She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last for ever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.
The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louver Museum(卢浮宫) where it is housed.
“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago,” the museum said. Visitors have noticed changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state.
Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. “It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops,” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University. “It’s because direct vision(视觉) is excellent at picking up details, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows.”
However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile. Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519.
In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louver by a former employee, who took it out of the museum, hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later. During World War Ⅱ, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces.We can infer from the text that_______
| A．the Mona Lisa is proved to be able to last another 500 years |
| B．Mona Lisa’s beauty is fading gradually with 500 years passing by |
| C．the Mona Lisa has been catching people’s wide attention in the past 500 years |
| D．Mona Lisa does not look out of date though painted 500 years ago |
Which of the following is true about the Mona Lisa?
| A．It was once taken away and hidden up by German forces. |
| B．Its painter himself loved it greatly and always kept it in a shade. |
| C．Mona Lisa stops smiling when you look at her wanting to see her smiles. |
| D．King Francis I bought it and then returned it to Italy. |
Choose the right order about the happenings onto Mona Lisa.
a. It was stolen from the Louver.
b. Its painter sold it to King Francis I
c. Its state of health was checked.
d. It was returned to France and housed in the Louver Museum.
e. It was hidden and protected against Germans.
| A．b-a-d-e-c | B．d-e-c-b-a | C．d-a-e-c-b | D．b-c-a-d-e |
It may add to the difficulty in repairing the painting that_____.
| A．experts haven’t noticed changes in its shape as visitors do |
| B．it is likely to be stolen again when it’s under repair |
| C．it is uncertain which country, Italy of France, should take charge |
| D．experts aren’t sure about the materials and the chemical state of its oil paint |
Severely disabled people may soon be able to use their noses to write, drive a wheelchair or surf the Internet, thanks to a device (装置) developed by doctors in Israel.
The device will be used by breathing in and out through the nose, according to a study. Healthy people who tested the device quickly learned to play computer games and write sentences by sniffing. Encouraged by the results, the researchers decided to test their device on people who are paralyzed (瘫痪) but whose intelligence remains normal. Ten paralyzed who tested the device quickly learned to use their noses to write words, open a webpage, copy words and put them into a search engine.
With their success in helping severely disabled people to communicate, the researchers decided to make use of the new technology to design an electric wheelchair to be driven by sniffs.
Ten healthy people easily mastered sniff—driving a wheelchair through a maze (迷宫), and a 30-year-old man who had been paralyzed from the neck down for six years was as good a sniff-driver as the healthy participants at his second attempt. In other words, a paralyzed person could use the sniff controller to drive an electric wheelchair.
At the moment, sniff-controlled technology is still in the stage of development, and the Weizmann Institute has already applied for a patent on the device. "I’ll be very happy if it can help us to make money, but the real problem is that I hope someone will develop it, because this would help a lot of people," said Sobel, one of the lead researchers of the study.What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To introduce a new invention. |
| B．To equip the disabled with life skills. |
| C．To show the nose's special functions. |
| D．To instruct doctors to apply for a patent. |
In the test, the paralyzed people with normal intelligence can use their nose to ______.
| A．type long sentences quickly |
| B．play computer games easily |
| C．enter a website without much difficulty |
| D．communicate with others successfully |
With the help of the sniffing device, a 30-year-old disabled man ______.
| A．spent six years learning how to drive a wheelchair |
| B．failed to drive through the maze at his first attempt |
| C．took the wheelchair controlled by healthy participants |
| D．managed to drive an electric wheelchair by sniffing |
From the last paragraph, we can infer that the sniff-controlled technology ______.
| A．will be applied to other fields of research |
| B．needs further developing to serve more people |
| C．has become an important patented invention |
| D．shows the wisdom and talents of Israel doctors |
When Dekalb Walcott III was just 8 years old, his father, a Chicago fire chief, let him tag along on a call. Dekalb says a lot of kids idolized basketball player Michael Jordan when he was growing up in Chicago in the 1990s. Not him.
"I wanted to be like Dekalb Walcott Jr.," he says of his father. So when his dad asked if he wanted to go on that call with him when he was 8, Dekalb was excited. "I'm jumping up and down, saying, Mom, can I go? Can I go?"
The experience changed Dekalb's life, he tells his dad on a visit to Story Corps. "My eyes got big from the moment the alarm went off." the younger Dekalb says. "This is the life that I want to live someday."
Now 27, the younger Dekalb is living that life. He became a firefighter at 21 and went to work alongside his dad at the Chicago Fire Department. Before his father retired, the pair even went out on a call together—father supervising(监督)son.
"You know, it's everything for me to watch you grow," his father says. But he also recalls worrying about one particular fire that his son faced.
I received a phone call that night. And they said, “Well, your son was at this fire.” I said, “OK, which way is this conversation going to go?” Dekalb Walcott Jr. recalls.
And they said, “But he's OK. And he put it out all by himself. Everybody here was proud of him.'
And the word went around, “Who was out there managing that fire? Oh, that's Walcott! That's Walcott up there!” So, you know, moments like that, it's heaven on Earth for a dad.
Dekalb Walcott Jr. retired in 2009. The younger Dekalb says he's proud of being a second-generation firefighter. "You know, it makes me look forward to fatherhood as well, because I'm definitely looking forward to passing that torch down to my son."The underlined phrase tag along in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．put out fire |
| B．watch basketball |
| C．follow his father |
| D．ask his mother’s permission |
Dekalb Walcott III determined to become a firefighter at the age of _________.
| A．27 | B．21 | C．8 | D．35 |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Dekalb Walcott III wants his son to become a firefighter too. |
| B．Dekalb Walcott Jr. is proud to be a second-generation firefighter. |
| C．Dekalb Walcott Jr. wants to pass the torch to Dekalb Walcott III. |
| D．Dekalb Walcott III is proud that his son has become an excellent firefighter. |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．Putting Out Fire: A Challenging Job for Father and son. |
| B．Passing The Torch: A Firefighter Dad's Legacy. |
| C．Dekalb Walcott III: A Second-generation Firefighter. |
| D．Dekalb Walcott Jr.: A Chicago Fire Chief. |
Etymology, the study of words and word roots, may sound like the kind of thing done by boring librarians in small, dusty rooms．Yet etymologists actually have a uniquely interesting job．They are in many ways just like archaeologists (考古学家) digging up the physical history of people and events．The special aspect of etymology is that it digs up history, so to speak, through the words and phrases that are left behind．
The English language, in particular, is a great field to explore history through words. As a language, English has an extraordinary number of words．This is partly due to its ability to adapt foreign words so readily．For example, "English" words such as kindergarten (from German), croissant (from French), and cheetah (from Hindi) have become part of the language with little or no change from their original sounds and spellings. So English-language etymologists have a vast world of words to explore．
Another enjoyable thing about etymology for most word experts is solving word mysteries(谜)．No, etymologists do not go around solving murders, like the great detective Sherlock Holmes．What these word experts solve are mysterious origins of some of our most common words
One of the biggest questions English language experts have pursued is how English came to have the phrase OK．Though it is one of the most commonly used expressions, its exact beginning is a puzzle even to this day．Even its spelling is not entirely consistent-unless you spell it Okay, it is hard even to call it a word．
Etymologists have been able to narrow OK’s origin down to a likely, although not certain, source(来源)．It became widely used around the time of Martin Van Buren's run for president in 1840. His nickname was Old Kinderhook. What troubles word experts about this explanation is that the phrase appeared in some newspapers before Van Buren became well known．It is likely that Van Buren could be called its primary source Etymologists will doubtlessly keep searching for the initial source．However, it is clear that OK’s popularity and reputation have topped those of the American president to whom it has been most clearly linked．The author mentions the words like "croissant" in Paragraph 2 to indicate________．
| A．words have changed a lot in the two languages |
| B．what English-language etymologists are exploring now |
| C．English has absorbed many words from other foreign languages |
| D．the English vocabulary is difficult to the non-English-speaking people |
The underlined word "pursued" in Paragraph 4 means___________．
| A．looked upon | B．dug up | C．put in | D．set down |
We can learn from the passage that etymologists_______．
| A．discover the possible origin of words |
| B．help detectives to solve mysterious murders |
| C．write interesting stories for some newspapers |
| D．explore the English language as well as the recent events |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To present the history of English words. |
| B．To explain the procedure of an etymologist's job. |
| C．To introduce the pleasure of the study of words and word roots． |
| D．To teach readers how to distinguish English and non-English words |
Charles Dickens is often thought of as one of the greatest British writers.February 7 marked the 200th anniversary of his birthday. Yet for many, his language is old-fashioned and his stories often improbable. So why do so many people know and read Dickens today?
One reason is the British government's insistence that every child studies a Dickens novel at school. Alongside William Shakespeare, Dickens is on every English literature school reading list.His stories, though often long by today's standards, are great moral tales. They are filled with colorful characters.
Earlier this month a ceremony was held in Portsmouth ,where Dickens was born Prince Charles said at the ceremony, Dickens used his creative genius to campaign passionately for social justice, his characterization is a fresh today as on the day is was written.
His books stand out from many other writers because of his insight into human nature. Dickens like Shakespeare tells us truths about human behavior. They are as true in the 21st century as they were to his readers in the 19th century.
Readers have returned to Dickens’ books again and again over the years to see what he has to say about their own times.
No surprise then that it was Dickens whom Britons turned to during the economic crisis in the last couple of years. Dickens helped them make sense of a world that was rapidly falling apart. The BBC adapted one of his less well-known novels, Little Dorrit, into a popular television drama thatintroduced many Brits to the novel for the first time. A dark story about greed and money, it was the perfect illustration of bad times.
As long as Dickens’s novels have something to say to modern audiences, it seems likely that he will remain one of Britain’s best-loved writers.In the article, the author intends to tell us ______.
| A．why Dickens’ novels still appeal to readers in modern times |
| B．that Dickens’ works are no longer popular among young people |
| C．why the British government puts Dickens on school reading lists |
| D．that Dickens and Shakespeare’s works are required for study at school |
In Britain, people still read Dickens because of ______.
a) romance in his books
b) moral value in his books
c) his colorful characters
d) his insight into human nature
e) government education requirement
f) his prediction of the current economic crisis
| A．abdf | B．bcde | C．bdef | D．abed |
We can infer from the article that ______.
| A．it’s better to read Dickens in time of difficulty |
| B．Dickens was a great social observer of his time |
| C．human nature seems worse during bad times |
| D．Dickens’s novels are short and easy to read |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Little Dorrit is one of Dickens’ best-known novels. |
| B．Dickens’ novels are of greater value during economic crisis. |
| C．Dickens’ works have gained more popularity than Shakespeare’s |
| D．Dickens’ novels are still of realistic significance to today’s world. |
Two of the hardest things to accomplish in this world are to acquire wealth by honest effort and, having gained it, to learn how to use it properly. Recently I walked into the locker room of a rather well known golf club after finishing a round. It was in the late afternoon and most of the members had left for their homes. But a half - dozen or so men past middle age were still seated at tables talking aimlessly and drinking more than was good for them. These same men can be found there day after day, and, strangely enough, each one of these men had been a man of affairs and wealth, successful in business and respected in the community. If material prosperity were the chief necessity for happiness, then each one should have been happy. Yet, it seemed to me, something very important was missing, else-there would not have been the constant effort to escape the realities of life through scotch and soda. They knew, each one of them, that their productivity had ceased(停止). When a fruit tree ceases to bear its fruit, it is dying. And it is even so with man.
What is the answer to a long and happy existence in this world of ours? I think I found it long ago in a passage from the book of Genesis which caught my eye while I was looking through my Bible. The words were few, but they became memorably impressed on my mind. “In the sweat of the face shall you eat the bread."
To me, that has been a challenge from my earliest recollections (memories). In fact, the battle of life, of existence, is a challenge to everyone. The immortal words of St. Paul, too, have been and always will be a great inspiration to me. At the end of the road I want to be able to feel that I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.Which of the following is indicated in the first paragraph?
| A．Wealth results from honest effort. |
| B．The men seated at tables in the locker room are lost in the significance of life. |
| C．For some people, no way can be found to escape the realities of life other than scotch and soda. |
| D．The men acquire wealth by planting fruit trees. |
The underlined sentence "In the sweat of the face shall you eat the bread " means ____.
| A．Bread tastes delicious when sweat pours off your face |
| B．No pains, no gains |
| C．Failure is the mother of success |
| D．Bread comes from the sweat on your face |
We learn from the passage that the author_______.
| A．was a wealthy person in the community |
| B．held a positive attitude towards an active life |
| C．was fond of associating with celebrities (名人) |
| D．kept a secret of the reason why he was so impressed |
What is implied in the passage by the writer?
| A．To use wealth properly, eat, drink and be merry. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．As life is but like a dream, a man is like a fruit tree. |
| D．If you cease to struggle, you cease to live. |