2 . To anyone else, it was just a simple white cotton bag, but to me, it was a canvas(油画布) for my latest masterpiece. I laid it flat on the six-foot-long wooden table in my kitchen. With one hand I held down a corner of the bag and with the other I dipped my brush in the paint and touched it to the canvas; slowly an image took shape, waves crashing on a sandy beach, seagulls flying above, fishing for a meal. I put down my brush and rubbed my neck. It was hard work, but I enjoyed it.
And my friends and family loved the bags. "I get tons of praise for mine," my mother-in-law told me. "People are always asking where they can buy one." Those weren't quite the honor I'd dreamed of when I first picked up a paintbrush as a kid. I used to aim higher. I wanted my work to appear in the Louvre Museum in Paris, right next to the Mona Lisa. But even then, I knew what a wild dream it was.
My parents encouraged my interest, and paid for art lessons. In high school, I joined an art club and showed my work along with other local artists in an exhibition. I started college, majored in fine art and took classes in drawing and design. But the farthest I ever traveled was New York City. The Louvre might as well have been on another planet.
Then things changed. I met and fell in love with Charlie. After we got married, I took a break from art. Making a home together was more important. Art supplies didn't fit into our budget.
When I finally picked up a brush again, I was rusty. I tried a landscape but it was flat. Things in the foreground were the same size as in the background. I'd lost the ability. I threw down my brush in frustration. Maybe I'd never really had any talent at all. Forget the Louvre, my work wasn't good enough to hang in our living room. Charlie turned me around. "You have a talent," he told me. "Keep painting." He helped me find room in our budget for paints and brushes. One day, walking through town, I spotted some giant white shells in a store window. What an interesting canvas they could be! I bought a few and began painting them. In Savannah, there was no shortage of inspiration. Charlie took some of my pieces into the electric company where he worked. He came home with the proudest smile. "They want to order them for their wives." he told me.
Lately I'd been painting these bags. It wasn't a money-making project—I barely covered the cost of materials. But seeing others appreciate my art made me feel good. This one, the beach scene, was going to a friend of my mother-in-law's. When it dried, I brought it over to my mother-in-law. "I just know my friend will love it," she said.
Several months later my mother-in-law's friend called me. I'd moved on to other projects and I'd nearly forgotten what I'd made for her, "I went to Paris," she said. “And I brought your bag with me. I have to tell you about the Louvre," she continued. "For two hours, we wandered the museum. Delacroix, Michelangelo, the Venus de Milo, there was so much to see, and of course, the Mona Lisa. But every few minutes, somebody stopped me.' Where did you get that bag? ' they asked. Some folks thought I'd bought it in the gift shop there! I had to tell them it was a Cindy Barnwell original.
Today I'm painting an 11- by-14-inch canvas of bunnies picking flowers, to go in a friend's baby nursery. It may not be a da Vinci, but that doesn't matter. This world was made for artists. I'm convinced of that. And my gift is to share that beauty, any way I can.
1. Why did the author refer to the cotton bag in the beginning?
| A．To show her passion for painting. | B．To stress the difficulty of painting. |
| C．To indicate the benefit of painting. | D．To prove her creativity for painting. |
2. Which led to the author's giving up painting first after she married?
| A．Lack of talent. | B．Lack of money. |
| C．Lack of inspiration. | D．Lack of encouragement. |
3. What does the underlined part "the Louvre" in the fifth paragraph really refer to?
| A．Contemporary painters, art exhibition. |
| B．Others' praise for the author's paintings. |
| C．The author's lifelong ambition. |
| D．The author's dream travel destination. |
4. Who gave the author the strongest support at the turning point in her painting career?
| A．Her husband. | B．Her own parents. |
| C．Her mother-in-law. | D．Her mother-in-law's friend. |
5. What does the author probably agree with?
| A．She didn't stop painting all her life. | B．She applied her painting to charity. |
| C．She made no profit in painting the bags. | D．She was the best at painting the beach scene. |
6. What can we infer from the last but one paragraph?
| A．The author built a famous bag brand. |
| B．The author's bag sold very well in London. |
| C．The author's bag drew senior painters' attention. |
| D．The author realized her dream in a surprising way. |
