1 . Many visual artists have a signature style, as unique and identifiable as a fingerprint. For Amoako Boafo, who often paints with his fingers, this seems doubly true. His distinctive paint strokes (笔画) combine the complex skin tones of his chosen subjects, many of whom are, like himself, Africans with global life experiences.
Boafo, whose first solo museum exhibition runs at the Seattle Art Museum, was born and raised in Accra, Ghana, and moved to Vienna, Austria, in 2014, where he ran into difficulties, with gallerists unwilling to show his works due to his focus on Black figures. He continued making an effort to create self-portraits (自画像) and people he knew or admired-African people and Black people who have African ancestry, painting a community of sorts during a time of hardship. He also developed his standout approach to figurative painting, which combines areas of bright and noticeable color with his soft and deep fingerpainting.
He began posting his art online and caught the attention of artists like Kehinde Wiley, the celebrated American artist. The word started to spread.
Boafo is now a global art star, with numerous shows at galleries and art fairs, working with fashion house Dior, and several paintings selling for over a million dollars. In 2021, with three of his paintings being launched into space by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ Kent-based spaceflight company, you might even say Boafo has rocketed to success.
And yet a recent phone conversation with the artist from his studio in Accra, which is once again his home base, revealed a well-mannered person who appreciated his success while pointing out all of the luck and preparation that led to it. Seeing so many of his paintings -created from 2016 to 2022-gathered together in an exhibition has helped him remember that “I did not ‘just happen. ‘I did not expect this success but I was hopeful and ready for it.”
1. What makes Boafo’s paintings different from other artists’ works?| A．His finger strokes. | B．His home country. ss-ess |
| C．His life experiences. | D．His traditional style. |
| A．By turning to celebrated artists for help. | B．By developing a unique painting style. |
| C．By running his art exhibition at home. | D．By working with local art galleries. |
| A．To indicate the price of space travel. | B．To show the value of Boafo’s works. |
| C．To introduce an international brand. | D．To tell us the advances in technology. |
| A．He is talkative. | B．He is patient. | C．He is determined. | D．He is humorous. |
2 . Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world. Here are some of the famous people buried at Westminster Abbey.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens, who died in 1870, is buried in Poets’ Corner, the resting place and remembrance location for writers of all kinds.
Dickens is known for many of his works, and A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities are two of his most widely known works. It was popular opinion among the people and his fellow writers that Dickens should be buried in Westminster Abbey.
Stephen Hawking
Hawking was a scientist, physicist, and author, who died in 2018. Carved onto his stone is a series of rings, surrounding a darker central ellipse (椭圆). The ten characters of Hawking’s equation express his idea that black holes in the universe are not entirely black but send out a glow that would become known as Hawking radiation.
His epitaph (墓志铭) reads, “HERE LIES WHAT WAS MORTAL OF STEPHEN HAWKING”.
Laurence Olivier
Famous actor Laurence Olivier is also buried in Westminster Abbey. Born in 1907, his career began on the stage in England, and he eventually became a film legend until his death in 1989.
It’s well known that he had won Academy Awards, while also being honoured with special Oscars. Olivier’s grave is located in the South Transept in Poets’ Corner of the Abbey, in front of Shakespeare’s memorial.
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton is considered one of the most important scientists of all time. He was a physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. He formulated the Law of Motion as well as the Law of Universal Gravitation.
Artist William Kent designed Newton’s complex funerary monument, and it was sculpted by Michael Rysbrack.
1. When did the author of A Christmas Carol die?| A．In 1870. | B．In 1907. | C．In 1989. | D．In 2018. |
| A．They won Academy Awards. | B．They were buried in Poets’ Corner. |
| C．They were praised by Shakespeare. | D．They were famous actors and writers. |
| A．Charles Dickens’s. | B．Stephen Hawking’s. |
| C．Laurence Olivier’s. | D．Isaac Newton’s. |
3 . 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. |
4 . Artists with a Green Message
Chris Jordan
Photographic artist Chris Jordan takes pictures of ordinary objects like bottle caps, light bulbs and aluminum cans and turns them into art by digitally rearranging them to construct one central image. However, it’s the tiny pieces that drive home then environmental message. For example, his 2008 work “Plastic Cups” shows 1 million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the U. S. every six hours.
Nele Azevedo
Visual artist Nele Azevedo is best known for her “Melting Men” interventions that she stages in cities across the globe. Azevedo carves thousands of small figures for to watch them melt. Her ice Sculptures are meant to question the role of monuments in cities, but Azevedo says she’s glad her art can also “speak of urgent matters that threaten our existence on this planet.”
Agnes Denes
One of the pioneers of environmental art and conceptual art, Agnes Denes is best known for her land art project, “Wheatfield- A Confrontation.” In May 1982, Denes planted a two-acre wheat field in Manhattan on Battery Park Landfill. The land was cleared of rocks and garbage by hand. Denes harvested more than 1,000 pounds of wheat She says her works are “intended to help the environment and benefit future generations with a meaningful legacy.”
John Fekner
John Fekner is known for his street art and the more than 300 conceptual works. Fekner’s art typically consists of words or symbols spray painted on walls, buildings and other structures that highlight social or environmental issues. His stenciled (用模板印的) message, “Wheels Over Indian Trails, “was painted on the Pulaski Bridge Queens Midtown Tunnel in 1979. It remained there for 11 years until Earth Day 1990，when Fekner painted over it.
1. What kind of art is Chris Jordan known for?| A．Photographic art. | B．Visual art. |
| C．Conceptual art. | D．Street art. |
| A．Plastic Cups. | B．Melting Men. |
| C．Wheatfield-A Confrontation. | D．Wheels Over Indian Trails. |
| A．Chris Jordan. | B．Nele Azevedo. |
| C．Agnes Denes. | D．John Fekner. |
5 . You may have heard of Dude Perfect. They are 5 guys who make crazy trick (技巧) shots and have fun for a living! They are so good at what they do. They have one of the top 10 channels (频道) on YouTube. It all sounds good. But their real story is much deeper and better. It is a story of trust, friendship, hard work, passion and giving back.
Dude Perfect is made up of 5 best friends who met while at college at Texas A&M University. Their names are Coby, Cory Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones, and Tyler Toney. At college, they became friends through their love of sports. They enjoyed spending time with each other so much that they all became roommates.
One day, in their backyard, they said they could make a trick basketball shot. They started to take video of their crazy shots. Within one week, the video received over 200,000 views! Soon, they received a call from the TV show Good Morning America who wanted to interview them. That was their first interview, the one that started everything! As Dude Perfect started to catch on, they started to attract star athletes to shoot videos with them.
Despite all their success, they have never taken their eyes off their bigger goal to spread good worldwide. Their message of the power of faith and friendship is at the heart of what they do.
Their videos show the history of Dude Perfect and the values that drive them. There is a great example of how they use their fame (名声) to spread good. They also show how they invite children from the Make a Wish Foundation to be a “Dude for a Day”!
Dude Perfects tricks are so good that some people question whether they are real. Well, they are. The secret is simply hard work and persistence (坚持). Their videos show how they do what they do!
1. What is the key to setting up Dude Perfect?| A．The star athletes’ love for it, |
| B．The members’ common interest. |
| C．The popularity of social media. |
| D．The trust between different people. |
| A．Strong but shy. | B．Humorous but crazy. |
| C．Kind and hard-working. | D．Handsome and easy-going. |
| A．It is never too old to learn. | B．Never forget why you started. |
| C．You can’t judge a book by its cover. | D．Be prepared for danger in times of peace. |
| A．Dude Perfect, an amazing team | B．Dude Perfect’s tricks are real |
| C．Dude Perfect built on friendship | D．Dude Perfect achieved their goal |
6 . Walk around the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and you may see a green animal named Sluggo and a flying pig named Philomena. You might even see street artist David Zinn drawing them using only sidewalk chalk and charcoal (炭笔).
At the age of 12, David began working as an artist. His dad was writing a computer instruction and worried that it would be boring to read. So he asked David to draw pictures of turtles (the name of the computer program) to explain it. The publisher liked his drawings, and soon David had the job of drawing more turtles in action. “I learned a great lesson, which was that, to make money as an artist, I couldn't always draw what I wanted,” he says. “I had to figure out how to draw a turtle drinking tea and other things like that.”
David worked for 20 years as a commercial (商业的) artist, but he often felt cooped up (禁锢) sitting at a computer for 10 hours a day. Then, on a sunny afternoon about ten years ago, he brought some chalk and started drawing on the sidewalk. That's when Sluggo came to life.
“One of the reasons I like to put art on the street is to take people by surprise,” he says. “I can have fun drawing, and knowing it will be washed away helps me not think too much. It frees me up.”
It takes David about two hours to complete one drawing. He uses a lot of sidewalk characteristics in his street art. It can be difficult to draw on surfaces that are not flat. He has to notice where shadows will land so they won't destroy the 3D drawings he creates.
Today, more and more people are accepting and looking for his work. David's artwork can also be found across the country and even throughout the world. Photos of his drawings have been shown at many universities and museums.
1. What did David learn from drawing turtles for his father?| A．Work hard. | B．Follow your heart. |
| C．Draw what you like. | D．Draw in a creative way. |
| A．Relaxed. | B．Worried. |
| C．Unhappy. | D．Surprised. |
| A．It shows his real life. |
| B．It is drawn on the flat sidewalk. |
| C．It needs a very long time to finish a drawing. |
| D．It is 3D street art created by simple painting tools. |
| A．They are becoming popular. |
| B．They are too difficult to understand. |
| C．They are found mainly at museums. |
| D．They are hardly accepted by adults. |
7 . With smiling eyes, a quick wit and a good sense of humor, Jia Ling has long been a well-known female comedian.
Jia, 39, starred in and directed the film, Hi, Mom, which by Feb 23rd has earned more than 4 billion yuan. Jia became the top box office grossing female director in China and is on the path to becoming an international name in the filmmaking industry.
One factor may be her passion for comedy. Jia graduated from Beijing's Central Academy of Drama in 2003. In the last 18 years she has performed crosstalk in various competitions and shows. She has also played comedic roles in many comedies on the big screen,
| A．So what is the secret behind Jia's success? |
| B．Another factor is that the approach to the film also makes Jia's works stand out. |
| C．which ultimately led to the connection between the stage and film. |
| D．making her an outstanding comedian welcomed by many viewers. |
| E．This film truly breaks the happy atmosphere with its sentimentality. |
| F．But recently, she has gained another title. |
| G．Hi, Mom appears to have hit all the right notes. |
