1 . Four People Pushing Anamorphic (变形) Art to New Limits

Adry del Rocio

Mexican street artist Adry del Rocio creates 3D murals (壁画). In a piece for Den Helder City in the Netherlands, a playful seal intertwines (缠绕) between impossible column structures that reminds people of the mind-bending imaginings of the classic modernist artist MC Escher. In 2019, she created the award-winning “Swimming in red” for the International Street Art Festival in Brande, Denmark. The killing of whales in the Faroe Islands is marked by her work, where these beautiful mammals jump and play out of a sea of crimson, their tails changing into flowers.

Jonty Hurwitz

Using a variety of materials, the London artist/scientist performs a number of computer calculations, enabling him to warp (扭曲), say, an endangered frog or horse or even, basketball players into unrecognizable objects.

James Nizam

James Nizam works with light to transform a space. In 2016’s “Frieze”, a single beam of sunlight enters a common room through a carefully made hole. The resulting flood of light into the space creates an almost dreamlike feel, with the shining beams creating captivating lines and divisions in what cannot now be described as an empty room. Nizam is also known for transforming rooms by removing walls and floorboards to create anamorphic effects like in “Orthodrome”.

John Pugh

In a career extending over 30 years, world-famous American artist John Pugh has been creating show-stopping trompe L’oeil murals ( French for “deceiving the eye”) on a grand scale, whether it be giant snakes crashing through solid walls or revealing hidden temples and buildings by “peeling away” completely flat surfaces.

1. Who created the work “Frieze”?

A．Adry del Rocio.

B．Jonty Hurwitz.

C．James Nizam.

D．John Pugh.

2. What’s the nationality of John Pugh?

A．He is French.

B．He is American.

C．He is Mexican.

D．He is British.

3. What do the four artists have in common?

A．Their works won many awards.	B．They are fond of creating 3D murals.
C．Their works have reached a new height.	D．They are famous for transforming rooms.

2 . 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。

John is a Mazahua textile artist from the community of San Felipe Santiago, Villa de Allende, Mexico. Ten-year-old John was     1     (great) attracted by the unique forms and beautiful colors of the Mazahua textiles, and asked his mother to teach him embroidery (刺绣). But he     2     (tell) that a man shouldn’t learn it and that a man must spend his time on other things. However,     3     his mother said didn’t affect John’s big interest     4     embroidery.

After that talk with his mother, John set about     5     (make) the effort to learn the artform and hoped to change     6     idea that men couldn’t learn embroidery. He wished to share their cultural heritage through their textiles, so he attended events like meetings related to their     7     (tradition) textiles. To date, he     8     (win) many national prizes presented to people who promote art.

John’s success has changed community opinions and encouraged young people, including men,     9     (preserve) their unique embroidery art. Women from these communities have begun to teach their son to embroider. Clearly, John made a big     10     (contribute) to the protection of their cultural heritage.

3 . According to Michael Gelb, the author of ‘Think Like Da Vinci’, any living person can bring out their inner Da Vinci by committing themselves to several ‘Da Vincian’ principles.

According to Gelb, although not everyone is born with the gifts and the abilities of Leonardo Da Vinci, it is possible for any person to use the fundamentals of Da Vinci’s approach to learning to guide us to toward the realization of our own full potential.     1    

Leonardo possessed an intense curiosity about the world around him. It was this undiscouraged curiosity that began in childhood and continued throughout his life that drove Leonardo into becoming one of the greatest thinker’s humanity.     2     Quite the contrary, Leonardo was a man of action, possessing an unstoppable determination in pursuit of knowledge.

The young Leonardo loved nature. Leonardo would wonder around the Tuscany countryside asking questions he did not himself yet understand. Questions such as: Why shells exist on the tops of mountains alongside seaweed usually found in the sea. Why lightning is visible whereas thunder is not and takes a longer time to travel.     3     His questions took him under the water (he designed a snorkel as well as diving equipment and even a submarine) and into the sky (he also invented flying machines and a parachute).     4     Gelb recommends a series of exercises which include:

Keeping a journal or notebook – Leonardo always carried a notebook with him so that he could jot down ideas, thoughts, impressions and observations as they occurred.

Asking questions - Making a list of a hundred questions in your notebook on any given topic that comes into your head.

Be willing to make lots of mistakes – Leonardo was not afraid to make mistakes and appear foolish.

    5    

A．Curiosity can be developed.

B．Why so many important families live in Tuscany.

C．But don’t think Leonardo was a man of thought alone.

D．Here, we are going to look at one key principle: curiosity.

E．Leonardo relied only on himself to answer his own questions.

F．Actually, Leonardo embraced the feelings of unfamiliarity and foolishness.

G．But do not be fooled into thinking that Leonardo did not make any mistakes.

4 . Pop art, which emerged in the '50s and rose in popularity throughout the '60s, sought to challenge the idea of fine art.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

Andy Warhol is probably the most influential figure of Pop Art. He became a famous celebrity himself. Understanding ‘star-culture’, advertisement and the effect of the media, he made these the core of his work. His screenprinted images of Marilyn Monroe, Soup cans, and sensational newspaper stories, quickly became synonymous(同义词) with Pop art.

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997)

Roy Lichtenstein is one of the fathers of the Pop Art movement. In November 2015, Christie’s sold Lichtenstein’s ‘Nurse’ for a record $95.4 million. In this piece, as well as in other works, we can see how the enlarged imagery of adverts and comics with recognisable characters, highlights the ironic(讽刺好笑的) images and situations in every-day life.

Mimmo Rotella (1918-2006)

Italian artist Mimmo Rotella, was one of the most important figures of post-war European art. He combined pieces of adverts and posters in his works. For this technique he used a series of torn posters, gathering them to create a tremendously expressive and powerful aesthetic(美学). His works Sempre lei Marilyn (2002) and Viva America(1963) are easy to recognize.

James Rosenquist (1933-2017)

James Rosenquist can be considered one of the strongest and most influential modern Pop Art artists. His work dived deep into cinematography and advertising. He employed techniques which are conventionally used to create Commercial Art. His works appear as an overwhelming mixture of fragmented(成碎片的) images of current celebrities, everyday objects and popular foods - giant lipsticks or spaghetti. If you go to Centre Pompidou, Paris, you can see his work President-Elect.

1. What artwork will you turn to if you are interested in Andy Warhol?

A．Marilyn Monroe.	B．Nurse.
C．Viva America.	D．President-Elect.

2. Which artist creates his works by putting together cut and torn posters?

A．Andy Warhol.	B．Roy Lichtenstein.
C．Mimmo Rotella.	D．James Rosenquist.

3. What do the four pop art artists’ works have in common?

A．They are typical fine art.

B．They show ironic everyday life.

C．They employ traditional techniques.

D．They are somewhat related to commercials.

5 . In real life Joanna Garcia Swisher, 41, is happily married to former Major League Baseball player Nick Swisher, 40, and raising daughters Sailor, 4, and Emerson, 7. On TV she needs the help of a matchmaker to find love in the new Hallmark Channel romance As Luck Would Have It. She opens up about raising strong girls, how her parents’ recent deaths affected her and which roles fans recognize her for the most.

You haven’t needed a matchmaker — but if life had turned out differently, would you use one?

I would totally have been game for it. I was set up by a friend of ours to meet my husband, but I think it sounds so fun.

You star opposite Allen Leech — were you a Downton Abbey fan?

I’m a huge Downton fan, but I know Allen personally very well. He happened to marry my best friend’s little sister. His mom actually cooked me dinner a couple of times while I was shooting!

You’ve been on TV since you were a teen. Which role gets you recognized most?

Sweet Magnolias now. But overall I would say Reba. I also get recognized for being Amy Adams more than I get recognized for being myself.

You lost your mother, father and grandmother in the past year and a half. How are you and your family doing?

My daughters have watched me go through so much in the last year, from the highs of the success of Sweet Magnolias to the lowest of lows, losing my parents and my grandmother. I really believe that it’s not what happens to you, it’s what happens for you. Even in their passing, as tragic as it was ... I know that it’s not for nothing. My mom was such a strong, capable, amazing woman; my father was the ultimate father and feminist and just huge source of support — and I think that solidified my strength. So I only hope that I’m modeling that same strength for my girls.

1. How does the text develop?

A．By questions and answers.	B．By listing examples.
C．By narrating life stories.	D．By comparison and contrast.

2. What does Joanna Garcia Swisher think of a matchmaker in marriage?

A．It’s strange.

B．It’s acceptable.

C．It’s terrible.

D．It’s necessary.

3. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph imply?

A．Joanna was just playing on words.	B．Joanna missed her parents much.
C．Joanna submitted herself to her fate.	D．Joanna faced the tragedy positively.

4. What can best describe Joanna Garcia Swisher according to the text?

A．Simple and talkative.	B．Stubborn and influential.
C．Strong and easy-going.	D．Negative and sensitive.