She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last forever. 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 the 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 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.
【小题1】 The underlined sentence in the first paragraph means the Mona Lisa ________.

Our holidays were coming to an end but we had not yet realized our plan to drive to Dalat. Our  1  about Dalat with its shining cherry blossoms (花) and scenic views were   2  us to start our journey.

Then one morning our dream  3. We hired a car and drove  4  to Dalat early in the morning. Splendid landscapes  5  on either side of the road   6   before us. The refreshing morning breeze was caressing (抚摸) our skin and in  7   spirits we were singing merrily.

When we reached Blao Pass, we saw a white  8  in front of us. We   9  down the pass. It seemed to us that the young girl in the white car did not want to be   10  as she was driving at full speed. Suddenly she lost  11  of her car; it turned to the left and crashed into the slope and  12  .

Quite frightened, we braked   13  and jumped out of our car. We turned her car over and pulled out the girl who was  14   in the car. The girl had narrowly escaped death. She was shivering like an aspen (白杨) leaf. In spite of her  15 , she looked very beautiful, just like an angel. When she had  16  from her panic, she timidly (胆小地) thanked us for having rescued her, then she looked at her flat  17  in despair.

Reading her thoughts, we took off our shirts and began to   18   the punctured tyre. We then put on the  19  wheel for her. As soon as the work had been done, we started our  20   again and followed Da Huong Lan—the girl we had helped.

1.                A．thoughts        B．ideas           C．suggestions    D．stories

2.                A．promising       B．telling          C．urging    D．refusing

3.                A．came true       B．woke up        C．took place D．broke out

4.                A．back           B．again           C．slowly    D．straight

5.                A．at dusk         B．at night         C．at dawn   D．at noon

6.                A．disappeared     B．unfolded        C．grown    D．developed

7.                A．strange         B．fresh           C．high D．low

8.                A．bus            B．car            C．dog  D．cat

9.                A．walked         B．ran            C．climbed  D．sped

10.               A．overtaken      B．beaten         C．discovered D．known

11.               A．anger          B．control         C．life   D．memory

12.               A．left            B．stopped        C．returned  D．overturned

13.               A．highly          B．successfully     C．hard  D．hardly

14.               A．trapped        B．locked         C．thrown    D．found

15.               A．pleasure        B．death          C．shock D．wake

16.               A．came          B．recovered      C．learned   D．turned

17.               A．tyre           B．chair           C．car   D．leg

18.               A．repair          B．remove        C．throw D．check

19.               A．other          B．new           C．second-hand   D．spare

20.               A．journey        B．voyage         C．passage   D．umbrella

She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last forever. 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 the 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 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.

1.The underlined sentence in the first paragraph means the Mona Lisa ________.

A．is losing its value

B．is being damaged after so many years

C．is getting more valuable with years passing

D．will rot away

2.Experts haven’t any repairs on the Mona Lisa because______.

A．it is now in a poor chemical state

B．they don’t know how to replace the wooden panel

C．they don’t have the materials Da Vinci used

D．they are afraid it will be done further damage.

3.The smile of the Mona Lisa can only be seen_______.

A．by indirect vision

B．at a distance

C．by direct vision

D．in shadows

4.From the last paragraph, we can infer that______.

A．many interesting stories have been written about the Mona Lisa

B．people are interested in the stories about the Mona Lisa.

C．some mysteries still remain to be solved about the Mona Lisa.

D．Many more stories will be told about the Mona Lisa.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5 分，满分30 分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Our holidays were coming to an end but we had not yet realized our plan to drive to Dalat. Our   36   about Dalat with its shining cherry blossoms (花) and scenic views were   37   us to start our journey.
Then one morning our dream   38  . We hired a car and drove   39  to Dalat early in the morning. Splendid landscapes   40  on either side of the road   41   before us. The refreshing morning breeze was caressing (抚摸) our skin and in   42   spirits we were singing merrily.
When we reached Blao Pass, we saw a white   43   in front of us. We   44   down the pass. It seemed to us that the young girl in the white car did not want to be   45  as she was driving at full speed. Suddenly she lost  46  of her car; it turned to the left and crashed into the slope and   47  .
Quite frightened, we braked   48   and jumped out of our car. We turned her car over and pulled out the girl who was   49   in the car. The girl had narrowly escaped death. She was shivering like an aspen (白杨) leaf. In spite of her   50 , she looked very beautiful, just like an angel. When she had   51  from her panic, she timidly (胆小地) thanked us for having rescued her, then she looked at her flat   52  in despair.
Reading her thoughts, we took off our shirts and began to   53   the punctured tyre. We then put on the   54   wheel for her. As soon as the work had been done, we started our  55   again and followed Da Huong Lan—the girl we had helped.
36．A．thoughts    B．ideas C．suggestions       D．stories
37．A．promising  B．telling         C．urging         D．refusing
38．A．came true B．woke up     C．took place D．broke out
39．A．back   B．again C．slowly         D．straight
40．A．at dusk       B．at night      C．at dawn     D．at noon
41．A．disappeared       B．unfolded    C．grown         D．developed
42．A．strange      B．fresh  C．high   D．low
43．A．bus     B．car     C．dog    D．cat
44．A．walked       B．ran     C．climbed      D．sped
45．A．overtaken  B．beaten       C．discovered          D．known
46．A．anger          B．control       C．life      D．memory
47．A．left     B．stopped     C．returned    D．overturned
48．A．highly          B．successfully        C．hard   D．hardly
49．A．trapped      B．locked         C．thrown       D．found
50．A．pleasure    B．death          C．shock D．wake
51．A．came B．recovered  C．learned      D．turned
52．A．tyre    B．chair  C．car     D．leg
53．A．repair         B．remove      C．throw         D．check
54．A．other B．new   C．second-hand      D．spare
65．A．journey       B．voyage       C．passage     D．umbrella

Our holidays were coming to an end but we had not yet realized our plan to drive to Dalat. Our  1  about Dalat with its shining cherry blossoms (花) and scenic views were   2  us to start our journey.
Then one morning our dream  3. We hired a car and drove  4  to Dalat early in the morning. Splendid landscapes  5  on either side of the road   6   before us. The refreshing morning breeze was caressing (抚摸) our skin and in  7   spirits we were singing merrily.
When we reached Blao Pass, we saw a white  8  in front of us. We   9  down the pass. It seemed to us that the young girl in the white car did not want to be   10  as she was driving at full speed. Suddenly she lost  11  of her car; it turned to the left and crashed into the slope and  12  .
Quite frightened, we braked   13  and jumped out of our car. We turned her car over and pulled out the girl who was  14   in the car. The girl had narrowly escaped death. She was shivering like an aspen (白杨) leaf. In spite of her  15 , she looked very beautiful, just like an angel. When she had  16  from her panic, she timidly (胆小地) thanked us for having rescued her, then she looked at her flat  17  in despair.
Reading her thoughts, we took off our shirts and began to   18   the punctured tyre. We then put on the  19  wheel for her. As soon as the work had been done, we started our  20   again and followed Da Huong Lan—the girl we had helped.