1 . 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.

China’s Explosive Artist

Cai Guoqing’s practice spans from gunpowder drawings to ephemeral sculptures and monumental installations, all of     1     are rich with references to Chinese history, Taoist cosmology and current political events. Cai deals with the latter in a spectacular installation for I Want to Believe, his 2008 retrospective in New York, from the centre of the Guggenheim rotunda the artist —a     2    (train) set designer, by the way —suspended Inopportune: Stage One (2004), consisting of a series of nine cars     3     (hover) in mid air to represent in cinematic progression the effect of a car bomb.

Since the 1980s, Cai has been working on drawings realized by     4     (ignite)explosive powder on large sheets of paper. These works possess an aura     5     evokes both the vivid gestures of abstract expressionism and the quieter surfaces of Chinese traditional painting. Gunpowder is also at the centre of a series of environmental works, begun in 1989,     6     combine the tradition of Land Art with     7     of Chinese fireworks. For his explosion events, Cai stages pyrotechnical choreographies that sketch temporary drawing space.

Cai’s     8    (participate) in many international events, imposes himself as one of the strongest in the sky. These events are also meant to act as social, festive collective experiences that the artist— not without irony— believes could be perceived even from outer artists to emerge from China. At the Venice Biennale 1999 he     9    (award) the Golden Lion for Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard (1999), a series of unfired clay sculptures    10    (depict)heroes in history. Cai also organized the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

2 . John Myatt is an artist. He may not be the greatest artist in the world, but he is possibly the world’s greatest forger (伪造者). He is able to paint pictures in the style of famous artists like Monet and Matisse.

    1     This unusual skill got Myatt into a lot of trouble in the 1990s. For many years he taught art at a secondary school, but then he got divorced (离婚) and he gave up his job to spend more time with his children. In order to make some money he started painting pictures in the style of famous artists and selling them.

    2     He was honest about his work—he wrote his name on the back, and he sold them for ￡150 each. However, one of his customers, John Drewe, started to resell Myatt’s paintings as genuine, original works. Drewe had sold one of Myatt’s paintings for￡25,000. He contacted Myatt and suggested that they go into business together. Myatt agreed. He continued to paint and Drewe sold his paintings to art collectors around the world.     3    

The amazing thing is that Myatt painted his pictures with decorator’s paint.     4     But it soon came to an end. Drewe was divorced too, and his ex-wife found out about the forgeries. She went to the police and they arrested Dewe and Myatt. At their trial Drewe was sent to prison for six years and Myatt for less than one year.

    5     When he came out he started to produce pictures in the style of famous artists again. But he put his name on the back, as he’d done before he met Drewe. Myatt is now famous and instead of charging￡150 for a painting, he can charge￡40-50,000.

A．It wasn’t illegal.

B．Then he decided to stop copying famous paintings.

C．It was the same paint that people use to paint houses!

D．Myatt only spent four months in prison for good behavior.

E．That’s more than Drewe gave him for his ‘genuine’ paintings!

F．His pictures are so good that experts can’t tell that they are not originals.

G．Between 1986 and 1994 they sold about 200 paintings and made over a million pounds.

3 . 语法填空

Ludwig van Beethoven     1    (recognise) as one of the greatest composers in the history of music.     2     his twenties, he had been very famous for his skills on the piano, but then he began to lose his hearing. Despite his deafness, he continued his composition until his death in 1827,     3    (finish) more than 130 musical works.

One day in February 1824, he sat back in his chair, with his     4    (nine) symphony finally completed. But before the performance, he was afraid that it would be     5     disaster because of his hearing loss.

To his surprise, the audience applauded loudly as he walked out onto the stage. For more than an hour, Beethoven jumped about, waving his arms wildly in the air and madly turning the pages of his score. The theatre’s musical director, Umlauf stood quietly by his side,     6    (skilful) guiding the orchestra through the most amazing piece of music the world had ever known.

As the final,     7    (joy) note signalled the end of the symphony, the audience jumped to their feet, cheering and clapping. But Beethoven continued conducting, his head buried in the score. He didn’t realise his symphony was a     8    (succeed) until Caroline Unger, one of the singers,     9    (turn) him to face the audience.

Later, Caroline remembered that Beethoven was not the only one     10     got a surprise. The audience was shocked too.

4 . Pablo Picasso, born in Spain in 1881, was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. Picasso began painting when he was a small child and took advanced art courses when he was only fifteen. Between 1904 and 1947 Picasso lived in Paris. In 1947 he moved to Riviera, in the south of France.

Many people thought Picasso’s works were strange and unpleasant. Still, he had a great influence on artists in every country. Today, Picasso is regarded as a genius, and his paintings are in the museums all over the world.

In 1912, Picasso actually invented a new type of art. He painted a picture, and then he pasted bits of paper and something else on the picture. This picture of art is called collage(拼贴艺术).

Picasso was not only a painter, but also a sculptor (雕刻家) and a designer of scenery for plays. There are even some photographs of “light paintings” that he created. These paintings were produced by moving a light pencil, or a small flashlight in the air. Although the images could be seen only by people watching them happen, the camera was able to catch the images as they occurred.

By the time he died in France in April of 1973, he had created 22, 000 works of art.

When he was asked how someone could become an artist, Picasso would reply, “If you want to draw, you must shut your eyes and sing.”

1. After reading the text, we can learn that Picasso was a(n) 　　　.

A．French artist

B．Spanish artist

C．English artist

D．Australian artist

2. The meaning of the underlined word “pasted” in this text means “　　　”.

A．stuck	B．struck
C．drew	D．mixed

3. According to the text, which of the statements is RIGHT?

A．Although Picasso was a great artist, he was not clever at all.

B．Picasso didn’t leave Paris until he was 23 years old.

C．People didn’t like Picasso’s works at first.

D．Picasso was only good at collage.

4. Which would be the best title for the text?

A．How to Become a Great Artist

B．A Genius

C．Pablo Picasso:More Than Just a Painter

D．Picasso’s Life in France

5 . From woodworker to great artist—this was the course of Qi Baishi’s life. He achieved success by coupling talent with hard work. In 1953, he was honoured with the title “People’s Artist” by the Chinese government.

For most of the general public, his masterpieces are his paintings of shrimps. At the beginning, he painted these small animals by following ancient models. Later, he developed a personal style by using shades of black ink to show a shrimp’s body, giving it an almost real-life feel. Besides, his paintings of flowers and vegetables, indicating rich harvests (丰收), are famous as well. People love these nature-based paintings because the works remind them of the countryside and of their hometowns. The dove is another common image in Qi’s art during his later years, showing his wish for world peace.

Be it landscapes, birds, flowers or figures, Qi’s paintings are rich in expression and detail. Using heavy ink, bright colors and energetic strokes (运笔), he created works in a fresh and lively manner, expressing his love of nature and life. His art reflects an international trend (趋势) in modern art at the time, yet he expressed it in a typical Chinese way.

Qi was hard-working even in his 70s. He kept looking for higher goals, especially as he got older. While many other Chinese artists retire from public life at an old age, Qi actively took on more social responsibilities. He said: “I love my hometown, my country and all the lives there. In recent years, I have realized that what I run after is world peace.”

In 1956, he was awarded the International Peace Prize by the World Peace Council.

1. Why are Qi Baishi’s nature-based paintings popular?

A．They lift people’s spirits.	B．They touch people’s feelings.
C．They inspire people’s passions.	D．They reflect people’s wishes.

2. What does paragraph 3 focus on about Qi Baishi?

A．His masterpieces.	B．His influence.
C．His painting subjects.	D．His painting style.

3. Why was Qi Baishi still hard-working at an old age?

A．To popularize Chinese paintings.	B．To involve the youth in arts.
C．To shoulder more social responsibilities.	D．To earn international reputation.

4. Which of the following words can be used to best describe Qi?

A．Remarkable and admirable.	B．Passionate and confident.
C．Intelligent and generous.	D．Realistic and professional.

6 . About the year 1900, a small, dark-haired boy was often seen waiting outside the back entrances of theatres in London. His name was Charlie Chaplin. He looked thin and hungry but his blue eyes were determined. He was hoping to get work in show business(娱乐界).

When Chaplin couldn’t get_________, he wandered about the city_________. He found food and shelter(栖身之处)_________he could. Sometimes he was sent away to a home for children who had no parents. He was cold and miserable there and the children were beaten for the_________fault.

By the time he was thirty, Charlie had been the greatest, best-known and best-loved_________in the world. Chaplin’s films have_________a large audience in various countries. Anyone who visited the cinema_________must have seen some of Charlie Chaplin’s funny films. People everywhere who have seen them would_________until tears run down their faces. Even people who don’t understand English can enjoy Chaplin’s films because they are mostly_________. It isn’t what he says that makes people laugh. It depends upon little____________that mean the same thing to people all over the world.

Having lived in America for 40 years, Chaplin____________to Switzerland. There he died on Christmas Day of 1977. He once described himself____________a citizen of the world, rather than of any____________country.

He once wrote, “You have to believe in yourself. That’s the____________of success. Even when I was in the children’s home, when I was wandering about the streets trying to find enough food to____________to keep alive, I still thought of myself as the greatest actor in the world.”

1.

A．chances

B．opportunity

C．work

D．tasks

2.

A．shops

B．streets

C．factories

D．homes

3.

A．whenever

B．however

C．whatever

D．wherever

4.

A．most

B．fewest

C．least

D．slightest

5.

A．comedian

B．tragedian

C．singer

D．artist

6.

A．attacked

B．attracted

C．paid

D．enjoyed

7.

A．daily

B．regularly

C．rarely

D．occasionally

8.

A．cry

B．complain

C．laugh

D．satisfy

9.

A．silent

B．noisy

C．quiet

D．still

10.

A．sounds

B．language

C．activities

D．actions

11.

A．arrived

B．reached

C．moved

D．got

12.

A．as

B．for

C．into

D．with

13.

A．other

B．particular

C．special

D．more

14.

A．truth

B．fact

C．reason

D．secret

15.

A．eat

B．sleep

C．hide

D．drink

7 . Woody Guthrie is best known as an American folk (民间的) musician, whose musical works include hundreds of political,traditional,children’s songs, and ballads. He was born in America in 1912. Like many people, he left for California hunting for work when he grew up. There many people could find work only on farms gathering fruit or crops. These workers often lived in camps with poor conditions. Woody visited these farm workers. He played his guitar and sang songs he wrote that described the conditions at the camps he was visiting.

Later,he left California for New York City in 1940. There he met Alan Lomax,an expert on America’s traditional music, who collected and recorded traditional American folk music. When he heard Woody sing,Lomax knew he had found a true singer of American folk music. Alan Lomax recorded many of Woody’s songs. The songs told stories of people who had lost their land and received a lot of praise from musicians. In his most famous song, This Land is Your Land, he believed America should be a place that belongs to rich and poor people alike.

One day, while Woody and his wife were away, a fire started in their house. Their daughter Cathy Ann was severely burned. She died the next day. Woody was deeply hurt by her death. He remembered how his sister had died the same way. He was never the same after Cathy Ann died. He had trouble earning money and began drinking alcohol (酒). And he had sudden attacks of uncontrollable shaking. When he was forty years old, doctors said that he had Hunting ton’s chorea (亨丁顿舞蹈症), the same disease that had killed his mother. During his later years, in spite of his illness, Woody was regarded as a figurehead (名义领袖) in the folk movement,providing inspiration to a generation of new folk musicians.

Finally, he entered a hospital because he could no longer care for himself. He remained in the hospital until he died in 1967.

1. Woody Guthrie went to California to ________.

A．visit farms	B．meet experts
C．write songs	D．seek employment

2. What gave Woody Guthrie a great shock in his life?

A．His mother’s death.

B．The trouble of making money.

C．Losing his daughter.

D．His uncontrollable shaking.

3. From the passage, we can know that ________.

A．Woody Guthrie’s most famous song is This Land is Your Land

B．Alan Lomax was an expert on America's jazz music

C．Woody Guthrie went to New York City at the age of 38

D．Woody Guthrie's mother died in a fire

4. Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Farm workers in the 1920s in America lived a hard life.

B．Alan Lomax spoke highly of Woody Guthrie’s songs.

C．Woody Guthrie made a great contribution to classical music.

D．Woody Guthrie’s songs inspired many people after him.

8 . 语法填空

Every artist’s wish is    1    (create) something that expresses an idea. But their     2    (inspire)comes from different sources.

For example, children’s toys inspired Hofman to create Rubber Duck, Chinese folk tales     3    (contribute) to his Floating Fish. During his stay in Wuzhen, he saw the fish     4    (feed) and some fish sculpted on the wall,     5     set his idea for Floating Fish in motion.

Tan Dun, a composer, known     6     composing music for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has been using     7     combination of Chinese music and sounds from all over the world. He said Chinese music should carry “    8    (universe)expression”of the human spirit so as to be recognised by the whole world.

The experience in Xishuangbanna inspired Yang Liping to create her Spirit of the Peacock dance. Going deeper into the lives of     9    (vary)ethnic groups gave her lots of inspiration. The peacock represents the     10    (beautiful) of nature, and her dance aims to bring out the Dai women’s beauty.

9 . 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。

At 8 pm on Friday, pop legend Lo Ta-you sat in front of his piano and played a piece based on his hit song, Red Dust. This opened Lo’s first virtual concert.

“It’s been over two years since I performed live.” said the 68-year-old Lo, whose tours     1     (postpone) since the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual concert,     2     was streamed on Chinese social media, attracted more than 40 million viewers. And Lo was the first person     3     (hold) the virtual concert in Taipei. Nostalgic (怀旧的) fans left     4     (comment) while watching the concert, expressing their excitement and their love for Lo. “I am very    5     (touch) tonight,” commented a fan. “His music had a big impact    6     my life.”

Born in Taipei, Lo learned to play     7     piano at the age of 5. He planned to become a doctor and studied in medical school. However, he     8     (launch) a music career in 1972 while still at university.

His first album, Zhi Hu Zhe Ye, released in 1982, was a great success. Featuring his     9     (origin) pop hits, such as Childhood, and The Story of Time, the album was considered pioneering.

Lo ended the virtual concert with his song, Tomorrow Will Be Better,     10     (hope) to provide a sense of comfort to people during the pandemic.

10 . His talent and charm have made him the No.1 Chinese classical artist in the world.He played in the grand Beijing Olympic opening ceremony in 2008, watched by a TV audience of 5 billion.

Lang Lang is the first Chinese pianist to play with the world’s top orchestras, making his debut at the Carnegie Hall in New York at 18, while still a student.

Lang Lang’s charm and fondness for sharp clothes make him a natural fit to represent China’s new international image.According to the British newspaper the Times, “The Lang Lang’s effect” is responsible for driving 36 million Chinese children to learn the piano.

Now in China children are learning Chopin and Western orchestras are playing sold­out tours across Chinese cities.But can China introduce its own music to the west? Lang is trying. His cooperation with the London Symphony Orchestras this month includes a performance of Dragon Songs, an album of traditional Chinese classics.

Behind the international recognition, however, is a fascinating story of a gifted child.Lang grew up with his father’s own musical ambition and high expectations.It is not hard to imagine how boring it must be to practice the piano every day.Lang said that he once hated his hands and the piano.He injured his right hand six years ago and had to rest.“That was the best month，” he says, without hesitation.“I had a date.I saw a Broadway show and saw Britney Spears in concert.”

1. Which of the following is NOT the reason why Lang Lang is the No.1 Chinese classical artist in the world?

A．He has as many as 5 billions fans in China.

B．He played in the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony.

C．He is the first Chinese pianist to play with the world’s top orchestras.

D．He plays the piano so well and has a good international image.

2. The underlined word “debut” in the second paragraph probably means “________”．

A．first class	B．first performance
C．first plan	D．first choice

3. From the passage we can learn that ________.

A．Lang is making efforts to promote Chinese music to the world

B．Lang didn’t play the piano well when he was little

C．he was happy to practice the piano every day

D．he injured his right hand carelessly six years ago

4. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．The sad story of Lang’s father.

B．Lang’s gift from his father.

C．Lang’s special childhood life.

D．Lang’s date with his girlfriend.