自由与和谐：梅托雷纳的艺术世界
Jill Maytorena is a California artist. She makes pictures of women she knows: her friends, her neighbours and her family. She does not use only paint; she also mixes paper, cloth, thread, feathers and pastels — soft colour sticks used for drawing. She chooses these materials for a reason: they show that a person is made of many layers.Some of her works are over a metre tall.
Maytorena’s love of materials began in her childhood. She grew up with colourful wallpaper, cloth and handmade objects around her. She lived in England and in the United States, so she saw different ways of making art. Her family took her to museums and encouraged her to draw, paint and make things by hand.
Today Maytorena collects her materials from many places. She finds cloth with patterns in shops in Los Angeles, and she keeps small pieces of old wallpaper in a drawer at home. Printed paper is her favourite material: the ink on old printed paper sits a little above the surface, so the surface is not flat. She can feel the raised lines under her pencil, and this texture makes her pictures rich and lively.
Maytorena describes her way of working as freedom and harmony. “At the beginning I do not plan,” she says. “I choose colours and patterns freely, and I often put together things that do not belong together. At the end I look for harmony, and I find connections between the materials and the woman in the picture.”
Maytorena hopes her pictures leave space for the people who look at them. “I do not tell one story,” she says. “The layers and patterns show that we are all made of different parts, and our stories keep changing as we choose what to keep.”
1.1. What do Maytorena’s pictures usually show?
A Women in her life.
B Places she visited.
C Things in museums.
D Pictures by other artists.
解析：选A。A 细节理解题。文章第一段第二句说 “She makes pictures of women she knows: her friends, her neighbours and her family.” 她画的是她认识的女性，包括朋友、邻居和家人，因此这些女性可以理解为“她生活中的女性”。B“她参观过的地方”文中并未说她画的是地点；C“博物馆里的东西”只是提到家人带她去博物馆，并不是她画作的内容；D“其他艺术家的画”文中没有依据。故选A。
2.2. What started Maytorena’s love of materials?
A Her school art lessons.
B Her trips to shops.
C Her childhood surroundings.
D Her friends’ paintings.
解析：选C。C 细节理解题。第二段开头说 “Maytorena’s love of materials began in her childhood.” 接着说她成长过程中周围有彩色墙纸、布料和手工制品，因此是她童年的周围环境开启了她对材料的热爱。A“学校美术课”文中未提；B“去商店”是现在她寻找布料的方式，不是她热爱材料的开端；D“朋友的画作”文中未提。故选C。
3.3. What does the underlined word “texture” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A The size of a picture.
B The feel of a surface.
C The price of the cloth.
D The colour of the ink.
解析：选B。B 词义猜测题。根据第三段 “the ink on old printed paper sits a little above the surface, so the surface is not flat. She can feel the raised lines under her pencil...” 可知，这种 “texture” 是她能用铅笔触到的、纸面凸起线条带来的质感，即“表面的触感”。A“图片的尺寸”、C“布料的价格”、D“墨水的颜色”都与“feel the raised lines”和“surface is not flat”的语境不符。故选B。
4.4. What can we learn about Maytorena’s way of working?
A She starts without a fixed plan.
B She plans every detail carefully.
C She copies other artists’ works.
D She avoids showing real feelings.
解析：选A。A 细节理解题。第四段直接引用她的话 “At the beginning I do not plan.” 并且她说“I choose colours and patterns freely”，说明她开始时没有固定计划，故选 A。B“她仔细计划每个细节”与原文相反；C“她复制其他艺术家的作品”文中未提；D“她避免表达真实感受”没有依据，也与她强调自由、和谐和个人创作理念不符。故选A。
5.5. Where is the passage most probably taken from?
A A travel guide.
B A science report.
C A school diary.
D An art magazine.
解析：选D。D 推理判断题。全文介绍艺术家 Jill Maytorena 的创作对象、使用材料、童年影响、工作方法和艺术理念，属于艺术人物介绍类文章，因此最可能选自艺术杂志。A“旅游指南”通常介绍景点、交通和食宿；B“科学报告”应侧重科学研究、实验或数据；C“学校日记”通常是第一人称记录校园生活，均与本文内容和写作方式不符。故选D。