1 . Joseph Bologne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is perhaps the most famous musician and composer you’ve never heard of.
Bologne was born in 1745 on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, son of an enslaved (使成为奴隶) Senegalese woman and a white plantation owner. Bologne’s father was eager for him to acquire a good education and he was sent to France to be schooled in literature and fencing. As well as showing great skill in sport, Bologne was intelligent and appealing.
As if being handsome, clever and a champion athlete wasn’t enough, Bologne was also a seriously skilled musician and composer. His main instrument was the violin, and in 1761, he was made a member of the Royal Guards as a soldier and musician. It is around this time that he became known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges in recognition of his skill as a fencer and horseman. He was then invited to join the incredibly distinguished Concert des Amateurs as the first violinist and became its leader in 1773.
Although things were going very well for Bologne, he still experienced apparent racism. Some of the opera s leading women campaigned against having what they called “a mixed-race person” in charge of the opera. Despite this attempt to undermine his career, he fell into favour with the influential playwright Madame de Montesson, who put him in charge of her private theatre and introduced him to her husband, the Duke of Orleans. When the French Revolution (革命) broke out in 1789, Bologne sided with the revolutionaries. However, he was later imprisoned for 18 months and ultimately died in 1799 due to a severe leg injury.
Shortly after Bolognes death, Napoleon reinstated slavery in the French colonies and also banned Bologne’s music in an attempt to erase him from French history. However, Afro-Caribbean communities in France, and on Guadeloupe and Martinique have been working tirelessly to keep his legacy alive and Joseph Bologne is now enjoying a long overdue and richly deserved revival.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2 about Bologne?A.He was a man of determination. |
B.He was passionate about literature. |
C.He received great support from his father. |
D.He had a difficult and troubled childhood. |
A.His military service. |
B.His exceptional athletic abilities. |
C.His noble birth. |
D.His musical achievements. |
A.Bologne faced significant discrimination. |
B.Bologne’s talents were a threat to the opera. |
C.Bologne shouldn’t have joined the private theatre. |
D.Bologne’s leadership suffered from a lack of foresight. |
A.It’s being recognized and celebrated. |
B.It’s receiving conflicting opinions. |
C.It’s leading to a revolution in music. |
D.It’s still being overlooked in France. |
Bob Dylan wins 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature
US music legend Bob Dylan won the Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the first songwriter to win the prestigious award in a decision
The 75-year-old Dylan —best known for tunes like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone”
The choice was met by gasps and a long round of applause from reporters
“Dylan has the status of
The Nobel is the latest award for the singer, who has come a long way from his humble beginnings as Robert Allen Zimmerman, born in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, and who taught
Initially
3 . Zheng Xiaoying was born in Shanghai in September 1929. Her youth and passion for music helped her become a conductor in an art troupe (巡回演出团). In the early 1960s, Zheng was sent to the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory to study opera and symphony conducting, becoming the first professionally trained female conductor in China at that time.
As a student, she conducted the Italian opera “Tosca” in public at a large opera house in the Soviet Union and won great applause not only for the wonderful performance, but also for the Chinese woman on the stage. Recalling this experience, Zheng said it was of great importance for her to become an opera symphony conductor and served as one of the turning points in her life.
After return to China, she did her best to combine Western and Oriental music. In addition to lectures and performances, in 1998, she founded the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra. With the concept of “attracting more audiences to the concert hall to enjoy the beauty of music,” the musical orchestra has now gained worldwide recognition. It has also become a popular travel destination in the city of Xiamen.
Besides being a conductor, Zheng is also a teacher. As one of the most famous Chinese conducting professors, she has taught many famed musicians. Many of them are still active on stage, both in China and abroad. Still, as a daughter of the Hakka people, she follows the tradition of valuing education. The Hakka culture enabled her to create a Chinese symphony called “The Echoes of Hakka Earth Building” which promotes China’s cultural achievements in music. So far, the symphony has been performed 80 times in over 12 countries and regions.
Zheng not only promotes the Chinese symphony to the world, she also presents traditional Chinese music. She said the thought of spending her last few seconds on the conductor’s podium (乐队指挥台) would be what she calls “the most romantic” of a desirable career. Now in her 90s, Zheng Xiaoying is still active on the stage, sharing China with the world through her music.
1. What’s a turning point in Zheng’s life?A.Joining in an art troupe. |
B.Studying conducting in Moscow. |
C.A job at a large opera house in Italy. |
D.A public performance in the Soviet Union. |
A.It is a characteristic of Xiamen. |
B.Its concept is to draw people’s attention. |
C.It combines Western and Oriental music. |
D.Its aim is to inspire people’s music talent. |
A.By asking questions. | B.By listing examples. |
C.By analyzing reasons. | D.By making comparisons. |
A.Her desire for romanticism. | B.Her ideal of spreading musical ideas. |
C.Her enthusiasm for music career. | D.Her achievement in music field. |
As the daughter of a painter, Artemisia Gentileschi was afforded access to the art world at a young age. Early on, she was in her father’s workshop mixing paints and he supported her career when he noticed that she was gifted. As a famous painter of the Italian Baroque period, Artemisia Gentileschi did not let her gender hold her back from her subject matter. She painted Biblical and mythological (神话的) paintings, just like male painters.
Angelica Kauffman (1741—1807)Born in Switzerland, Angelica Kauffman was the daughter of the artist Johann Joseph Kauffman. She received artistic training while acting as her father’s assistant from a very young age and copying the works of old masters as they traveled for commissions (委托). As a young woman, she also trained in Italy, where her historical paintings and portraits were well received.
Rosa Bonheur (1822—1899)Like many female artists at the time, Rosa Bonheur’s father was a painter. The French Realist painter is considered one of the most famous female artists of the 19th century, known for her large-format paintings that featured animals. She showed her works regularly at the famous Paris salon and found success abroad in both the United States and Britain.
Berthe Morisot (1841—1895)Considered one of the great female Impressionists, Berthe Morisot had art running through her veins. Born into a noble French family, she was the great-niece of celebrated Rococo painter Jean-Honore Fragonard. Her art often focused on family scenes, and she preferred working with pastels (粉彩), watercolor, and charcoal (木炭).
1. What artistic style do Artemisia Gentileschi’s paintings belong to?A.Rococo. | B.Baroque. | C.Realism. | D.Impressionism. |
A.Artemisia Gentileschi. | B.Angelica Kauffman. |
C.Rosa Bonheur. | D.Berthe Morisot. |
A.They all learned painting from their fathers. |
B.They all loved copying classic paintings. |
C.They were all born into a noble family. |
D.They all grew up in an artistic environment. |
5 . Rita Moreno is one of the very few performers to EGOT: to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. But come a little closer, and Moreno’s is another kind of immigrant (移民的) story.
She was a teen when MGM (米高梅电影公司) signed her in the 1950s. Major studios were still dominated by the men who’d run them for decades. They had her change her name. While recognizing her talent, they didn’t know what to do with a Latin girl. Moreno played small parts, including a girl from India and a Burmese (缅甸的) woman. What should have been her big break came when she was cast as Anita in West Side Story. She’d remember Anita as “the very first Hispanic (西班牙的) character I had ever played who had dignity, a sense of self-respect. She became my role model. ” The night Moreno won the Oscar, the Hispanic community across the USA broke out into cheers.
But that career turn didn’t happen. Instead, she received more offers to play what she described as “dusky servants”. The racial and ethnic prejudice was still at play. “It broke my heart, ”she says. Rita Moreno didn’t make another movie for seven years.
Then began her new act. Holding to her mother’s philosophy — Never give in, never quit, keep on moving — she survived professionally during those years with work on the London stage and in nightclubs, slowly reemerging on film and television, and eventually she earned herself a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Peabody Career Achievement Award.
But even as she continues to perform, her work continues off the screen, speaking out for and representing the Latin community. “I’m now known as la pionera, or the pioneer,” Moreno says. “I really don’t think of myself as a role model. But it turns out that I am, to a lot of the Hispanic community. Not just in show business, but in life. But that’s what happens when you’re first, right?”
1. What do we know about Moreno in Paragraph 2?A.She was an actress contracted with MGM. |
B.She had her future well-planned for her talent. |
C.She was treated as a Hispanic girl with dignity. |
D.She won the Oscar for acting a Burmese woman. |
A.She did not receive any film offers. |
B.She rejected roles of racial prejudice. |
C.She was tired of performing on the stage. |
D.She focused on her stage career in nightclubs. |
A.Generous and brave. | B.Kind and grateful. |
C.Honest and trustworthy. | D.Tough and determined. |
A.She prefers to be a role model in show business. |
B.She is unhappy with what happened to an actress. |
C.She makes a difference to the Hispanic community. |
D.She feels pressured about being a Hispanic pioneer. |
In the history of Chinese painting, the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties was a very important period. Gu Kaizhi, a painter of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was
Gu kaizhi was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu province in the year 344 and
As the first painter
The story of Nymph of the Luo River
Inspired by Cao Zhi’s poem, Gu Kaizhi set out to illustrate the charming nymph. His painting exhibits the soul of the poem,
7 . “He is a giant of the 20th-century art, but that doesn’t mean he only did big paintings, said Lynn Miller, director of Rochester Central Gallery, in an interview last Thursday.
Entitled “Picasso and His Drafts”, a special exhibit marking 50 years since the death of Pablo Picasso is held at the gallery this month. Instead of his paintings, the notebooks on which the Spanish legendary artist drew drafts are shown to the public for the first time.
Matchbox covers, postcards, restaurant napkins all served as drafting notes for the artist at moments of inspiration. It is important to know that each of the 14 notebooks presented reflects what was going on in his life.
For example, a tiny notebook whose size is just 3 by 5 inches stands out among the exhibits. Inside the little book was a self-portrait of the artist finished roughly in pencil, with deep and thoughtful eyes. It was done in 1918 and Picasso, then in his mid-30s, had just got married. He produced big-sized artworks but he also kept this tiny notebook around, filling it with scenes of his wife, their friends, the beach and the town, and drafts of upcoming paintings. Actually, many of the draft drawings are early versions of famed paintings like Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) and Dora Maar in an Armchair (1939).
“He is a great artist of the modern period, and we see practice and determination in his notebooks,” said Lynn Miller, referring to Picasso’s efforts in improving his skills through copious drawing. Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, a grandson of Picasso’s, remembered him always drafting until the last piece of paper available. “My grandpa was permanently drawing something,” Ruiz-Picasso said.
In a documentary film shown at the gallery, Picasso, shirtless and in shorts, was standing on a ladder to reach the top of his canvas (画布). It reminds visitors of the real size of his masterworks.
1. What are the key features of the recent exhibit at the gallery?A.Notebooks for sale. | B.Picasso’s artworks. |
C.Priceless artistic drafts. | D.Masterpieces of the 20th century. |
A.His life experience. | B.The love for his country. |
C.The content of his books. | D.His education background. |
A.Creative. | B.Diligent. | C.Optimistic. | D.Humorous. |
A.Picasso used to mind his appearance. | B.The gallery exhibits real masterworks. |
C.The documentary movie is worth seeing. | D.Picasso’s artworks are actually of great size. |
8 . During one conversation with Frank Morrison, he told me that when he was a child his favorite pastime was drawing on the pieces of white and tan cardboard that came with his mother’s pantyhose (连裤袜) containers. Frank’s goal was to draw, and he found ways to make that happen. This example speaks to the determination he has demonstrated throughout his life so that he could follow his dreams, make a difference, and inspire others.
I first met Frank at a conference in 2015. I was working at Little Be eBooks at the time. I went over and introduced myself. I didn’t have a project in hand for him at the time, but I gave Frank some background information about Little Be eBooks and told him that I hoped he would consider working with us someday.
Several months later, I had the perfect manuscript (手稿) for him to illustrate: The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop, written by Carole Boston Weatherford. The fabulous text was a love letter to the pioneers of hip-hop, and Frank was immediately taken with the manuscript because Carole, with whom he adored working, had written it; and Frank grew up with this culture.
The first time Frank and his brother heard rap music was in their grandmother’s backyard, via a one-speaker radio. Frank said that “the beats were impressive”. Up to this point they had been listening to what their parents listened to. They found familiar beats in hip-hop because it felt like are mix of their parents’ music. Looking through Frank’s books is like walking through an art gallery. He can transport you to another time or put you in the middle of a cultural movement, while making the connection between past and present.
1. What can be inferred about Frank from paragraph 1?A.He dreamed of inspiring others. |
B.He managed to find something to draw on. |
C.He liked the pictures on pantyhose containers. |
D.He was spoken highly of for his determination. |
A.He offered to join in Frank’s project. |
B.He asked Frank to sign Little Bee Books. |
C.He expressed his expectation to work with Frank. |
D.He got some background information about Frank. |
A.He liked it all the time. |
B.He found its beats hard to bear. |
C.He thought it less popular than hip-hop. |
D.He considered it helpful for personal growth. |
A.They are shown in a gallery. | B.They connect us with history. |
C.They have started a cultural movement. | D.They changed people’s ideas about the past. |
Wei Chunrong has built a reputation as a leading actress of Kunqu Opera,
She started learning at 10 and
“I played different roles during the past four decades. For Lady Xu Mu, I have to put aside all my experiences and start afresh
“The role, Lady Xu Mu, was written for Wei Chunrong
1. When did Albert Bierstadt move to America?
A.In 1830. | B.In 1831. | C.In 1832. |
A.He focused on improving his drawing skills. |
B.He held exhibitions in different countries. |
C.He started to work as an art teacher. |
A.To visit his sick family member. |
B.To get inspiration for his paintings. |
C.To engage in environmental protection. |