1 . Life can sometimes seem like endless series of exhibitions. For those of us involved in the art world, there are times when we’re constantly visiting gallery after gallery, taking in as much as possible and getting to know the works of artists from far and wide. But there are some artists whose works consistently stand out. Some artists’ works stay in the thought and heart of an audience long after the show is over. I’ve noticed over the years that these are often the artists who have understood fully the skill of telling the story behind their art. These artists aren’t just selling paintings—they’re selling an experience.

Roxanna Kibsey is one of these artists. Her paintings are often exact description of frozen tundra(冻原)or autumn trees—so bright that they could nearly burn a hole in the canvas. When I met her at an exhibition she couldn’t wait to tell me about the place in her paintings. “Where I grew up we had nine months of winter every year. It’s really quite a tough place,” she said. She relived a part of her childhood when we chatted in front of her paintings. The image brought to my mind memories of driving through the snow-covered countryside during my own first winter in Canada. I could almost hear the crunching ice under my feet as she described to me the countryside she grew up in.

Businessmen may have their elevator pitch, but artists, too, need their 30-second story which rolls freely off the tongue. That’s why it’s so important that for each piece you might be exhibiting, you can conjure up(唤起)a story behind it, and tell that story to your audience in a way that helps them connect with your work, and makes them want to buy a piece.

1. What kind of artists does the author like?

A．Those who have great skills.	B．Those who have held many exhibitions.
C．Those who paint scenes of their own home towns.	D．Those who tell their experiences through their paintings.

2. Through Roxanna Kibsey’s painting, the author ________.

A．had a beautiful imagination	B．thought of a serious question
C．brought back his own memories	D．thought of his own home town

3. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that ________.

A．Kibsey’s work reflects her own life	B．Kibsey had an unhappy childhood
C．Kibsey doesn’t like her home town	D．Kibsey’s home town is beautiful in winter

4. What does the underlined part “elevator pitch” probably refer to?

A．A sales introduction.

B．A wise choice.

C．A small mistake.

D．A modern tool.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

People in New York could always see an ordinary-looking man     1    (ride) a bicycle with a relatively cheap camera around the streets. He was Bill Cunningham,     2     was one of the most important American photographers of the last 50 years. He found     3    (inspire) where others could not, in simple, everyday scenes. These things were real and     4     was within their reality that he saw both beauty and potential. He thought that fashion belonged to the people, not just to high society and big     5    (brand).

Cunningham hardly ever took a day off and not once stayed home sick. This devotion and hard work is     6     makes his photos so special.

Although he was world-famous, his approach to life was     7    (complicated) . He valued his integrity and would not     8    (buy) by anyone. This lack of self-interest and promotion kept him     9    (focus) on his craft, enabling him     10    (capture) New York’s unique street style. His passion for photography lasted until he passed away.

Bill Cunningham was an observer, and not one of the observed, a worker not a star. This was how he wanted it.

3 . For many people, moths are dust - colored pests that eat our clothes and disturb us by flying around lights after dark. Not for artist Joseph Scheer. The pictures he creates bring out the beauty of moths, with colors, shapes, and patterns that have never been seen before so clearly. “Digital tools let you see things you'd never see just looking with your eyes,” Scheer says. Scheer's pictures have been displayed around the world, and one reaction is heard everywhere: “People insist, ‘No, that can't be a moth,’” says Scheer.

Scheer's work began with a moth hunt in the state of New York. Scheer would leave the lights on and the windows open overnight at his university office, and then collect the moths that had flown in. When the building cleaners at the university complained, he moved the hunt to his friend Mark Klingensmith's yard. They set up two lights shining over a plastic container on a white sheet. Then moths appeared from the darkness, flew into the sheet, and fell into the plastic container. “We got a different species every night,” Scheer says. “The patterns and colors were unbelievable.”

After the hunt, they used a powerful scanner to get detailed pictures of moths. Small moths presented special challenges.

The scanner records so much information that a single moth can take 20 minutes to scan. A scan of just two small moths fills an entire CD. All that information means the size of the picture can be increased by 2, 700 percent but still keep all the details and appear perfectly clear. You'd need a microscope to see the details shown in Scheer's prints.

Scheer's work is not only a new form of art. He has also made a valuable contribution to the record of the moths around him. He has helped identify more than a thousand different species. “Not from Alaska or the Amazon,” Klingensmith says. “All from one backyard.”

1. What do people mean by “No, that can't be a moth”?

A．Scheer is highly skilled at drawing	B．They don't like the pictures of moths
C．The moths in the pictures are too strange	D．The pictures seem too beautiful to be moths'

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．How Scheer caught moths	B．Scheer's working environment
C．How Scheer found moths' beauty	D．Scheer's friendship with Klingensmith.

3. The figures mentioned in Paragraph 4 show that ________ .

A．local moths have bright colors and clear patterns

B．a microscope should be used to prepare the pictures

C．clear pictures result from much detailed information

D．high quality paint must be used to create the pictures

4. What does the author think of Scheer's work?

A．It is a common form of art.	B．It benefits research on moths.
C．It'll get popular in Alaska or the Amazon.	D．It needs to overcome regional limitations.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright who won the Nobel Prize in Literature and     1     Oscar for playwriting. Shaw never used his first name “George” personally—he was “Bernard Shaw” throughout his long career. Since his death it     2    （become）a custom to use all three of his names, even in reference works. Shaw is described     3     the most frequently-staged playwright after William Shakespeare.     4     this may be a slight exaggeration（夸张）, Shaw is unquestionably the most important playwright in the English language since the Bard（莎士比亚）. Influenced by Ibsen and other playwrights, Shaw     5    （introduce）a new, realistic style of drama to the English theatre.     6    （like）Ibsen, Chekhov, or even Eugene O'Neill, however, Shaw is unique among modern playwrights because of his sense of humour and     7    （believe）in higher morality. Although his plays, like     8    （that）of his contemporaries, dwell upon shocking and often gloomy subject matter, Shaw is perhaps the only major playwright of his generation     9    （explore）the horrors of the first half of the twentieth century without falling into pessimism and despair. His plays, at times ironic, and at times sincere, are among the most educational,     10    （last）and moving works of high drama ever produced in the English language.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Night-Shining White, which is regarded as     1     of the most important horse       2    (paint) in the history of Chinese art, was painted by a       3    (talent) artist—Han Gan. He is     4    (know) for his unique skill in capturing the physical and inner features of animal. When he was a child, he had to support his family by     5    (work) in a wine shop. One day, his talent was discovered by the poet Wang Wei, who decided     6    (sponsor) the young man. After years of hard work, Han Gan was chosen to serve Emperor Xuanzong     7    (eventual). The Tang emperors were fond     8     horses very much, so many artists chose the animal as the subject. The reason     9     his paintings are different is that he spent much time observing the horses for     10    (inspire). Till now, his paintings have won a good fame all over the world.