4．
阅读理解
Athena was born and raised in Ukraine. Her
parents wanted her to become a lawyer or a doctor. But she always knew she
wanted to paint. She also realized a career in painting would not be possible
if she stayed in her country.
Even though she was painting in her whole
life and it was her passion(热情)but it was only a
hobby. And she never really took it to the next level because back in the
country all the artists were hungry artists. So she knew for some reason she
never took art as a career because she would never be able to make money and be
successful in it in several years.
So. Athena came to the United States when
she was 14 years old to pursue(追求)an American Dream.
She was clear on her goal. Athena first worked at a health food shop. She began
to paint on the shop's menu boards. A customer praised her skill and asked if
she would help paint faces at street fairs. Athena says it was a good start. Then
she went to FABAIC to start body painting.
Body painting is quite different from plain
painting. And she loves it very much. She says. "With body, you work with
the people factor and it's not only you. Maybe they want to talk or move, and
they cannot stand still for several days while the painting will last three to
four days. When I paint. I can't stop."
