream has taken the form of a new documentary currently airing on American public television stations called “Otherwise, It’s Just Firewood.”

In the documentary, Hoffman travels to County Clare, Ireland, where he takes lessons with James Kelly, a master Irish violin player, for less than a week and then performs together with him in front of an audience, many of whom are star Irish musicians.

The film is what Hoffman hopes will be the first of an eventual series of short documentaries, showing him learning to play the violin in a variety of styles, including the folk music of south India, Sweden, Greece, Romania, and West Virginia.

That would add to his extensive repertoire (全部曲目), which already includes Balkan, Middle Eastern, and Turkish styles. “The big joke is what’s the difference between the fiddle and the violin? It’s the person who plays it,” says Niall Keegan, a traditional flute player. “It’s the music you make on it that makes it Irish or English or French or classical or jazz or whatever else. It’s how we imagine it and how we create through it that make it and give it character.”

“Otherwise, it’s just firewood,” he says, words that became the film’s title.

1. Where does Hoffman’s idea of musical extreme sports come from?

A．His exploration of the local music.

B．His cooperation with the young violinist.

C．His sightseeing tour on a motorbike seat.

D．His constantly changing taste in violin styles.

2. According to the passage, the series of documentaries ________.

A．help Hoffman to become a master violin player

B．are funded by American public television stations

C．introduce different styles of musicians around the world

D．record Hoffman’s experience in learning various violin styles

3. The title of the documentary “Otherwise, It’s Just Firewood” is used to emphasize ________.

A．the power of diversified artistic expression

B．the pleasure in learning traditional music

C．the technique of instrument playing

D．the importance of famous artists

8 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．Birds in different postures.	B．Visitors to those lakes and wetlands.
C．National parks along the Yellow River.	D．The liveliness and beauty of nature.

2.

A．Birds’ motions and postures are too stunning.

B．Bad weather and some terrible wild creatures.

C．Worsened environment and misunderstanding.

D．Local residents’ complaints on their actions.

3.

A．Yue’s pictures of birds are a reflection of the improved environment.

B．Taking pictures of wild life is not as difficult as expected.

C．Yue got rich through posting bird photos on social media.

D．The locals set many habitats for birds on their migration routes.

9 . There is more to Vincent Van Gogh’s body of works than sunflowers. His complete painting life as an artist, short as it was, can be seen on June 27 during an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts(MFA) Texas.

This exhibit leans heavily on the Kröller- Müller Museum’s lending Van Gogh’s works. The Kröller- Müller Museum, which is in Otterlo, Netherlands, is well-known for its works by Van Gogh in the world. The MFA, Texas serves as the only site for the exhibit presenting more than 50 works from Van Gogh’s early sketches(素描) to late oil paintings.

“There has been no major Van Gogh exhibition in Texas for decades, and few of this degree and ambition anywhere in the country. ” David Bomford said. “The upcoming exhibition covers the whole of Van Gogh’s all-too-brief ten-year career. It offers people in Texas and even people all over the country a chance to step into the world of Van Gogh. The works selected for exhibit shows Van Gogh’s career which began in dark, realistic style reflecting mid-19th century France and concluded in the wild, psychological paintings of his final years. ”

Van Gogh successfully experimented with artistic techniques from the Barbizon-school’s (巴比松画派的) representative, Millet, whose works he liked above all others, to Cezanne. Van Gogh didn’t care for Cezanne before landing on Cezanne’s unique style which continued amazing audiences for more than 125 years after his death. Cezanne’s style is hard to ignore in many of Van Gogh’s works.

Van Gogh wasn’t a lone talent working in isolation(隔离). He was influenced. He was a great student of art. In order to enable visitors to have a good knowledge of his private thoughts about the works he created, the exhibit will present the extraordinarily rich letters which existed between him and his brother Theo. “In some 820 letters, Van Gogh described his projects and his whole attention. All letters were dotted with sketches of his paintings, ” a worker said. “The MFA uniquely admits us to the workings of his mind and his motivations. And this has inviting appeal to us today. ”

So, take the chance and go to buy a ticket for the upcoming exhibition.

1. What can learn about the MFA’s exhibition on June 27?

A．It is specially held to show many great painters’ works.

B．It will present all the works of Van Gogh.

C．It will soon be held in Otterlo, Netherlands.

D．It gets big support from the Kröller- Müller Museum.

2. What’s David Bomford’s attitude to the upcoming Van Gogh exhibition?

A．Favorable.

B．Critical.

C．Neutral.

D．Indifferent.

3. The author mentions Millet and Cezanne to show that ________.

A．they created a painting style with Van Gogh

B．they played a big role in Van Gogh’s paintings

C．they admired Van Gogh’s paintings

D．they learnt painting techniques from Van Gogh

4. What is the purpose of the letters in the exhibit?

A．To express the public’s admiration for Van Gogh’s talents.

B．To show Van Gogh’s good relationship with his brother.

C．To help the public better understand Van Gogh’s paintings.

D．To search for the cause of Van Gogh’s short painting career.

10 . The exact location in France where Dutch master Vincent van Gogh painted his last work of art has been discovered.

A Dutch researcher figured out that a scene described in the artist’s last work, Tee Root, was visible on a postcard showing a man standing next to a bicycle on a back street of the village Auvers-sur-Oise. Van Gogh spent the last weeks of his life in the village. Helpfully, the card even included the name of the street.

Researchers were given a unique glimpse (体验) into the famous painter’s final hours. He was at work right up to the end.

Wouter van der Veen, scientific director of the Van Gogh Institute in France, made the discovery. While stuck at home, van de Veen used the extra time to organize the numerous files and documents on van Gogh, including images such as the old postcard from Auvers-sur-Oise. One day in late April, he saw the card on his computer screen and it suddenly struck him that he was looking at the location of Tree Roots. Next to the man and his bicycle, roots and trees are clearly visible. He took a virtual trip down the site using Google’s Street View.

“Villagers know the spot and the main tree root well, even giving it the name ‘the elephant’ because of its shapes,” van der Veen said. “It was really hiding in overt sight.”

The discovery provides tourists with an extra reason to visit Auvers-sur-Oise. “They travel a lot just for one reason — to walk in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh. Now they can stand at the very place where he painted his last painting,” van der Veen said. “And that’s a very moving thing for a lot of people. So I’m very happy to be able to share that with all those who love van Gogh.”

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．What the postcard revealed.	B．How Tree Roots was discovered.
C．Why Auvers-sur-Oise became known.	D．Where van Gogh painted his works.

2. How did van der Veen confirm his discovery?

A．He studied a picture of Auvers-sur-Oise.

B．He organized his data on van Gogh.

C．He traveled to France to see for himself.

D．He paid a visit to the spot online.

3. What does the underlined word “overt” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Mixed.

B．Obvious.

C．Lovely.

D．Strange.

4. What can we infer about tourists to Auvers-sur-Oise?

A．They enjoy exploring how to paint.	B．They share their love for van Gogh.
C．They admire van Gogh very much.	D．They want to experience the life there.