Fading beauty
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 Louvre Museum (卢浮宫博物馆) 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 (化学状态).
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 detail, 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 Louvre 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.
Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell.What does the writer mean by “time is catching up with the Mona Lisa”?
| A．The painted woman is not so beautiful any more. |
| B．Ageing is something that affects us all. |
| C．The painting needs repairing. |
| D．At such an old age, she is no longer popular. |
What makes the repair work difficult?
| A．The wooden panel is thin and old and has also changed shape. |
| B．The health of the painting is suffering |
| C．Experts can’t agree on how the painting might respond to treatment. |
| D．No one knows exactly what materials were used to create the painting. |
What makes her smile so mysterious according to Professor Livingston?
| A．The materials the Italian artist used. | B．The way Da Vinci painted the smile. |
| C．The way she smiles. | D．It plays a trick upon the human eye. |
Which of the following is in the right order?
①The painting was stolen from the Louvre.
②The painting was sent back to France.
③It was sold to France’s King Francis I
④Da Vinci carried the painting with him.
⑤French hid the painting to keep it out of the hands of German forces.
| A．④→③→①→②→⑤ | B．④→①→③→②→⑤ |
| C．①→④→③→②→⑤ | D．①→③→④→②→⑤ |
The energy crisis has made people aware of how the careless use of the earth’s energy has brought the whole world to the edge of disaster. The over-development of motor transport, with its increase of more cars, more traveling, has contributed to the near-destruction of our cities and the pollution not only of local air but also of the earth’s atmosphere.
Our present situation is unlike natural disasters of the past. Worldwide energy use has brought us to a state where long-range planning is vital. What we need is not a continuation of our present serious state, which endangers the future of our country, our children, and our earth, but a movement forward in order to work rapidly and effectively on planetary problems.
This country has been failing back under the continuing exposures of loss of morality and the revelation(揭露) that lawbreaking has reached into the highest place in the land. There is a strong demand for morality to turn for the better and for some devotion that is vast enough and yet personal enough to enlist the devotion of all. In the past it has been only in a way in defense of their own country and their own benefits that people have been able to devote themselves wholeheartedly.
This is the first time that we have been asked to defend ourselves and what we hold dear in cooperation with all the other people of this planet, who share with us the same endangered air and the same endangered oceans. There is a common need to reassess our present course, to change that course and to employ new methods through which the world can survive. This is a priceless opportunity.
To grasp it, we need a widespread understanding of nature if the crisis we and the world are facing is no passing inconvenience, no byproduct of the ambitions of the oil-producing countries, no environmentalists’ only fears, no byproduct of any present system of government. What we face is the result of the invention of the last four hundred years. What we need is a transformed life style. This new life style can flow directly from science and technology, but its acceptance depends on a sincere devotion to finding a higher quality of life for the world’s children and future generation.Which of the following has nearly destroyed our cities?
| A．The loss of beliefs and ideas. |
| B．More of law-breaking. |
| C．Natural disasters in many areas. |
| D．The rapid growth of motors. |
By comparing past problems with present ones, the author draws our attention to the.
| A．seriousness of this crisis |
| B．ineffectiveness of laws |
| C．similarity of the past to the present |
| D．hopelessness of the situation |
Which of the following is used as an example to show the loss of morality?
| A．Disregard for law. | B．Lack of devotion. |
| C．Lack of understanding. | D．Destruction of cities. |
The author wrote the passage in order to.
| A．make a recommendation for a transformed life style |
| B．limit ambitions of the people of the whole world |
| C．demand devotion to nature and future generation |
| D．encourage awareness of the decline of morality |
The world’s native languages are dying out at an unprecedented(空前的) rate, taking with them irreplaceable(不能替代的) knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.
The study identified five global “hot spots” where languages are vanishing faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. “Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction,” linguistics(语言学的) professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world’s 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.
Native people had an intimate(详尽的) knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. “Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it’s only in people’s heads,” he said. “We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base.”
Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. “The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them,” he said. “When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,‘This is a dying language, we need to learn it’.” Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct.
The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues.What does this text mainly talk about?
| A．A study on native languages endangered. |
| B．The knowledge of native languages. |
| C．People’s efforts in saving native languages. |
| D．Harrison and his study on languages. |
The underlined word“vanishing”in the second paragraph can be best replaced by.
| A．developing | B．changing | C．increasing | D．Disappearing |
According to Harrison, language extinction.
| A．causes the researchers lots of worries |
| B．speeds up the pace of species extinction |
| C．threatens the existing of Spanish and English |
| D．brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment |
Which of the following can be described as good news?
| A．Native languages became less endangered in Australia. |
| B．A man was found with knowledge of the Amurdag language. |
| C．Researchers were well received by native people in Australia. |
| D．Many schoolchildren showed interest in the Yawuru language. |
We’re one of the biggest ESL professional organizations in Shanghai, China and we have 10 primary schools, 2 middle schools, and 5 kindergartens in Shanghai and 1 in Suzhou. For these schools, we only need oral English teachers.
We also own an international school whose name is Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary and Middle School. For this school, we need classroom teachers and subject teachers to teach Science, PE, and Music in English.
We prefer to hire experienced teachers with TESOL or Teacher’s Certificate. If you want to know more about us, please visit our website at http://www.shyulun.com/.
●Dates and Durations
We need 1 teacher for every position as below:
1. Classroom Teacher Position in Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School (From 17th Feb 2009, 12 months)
2. Subject Teacher Position in Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School (From 1st Sep 2009, 10 months)
3. Oral English teachers in Shanghai Changning Experimental Primary School (From 3rd March 2009, 3 months)
●Basic requirements for the Positions
1. Native English speakers for all of the above positions
2. Bachelor Degree at least (Position 1 and 2) with related teaching experience
3. TESOL or related certificate (Position 3)
●Working Conditions and Environment
The schools are the top schools in Shanghai with libraries and public computer rooms. Every teacher will have the office desk, free access to the Internet. We provide teaching materials and teaching guidelines.
●Salary, International Travel Allowance and Bonus
The salary ranges from 6,000 RMB to 10,000 RMB per month according to the position you apply for, which can ensure you have a comfortable life in Shanghai.
We will offer you part or full international travel allowances depending on how long you will work for us. Generally, we will pay you a return ticket for one year contract.The ESL professional organization in Shanghai wants to take on.
| A．some language teachers to work in Shanghai |
| B．some native English teachers to work in Suzhou |
| C．some language teachers to work in Suzhou |
| D．some native English teachers to work in Shanghai |
Those who are going to work for the organization will.
| A．prepare teaching materials themselves |
| B．get at least $6,000 a month |
| C．get international travel allowances |
| D．buy their return tickets themselves |
If you want to be hired as a classroom teacher by the above organization, you should.
| A．speak several languages |
| B．have Bachelor Degree |
| C．present good teaching plans |
| D．know how to teach middle school students |
The passage is probably taken from a.
| A．novel | B．travel guide | C．news report | D．Website |
Family traditions were important in our house, and none was more appreciated than the perfect Christmas tree.
“Dad, can we watch when you trim(修剪) the tree?” My eldest son, Dan, nine, and his seven-year-old brother John, asked.
“I won’t be cutting this year,” my husband Bob said. “Dan, you and John are old enough to measure things. Do it all by yourselves. Think you boys can handle it?”
Dan and John seemed to grow six inches in their chairs at the thought of such an amazing responsibility. “We can handle it,” Dan promised. “We won’t let you down.”
A few days before Christmas, Dan and John rushed in after school. They gathered the tools they’d need and brought them out to the yard, where the tree waited. I was cooking when I heard the happy sounds as the boys carried the tree into the living room. Then I heard the sound that every mother knows is trouble: dead silence. I hurried out to them. The tree was cut too short. John crossed his arms tight across his chest. His eyes filled with angry tears.
I felt worried. The tree was central to our holiday. I didn’t want the boys to feel ashamed every time they looked at it. I couldn’t lower the ceiling, and I couldn’t raise the floor either. There was no way to undo the damage done. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind, which turned the problem into the solution.
“We can’t make the tree taller,” I said. “But we can put it on a higher position.”
Dan nodded his head sideways. “We could put it on the coffee table. It just might work! Let’s try it!”
When Bob got home and looked at the big tree on top of the coffee table, Dan and John held their breath.
“What a good idea!” he declared. “Why didn’t I ever think of such a thing?”
John broke into a grin. Dan’s chest swelled with pride.The underlined part “grow six inches” (Para. 4) implies the brothers felt.
| A．proud | B．nervous | C．embarrassed | D．Scared |
What happened after the brothers moved the Christmas tree into the living room?
| A．They rushed to school. |
| B．They began to decorate the tree. |
| C．They got angry with each other. |
| D．They found the tree was cut short. |
How could the short tree be turned into a perfect one?
| A．By making the tree taller. |
| B．By lowering the ceiling. |
| C．By placing it on a coffee table. |
| D．By raising the floor. |
What Bob said in the last but one paragraph showed.
| A．he was a little disappointed |
| B．he was too stupid to think of the idea |
| C．he appreciated what the brothers had done |
| D．he should not have given them the task |
Joe, Bill, Marsha, Linda 和Ann正在寻找促进身心健康的锻炼项目。阅读以下6个选项（A，B，C，D，E和F）的内容，选出符合他们要求的最佳选项，并在答题纸上将相应选项的标号涂黑。选项中有一项是多余的。Joe wants to attend an activity that enables him to relax fully and reduce workplace anxiety effectively.
Bill wants to attend a course which prepares him for the challenges in the workplace after he returns from vacation.
Marsha wants to shape her body with enough exercises while experiencing the exciting music and learning the vibrant, sexy steps.
Linda wants to find a course that ensures a healthy life style and a specialized approach of losing weight.
Ann wants to attend a course that helps her work out a workable plan for her exercise, an exercise that costs her almost nothing.
| A．Do you hate going to the gym? Have trouble sticking to those boring exercise programs? Then learn how to dance your way into shape and get a great cardiovascular(心脏血管的) workout to music that really makes you want to move. This exciting 50-minute solo dance workout is perfect for anyone who wants to burn calories, tone muscles and learn the hottest Latin dance moves----all at the same time. You’ll dance your way to a slimmer, healthier and sexier you to the exciting rhythms of salsa and cha-cha. |
| B．Looking to start an exercise program? Find out if aerobics (气健术) are for you. Review six popular aerobics activities and examine the skill and intensity level of each activity, the benefits and disadvantages of a particular option, the duration, and the required equipment. |
| C． Feeling stressed lately? Taking the time to breathe or stretch may change your entire day. Yoga provides safe and healthy stress management to help you effectively improve your overall health. Explore a number of exercises that can be incorporated into your busy lifestyle and choose the techniques that best suit you. |
| D． Running is inexpensive, increases your energy, and takes little time. It’s a personal activity that can help you stay fit and feel better. Whatever your motivation is for starting a running schedule, the tips you acquire here will help you set realistic goals, stay motivated, plan a routine and avoid injury. |
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We incorporate all the essential tools and techniques to ensure immediate long term results through a combination of functional strength training with our dedicated and experienced personal trainers and an easy to follow nutritional meal plan created individually to meet the unique needs of each and every client. The program has been developed to become a part of your everyday life. There are no fad(时尚) diets, not short cuts, just proven lifestyle techniques through exercise and good nutritional habits. We have developed the secrets that WORK!
F. All MTa’s activities are designed to provide trainers with powerful, effective activities that replicate(模仿) real work place situations and require members to get involved, understand how to improve their performance and transfer their learning into the work place. MTa International’s experiential training activities have been designed with the following criteria (标准) in mind: engage everyone mentally, physically and emotionally provide challenge, but only where required for learning raise issues that relate to work stimulate are targeted at specific training needs involve a well developed review process enable effective learning transfer include an element of fun