1 . Although the piano keys come in black and white, the music it produces is full of color. Chinese pianist Tian Jiaxin explores creative performances and crossover cooperations with traditional Chinese music, with the hope of bringing the music of the East to the Western world.
Tian attended regular school instead of studying at a music school in her childhood. This enabled her to absorb China’s rich culture and understand the bigger picture later in her pursuit of a career as a professional pianist. “There’s so much to grasp when explaining a piece. What we`re conveying is not only the notes, but the culture behind the music,” Tian said.
As a Chinese pianist, Tian is looking to add more depth to her performances, stressing the contrast between Eastern and Western cultures. “No matter which country I am performing in, I always include Chinese music in my program. With Western pieces, I hope to show the world that a female musician from China can perform the music that they are familiar with and love.” Tian says that she believes her mission is to make China heard on a wider stage.
Tian believes that music is developing over time and that music from different ages has its own unique meaning. “I’ve found that people’s understanding of Chinese music is often limited to certain pieces like Jasmine Flower,” Tian said. “However, there are so many great pieces of Chinese music that are unacquainted outside of China. So, I always try to feature both the time-honored classics of Chinese music and the newly created pieces,” she added.
“Chinese music has the magic to cause resonance(共鸣) with the audience and convey the various and deep culture of Chinese civilization,” Tian said.
1. What can we learn about Tian Jiaxin from the first two paragraphs?| A．She went to music school at a young age. |
| B．She adapted some well-known Chinese pieces. |
| C．She is a professional pianist known for her unique style. |
| D．She believes the culture behind each piece should be conveyed. |
| A．Unknown. | B．Unpopular. | C．Unacceptable. | D．Unlimited. |
| A．It is setting the fashion. | B．It develops at a low speed. |
| C．It delivers rich culture of China. | D．It holds little appeal for foreigners. |
| A．Differences Between Eastern and Western Music |
| B．Chinese Cultural Fueling International Music Trends |
| C．A Pianist Combing Chinese Music with Western Keys |
| D．A New Generation of Artists Promoting Chinese Culture |
2 . Do you have a hobby that you have loved for a long time? Carlos Santana does! Carlos Santana has loved music from a young age. Music has been his passion. At age 5, he started playing the violin. At age 8, he began playing the guitar. Santana worked hard to develop his musical talent, especially on the guitar. He became one of the most famous Mexican American musicians in history.
Santana grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, playing music in many bands. Even though his family moved to San Francisco in the 1960s, he visited Mexico often. He was inspired by Mexican blues music as well as American rock music. He combined many different types of music to create a unique style.
He got his big break in 1969 at the Woodstock music festival.Woodstock was a huge music festival that around 400,000 people attended. Many people did not know who Santana was before his performance. But they knew who he was after it! Many people said Santana was one of the highlights of the three-day festival. They said his guitar playing was incredible! It was full of passion and soul.
Santana and his band began producing hit after hit, including “Oye Como Va” and “Evil Ways”. The band’s songs show off a unique musical style, combining Latin and rock rhythms. Santana has won 10 Grammy Awards throughout his career. He has had or contributed to many great songs and impressive performances.
Carlos Santana wanted children to have the opportunity to discover their passions, like he did. He and his family created the Milagro Foundation, which helps children succeed by giving money to the arts, education, and health. Today, Carlo s Santana continues sharing his musical talent with people all over the United States and beyond.
1. Carlos Santana’s career began to take off after __________.| A．his family moved to San Francisco | B．the Woodstock music festival |
| C．he started to play the violin | D．he began playing the guitar |
| A．The band’s songs became very popular. |
| B．The band went through a lot of failures. |
| C．It took the band much time to produce songs. |
| D．The band’s performances were different from others. |
| A．To support children to succeed in education. |
| B．To help children explore their hobbies. |
| C．To share his musical talent with others. |
| D．To raise money for organizing music festivals. |
| A．Music: A Lifelong and Important Hobby |
| B．The Unique Musical Journey of a Guitar Legend |
| C．The Rise of Mexican American Music Talents |
| D．Milagro Foundation: Inspiring the Next Generation |
3 . Four Self-Portraits (自画像) by Famous Artists
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)—“Self-Portrait”, 1506
One of the beautiful self-portraits by famous artist Raphael was drawn at the age of 23. It measures around 45cm×33cm and is located at the world-famous Uffizi Gallery. The Italian painter used oil on board to draw his self-portrait, which was the clearest and the most recognizable self-portraits of Raphael himself.
Leonardo da Vinci—“Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk”, 1512
“Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk”is a self-portrait of da Vinci at the age of 60 and measures around 33.3cm×21.6cm, which is on display in Biblioteca Reale, Turin, Italy. It is drawn with red chalk on paper and represents the head of an elderly man in a three-quarter view. In the portrait, the length of the hair is uncommon in Renaissance (文艺复兴) portraits.
Rembrandt van Rijn—“Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-up Collar”, 1659
Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn painted his self-portrait in 1659 when he was 53 years old. It shows his worried expression that clearly portrays the troubled condition of his mind at that point of his life since the year 1659 was a year of anxiety for him. This self-portrait found its place among the Benjamin Altman Collection, which has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1913.
Edgar Degas—“Degas Au Porte-Fusain’”, l855
Edgar Degas made this self-portrait only when he was twenty-one years old. It was one of the most remarkable of his fifteen self-portraits. Degas was seated as seemingly without fear and anxiety. The pose in the painting was formal and academic. The painting is located in the musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.
1. Where should visitors go if they want to admire Raphael’s self-portrait in 1506?| A．Uffizi Gallery. | B．Biblioteca Reale. |
| C．The musée d’Orsay. | D．The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
| A．The red clothing. | B．The formal pose. |
| C．The long hair. | D．The worried expression. |
| A．Raphael. | B．Edgar Degas. |
| C．Leonardo da Vinci. | D．Rembrandt van Rijn. |
4 . 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. |
5 . For more than 40 years, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has annually selected a group of Jazz Masters. Here are the NEA Jazz Masters selected for 2024.
Amina Claudine Myers
Amina Claudine Myers grew up in Dallas, Texas. She moved to New York City in the 1970s. The former elementary school teacher also worked in theaters and cooperated with musicians around the world.
Willard Jenkins
Willard Jenkins is familiar to jazz fans in New Orleans and Washington, D. C., where he’s hosted radio programs on stations such as WWOZ and WPFW. The Pittsburgh native first started writing about jazz for the Black student newspaper as an undergraduate at Kent State University. He also taught at various universities and contributed to leading jazz publications.
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz has played with generations of jazz stars. In the 1960s, after graduating from Juilliard, he joined the Max Roach/ Abbey Lincoln Group and the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop. In the 1970s, he played with Miles Davis and founded the Ntu Troop, which united jazz with African folk and other kinds of music. He has published more than 40 personal albums.
Terence Blanchard
It’s almost amazing that Terence Blanchard was named the NEA Jazz Master. He is only 61. It’s relatively young for the recognition.
Born in New Orleans to an opera-loving father, Blanchard started playing the trumpet (小号) as a child. Over the years, he has won multiple Grammys and a Peabody Medal. He made history in 2021 when his opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones became the first by a Black composer to be staged by the Metropolitan Opera.
1. Who was born in Pittsburgh?| A．Gary Bartz. | B．Terence Blanchard. |
| C．Willard Jenkins. | D．Amina Claudine Myers. |
| A．In the 1950s. | B．In the 1960s. | C．In the 1970s. | D．In the 1980s. |
| A．He is the first Black composer to be the NEA Jazz Master. |
| B．He is the youngest to be selected as the NEA Jazz Master. |
| C．He won a Grammy and a Peabody Medal in the same year. |
| D．One of his works was performed by the Metropolitan Opera. |
6 . For many people, music helps them escape reality. The musician Carter Hulsey is taking a different approach. He’s using his stage to help people face reality. He performed a selection of songs and then talked about some valuable financial (财务的) knowledge at Burkley Fine Arts Center recently. The rock artist gave a presentation (演讲) covering topics such as balancing a budget, making buying decisions, and how to spend money and save for the future.
“The message from Hulsey would be important for our students to hear,” the teacher Mrs. Dux said. “I believed listening to the band would be an interesting way to communicate that message. As I found out more information, I couldn’t pass up the chance our students to have this experience.”
Hulsey managed the budget for his band when they went on a tour years ago. But at that time, he didn’t know much about being smart with money. He shared his own experience with money management and the troubles that came with it.“When I was your age, we didn’t talk about money in school. We didn’t talk about it at home. I didn’t think about it,” Hulsey told students.“I just started heading around the country and learned all these things the hard way.” He hopes by showing students that even those who live the rock-star life need to understand financial wellness, he can help students to form good spending habits.
Terron Johnson, a teacher at Shiloh High School, is making sure students learn the lesson before they may go into debt. “It’s a real-world thing. A lot of times students will say, ‘Why do I need to know this math? How am I going to use this in real life?’ Well, you will use financial knowledge down the line,” Johnson said. If students understand how to effectively use their money to achieve their goals, they can make their dreams come true.
1. What can be learned about the musician Carter Hulsey?| A．He encourages people to enjoy life. |
| B．He shares financial knowledge with the audience. |
| C．His focus has moved from music to financial work. |
| D．His music is inspired by the life of young people. |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Negative. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．To prove the success of his band. |
| B．To tell students how to find a hobby at a young age. |
| C．To explain the influence of artistic taste on students. |
| D．To show the necessity of learning money management early. |
| A．A musician becomes popular with students |
| B．Young students talk with a great musician |
| C．A concert brings more than music to students |
| D．Teachers advise students to be smarter with money |
7 . “Do what you love, not what others tell you is right,” says Georgia Lines of New Zealand.
I spoke with the 24-year-old singer-songwriter earlier this month about her rise to fame. In 2022, Lines was named breakthrough artist of the year at the annual Aotearoa music awards ceremony. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand, an island country in the Pacific Ocean that is home to more than 5.1 million people.
Lines makes success look easy, but she has worked hard to perfect her skills. “I love what I do,” she told me. “I love it when I get lost in music, and everything works together.”
Already, Lines has opened for pop singer George Ezra. She hopes “to open for Harry Styles one day,” she added.
Lines has written more than 20 songs and worked together with several top artists, including Jack Burton, Alex James and Cassie Henderson. “I love working with other people and cooperating,” Lines said. “I find I work better when I’m with others, because we can exchange ideas with each other.”
When asked about her musical ambition growing up, Lines smiled. “I was never a musical genius as a child,”she said. “But I always loved singing and music.”
In recent years, Lines has drawn enthusiastic crowds for her concerts. The video for her hit song, “No One Knows”, won best music video of the year in New Zealand in 2021.
As for her future goals, Lines said that she wants “to have a promising career and to keep doing what I love.” That means focusing on her own career and artistic achievements. “Comparison is the robber of success, “she said. “If I had stopped to compare myself with others, I wouldn’t have made it as far as I have.”
1. What is the main topic of the author’s conversation with Lines?| A．Her childhood. | B．Her family. |
| C．Her style of music. | D．Her way to success. |
| A．She likes teamwork. | B．She respects top artists most. |
| C．She has a gift for music. | D．She always loves music. |
| A．Valuing money too much. | B．Ignoring her future career. |
| C．Comparing herself with others. | D．Taking others’ suggestions. |
| A．Honest. | B．Knowledgeable. | C．Hard-working. | D．Kind-hearted. |
8 . Best known as an author of fairy tales (童话), Hans Christian Andersen (1805—1875) wrote such children’s stories as The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, and The Emperor’s New Clothes. However, he was also an actor, a singer, and an artist. As an artist, he was particularly good at paper cutting.
Andersen had many reasons for making his paper cuttings, but the main one was to give pleasure. Andersen loved to tell his interesting stories to anyone who would listen. As he spoke, he would take out his scissors (剪刀) and make a wonderful paper cutting to help his words.
He also found that his paper cuttings helped with a better communication between himself and others. Although a shy man, he still loved to tell his stories face to face with his listeners. His stories and paper cuttings helped him to communicate when he would have otherwise felt uncomfortable.
The paper cuttings also became great gifts for friends and families. He would give his cuttings not only to children but also to grown-ups. When his writing became famous, these gifts were even more valued.
Now more than 100 years old, many of Andersen’s fine paper cuttings still exist in a museum in Denmark devoted to his works. While Andersen will always be remembered for his fairy tales, his beautiful works of art also remain for all to enjoy.
1. This passage mainly discusses Hans Christian Andersen as a(n) .| A．singer | B．artist | C．actor | D．writer |
| A．1500s | B．1600s | C．1700s | D．1800s |
| A．live quite a busy life | B．become a well-known writer |
| C．get along well with others | D．write wonderful stories for children |
| A．Why he was fond of paper cutting. |
| B．Which fairy tales he had published. |
| C．How he became good at paper cutting. |
| D．When he became famous as a story-teller. |
9 . Cole (a successful actor) talked about his acting journey in a new interview with Variety. As a child star in public, he became one of the cover stars of the “Power of Young Hollywood” series. He said to Variety that if it hadn’t been for Riverdale, he might have given up acting, at least for a while. When Cole auditioned (试镜) for Riverdale, he was working in a small laboratory in Brooklyn bagging artifacts. It was the character of Jughead that brought him back to his acting life.
In the years following his days on the Disney channel, Cole joined NYU and took acting classes. Disney had offered Cole a third series following his successful series — The Suit Life of Zack and Cody and The Suite Life on Deck, but he knew he wanted to go to college. Finally, Cole found his way back to his acting life, though. While working at the lab, Cole said his manager kept on encouraging him to audition for some roles. He really wanted to say thanks to him.
Cole knew what he wanted and how to play the role well in Riverdale. He was first invited to audition for the role of Archie, but Cole said he asked for the character of the outcast (被抛弃者) instead. “I think this is a bot of my style,” he told Variety. Jughead wasn’t supposed to be an important character in the show, but Cole acted so well that he received praise and became well known.
Now, Cole’s successfully changed himself from a Disney star to a serious actor. It can help him to plan his new series — the fourth season. It’s good news that Cole decided to show his talent for acting.
1. What did Cole tell Variety in the new interview?| A．His life as an actor. |
| B．His experience in “Riverdale”. |
| C．His work in a small lab. |
| D．His feelings as a child star. |
| A．Because he didn’t like acting any more. |
| B．Because he wanted to get more education. |
| C．Because his manager asked him to stay in the lab. |
| D．Because his manager advised him to act in “Riverdale”. |
| A．His work experience in the lab. |
| B．His previous work as a manager. |
| C．His wonderful skills in acting. |
| D．His experience as a serious actor. |
| A．Cole Gave up Acting |
| B．Cole Was Begged to Act in “Riverdale” |
| C．Cole Told us How to succeed in Acting |
| D．Acting in “Riverdale” Led Cole to Success |
10 . Making marks or signing names in the sand is a great fun for most travelers on a vacation beach. But for Dubai-based Filipino artist Nathaniel A. Alapide, it’s how he became a Guinness World Record holder.
Dubai’s 72 kilometers coastline, and the vast Arabian Desert, are Alapide’s canvas (画布). Using only a simple garden tool, he draws enormous lines across the beaches and deserts, making huge and complex designs. His average drawing is around 20 meters squared. When he includes a written message, the pieces can be more than 100 meters long.
Alapide’s sand art began in 2014, when he drew a tree in memory of his late grandmother on the beach, near Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The size of the drawing appealed to the hotel which offered him his first full-time job as a sand artist in 2015. Since then, he has decorated the sands with around 1,900 drawings. He’s been assigned by big brands, and he created a work for National Geographic for the program “The Emirates From Above”. In 2022, Alapide set a new record for the world’s largest sand image.
Though Alapide has crafted a career from the practice, he says creating an artwork from sand isn’t always plain sailing. “On the 20th day of creating the world-record piece, we were almost 70% done but there was this weather that happened,” he says. “It was raining, and the wind was so strong, which removed almost the whole piece.”
“I think where I find this kind of work interesting,” Alapide continues. He says that the temporary nature of his work reminds him that everything is in constant change. “And I think making sand art is a great way to connect with people,” he adds. “I like to watch how people interact with the work and I have found that the kids notice the drawings more than the adults. I think because they’re more aware of their environment.”
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about Alapide’s drawing?| A．Its origin. | B．Its size. |
| C．Its materials. | D．Its features. |
| A．By decorating a hotel as required. |
| B．By impressing a hotel with his work. |
| C．By transplanting a tree on the beach. |
| D．By creating works for big brands. |
| A．Challenging. | B．Worthless. | C．Influential. | D．Impractical. |
| A．A candle lights others but consumes itself. |
| B．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing. |
| C．Happiness lies not in things, but in ourselves. |
| D．The longest journey begins with the first step |
