Sculptor brings clay to life指尖上的泥土传奇

江丽

作为一位雕塑家，他没有感天动地的故事，但不失工匠之心，用雕塑伴随成长，用艺术点亮了自己美好的人生。

题材：传统艺术 体裁：记叙文 文章词数：363 建议用时：7分钟

Sculptor Jia Yinzheng is an art and craft master in his late 30s. Locals call his home a neighborhood museum.

A wooden knife is all he needs to bring his lumps （块） of clay to life. After hes finished， the figures have their own characters， moods and stories. His works are delicate， as he pays a great deal of attention to adding vivid expressions and details to his works. Jias clay figurines represent characters in Shanxi legends and folk culture， which makes them popular with local residents.

Born in Qingxu County， Taiyuan， in 1983， Jia is the fifth generation of his family to work with clay. When he was young， his father would give him clay toys hed made， and one of Jias favorite childhood pursuits was making miniature clay sculptures of cats， dogs， pigs， sheep， and even household objects and furniture.

Jia worked as an advertising designer before he met a folk artisan earning his living by making clay sculptures. Then he quit his job and started to learn how to sculpt figures out of clay under the artisan. In 2010， Jia began to make clay figurines on his own. This was when he met his most important teacher， Fan Yongliang， a master of clay sculpture?making. Fan felt it was important to give Jia the guidance to ensure that Jias talent， skill and passion for the intangible cultural heritage could later be passed down to future generations. As a result of Fans tutoring， Jia made quick progress， both in terms of his ability and his creative concepts. He began to tell stories from his hometowns history by using clay figurines in vivid clay settings.

After winning a couple of national prizes， Jia became a well?known artist. Four years ago， he moved his studio to Xiaoyaotou， where the city government has provided workshops for over 20 intangible cultural heritage projects. The village has become a tourist attraction. “I am happy to see so many young people come to the village to learn traditional crafts，” Jia said.

As his master told him once before， the pursuit of perfection in traditional arts and crafts is infinite， and their future always lies with the young.

1. The underlined word “delicate” in paragraph 2 can be replaced by .

A. easily damaged B. quite small

C. carefully made D. pretty cool

2. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about？

A. Jias family background. B. Jias road to becoming a sculptor.

C. Jias achievements as a sculptor. D. Jias experiences as an advertising designer.

3. Which of the following may Jias master agree with？

A. Workshops for traditional arts are unnecessary.

B. The elderly should pass traditional arts down.

C. Advanced technology can be used to protect traditional arts.

D. The future of traditional arts lies mainly with young people.

Useful expressions

in ones 30s 在某人三十幾岁的时候

pay a great deal of attention to doing sth 非常认真地做某事

be popular with 受……欢迎

clay sculpture 泥塑

earn ones living by 通过……谋生

intangible cultural heritage 非物质文化遗产

pass...down to 把……传给……