1 . Buster Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe and Myra Keaton. At six months, he fell down a flight of stairs. Reaching the floor unhurt, he was picked up by magician Harry Houdini who said the kid was a real buster. The word “buster” means an unusually strong child. From then on, his parents and the world knew him as Buster Keaton. By the age of three, Keaton had joined the family's vaudeville (杂耍) act. It was this training in vaudeville that prepared him for the fast-paced comedy of the silent movies.
In 1917, Keaton moved to Hollywood, where he met another former vaudevillian. Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, a famous comic actor of the time, took Keaton on and showed him the ropes of the movie industry. Keaton regarded Arbuckle as one of his closest friends and his greatest influence. With his remarkable acrobatic (杂技般的) acts, the thin Keaton was a perfect partner for Arbuckle. Within a few years, Keaton became an increasingly popular comic star.
Most of Keaton's famous movies were made during the 1920s. Writing, directing, and starring in these films, Keaton created a crazy funny world. He often found himself in the same difficult situations as Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, but he always kept a sense of stillness throughout, without showing joy, anger, or sadness at all. No matter how lost or unlucky Keaton seemed to be, he was never one to be pitied. The New York Times said of him, “In a film world that exaggerated everything, ... he remained expressionless and serious, his stone face holding back all emotion.”
Though he acted in a number of films in the 1930s, Keaton began to lose his popularity with audiences, partly because of the appearance of the films with sound. It was not until the 1950s that the public liking for Keaton's work returned. The great skills needed to complete his heart-stopping acts amazed people who had become used to simple, flat physical comedy and he was considered one of the greatest comic actors of the silent age.
1. How did Keaton get his first name?| A．From his excellent skills. |
| B．From his parents' love for him. |
| C．From a story about a magician. |
| D．From a harmless fall accident. |
| A．He was a big fan of Keaton. |
| B．He acted as Keaton's guide to the movies. |
| C．He was one of Keaton's main competitors. |
| D．He became Keaton's vaudeville instructor. |
| A．His care about society. |
| B．His understanding of films. |
| C．His unemotional coolness. |
| D．His heart-warming stories. |
| A．His great acrobatic skills. |
| B．The rise of physical comedy. |
| C．The influence of silent movies. |
| D．His achievements in films with sound. |
2 . Mozart was one of the greatest composers who ever lived. He was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1756. Even when he was very young, Mozart loved music. His father, who was the leader of an orchestra, was very happy that his son was so interested in music. When Mozart was three years old, he learned to play the harpsichord, which is a kind of piano. Mozart began to compose music at the age of five, and his father took him to play in front of the kings and queens of Europe.
At one concert, one of the violinists was missing from the orchestra. Mozart picked up a violin and played the music without a mistake. Mozart’s father and the other players in the orchestra were surprised. Mozart had never been taught to play the violin! Mozart continued traveling around Europe with his father, who was his teacher in everything. He composed many pieces for the piano, the violin, and later for full orchestra.
Mozart could write down a piece of music even if he had heard it only once. One day, he went to hear a group of people singing in a big church in Rome. The song was very special. The church leader said that people could sing the song only once a year, and only in his church. No one else was allowed to have the music. Mozart listened to the song. Although it was very difficult and long, Mozart went back home and wrote down the whole piece from memory. The head of the church heard about this, and instead of being angry with Mozart, he gave him a prize. When Mozart grew up, people were not so interested in him. He worked as a teacher and pianist, but he did not make much money. In 1791, at the age of 35, he died. He was so poor that there was not enough money for him to have a proper grave. No one knows where he is buried.
1. The story is mainly about ________．| A．Mozart and his music |
| B．a leader of an orchestra |
| C．the life of a great composer |
| D．the head of a church in Rome |
| A．teaching him about music |
| B．giving him a violin to play with |
| C．sending him to a music school |
| D．giving him a lot of money |
| A．went to Rome | B．began to sing |
| C．began to compose music | D．played the harpsichord |
| A．he died poorly |
| B．he did not teach anyone |
| C．he did not know many famous people |
| D．he couldn’t play the piano or violin |
An American musician, singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen is one of the world’s most popular artists, with a career that covers 40 years. He is known for his poetic songs that deal with social and political issues, as well as personal subjects. His energetic live performances are also famous.
Springsteen’s childhood in a New Jersey working class family was a major influence on his music. He has never been shy about writing about the social and political issues. These issues were included in his album called Darkness on the Edge of Town. His music grew even darker in the 1982 album Nebraska. Those songs showed people pushed to the edge of poverty and criminal activity. Thirteen years later Springsteen released The Ghost of Tom Joad. The album was a direct discussion of issues like immigration, hunger and poverty. Then in 2012, in the album Wrecking Ball, Springsteen found people to blame for some of those social problems.
Springsteen also wrote about personal relationships. Brilliant Disguise is from the 1987 album Tunnel of Love. It’s basically a couple who are putting on disguises for each other because they don’t reveal their true selves.
Springsteen’s album company was thinking of terminating business with him after poor sales of his first two albums. But then Born to Run hit the stores and airwaves in 1975. It saved Springsteen’s career. The lyrics leave us the idea that maybe we never can actually get free from our pasts, from our home towns, and the like, but we have to give it a shot, and take our chance. It cost a lot of money to produce. Had it failed, we might not be talking about Bruce Springsteen today.
But we are talking about him, and listening to him. The musician’s ability to stay true to himself and to express the concerns of ordinary people is what has made him a living legend(传奇人物).
1. What is Bruce Springsteen famous for? (no more than 8 words)2. Which of Springsteen’s album is about immigration? (no more than 6 words)
3. What does the underlined word “terminating” in Paragraph 4 mean?(one word)
4. What made Springsteen a living legend?(no more than 12 words)
5. In your opinion, what qualities should be possessed to be a successful person? (no more than 15 words)
4 . Growing up in rural Jiangsu Province, Yu Jigao showed a strong interest in fine arts at an early age and studied on his own for years. His hard work paid off later. In the early 1950s, he made his way to Nanjing Normal University, where he learned painting theories and techniques from some famous artists. It was then that Yu found his lifelong artistic passion for gongbi. Gongbi paintings usually describe birds and flowers, symbols of beauty and joy, in an artistic way with intense color.
After graduation from the art school in 1957, Yu began his professional career at the Chinese Painting Institute of Jiangsu. He has since published a series of art collections. Since 1959, Yu has contributed a series of works to many important sites. Yu’s works have also been displayed in a range of national and international exhibitions. From 1986 to 1997, he held his exhibitions in such places as Beijing, Guangzhou and New York. Both the themes and artistic techniques have won widespread praise in the past years.
While observing traditional rules, he uses accurate lines, powerful brush movements as well as the interplay between dark and light to represent the harmony of nature. Though he adopts a realistic style, he tries to enrich his works with spiritual beauty through his brush. Yu says, “That feeling turns into the images of singing birds and elegant flowers in my paintings.” Thanks to his careful observation of nature and artistic sensitivity, Yu is able to combine realistic description with artistic expression in his brushwork.
Now as deputy director of the Academy of Chinese Gongbi Painting of Flowers and Birds and a national top-level artist, Yu maintains a simple and easy-going style. In addition to artistic creation, Yu has devoted himself to promoting his painting style as the cultural heritage of China. “Art is part of my life,” Yu says. “I am proud to be a flower-bird painter. I hope to create a bright future for it through my efforts.”
1. Where did Yu discover his love for gongbi?| A．In Beijing. | B．In New York. |
| C．At Nanjing Normal University. | D．At the Chinese Painting Institute of Jiangsu. |
| A．His school life. | B．His painting techniques. |
| C．His contributions to the art school. | D．His artistic achievements in painting. |
| A．Adopting abstract objects. |
| B．Excluding plants and animals. |
| C．Combining traditional rules with a realistic style. |
| D．Representing the imbalance between nature and humans. |
| A．It will change a lot. | B．It will be passed on. |
| C．It will look more complicated. | D．It will reach the top international level. |
5 . Last summer, a video from Cardiff showed opera coach Mary King wet-eyed during the finals of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.Who had moved her to tears? Mongolian baritone (男中音) Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar, towering, broad-shouldered, with a huge smile and a mighty voice, the 29-year-old sang Rossini,Verdi and Tchaikovsky and charmed everyone, including the judges, who declared him joint winner of the Song prize. “There was something so imposing about the sound,” King said. “Contained and glorious. It’s very unusual to find this combination of presence, power and effortlessness.”
Ariunbaatar doesn’t have a typical background for a contestant in one of the world’s most celebrated opera contests. He grew up in the traditional Mongolian way, living in circular tents with his nomadic (游牧的) family. As a child, he rode some 60 miles a day, and he was always singing. He won a place at university in Ulaanbaatar but dropped out after two years when he couldn’t pay the fees, became a taxi driver and one night got chatting to a customer who happened to be the chief of police. Long story short: he joined Ulaanbaatar’s police orchestra, worked his way back to university, then onwards to the grand opera houses of Russia and Europe.
That backstory aroused my curiosity — so much so that three months later I was on a flight to Ulaanbaatar with a radio producer and suitcase of audio equipment. I had the same basic knowledge many westerners share about Mongolia: Genghis Khan, Gobi desert, furry camels, wild horses, wonderful throat singers. My guidebook described a proud nation. “It is rude to turn down an offer of horse’s milk,” I read, “for it is considered a gesture of friendship.”
International wins have made Ariunbaatar famous at home. Politicians hope his career will secure Mongolia’s position on the opera map-portraying it as a modern nation. He says he has no intention to leave Mongolia. His family still travel on the plain, still ride on horseback, still packup their tents to follow new grasslands. “Being with them on the land is what gives me inspiration to sing.” he says. “Wherever I am, that is what I imagine when I sing.”
1. Ariunbaatar won the Song prize mainly because of| A．his command of different songs. |
| B．his charming appearance. |
| C．his unusual background. |
| D．his impressive sound. |
| A．He was admitted to a university for the first time. |
| B．He became a member of the police orchestra. |
| C．He moved Mary King and got the big prize. |
| D．He was raised in the traditional Mongolian way. |
| A．He cares little about fame. |
| B．He hopes to become better known. |
| C．He wants to give his family a better life. |
| D．He draws inspiration from the horses. |
| A．How Ariunbaatar became a famous star. |
| B．An introduction to an opera singer. |
| C．Why the author travelled to Mongolian. |
| D．A video about a celebrated opera contest. |
6 . Eartha Mae Kitt was born into a poor family in South Carolina in 1927. When Eartha was eight, her mother married. The husband did not want Eartha to live with them because of her mixed race.
Eartha was sent to New York City to live with an aunt in the African-American neighborhood of Harlem. The relationship was difficult. The aunt helped pay for piano and dance lessons for Eartha. But she also beat the girl. Eartha would run away after beatings.
Earth lived in the streets and worked in a factory as a young teenager. But she kept up her dance lessons. One day she decided to try out for a famous African-American dance company. Soon, Eartha was performing in shows around the world with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe.
In Paris, Eartha left the dance company to sing in a nightclub. Her voice was unusual - but very appealing. She learned French quickly and gained French fans. The film director Orson Welles discovered Eartha singing in Paris. He called her “the most exciting woman in the world”. Welles asked her to play a lead part in the play he was directing and starring in.
Eartha returned to New York and appeared in the Broadway show New Faces of 1952. A humorous song she sang about a bored, spoiled woman became famous. She soon signed a recording agreement with the record company. Eartha’s songs were all daring, especially for the 1950s. She even made a sexy Christmas song “Santa Baby”, which became her biggest hit.
Eartha's first role in a film was in the 1957 movie Mark of the Hawk with Nat King Cole. She was very careful about choosing her roles in films. She rejected parts that were not respectful to people of color. She said if her choices were bad, it would not help the black actors who came after her.
Eartha Mae Kitt was at home when she died on December 25, 2008. The cause was colon cancer.
1. What made Eartha leave her parents?| A．Her poor family. | B．Her mixed race. |
| C．Her cruel aunt. | D．Her dance lessons. |
| A．cruel and mean | B．violent but honest |
| C．considerate and friendly | D．helpful but unkind |
| A．Her dance. | B．Her beauty. |
| C．Her voice. | D．Her fans. |
| A．Eartha starred in the film directed by Welles |
| B．Eartha was strongly against treating people of color unfairly |
| C．American songs in the 1950s were all daring |
| D．Mark of the Hawk was Eartha’s most successful song |
7 . Nigerian-American musician Davido has announced he will offer more than $600,000 to orphanages (孤儿院) across Nigeria, after hosting an online call that initially caused amusement and confusion from his fans.
“If you know I've given you a hit song…send me money,” the singer wrote on Twitter earlier this week.
Known for his songs “Dami Duro” and “Fall”, Davido has been one of Africa's most famous artists over the last ten years and is the African artist with the highest number of followers on Instagram.
He launched his fundraiser Wednesday, posting his bank details online and asking friends and followers to send money, saying his aim was to raise 100 million naira ($243,000) to clear his Rolls-Royce from a port.
Soon he had already raised $17,000—and on Saturday he announced the full amount he received from fans and friends totaled over $485,000 and would be used for charitable (慈善的) purposes.
The musician, whose real name is David Adeleke, will turn 29 on November 21. He said his aim was now “to do this fundraising every year to celebrate my birthday and give back to people in need.”
Davido posted regular fundraising updates throughout Wednesday and Thursday, and several of his friends also jumped on the bandwagon. Nigerian rapper M.I Abaga said he had sent 1 million naira and wrote, “I want my own hit song with Davido.”
It's not the first charitable move from the singer Davido, who donated the earnings from his music video “Dolce & Gabbana” to pandemic (流行病) relief efforts in April 2020, as well as more than 6,000 bags of rice across his home state of Osun. Earlier this year, he was also noticed giving a free concert to children who surrounded a beach house.
1. What do we know about Davido?| A．He wrote a hit song. | B．He did well in music. |
| C．He liked making money. | D．He disappointed his fans. |
| A．Giving fans a hit song. | B．Becoming more famous. |
| C．Hosting an online concert. | D．Helping people in need. |
| A．increased | B．received | C．gave | D．reported |
| A．People. | B．Health. | C．Education. | D．Business. |
8 . Olivia de Havilland, the honorable and strong-willed Oscar-winning actress and last surviving star of Gone with the Wind died in her sleep on Saturday, July 25, 2020. She was 104.
During a screen career that lasted for more than 50 years, de Havilland won two Best Actress Oscars, her first for 1947’s To Each His Own and then for 1950’s The Heiress.
De Havilland and Fontaine, a Best Actress winner for 1942’s Suspicion, claimed a statue in the lead-acting categories. De Havilland was nominated (提名) for a total of five Academy Awards. Other notable awards include The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Snake Pit.
Her most famous screen image was Melanie Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. Released in 1939 when de Havilland was just 23, the Civil War epic won eight Oscars and remained as the all-time box-office champ for more than 25 years. The movie remains Hollywood’s top money-maker, though this year it has been at the center of controversy regarding its description of slavery.
Born July 1, 1916, in Tokyo to British parents, de Havilland first made an impression as the girl to Errol Flynn’s arrogant boy in a series of films, starting with 1935’s Captain Blood, and including the early color entry 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood.
In 1944, a de Havilland complaint against Warner Bros resulted in a court ruling that said studios couldn’t unilaterally (单方面的) keep their stars under contract for longer than seven years. After challenging the situation then, de Havilland saw career grow to greater heights. Both of her Oscars and three of her nominations came in the wake of the court case.
In the 1950s, de Havilland moved to Paris for a marriage that didn’t last. And while she returned to Hollywood for work, she never returned to the industry town to live.
Like many actresses of her time, de Havilland turned to thrillers and horror in the 1960s. The 1970s saw turns in the all-star disaster movies Airport’77 and The Swarm. Audiences of 2017’s Feud saw de Havilland acted by Catherine Zeta-Jones.
1. In which film did de Havilland win Best Actress Oscars first?| A．Gone with the Wind. | B．The Heiress. |
| C．The Adventures of Robin Hood. | D．To Each His Own. |
| A．It reflects the life of slaves. | B．It describes the Civil War. |
| C．It remains box-office champ for 25 years. | D．It proves the cruelty of war. |
| A．She was disappointed at her social status. |
| B．She made greater achievements in her career. |
| C．She lost interest in living in Hollywood. |
| D．She stopped contact with studios. |
| A．Love. | B．Horror. | C．Disaster. | D．War. |
9 . Claude Monet spent the winters of 1899, 1900 and 1901 freezing on a balcony of London’s Savoy Hotel, painting a series of famous images of Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Bridge.
Now, scientists at Birmingham University have used solar geometry and historical weather data to figure out exactly which balcony Monet was standing on, and what time of day he was likely working.
“We know that Monet, in the mornings, used to work on the sun rising over Waterloo Bridge,” John Thornes says. “By midday, the sun would be shining directly along the Thames, and Monet usually moved on to Charing Cross Bridge, before finishing the day watching the sun set over the Houses of Parliament.”
The sun occupies the same position in the sky today as it did in 1900 and 1901, which helped Thornes figure out the time of day. Monet also included another London landmark, the obelisk (方尖纪念碑) known as Cleopatra’s Needle, in some of his paintings of Charing Cross Bridge. Thornes says that examining the position of the needle relative to the bridge helped him determine that Monet stayed in rooms 610 and 611 at the Savoy during the winter of 1899, and one floor down at 510 and 511 a year later.
“The Savoy Hotel actually advertises theMonet Suite, which they sell to the public,” Thornes says. “And they in fact use the suite farther down from where Monet actually was.”
But the hotel is upgrading, and when it reopens, it will have the correct rooms as the Monet Suite —thanks in part to his research.
Monet’s images of London aren’t just great art. Thornes says they also provide an accurate record of the city’s fogs, which were common in the days before clean-air law was passed in the 1950s.
“That’s one of the things we’re very interested in,” he says, “Maybe, the visibility (能见度) in Monet’s painting will help me to study how the air quality has improved since those days.”
1. What has helped the researchers to determine Monet’s rooms?| A．The hotel’s historical documents. | B．The weather records about London. |
| C．The signatures in some of the paintings. | D．The visibility in Claude Monet’s paintings. |
| A．Waterloo Bridge. | B．Cleopatra’s Needle. |
| C．Charing Cross Bridge. | D．the Houses of Parliament. |
| A．It is open for the public now. |
| B．Claude Monet didn’t stay in it. |
| C．It consists of more than four rooms. |
| D．It should be on the sixth or fifth floor. |
| A．To help the Savoy Hotel redesign the Monet Suite. |
| B．To study the effects of the clean-air law passed in the 1950s. |
| C．To find out when and where Claude Monet worked on some of his paintings. |
| D．To analyze if Claude Monet honestly recorded the air quality in London. |
10 . There was once a man who penned comics(漫画) under the name Stan Lee. This man originally wished to leave comics behind and write serious literature. But he never made that career change.
Born Stanley Martin Lieber in 1922 in New York City, he has contributed more to the world than just a few fun stories. At 17, Lee began working as an assistant for the Timely comics group (today’s well-known Marvel Comics). Two years later he was given a chance to write for his first comic, “Captain America”. His skills in the business led him to become the comic-book division’s editor-in-chief until 1972.
After working with comics for many years, Lee became tired of the material he was told to write. For a long time, comic books were considered silly stories. The characters weren’t complex, and the dialogue was short and simple. Lee wanted more from his work.
The Fantastic Four was born after his wife asked, “Why don’t you write one book the way you would like to do it?” With that comic, Lee helped change comics from simple action stories to the complex narratives (叙述文) they are today. However, he still hasn’t done changing the industry.
In the early 1960s, Stan Lee and another writer created the Spider-Man character. In one edition of Spider-Man, Lee wrote a story in which the superhero’s friend almost dies from drug abuse. From the 1950s until 2011, comic publishers followed the rules given by the Comics Code Authority (CCA), who disapproved of drug use in comics.
But Lee published the comic without CCA’s agreement. The story sold, and there was a positive response to the story’s focus on a serious problem in society. The CCA ended up changing its rules to allow more inspirational stories like this.
From this victory, Lee went on to create more interesting and realistic characters that dealt with both super and real life problems.
1. The underlined part “that career” in Paragraph 1 refers to the job as _____.| A．a superhero | B．a comic actor |
| C．a comic book creator | D．a serious literature writer |
| A．In 1939. | B．In 1941. | C．In 1960. | D．In 1972. |
| A．Spider-Man was published. |
| B．Stan Lee left the comic industry. |
| C．Stan Lee’s wife began to work on comics. |
| D．The comics began to tell complex stories. |
| A．Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee himself. |
| B．Stan Lee likes to discuss social issues in his comics. |
| C．The story of Spider-Man came from Stan Lee’s friend. |
| D．The CCA has been carrying out rules without changing them. |
