Question

    Every year, thousands of teenagers participate in programs at their local art museums. But do any of them remember their time at museum events later in life? A new report suggests that the answer is yes – and finds that alumni (毕业生) of arts-based museum programs credit them with changing the course of their lives, even years after the experience.

The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles recently asked researchers to conduct a study to find out how effective their long-standing teen art programs really are. They involved over 300 former participants of four programs for teens that have been in existence since the 1990s. Alumni, whose current ages range from 18 to 36, were invited to find out how they viewed their participation years after the fact.

Among the alumni surveyed, 75 percent of alumni rated the teen program experience as the most favorable influence on their own lives, beating family, school and their neighborhoods. Nearly 55 percent thought that it was one of the most important experiences they’d ever had, regardless of age. And two-thirds said that they were often in situations where their experience in museums affected their actions or thoughts.

It turns out that participating in art programs also helps keep teens enthusiastic about arts even after they reach adulthood: 96 percent of participants had visited an art museum within the last two years, and 68 percent had visited an art museum five or more times within the last two years. Thirty-two percent of program alumni work in the arts as adults.

Though the study is the first of its kind to explore the influence of teen-specific art programs in museums, it reflects other research on the important benefits of engaging with the arts. A decade of surveys by the National Endowment for the Arts found that childhood experience with the arts is significantly associated with their income and educational attainment as adults. Other studies have linked arts education to everything from lower drop-out rates to improvement in critical (批判性的)thinking skills.

1.What does the underlined phrase “the experience” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A.Joining in childhood art programs.

B.Shifting the course of children’s life.

C.Memorizing the time at museum events.

D.Conducting arts-based museum programs.

2.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A.The aim of the study.

B.The result of the study.

C.The method of the study.

D.The process of the study.

3.What can be inferred from the study mentioned in the text?

A.No other studies about the benefits of arts exist.

B.Love for arts may keep long in kids’ whole life.

C.Age matters in how people view their art experiences.

D.Most kids participating in art programs will work in arts.

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A.How can Art be Connected to Our Life?

B.Can Art Education Affect Our Income?

C.Should Kids Walk into Art Museums?

D.What Should Art Museums do for Kids?

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了研究发现青少年艺术项目对青少年有深远的影响。

1.词义猜测题。根据第一段第一句话“Every year, thousands of teenagers participate in programs at their local art museums.”可知，每年，成千上万的青少年参加当地艺术博物馆的项目，此处说的是一份新的报告发现艺术博物馆项目的校友们甚至在参加当地艺术博物馆的项目多年之后都认为它们改变了自己的生活，由此可知，画线词指的就是“参加儿童艺术项目”，故A项正确。

2.主旨大意题。根据第三段内容可知，在接受调查的校友中，75%的校友认为参加青少年项目的经历对他们自己的生活最有利；近55%的人认为这是他们有过的最重要的经历之一；三分之二的人说，他们在博物馆的经历常常会影响到他们的行为或思想，这是研究发现的青少年项目对青少年的影响，也就是这项研究的研究结果，故B项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段中的“It turns out that participating in art programs also helps keep teens enthusiastic about arts even after they reach adulthood”可知，事实证明，参加艺术项目也有助于保持青少年对艺术的热情，即使他们到了成年期，由此可知，对艺术的热爱可能会在孩子们的一生中持续很久，故B项正确。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文，特别是根据第一段中的“A new report suggests that the answer is yes – and finds that alumni (毕业生) of arts-based museum programs credit them with changing the course of their lives, even years after the experience.”可知，本文主要介绍了研究发现青少年艺术项目对青少年有深远的影响，孩子们应该参加博物馆的艺术项目，故C项（孩子们应该走进艺术博物馆吗？）最适合作文章标题。