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 . 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 |
6 . 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. |
| A. broadcast B. estimates C. involves D. performing E. barriers F. themes G. amateur H. hire I. boost J. demanding K. proving |
“MEN ARE adorable,” begins Yang Li in a sketch first aired last year. “But mysterious...After all, they can look so average and yet be so full of confidence.” It seemed a gentle dig by the newly crowned “punchline queen” of “Rock and Roast”, a television show starring
Long the stars of Chinese joke-making, men are unhappy about being the butt (笑柄) of it. Chizi, a popular male contestant on “Rock and Roast” with a special liking for boorish jokes, sniffed that Ms Yang was “not
Western-style stand-up comedy has taken off since it appeared in China a decade ago. It is
The show, which began in 2017, has been a(n)
Ms Yang has used the backlash against her gag to create a new one. It
1. How many Edward's books does Marie have?
| A．15. | B．10. | C．5. |
| A．She bought it online. |
| B．She got it from her aunt. |
| C．She borrowed it from the library. |
| A．Monet. | B．Van Gogh. | C．Edward Lear. |
Animated movies use drawings instead of real people. Artists must draw thousands of pictures and each picture must be a little different. For example, if the movie-maker wants to show a girl running, the artist must draw her feet in different places in each picture. When the pictures are shown very quickly, one after the other, it looks like the girl is running. Walt Disney was not the first or only person to use animation in movies, but he is the most renowned. His first Mickey Mouse cartoon, produced in 1927, was called Plane Crazy. This was a short, silent movie about the adventures of a little mouse.
Many people in the movie business thought that animation was only appropriate for short cartoons. Disney did not agree with them. He believed that he could tell any kind of story using animation. His first long movie was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney spent all his money making this movie. Fortunately, it was a great success. He made Pinocchio next and then Dumbo (about a baby elephant), and he didn’t look back after this.
When we think of Disney, however, we don’t only think of movies, we also think of Disneyland. There are Disneylands in Japan, the United States of America and France. They are large parks where people can meet Disney’s characters and visit scenes from his movies.
Although Walt Disney made many of the famous movies many years ago, they are as popular now as they were when he made them. Today we can buy them on video and see them in movie theatres from time to time. When Walt Disney began making his animated cartoons all those years ago, people drew all the pictures by hand. Nowadays computers do much of his work.
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10 . Fu Yiyao, one of China's leading ink wash painters, released her new book on December 6 in Shanghai. Fu was born in Nan jing, Jiangsu province. Her father, Fu Baoshi, who was the representative landscape painter of his time, had a great influence on her. Fu studied Chinese language in Nanjing Normal College. After graduation, she was engaged in education and took up painting. She set foot in painting circles due to. her strong passion for the art and thus became an outstanding painter worldwide. As a matter of fact, Fu's original dream was to become an actress but her father thought that literature plays an important role in one's growth, through which one can know the real meaning of life and can develop a love for what he pursues and literature is also qualification (资格) to start painting She followed the words of her father, which turned out to be a success. Fu gradually understood her father's deep love for her.
In 1979, Fu became one of the first batch of overseas students sent to Japan after the country carried out its reform and opening-up policy. She was famous for large-scale ink wash painting, and has created more works conveying Chinese traditional culture and held many exhibitions in Chin, Japan, America, Swaziland and the United Nations, helping promote Chinese painting worldwide.
After living in Japan for 40 years, Fu said she truly understands the superiority (优越性) of her motherland's culture and she will constantly promote go on to promote the art of ink wash painting. She believes that she has obeyed her father's wishes.
Speaking of her original purpose of creating her book, intention of creating her book, Fu said, "It is not a pure autobiography (自传) for I have shared my reflections on life and art in a new form. " Meanwhile, the book has three types of vision to meet the needs of different readers.
"I have got what I wanted in the process of study and creation. My love for Chinese culture can last thousands of years. I really hope to help spread Chinese traditional culture, " Fu concluded.
1. Why did Fu Yiyao want to become a painter?
| A．Because her father was a painter. | B．Because she listened to her father. |
| C．Because she was crazy about art. | D．Because she studied painting in college. |
| A．To earn more money by her paintings. |
| B．To prove she is an outstanding ink wash painter. |
| C．To show her large-scale ink wash paintings. |
| D．To make people all over the world know Chinese painting. |
| A．Fu is satisfied with her book. |
| B．Her book is only an autobiography. |
| C．Fu loves Chinese culture very much. |
| D．There are three sections in the book. |
| A．Science and Technology. | B．Culture &Art. |
| C．Great literature. | D．Campus life. |
