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. |
1. What makes the man confused?
A.Why Roman Holiday was so famous. |
B.Why Audrey Hepburn learned ballet. |
C.Why so many girls adored Audrey Hepburn. |
A.Her physical condition. | B.Her interest in acting. | C.Her financial condition. |
A.Outgoing. | B.Shy and quiet. | C.Humorous and lovely. |
A.She was influenced by her roles. |
B.She thought children were her hope. |
C.Her family once got help from a charity. |
3 . Joseph Bologne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is perhaps the most famous musician and composer you’ve never heard of.
Bologne was born in 1745 on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, son of an enslaved (使成为奴隶) Senegalese woman and a white plantation owner. Bologne’s father was eager for him to acquire a good education and he was sent to France to be schooled in literature and fencing. As well as showing great skill in sport, Bologne was intelligent and appealing.
As if being handsome, clever and a champion athlete wasn’t enough, Bologne was also a seriously skilled musician and composer. His main instrument was the violin, and in 1761, he was made a member of the Royal Guards as a soldier and musician. It is around this time that he became known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges in recognition of his skill as a fencer and horseman. He was then invited to join the incredibly distinguished Concert des Amateurs as the first violinist and became its leader in 1773.
Although things were going very well for Bologne, he still experienced apparent racism. Some of the opera s leading women campaigned against having what they called “a mixed-race person” in charge of the opera. Despite this attempt to undermine his career, he fell into favour with the influential playwright Madame de Montesson, who put him in charge of her private theatre and introduced him to her husband, the Duke of Orleans. When the French Revolution (革命) broke out in 1789, Bologne sided with the revolutionaries. However, he was later imprisoned for 18 months and ultimately died in 1799 due to a severe leg injury.
Shortly after Bolognes death, Napoleon reinstated slavery in the French colonies and also banned Bologne’s music in an attempt to erase him from French history. However, Afro-Caribbean communities in France, and on Guadeloupe and Martinique have been working tirelessly to keep his legacy alive and Joseph Bologne is now enjoying a long overdue and richly deserved revival.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2 about Bologne?A.He was a man of determination. |
B.He was passionate about literature. |
C.He received great support from his father. |
D.He had a difficult and troubled childhood. |
A.His military service. |
B.His exceptional athletic abilities. |
C.His noble birth. |
D.His musical achievements. |
A.Bologne faced significant discrimination. |
B.Bologne’s talents were a threat to the opera. |
C.Bologne shouldn’t have joined the private theatre. |
D.Bologne’s leadership suffered from a lack of foresight. |
A.It’s being recognized and celebrated. |
B.It’s receiving conflicting opinions. |
C.It’s leading to a revolution in music. |
D.It’s still being overlooked in France. |
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. |
be fond of emerge influential in particular purchase realistic subjective theme |
Unlike the earlier Realists who painted in a
1. What did Peter learn from his grandfather?
A.How to appreciate art works. |
B.How to deal with artists. |
C.How to run a museum. |
A.He served in the army. | B.He studied at a college. | C.He worked in a gallery. |
A.Rembrandt’s. | B.Botticelli’s. | C.Ruben’s. |
1. When did Albert Bierstadt move to America?
A.In 1830. | B.In 1831. | C.In 1832. |
A.He focused on improving his drawing skills. |
B.He held exhibitions in different countries. |
C.He started to work as an art teacher. |
A.To visit his sick family member. |
B.To get inspiration for his paintings. |
C.To engage in environmental protection. |
1. What is a major challenge that Stevie Wonder has had to face?
A.His unsuccessful records. |
B.Pressure from other musicians. |
C.Not being able to use his eyes. |
A.At the age of 6. | B.At the age of 11. | C.At the age of 19. |
A.10. | B.25. | C.30. |
A.Rap songs about life. | B.Sad songs about death. | C.Happy songs about love. |
Thomas Eakins, a painter, photographer,
Apart from his art, Eakins
10 . Norman Rockwell didn’t create his celebrated images using only brush and paint. They often took shape first as scenes that Rockwell literally acted out, not only for his editors at the Saturday Evening Post, but for his real-life models, too. “It was difficult,” he once explained, “but I felt it was the best way to get across my meaning.” And so he would enthusiastically play out his visions and ideas, a one-man show packed with just the right expressions, giving enough details of each character in the scene to inspire his models and more importantly, get his editors to buy his ideas.
Now, more than 30 years after his death, Rockwell is still acknowledged for skillfully documenting the best of 20th century American life with drawings of simple emotions inspired by everyday people. To create his detailed recollections of everyday American life, Rockwell worked much like a film director, not just acting out the scenes in his imagination, but looking for locations, casting everyday people from his town for particular parts.
The recognition he received strongly proves Rockwell’s superior skills as a storyteller and is the subject of another kind of one-man show: the upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., titled Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The exhibit, gathered together from the private collections of these two popular film directors, will feature rarely viewed pieces of Rockwell’s artworks.
That concentration of information as well as emotion is something essential in Rockwell’s art. Emotion certainly spoke to Steven Spielberg when he first saw one of his favorite Rockwell paintings, High Dive, the August 16, 1947 Post cover that describes a boy at the top of what must be a towering diving board. He crouches (蹲伏) high above a swimming pool, too afraid to either jump or climb back down. The painting hangs in Spielberg’s office at Amblin Entertainment because it holds a great deal of meaning for the filmmaker.
1. How did Norman Rockwell successfully influence his editors?A.By performing his ideas. | B.By hiring more models. |
C.By donating his paintings. | D.By drawing actual events. |
A.Film directors. | B.Folk storytellers. |
C.Natural landscapes. | D.Ordinary citizens. |
A.Develop artistic skills. | B.Learn how to act out. |
C.Appreciate nature. | D.learn to swim. |
A.To introduce an exhibit. | B.To recommend a painting. |
C.To remember an artist. | D.To explain a cultural phenomenon. |