1 . One of the most productive architects of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright had no shortage of ideas. Throughout his life, he designed 1,171 architectural works. Many of them, like the Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater, were eventually built. But over half — 660 to be exact — never moved beyond paper. Now, thanks to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, we are finally getting a look at what his unbuilt architecture would have looked like. Working with digital artist David Romero, the organization has been building an impressive library of works that show Wright’s creative genius.
The reasons that these pieces of incredible architecture were never built vary. Wright’s homage to his adopted home state of Arizona was rejected for several reasons. While Wright considered his avant-garde (前卫的) design for the Arizona State Capitol Building to be a gift to the city, officials felt otherwise. With a price of $5 million, too costly, he was passed over for the project.
In the case of the cliffside (悬崖边) Morris House, it’s not completely clear why the family did not go with Wright’s design. But, in examining his ideas for the home, it’s clear that Wright successfully combines the architecture and nature. The design uses rounded forms that fit into the cliffs and merge the home and the natural surroundings.
In 1947, he was asked to rebuild Roy Wetmore’s service station. What Wright provided was a futuristic design that included a ramp (斜坡) allowing a car to be displayed on the roof. Unfortunately, Wetmore wished to simply remodel the existing structure rather than demolish it and start over, so the project was never done. Later, Wetmore did incorporate the car ramp on the roof.
Romero has been able to bring these ideas to life and give a new generation of architecture lovers a reminder of why Wright had such a long, influential career.
1. Why was the design for Arizona State Capitol Building refused?| A．The government wanted a perfect design. |
| B．It was originally designed for other states. |
| C．It needed much more money than expected. |
| D．The design didn’t go with the surroundings. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Redesign. | B．Pull down. | C．Improve. | D．Put up. |
| A．Wright’s productive architecture wasn’t recognized. |
| B．Many good productive architects didn’t come to light. |
| C．Wright’s excellent designs for some famous buildings. |
| D．Modern technology makes a genius’ designs come true. |
2 . Michelle Yeoh won best actress at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday night becoming the first Asian woman to win the award.
Yeoh, who earned the award for her excellent performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, is the fifth Asian to win an Oscar in an acting category and the first to win in a lead acting category. “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is an example of hope and possibilities. This is evidence to dream big, and dreams do come true,” Yeoh said while accepting her Oscar.
In Everything Everywhere All at Once, Yeoh played Evelyn Wang, an immigrant mother and laundromat owner who’s unexpectedly tasked with saving the multiverse (多元宇宙) from destruction. “And, ladies, don’t let anybody tell you that you are ever past your prime. Never give up.” Yeoh said in her acceptance speech. “I have to dedicate this to my mom—all the moms in the world. Because they are really the superheroes, and without them, none of us would be here tonight.”
Yeoh first made a name for herself in Hong Kong cinema, becoming a prolific and respected martial arts action star in the late 1980s and the 1990s. As an actor who managed not to play the typical “damsel in distress” stereotypes in action movies and instead often played crime-fighting heroes, Yeoh became known as a feminist pioneer in entertainment.
“We believe in our Asian talent. We believe all of us have stories that need to be told and need to be embraced,” Yeoh said in an interview with NBC.
1. What is Everything Everywhere All at Once?| A．A book. | B．An actress. | C．A film. | D．An award. |
| A．Her friend. | B．Her mother. | C．Her superhero. | D．Her teacher. |
| A．A news report. | B．A business report. | C．A science magazine. | D．A research plan. |
3 . If dropping two studio albums within five months in 2020 wasn't enough of a surprise, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is now serving her fans a third one. Fearless (Taylor's Version), released on April 9th, is a remake of her 2008 country album Fearless, which follows in the wake of the singer's contract battle with her former label Big Machines back in 2019. Upon its release, the album sold 205,000 digital copies in China in less than five minutes and instantly topped the charts on Chinese song streaming platforms, including QQ Music and NetEase Music.
The re-recorded Fearless, a composition of 19 tracks from the songwriter's original album and 6 additional “From the Vault" songs, represents a retrieval of her past memories and love stories. The same brisk (轻快的)and bright lyrics and melodies are presented in a mellower (醇 美的)and warmer voice and have received tons of praise and celebration among Chinese Swifties-the nickname for Taylor's fans in the country.
“A break with the past to start all over again-that needs good faith and a strong heart,” read one comment on Tencent's QQ Music. “So dulcet and ear-catching. If you missed the 19-year-old Taylor, the 31-year-old Taylor will guide you to begin again,” a fan declared boisterously in NetEase Music's comments section.
Taylor Swift has now taken the crown as the best-selling artist of all time on major Chinese music streaming platforms, with her studio recordings earning more than a combined 159 million RMB ($24.3 million) as of April 14, outselling many famous Chinese singers including Jay Chou, Lay Zhang, and Li Yuchun.
The American singer's huge success in China is derived from her never — go — out — of — style artistry and inexhaustible creativity, while also being a product of her enormous fan base, which has succeeded with China's booming music industry. Taylor boasts about 10 million followers on China's Weibo, a microblogging platform, and has more than 9.3 million and 4.9 million followers on QQ Music and NetEase Music, respectively. Apart from their frequent trending on social media platforms, her songs have also repeatedly appeared in music competition shows and in the promos （预告片）for popular films, such as Detective Chinatown, a Chinese comedy-mystery series.
1. What can we learn about Fearless released on April 9th?| A．It's a 2008 country album. |
| B．It's labelled Big Machines. |
| C．It's a composition of 19 songs. |
| D．It's an album of 25 songs. |
| A．Fashionable. | B．Productive. |
| C．Creative. | D．Determined. |
| A．They are full of artistry and creativity. |
| B．They are dulcet and ear-catching. |
| C．They have brisk and bright melodies. |
| D．They are popular in Weibo platform. |
| A．Taylor took part in the music competition in China. |
| B．Taylor's fans made China's boom music industry. |
| C．Taylor benefits from China's music industry. |
| D．Taylor starred in Detective Chinatown, |
4 . If you’re looking for someone to make a realistic, three-dimensional (3D) portrait of your pet cat using felted wool, you’ll have a tough time finding someone better than Wakuneco, a Japanese artist who started creating needle felt art back in 2015. Using different colored wool, this artist creates life-like cat portraits. Just have a look at what she can do with a needle and wool thread.
Looking at some of the cat portraits created by the talented Japanese artist, it’s hard to believe they are made of felted wool and not taxidermy (动物标本剥制术) masterpieces. To achieve this level of realism, which translates as “frame cat”, Wakuneco spends hours on end poking wool with a needle to create solid layers that imitate cat fur, applying realistic glass eyes and finally adding the whiskers. After everything is just as she wants, the 3D portrait is framed and sent to the owner who ordered it.
Losing a beloved pet is never easy, but Wakuneco’s realistic cat portraits — made using photographs of real cats as a reference — help owners deal with their loss. And while not all of her customers are owners looking for something special to remember their pets, many of her portraits are ordered as a means of copying.
Wakuneco currently offers her amazing wool felting skills through Yahoo Auctions, but only to Japanese customers. However, after photos of her amazingly detailed portraits spread quickly online, she did express her intention to start taking international orders in the near future. In the meantime, you can admire her amazing creations on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and watch videos of the creative process on YouTube.
For more amazing felted wool artworks, check out the creations of Gardenia Miru and Terumi Ohta, two other very talented Japanese artists, as well as the felted wool animal portraits of Dani Ives.
1. What does the author mean by saying the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?| A．No one can do better than Wakuneco. |
| B．Wakuneco is too busy to be visited or invited. |
| C．It’s hard for you to get along well with Wakuneco. |
| D．You’ll find many other skillful persons like Wakuneco. |
| A．They’re widely considered as taxidermy masterpieces. |
| B．Their eyes are made of felted wool in most cases. |
| C．They’re made by modeling the pictures of authentic cats. |
| D．Their fur is taken from animals no longer alive. |
| A．Dani Ives’s wool animal portraits are gaining in popularity. |
| B．Only the Japanese can buy Wakuneco’s artworks for the time being. |
| C．Wakuneco decided to show her creative process on Twitter. |
| D．Wakuneco is unsure about selling her artworks internationally. |
| A．3D Technology Used in Art. |
| B．Four Talented Japanese Artists. |
| C．Needle Felting: An Art in Danger. |
| D．Wakuneco’s Realistic 3D Cat Portraits. |
Born in 1894, Mei Lanfang
Mei was also an innovator(创新者). In addition to new stage designs and singing styles, his innovations in make-up and costume design allowed for more vivid images of female characters. This contributed greatly to the
