1 . Must-see exhibitions of 2024
Cute at Somerset House, London
Explore the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture. From emojis to Internet memes, video games to plush toys, cuteness has taken over our world, but how has something so charming and seemingly harmless gained such attraction? Somerset House brings together cultural ephemera and contemporary artworks, alongside a spotlight on Hello Kitty, to coincide with her 50th anniversary.
Tickets: £18.50 per person/Concessions (减价票) from £11 per person
25 Jan. 2024 — 14 Apr. 2024
Barbie at Design Museum, London
Running with 2023’s Barbie mania, and coinciding with Barbie’s 65th anniversary, London’s Design Museum will tell the icon’s story through a design lens in their major new show. The exhibition will trace the legacy that began in 1959 when Ruth Handler sought a new female narrative for her daughter, Barbara. It delves into Barbie’s evolution through fashion, architecture, furniture, and vehicle design.
Tickets:TBC
05 Jul. 2024 — 23 Feb. 2025
Brâncuşi at Centre Pompidou, Paris
The Centre Pompidou presents an unprecedented Constantin Brancusi exhibition, featuring nearly 200 sculptures, photographs, drawings, films, archives, tools, and furniture from his workshop. This unique showcase, coinciding with the workshop’s relocation during renovation, offers a fresh perspective on the art of this immense 20th-century artist. The workshop, a jewel of the museum’s collection since 1957, forms the core of this retrospective, enriched by major loans from international museums.
Tickets: From €15 per person/Concession from €12 per person
27 Mar. 2024 — 01 Jul. 2024
Michelangelo: The last decades at The British Museum, London
In 1534, Michelangelo left Florence for Rome, never to return. This exhibition explores his final 30 years in Rome, showcasing new reunions with close friends, and his major works. It features numerous preparatory drawings for the Last Judgement fresco, the restored Epifania cartoon, and studies for St Peter’s Basilica’s reconstruction. Contrasting today’s youth-centric culture, the exhibition highlights lifelong practice, mastery, experience, wisdom, and experimentation, embodying Michelangelo’s enduring legacy.
Tickets:TBC
02 May 2024 — 28 Jul. 2024
1. How much will a couple pay for the first exhibition at least?| A．£37. | B．£11. | C．£22. | D．£18.5. |
| A．Cute at Somerset House, London. |
| B．Barbie at Design Museum, London. |
| C．Brâncuşi at Centre Pompidou, Paris. |
| D．Michelangelo: The last decades at The British Museum, London. |
| A．He passed away in Florence. |
| B．His works will be exhibited with objects from international museums. |
| C．He completed the Last Judgement fresco effortlessly. |
| D．His later years were spent in Rome. |
2 . Chinese singer Gong Linna released her new song, titled Return Home, which describes the overseas Chinese people’s longing for their homeland.
Performed in Chaoshan dialect, the song is part of Gong’s music project, which has the singer perform songs in different Chinese dialects. “It is very challenging to sing in Chaoshan dialect, which is a new language to me, and thanks to the songwriter Danny Sim and the song’s producer Wesley Tan, who speak the dialect, I received intensive training and practised very hard,” says Gong. “The beauty of dialects lies in telling stories of different places. It’s like a music al map, allowing me to explore different places through dialects.”
The idea of the song came from Qiaopi, a unique form of mail that served as both a letter and a remittance (汇款) sent by overseas Chinese people to their families in provinces of Guangdong and Fujian in the 19th and 20th centuries. At that time, many of those emigrants, particularly from Guangdong and Fujian, sent money back home to support their families, as well as communicating with their beloved ones and expressing their longing to be reunited.
“Dialects are a source of knowledge, traditions and the country’s cultural heritage. When I listen to a song performed in a dialect, I feel the local culture instantly even though I never go there and know nothing about the place,” says Sim, who wrote lyrics for the song, adding that there are a growing number of musicians in China performing in dialects, which allow listeners to get an emotional touch.
“Chaoshan dialect links people from the region. However, like many languages, it’s dying. Many young people, especially children, rarely speak the dialect, which is a sad thing.” Sim says, explaining why he is keen on writing songs by using the dialect, “I love my hometown and by writing songs in the dialect, I feel close to my home. Maybe that is, culture identity.”
1. What difficulty did Gong face when performing the song?| A．She had the language barrier. | B．The culture was unfamiliar to her. |
| C．The song had to fit in with the whole project. | D．There were many unknown stories in the song. |
| A．Its history. | B．Its influence. | C．Its inspiration. | D．Its significance. |
| A．They are dropping in numbers. | B．They are seldom sung by young singers. |
| C．They can stimulate affective bond. | D．They help us know many unknown places. |
| A．A sense of duty as a song writer. | B．A sense of belonging to his hometown. |
| C．His eagerness to revive Chaoshan culture. | D．His addiction to the charm of the dialect. |
3 . Monet gets his place in the art timeline because of his leading role in the impressionist art movement, and through the lasting appeal of his artistic style. The painting he titled Impression: Sunrise, done early in his career, may not seem one of Monet’s best paintings, but the big deal about it is that it was the painting that gave impressionism its name.
Done with oil paint on canvas, this painting is characterized by thin washes of rather mild colors, on top of which he painted short strokes of pure color. Monet gave depth and perspective to an otherwise flat painting by the use of aerial perspective (空间透视法). Look closely at the three boats, and you can see how these get lighter in the tone, which is the way aerial perspective works. The lighter boats appear to be further away from us than the darkest one.
Monet exhibited the painting in what we now call the First Impressionist Exhibition, in Paris. Monet and a group of about 30 other artists, frustrated by restrictions and politics of the official annual art salon, had decided to hold their own independent exhibition, an unusual thing to do at the time. They called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc., which included artists who are now world famous such as Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Morisot, and Cezanne. Monet said he’d called the painting “impression” because “it really couldn’t pass as a view of Le Harve”.
Louis Leroy, an art critic, in his review of the exhibition used the title of Monet’s painting as the headline, calling it the “Exhibition of Impressionists”. Leroy had meant it ironically as the term “impression” was used to describe a rapidly finished painting of an atmospheric effect, and artists rarely, if ever, exhibited pictures so quickly sketched. The label stuck. In his review published on 25 April, 1874, Leroy wrote,“Wallpaper in its embryonic (萌芽期的) state is more finished than that seascape.” Then in a supportive review published a few days later, Jules Castagnary was the first art critic to use the term “Impressionism” in a positive way.
1. What do we know about Monet’s Impression: Sunrise?| A．It was universally acknowledged as Monet’s best painting. |
| B．Leroy was deeply impressed by the painter’s remarkable skill. |
| C．The different tones of the three boats gave depth to the painting. |
| D．It was exhibited in the official annual art salon with 30 other artists. |
| A．The label met strong opposition from other art critics. |
| B．The label was stuck to the surface of Monet’s painting. |
| C．The label was not regarded as a positive image. |
| D．The label stayed and became widely used after that. |
| A．Monet. | B．Leroy. | C．Renoir. | D．Castagnary. |
| A．Impression: Sunrise gave Impressionism its name. |
| B．Critics had a disagreement over Monet’s painting. |
| C．Monet is a leading artist of Impressionism. |
| D．Impressionism is an appealing artistic style. |
4 . In Hollywood, few actors have experienced a career as diverse and prolific as Harrison Ford. From the fearless Indiana Jones to the charming Han Solo and the world-weary Rick Deckard, Ford’s portrayal (饰演) of iconic characters has left a permanent mark on cinema and pop culture. Yet, the irony lies in how many of his career-defining roles fell into this “late bloomer’s” lap by chance.
Born in Chicago, Harrison was discouraged from pursuing a career on the silver screen early on, having failed to land any significant parts. Instead, he turned to professional carpentry (木工) as a means to keep his family fed.
But fate had other plans. While working as a carpenter in Hollywood, Ford crossed paths with numerous celebrity clients such as Joan Didion and, most notably, director George Lucas, who hired him to build cabinets for his office. Little did Ford know that this chance encounter would lead to his breakthrough role as the charming Han Solo in Star Wars. Lucas was impressed by Ford’s presence and offered him the iconic role. In time, Ford rose to a star.
Ford’s next lucky moment came when he tried out for the role of Indiana Jones in a massive project by Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg initially wanted Ford for the role, but Lucas was hesitant as he had already worked with Ford on Star War and 1973’s American Graffiti. Then the production team tried many other possibilities but without luck. Eventually, the role went to Ford, strengthening his status as a Hollywood legend.
The film series became a worldwide sensation, stimulating people’s imagination and inspiring a generation of future archaeologists. Over 40 years and four films later, Ford found himself completing the series with the fifth and final installment. Eighty-one-year-old Harrison received a five-minute standing ovation (鼓掌) at the Cannes Film Festival Premiere and picked up an honorary Palmed’ Or for his achievements.
Ford’s commitment to his career is evident as he said, “I love the work! My luck has been to work with incredibly talented people, to find my way into this crowd of geniuses.” Despite his legendary status in Hollywood, Ford’s humility shines through.
1. What does the underlined word “prolific” probably mean in paragraph 1?| A．Productive. | B．Fruitless. | C．Hard-earned. | D．Promising. |
| A．His lack of talent. | B．The uncertain prospect. |
| C．The dull industry. | D．His family opposition. |
| A．His good fortune. | B．His convincing acting. |
| C．His fine reputation. | D．His big circle of friends. |
| A．A rising film genius. | B．A humble carpenter. |
| C．A Hollywood legend. | D．A fearless challenger. |
5 . Lying on London’s famous Millennium Bridge, British artist Ben Wilson paints on a piece of dried gum (口香糖). It has been crushed flat into the ground. “The important thing is that there are tire marks on the gum with different patterns,” said the 60-year-old Wilson. “The beauty of them is that they’re of different shapes and sizes…” he continued, describing pieces of gum.
Wilson sees possibility in things most people avoid looking at. The flattened gum offers a chance to turn a piece of waste into something beautiful. The artwork is also a way to surprise walkers and get them to take a closer look at the path they are on.
“By painting a picture which is so small, I can let those who see it discover a hidden world beneath their feet,” Wilson said.
Back in his north London art room, Wilson paints on the surface of a small mosaic tile (瓷砖). It will be part of a collection that he is creating on the walls of London’s underground platforms. “The images are more personal than the chewing gum works,” Wilson says, “and represent a kind of visual diary.”
Wilson was born to artist parents in London. He remembers working with clay from the age of three. He had his first art show when he was around 10 years old. He began making sculptures and large pieces for display in natural settings. Then his interest turned to waste. He has been painting on gum and other pieces of rubbish for 19 years.
The top surface of the dried gum is not subject to local or national laws. As a result, the dried gum surface creates a space, where Wilson says he can paint without damaging public property.
Government officials have removed much of the artist’s public street art. But the hundreds of gum paintings on Millennium Bridge remain for all to see.
1. What is the dried gum like in the eyes of Wilson?| A．Dirty. | B．Strange. | C．Practical. | D．Attractive. |
| A．He creates a hidden world. | B．He keeps a diary with drawings. |
| C．He reminds people to walk carefully. | D．He makes the ugly become beautiful. |
| A．His great language talent. | B．His artistic career. |
| C．His unusual childhood. | D．His parents’ artistic achievements. |
| A．Some of them are protected by law. | B．All of them are not kept well. |
| C．They are valued by officials. | D．They polluted the streets. |
6 . Mary Poppins held on to her famous black umbrella while floating overhead and singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” The audience watched in amazement, and many sang along! Poppins floated for a bit and eventually landed in the midst of the excited crowd before getting on stage. No, this wasn’t a scene from a Disney movie.
They had limited success until 1995 when Rieu was asked to provide entertainment for a soccer game. He got the entire stadium to sing along to a popular waltz.
Today Rieu is the best-selling classical artist worldwide. He has sold in the ballpark of an astonishing 40 million records. He is the biggest male solo touring artist on the planet. His concerts sell more tickets than Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen!
Many classical concerts are serious events, but Rieu’s are the opposite. He’s been nicknamed “The King of the Waltz” because he loves waltzes.
His shows are attended by people of all ages and always include surprises, like the delightful appearance by Mary Poppins. As Rieu says, “I only play music that touched my heart. And I know when it touches my heart, it will touch your heart.” During his performances, many audience members are visibly moved. They often clap, sing, dance, laugh, weep or hug one another. Rieu promises his audience, “You will have an evening that you will never forget.”And he is true to his word.
| A．Afterward, he sold over 200,000 CDs and his popularity rising. |
| B．Rather, it was part of one of André Rieu’s amazing concerts. |
| C．As a result, Rieu became a house-hold name and won great popularity. |
| D．Yet his shows consist of an extensive variety of musical genres and performances. |
| E．Then, Rieu continued his style until he got his nickname. |
| F．From early on, Rieu knew what he wanted - his own orchestra. |
7 . Norman Rockwell didn’t create his celebrated images using only brush and paint. They often took shape first as scenes that Rockwell literally acted out, not only for his editors at the Saturday Evening Post, but for his real-life models, too. “It was difficult,” he once explained, “but I felt it was the best way to get across my meaning.” And so he would enthusiastically play out his visions and ideas, a one-man show packed with just the right expressions, giving enough details of each character in the scene to inspire his models and more importantly, get his editors to buy his ideas.
Now, more than 30 years after his death, Rockwell is still acknowledged for skillfully documenting the best of 20th century American life with drawings of simple emotions inspired by everyday people. To create his detailed recollections of everyday American life, Rockwell worked much like a film director, not just acting out the scenes in his imagination, but looking for locations, casting everyday people from his town for particular parts.
The recognition he received strongly proves Rockwell’s superior skills as a storyteller and is the subject of another kind of one-man show: the upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., titled Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The exhibit, gathered together from the private collections of these two popular film directors, will feature rarely viewed pieces of Rockwell’s artworks.
That concentration of information as well as emotion is something essential in Rockwell’s art. Emotion certainly spoke to Steven Spielberg when he first saw one of his favorite Rockwell paintings, High Dive, the August 16, 1947 Post cover that describes a boy at the top of what must be a towering diving board. He crouches (蹲伏) high above a swimming pool, too afraid to either jump or climb back down. The painting hangs in Spielberg’s office at Amblin Entertainment because it holds a great deal of meaning for the filmmaker.
1. How did Norman Rockwell successfully influence his editors?| A．By performing his ideas. | B．By hiring more models. |
| C．By donating his paintings. | D．By drawing actual events. |
| A．Film directors. | B．Folk storytellers. |
| C．Natural landscapes. | D．Ordinary citizens. |
| A．Develop artistic skills. | B．Learn how to act out. |
| C．Appreciate nature. | D．learn to swim. |
| A．To introduce an exhibit. | B．To recommend a painting. |
| C．To remember an artist. | D．To explain a cultural phenomenon. |
8 . Frederick Phiri, known as the junk-art king of Zambia, set out on a remarkable journey at the age of 22 when he began earning an international reputation for being able to make complex and elegant sculptures from deserted metal found in his community.
Phiri’s path to artistic recognition was filled with challenges. His childhood was marked by the loss of his father and his mother leaving him behind, making him under the care of his grandfather. While his grandfather provided for his basic education, Phiri faced financial struggles when he entered secondary school, forcing him to take on various jobs to fund his studies. Yet, despite these obstacles, his passion for art remained growing, and he dedicated his free time to drawing and crafting in the classroom.
Upon completing his education, Phiri sought to support himself by creating wire animal sculptures (雕塑品), which he sold to tourists. It was during this period that his exceptional talent caught the attention of Karen Beattie, the director of Project Luangwa, a nonprofit organization committed to education and economic development in central Africa.
Teaming up with local welder (焊接工) Moses Mbewe in 2017, Phiri contributed to the creation of a complex set of doors for Project Luangwa during the rainy season. Impressed by his work, Beattie presented Phiri with a challenge: to create art from abandoned waste metal. Undiscouraged, Phiri embraced the opportunity, transforming forgotten keys, broken bike chains, and old metal bottles into attracting abstract animal sculptures, including elephants, cranes, giraffes, and monkeys.
Today, Phiri’s artistic pursuits continue to flourish as he transforms deserted junk into striking sculptures showcased at the Project Luangwa headquarters. His talent has earned recognition and admiration from the community, fueling his dreams of pursuing formal art education at the Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka and creating even more magnificent sculptures in the future. Through creativity and determination, Phiri has turned adversity (逆境) into artistic success, leaving a lasting impact on Zambia’s art scene.
1. What is Phiri distinguished for?| A．Serving his community. | B．Collecting works of art. |
| C．Being the king of Zambia. | D．Turning trash into treasure. |
| A．His struggle to pay for primary schooling by himself. |
| B．The loss of his father and abandonment by his mother. |
| C．His dedication to part-time jobs while attending school. |
| D．His responsibility to support his grandfather financially. |
| A．To create sculptures from wire. |
| B．To sell his sculptures internationally. |
| C．To create art from deserted waste metal. |
| D．To design a complex set of doors for Project Luangwa. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Confident. | C．Depressed. | D．Confused. |
9 . That day when Ludwig van Beethoven died was one of the saddest of my life. I had stayed with him for more than twenty years and lived through many of his happiest moments and his triumphs as well as his most unhappy times.
He wasn’t, however, the easiest of men to work for. His moods were changeable so that he could be reasonable at one moment but most impatient and intolerant at the next. All these problems began in 1802 when he discovered his loss of hearing was not temporary.
The loss of hearing brought him to a crossroads in his life. It was then that he realized that his future lay in composing music. Luckily, although his deafness brought him fear and anxiety, he was able to use these emotions to inspire his work.
Dealing with his inner problems and worries, his music was obviously subjective, which was not the most popular type of its time. But people recognized his greatness. They did so even when they knew he could not acknowledge it. When he was conducting his ninth and last symphony on its first performance he was totally deaf. So he just didn’t realize that the music had finished and continued to conduct the orchestra. One of the singers had to turn him round so he could receive the cheers of the audience. From one angle it was a sad moment but from another it was an even greater triumph. That a man with such a condition could have written such dynamic music was overwhelming! It brought tears to my eyes to think that I had contributed in some small way by looking after him.
He dressed rather like a wild man himself. His hair was always untidy, his skin marked with spots and his mouth set in a downward curve. He took no care of his appearance and walked around our city with his clothes carelessly arranged. This was because he was concentrating on his next composition.
Helping him move house many times, preparing his meals and looking after his everyday comforts were my reward for a life living so close to such a musical genius. I consider myself a lucky man!
1. The author was most likely to be Beethoven’s _______.| A．student | B．doctor | C．servant | D．relative |
| A．Beethoven’s music was underestimated at that time. |
| B．Beethoven’s work was inspired by his fear and anger. |
| C．Beethoven’s music stayed in step with the mainstream music of the time. |
| D．Beethoven lost his ability to hear when first conducting his ninth symphony. |
| A．Because the performance was a complete success. |
| B．Because he played a part in Beethoven’s success. |
| C．Because Beethoven was completely deaf then. |
| D．Because the audience cheered for Beethoven. |
| A．intolerant but cheerful |
| B．stubborn but reasonable |
| C．changeable but dedicated |
| D．unsociable but easy-going |
10 .
“By removing needless details in pursuit of perfection, Van Den followed in the footsteps of many great artists, writers, composers, and painters.”
Juhani Murros made an unexpected discovery during his visits to art galleries when he worked for an organization in Ho Chi Minh City in 1990. A small still life in an unnoticeable gallery commanded the Finnish physician’s attention. “It was not an eye-catching oil painting, yet its dark, mysterious colors and the emotional tension of its disciplined composition set it apart.” Thus began a long journey of discovering the art and life of Van Den, a Buddhist of mixed Chinese and Vietnamese ancestry who studied in Paris for less than two years during the first French Indochina War.
Murros’ biography is, by necessity, brief because there is limited knowledge of the artist, mostly in oral way by family and friends. Many of his paintings did not survive the damp Southeast Asian climate nor the political chaos of his lifetime. However, the author’s research appears to be extensive, as much a years-long spiritual examination of Van Den as a historical one. The artist’s love for country life is apparent in his work, and it is said by those who knew him that he preferred to paint countryside scenes close to his heart and worked as an outsider. He is uninterested in the more elegant work of academically recognized painters. Despite these limitations, Van Den won Vietnam’s most honorable art award in 1960.
Murros gives an in-depth look into the life of this little-known unsung master. The book introduces the readers to Van Den’s art with photographs of his paintings, accompanied by short stories behind them. The book is as quiet as the artist’s work, but it is a satisfying read. Each stroke of words in the book connects to the readers; the narrative awakens the artistic spirit in each one of us, encouraging us to follow our heart.
1. What of Van Den first impressed Juhani Murros?| A．His life story. | B．His painting style. |
| C．His birth place. | D．His emotional stale. |
| A．His works are rarely available today. | B．He showed great love for his country. |
| C．He works were of mysterious themes. | D．He ever travelled in China and Vietnam. |
| A．Van Den’s art wasn’t well accepted. | B．Murros had limited knowledge of art. |
| C．Murros had gained little primary data. | D．Van Den’s family kept everything back. |
| A．Amusing. | B．Detailed. | C．Objective. | D．Inspirational. |
