四、阅读理解
A rooster (公鸡) is washing a mahjong tile (麻将牌) with the Chinese character fa (发) on it. This funny scene reminds us of the popular Chinese phrase gongxi facai (恭喜发财), through the clever use of homophony (谐音). Many viewers laugh out loud the moment they see this lovely painting.
Zhang Mingxiang, 26, also known on social media as “Wo Shi Chao Ren”, created this interesting pun (双关语). The painter mixes traditional Chinese paintings with homophonic elements (同音异义的元素). He spends weeks on each painting to make the homophonic jokes natural and lively. This creative style has got him over one million fans on the internet.
“I grew up with picture books,” Zhang said. “The more I read, the more I wanted to draw.” Colourful illustrations (插图) in those books planted a love for painting deep in Zhang’s heart. He used to draw by himself in the classroom during his middle school years.
a
When he began sharing his paintings online, he quickly got very popular. The idea to focus on cute animals came along in 2018 after he saw people selling Chinese calligraphy (beautiful handwriting) on Douyin.
b
“The black and white seemed a bit boring to me,” Zhang said. “I remembered the cartoon books I read as a child. Suddenly, pictures of cute animals came into my mind.”
Once, he was trying to draw a Chinese story about Wu Song fighting a tiger. He thought for hours, hoping to add a fresh twist (新意) to the classic tale. Then an idea hit him: Why not draw five squirrels, which could then be called wu song (五松)?
c
“For example, when I thought about drawing a great hawk (鹰) spreading its wings, ‘Why can’t it be a little chicken spreading its wings instead’?”
Now, Zhang also creates all kinds of cultural products with his artworks, including T-shirts and bags. Every product is printed with his soft animal paintings full of Chinese homophonic fun. Young buyers love to take these special cultural goods as daily decorations or gifts.
d
He hopes that his style and products will go to other countries one day.
(
B
) 1. Which of the following does NOT use homophony?
(
D
) 2. What does Zhang use five squirrels to show?
A. Himself. B. Five trees. C. A tiger. D. A tiger fighter.
(
C
) 3. In which blank can we put the sentence “He has begun to add other fun elements to his picture since then.”?
A. a B. b C. c D. d
(
D
) 4. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Zhang finds the black and white Chinese calligraphy kind of boring.
B. Zhang mixes traditional Chinese writing with homophonic elements.
C. Zhang’s cultural products and his artworks are very popular in foreign countries.
D. Zhang’s love for picture books helps him to have many creative ideas in his paintings.
