1 . Art lovers around the world are remembering Leonardo da Vinci who died in France 500 years ago, on May 2, 1519.
A British art expert announced on Thursday that Britain’s royal family has a portrait (肖像) of the famous artist, often known simply as Leonardo. Martin Clayton, a royal art adviser, said the portrait’s owner is Queen Elizabeth II. He added that the image was made by one of Leonardo’s assistants shortly before his death. Clayton said the “straight nose” and other details look very much like the only other known portrait of Leonardo done in his lifetime. That picture was the work of Italian painter Francesco Melzi. It will be on display at the Queen’s Gallery with about 200 drawings from her collection of Leonardo’s works.
On Thursday, the presidents of Italy and France gathered in the French town of Amboise to mark the anniversary of the artist’s death. He spent the final years of his life in the town. Today art lovers around the world are celebrating Leonardo’s work. He is considered a true Renaissance man, working not only as an artist, but as a scientist and inventor. “There really hasn’t been anybody then or since who has combined this extraordinary genius for these totally different areas,” said Gregory Rubinstein. He is the worldwide head of Old Master drawings at Sotheby’s auction house. “I think that’s what’s at the heart of our fascination.”
Sotheby’s announced Thursday that an important Leonardo drawing is going on display in its New York offices next month. The drawing, called “Leda and the Swan”, was painted in 1506. It is based on a story from Greek mythology (神话). It has not been shown in public since 2003. Leonardo appears to have made the painting while he was also working on “Mona Lisa”, his most well-known painting. The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Rubenstein said the “very complete and very beautiful” drawing appears to have been preparatory work for a painting that was never made or was lost. “It’s a very mysterious one because there is no surviving record. and no painting survives,” he said.
1. How will the British remember Leonardo this year?| A．By exhibiting a portrait of Leonardo. | B．By holding a party at the royal family. |
| C．By showing Melzi’s work of Leonardo. | D．By displaying Queen’s collection of works. |
| A．To visit the Queen’s Gallery. | B．To remember Leonardo da Vinci. |
| C．To attend the funeral of Leonardo. | D．To celebrate the anniversary of the Renaissance. |
| A．He is a true lover of art. | B．He is a genius in everything. |
| C．He is a person with many gifts. | D．He is a man living in the Renaissance. |
| A．It is about a mysterious Italian story. | B．It is a rarely seen Leonardo drawing. |
| C．It was painted by Leonardo’s assistant. | D．It is a preparatory work for “Mona Lisa”. |
2 . The exact location in France where Dutch master Vincent van Gogh painted his last work of art has been discovered.
A Dutch researcher figured out that a scene described in the artist’s last work, Tee Root, was visible on a postcard showing a man standing next to a bicycle on a back street of the village Auvers-sur-Oise. Van Gogh spent the last weeks of his life in the village. Helpfully, the card even included the name of the street.
Researchers were given a unique glimpse (体验) into the famous painter’s final hours. He was at work right up to the end.
Wouter van der Veen, scientific director of the Van Gogh Institute in France, made the discovery. While stuck at home, van de Veen used the extra time to organize the numerous files and documents on van Gogh, including images such as the old postcard from Auvers-sur-Oise. One day in late April, he saw the card on his computer screen and it suddenly struck him that he was looking at the location of Tree Roots. Next to the man and his bicycle, roots and trees are clearly visible. He took a virtual trip down the site using Google’s Street View.
“Villagers know the spot and the main tree root well, even giving it the name ‘the elephant’ because of its shapes,” van der Veen said. “It was really hiding in overt sight.”
The discovery provides tourists with an extra reason to visit Auvers-sur-Oise. “They travel a lot just for one reason — to walk in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh. Now they can stand at the very place where he painted his last painting,” van der Veen said. “And that’s a very moving thing for a lot of people. So I’m very happy to be able to share that with all those who love van Gogh.”
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．What the postcard revealed. | B．How Tree Roots was discovered. |
| C．Why Auvers-sur-Oise became known. | D．Where van Gogh painted his works. |
| A．He studied a picture of Auvers-sur-Oise. |
| B．He organized his data on van Gogh. |
| C．He traveled to France to see for himself. |
| D．He paid a visit to the spot online. |
| A．Mixed. | B．Obvious. | C．Lovely. | D．Strange. |
| A．They enjoy exploring how to paint. | B．They share their love for van Gogh. |
| C．They admire van Gogh very much. | D．They want to experience the life there. |
3 . Eric Carle, the author and artist of over 70 books for children, passed away at the age of 91. Mr. Carle's lively, creative, and colorful work was loved by children around the world. The Very Hungry Caterpillar was Mr. Carle's best-known book. Since it was published in 1969, over 55 million copies of the book have been sold, and it has been translated into more than 70 different languages.
Mr. Carle was born in Syracuse, New York in 1929. As he was growing up, his mother died and Mr. Carle spent a lot of time with his father, who would take him out walking in nature. His father would show him small creatures, filling the young boy's head with wonder. Mr. Carle thinks this helps explain why so many of his books are about nature. At the age of 12, Carle began to study art in school, where, with his teachers' help, he drew many pictures for children's books.
In 1952, Mr. Carle got a job as an artist at the New York Times. Though he created pictures for books with other authors, he created many of his most well-loved books completely on his own. Most of Mr. Carle's books are meant for younger readers. He said that he wanted to help make school a fun, welcoming place. "I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn." he said.
Children around the world responded to Mr. Carle's work, and Mr. Carle responded to this enthusiasm. Mr. Carle worked hard to reach out to students and teachers. In 2002, Mr. Carle and his wife opened the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. The museum shows off picture books from around the world. It also puts on many art programs for students and teachers.
Mr. Carle will be missed, but his creative art and sweet, funny stories will continue to bring joy to very eager readers all around the world.
1. What inspired Eric Carle to be interested in nature when he was young?| A．His sad childhood experience. | B．The early instruction of his father. |
| C．The encouragement of the teachers. | D．His cooperation with other authors. |
| A．Learning is both fascinating and fun. |
| B．Reading can broaden their eyesights. |
| C．Drawing is the basic skills for students. |
| D．Writing represents one's love for nature. |
| A．To collect picture books from the world. |
| B．To show off his own books and art works. |
| C．To help students know more about art works. |
| D．To express his enthusiasm about picture books. |
| A．To discuss the meaning of our life. |
| B．To show his love for children works. |
| C．To remember Eric Carle, an active artist. |
| D．To introduce Eric Carle's popular books. |
4 . Born in 1921, Paul Smith was diagnosed with a severe disease that affects motor abilities and strength. Since he could not grasp the artist’s tools, his creations turned to the typewriter.
His works include his childhood fascination with trains, spiritual leaders, war scenes and country heroes. It’s not so much the subject that is remarkable about Paul’s work, it’s the painstaking skill of using symbols on a typewriter to form perfect copy of existing work, and creative representations of his surroundings.
Paul’s images employed only a handful of symbol keys - !, @, ≠≠, ％, ∧, (, &, ) — which were accessible along the top row of his typewriter keyboard. Remarkable, when a person considers that hand typewriters required the ribbons to be positioned, the roller to be adjusted, and the paper to be secured. Typewriters, of that time, left no room for error since erasing mistaken keystrokes was not a clean option.
As he typed, he would lock the shift key in a safe position not to type numbers. He used his left hand to steady his right. Different symbols created the look of varied textures (神韵), and depending on the look to achieve, he would adjust the spacing to type the symbols near or far. And, he adjusted the roller to perfect spaces between lines.
Depending on its size and complexity, it could take anywhere from two weeks to three months to complete one piece. He worked, on average, a couple of hours every day on his art. After all of that work, one wouldn’t blame Paul if he sought to sell his work, but by all accounts, he would give away his pieces. As his distinctive art form gained interest from others, the number of orders for his artwork increased.
In 2007 the world lost Paul Smith at the age of 85. For this American, creating art was a leisurely pursuit and a form of expression. To the art world, he set a high bar for typewriter artists that many have tried to match, but few are able to repeat it.
1. What do we know about the tool Paul Smith worked with?| A．It has only symbol keys. | B．It requires ribbons and a roller. |
| C．It is specially made for him. | D．The spacing is not adjustable. |
| A．Lock the shift key. | B．Erase mistakes neatly. |
| C．Steady all the symbols. | D．Adjust the keys precisely. |
| A．Primitive. | B．Sensitive. |
| C．Innovative. | D．Time efficient. |
| A．Art comes from life. | B．Efforts work wonders. |
| C．Patience is a virtue. | D．Technique does count. |
5 . The British Museum's rich collection of ancient Chinese paintings has attracted many visitors. At the heart of this preservation and revival of Chinese art history is senior conservator (文物修复员) Qiu Jinxian.
Joanna Kosek, head of Pictorial Art Conservation at the British Museum, told the Times Publications that Qiu is considered one of the museum's most priceless treasures. "We let the treasure treat the treasure," Kosek said.
In 1987, Qiu was introduced to Mrs. Jessica Rawson, director of the British Museum. At the time there were no conservators specializing in ancient Chinese art at the British Museum. The large collection of Chinese ancient paintings and cultural relics in the museum was mainly repaired by Japanese and British methods and materials. As these methods were not suitable for Chinese paintings, the art collection was kept in storage for a long time instead of on pubic display.
Just before Christmas in 1987, Qiu Jinxian had her first appointment at the British Museum. She was asked to repair an ancient scroll (卷轴) by Fu Baoshi, which had been badly damaged by fire. Qiu's methods, which included washing with warm water to separate the glue in order to repair the paper, stunned people on the spot. Some of them even got out the camera to record her methods as they'd never seen this way of restoring ancient art. Mrs. Rawson was completely amazed by Qiu Jinxian's incredible skills. She immediately invited Qiu to join the British Museum.
Chinese ancient paintings are notoriously difficult to repair because of their large size, complex materials, diverse colors, and rich composition. The most important thing is to understand the long history, meaning and culture behind the painting. Repair is an extremely time-and-energy intensive process.Each painting normally takes several months from cleaning to restoration and drying. Since 1987, Qiu has repaired more than 400 artworks.
Oiu told the media that she is very proud of her work. She wants more people to understand and appreciate Chinese history and culture through art. Although the artworks originated from China, they now belong to the people of the world.
1. Why is Qiu considered a treasure at the British Museum?| A．She understands Chinese history well. |
| B．She is the only Chinese conservator there. |
| C．She repaired the Chinese scroll successfully. |
| D．She has special skills to repair the treasures. |
| A．Panicked. | B．Inspired. | C．Shocked. | D．Influenced. |
| A．A deep understanding of the objects. | B．Incredible painting skills. |
| C．Strong determination. | D．A sound knowledge of Chinese history. |
| A．The Well-known Chinese Conservator |
| B．The Protector of Chinese Treasures at the British Museum |
| C．The Chinese Treasures Repaired at the British Museum |
| D．The Ancient Chinese Artworks Exhibited at the British Museum |
6 . After written art had to fight a tough battle for attraction during the first decade of social media, owing to a certain group of writers, it is now on a significant rise. How Instagram and Twitter have offered jumpstarts to careers of authors like Dean Cocozza sets a blueprint for thousands of ambitious writers.
Cocozza started writing lyrics for his music as a teenager. He immediately had to experience that translating art to social media is not as simple as posting whatever his pen put down.
“Anyone who uses the platform with an intent will quickly learn that you only have the glimpse of a moment to catch the viewer’s attention. So the work I shared shifted to be more to the point, often one-liners. Then stuff started to go viral.”
The success and demand for more poems resulted in his first book Zero Dark Thirty, which sold out quickly. Despite the book containing mostly short writings, even said one-liners, Cocozza emphasizes that he doesn’t write for social media. “It was a very personal project resulting from a certain period of time” in his life. There are much bigger things that he works on and plans to get involved in.
Dean Cocozza has brought back emotional depth. In-between monetized (货币化的) content, blatant (明目张胆的) advertising and “perfect lives”, social media holds a spot for a new generation of artists, including literature. Critical thinkers and authentic writers remind the app’s consumers of their emotional human nature. Art galleries and bookstores might have lost a big part of their audience to digital media — but the art itself will always find ways to survive.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Written art. | B．A tough battle. | C．Social media. | D．A group of writers. |
| A．To earn a living. | B．To draw readers’ attention. |
| C．To protect his personal life. | D．To show emotional depth. |
| A．Works with emotional depth are widely accepted on social media. |
| B．People with perfect lives like social media better. |
| C．Art galleries and bookstores will soon disappear. |
| D．Arts of emotion depth still hold value on social media. |
| A．Positive. | B．Carefree. | C．Doubtful. | D．Disapproving. |
