1 . 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. |
Chinese astronauts in Tiangong space station opened a science lecture on December 9th, 2021 as they traveled around
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The manned space agency said that more lectures would
1．表达邀请愿望；
2．简单介绍合唱节（合唱节举办的时间、地点；合唱节内容校长演讲、老师和学生表演节目；活动的意义）；
3．希望对方接受邀请。
注意：1.词数100左右；2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3.开头已为你写好。
Dear Shelley,
How are you doing?
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4 . When I was 9, we packed up our home in Los Angeles and arrived at Heathrow, London on a gray January morning. Everyone in the family settled quickly into the city except me. Without my beloved beaches and endless blue—sky days, I felt at a loss and out of place. Until I made a discovery.
Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing .I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don’t worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam(横杆), I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man. Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: “ Safe! Safe! Safe!” And that’s what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.
When I was 15, my family moved to Washington. I tried skateboarding there, but the locals were far less welcoming. Within a couple of years, I’d given it up.
When I returned to London in 2004, I found myself wandering down to Southbank, spending hours there. I’ve traveled back several times since, most recently this past spring. The day was cold but clear: tourists and Londoners stopped to watch the skaters. Weaving(穿梭)among the kids who rushed by on their boards, I found my way to the beam. Then a rail—thin teenager, in a baggy white T—shirt, skidded(滑)up to the beam. He sat next to me. He seemed not to notice the man next to him. But soon I caught a few of his glances. “I was a local here 20 years ago,” I told him. Then, slowly, he began to nod his head. “Safe, man. Safe.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Safe.”
1. What can we learn about the author soon after he moved to London?| A．He felt disappointed. | B．He gave up his hobby. |
| C．He liked the weather there. | D．He had disagreements with his family. |
| A．Be careful! | B．Well done! | C．No way! | D．Don’t worry! |
| A．To join the skateboarding. | B．To make new friends. |
| C．To learn more tricks. | D．To relive his childhood days |
| A．Children should learn a second language. |
| B．Sport is necessary for children’s health. |
| C．Children need a sense of belonging |
| D．Seeing the world is a must for children. |
