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What is art？This question has confused great thinkers for centuries. In fact, there is disagreement about exactly what art is. Most of us would agree that Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is art, but what about a video game? One dictionary states that art is making objects?Images or music, etc. that are beautiful or that express certain feelings.This, however, could be regarded as too general a definition（定义）. Marcel Ducharap With his bicycle wheel.
Art is usually divided into two areas: fine art, such as painting, music and sculpture （雕塑）and applied art （实用美术），such as fashion design, furniture making and gardening. According to Aristotle, fee art is something which has a conceptual function.（概念功能）. He noted that artists produced objects, drama and music which showed their emotions and ideas rather than just trying to offer a true image of nature. Andy Warhol, the American artist famous for his Pop Art in the 1960s, once said, “An artist produces things that people don't need to have.This is the biggest difference between fine and applied art. Applied art requires an object to be functional as well as beautiful.
In the twentieth century, however, artists began to challenge the accepted idea of art. The French artist Marcel Duchamp changed peopled understanding of what sculpture was by mounting a bicycle wheel upside down on a stool in 1913 and calling it art. In 2002, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama created an art work that required the public's involvement. In this work, visitors were asked to cover a white room that had white furniture and objects in it, with many colorful sticker dots （圆形贴纸）.He once said, “Everything an artist produces is art”.
Today, we can see examples of art all around us which are not expensive, many towns and cities have public art which can be enjoyed by all. Some museums, like the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, have no entrance fee. Others are free for children and students.
Street art is also popular in different neighborhoods around the world.
Art can make our ordinary, everyday lives a little more special. This idea may not work for all art, but perhaps we can agree that it is a goal towards which all artists should work.
1.What question has confused great thinkers for centuries?
_______________________________________________________
2.What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
_______________________________________________________
3.What does applied art require according to this passage?
_______________________________________________________
4.When did artists begin to challenge the accepted idea of art?
_______________________________________________________
5.What’s the writer’s opinion on art?
_______________________________________________________
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What makes us who we are? This question has two different answers. One is the environment that surrounds us when we grow up, and the other is our genes (基因). In English, this is called the “nature vs nurture debate(辩论)”. Nature means genes, and nurture means environment, including the people around you.
There is a famous saying: “Give me a child until the age of 7 and I’ll show you the man.” Now, there is a scientific research to support this famous saying.
They watched small birds in new environments, and wrote down how much they explored(探索). Birds that grew up with very outgoing birds were more outgoing themselves. Scientists at the universities of Exeter, UK and Hamburg, Germany did studies on birds. They found that their personalities（个性） were affected most by the birds around them when they grew up – more so than genes.
Nick Royle from the University of Exeter in the UK said the research was surprising because it shows that “for these birds, personality is mainly determined（决定） by environment.” However, human personalities are a lot more complicated than birds, so there is much we still don’t know. The nature vs nurture debate will continue for a long time, if not forever.
1.The famous saying in the passage tells us _________.
A.A 7-year-old boy can do things as well as an adult.
B.An adult can be influenced and changed by a 7-year-old boy.
C.The environment in the early part of our life has the biggest influence on our adult life.
2.Nick Royle is a(n) ______ scientist.
A. American B. British C. German
3.What do the scientists think of the research?
A. Outgoing. B. Exciting. C. Surprising.
4.What does the underlined word “complicated” mean?
A. 有趣的 B. 类似的 C. 复杂的
5.Which is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A. The environment and genes affect our personality.
B. The scientists are sure that the environment influences the human personality more than the genes do.
C. The nurture means the environment .
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Lu Xun is known _____not only a great writer but also a great thinker.
A. to B. for C. with D. as
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阅读下面的材料，然后根据材料内容回答问题。
What is to blame（归咎于） for the smog (雾霾) hitting China? The question that has bothered people for a long time got an answer recently.
According to Wang Yuesi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), about 40 percent of PM2.5 pollutants in Beijing are the result of coal (煤炭) burning, from both local and outside the city.
Surrounded by Hebei, a major area for coal burning, about 20 percent of Beijing’s pollutants come from outside the city. And we know there are many steel(钢铁) factories in Hebei, too. According to the CAS, each year Beijing burns 23 million tons of coal while Tianjin burns more than 70 million tons and Hebei a huge 270 million tons.
“Coal burning is a primary source of sulfur oxide (SO2, 二氧化硫) which is the primary cause of PM2.5,” said Wang.
The report of the CAS says that in the Jingjinji area (Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei), coal burning is responsible(负责任的) for 9 percent of primary particles (颗粒) that make up PM2.5. The coal burning also emits (排放) 69 percent of the total SO2 and 47 percent of nitrogen oxide (氮氧化物), which will greatly concentrate (加强浓度) the PM2.5 particles in the air.
According to the air pollution plan, the Jingjinji area should reduce（减少） its PM2.5 concentration by 25 percent by 2017 from 2012 levels. To meet the standards, the report suggests great cuts in coal use in the area.
“This is a very great goal but it is achievable with cooperation（合作） between cities instead of cities working on their own,” said Wang.
1.What’s the main cause of the smog hitting Beijing?
________________________________________________________
2.Can we solve the problem with cooperation between cities ?
________________________________________________________
3.Which is the primary cause of PM2.5?
________________________________________________________
4.Why does Hebei produce a lot of PM2.5 pollutants?
________________________________________________________
5.Who announced the result of the survey from CAS?
________________________________________________________
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Lu Xun is known ________not only a great writer but also a great thinker.
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Lu Xu is known_________ a great writer and thinker.
A. by B. for C. as D. with
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________ great fun Andrew has ________ DIY in the art room with his classmates.
A.What; doing B.What; done C.How; doing
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(2013●淮安市)______ great fun Andrew has ______ DIY in the art room with his classmates!
A. What; doing B. What; done C. How; doing D. How; done
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Wu Wei, a young artist, has received high_________ from the art community for this sculptures
A. pride B. praise C. promise D. progress
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B
My Plan for Learning English
Many students and teachers always ask this question“What’s the best way to learn English well？”Different people have different answers．Here is my plan for learning English．It is based on(根据)my own experience in learning languages．It helped me when I learned English．I hope that it can help you，too．
●Speak to Americans as much as possible．
●Write，write，write—letters，e-mails，notes，etc．
●Make phone calls to practise your English．
●Watch TV and movies．
●Listen to the radio．
●Read as much as possible．
It is important to believe that you will improve your English．Sometimes when you make plans，they seem very difficult．Progress comes little by little．Think about where you are today，and where you were last week or last month．Maybe it doesn’t seem you have come very far．But if you stop and think about where you were six months ago，or even a year ago，then you will see your progress．That progress gives you hope．Keep on studying，and you will reach your goal sooner or later！
1.What do students and teachers often ask？
A．How to speak English well．
B．How to write English well．
C．How to read English well．
D．How to learn English well．
2.The plan for learning English is based on________．
A．a student’s teaching story
B．a student’s learning story
C．an English teacher’s experience
D．the writer’s experience
3.Which of the following is NOT true about the writer？
A．He reads aloud in the morning．
B．He watches English movies．
C．He often writes English notes．
D．He sometimes speaks English with friends on the phone．
4.What is important for an English learner？
A．To study English every day．
B．To speak with Americans．
C．To listen to the radio．
D．To believe that you will improve your English．
5.The underlined word“progress”probably means“________”in Chinese．
A．经历
B．错误
C．进步
D．失败