In late October, a visit to the National Museum in Cardiff took an unexpected turn. A curious visitor noticed a strange image on a gallery wall and asked the staff about it. To everyone’s surprise, no one knew how it had gotten there. The visitor quickly realized it was an unofficial piece, placed there without permission.

The mystery was soon solved. On October 29th, an artist known as Elias Marrow had secretly put up a framed print in the museum’s contemporary art gallery. Titled Empty Plate, the piece remained on the wall for several hours before being removed by staff. This AI-generated image showed a young boy in a school uniform holding a book and an empty plate. An accompanying label even falsely stated it was “on loan from the artist”.

Marrow explained that the artwork explores themes of hunger and poverty in the UK. The boy’s situation is ambiguous — it’s unclear “whether he waits to be fed, punished or simply forgotten”. The artist said these were “subjects close to my heart”. His main goal was to question how public institutions decide what art is worth showing, and what happens when something from outside the official system appears within it.

To create this work, Marrow first made a sketch himself, then used an AI tool to complete the image. He believes that “AI is here to stay”, and that limiting its use in art would go against his creative beliefs. However, not everyone shares his enthusiasm. The visitor who reported the piece wondered why such a “poor-quality” AI image was hanging in the museum without being properly labeled.

1.1. What can we learn about the strange image?

A It was placed by a staff member.

B It stayed in the museum briefly.

C It was labeled with true info.

D It was painted by a student.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第二段中“the piece remained on the wall for several hours before being removed by staff”可知，这幅作品在博物馆仅存放了几个小时就被移除，即停留时间很短。A选项与第一段“no one knew how it had gotten there”及“unofficial piece”矛盾；C选项与第二段“falsely stated”不符；D选项与第二段“an artist known as Elias Marrow”相悖。故选B。

2.2. What does the underlined word “ambiguous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A Unclear.

B Hopeful.

C Common.

D Terrible.

解析：选A。A词义猜测题。根据第三段破折号后的解释“it’s unclear ‘whether he waits to be fed, punished or simply forgotten’”可知，“ambiguous”一词的后面紧跟了一个破折号，用于直接解释说明——“不清楚他是在等待被喂食、被惩罚，还是直接被遗忘”。这种“不清楚是A、B还是C”的结构，清晰地表明其含义是“开放给多种解释的”或“不确定的”。破折号后内容是对前文“ambiguous”的具体说明，由此可推断该词含义与“unclear”一致，意为“模糊的，不明确的”。B（有希望的）、C（常见的）、D（糟糕的）均不符合语境。故选A。

3.3. Why did Marrow place the artwork in the museum?

A To showcase his AI skills.

B To highlight child poverty.

C To challenge art institutions.

D To protest museum management.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据第三段的“His main goal was to question how public institutions decide what art is worth showing...”及最后一段“continuing to challenge the established rules of the art world”可推断，Marrow创作并放置这幅作品的核心目的是对现有艺术界规则提出质疑和挑战。A选项“展示AI技术”并非其主要目的；B选项“突出儿童贫困问题”是作品主题而非创作放置这幅画的目的；D选项“抗议博物馆的管理问题”在文中并未体现。故选C。

4.4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the last two paragraphs?

A AI art causes great discussion.

B Marrow’s acts are widely praised.

C AI art is not real art at all.

D Marrow will stop his strange acts.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据第四段的“not everyone shares his enthusiasm”以及第五段的“This incident reflects the ongoing debate in the art world about AI-generated images”可知，AI艺术引发了人们不同的看法，在艺术界存在持续的争议，即带来了广泛讨论。B选项“广受赞扬”与“not everyone shares his enthusiasm”不符；C选项“根本不是艺术”是争议点之一，并非定论；D选项“会停止行为”与“continuing to challenge”矛盾。故选A。