The sweet art of painting with caramelized sugar(焦糖) can be witnessed in China’s Sichuan province. This ancient craft still manages to amaze tourists lucky enough to stumble upon a skilled street artist.

According to experts, this type of Chinese folk art originated from the Ming Dynasty when sugar animals and figures were created as part of ceremonies for sacrifice. During the Qing Dynasty, it gained even more popularity and the techniques were upgraded, which resulted in an increased number of patterns, most of them inspired by nature, wildlife and religion. In the beginning, people used molds(模具) to shape the caramelized sugar, but they were gradually replaced with a small bronze (青铜的) spoon that had to be used by talented artists who were experts at the art of normal painting as well.

“Painting” artistic pieces from melted sugar is very different from regular painting. Because the hot sugar cools down very quickly, the painter has to work swiftly, making sure he follows the correct order of strokes(一画，笔画) to get every shape just right. In order to get familiar with the process and the technique, it’s recommended that artists practice normal painting first.

Masters of this centuries-old craft use brown or white sugar as the main material. A bronze spoon and a small spade as tools, and a slab(厚块) of marble as the canvas. The sugar is melted over a fiery pot and spread over the canvas with the spoon. Once the shape is completed, the spade is used to glue a wooden stick to the artwork and to separate it from the marble slab. Then you can have your very own caramelized sugar dragon or tiger and a unique souvenir.

The art is gaining support from both the general public and the government, who had it listed as a Provincial Non-Material Culture Heritage.

【小题1】What does the underlined phrase probably mean in this passage?

A．Employ.

B．Attract.

C．Become.

D．Encounter.

【小题2】What can we know about the caramelized sugar painting in Qing Dynasty?

A．It played a more important role in ceremonies.

B．The themes of the paintings were various.

C．The molds were completely replaced by spoons.

D．More people were attracted to study paintings.

【小题3】What makes sugar painting different from regular painting?

A．The order of strokes.	B．The number of the patterns.
C．The drawing materials.	D．The topics of the paintings.

【小题4】What does the fourth paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The history of making sugar paintings.	B．The process of creating sugar paintings.
C．The variety of different sugar paintings.	D．The pleasure of enjoying sugar paintings.