1 . Passing the Cities through the Lens (镜头) of Women, a solo exhibition by Swiss artist Catherine Gfeller, is being held at the Swiss embassy in Beijing.
Between 2016 and 2019, Swiss artist Catherine Gfeller embarked on a journey to a number of Chinese cities, weaving a narrative as she engaged with the stories of women from different backgrounds. Her vision of the women, the challenges they confront, and their distinctive spirit are the focuses of the artist’s subsequent explorations.
In the bustling streets of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Hong Kong, Beijing and Kunming in Yunnan province, Gfeller found a means of exploring the essence of these urban landscapes by focusing her lens on women. On Saturday, the Swiss embassy in Beijing launched a solo exhibition, Passing the Cities through the Lens of Women, which spotlights the perspectives and voices of women with photographs, texts, and videos. Through her lens, Gfeller skillfully establishes a dialogue and builds a bridge between the narratives of the women and the liveliness of the cities they inhabit.
For Gfeller, women’s voices are very important in modern Chinese society. During shooting, she learned how the women perceive the new ways of life and how they find an anchor in their cities. “The moment I pressed the shutter, I felt like I became part of the city,” Gfeller says.
Ambassador of Switzerland to China Jurg Burri said at the opening ceremony, “Ms Gfeller cares very much about people, especially women in cities. Women’s issues are a global topic and I hope that more women’s voices will be heard.”
The exhibition is open to the public until the end of March. The 58-year-old artist is known for her focus on landscape photography. Using techniques like montage, collage, and superimposition, she creates unique photographic artworks.
1. Where is the passage probably taken from?| A．A leaflet. | B．A newspaper. | C．A brochure. | D．A research paper. |
| A．Chinese women’s viewpoints. | B．Chinese urban landscapes. |
| C．Chinese traditional roles of women. | D．Chinese women’s status in society. |
| A．Jurg Burri is the Ambassador of Switzerland to China. |
| B．The theme of Catherine Gfeller exhibition is a global topic. |
| C．Jurg Burri is in favor of Catherine Gfeller’s means of exploring cities. |
| D．Catherine Gfeller attaches great importance to women’s perspectives. |
| A．To introduce an exhibition. | B．To educate readers. |
| C．To persuade readers. | D．To advertise an exhibition. |
2 . Top Piano Players in the World
Martha ArgerichMartha Argerich could be considered the next Beethoven, as she is one of the most outstanding pianists ever to play. Argerich preferred being on stage with others instead of performing solo; therefore, she has been performing in a concerto format since the 1980s. Argerich was not one for the spotlight, as she often avoided public appearances such as interviews; however, her great talent was all the publicity she needed, standing out during concertos and sonatas.
Leif Ove AndsnesKnown for his appealing performances of Edvard Grieg’s works, Andsnes has won praise for his performances at some of the world’s most famous concert halls. Andsnes has certainly made his mark in Norway, as he is the founding director of Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival. Because of his unique voice and interesting approach, he was praised by The New York Times as a “pianist of authoritative elegance, power, and insight.”
Alfred BrendelKnown for his beautiful interpretations of Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert and Mozart, Alfred Brendel was considered one of the greats. He played in various concertos throughout his career and became known for his interpretive coldness in recreating these works. Brendel was considered one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, as he made his mark in the classical music industry. Brendel was self-taught and learned his love of piano at an early age.
Arthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein was certainly one of the greats. His career began in the early 20th century when he began to come into contact with some of the world’s most important composers, such as Maurice Ravel, Paul Dukas, and Jacques Thibaud. He made various trips worldwide and visited nearly every continent, where crowds met him with great praise and encouragement.
1. What does the female pianist focus on in her career?| A．Skills in hosting concertos and sonatas. | B．Cooperation with other musicians. |
| C．Close relationships with the media. | D．Unique ways to interpret music. |
| A．Martha Argerich. | B．Leif Ove Andsnes. |
| C．Alfred Brendel. | D．Arthur Rubinstein. |
| A．He was the director of a Norwegian festival. |
| B．He made a difference in classical music. |
| C．He was the best musician of the 20th century. |
| D．He got in touch with some famous composers. |
3 . In 1867, Caroline Shawk Brooks and her husband, Samuel, had a farm in Arkansas. Life on the farm was not easy. From sunrise to sunset, Caroline and Samuel milked cows, gardened, and picked cotton. This left Caroline no time for her dream of becoming an artist.
Time was not the only problem. Money was a worry too. The cotton crops were failing. What could Caroline and Samuel do?
Caroline decided to make butter (黄油) from their cows’milk and sell it at market. But other farms also made and sold butter. How would Caroline set her butter apart from the rest? This is where Caroline’s artistic talent came in. To draw attention to her butter, she began making small butter sculptures (雕塑). She used many different tools, such as butter paddles (搅拌器的浆叶), broom straws, and tree sticks. She also put the butter in a shallow tin pan, which sat in a larger tin pan filled with ice to stop the butter sculpture from melting.
Caroline’s butter sculptures were a hit. Before long, she was displaying them at fairs and exhibitions. One of her largest butter sculptures was a life-size statue called A Study in Butter. It was transported all the way to Paris for the 1878 world’s fair.
Caroline also made sculptures using marble (大理石). She eventually opened a studio in New York City where she created many marble sculptures, some of which were shown at the 1893 world’s fair in Chicago.
But Caroline never stopped making butter art. She considered butter a superior material to work with. At the 1893 fair, she also displayed her butter techniques with a sculpture of Christopher Columbus.
Caroline Shawk Brooks died in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1913. She is remembered as the first known American butter sculptor.
1. Why did Caroline make butter sculptures?| A．To realize her dream. | B．To make her butter stand out. |
| C．To make her farm famous. | D．To display her sculptures at the fair. |
| A．Caroline made her art works all by machine. |
| B．The sculptures were all made from cow's milk. |
| C．Ice was used to keep the butter sculptures in shape. |
| D．Caroline stopped making sculptures after being world-famous. |
| A．Talented and successful. | B．Confident and caring. |
| C．Creative and rich. | D．Brave and famous. |
| A．A Farming Pioneer. | B．A Great Sculptor. |
| C．The Butter Sculptures. | D．The Butter Artist. |
4 . How Did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die?
On November 20th, 1791, Mozart suddenly came down with fever and was wracked with pain. His arms and legs were severely swollen. In the following days his health significantly deteriorated. He died on December 5 after lapsing into a coma. The death certificate states he died of “severe miliary fever”. Exactly which disease led to Mozart’s death has been a mystery for the last 200 years.
SpeculationsMany myths —some more plausible than others — entwine (缠绕) Mozart’s early demise. One of the most popular myths — that Mozart was poisoned by his rival Antonio Salieri — rose to prominence due to the popularity of the film Amadeus. This theory is supported by the fact that Mozart had been living through a phase of depression before his death, suffering from paranoia and existential fear. Mozart himself suspected that the cause of his deteriorating health was being poisoned over a long time. However, it is highly likely that this was just his subjective view of reality.
Many other speculations circulate. Syphilis and trichinellosis are frequently mentioned. In 1905, a French physician assumed uric acid poisoning due to a never fully healed nephritis. In 1961, lead poisoning was suggested as a possible cause of death.
Scientific attempts to explain Mozart’s deathIn 2000, a group of American scientists proposed rheumatic fever caused by a strep infection after conducting meticulous detective work. The symptoms stated in literature and the reports of Mozart’s contemporaries yielded the clues. Without antibiotics, such an infection would inevitably lead to death. Rheumatic fever causes a weakening of the heart, which could explain Mozart’s swollen limbs.
In 2009, the Dutch scientist Richard Zegers extensively studied surviving documents and concluded that Mozart had been suffering from pharyngitis, a throat infection with symptoms including cramps, fever, rashes and a swollen neck. Mozart’s sister-in-law Sophie Haibel had described these symptoms. The death registry of Vienna for winter 1791 lists several deaths caused by this disease.
Whatever the cause of Mozart’s death, it came far too early. Let us thank him for his manic urge to create art and remember him on December 5th!
1. Which of the following is similar in meaning to the underlined word “deteriorate” (Paragraph 1)?| A．To become worse. | B．To change greatly. |
| C．To recover quickly. | D．To be harmed rapidly. |
| A．It is generally believed that Mozart was poisoned by his friend. |
| B．Mozart’s depression paranoia and existential fear led to his death. |
| C．Mozart had been poisoned sustainably for a long time before he died. |
| D．Mozart once got a nephritis and it was never healed. |
| A．Mozart’s disease was recorded in contemporary literature and reports. |
| B．Antibiotics were not discovered at that time. |
| C．Rheumatic fever can only be caused by strep infection. |
| D．Mozart’s illness cannot be cured even today. |
| A．To back up the Dutchman’s study. |
| B．To prove they were common symptoms causing death in 1791. |
| C．To prove Mozart did have such symptoms before his death. |
| D．To emphasize her special identify as a witness to Mozart’s death. |
5 . Since winning the BBC Young Musician competition in 2016, Sheku Kanneh-Mason has performed at a royal wedding and released music that has topped the charts. Now he has released a new album called Song. “Because the cello (大提琴) sings,” he explains. “There are no boundaries to music,” he said. “I enjoy what Ienjoy.”
Sheku comes from an incredible musical family in which all six of his siblings (he is the third child of seven) play instruments to a high standard—yet neither parents are musicians. Every spare penny goes into the children’s musical education. The whole family practised at home, which meant he sometimes had to play cello in the bathroom.
Every Saturday, Sheku wakes up at the crack of dawn in order to catch the train to London. He uses the journey to catch up with his A-Level homework. However Sheku still finds time for his other hobbies — he enjoys football, table tennis and listens to a wide range of music. Sheku began to play the cello at the age of six, after attending a concert. By the time he was nine, he had achieved Grade 8 and earned the top marks in the country. Since then he has won numerous awards.
“I would love to inspire more diversity in young people taking up classical music.”
Sheku is also passionate about building better opportunities for young people of any background to learn music at school. “You might never want to go on to become a musician, but it’s still so important. I’d love to help bring more music to schools.”
Many schools are having to cut music lessons to save money, which Kanneh-Mason believes deprives young people. “Children should study music for music’s sake,” he said. “It connects the emotional side of your brain — the creativity, the empathy (understanding how other people feel)— with something practical. To bring them together is a very powerful thing.”
1. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?| A．Sheku’s hard work and talent. | B．Sheku’s family’s music atmosphere. |
| C．Music talent of Sheku and his siblings. | D．Sheku’s parents’ support for music education. |
| A．He is social and energetic. | B．He has a lot of homework. |
| C．He stood out when young. | D．He prefers sports to music. |
| A．It can encourage the young when they are in difficulty. |
| B．It can provide more opportunities for people at school. |
| C．It can make them role models for others if they learn music. |
| D．It can combine the emotional side of the brain with real situations. |
| A．To advertise a competition. | B．To introduce a young cellist. |
| C．To stress the value of teachers. | D．To attach importance to music. |
6 . Deafblind artist Tony Giordano led an adventurous life, traveling and playing sports, before completely losing his sight and hearing in 2018. “I was into everything. I loved adventures.” the Brooklyn native said during a Newsday interview on Tuesday.
After learning to communicate using sign language, Giordano wondered what to do next after his sight and hearing losses. While reinventing his life, Giordano said getting into art was not something that crossed his mind at first. But after taking a creative arts class at the North Shore facility, Giordano began to discover he enjoyed it. Drawing on his nearly 30 years of experience as an auto mechanic, his welding(焊接) skills and various bursts of inspiration, Giordano began pouring himself into what’s become his specialty — designing metal sculptures.
More than a year later, Giordano now is getting recognition for his art pieces. In December, Giordano made his first sale of a sculpture, a larger-than-life hand made of copper pipes and titled “I Love You” to artist and collector Jennifer Contini for $1,000. While proud of selling his first art piece, Giordano — who also repairs bicycles at a bike repair shop in St. James — admitted it made him a bit sad.
“His work ethic is really incredible,” said Antonia Isnardi, Giordano’s art teacher. “Learning sculpture is really tough, requiring enormous attention and patience. He could easily say ‘I lost my vision. I can’t do this’, but he keeps fighting. He perseveres in everything and is willing to try something new to improve in any way.”
Giordano will leave the Port Washington center this year and return to his home in the South. But he said he considers art his next adventure and hopes his sculptures will be a way to spread a positive message about the capabilities of the deafblind community.
1. What inspired Giordano to go into art?| A．Artistic inspiration. | B．A teacher’s encouragement. |
| C．A creative art class. | D．Previous working experience. |
| A．Frustrations in his life. | B．Difficulties for him in sculpturing. |
| C．His strong will in learning. | D．The art teacher’s remarks on him. |
| A．Wealthy and honest. | B．Creative and determined. |
| C．Grateful and generous. | D．Adventurous and humorous. |
| A．An art textbook. | B．A local newspaper. |
| C．A travel brochure | D．A literature review. |
7 . Will Smith jumped into a live volcano and kayaked (划皮艇) down an Icelandic whitewater river for his latest project. But he wasn’t making an action movie. It was personal.
Smith, a Hollywood leading man who admits that he’s far from enjoying outdoor activities, has put himself in danger while filming Welcome to Earth, a Disney original series from National Geographic. He was afraid at that time, but he says “It’s really difficult to enjoy things if you’re scared. I think the ability to see how beautiful things are is directly connected to your openness to them and fear closes you down.”
Smith says he was once scared of everything and hated water, but he learns to read the rapids (急流) while whitewater kayaking, rescues turtles near the Great Barrier Reef and goes 3,000 feet below the sea in a deep-water submarine.
Dr. Albert Lin, an engineer and explorer who has uncovered lost cities previously for National Geographic, was astonished to find that Smith was able to control his fears even in the face of real danger. While diving in the underground lake in Namibia, Smith got into trouble and Lin watched him “dropping at a rate that felt like maybe we wouldn’t see him again.” But Smith was able to control his mind and deal with the situation. “I respected Will Smith, the actor, before, but now I definitely have grown to truly respect Will Smith, the human being,” says Lin.
Produced by famous filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, the series carries on the tradition of National Geographic pushing the exploring envelope (极限) and employing the latest technology to help us understand our world. “I hope this can help people out there get a sense of how absolutely incredible our planet is,” says Lin.
The experts Smith has paired with teach him about speed, smell and sound and the colors out there he might miss. “You can’t really want to protect something that you don’t understand. And you can’t want to protect something that you can’t recognize as beautiful,” Smith says.
1. What enables you to enjoy beautiful things according to Smith?| A．Spirit of adventure. | B．Ability to find beauty. |
| C．Respect for nature. | D．Openness to change. |
| A．He found a lost city. | B．He nearly lost his life in a lake. |
| C．He entered a diving competition. | D．He went deep under the sea in a submarine. |
| A．It explains the origin of our planet. | B．It targets potential explorers. |
| C．It won important film awards. | D．It applied advanced technology. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A book review. | C．A magazine. | D．A diary. |
8 . It has been more than 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci died. He was so ahead of his time that people are still talking about how smart he was.
The inventor, painter, scientist, mathematician, musician, writer and thinker painted the most famous artworks in the world, including Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He also invented a robot, a helicopter and a diving suit and thought about catching solar energy, besides, he planned a clean, healthy and modern city and made dozens of important discoveries about the human body.
Leonardo lived from 1452 to 1519. He was Italian, born in a village near Vinci. From the age of 14 he was a trainee to a painter and goldsmith. This studio in Florence, Italy, was a busy place with lots of thinkers, artists and skilled businessmen working around him. Though he spent years doing jobs such as tidying up and mixing paints, he could listen to all the things everyone discussed and start forming his own ideas about drawing.
Leonardo’s earliest surviving drawing is a pen and ink sketch of the nearby Amo River. And though this wasn’t drawn until 1473, when he was about 21, he probably he probably sketched scenes and ideas long before this.
Mona Lisa is one of the world’s most famous paintings. It is regarded as the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. People have always been attracted by how Leonardo made his subject’s face so interesting: Is she smiling or smirking; happy or sad? Like humans in real life, no one really knows how she was feeling.
Leonardo had permission from hospitals to study the bodies of people who had recently died. He made more than 240 detailed drawings of the human bodies. He wrote more than 13, 000 words on the subject. Unfortunately, Leonardo didn’t publish this work and took many years for the rest of the world to discover what Leonardo knew.
1. What can we infer about Leonardo da Vinci from Paragraph 2?| A．He caught solar energy. |
| B．He created a modern city. |
| C．He was the most famous artist. |
| D．He was a man with many talents. |
| A．When running his own studio. |
| B．When working as a trainee |
| C．After inventing a robot. |
| D．After discussing with businessmen. |
| A．Leonardo da Vinci’s early drawing life. |
| B．Lisa Gherardini, a mysterious woman. |
| C．Leonardo da Vinci, a man ahead of his time. |
| D．Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous painting. |
9 . The exact location from where Vincent van Gogh is likely to have painted his final masterpiece, perhaps just hours before his death, has been determined with the help of a postcard.
The scene in Tree Roots, a painting of trunks (树干）and roots growing on a hillside, was first spotted on a card dating from 1900 to 1910 by Van der Veen, the scientific director of the Institute Van Gogh. Following a comparative study of the painting, the postcard and the current condition of the hillside, researchers concluded that it was highly possible that the place where Van Gogh made his final brushstrokes had been unearthed.
The main trunk in the painting has survived the 130 years since the Dutch master’s death. It has long been believed that Van Gogh had been working on Tree Roots shortly before he took his own life with a shot to the chest. Andries Bonger, the brother-in-law of Van Gough's brother Theo, had described in a letter how the “morning before his death” Van Gogh had “painted a forest scene, full of sun and life” Van der Veen said, t4The sunlight painted by Van Gogh suggests that the last brushstrokes were painted towards the end of the afternoon.”
Teio Meedendorp, a senior researcher at the Van Gogh Museum, said the spot, some 150 meters from the hotel where Van Gogh had stayed the last 70 days of his life, would likely have been passed on a number of occasions by him. “The scene on the postcard shows very clear similarities to the shape of the roots on Van Gogh’s painting,” he said. “He must often have passed by the location when going to the fields behind the castle of Auvers, where he painted several times during the last week of his life and where he would take his own life.”
1. What is Tree Roots?| A．A trunk. |
| B．A hillside. |
| C．A drawing. |
| D．A postcard. |
| A．He had a close relationship with his brother. |
| B．What he drew in his paintings all came from real life. |
| C．He was working on his artwork shortly before killing himself. |
| D．He was so sick in his last days that he spent all the time in a hotel. |
| A．In the fields. | B．In a local hotel. |
| C．In the castle of Auvers. | D．In the scene on the postcard. |
| A．To remember a famous painter. Van Gogh. |
| B．To introduce Van Gogh's life and his works. |
| C．To describe the influence of Van Gogh in art. |
| D．To tell the place in Van Gogh’s last painting. |
