1 . Often, there is a false idea that one must be “in-the-know” to truly appreciate artworks. However, fine art opens the door to everyone. Learning how to look at and understand artworks requires us to take the time to view, identify and think.

Look at the Art

As the first step, it’s necessary to take a moment to identify the artwork’s general features:

● Is it a painting, sculpture or craftwork?

● Does it appear chaotic (混乱的) or organized?

● Are the colors bright or soft?

Identify the Art and Artist

Knowing when or how the artwork was made and learning something about the artist can reveal more context. We all know the famous painting Guernica is a masterpiece created by Picasso in 1937. However, if we can find out Picasso composed the painting to reflect a bombing during the Spanish Civil War, we’ll know more about its anti-war meaning.

Even if the historical context of an artwork is not obvious, knowing the year of its creation offers more context.

Think About the Meaning

Use what you observed in the first two steps to think about meanings the artwork could have.

Consider what the title, the subjects, or the symbols meant to the artist when he or she created the artwork. What do the colors say about the artist, and how do they apply to the subjects in the art? For example, the owls in Lebo’s works represent wisdom, but why are they so brightly colored?

In addition, ask how the art makes you feel. Many artists have specific meanings behind their art, but also encourage viewers to come up with their own explanations. Still, every explanation is not automatically correct, which is why the techniques described above are helpful in finding clues.

The next time you’re admiring a work of art, keep these techniques in mind, and its meaning may unfold before your eyes.

1. What is the first step when viewing art?

A．Doing some research on the artist.	B．Being “in-the-know” about the work
C．Identifying the work’s general features	D．Knowing the year of an artwork’s creation

2. When thinking about the meaning of an artwork, you should ________.

A．explain it freely	B．choose a title for it
C．describe it to the viewers	D．ask how it makes you feel

3. The passage is probably written for ________.

A．museum staff	B．gallery visitors
C．professional artists	D．exhibition organizers

2 . Brad hadn’t seen Grandma Joy for six years since their fierce argument. At his brother’s wedding, he ________ her again. He saw her walk unsteadily into the church and helped her get to the seat. But they didn’t say much.

Six months after the wedding, Brad hiked the Appalachian Trail. He found himself ________ a lot about his grandmother and the time they had spent at Blue Rock State Park, which is close to her house. There, they’d lift rocks in the river to find fish. It puzzled him why that ________ in particular stayed with him. He decided to call Grandma Joy.

It would be their first real ________ in years. She invited him over and he said “yes”. When the door opened, everything inside looked the same. But he was looking at a woman who had ________. They made small talk. Grandma Joy said that she had many ________ in her life. One of them was that except her time at Blue Rock State Park, she’d never had the chance to see what she called the great outdoors.

Brad left his grandmother’s house and went back to his routine. But he couldn’t help thinking of Grandma Joy and her sadness of not seeing more of ________. She just lived a simple life that stopped at the edge of the county line. He thought it would be a lifelong pity if he didn’t ________ her. Then he came up with an idea that even he knew was ________. He would take his 85-year-old grandma on a camping trip to a national park. He told her his crazy idea. The old lady ________ him by asking, “When do we leave?”

Having arrived there, Brad made a campfire. They sat next to each other, feeling the warmth and looking at stars. They ________ the lockbox of their past, talking about families and friends, about loss and pain. They told each other they’d wasted too many years being ________. So they decided to go on more trips together.

They have now visited 62 national parks. The open road provided time for the pair to ________ their secrets. Grandma Joy highly valued Brad’s company during the trips. She said she wouldn’t ________ him for anybody. Now, they’re not just traveling partners, not just grandmother and grandson, but ________.

1.

A．missed

B．called

C．praised

D．met

2.

A．thinking

B．reading

C．asking

D．expecting

3.

A．goal

B．plan

C．dream

D．memory

4.

A．conversation

B．party

C．picnic

D．creation

5.

A．aged

B．joked

C．hurried

D．succeeded

6.

A．worries

B．regrets

C．wishes

D．challenges

7.

A．art

B．nature

C．history

D．culture

8.

A．watch out for

B．keep up with

C．reach out to

D．stay away from

9.

A．useless

B．incorrect

C．impractical

D．unnecessary

10.

A．annoyed

B．surprised

C．disappointed

D．embarrassed

11.

A．lost

B．changed

C．borrowed

D．opened

12.

A．different

B．distant

C．busy

D．polite

13.

A．keep

B．forget

C．share

D．record

14.

A．trade

B．blame

C．mistake

D．trouble

15.

A．strangers

B．competitors

C．relatives

D．friends

3 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

Why Learning a New Language Is Good for the Whole Family

Ever thought of making language learning part of your family’s activities? Learning a new language together can have unexpected emotional benefits for the whole family.

Combining family time with language learning time is a great way for more quality time. Learning a new language as a family can be a fun group activity. Everyone loves a game night or movie night. You can play games like Bingo, using vocabulary from the target language. Or maybe you have a particular vacation destination you love where another language is widely spoken—learning that language together could make your next vacation even more enjoyable. They’re a fun way to break up the daily routine(常规) and reconnect with those you love.

Language is all about communication and connection. Learning a new language brings family members closer because they talk to each other all the time when learning. All you have to do is change to your new language and practice with your family members whenever you want-no classroom needed. Telling family stories with what you have recently learned is a good place to start, which could inspire questions and additional conversations, and even create a familect—secret words and phrases shared only among the members of your family.

If your family is big on gardening, make labels(标签) together for your plants and tools. Making fun labels in your target language together can also help you connect with loved family members. It opens up more opportunities like family contests. You could surprise each other with notes on pillows, bathroom mirrors, inside dresser drawers—any place your family will find them. Using these words later recalls these family memories.

Each family is really its own little unique social world, and that world is being built through language. The power of language learning lies in its ability to draw people together.

1. According to the passage, what is a great way to have more quality time with your family?
________________
2. Why does studying a new language bring family members closer?
________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Making fun labels together for garden plants and tools in your target language can help you win family contests.
________________
4. Apart from what is mentioned in the passage, what other benefit(s) do you think learning new language can bring to you? (In about 40 words)
________________

4 . Nicholas Epley, a behavioural scientist, and I conducted a series of studies and concluded that kind acts as simple as buying a cup of coffee for someone can promote a person’s happiness. Everyday life affords many opportunities for such actions, yet people do not always catch them.     1    

We firstly studied acts of kindness done for familiar people such as friends, classmates or family.     2     For instance, in one experiment, people wrote notes to friends and family “just because”. In another, they gave cupcakes away to workmates. Across these experiments, we asked both the person performing a kind act and the one receiving it to fill out questionnaires (问卷).

Across our studies, several strong patterns appeared. For one, both performers and receivers of the acts of kindness were in more positive moods than normal after these kind acts.     3     The receivers felt significantly better than the kind actors expected. The receivers also reliably rated these acts as “bigger” than the people performing them did.

    4    In one experiment, participants at an ice-skating rink (溜冰场) in a public park gave away hot chocolate to people they didn’t know on a cold winter day. Again, the experience was more positive than the performers expected for the receivers. Although the people giving out the hot chocolate saw the act as relatively small, it really mattered to the receivers.

These findings suggest that what might seem small when we are deciding whether or not to do something nice for someone else could matter a great deal to the person we do it for, These warm acts can improve our own emotional health and brighten the day of another person.     5    

A．So why not choose kindness when we can?

B．For another, it was clear that performers undervalued their impacts.

C．From one situation to the next, the specific acts of kindness differed.

D．We found that participants didn’t realize their positive impacts on strangers as well.

E．Our research also revealed one reason why people may not realize their actions’ impacts.

F．We compared the performers’ expectation of the receivers’ moods with their actual experiences.

G．It is because people performing kind acts undervalue how much receivers value their behaviour.

5 . After years of blue-collar(蓝领)jobs being replaced by machines, advanced chatbots are now breathing down white collars. Generative Al tools, such as ChatGPT, have made impressive progress in generating human-sounding language and understanding context. So much so that humans are no match for them in some tasks. Up to 300 million full-time jobs could be lost around the world, which is as much as 18% of the global workforce.

A recent study by OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, looked at the potential for automation across 1,016 jobs. Humans and AI separately rated how well software powered by large-language models, which are trained on a sea of information from the Internet and then reacted quickly to specific functions, could perform 19,000 tasks involved in the jobs. If the software was considered able to reduce the time it takes humans to complete the task by at least half, without a drop in quality, the task was considered ready for AI replacement. For other tasks, the company imagined additional software that could be added to the model, such as computer tools that can automatically pull fresh data from the Internet. They found that 80% of Americans could have at least 10% of their work tasks done by advanced Al tools. The figure rises to 50% of tasks for around 19% of workers.

This automation should not be feared. It could free workers from repeated tasks, contributing to greater productivity. A study published on April 5 suggests that generative AI could bring about sweeping changes to the global economy. As these tools could drive a 7% increase in global GDP and lift productivity by 1. 5 percentage points over a 10-year period.

But studies like this may overstate the potential for automation, ignoring some tacit skills(隐性技能)in professions they know less about. Human qualities important for some jobs, such as empathy or charisma(感召力), will be overlooked. And not all tasks capable of being carried out by AI should be: a man in love should feel it a shame for using it to write a love letter to his beloved girlfriend however touching and sincere it may sound.

Many businesses are also not willing to accept AI. And those who have already accepted it are at the risk of practical and legal(法律的) confusion. When chatbots do not know what to say, they often talk nonsense. The “creative” output they produce is based on a mixture of data sourced from the Internet, raising issues around accuracy, privacy and intellectual property(知识产权).

While much is unknown about how generative AI will influence the world economy and society, and it will take time to play out, there are clear signs that the effects could be profound. But in the real world, AI tools will still need handlers. That may even end up creating new jobs.

1. What is the function of Paragraph 1?

A．To show the popularity of AI tools.

B．To give examples of using generative AI tools.

C．To draw readers’ attention to the possible threat of AI.

D．To compare the impacts of AI on blue and white collars.

2. According to the study by OpenAI, AI can replace humans when________.

A．it can perform certain creative tasks

B．automation is powered by large-language models

C．it develops important human qualities like empathy

D．Al tools improve productivity without damaging quality

3. The author would probably agree that________.

A．AI tools may help increase employment

B．AI will eventually take over human jobs

C．AI and automation do more harm than good

D．human qualities are not necessary for automation

6 . Episodic memory (情景记忆) allows humans to revisit past personal experiences in their minds, and it was once thought to be a special skill of humans. Although there are still arguments about the extent of this type of memory in non-human animals, scientists have proved that creatures like rats and dogs can pass tests that are developed to assess episodic memory over the past two decades. “Curiously, there is a lack of research investigating dolphins’ episodic memory,” University of Cambridge cognitive (认知的) scientist James Davies says. Therefore, this surprising fact encourages him to fill this gap.

The team used “where” and “who” questions in their research, each on a different test. Each dolphin was first trained to retrieve a ball from the water, and then trained to get a ball by approaching a person holding it in front of them while ignoring an empty-handed person standing at a different spot. During this training, the locations were randomized (使随机化) and the person holding the ball differed each time, so that those details were irrelevant to learning the retrieving behavior. Then, for the tests, the dolphins were asked to retrieve the ball as they had learned to do, but after 10 minutes, something changed-this time, the ball couldn’t be seen, as it was now behind one of the two people’s backs. In the “where” tests, the ball was hidden in the same spot as in the training, but both people had been changed, while in the “who” tests, the locations of the people changed but the ball remained with the person who’d had it previously.

Eight dolphins went through each of the two tests, separated by at least 48 hours. All the dolphins got it right in choosing the correct spot on the “where” experiments, and seven achieved success on the “who” experiments.

Kelly Jaakkola, a psychologist, says that based on their cognitive skills, dolphins are a good candidate for having episodic-like memory, and this study goes really far in showing that. She also says, “The more we look for such capabilities in non-human animals, the more species we’ll likely find them in.” She adds, “An exciting question is therefore ‘Where do we draw that line? Which animals do have it, which animals don’t, and what sort of cognitive or neurological or social characteristics do those animals share? ’ That’s going to be the fun part of the game.”

1. What does the underlined word “retrieve” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Fetch.

B．Move.

C．Throw.

D．Play.

2. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A．The locations of the people involved in the tests.

B．The memory tasks that dolphins need to perform.

C．The ability of dolphins to communicate with humans.

D．The dolphins’ characteristics related to their memory processing.

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Dolphins pass the tests as a result of training.

B．It is very likely that dolphins are affected by people during the tests.

C．Scientists will probably find episodic memory in all non-human animals.

D．The influence of dolphins’ familiarity with a location or a person is avoided.

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Dolphins Are the Most Intelligent Animals

B．Dolphins May Remember Personal Experiences

C．Episodic Memory Is Important for Humans and Animals

D．A Scientific Method Is Used to Study Dolphins’ Memory

7 .    

The National Gallery of Art is a public art museum in Washington, D.C. It contains a large collection of paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and other works of art. Come and enjoy some wonderful shows.

Present Exhibitions

Going Through Hell: The Divine Dante

April 9 — July 16, 2023

West Building, Main Floor, Gallery 10-11

Dante was an Italian poet and writer. His Divine Comedy has been one of the most powerful works in western literature for over 700 years. Come and explore the impacts of this great work in the collection of some 20 works, including the early prints of Divine Comedy, drawings on paper from the 15th to 20th century and more.

Drawing in Britain, 1700-1900: New Additions to the Collection

April 2 — August 6, 2023

West Building, Ground Floor

This exhibition includes about 80 recently acquired artworks. You can see not only traditional landscape paintings, but also many life-like portraits (肖像) and paintings of historical scenes.

These pieces are sure to give you an understanding of British art over two centuries.

Philip Guston Now

March 2 — August 27, 2023

East Building, Hall

Philip Guston is one of America’s most influential modern artists, famous in his time and in ours. Through more than 150 paintings and drawings, you can get a sense of the change of his artistic style through the years. His works continue to raise thoughts about beauty, freedom, and more.

Opening Times

The National Gallery of Art is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, including public holidays. Last admission is at 4:00 pm, one hour before closing.

Parking

There is no public parking at the National Gallery of Art, but limited parking spaces are set aside for visitors with disabilities. Parking is available on surrounding streets and in commercial garages.

If you have any questions, please call (202)737-4215 or send us an email at visit@nga. gov.

1. What can you see in the National Gallery of Art?

A．The 20 works of Dante.	B．Phillip Guston’s works of literature
C．Newly gained British artworks.	D．Landscape paintings of Washington, D.C.

2. The National Gallery of Art________.

A．admits visitors from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

B．contains the largest art collection in the US

C．offers enough car parking spaces for visitors

D．shows the 17th-century paintings in the East Btilding

3. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To spread art knowledge.

B．To describe works of world-famous artists.

C．To introduce worldwide wonderful exhibitions.

D．To give information about a public art museum.

8 . May 30, 2023 is a memorable day, ________the Shenzhou XVI manned spaceship was launched successfully. （用适当的词填空）

9 . 阅读下面句子，根据句意，从方框中选择恰当词组并使用其正确形式填空。

come up with        put out       take part in        take action       make a difference to        be covered with end up        be stuck in          in spite of       in addition to

1. ________creating things, science creates ideas.
2. Having a good teacher________students career paths.
3. After a heated discussion, we________a new idea for the art festival.
4. The wind blew in from the desert yesterday. Now, everything________.
5. Many athletes from around the world will________the upcoming Olympics.
6. The rescue teams couldn’t arrive on time because the car wheels________the mud.
7. We must________to stop the harmful effects of passive smoking on people’s health.
8. Firefighters could do dangerous jobs like________fires or working on high buildings.
9. The scientists insisted on carrying out the experiment________all kinds of difficulties.
10. If you don’t know what you want, you might________getting something you don’t want.

10 . Four Ways to Improve Your Mental Health in the Coming New Year

1. Practice optimism

Now, let’s get real: Being an optimist doesn’t mean you ignore the stress of daily life. Who can do that? It simply means that when crummy (糟糕的) things happen, you don’t blame yourself unnecessarily. If you face a challenge or obstacle, you’re more likely to see it as temporary or even positive, allowing you to learn and grow. Optimists also believe they have control over their fate and can create opportunities for good things to happen.

2. Start volunteering

A prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi tell us, “It is in giving that we receive.”

Turns out he was scientifically right. Studies have shown that volunteering stimulates the reward centers of the brain. Those feel-good chemicals flood our system, producing a sort of “helper’s high.” There are physical benefits, too: volunteering minimizes stress and improves depression. It can reduce the risk for cognitive impairment. It can even help us live longer.

Even if you have little time to offer, just the act of giving has been shown to improve our health, possibly by temporarily reducing our sense of pain.

3. Be grateful

The benefits of thankfulness is backed by science: counting our blessings protects us against anxiety and depression and boosts optimism, having less problem behaviour.

One of the best ways to make thankfulness a part of your life is to keep a daily journal. Before you go to bed, jot down any positive experience you had that day, no matter how small. That sense of appreciation can broaden to others in your life and bolster optimism and better mental health.

4. Bolster your social connections

“People who are more socially connected to family, to friends, to community, are happier, they’re physically healthier, and they live longer than people who are less well connected,” said Harvard psychiatrist Robert Waldinger in his popular TEDx talk.

The proof for this comes from the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which tracked 724 Boston men for more than 75 years and then began following more than 2,000 of their offspring and wives.

1. Which of the following is NOT the recommended way to improve mental health?

A．Be optimistic.	B．Help others without expecting rewards.
C．Show gratitude.	D．Cut off social connections.

2. Which of the following will the author agree with?

A．To be optimistic, one had better ignore the stress in life.

B．Voluntary service benefits a person mentally, but not physically.

C．Every night, write down your every gratitude in the day however small it may be.

D．The less you’re socially connected, the healthier you will be.

3. Which of the four recommended ways doesn’t have scientific support?

A．Practicing optimism.	B．Starting volunteering.
C．Being grateful.	D．Bolstering your social connections.