1 . There’s no end to the work to do with improving diversity in children’s media, especially for storybooks. Children need to be able to see themselves in the characters of the stories they hear and read, at a stage where they’re building their understanding of the world around them.
Shachi Kaushik’s new book, Diwali in My New Home, brings the festival of lights to life for an immigrant community.
This picture book is for children aged 5 to 8. It speaks to Indian children’s experiences living abroad when they’ve experienced life in India. The story is about a girl, Priya, who loves being with family and friends to celebrate Diwali. But Priya and her parents began living in the United States this year, and no one seems to know about the holiday. Priya misses the traditions in India. As she joins the lights together and creates rangoli art(地画艺术), Priya introduces the festival of lights to her neighbors. And even though the celebration is different this year, it’s still Diwali.
Kaushik was a lawyer before she discovered the joy of telling stories to young children. Storytelling began when she volunteered in Texas, where she hosted a monthly storytime for children. Seeing the joy on the children’s faces inspired her to write children’s books.
When asked “What’s the secret to making children pay attention to stories?”, she said, “I would say the secret is to be present and not to be shy from acting, singing or dancing. Be a performer. While reading, use facial expressions and voice to add excitement to the story. Also try asking questions like ‘What do you think will happen?’. Let the little ones’ imagination flow. Lastly, try adding a finger play song and some dance moves to get those little ones into the mood.”
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To give explanation of diversity. | B．To explain the aim of the storybooks. |
| C．To show the importance of children’s media. | D．To lead in the introduction of Shachi Kaushik’s book. |
| A．A festival. | B．A country. | C．A community. | D．A character. |
| A．The joy from children listening to stories. | B．The job as a lawyer. |
| C．The experience of selling storybooks. | D．The money earned by hosting storytime. |
| A．To test if they are shy. | B．To attract their attention. |
| C．To encourage them to use facial expressions. | D．To teach them to be a performer. |
Qi Baishi rose from being an unknown carpenter (木匠) in the country of Hunan Province to be one of the most famous and
The Beijing Fine Art Academy organized an art museum exhibition,
3 . In a studio on the top floor of a three-story Tibetan-style house in Lhasa, Phuntsok Tobgye and others are busy working on a thangka painting, which shows Tibet’s breathtaking beauty and famous attractions like the Potala Palace.
Phuntsok Tobgye is one of the inheritors (继承人) of Tsedong thangka. It is a branch of the Miantang painting, the most influential school of Tibetan thangka painting. Through the efforts of thangka painters, the skills have been passed to younger generations, with their works reaching a wider range of art lovers.
When he was a child, Phuntsok Tobgye developed an interest in the thangka paintings. He started sketching the landscape of his hometown. After primary school, he began to learn thangka painting. When he was 18 years old, he traveled to Lhasa, learning from thangka masters to help repair the murals (壁画) in the Potala Palace. It was there that he learned different styles of the art form.
In the following years, he continued to learn the art form in Lhasa. During this period, his works were displayed at various exhibitions, including one in Beijing and one in Vancouver, Canada. His solo exhibition held in Lhasa in June 2015 attracted nearly 1,000 visitors on its opening day and his works gained popularity among art collectors.
Sonam Wangden, Phuntsok Tobgye’s son, is learning thangka painting from his father. He says he can recall his father being busy with the canvas (帆布). Not long ago, Sonam Wangden and his father went to Lhasa to undertake restoration work of temple murals. After finishing their work, they sat by the wall chatting about their restoration work. Now, many of his relatives paint thangka. Phuntsok Tobgye takes pride in that.
1. What does the thangka painting Phuntsok Tobgye is working on show?| A．Tibet’s architecture. | B．Tibet’s working people. |
| C．Tibet’s long history. | D．Tibet’s scenery and tourists spots. |
| A．His early interest. | B．His childhood experience. |
| C．His family’s support. | D．His teacher’s encouragement. |
| A．Excited. | B．Proud. | C．Surprised. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Phuntsok Tobgye Held Solo Exhibitions in Lhasa |
| B．Phuntsok Tobgye Loved Thangka Painting when young |
| C．Tibetan Artist Phuntsok Tobgye and Thangka Painting |
| D．A Tibetan Man Learns Thangka Painting from His Father |
4 . Black and white mountains and rocks covered in colorful mist—the combination of Chinese and Western painting styles—attracts Michela Millstein at an art exhibition in San Francisco.
“I think there are a lot of meanings behind the paintings. You can tell that it’s trying to show cultural things and not just a picture,” Millstein says. Having studied Chinese for three years, Millstein, a high school student in the San Francisco Bay Area, says she loves Chinese culture.
The exhibition, The Flying Colors, presented more than 60 pieces of Chinese ink paintings by a local artist, Arthur Ku, at San Francisco City Hall recently.
“Arthur Ku is a well-known painter, calligrapher, and artist; his endless devotion to the art community has undoubtedly contributed to the vitality (活力) of San Francisco,” the mayor said in the announcement.
Ku was born in Guangdong province in 1941 and settled down in the United States in 1977. He has been exploring the “splash ink and color” style, which is a technique of working with splashy (泼墨), colorful washes to create an abstract, expressive style. Ku’s artistic talent in traditional Chinese brush and ink painting inspired a unique style of down-to-earth and creative freedom, which created a critical attempt of traditional Chinese brush painting into modern and contemporary art, according to mayor’s statement.
Ku is also keen to promote cultural and artistic exchanges between China and the US to improve art and friendship. He has successfully held several joint painting exhibitions in the US for artists from China.
“I think inclusiveness brings unity and diversity brings vitality. We are now living in the most challenging times. So, I think it’s important for us to embrace more inclusiveness and diversity, to have more cultural dialogue, so that we can communicate better and respect each other more.” said Arthur Ku.
1. What can we learn from Millstein’s words in paragraph 2?| A．The exhibition held recently. |
| B．The beauty of artistic works. |
| C．The passion for artistic works. |
| D．The cultural significance of the works |
| A．Innovative. | B．Traditional. | C．Costly. | D．Inimitable. |
| A．To promote cultural and artistic exchanges. |
| B．To found an international charity organisation. |
| C．To enhance the reputation of some Chinese artists. |
| D．To introduce the history of Chinese traditional arts. |
| A．The learning process of a Chinese artist. |
| B．An artist furthering cultural communication. |
| C．The guidance on communicating and respecting. |
| D．An art exhibition held at San Francisco City Hall. |
5 . Sakamoto Ryuichi, who died on March 28 after a long battle with cancer, once described his musical method thus: “I open my ears to the world.” But what Mr. Srakamoto heard, few others could. As a member of the Japanese techno-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, he helped pioneer modern electronic music. As a composer, he brought the work of directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci to life. His passing brought about mourning from the whole music world.
Mr. Sakamoto was born in Tokyo in 1952 and took to music early. He graduated from one of Tokyo’s top colleges of music, where he studied Western classical music, and explored an interest in the traditional music of Japan’s Okinawa as well as in that of India and Africa. Early in his career, Mr. Sakamoto trained his ears on the sound of technology. Yellow Magic Orchestra, a group he formed in 1978,used synthesisers(合成器)in instrumental songs intended for dancing - a novel combination at the time. “Errors or noises absorb me and I wonder if new musical currents could come from this imperfection,” Mr. Sakamoto said. That was exactly what happened: Mr. Sakamoto’s music helped inspire what would later become techno and hip-hop. Then he turned towards the sound of nature. He listened to the wind blowing, the water dropping, the rocks moving and the leaves falling, which he introduced into his music.
Unusually for a Japanese musician, Mr. Sakamoto used his fame to speak out on social and political issues, including environmental preservation and nuclear(原子核的)power. In 2011, an earthquake and tsunami rocked northeast Japan and set off a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. In the wake of the disaster, Mr. Sakamoto travelled often to the region to support local residents.
In 2014, the cancer shook Mr. Sakamoto’s life. But even that could not weaken his longing to hear more. In the next few years, he composed the score for “The Revenant”, and produced a film about sound called “Coda”.
1. What’s paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The style of Sakamoto Ryuichi’s music. |
| B．Sakamoto Ryuichi’s comments on music. |
| C．Sakamoto Ryuichi’s contributions to music. |
| D．The influence of Sakamoto Ryuichi’s music. |
| A．He liked nature scenery. |
| B．He got inspired from noises. |
| C．He created techno and hip-hop. |
| D．He became interested in music at college. |
| A．Intelligent and frank. | B．Talented and caring. |
| C．Generous and enthusiastic. | D．Determined and humorous. |
| A．A musician: making sounds into music |
| B．Sounds of nature: sources of music composition |
| C．Yellow Magic Orchestra: memories of generations |
| D．Sakamoto Ryuichi: speaking out for the common people |
6 . Washington, DC—In a press conference today, the National Gallery of Art will share groundbreaking new findings about Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) to be explored in the exhibition of Vermeer’s Secrets, opening on October 8, 2022.
These findings led a team of professors and scientists working together to determine that the painting Girl with a Flute was made by a partner of Vermeer-not by the Dutch artist himself, as was previously believed.
This challenges the long-held belief that he was alone genius and, instead, assumes him as an instructor to the next generation of artists. In part because Vermeer’s collection of works contains only about 35 accepted paintings, professors have generally considered it unlikely that he had students or partners. With no surviving documents to provide evidence of a workshop, it was believed that he must have worked alone.
The existence of other artists working with Johannes Vermeer is perhaps one of the most significant new findings about the artist to be discovered in decades. It changes thoroughly the popular understanding of Vermeer, building on decades of research and using advanced scientific technology to expose exciting discoveries that add new knowledge to the secret artist. “I am unbelievably proud of the team of National Gallery staff who worked together to study these paintings,” said Kay win Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art.
On view through January 8, 2023, Vermeer’s Secrets offers audiences a behind-the-scenes look at how National Gallery professors and scientists studied the museum’s four treasured paintings—as well as two 20th-century fake(假的) copies—to understand “what makes a Vermeer a Vermeer”.
Research also led scientists to determine that Vermeer’s Girl with the Red Hat was made at a turning point in the artist’s career. They recognized Girl with the Red Hat as a key work that points to Vermeer’s late style.
1. What does the underlined word “This” in paragraph 3 refer to?| A．That a workmate of Vermeer worked on Girl with a Flute. |
| B．That a team of devoted professors and scientists worked together. |
| C．That Vermeer was alone instructor to the next generation of artists. |
| D．That there is no surviving evidence of Vermeer owning a workshop. |
| A．The property of the research. |
| B．The process of the new research. |
| C．The praise from Kay win Feldman. |
| D．The significance of the new finding. |
| A．To guide us to enjoy Vermeer’s paintings. |
| B．To offer us a better understanding of Vermeer. |
| C．To show us alone and familiar painting genius. |
| D．To give us an insight into Dutch art of painting. |
| A．What effects the new findings have on the previous views. |
| B．Whether Girl with the Red Hat was created by Vermeer alone. |
| C．How Girl with the Red Hat is different from Girl with a Flute. |
| D．Why Girl with the Red Hat marked a turning point in Vermeer’s career. |
Charlie Chaplin was one of the best comedy actors of his time. He knew how to use his body and facial features
8 . Born in 1975 in a poor neighbourhood in Sao Paulo, Eduardo Kobra began his career at 12 years old and, since then, has become one of the most recognized street artists in the world.
With more than 5,000 murals(壁画) over five continents, he currently holds the record for the largest mural in the world, first for creating his famous mural Las Etnias (The Ethnicities) for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Then a year later he beat his previous record with his monumental work at Cacau Show Headquarters, a masterpiece that took 700 hours to complete and more than doubled his 2016 record. Influenced by the pop-art movement and modern artists, the realism in his designs makes his flat-surfaced extremely colourful wall paintings appear 3-D and alive with life.
With his project Greenpincel(2011), Kobra showed his strong will to the environmental cause. Climate change, water pollution, deforestation, predatory(掠夺性的) fishing, and mistreatment of animals became strong themes present in his work .In Stars of Peace, Kobra describes individuals who have given hope to the world through their lives, such as Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Yousafzai, and Anne Frank.
Kobra is involved in social causes, such as food collection campaigns and activities aimed at bringing art to poor communities, especially children who have no access to basic facilities.
In 2021, he started the Kobra Institute, which aims to bring art to vulnerable(脆弱的) people in Brazil.During the pandemic(大流行病), he led an activity together with the private sector to raise funds to build oxygen plants for COVID-19 patients.
1. Which of Kobra’s works made him set the second world record?| A．Las Etnias. | B．The Ethnicities. |
| C．Stars of Peace. | D．A work at Cacau Show Headquarters. |
| A．Social causes. | B．Famous individuals. |
| C．Painting skills. | D．Environmental protection. |
| A．He was born into an artistic fanily. |
| B．He specializes in romantic painting. |
| C．He devoted himself to helping the poor learn art. |
| D．He made a great fortune in 2016 Rio Olympics. |
| A．Sensitive. | B．Admirable. | C．Humorous | D．Adaptable. |
9 . French artist Henri Matisse(1869-1954) was described as “a man ahead of his time” . In honor of the artist, an exhibition titled “Matisse by Matisse” will be held in China this year. It follows Matisse’s works across sixty years.
Originally, Matisse aimed to become a lawyer. He attended law school and worked as a law worker until he came down with a disease in1889. To help him kill time on the road to recovery, Matisse’s mother bought him painting tools. His feeling for color was waken up and he decided to become an artist.
Matisse wanted to create his own style. Instead of painting realistic objects people saw he preferred to express his emotions and feelings toward these objects. One way he achieved this was through using bold(大胆的) colors. In his eyes, colors had more meanings than people would usually think of.
Yet his style was so unusual that Matisse was called the “father of Fauvism(野兽派)” . Even so, Matisse never gave up digging out more for art. Matisse once wrote in the book Jazz that “an artist should never be a prisoner of himself”. In the later years of his life when he suffered from cancer and couldn’t paint, he tried a new kind of art: paper cut-outs. He took brightly painted papers, cut them into shapes, and arranged them in designs. That’s what Matisse called “painting with scissors”.
With great creativity, Matisse’s works have been welcomed and used in many forms of popular art. For example, Yves Saint Laurent, an influential European fashion designer, showed a section of his 1981 autumn-winter collection in honor of Matisse’s works. Now his cut-out patterns and stylish colors are still seen on album covers, T-shirts and in ads.
1. What inspired Matisse’s feeling for color?| A．The disease. | B．His career as a lawyer. |
| C．Some painting tools. | D．His mother’s encouragement. |
| A．Showing his feelings toward objects. |
| B．Realizing his dream to be an artist. |
| C．Drawing objects in real life. |
| D．Looking for his own painting style. |
| A．He was tired of painting. |
| B．Cut-outs were becoming popular. |
| C．His poor health stopped him continuing painting. |
| D．He was asked to create a new art form. |
| A．Expensive. | B．Popular. | C．Ordinary. | D．Traditional. |
10 . A huge, 12-pointed star has been fixed on top of one of the towers of Antoni Gaudí’s famous Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. This means the construction work, begun 139 years ago, nears completion. It is scheduled to be completely finished in 2026 — marking 100 years since the architect’s death.
When Gaudí died in 1926, less than a quarter of the exterior was complete. Since then construction has been stopped every now and then for various reasons from Spanish civil wars to funding problems. Though in 2005 the church was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the construction work was claimed to be illegal in 2016, and regained its building permit in 2019.
Born in 1852, Gaudí grew up fascinated by geometry and the natural wonders of the countryside. After studying architecture in school, he eventually formed his own style. In his opinion, form and function were inseparable: Beauty should be part of structure, which rules the natural world. “Nothing is art,” he concluded, “if it does not come from nature.” On his graduation ceremony, his director said the words that became famous later: “I do not know if we have awarded this degree to a madman or to a genius; only time will tell.”
Time has obviously given the answer. In fact, Gaudí’s work over the years has permanently influenced Barcelona architecture like none other before or after. The city is considered the best outdoor modernist Museum of Europe mostly because of Gaudí.
On the 10th of June 1926, Gaudí was knocked down by a tram (有轨电车) while he was doing his usual evening walk. He lost consciousness, and nobody recognized that this disheveled (蓬乱的) old man was the famous architect until he was taken to the hospital. He was buried two days later in the unfinished Sagrada Familia, following a funeral attended by thousands of people: most of the citizens of Barcelona came out to bid a final-farewell to the most universal architect that the city had ever known.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．A 12-pointed star was set on a Gaudí’s church. |
| B．Barcelona is well known for Gaudí’s architecture. |
| C．Gaudí’s famous church will be finished at last. |
| D．The 100h anniversary of Gaudí’s death will come. |
| A．It was to memorize Gaudí. | B．It suffered frequent delays. |
| C．It was a World Heritage Site. | D．It didn’t get its building permit. |
| A．His style was too special in his time. | B．He was not qualified for the degree. |
| C．His attitude to others was crazy. | D．He was too talented to be taught. |
| A．Sagrada Familia — Gaudí’s Unfinished Work |
| B．Barcelona — a City of Antoni Gaudí |
| C．Antoni Gaudí — a Genius Architect |
| D．Gaudí’s Architecture — the Beauty of Nature |
