Art theft is an ancient and complicated crime. When you look at some of the most famous cases of art thefts in history, you see thoroughly planned operations that involve art dealers, art fakers, mobsters, ransoms, and millions of dollars. Here you can read about some of the most famous cases of art theft in the history.
The First Theft:
The first documented case of art theft was in 1473, when two panels of altarpiece of the Last Judgment by the Dutch painter Hans Memling were stolen. While the triptych was being transported by ship from the Netherlands to Florence, the ship was attacked by pirates who took it to the Gdansk cathedral in Poland. Nowadays, the piece is shown at the National Museum in Gdansk where it was recently moved from the Basilica of the Assumption.
The Most Famous Theft:
The most famous story of art theft involves one of the most famous paintings in the world and one of the most famous artists in history as a suspect. In the night of August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen out of the Louver. Soon after, Pablo Picasso was arrested and questioned by the police, but was released quickly.
It took about two years until the mystery was solved by the Parisian police. It turned out that the 30×21 inch painting was taken by one of the museum employees by the name of Vincenzo Peruggia, who simply carried it hidden under his coat. Nevertheless, Peruggia did not work alone. The crime was carefully conducted by a notorious con man, Eduardo de Valfierno, who was sent by an art faker who intended to make copies and sell them as if they were the original painting.
While Yves Chaudron, the art faker, was busy creating copies for the famous masterpiece, Mona Lisa was still hidden at Peruggias’ apartment. After two years in which Peruggia did not hear from Chaudron, he tried to make the best out of his stolen good. Eventually, Peruggia was caught by the police while trying to sell the painting to an art dealer from Florence, Italy. The Mona Lisa was returned to the Louver in 1913.
The Biggest Theft in the USA:
The biggest art theft in United States took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. On the night of March 18, 1990, a group of thieves wearing police uniforms broke into the museum and took thirteen paintings whose collective value was estimated at around 300 million dollars. The thieves took two paintings and one print by Rembrandt, and works of Vermeer, Manet, Degas, Govaert Flinck, as well as a French and a Chinese artifact.
As of yet, none of the paintings have been found and the case is still unsolved. According to recent rumors, the FBI are investigating the possibility that the Boston Mob along with French art dealers are connected to the crime. How long did it take to put back the stolen Mona Lisa in Louver ?___
| A．Thirty six months | B．Thirty months |
| C．Half a year | D．Around two years |
What does the underlined sentence, “he tried to make the best out of his stolen good” mean?
| A．Chaudron wanted to sell the stolen painting. |
| B．Peruggia thought he didn’t need to work for Chaudon any more and wanted to market the painting. |
| C．Valfierno was tired of waiting. |
| D．Peruggia wanted to study the painting carefully. |
Which case among those mentioned in the passage is still a mystery?
| A．Mona Lisa case |
| B．Last Judgment case |
| C．Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum thirteen paintings case |
| D．none |
People from the country of _____ is not involved in the passage.
| A．China | B．France | C．Dutch | D．Vantican |
Which statement is WRONG according to this article?
| A．Picasso was ever considered a art theft suspect. |
| B．Art thieves normally not work alone. |
| C．The first documented case of art theft was conducted by pirates. |
| D．The mastermind of Mona Lisa was an art faker who wanted to sell copies. |
The passage is not finished, which subtitle could be the next?
| A．The Economic Value of Art Theft | B．The Loss to Art Lovers |
| C．The Most Sought After Painting | D．Boston Mob and French Art Dealers |
Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. “I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts（工作班次）are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school.”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just ￡90, before tax and insurance. “It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra.”
The hours she’s chosen to work mean that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn’t think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn’t physically very hard, but it’s not exactly pleasant, either. “I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they’d be a bit more careful.”
The fact that she’s working all night doesn’t worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. “Since I’ve got to be here, I try to enjoy myself—and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags.”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living. “They think you’re a cleaner because you don’t know how to read and write,” said Margaret. “I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I’d been doing, but I don’t think that way any more. I don’t dislike the work though I can’t say I’m mad about it.”Margaret quit her job as a nurse because _______.
| A．she wanted to earn more money to support her family |
| B．she had suffered a lot of mental pressure |
| C．she felt tired of taking care of patients |
| D．she needed the right time to look after her children |
Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because _______.
| A．they never clean their offices | B．they look down upon cleaners |
| C．they always make a mess in their offices | D．they never do their work carefully |
When at work, Margaret feels _______.
| A．light-hearted because of her fellow workers | B．happy because the building is fully lit |
| C．tired because of the heavy workload | D．bored because time passes slowly |
The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret’s parents would _______.
| A．help care for her children | B．regret what they had said |
| C．show sympathy for her | D．feel disappointed in her |
Last year, Jack Bleed cut through the bone of his ring finger while working. The 31-year-old resident of North Little Rock, Arkansas, waited for about six hours at a nearby medical center while the medical staff there called all over town — even as far away as Dallas and Memphis — to find a hand surgeon to reattach his finger. Finally, a willing doctor was located in Louisville, Kentucky. But even though Bleed had insurance(保险), he would have to hire a private plane to get himself there, at a cost of $4,300. In the end, he charged the cost to two credit cards, and his finger was saved. His insurance company eventually covered the cost of the plane, but his experience makes people aware of the fact that trauma(外伤) care in the United States is not only geographically limited, but in many places, non-existent.
Only eight states — New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington — have local, fully functional trauma systems. The remaining states have partial systems, and 12 — including Arkansas — have no trauma system at all.
Although the President has signed a bill of $12 million for the purpose of supporting trauma care systems nationwide, many in Congress(国会) are unwilling to spend government money for a service they think should be paid for by states, says Wayne Meredith, medical director for trauma programs at the American College of Surgeons. Meanwhile, many states have also failed to find the dollars to support trauma systems. To make matters worse, many people without insurance depend heavily on the emergency care services, placing a huge financial burden on the medical centers that serve them.
For the same reason, doctors, too, often go unpaid. They are unwilling to perform emergency care, worsening critical shortages of neurosurgeons, orthopedists, and hand surgeons — the very types of specialists Bleed needed at short notice.
Supporting a trauma care system doesn’t take much. A half-penny sales tax in Miami-Dade County makes its outstanding system work. In Arkansas alone, says Wayne Meredith, a well-funded trauma system would possibly prevent 200 to 600 deaths each year. If trauma care systems were to work well across the nation, experts say, many thousands of lives each year could be saved. “You don’t get much better return on your investment than that,” Meredith says.In Paragraph 1, the writer uses Bleed’s case to ______.
| A．make a comparison | B．describe a person |
| C．introduce a topic | D．tell a story |
Many people in Congress argue that trauma care systems should be supported by ______.
| A．the President | B．each state |
| C．insurance companies | D．the US government |
The example of Miami-Dade County shows that ______.
| A．its tax policy is admirable | B．running a trauma system is profitable |
| C．a trauma system is not expensive | D．sales tax is not heavy in small counties |
Why are the present trauma care systems in some states not satisfactory?
| A．They are shared by all the states. | B．They are short of financial support. |
| C．The doctors are not well trained. | D．The hospitals can’t provide low-cost services. |
In ancient Japan, if you saved someone’s life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone’s story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude(感激).
It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There’s an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone’s attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the “charming” little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption — except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn’t made his or her point.
Or you’re all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before his big punch line(妙语), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone rings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny’s carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished — except the joke teller. When it’s you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone’s order just before your funny punch line?
Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, “Now, as I was saying…” Instead, they’ll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad they didn’t get to finish. Here’s where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call “Lend a Helping Tongue.”
Watch the gratitude in the storyteller’s eyes as he stabilizes where his story sunk and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often reward enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them subtle favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they find a way to pay you back. Very often, a storyteller cannot make his point because ______.
| A．people are more interested in food than his story |
| B．many guests bring their babies to the party |
| C．his story is easily forgotten by the listeners |
| D．he is interrupted by something unexpected |
From Paragraph 3, we know that when someone is telling a joke, ______.
| A．something bad will surely happen just before their punch line |
| B．the only person really interested in the joke is the joke teller |
| C．listeners’ attention is often drawn to something else |
| D．the waiter knows when to take everyone’s order |
How can we “Lend a Helping Tongue” to the story tellers, according to the writer?
| A．Comfort them to make them happy. | B．Give them a chance to finish. |
| C．Go on telling the story for them. | D．Teach them some useful techniques. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．People should learn how to take turns in a conversation. |
| B．Telling jokes will make you the center of attention. |
| C．We can win someone’s heart by getting him back to his story. |
| D．It is impolite to cut in on someone’s talk. |
When you think about math, you probably don’t think about breaking the law, solving mysteries or finding criminals. But a mathematician in Maryland does, and he has come up with mathematical tools to help police find criminals.
People who solve crimes look for patterns that might reveal(揭示) the identity of the criminal. It’s long been believed, for example, that criminals will break the law closer to where they live, simply because it’s easier to get around in their own neighborhood. If police see a pattern of robberies in a certain area, they may look for a suspect(嫌疑犯) who lives near the crime scenes. So, the farther away from the area a crime takes place, the less likely it is that the same criminal did it.
But Mike O’Leary, a mathematician at Towson University in Maryland, says that this kind of approach may be too simple. He says that police may get better clues to the location of a criminal’s home base by combining these patterns with a city’s layout(布局) and historical crime records.
The records of past crimes contain geographical information and can reveal easy targets — that is, the kind of stores that might be less difficult to rob. Because these stores are along roads, the locations of past crimes contain information about where major streets and intersections are. O’Leary is writing a new computer program that will quickly provide this kind of information for a given city. His program also includes information about the people who live in the city, and information about how a criminal’s patterns change with age. It’s been shown, for example, that the younger the criminal, the closer to home the crime.
Other computer programmers have worked on similar software, but O’Leary’s uses more math. The mathematician plans to make his computer program available, free of charge, to police departments around the country.
The program is just one way to use math to fight crime. O’Leary says that criminology — the study of crime and criminals — contains a lot of good math problems. “I feel like I’m in a gold mine and I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun.”To find criminals, police usually ______.
| A．focus on where crimes take place | B．seek help from local people |
| C．depend on new mathematical tools | D．check who are on the crime scene |
O’Leary is writing a computer program that ______.
| A．uses math to increase the speed of calculation |
| B．tells the identity of a criminal in a certain area |
| C．shows changes in criminals’ patterns |
| D．provides the crime records of a given city |
By “I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like”, O’Leary means that he ______.
| A．is better at finding gold than others |
| B．is the only one who uses math to make money |
| C．knows more criminals than other mathematicians |
| D．knows best how to use math to help solve crimes |
What is the main idea of the text?
| A．Criminals live near where crimes occur. |
| B．Math could help police find criminals. |
| C．Crime records could be used to fight crime. |
| D．Computer software works in preventing crimes. |
Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 65～68.
What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “Green shoots have begun to appear in different markets”?
| A．Signs of recovery. | B．High prices. |
| C．Environmental protection. | D．Change in policy. |
Fill in the blank in the sentence “I can’t believe this is Joshua—he’s ______ since we last met!”
| A．shot out | B．shot through | C．shot up | D．shot down |
When you are talking about unimportant things, we say you are ______.
| A．shooting yourself in the foot | B．shooting the breeze |
| C．shooting your mouth off | D．shooting questions at somebody |
Choose a word to complete the sentence “The ______, which killed a policeman and wounded a passer-by, was reported to have lasted only 13 seconds.”
| A．shooter | B．shoot | C．shot | D．shooting |