1 . As an artist who shares her journey on social media, I’m often asked by curious followers how to begin an art journey. Unfortunately, there is no magic list I can offer. I do remember, though, what it was like to be a complete beginner. So I’ve put together some good tips for starting an art journey.

·Start small. I suggest using a sketchbook (素描本) for small studies. These small studies provide inspiration and may be a springboard for more complex works in the future.     1     You’ll want to look back on your journey to see how far you’ve come.

·Paint often and paint from life. There’s no better way to improve than to put in those brush miles. Whether you paint still lifes, portraits, or landscapes, paint from life as much as possible.     2    

·Continually challenge yourself to try something new.     3     Artistic growth can be a bit painful. Welcome to the club；we’ve all been there. I love taking on challenges. I once took up a challenge to create a painting every day for a month and post the works online.

·    4     Seeking and accepting constructive feedback (反馈) is crucial to growth. I post my work on social media and, in turn, have met some of the kindest people. They make me feel valued and respected, no matter my level of artistic ability.

The journey you’re on won’t follow a straight path.     5     Push through, give it time and put in the effort. You will harvest the rewards of an artistic life.

A．Get out of your comfort zone.

B．Make career plans and set goals.

C．Don’t throw away your beginner art.

D．Share your work if you feel comfortable doing so.

E．You’ll hit roadblocks, and you’ll feel discouraged at times.

F．Evaluate your performance and, if needed, redefine your role.

G．You’ll develop that painting muscle memory that only comes with repetition.

2 . Reading Art: Art for Book Lovers is a celebration of an everyday object — the book, represented here in almost three hundred artworks from museums around the world. The image of the reader appears throughout history, in art made long before books as we now know them came into being. In artists’ representations of books and reading, we see moments of shared humanity that go beyond culture and time.

In this “book of books,” artworks are selected and arranged in a way that emphasizes these connections between different eras and cultures. We see scenes of children learning to read at home or at school, with the book as a focus for relations between the generations. Adults are portrayed (描绘) alone in many settings and poses —absorbed in a volume, deep in thought or lost in a moment of leisure. These scenes may have been painted hundreds of years ago, but they record moments we can all relate to.

Books themselves may be used symbolically in paintings to demonstrate the intellect (才智), wealth or faith of the subject. Before the wide use of the printing press, books were treasured objects and could be works of art in their own right. More recently, as books have become inexpensive or even throwaway, artists have used them as the raw material for artworks — transforming covers, pages or even complete volumes into paintings and sculptures.

Continued developments in communication technologies were once believed to make the printed page outdated. From a 21st-century point of view, the printed book is certainly ancient, but it remains as interactive as any battery-powered e-reader. To serve its function, a book must be activated by a user: the cover opened, the pages parted, the contents reviewed, perhaps notes written down or words underlined. And in contrast to our increasingly networked lives where the information we consume is monitored and tracked, a printed book still offers the chance of a wholly private, “off-line” activity.

1. Where is the text most probably taken from?

A．An introduction to a book.	B．An essay on the art of writing.
C．A guidebook to a museum.	D．A review of modern paintings.

2. What are the selected artworks about?

A．Wealth and intellect.	B．Home and school.
C．Books and reading.	D．Work and leisure.

3. What do the underlined words “relate to” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Understand.	B．Paint.
C．Seize.	D．Transform.

4. What does the author want to say by mentioning the e-reader?

A．The printed book is not totally out of date.

B．Technology has changed the way we read.

C．Our lives in the 21st century are networked.

D．People now rarely have the patience to read.

3 . Turning soil, pulling weeds, and harvesting cabbage sound like tough work for middle and high school kids. And at first it is, says Abby Jaramillo, who with another teacher started Urban Sprouts, a school garden program at four low-income schools. The program aims to help students develop science skills, environmental awareness, and healthy lifestyles.

Jaramillo’s students live in neighborhoods where fresh food and green space are not easy to find and fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores. “The kids literally come to school with bags of snacks and large bottles of soft drinks,” she says. “They come to us thinking vegetables are awful, dirt is awful, insects are awful.” Though some are initially scared of the insects and turned off by the dirt, most are eager to try something new.

Urban Sprouts’ classes, at two middle schools and two high schools, include hands-on experiments such as soil testing, flower-and-seed dissection, tastings of fresh or dried produce, and work in the garden. Several times a year, students cook the vegetables they grow, and they occasionally make salads for their entire schools.

Program evaluations show that kids eat more vegetables as a result of the classes. “We have students who say they went home and talked to their parents and now they’re eating differently,” Jaramillo says.

She adds that the program’s benefits go beyond nutrition. Some students get so interested in gardening that they bring home seeds to start their own vegetable gardens. Besides, working in the garden seems to have a calming effect on Jaramillo’s special education students, many of whom have emotional control issues. “They get outside,” she says, “and they feel successful.”

1. What do we know about Abby Jaramillo?

A．She used to be a health worker.	B．She grew up in a low-income family.
C．She owns a fast food restaurant.	D．She is an initiator of Urban Sprouts.

2. What was a problem facing Jaramillo at the start of the program?

A．The kids’ parents distrusted her.	B．Students had little time for her classes.
C．Some kids disliked garden work.	D．There was no space for school gardens.

3. Which of the following best describes the impact of the program?

A．Far-reaching.	B．Predictable.
C．Short-lived.	D．Unidentifiable.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Rescuing School Gardens	B．Experiencing Country Life
C．Growing Vegetable Lovers	D．Changing Local Landscape

4 . At present, in many American cities especially, many teachers in the public schools say they are underpaid. They point to jobs such as secretary or truck driver, which often pay more to start than that of a teacher. In many other fields, such as law, medicine, computer science, a beginning worker may make more than a teacher who has taught for several years.

Teaching has never been a profession that attracted people interested in high salaries. It is by history a profession that has provided rewards in addition to money — the satisfactions of sharing knowledge, of influencing others, of guiding young people. But in the past several years, there are more difficulties in teaching, for many, than there are rewards.

Unruly students, especially in big cities, large classes and a lack of support from the public in terms of money and understanding have led many public school teachers to leave the profession.

As a result, many of the best students, who would have chosen teaching as their life career in the past, are going into other fields.

Another reason for this change in teacher candidates is the changing status of women in the United States. Until the late 1960s and 1970s, one of the most popular choices for women was teaching. But as other professions, such as law and medicine opened up to women, women stopped pouring into teacher training programs. Thus, a major pool of excellent candidates for the teaching profession dwindled.

Bit by bit government officials and others realized that the status of the teacher had suffered. They talked about change. But the change in a vast society like the United States is not easy. People’s attitudes have formed over many years, and sometimes change takes many years.

1. What’ s the main idea of paragraph 1?

A．Teachers in public schools are paid less than people in other fields in America.

B．Many teachers in the public schools are unemployed.

C．Teachers in America are paid less because they don’t teach long enough.

D．Many public school teachers in America leave school because of low salaries.

2. What might cause a teacher to quit his job according to the passage?

A．Too many classes.	B．Heavy teaching burden.
C．Disobedient students.	D．Lack of support from parents.

3. What does the underlined word “dwindled” mean?

A．Expanded.

B．Decreased

C．Changed.

D．Enhanced.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Government officials are unwilling to change the status of the teachers.

B．Government officials have taken measures to change the status of the teachers.

C．People’s attitudes towards being a teacher in a vast society can be easily changed.

D．It has a long way for the government to go to change the teachers’ present situation.

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。

I arrived in Beijing three weeks ago; a native Iowan of the United States far from the land-locked Midwestern state I call home. I was eager    1    (experience) all the differences life back home never gave me. Yet soon after    2    (I) arrival I noticed some similarities, although it was laughable at first to try and compare Iowa City, where I live,    3    a population of 70,000people, and Beijing, which has about 20 million people.

I soon recognized our common love for noodles. In Beijing noodles    4    (be) a part of the traditional everyday diet and an essential part of northern Chinese     5    (dish). I’m happy to report that noodles continue to be a part of my meals and are just as affordable.

Iowans know a lot about rural life as an     6    (agriculture) state and depend on it, like China, for jobs. Iowa is also known for raising quality pigs,    7    we love to eat and so do people in China. It is reported that pork makes up nearly three-fourths of the total meat     8    (consume) annually in China and Iowa is the     9    (large) pork producer in the US.

I suppose     10    a Beijinger sat down next to an Iowan on the subway, it would turn to be an interesting conversation.

6 . At some point in the stretch of days between the start of the pandemic’s third year and the feared launch of World War III, a new phrase unfolded itself before us, a mysterious foretell of an age to come: people were going “goblin mode”.

The term embraces the comforts of depravity(堕落): spending the day in bed scrolling endlessly through social media; pouring the end of a bag of chips in your mouth; leaving the house in your pajamas and socks only to get a single Diet Coke from the store.

First appearing on Twitter as early as 2009, “goblin mode” represents a direct departure from the “cottagecore” influence of early pandemic days, a standout trend of 2020 that thrived under the wistful ethos of making the best of what many people assumed would be only a few boring weeks at home in 2020.

But as the pandemic wears on endlessly, and the chaos of current events worsens, people feel cheated by the system and have rejected such goals. “The trend sets an unrealistic standard for people to think that if they aren’t waking up early to exercise, their lives are not put together”, one blog indicting “cottagecore” culture reads.

Most people tweeting about goblin mode characterize it as an almost spiritual-level embrace of our most debased tendencies and call it a logical progression into nihilism(虚无主义)after years of disappointment. However, Marnell, an author who has been tweeting extensively in recent weeks about entering goblin mode, says there is “healthy goblin mode and destructive goblin mode”. For her, it represents a certain air of harmless mischief. “It is cool to be a goblin,” Marnell says. “Everyone is so perfect all the time online, it is good to get in touch with the strange little creature that lives inside you.”

1. Which of the following does not belong to “cottagecore” culture?

A．Organizing refrigerators full of freshly cut vegetables.

B．Wearing makeup and doing elaborate skincare routines.

C．Making organic food and putting them in a delicate plate.

D．Wearing nothing but a long T-shirt to make a weird snack.

2. According to the passage, what leads to people’s entering of goblin mode?

A．The financial crisis.	B．The endless pandemic.
C．The comforts of depravity.	D．The worsening system.

3. What does “indict” mean in Paragraph 4?

A．Accuse.

B．Praise.

C．Credit.

D．Destroy.

4. What attitude do most people hold towards goblin mode?

A．Positive.

B．Neutral.

C．Negative.

D．Favorable.

7 . How to Make a Difference in Your Career

Making a meaningful career choice is a crucial decision in life.    1    , such as being a doctor, teacher or charity worker. However, you don’t have to limit yourself to just those choices. To have a lasting and meaningful impact, it’s important to consider the problem you expect to overcome.

Define what’s personally satisfying

    2    . To ensure success, remember that your career is a marathon and not a short running. Most people reach peak productivity between the ages of 40 and 60, so it’s important to choose something that you can stick with for the long term. When looking for meaningful work, consider what is satisfied with you.

Define your career impact

To maximize your career’s impact, consider the importance of the problem you are addressing, how effective your job is at dealing with it, and your personal fit. Your personal fit depends on your abilities and career capital-skills, connections, and reputation,     3    , and you can ensure that you have a long term improvement in the lives of others.

    4    

Before thinking about specific career paths, it’s valuable to consider what kinds of careers tend to have the highest impact. Remember many career categories can enable you to make a big contribution to whichever global problems you think are most pressing.

Have a plan B and a plan Z

List promising alternatives you can switch to if your plan A doesn’t work out. If you’re ambitious enough, your plan A probably has a good chance of not working out.    5    To avoid unacceptable risks, write a plan Z — how you’ll get back on your feet if things go wrong.

A．So you should be ready to try again

B．Take all these factors into consideration

C．Explore the key categories of meaningful careers

D．Have a better understanding of the career categories

E．Finding work that is personally satisfying can be a challenge

F．People who show their interest in challenge get satisfying careers

G．There are many paths that you can take to contribute positively to the world

8 . Young boys often dream of superpower to solve their problems “If I could just lick my fingers, my homework would be done,” many have imagined. Jerry and Joe put their ideas down on paper and created the world’s most popular superhero, Superman.

In 1931, the two became fast friends at Cleveland’s Glenville High School and ended up crating comics together. Joe was the artist and drew all the time, using bits of any kind of paper he could find. He hung out at newsstands (报摊) concentrating on magazines, especially amazing stories and then took up a pencil to recreate them at home. Jerry was the storyteller and the more ambitious of the two. He described how the creation of Superman came to him in the middle of a sleepless summer night, “I spring out of bed and write this down, and then I go back and think some more for about two hours and get up again and write that down. The inspiration for Superman’s origin story start taking shape, and the next morning, I run over to Joe’s place ...”

As is often the case, when we experience something painful in life, we deal with the feel-ing through creative expression. Jerry’s father owned a shop and died during a robbery. A young child might process that experience by wishing something could have prevented it. For Jerry, out came the Man of Steel, who was invulnerable (刀枪不入的) and tended to protect innocent people. Creating storylines must have helped Jerry to deal with the pain. Superman always wins. He stops trains and bad guys and cannot be killed.

The story of Superman has inspired kids for generations. It has calmed their fears and driven their dreams. Most importantly, the Man of Steel has inspired us all to find our super-power and use it to help others.

1. What can we learn about Jerry and Joe?

A．They became popular superheroes.	B．They used their imagination in comics.
C．They lived in their own imaginary world.	D．They stood out for their rich experience.

2. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The origin of the character Superman.	B．The amusing story of Jerry and Joe.
C．The difficulty of creating the character.	D．The common experience of Jerry and Joe.

3. Which can best describe Superman?

A．Ambitious.

B．Mean.

C．Unconquerable.

D．Troublesome.

4. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A biography.

B．A movie review.

C．A science fiction.

D．A history textbook.

9 . It was eight o’ clock on Christmas morning, and Uncle Tom said he wanted to listen to the news. My 11-year-old self was wondering why grown-ups would be interested in the news when there were important things to be done, such as handing out presents. However, while I was only half-listening to the radio broadcast, I was confused that I had heard that report earlier.

My older brother, Colin, figured out what was happening. “Pete, it’s a tape recorder! We’ve got our tape recorder!” This was one of those rare moments when my inside gave an involuntary lurch (倾斜). Colin and I had both been blind from birth. In the late 1950s, tape recorders were definitely the top choice for blind kids, especially with the rise of rock ‘n’ roll.

But it wasn’t the first time I had been attracted to a tape recorder. I vividly remember walking into a room when I was four and hearing a child’s beautiful singing. It turned out that my dad had borrowed a tape recorder for preparing his projects. And for the first time, in the same way that a sighted child might react to seeing themselves in a mirror or a photograph, I got the sense of myself as a separate person who existed outside my head and was experienced by other people.

Then I became a broadcaster at school. I would wander around the school with my microphone, recording my thoughts in the style of the voices I heard on the radio. But the biggest challenge was not finding things to do with the tape recorder but taking it away from Colin. His generosity on the first day we got it did not extend to handing it over to his brother at school. “You’ll break it,” he would say.

But ten years later, I drew on the confidence gained from those early explorations of the sound and walked into a radio station, in the hopes of selling myself as a broadcast journalist. Eight years later, I presented my first report for BBC’s Six O’Clock News. I never thought that a Christmas present had changed my life.

1. Why did Uncle Tom probably listen to the news on Christmas morning?

A．To keep up with the times.

B．To carry on the holiday tradition.

C．To create a happy festival mood.

D．To surprise Colin and the author.

2. What did the author feel when first hearing a tape recorder at four?

A．His interest in music.

B．His love of broadcasting.

C．The real existence of himself.

D．An understanding of his father.

3. What was the author’s biggest challenge as a school broadcaster?

A．Learning the voice style of radio hosts.

B．Getting the tape recorder from Colin.

C．Balancing broadcasting and study.

D．Finding fun things to record.

4. What helped build up the author’s confidence in becoming a broadcast journalist?

A．His experiences of exploring the sound.

B．His talent for recording.

C．His father’s encouragement.

D．His rich broadcasting knowledge.

10 . Last September, several hundred tomato lovers gathered on a sunny, breezy day in Portland, Ore. for Tomato Fest. Agricultural researcher Matt Davis was handing out samples of experimental tomatoes which were dry-farmed.

Dry-farming, a form of agriculture that doesn’t require irrigation, has roots stretching back millennia. But in the 20th century, the practice largely fell out of widespread use. Today, however, farmers are once again experimenting with dry farming as they struggle with water shortages, which are being exacerbated by rising temperatures and more frequent and intense droughts linked to climate change.

It’s a common misconception that dry farming means growing plants without water. Instead, dry-farmed plants take up moisture stored in the ground rather than sprinkled (洒) from above. Thus, sites must generally receive more than 50 centimeters of annual precipitation (降水量) to create moisture in the soil, and the soil must be composed of fine grains that help preserve that water over time.

Dry-farming won’t solve all of agriculture’s woes, but it offers a way forward. Farmers have noticed that dry-farmed plots contain only about a fifth of the weeds that grow in irrigated plots. Not having to pull up as many weeds can translate into labor savings. Coupled with not having to manage irrigation facilities, dry-farming can simplify a growing operation.

In 2016 and 2017, Alex Stone and Jennifer Wetzel from Oregon State University grew different varieties of winter squash in Corvallis. The pair irrigated some vegetable fields and dry-farmed others. After harvesting the squash and leaving them in storage for four months, they found that about 80% of the roughly 1,250 dry-farmed winter squash were still marketable while the number dropped to 50% out of the roughly 1,150 irrigated winter squash.

“You get to really learn what the environment gives you, and you learn to respond accordingly.” Michael Johnson, a specialist at the University of Arizona says, “A relationship develops between the cropping system and the farmer. It’s a beautiful thing that needs to be cherished.”

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

A．Highlighted.

B．Worsened.

C．Relieved.

D．Improved.

2. What can we know about dry-farming?

A．It helps grow plants without water.

B．It enjoyed great popularity in the 20th century.

C．It has certain requirements for the composition of soil.

D．It is an effective method to address environmental problems.

3. What did Stone and Wetzel discover about dry-farming in their experiment?

A．Its produce contains less water.	B．Its overall yields tend to be higher.
C．It makes the growing process simpler.	D．It tends to yield longer-preserved produce.

4. What is Johnson’s attitude towards dry farming?

A．Conservative.

B．Indifferent.

C．Supportive.

D．Skeptical.