1 . Artist Susan Shepherd is best known for her flower paintings, and the large garden that surrounds her house is the source of many of her subjects. It is full of her favourite flowers, most especially vancties of tulips and poppies. Some of the plants are unruly and seed themselves all over the garden. There is a harmony of colour, shape and structure in the two long flower borders that line the paved path which crosses the garden from east to west. Much of this is due to the previous owners who were keen gardeners, and who left plants that appealed to Susan. She also inherited the gardener, Danny. “In fact, it was really his garden,” she says. “We got on very well. At first he would say, “Oh, it’s not worth it” to some of the things I wanted to put in, but when I said I wanted to paint them, he recognized what I had in mind.”
Susan prefers to focus on detailed studies of individual plants rather than on the garden as a whole, though she will occasionally paint a group of plants where they are. More usually, she picks them and then takes them up to her studio. “I don’t set the whole thing up at once,” she says. “I take one flower up at once,” she says. “I take one flower out and paint it, which might take a few days, and then I bring in another one and build up the painting that way. Sometimes it takes a couple of years to finish.”
Her busiest time of year is spring and early summer, when the tulips are out, followed by the poppies. “They all come out together, and you’re so busy,” she says. But the gradual decaying process is also part of the fascination for her. With tulips, for example, “you bring them in and put them in water, then leave them for perhaps a day and they each form themselves into different shapes. They open out and are fantastic. When you first put them in a vase, you think they are boring, but they change all the time with twists and turns.”
1. In the first paragraph, the author describes Susan’s garden as ________.| A．being only partly finished |
| B．having a path lined with flowers |
| C．having caused problems for the previous owners |
| D．needing a lot of work to keep it looking attractive |
| A．He felt she was interfering in his work. |
| B．He immediately understood her feelings. |
| C．He was recommended by the previous owners. |
| D．He was slow to see the point of some of her ideas. |
| A．She creates her paintings in several stages. |
| B．She spends all day painting an individual flower. |
| C．She likes to do research on a plant before she paints it. |
| D．She will wait until a flower is ready to be picked before painting it. |
| A．look best some time after they have been cut. |
| B．should be kept in the house for as long as possible. |
| C．are not easy to paint because they change so quickly. |
| D．are more colourful and better shaped than other flowers. |
2 . 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. |
3 . 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 |
4 . Isadora Duncan is considered by many to be the progenitor of modern dance. To Duncan, classical ballet, with its strict rules of posture and formation, was “ugly and against nature”. She refused to accept traditional ballet steps, preferring to emphasize improvisation(即兴创作), emotion, and the human form. She said, “I spent long days and nights in the studio seeking that dance which might be the expression of the human spirit through the body’s movements.” By making connections between human emotion and the movements of dance, Duncan hoped to make dance a form of high art rather than simple entertainment. She developed free and natural movements inspired by the classical Greek arts, folk dances, social dances and natural forces. She drew on a number of sports moves, including skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and tossing. The athleticism and classical roots of her style are reflected in her innovative costume choice of a Grecian tunic(束腰外衣) and bare feet, which allowed for a physical freedom that could not be achieved in the traditional ballet costumes and pointed shoes that limited dancers. With time, she gained a very wide following and set up several schools in Europe and the United States.
Duncan’s fame, however, did not bring her wealth. In the later years of her life, her financial situation worsened, and finally she had to live in apartments rented by friends and supporters. Duncan also received criticism for some of her personal opinions.
In spite of the problems, Duncan is remembered today for her artistic achievements: the creation of modern dance and its high place among the arts. While Duncan’s own schools no longer exist, her style of dance continues to be practiced. Her life inspired novels, ballets, and films, and her likeness was included in the sculpture created by Antoine Bourdelle over the entrance of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
1. What does the underlined word “progenitor” Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Sponsor. | B．Originator. | C．Instructor. | D．Competitor. |
| A．It allowed dancers to move naturally and freely. |
| B．It included newly designed pointed shoes. |
| C．It was white and extremely simple. |
| D．It was introduced from Greece. |
| A．To explore the connection between art and wealth. |
| B．To characterize Duncan as a dishonorable person. |
| C．To prove Duncan was adored by friends and relatives. |
| D．To show Duncan lived a hard life in her declining years. |
| A．Her inspiration for artists. | B．The invention of a new-form dance. |
| C．Her special personal views. | D．The foundation of many dance schools. |
5 .
“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. |
6 . 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. |
7 . Contemporary artist Nick Smith creates pixelated (像素化的) works with hand colour-chips, synonymous with colour swatches (色块), cleverly combining text and image to create interesting and fascinating collaged (拼贴的) works.
With a previous career in Interior Design spanning 11 years, Nick references his concept design background throughout his work, reworking the design aesthetic using unique colours watches in hand-made collages, placing his work firmly in the fine art category. From his first collage experiment back in 2011 of Warhol’s ‘Marilyn’, when he assembled a tessellation (镶嵌技术) of swatches as a challenge, this eventually inspired his career as an artist and determined his unique style he is now known for.
The multi-layered element of his work, which marries image and word, allows Nick to explore complex art-historical concepts. The text employed is often narrative, which can be read in sequence adding another element of intrigue and interest to the work. This additional element of text, placed under the empty space of each swatch, creates either complimentary or subversive meanings. Nick deliberately leaves these word/image constructions open to viewer interpretation, sparking new debates and meanings.
Each P-series, such as Psycolourgy 2015, Purgatory 2019, explores complicatedly researched concepts, which are always the crucial starting point for each new series of work.Producing large-scale works to micro-chip collages, and multiple sell out print editions, Nick continues to develop his popular and recognisable art.
PSYCOLOURGY—January 2015 Lawrence Alkin Gallery,London
Smith’s debut solo exhibition with Lawrence Alkin Gallery in Soho, London , launched his unique visual reworking of classic paintings from the 20th Century canon. Universally known works, including David Hockney’s’ The Bigger Splash’, Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans’ and Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ were all recast, creating original collages that enquire ideas of depiction, digitalisation and recognition. A sell out show, with numerous successful subsequent print releases, Psycolourgy forged Smith’s path to a place among Britain’s notable contemporary artists.
PURGATORY-December 2019 Context，Art Miami
Purgatory is a shiny , sticky, glossy exploration of our societies attitude and approach to our excess,addictions and desires.
Excerpts from Dante’s Purgatory are woven through colourful works depicting popular covetable consumables, creating symbolic representations of the seven sins. Dante explores possible penance (悔) for our earthly suffering leading to spiritual growth. The results of these pairings offer a humorous, nostalgic and subversive opportunity to question our choices.our history and our future.
1. What made Nick launch his art career?| A．His deep love of fascinating collaged works. |
| B．His first collage work Warhol’s ‘Marilyn’ |
| C．The challenge of piecing a tessellation of swatches. |
| D．The collage experiment dating back to 2012. |
| A．His text contains concepts of art. |
| B．His text is usually illustrative. |
| C．His text can be read sequentially. |
| D．His text elements are very simple |
| A．It opened Smith’s unique visual reinvention of classic 21th-century paintings. |
| B．David Hockney’s’Mona Lisa’ has been recreated by Lawrence Alkin Gallery. |
| C．The original collages affirm the ideas of depiction , digitisation and recognition. |
| D．It opened Smith’s path to becoming one of Britain’s leading contemporary artists. |
| A．Some useful ways to create collaged works. |
| B．The life of contemporary artist Nick Smith. |
| C．Information about Psycolourgy and Purgatory. |
| D．The introduction to Nick Smith’s works. |
8 . Taylor Swift showed very early promise as a singer of country songs, performing from the age of nine. She learned the guitar and persuaded her family to move to Tennessee so she could further her career. She holds numerous records for achievements in music, has been named among the top 100 most influential people on more than one occasion and was named as Woman of the Decade and Artist of the Decade in the 2010s. Swift’s musical style has evolved from country to pop and her fans number in the millions.
Taylor Swift has a firm belief that we should all be ourselves. She tempers this by saying that we must be respectful of others, honest and strong-willed. Strength of purpose will carry a person through life and see them achieve great things. Do not, she says, be average. Stand out and be the best person that you can.
Her view of life is simple. We each have one life, and we must make sure we do not waste it. Life is there to be enjoyed and to be fulfilled. Only we can control what happens in our lives, and must not allow others to judge us or create false opinions of us.
To live a life that has meaning, we must be prepared to learn from mistakes and failures and deal with them without getting discouraged or distracted from our path. No one should tell you what you can’t do, and you must not let a mistake tell you that either. When someone tries to stop you from doing something, be eager to prove them wrong. Be keen, too, to show that your mistakes won’t hold you back.
Taylor Swift puts great store in happiness. Seeking happiness is a wonderful ambition, and everyone should see it as an aim. Success without happiness is a meaningless achievement. Aiming for happiness can go along with other goals too. Swift doesn’t rest when she has achieved one goal, but picks up another and pursues that with the same vigor and determination.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．She moved to Tennessee to get a degree. |
| B．She has been named among the top 100 most influential people once. |
| C．Her musical style is single. |
| D．She has had a talent in music since childhood. |
| A．We should accept that we are only ordinary people. |
| B．We are masters of our life. |
| C．Never let mistakes block our moving-forward way. |
| D．Without happiness, success equals zero. |
| A．Patient and passionate | B．Positive and ambitious |
| C．Hard-working and optimistic | D．Intelligent and humorous |
| A．A brief introduction to Taylor Swift. | B．Taylor Swift’s autobiography. |
| C．Taylor Swift’s influence. | D．Taylor Swift’s childhood and dream. |
9 . He is a Chinese superstar, a piano genius who has sold millions of albums worldwide. Lang Lang has also used his fame and fortune to help state schools around the world that lack music, warning at a 2019 awards ceremony in London that such lessons had become “a real challenge” for children in the most disadvantaged communities.
Now he is bringing music to British state schools in an ambitious project that will set up modern “piano labs” in needy schools across the nation. Each lab will have 20 to 30 keyboards. The plan is inspired by his programmes in the US and China, in which he has invested tens of millions of pounds.
In the US, he has set up piano labs in 86 schools, giving 70,000 kids access to keyboards. In China, he has installed them in 104 schools, enabling 110,000 children to make music. This is primarily for pupils aged seven to 12.
The first UK school to benefit is the Winns primary school in Waltham Forest, London’s 12th poorest area. It will receive 30 keyboards within the next few weeks. Every lab is accompanied by a curriculum created by the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and Lang Lang, with ongoing teacher-training, financial support, and headphones, allowing group piano classes.
Asked what inspired him to support UK schools, Lang told the reporter: “We were able to identify many similarities between state schools in the UK and public schools in the US in terms of the way access to music and arts can be extremely limited when budgets are cut…I was so surprised by how music classes are never guaranteed. The schools and teachers are incredible, and are so dedicated to providing their students with everything they can. But it shocked me how access to music education can be so limited.”
His charity quotes the Greek philosopher Aristotle: “Music has the power of producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul, and if it has the power to do this, it is clear that the young must be directed to music and must be educated in it.”
Lang Lang said: “When I visit our partner schools and see the joy on the students’ faces or hear from our teachers about the progress students are making, I’m reminded of why we created this programme—to give children an opportunity to discover what they’re capable of achieving and to find their voices through music.”
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To offer background information. | B．To introduce an argument. |
| C．To discuss Lang Lang’s plans. | D．To highlight Lang Lang’s reputation. |
| A．Private schools. | B．Ambitious schools. |
| C．Remote schools. | D．Disadvantaged schools. |
| A．The teachers are doing a good job. |
| B．Music classes aren’t always available. |
| C．The budgets are always being cut. |
| D．The schools are dedicated to helping students. |
| A．Lang Lang—a kind and caring pianist |
| B．Lang Lang teaches the world to play piano |
| C．Chinese superstar brings music to British kids |
| D．Chinese piano genius looks for future piano stars |
10 . Mary Shelley bends over her latest creation. Although the carving is only half complete, the image of a waitress holding a plate of eggs comes out from the board. Of Shelley’s nearly seven hundred carvings, many show scenes with cows on farms and people in restaurants.
From memories to carvings
“My work is a visual diary, ” Shelley says. “The carvings describe things I have experienced and felt at different times in my life.”
Every one of her carvings tells a story. Many of the stories in Shelley’s woodcarvings come from memories of her childhood in a rural (乡村的) area outside of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Shelley’s family managed a small farm. Mary was a serious girl who spent a lot of time raising animals, exploring outdoors, and reading. Although Shelley never felt especially artistic as a child, there was always an art project in the works in the Shelley household. Her grandmother painted. Her father was a commercial artist, who drew and wrote to make a living.
______
Shelley attended Cornell University and hoped to become a writer, but an unusual present took her in another direction. At age 23, she received a gift her father had made-a woodcarving of her as a girl on the farm. The gift caught her interest. After gathering boards from a building site where she worked as a carpenter, Shelley bought some tools and taught herself to carve.
Shelley soon realized that she loved the slow, thoughtful process of working with wood and painting. “A carving is like a jigsaw puzzle (拼图游戏),” she explains. “I didn’t know how it would all fit together, but the process of solving the puzzle kept me going.”
The Shelley style
Early in her career, people hired Shelley to carve special pieces that took four or five weeks to complete. The money she received motivated her to try more complicated scenes created by carving deeper in the wood. Over time, Shelley’s art began to have its own style. In a typical Shelley woodcarving, some objects seem to reach out of the frame while others drop back, creating a feeling of depth.
1. What can we infer from the “From memories to carvings” part?| A．Art is from but beyond life. | B．Life is short and art is long. |
| C．It is great art to laugh at your own misfortune. | D．Knowledge without practice makes but half an artist |
| A．Life in School | B．A Dream Come True |
| C．A Life-Changing Gift | D．Jigsaw Puzzles and Carving |
| A．The dream to be an artist in her childhood. | B．Her father’s low-relief carving for her. |
| C．The rugs hooked by her grandmother. | D．Her school life in Cornell University. |
| A．is very popular | B．is very expensive |
| C．has simple scenes | D．creates a feeling of depth |
