1 . 2025 Illustration Competition

Enter the competition most respected and admired in the industry for creativity in illustration, the Communication Arts Illustration Competition. Selected by distinguished professionals, the winning entries will be distributed worldwide in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual and on commarts.com, ensuring important exposure of the creations. Each winner will receive a professionalized Award of Excellence, made from solid aluminum, and an award certificate. Communication Art’s Award of Excellence is one of the most desired awards. If chosen, winning places you in the highest ranks of your profession.

What To Enter With

Any illustration first published or produced from Jan. 2024 to Jan. 2025 is qualified. Entries may originate from any country. Description sin English are necessary for the judges to read.

Entries Can Be Submitted In The Following Formats

Digital Images: RGB images in JPG format with a maximum file size of 2 MB. GIF images maybe livelier but would be turned down, and so would the PNG ones.

Motion Entries: In MOV, MP4 or MPG format, with a maximum file size of 500 MB.

Illustration Competition Categories & Entry Fees

Category	Single illustration	Series of illustrations
Books (covers, jackets, etc.)	$40	$80 (limit of 5)
Motion (media for films, videos, etc.)	$90	$180 (limit of 3)
Student Work	$20 (Image) $45 (Video)	$40 (Images, limit of 5) $90 (Video, limit of 3)

For more categories, please download the category PDF.

Late Fees

Entries must be registered no later than Jan.13, 2025. Entries registered after that date will be charged a fee of $10 each. No entries can be registered after Jan. 27, 2025.

1. What will the winner gain?

A．A personalized award certificate.	B．Wide recognition in the industry.
C．Several world-famous paintings.	D．A bonus from Communication Arts.

2. Which of the following is unfit for the competition?

A．A student work from Argentina.	B．An illustration made in May in 2024.
C．A series for covers of three illustrations.	D．A PNG image with a file size of 1 MB.

3. How much should be paid for three cover illustrations submitted on Jan.20, 2025?

A．$ 80.

B．$ 90.

C．$ 110.

D．$150.

2 . There’s that old saying: How you do one thing is how you do everything. Therefore, as you become more kind and considerate, it _______ in everything that you do, even when you are playing _______.

I recently went to a music show with some other musicians in town (many of whom I was meeting for the first time). When I used to play with other musicians, I spent more time in my head _______ my drumming. _______, I paid no attention to what was going on. This time though, I found that I was more attentive and was able to _______ the other musicians more through my playing.

Because of this, our music was _______ than ever before, and I could feel the audience was _______ the music more, too, because the music was no longer about me, it was about all of us connecting through the _______ language of music.

Afterwards, the musicians I played with told me they felt like our hearts were _______ while playing. They felt ________ that we were able to achieve a new level of playing together thanks to the adopted ________ . When playing, there was no self or one-upping. There was just us sharing ourselves with our ________ hearts.

I believe that the best ________ in the world have this in common: which is to see their own egos (自我), and to connect with their audience and fellow musicians. I've ________ all of this thanks to my practice of being a more considerate and ________ person.

1.

A．shows

B．ranks

C．misses

D．sinks

2.

A．garbage

B．sports

C．bats

D．music

3.

A．giving up

B．shaving off

C．thinking about

D．giving off

4.

A．Actually

B．Recently

C．Fortunately

D．Suddenly

5.

A．reform

B．advertise

C．fine

D．support

6.

A．cheaper

B．better

C．worse

D．lower

7.

A．tolerating

B．broadcasting

C．enjoying

D．envying

8.

A．miserable

B．negative

C．universal

D．strange

9.

A．tested

B．connected

C．crushed

D．submitted

10.

A．happy

B．disappointed

C．nervous

D．bored

11.

A．graph

B．perseverance

C．agenda

D．approach

12.

A．cruel

B．open

C．bitter

D．unhealthy

13.

A．candidates

B．dentists

C．musicians

D．clients

14.

A．realized

B．refused

C．forgotten

D．released

15.

A．rich

B．stupid

C．strict

D．caring

3 . 假设你是李华，近期你校英语报正在开展以“Change the Bad Habits and Live a Healthy Life”为主题的稿件征集活动。请你给校报编辑发一封邮件，谈谈你想要改变的不良生活习惯。内容包括：
1. 你想要改变的不良生活习惯以及原因；
2. 你的改变方法；
3. 你的期望。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Editor,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

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。

Jiangjun Village used to be a dull place during winter. But the development of art areas has promoted tourism,     1     (give) it a new lease of life and making the winter scene much brighter nowadays. Art galleries, museums, and theaters now can       2     (see) located among its small cottages. The dilapidated (破旧的) houses have been changed into     3     (restaurant) and teahouses.

In 2021, the village government, the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and several other bodies established a rural artist construction pilot project,     4     centered on a dilapidated village courtyard called Lotus Cave. The project planned       5     (build) 10 core art areas , aiming to integrate the new facilities into the village's environment, culture and. local characteristics.

When the project was launched, Lotus Cave     6     (be) a rundown collection of residential buildings in poor repair. But it has now been largely transformed by the hard work of artists and villagers.

The art museum in the center of the village used to be       7     dilapidated house that was overgrown with weeds. During the renovation work, the building’s original framework was restored     8     part of the adobe wall was preserved.

More exhibitions and art activities are now being held at Lotus Cave, attracting tourists     9     far afield. The injection of new life has tempted (吸引) many villagers who moved away to return and take a look at       10     (they) previous home.

5 . Just like our bodies, our minds also become weak over time. We lose the ability to process new information or to switch quickly between mental tasks.     1    

It improves cognitive (认知的) performance.

A study published in the journal Neurology Clinical Practice examined nearly 100 individual studies on exercise and brain function and discovered that exercising an average of 52 hours over six months is associated with improved cognitive performance in older adults.     2     And these exercises include strength-training and mind-body exercises.

    3    

The human body is meant to move. But listening to that urge to move has many benefits — including making you happier and even keep depression and other mental health issues at bay. A research has begun to expose long-overlooked links between physical activity and mental health. It suggested exercise can significantly improve mood over time.

It allows you to use less brain power for the same task.

    4     They found that the fitter a participant was, the less brain activity he used to complete the tasks when compared with his out-of-shape peers.

It can expand your capacity for joy.

Kelly McGonigal is a health expert who explains how exercise makes the brain more sensitive to joy.     5     After eight weeks of walking, jogging and strength training, these adults showed an increase of dopamine receptors.

A．It makes you feel the progress of your brain, power.

B．Researchers wanted to explore this idea by looking at the effect of exercise on the weakening of the brain.

C．But remember not to exercise alone:

D．She explains the importance of dopamine (多巴胺) receptors, which we lose as we age.

E．It can make you happier.

F．But thanks to some researchers, we are learning how exercise can push back against time and keep the brain young.

G．The type of exercises are beneficial.

6 . While teenagers who are at risk of depression with risky behaviors — drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and cutting classes often alert parents and teachers that serious problems are brewing, a new study finds that there’s another group of adolescents who are in nearly as much danger of experiencing the same mental symptoms.

These teens use tons of media, get insufficient sleep and have a sedentary (不爱活动的) lifestyle. Of course, that may sound like a description of every teenager on the planet. But the study warns that it is teenagers who engage in all three of these practices in the extreme that are truly in a dangerous position. Because their behaviors are not usually seen as a red flag, these young people have been called the “invisible risk” group by the study’s authors.

The study’s authors surveyed 15,395 students and analyzed nine risk behaviors, including excessive alcohol use, illegal drug use, heavy smoking and high media use. Their aim was to determine the relationship between these risk behaviors and mental health issues in teenagers. The group that scored high on all nine of the risk behaviors was most likely to show symptoms of depression; in all, nearly 15% of this group reported being depressed, compared with just 4% of the low-risk group. But the invisible group wasn’t far behind the high-risk set, with more than 13% of them exhibiting depression.

The findings caught Carli off guard. “We didn’t expect that,” he says. “The high-risk group and low-risk group are obvious, but this third group was not only unexpected. It was so distinct and so large—nearly one third of our sample—that it became a key finding of the study.”

Carli says that one of the most significant things about his study is that it provides new early warning signs for parents, teachers and mental health-care providers. And early identification, support and treatment for mental health issues, he says, are the best ways to keep them from turning into full-blown disorders.

1. What does the underlined word “adolescents” mean in Paragraph 1?

A．Authors.

B．Scientists.

C．Teenagers.

D．Babies.

2. Which teenager probably belongs to the “invisible risk” group?

A．A teenager who suffers from lack of sleep.	B．A teenager who skips school.
C．A teenager who drinks frequently.	D．A teenager who exercises regularly.

3. What can we know about the new study?

A．It was intended to dig into the reasons for depression.

B．Its findings were under expectation of the research team.

C．It revealed an alarming rate of the invisible group suffering depression.

D．It was conducted by analyzing and comparing the previous data.

4. In which part of the newspaper can you read this passage?

A．Literature.

B．Culture.

C．Geography.

D．Health.

7 . Saving the environment might seem like a tall order, but living an environmentally friendly life is actually quite easy. With just a few small lifestyle changes, you can make a difference.     1    

Recycle.

Recycling is a simplest lifestyle to lower the amount of environmental waste.     2     Check the regulations to ensure you use them properly. For instance, some places may no: accept glass, while others might require you to separate the different materials. If you dispose of something improperly, the whole load will likely be rejected and end up in a landfill.

Buy locally sourced foods.

    3     Shipping products by truck, rail, flight, or boat creates pollution and goes against an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Instead, shop at local farmers’ markets and grocery stores stocking locally - sourced products. Alternatively, use community - supported services to get fresh produce regularly.

Cut back on driving.

Applying alternate forms of transportation consumes less gasoline. Walk or ride a bike whenever possible. If that isn’t an option, consider organizing carpools or using public transportation.     4     Also, combine multiple trips into one to help minimize the distance traveled and fuel consumed.

    5    

Advocacy allows more people to create a positive impact. Spread the word about environmental conservation by sharing some of the lifestyle changes you’ve made on social media and in conversations with people around, calling on everybody to play a role.

A．Cut back your carbon footprint.

B．Encourage others to help save the environment.

C．By doing this, you help reduce traffic jams and the overall amount of gasoline consumption.

D．Every resident can get involved by taking advantage of nearby recycling services.

E．The topic of preserving natural resources entertains everyone.

F．Eating fresh, local food consumes less fuel and packaging materials.

G．Read on for some practical tips on how a single individual can help save the environment.

8 . In order to survive trips to Mars, humans need oxygen. Now, a team of scientists has designed a robot that could extract oxygen from water on the Red Planet.

The robot, which is called “AI chemist”, used a machine learning model to find a compound that could ignite an oxygen-producing chemical reaction on Mars. The compound, known as a catalyst (催化剂), is made entirely from elements found in Martian meteorites (陨石) — which means, if such a system could work reliably, space travelers would not need to bring oxygen or even the catalyst needed to produce it.

Mars’ atmosphere contains only trace amounts of oxygen. But scientists have detected evidence of liquid water beneath the planet’s southern ice cap. To create the breathable gas, researchers wanted to find a way to break down this water into its hydrogen and oxygen molecules using materials found on Mars.

Their robot analyzed five meteorites that either came from Mars or had a composition similar to that of the Martian surface. Using a laser, it identified significant amounts of iron, nickel, calcium, magnesium, aluminum and manganese in the samples. From these six elements, the robot’s algorithm (算法) deter-mined it could produce more than 3.7 million possible molecules to break down water and form oxygen on Mars. According to the researchers, finding the best one from this extensive list would take roughly 2,000 years of human labor, but for the AI chemist, it took only weeks.

“On the Earth, we don’t use these six elements,” Yi Luo, a co-author of the study says. “They are not the best choices for catalysts, but it’s only what you’ve got on Mars.”

With its chosen catalyst, the system could produce oxygen from the Martian materials at around - 37℃, demonstrating the chemical reaction could be possible on the cold Martian surface.

Notably, the robot was able to carry out the entire process — analyzing the rock samples, identifying the Jest possible catalyst and producing it without human intervention.

1. What inspired the scientists to design the robot that could extract oxygen?

A．Surviving on the Earth.	B．Trips to Mars.
C．Traveling on the Moon.	D．Water shortage.

2. What is the basis of extracting oxygen on Mars?

A．The existence of water and catalyst on Mars.	B．The oxygen that Mars’ atmosphere contains.
C．The scientists’ previous study on meteorites.	D．The low cost of “AI chemist”.

3. What does Paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．The finding of six elements.	B．The advantages of the robots.
C．The process of producing oxygen.	D．The formation of the meteorites.

4. What is the writer’s attitude towards “AI chemist”?

A．Doubtful.

B．Unclear.

C．Favorable.

D．Indifferent.

9 . 假设你是李华，近期你校英语校报《最美中华》版块正在举办以“My Favourite Scenic Spot”为题的征稿活动。请用英语写一篇短文投稿。内容包括：
1. 景点介绍；
2. 喜欢的原因。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

My Favourite Scenic Spot

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . 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。

The “Reminiscing Jiangnan (忆江南) — Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage Arts Exhibition” kicked off at the Sydney Opera House     1     Tuesday.

The exhibition,     2     aim is to promote cultural exchanges between China and Australia, is co-hosted by China Cultural Center in Sydney and other agencies. It is held     3     (mark) the 10th anniversary(周年纪念) of the establishment of the China-Australia strategic partnership. The 10-day exhibition will showcase a selected     4     (collect) of Jinshan peasant (农民) paintings at the China Cultural Center in Sydney. The works often feature a wide range of striking colors     5     diverse elements from traditional arts.

    6     (list) as Shanghai’s intangible cultural heritage, the art of Jinshan peasant painting       7    (exhibit) in many nations and regions across the world over the past decade. This time,painter Li Yuan presented his work themed on Sydney’s landmarks as a gift to David van Nunen, president of the Australian Watercolor Institute.

Themed “Reminiscing Jiangnan”, the exhibition expresses     8     expectation to further promote the exchange and understanding of civilizations between the two nations. “It’s obvious that the people of both     9     (nation) share a deep enthusiasm for life. I’m delighted to participate in this extraordinary cultural exchange,” said David van Nunen.

In particular, the City Walk Shanghai series albums were displayed at the opening ceremony,     10    (show) Shanghai’s innovation and convenience.