Sculpting papaya fruits into realistic flowers木瓜之上，美麗綻放

胡金瑩

阮氏秋是從事并不斷提高用木瓜雕刻逼真花朵這一傳統藝術的越南藝術家。

主題語境：藝術 篇幅：363詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1 Nguyen Thi Thu is one of the few remainingartists practicing and constantly enhancing the traditionalVietnamese art of sculpting realisticlookingflowers out of papaya fruits.

2 Thu became fascinated with carving variousflowers from papaya fruits at the age of 15， when， like many other parents during the 1980s，her family registered her for an exclusive class on the art of sculpting the tropical fruit. Shewas fascinated by the traditional art form， but then she had to move to Russia for 15years， where， because she was too busy working and had no access to green papayas，she couldn＇t practice her favorite art form. She tried it with all sorts of other fruits andvegetables， including watermelons， but nothing was quite like the papaya she knew. Whenshe went back to Hanoi in 2009， she immediately got back into papaya sculpting， and shehas been practicing the craft ever since.

3 According to Ms Thu， in order to become beautiful flowers， papaya fruits must meetthe following criteria： have smooth dark green skin， elongated shape， and be firm to thehand. Before sculpting， she cuts the papaya in half， and soaks it in cold water for 1 hour to remove the sap. She then uses simple tools such as a knife to split the petals， scissors to cutand shape the petals， and chopsticks to bend the petals. Finally， she uses a food coloringbrush on the flowers to really make them look like the real thing.4 Over the years， Nguyen Thi Thu has taught herself to carve various types of flowers，from primrose and lotus to water lily and peony， but her favorite by far is also one of themost complicated， the chrysanthemums （菊花）. Creating a single flower takes between 45minutes and over an hour， depending on the complexity of the design.

“5 I often fall asleep thinking of how to sculpt a certain flower， and then I get out of bedto practice，” Ms Thu said.“ I passionately sculpt papaya flowers until 3 to 4 in the morning.There are many kinds of chrysanthemums in the world， so even if I dedicate my entire lifeto carving each one， I probably won＇t be able to.”

Reading Check

1. How old did Ms Thu begin learning the art of papaya sculpting？

A. At 5 years old.

B. At 15 years old.

C. At 25 years old.

D. At 30 years old.

2. Why was Ms Thu unable to practice her papaya sculpting while in Russia？

A. She couldn＇t find a teacher for the art.

B. She lost interest in the art form.

C. She had no access to green papayas.

D. She was studying other forms of art.

3. Which of the following best describes Ms Thus carving？

A. Boring. B. Wellpaid.

C. Demanding. D. Dangerous.

4. Which flower does Ms Thu think is one of the most complicated to sculpt？

A. Lotus. B. Primrose.

C. Water lily. D. Chrysanthemum.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

She was fascinated by the traditional art form， but then she had to move to Russia for15 years， where， because she was too busy working and had no access to green papayas，she couldn＇t practice her favorite art form. 她對這種傳統的藝術形式非常著迷，但后來她不得不移居俄羅斯，在那里生活了 15 年，因為工作太忙，沒有機會得到青木瓜，所以她無法練習自己最喜愛的藝術形式。

【點石成金】本句是一個由but連接的并列句。where引導定語從句，先行詞為Russia；because引導原因狀語從句。

Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with the word and phrases in the box in proper forms.

become fascinated with constantly access to go back depend on fall asleep

1. The diploma course would offer remote ________ course materials via the Internet＇s world wide web.

2. The temperature remained ________ while pressure was a variable in the experiment.

3. The boy ________ making model airplanes since the age of 3.

4. One afternoon， I got bored and actually ________ for a few minutes.

5. The risk and severity of sunburn ________ the body＇s natural skin colour.

6. The firefighters ________ into the house with scant regard for their own safety.

主題應用·語庫構建

Ⅰ. 主題單詞

繪畫

canvas 畫布

brush 畫筆

palette 調色板

easel 畫架

pigment 顏料

watercolor 水彩

sketch 素描

portrait 肖像

landscape 鄉村風景畫

雕塑

sculptor 雕塑家

marble 大理石

chisel 鑿子

bronze 青銅

statue 雕像

carving 雕刻品

mold 模具

basrelief

淺浮雕

armature（ 塑像內部的）支架

installation 現代雕塑裝置

建筑

facade（ 建筑物的）正面

column 柱子

dome 穹頂

arch 拱門

blueprint 藍圖

foundation 基礎

beam（ 建筑物的）梁

ornament 裝飾

cornice 檐口

balustrade 欄桿

攝影

aperture（ 尤指攝影機等的光圈）孔徑

lens 鏡頭

focus 焦點

exposure 曝光

tripod 三腳架

frame 框架

snapshot 快照

filter 濾鏡

其他

melody 旋律

harmony 和聲

rhythm 節奏

chord 和弦

playwright 劇作家

costume 服裝

ballet 芭蕾舞

rumba 倫巴舞

tango 探戈舞

waltz 華爾茲舞

dialogue 對白

script 劇本

prop 道具

masterpiece 杰作

performance 表演

audience 觀眾

Ⅱ. 主題短語

art exhibition 藝術展覽

artistic expression 藝術表現

abstract art 抽象藝術

aesthetic appeal 藝術感染力

art critique 藝術評論

contemporary art 當代藝術

art collector 藝術收藏家

art gallery 藝術展覽館

art movement 藝術運動

canvas painting 油畫

color palette 調色板

landscape painting 風景畫

oil on canvas 油畫

performance art 表演藝術

portrait painting 肖像畫

digital art 數字藝術

gallery opening 畫廊開幕式

Ⅲ. 主題美句

1. Art knows no bounds， and as theartist blends colors on the canvas， it becomes clear that she is creating a languagethat speaks to the soul in ways that wordscannot. 藝術沒有界限，當這位藝術家在畫布上混合色彩時，很明顯，她正在創造一種語言，這種語言以言語無法達到的方式與靈魂對話。

2. The melody of the song was haunting，and as the musician continued to play，the notes carried the audience away to aplace of deep emotion.這首歌的旋律令人難忘，隨著音樂家繼續演奏，音符帶領觀眾進入一個充滿深情的地方。

3. Even though the sculpture stoodstill and silent in the garden， it told apowerful story of resilience and beauty thatresonated with each person who stopped toadmire it. 盡管這座雕塑靜靜地矗立在花園中，但它講述了一個關于適應力和美麗的強有力的故事，引起了每一個停下來欣賞它的人的共鳴。

4. The art teacher encouraged herstudents to look beyond the obvious， andas they did， they began to see the layers ofmeaning hidden within the simplest ofsketches. 這位藝術老師鼓勵她的學生們看到表面之下的東西，當他們這樣做時，他們開始看到了隱藏在最簡單的草圖中的多層含義。

5. The novelist spent years weavinghis story， carefully crafting each sentenceso that when readers finally turned thepages， they found themselves immersed ina world both fantastical and true to life.這位小說家花費數年編織他的故事，精心構思每一個句子，以便當讀者最終翻閱這些書頁時，他們發現自己沉浸在一個既奇幻又真實的世界中。

6. The photographer didn＇t just takephotos; he captured moments of rawemotion and stunning beauty， allowingthose who later viewed his images toexperience those same feelings as ifstanding right there in the scene. 這位攝影師不僅僅是拍照；他捕捉到了原始情感和令人驚嘆的美麗瞬間，讓那些后來觀看他照片的人能夠體驗同樣的感覺，就好像他們站在現場一樣。

7. While everyone else saw an old，rundown building， the artist saw a canvasfull of potential， and with time and imagination，he transformed it into a work of artthat celebrated the community＇s historyand character. 當其他人看到一座破舊的老建筑時，這位藝術家看到了一塊充滿潛力的畫布，通過時間和想象力，他將其轉變成了一件藝術作品，這件藝術作品歌頌了這個社區的歷史和特色。

8. The theater was a place wherestories came to life， and when the actorstook the stage， they didnt just recite lines;they breathed life into the characters，making the audience believe in the realitythey created. 劇場是一個讓故事變得生動的地方，當演員們走上舞臺時，他們不僅僅是背誦臺詞；他們給角色們注入了生命，讓觀眾相信他們所創造的現實。

Ⅳ. 主題寫作

假定你是新華中學學生會主席李華，你校將于5月份舉行歌唱比賽，請你代表學生會為校刊寫一則英文通知，內容如下：

1. 比賽的目的和意義；

2. 比賽的具體安排。

注意：

1. 詞數80左右；

2. 可以適當增加細節，以使行文連貫。

Notice

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