I met an artist in the park today. At that moment, a piece of art
Her next project is
Children help children to be happy. The artist
2 . While the arts can’t stop the COVID-19 virus or the social unrest we see in the world today, they can give us insight into the choices we make when moving through crises and chaos. The arts invite everyone to think in new ways.
We often experience works of art as something that’s pleasing to our senses without a full understanding of the creative effort. Great art often shows us contradictions and crises, and we can learn a great deal from their resolutions (解决). Through our understanding of art, we can gain a deeper understanding of how we might overcome our own challenges. In understanding extremes of contrast, we can see the beauty in art with themes that are not simply pleasing for their magnificent features or qualities.
Beethoven offers a wonderful example of moving artfully through crises and chaos. He composed his Symphony No.9 as his hearing loss became more and more pronounced. The opening of the symphony seems to come out of nowhere, from near silence in the opening to a full expression of what many consider to be the joy of freedom and universal brotherhood with Schiller’s Ode to joy (欢乐颂). Beethoven appears to have created a work of art that not only freed him from his personal struggles, but one that also speaks to the joy of living together in peace and harmony.
Have a dialogue between the two opposing parts and you will find that they always start out fighting each other until we come to an appreciation of difference—a oneness of the two opposing forces. The arts offer many lessons that can help us gain the knowledge we need to move more confidently in today’s competitive and uncertain environment. An openness to arts-based solutions will give you more control over your future.
1. What value does art have beyond pleasing people’s senses?| A．It brings people inner peace. | B．It contributes to problem-solving. |
| C．It reduces the possibility of crises. | D．It deepens understanding of music. |
| A．It celebrates freedom and unity. | B．It aims to show crises and chaos. |
| C．It opens with Schiller’s Ode to Joy. | D．It is unfinished due to his hearing loss. |
| A．Leaving things as they are. | B．Making a choice between them. |
| C．Separating them from each other. | D．Engaging them in a conversation. |
| A．How COVID-19 changes art | B．Essentials of Symphony No.9 |
| C．Moving artfully through crises | D．Joy in the eyes of Beethoven |
With simulated splits in the air, a man
He is Chinese dancer-choreographer Ma Jiaolong, who
After Ma’s videos circulated widely online, he received lots of messages from people around the world, many of
4 . Vincent Willem van Gogh is a great Dutch painter. In 2017 one of his paintings was sold for $81 million. 2021 seemed to be Vincent Willem van Gogh’s year. There were at least five different exhibits in nearly 40 U.S. cities regarding his works. It’s astonishing to know he sold only a few paintings in his lifetime, for only small sums of money. How did this now-famous painter fail to escape mainstream attention after his death? It was probably thanks to a woman.
Six months after Van Gogh died, his beloved brother Theo passed away. This was extra tragic because Theo had expected to raise the profile of his brother’s works. Fortunately, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger married Theo shortly before his death. Born in 1862, Johanna worked as an English teacher at two different girls’ schools before her marriage. When Theo died, she was left with their son and a sizable art collection. That’s when she decided to pursue Theo’s wishes. “Johanna assumed responsibility for Van Gogh’s artistic legacy, During her lifetime, she devoted herself to raising awareness of Vincent’s art and letters,” says Luijten, the author of a biography of Johanna.
Johanna broke her neck to improve Van Gogh’s name. To do this, she selectively sold his works and inspired writers and art critics to write about his paintings though she was refused many times. Johanna didn’t lose heart. She lent some pieces to well-known museums and organized countless exhibitions and sales. “One of Johanna’s major achievements was the organization of an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in 1905, where she united no less than 484 of Van Gogh’s works. “A Van Gogh exhibition of this scale would never again be matched,” Luijten explains. Another strategic move occurred in 1914 when Johanna published Van Gogh’s letters. Theo had kept hundreds of letters. “This was of vital importance, as following the publication of the letters, the appreciation of Van Gogh as an artist increased further,” says Luijten.
“Despite Van Gogh’s brilliance, he wouldn’t be remembered to the level seen today without the influence of Johanna. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger is perhaps not a household name, but she is a force that shouldn’t be underestimated in making Van Gogh well-known,” said Luijten.
1. Which can best describe Johanna from the text?| A．Creative and determined. | B．Ambitious and aggressive. |
| C．Insightful and stubborn. | D．Positive and accessible. |
| A．Set out. | B．Tried her best. | C．Couldn’t wait. | D．Was willing. |
| A．The life story of Van Gogh. | B．The great contribution of Van Gogh’s brother. |
| C．The popularity of Van Gogh’s paintings. | D．The woman making Van Gogh known. |
5 . Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque painter from the “Golden Age of Dutch Painting”. He was obscure during his lifetime; but in the nineteenth century, his work was brought to light, and he is now regarded as one of the greatest figures of Baroque painting-with his focus on simple portraits and household scenes. He is admired for the ability to present everyday objects with great dignity（庄重）and light.
There is not much information about Jan Vermeer’s early life, He didn’t travel much outside Holland, and most of his paintings were bought by a local man. His father was a dealer of paintings and also a local inn owner. When his father died in 1652, Jan took over the business of selling pictures and ownership of a small inn. When his mother died in 1670, he also inherited her local restaurant, and he often worked there at night selling alcohol and dishes to customers.
In 1653, Jan married a young girl named Catherina Bolies. Together they had fourteen children, though four died soon. Jan did a significant portion of his painting within his large house. He liked to paint in his own studio, even though household life may have been noisy with 14 children and his mother-in-law, whom he often argued with.
Jan was a slow worker, producing only three paintings a year. This was partly due to his technique of granular（似颗粒状的）painting. He was careful in capturing the light and colour of his various subjects. Unusually for the time, Jan often focused on simple household scenes such as “The Milkmaid” or the “Music Lesson”.
An important aspect of Vermeer’s paintings were his portraits--often of women. The portraits capture a style of reassuring calm, dignity and contentment with everyday life. To Vermeer, they may have represented an idealized view of life and women, which did not always match reality. “The Girl With A Pearl Earring” is widely considered a Vermeer masterpiece-It is also regarded as one of the greatest portrait pictures ever painted and is sometimes referred to as the “Mona Lisa” of the North.
1. What does the underlined word “obscure” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Not clear. | B．Quite poor. | C．Not well-known. | D．Rather confusing. |
| A．A local inn. | B．A restaurant. | C．Several paintings. | D．A job of selling wines. |
| A．Hills around his town. | B．Children in the school. |
| C．A boat on the foggy sea. | D．A young woman in his house. |
| A．A novel about a painter. | B．A biography of a person. |
| C．An analysis of painting styles. | D．A review of Vermeer’s painting. |
“Color, color, color!” are the words of artist Eric Carle,
His “ArtArt” is full of bright colors. He says the reason why he loves colors so much is
“At the end of the war, the color came back”, Eric explains. “I keep
7 . Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, got polio (小儿麻痹症) as a child.
On November 18, 1995, he came on stage to give a
People thought to themselves, “He would have to get up to either
When he finished, there was a
His words have
| A．At first | B．As a result | C．In other words | D．In addition |
| A．concert | B．speech | C．lecture | D．presentation |
| A．quietly | B．slowly | C．gradually | D．typically |
| A．scream | B．voice | C．noise | D．shout |
| A．find | B．gather | C．replace | D．charge |
| A．Moreover | B．Particularly | C．Therefore | D．Instead |
| A．stopped | B．started | C．forgotten | D．continued |
| A．impossible | B．unique | C．likely | D．unnecessary |
| A．attempted | B．expected | C．managed | D．refused |
| A．phenomenon | B．discussion | C．silence | D．clap |
| A．out of mind | B．on our feet | C．at our side | D．on our knees |
| A．remembered | B．reflected | C．shared | D．appreciated |
| A．try out | B．put out | C．figure out | D．give out |
| A．disappeared | B．mixed | C．stayed | D．changed |
| A．target | B．task | C．belief | D．destination |
8 . Wang Fang, a Suzhou native, has given her heart and soul to Kunqu Opera. Wang, who has twice won the Plum Performance Award — China’s top award for theater and opera performances-started to learn the traditional art form in 1977.
Born with a melodic voice, Wang loved to sing and dance when she was little. She performed frequently, and was recruited by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe (剧团) when she was in middle school. However, her parents refused the troupe’s invitation, insisting that she should concentrate on her studies and not drop out of school. After members of the troupe visited the parents repeatedly and showed great sincerity,Wang’s parents finally agreed.
Learning the traditional art form was never easy. She started to learn how to pronounce words, sing them lyrically and make gestures gently. As an actress playing martial artists roles at first, she had to spend extra time practicing kung fu movements. Years later, Wang used the word “unimaginable” to describe how hard the days were when she first learned Kunqu. She was soaked in sweat when practicing movements in summer, while in winter she often had chilblains (冻疮) on her hands when training in shabby classrooms with broken windows. “But I was young and determined at the time. No matter how difficult, I always got up early the next morning to practice,” Wang recalls.
Wang says she did not love Kunqu at first, but in her early 20s,when she watched the show Peony Pavilion performed by Zhang Jiqing, a master of the art form, it clicked. “I was shocked,” Wang says. “Her every movement was full of elegance and delicacy. Each of her lines and songs was perfect. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Kunqu for the first time in my life, and it has stayed with me since.” Now, Wang has herself become a master of Kunqu. Her performances have impressed generations and helped to promote the art form among young people.
1. Why did Wang’s parents turn down the troupe’s invitation at first?| A．They didn’t think Wang had artistic talent. |
| B．They saw no future in learning Kunqu Opera. |
| C．They didn’t want Wang to ignore her studies. |
| D．They regarded members of the troupe as insincere. |
| A．Wang has made great efforts to learn Kunqu well. |
| B．Artists should be given more attention and care. |
| C．Traditional culture needs to be further promoted. |
| D．Wang has played a key role in the development of Kunqu. |
| A．Winning the Plum Performance Award. |
| B．Joining the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe. |
| C．Watching Zhang’s masterly performance. |
| D．Being greatly admired by the audience. |
| A．It is never too late to learn. | B．Rome was not built in a day. |
| C．Doing is better than saying. | D．Don’t judge a book by its cover. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I admire a cellist Yo-Yo MA. Born in Paris, France, in 1955, Ma started playing the cello the age of four. When he was seven, he moved with their family to New York. He attended a music school, and then that he studied at Harvard University. Ma performed such professionally while studying that he started to become famously. Ma dreamed of connecting people around the world through music. And in 1998, he found an organization called the Silk Road Project, through what Ma gave cross-cultural music performances with musicians from places like Iran, Mongolia and Italy. Through his work, Ma has helped people all over the world learning to appreciate various type of music.
10 . Benjamin West, the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he did not know about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days, a brush was made from camel’s hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.
The brush did not last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the cat began to look ragged（蓬乱）. His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.
The cat’s lot was about to improve. That year, one of Benjamin’s cousins, Mr. Pennington, came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin’s drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paint and some brushes. He also sent six engravings（版画） by an artist. These were the first pictures and first real paint and brushes Benjamin had ever seen. In 1747, when Benjamin was nine years old, Mr. Pennington returned for another visit. He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift. He asked Benjamin’s parents if he might take the boy to Philadelphia for a visit.
In the city, Mr. Pennington gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings. The boy began a landscape(风景) painting. William Williams, a well-known painter, came to see him work. Williams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home. The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little, having been a poor student. But he later said,＂Those two books were my companions by day, and under my pillow at night.＂While it is likely that he understood very little of the books, they were his introduction to classical paintings. The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Benjamin’s visit to Philadelphia. |
| B．Williams’ influence on Benjamin. |
| C．The beginning of Benjamin’s life as an artist. |
| D．The friendship between Benjamin and Pennington. |
| A．The cat would be closely watched. |
| B．The cat would get some medical care. |
| C．Benjamin would leave his home shortly. |
| D．Benjamin would have real brushes soon. |
| A．He took him to see painting exhibitions. |
| B．He provided him with painting materials. |
| C．He sent him to a school in Philadelphia. |
| D．He taught him how to make engravings. |
| A．master the use of paints |
| B．appreciate landscape paintings |
| C．get to know other painters |
| D．make up his mind to be a painter |
