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.
【小题1】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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．④→③→①→②→⑤ | B．④→①→③→②→⑤ |
| C．①→④→③→②→⑤ | D．①→③→④→②→⑤ |
【小题1】C
【小题2】D
【小题3】B
【小题4】A
解析【小题1】词义猜测题。根据理解上下文中的：“The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, Visitors have noticed changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy”可知答案.
【小题2】细节理解题。文章第三段最后一句的：“Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state (化学状态)”可知选选项D。
【小题3】细节理解题。从文章第四段的：“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.”可知答案。
【小题4】细节理解的排序题。根据倒数第三、四段的：“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”，对比各选项，首先区别的是第一是④还是①，然后确定是①还是③就可得出答案。
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小学生10分钟应用题系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide acts rather like a one-way mirror or the glass in the roof of a greenhouse which allows the sun's rays to enter but prevents the heat from escaping.
According to a weather expert' s prediction, the atmosphere will be 3℃ warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn fuels at the present rate. If this warming up took place, the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt, thus raising sea level several metres and severely flooding coastal cities. Also, the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere (北半球), possibly resulting in an alteration of the earth's chief food growing zones.
In the past, concern about a man-made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet. But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic, which may be affected by only a few degrees of warming, in other words, by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty years from the burning of fuels.
Satellite pictures show that large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing. The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place. This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth.
However, most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere, where temperatures seem to be falling. Scientists conclude , therefore, that up to now natural influences on the weather have gone beyond those caused by man. The question is: Which natural cause has most effect on the weather?
One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun. Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot spots and "cold" spots (that is, the relatively less hot spots) on the sun. As the sun rotates (使旋转), every 27. 5 days, it presents hotter or "colder" faces to the earth, and different aspects to different parts of the earth. This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth's atmospheric pressure, and consequently on wind circulation. The sun is also changeable over a long term: its heat output goes up and down in cycles, the latest trend being downward.
Scientists are now finding shared relations between models of solar weather interactions and the actual climate over many thousands of years, including the last Ice Age. The problem is that the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is not. One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia (惯性) of the earth's climate. If this is right, the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful opposed balance to the sun's fading heat .
It can be concluded that a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would_________.
A. mean a warming-up in the Antarctic
B. raise the temperature of the earth' s surface
C. prevent the sun's rays from reaching the earth's surface
D. explain the cause of great changes in the climate in the northern hemisphere
The article was written to explain ___________.
A. the greenhouse effect
B. the solar effects on the earth
C. the causes affecting weather
D. the models of solar-weather interactions
Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere, temperatures there seem to be falling. This is__________.
A. mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
B. partly due to changes in the output of solar energy
C. possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting
D. only due to the effect of the inertia of the earth' s climate
On the basis of their models, scientists believe the opinion that__________.
A. the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
B. the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
C. the man-made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects
D. it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth's climate to take effect
If the assumption about the delay of a new Ice age is correct, ____________.
A. ice would soon cover the northern hemisphere
B. the greenhouse effect could work in favor of the earth
C. the best way to overcome the cooling effect would be to burn more fuels
D. the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could warm up the earth even more quickly
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科目：高中英语 来源：贵州省云峰中学2010届高三下学期3月月考（英语） 题型：完型填空
完形填空(共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出可以填入空白
处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
第二节完型填空(共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分)
It was New Year’s night, An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful（悲哀的）eyes towards the deep 36 sky, where the stars were 37 like white lilies(百合花)on
the surface of a clear calm lake．Then he threw them on the earth．Where a few more 38 people than himself now moved towards their certain goal-the 39 ，He had already passed sixty of the 40 leading to it，and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and regret．Now his health was poor，his mind 41 ，his heart sorrowful，and his old age short of 42．
The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him．and he recalled the 43 moment
when his father placed him at the 44 to the two roads-one leading to a 45 ．sunny place．
covered with flowers，fruits and resounding with soft，sweet songs；the other 1eading to a deep，
dark cave．which was endless． 46 poison flowed instead of water and where deviIs(恶魔)and
poisonous snakes hissed and crawled．
He saw the 47 fading away in the darkness．and these were the days of his 48 life；He saw a star fall from the sky and disappeared，and this was the 49 of himself．His regret，which was like a sharparrow．Struck deeply into his heart．Then he remembered his friends in his
childhood．who entered on life together with him．But they had 50 to success and were now
honored and happy on this New Year’s night
The clock in the high church tow struck and the sound made him remember his parents’
early love for him．They had taught him and 51 to God for his good．But he chose the 52
way．With shame and grief he 53 no longer look towards that heaven where his father lived．
His darkened eyes were full of tears，and with a despairing 54 ，he burst out a cry；“Come back，my 55 days!Come back!”
36．A．grey B,blue C. black D. cloudy
37．A．floating B, flashing C hanging D shinning
38．A．purposeless B purposeful C hopeful D hopeless
39．A．house B tomb C church D birthplace
40．A．dreams B moments C incidents D stages
41．A．strange B pale C blank D shallow
42．A．allowances Bcomforts C experiences D memories
43．A．serious B awful C tough D desperate
44．A．end B entrance C origin D base
45．A. lonely B noisy C quiet D peaceful
46．A．which B that C whose D where
47．A．people B lights C stars D clouds
48．A．accustomed B rewarded C wasted D occupied
49．A．symbol B fate C future D outcome
50．A．lost their heart B devoted their attention
C．made their way D given their way
51．A．prayed B attached C adjusted D turned
52．A．ordinary B unfamiliar C wrong D difficult
53．A．would B could C should D dared
54．A．anxiety B effort C patience D attempt
55．A．early B good C old D shamdful
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年四川省成都市高新区高三2月月考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
Do you want to live forever? By the year 2050, you might actually get your wish — if you are willing to leave your biological body and live in silicon circuits （半导体电路）．But long before then, perhaps as early as 2020, some measures will begin offering a semblance of immortality （虚拟的永生）.
Researchers are confident that technology will soon be able to track every waking moment of your life. Whatever you see and hear, all that you say and write, can be recorded, analyzed and added to your personal chronicles （履历）. By the year 2030, it may be possible to catch your nervous systems through electrical activities, which would also keep your thoughts and emotions.
Researchers at the laboratories of British Telecommunications have given the name of this idea as Soul Catcher. Small electronic equipment will make preparation for Soul Catcher. It would use a wearable supercomputer, perhaps in a wristwatch, with wireless links to micro sensors under your scalp（头皮） and in the nerves that carry all five sensory signals. So wearing a video camera would no longer be required.
At first, the Soul Catcher's companion system — the Soul Reader — might have trouble copying your thoughts in complete details. Even in 2030, we may still be struggling to understand how the brain is working inside, so reading your thoughts and understanding your emotions might not be possible. But these signals could be kept for the day when they can be transferred to silicon circuits to revitalize minds everlasting entities （永生实体）. Researchers can only wonder what it will be like to wake up one day and find yourself alive inside a machine．
For people who choose not to live in silicon, semblance of immortality would not be as useless as they thought. People would know their lives would not be forgotten, but would be kept a record of the human race forever. And future generations would have a much fuller understanding of the past. History would not be controlled by just the rich and powerful, Hollywood stars, and a few thinkers in the upper society.
1.The main idea of this passage is that _______．
A．human beings long for living forever
B．there are many difficulties in making the Soul Catcher
C．people might live forever as technology develops
D．the invention of Soul Catcher has great importance
2.According to this passage, a Soul Catcher will be ______．
A．a new machine on which research measures have already been made
B．a new invention in order to catch and keep human's thoughts and emotions
C．made by British scientists to offer something that looks like living forever
D．made of silicon circuits which can catch people's nervous activity
3.According to the writer, semblance of immortality is ______．
A．to be a reality sooner or later B．far from certain
C．just an idea that couldn't t be realized at all D．a fading hope
4.The meaning of the underlined word "revitalize" in the fourth paragraph is close to .
A．make dead B．make famous C．make known D．make active
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科目：高中英语 来源：2013届内蒙古高二下学期期末考试英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery (火红的) ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.
The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. “It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am.”
She wondered how her parents would react when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.
It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on: it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, but now... It all seemed deserted. She couldn’t understand what was going on.
She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said: “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but — where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents’ room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn’t in her mother’s room and she wasn’t wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas (睡衣).
It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, “Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared.”
1.The writer describes the beautiful sunset to show Jennifer’s ______.
|
A．love of the natural beauty |
|
B．desire of getting back home |
|
C．intention of becoming independent |
|
D．depression of being alone |
2.What does the underlined phrase “This thought” most probably mean?
|
A．The idea of going back home. |
|
B．Her anxiety about her parents. |
|
C．The feeling of being warm in her favorite sweater. |
|
D．The feeling of getting back home safely. |
3.Her father didn’t take care of the garden because ______.
|
A．he was busy looking for her |
|
B．he had to look after his wife[来源:Zxxk.Com] |
|
C．he was not strict with his job |
|
D．he no longer enjoyed working in the garden |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2009年全国各省市高考命题动态信息卷（辽宁专用）英语（五） 题型：阅读理解
第三部分阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Soon it may be harder to stop and smell the roses.
Growing levels of air pollution from power plants and automobiles have reduced flower fragrances (芬芳) by up to 90 percent in the US.That is compared with pre-industrial levels,a new study has found.
The trend is unpleasant for human noses,but may be life - threatening for bees and butterflies.
"Many insects find flowers by folowing the scent(香味) produced by those flowers," said the studies lead author Jose D.Fuentes,an environmental scientist at the University of Virginia.
"The increasing pollution makes it difficult for them to locate the flowers and feed on their nectar(花蜜)."
Scientists have alrady known that flowers produce scent molecules(分子) that bond with pollutants.The process breaks down the plants' sweet smell.
With more pollution in the air,the scent molecules don't remain effective as long and travel shorter distances on the wind.
The new study suggests that in the mid - 19th century,when pollution levels were first recorded,scent molecules would have been able to travel some 1,000 to 1,200 meters.
Today,in the polluted air found downwind of large cities,scentst may only make it some 200 to 300 meters.
The report was recently published in the journal,Atmospheric Environment.
Bee farmers have reported that bee populations are dropping dramatically in many parts of the world in recent years. Could these missing scents be a factor?
Scientists trying to hind the cause of bee population declines have blamed bacteria,pesticides,and even cellphone radiation.
Jay Evans,an entomologist(昆虫学者) at the US Department of Agriculture's bee research laboratory,was interested in the new study.But he says he hasn't seen bee behavior that suggests trouble with scents.
"Over the last couple of summers I don't think the bees in this area were bringing in much less food,"he said.
"It might be that they had to work harder,but it seems like as long as there were bees to collect food they were finding flowers somewhere."
But Fuentes fears that the fading smell of flowers may stress insects that are already faced with other threats.
"The effects shown in these studies will simply exacerbate whatever the bees are going through right now,"he said.
"It's something that is really worthwhile paying attention to."
56.What's the passage mainly about?
A.How greatly air plooution affects our lives.
B.Effects of air pollution on bee populations.
C.Measures to fight air pollution.
D.The rapid decline of bee populations in the world.
57.According to the passage,Jay Evans probably agrees that ______ .
A.bees are the insect that suffers most from air pollution
B.bees are at risk of dying out owing to air pollution
C.the fading smell of flowers doesn't affect bees so greatly as was thought
D.as is often the case,bees fail to locate the flowers because of the missing scents
58.The word"exacerbate" in the last paragraph but one probably means ______.
A.worsen B.improve C.get rid of D.decrease
59.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.The more air pollution there is in a region,the greater the destruction of the flower scents.
B.Bacteria,pesticides,and cellphone radiation are blamed for causing the decline of bees.
C.The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment oculd travel longer and farther.
D.Air pollution does more harm to insects such as bees and butterflies than human beings.
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