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 (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.
B. No one knows exactly what materials were used to create the painting and how it might respond to treatment.
C. The health of the painting is suffering
D. Experts can’t agree on how to carry out repairs.
What makes her smile so mysterious according to Professor Livingston?
A. The materials the Italian artist used. B. The way she smiles.
C. The way Da Vinci painted the smile. D. It plays a trick upon the human mind.
英才计划期末调研系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Britain’s symbolic red phone boxes have become out of date in the age of the mobile, but villages across the country are stepping in to save them, with creative intelligence. Whether as a place to exhibit art, poetry, or even as a tiny library, hundreds of phone boxes have been given a new life by local communities determined to preserve a typical part of British life. In Waterperry, a small village near Oxford, the 120 residents have filled the phone box next to the old house with a pot of flowers, piles of gardening and cooking magazines, and stuck poems on the walls.
They took control of the phone box when telecoms operator BT said it was going to pull it down, an announcement that caused such dissatisfaction that one local woman threatened to chain herself to the box to save it. “I’d have done it, “ insisted Kendall Turner. “It would have been heartbreaking for the village. “ Local councilor Tricia Hallam, who came up with the idea for the phone box’s change, said quite a few people would have joined her, adding, “ We couldn’t let it go because it’s a British symbol.”
Only three feet by three feet wide, and standing 2.51-meter tall, the phone boxes were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1936 for the 25th anniversary of the reign of King George V. Painted in “Post Office red” to match the post boxes, they were once a typical image of England and the backdrop(背景) to millions of tourist photographs.
Eight years ago there were about 17,000 across Britain, but today, in a country where almost everybody has a mobile phone, 58 percent are no longer profitable and ten percent are only used once a month. “On average, maintaining them costs ￡800 a year per phone box-about ￡44 million annually,” said John Lumb, general manager for BT Payphones.
Some red phone boxes in Britain have been used for ____.
a. selling flowers b. cooking c. reading d. exhibiting art or poetry
A. a, b B. c, d C. a,b,c D. b,c,d
Why do the villagers want to keep the red phone boxes?
A. Because millions of people visit Britain to see the red phone boxes.
B. Because the local people could earn a lot of money from the red phone boxes.
C. Because the red phone boxes have already become a symbol of Britain.
D. Because the red phone boxes may be useful for some people in emergency.
What is the color of the British post boxes according to the passage?
A. Green B. Red C. Black D. Yellow
What is John Lumb’s attitude towards pulling down the red phone boxes?
A. supportive B. Opposed C. Neutral D. Indifferent.
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
China is casting such a huge shadow on the United States that many Americans are struggling to learn Chinese in order to maintain their competitive edge, "Interest in learning Chinese among American youth and their parents has grown dramatically in the past five years," said Vivien Stewart at the Asia Society, a US group trying to bridge the gap between Americans and people of Asia and the Pacific．
China, the world's most popular nation, is critical to the United States because it is a leading trader, consumer and investor- Its political influence is also rising across the globe．It has replaced the United States as the world's largest consumer and become the second largest economy in the world after the superpower status and its telling effects politically, economically and culturally are driving the interest to learn the language, experts say．
From kindergartens to high schools, studies by the Asia Society show, there is a "rapid rise" in interest among pupils to study the Chinese language．
Even though the US State Department has stressed the Chinese language "critical " to national prosperity and security, the "current infrastructure （基础设施）to support recruitment （招生） of students and teachers as well as the growth of high quality programs is -badly inadequate," an Asia Society study says．The Society has set a target of having at least 5% of American high school students learning Chinese by 2015．"Millions of Chinese are learning English, but only 24,000 Americans are learning Chinese," said Andrew Corcoran of the San Francisco - based Chinese American International School．
The most popular languages after English in the United States at present are Spanish and French.
The passage mainly tells the readers that _____,
A．China is getting under a shadow from USA
B．American competitive edge is shaking
C．Americans object to learning Chinese
D．Chinese appeals to more Americans
Based on the context, what does the underlined word "inadequate" （in Paragraph 5） mean?
A．leading B．interesting
C．disappointing D．promising
According to the text which of the following is TRUE?
A．Culture can have an effect on exciting persons'
B．USA has got the high quality current
C．Chinese ranks 4th on the American Language
D．Politics decides language studying
What might be the most suitable title for this passage?
A, US Government Requires its People to Learn Chinese
B．Chinese Gains its Popularity with Most Americans
C．China's Economy Helps to Spread its Language
D．Americans Show Interest Learning Chinese
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：
根据句意及首字母或汉语提示，写出各句中所缺单词的正确形式。（每空一词，共10分）
The driver i_________the danger sign and then could not stop the bus on the hill. 21世纪教育
It’s useful to read some _____________ (简写)English stories.
There is another _________（相似点）between Beijing and Xi’an.
(祝贺)to you on your passing the public servant interview.
Anyone who wants to ___________ (成功) has to work hard.
They deeply a_______________（感谢）his kindness.
As we know, smoking, which _____________(影响) our health, is a bad habit.
He helped me s___________ a mathematical problem.
Tom p____________ to be reading a book when the teacher entered the classroom.
With the help of mobile phone, we can c_____________ with people distant away.
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--Now more and more Chinese senior students are applying for admission to American
universities through SAT.
--________．But taking an SAT may cost more than 10,000 yuan.
A．That’s the case B．Not really
C．I hope so． D．That sounds reasonable
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Recent studies have shown that most US graduates receive cash as gifts, though the amount received ______ from person to person．
A．prefers B．promotes C．varies D．suffers
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Three of our players were ill, and, ________, our main scorer had broken his ankle.
A. to be honest B. to tell the truth
C. as a result D. what’s worse
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：
I would appreciate ____ if you could give me a lift.
A. you B. that C. one D. it
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It remains to be seen whether Qian Yunhui’s family will the case to a higher court since the police consider it a normal traffic accident.
A. predict B. transform C. state D. appeal
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