Birthdays often involve surprises. But this year's surprise on the birthday of the great British playwright William Shakespeare is surely one of the most dramatic.
On April 22, one day before his 441st birthday anniversary, experts discovered that one of the most recognizable portraits of William Shakespeare is a fake. This means that we no longer have a good idea of what Shakespeare looked like. “It's very possible that many pictures of Shakespeare might be unreliable because many of them are copies of this one,” said an expert from Britain's National Portrait Gallery.
The discovery comes after four months of testing using X-rays, ultraviolet light, microphotography and paint samples. The experts from the gallery say the image —commonly known as the “Flower portrait”— was actually painted in the 1800s, about two centuries after Shakespeare's death. The art experts who work at the gallery say they also used modern chemistry technology to check the paint on the picture. These checks found traces of paint dating from about 1814. Shakespeare died in 1616, and the date that appears on the portrait is 1609.
“We now think the portrait dates back to around 1818 to 1840. This was when there was a renewed interest in Shakespeare's plays,” Tarnya Cooper, the gallery's curator (馆长), told the Associated President.
The fake picture has often been used as a cover for collections of his plays. It is called the Flower portrait because one of its owners, Desmond Flower, gave it to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
“There have always been questions about the painting,” said David Howells, curator for the Royal Shakespeare Company. “Now we know the truth, we can put the image in its proper place in the history of Shakespearean portraiture.”
Two other images of Shakespeare, are also being studied as part of the investigation and the results will come out later this month.________.What makes the birthday of Shakespeare dramatic this year?
| A．It was found that he painted a portrait in 1814 instead of in 1609. |
| B．The Flower portrait has been found to be a fake. |
| C．Three portraits of Shakespeare are being tested to identify a real one. |
| D．It was found that there was a renewed interest in Shakespeare's plays around 1818 to 1840. |
Which statement is True according to the passage?
| A．Portraits of Shakespeare are all unreliable. |
| B．“Flower portrait” was a portrait of Shakespeare given to Desmond Flower. |
| C．1814 might be when the portrait was drawn. |
| D．The Flower portrait is not often used as a cover for Shakespeare's play. |
How many methods were used to test the portrait?
| A．Not mentioned. | B．Two |
| C．Three | D．At least four. |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A．Birthdays often involve surprises |
| B．The surprise on the 441st birthday of Shakespeare |
| C．One portrait of Shakespeare is a fake |
| D．How can we know Shakespeare's appearance? |
Which is the best sentence to fill in the blank in the last paragraph?
| A．Soon we'll know which portrait is reliable. |
| B．Maybe we cannot find a real portrait of Shakespeare. |
| C．If the two portraits are found to be false, they will test more. |
| D．For now what Shakespeare really looked like will remain a mystery. |
I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant, and ancient for a sportsman. Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me. Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age, but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means.
A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying, “ Fifty is what forty used to be.” He had made an inspirational point, Am I over the hill?People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling them that he high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now.
“ Your are not getting older, you are getting better.” says Dr. Joyce Brothers. This, however, is the kind of doctor who inspires a second opinion.
And so. as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net. I am moves to share some thoughts on aging with you. I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally. Getting older. of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies(悼词). In fact, a poet named Robert Browning considered it the best change of all:
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to me.
Whether or not Browning was right, most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by. I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend (混合) of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher (哲学家) was right when he said.” Old is always fifteen years from now.” The author seems to tell us in Paragraph 1 that ________.
| A．time alone will tell | B．time goes by quickly |
| C．time will show what is right | D．time makes one forget the past |
When the author turned fifty, people around him ________.
| A．tried to comfort him | B．got inspiration with him |
| C．were friendlier with him | D．found him more talkative |
The author considers his fifty years of life
| A．peaceful | B．ordinary | C．satisfactory | D．regretful |
We can infer from the passage that
| A．the old should led a simple life | B．the old should face the fact of aging |
| C．the old should take more exercise | D．the old should fill themselves with curiosity |
Charles Blackman：Alice in Wonderland
An Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Australia
June -12 August 2007
Venue (地点) The Ian Potter Centre
Admission Free entry
Charles Blackman is famous for his beautiful painting of dreams. In 1956, he heard for the first time Lewis Carroll's extraordinary tale of Alice in Wonderland -the story of a Victorian girl who falls down a rabbit hole, meets a lot of funny characters and experience all kinds of things. At that time, Blackman's wife was suffering form progressive blindness. The story of Alice moving through the strange situations, often disheartened by various events, was similar to his wife's experiences. It also reflected so much of his own life. All this contributed to the completion of the Alice in Wonderland paintings.
Illustrator Workshop
Go straight to the experts for an introductory course in book illustration. The course includes an introduction to the process of illustration and its techniques, workshop exercise and group projects.
Dates Sunday 17 June &Sunday 5Aug. 10am-1pm
Venue Gas Works Arts Park
Wonderful World
Celebrate the exhibition and Children's Book Week with special activities just for the day, including a special visit from Alice and the White Rabbit
Date Sunday 24 June, 11am-4pm
Venue Exhibition Space. Level 3
Topsy-Turvy
Visit the exhibition or discover wonderful curiosities in artworks in the NGV Collection and make a magic world in a box. Alice and the White Rabbit will be with you. Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland will be screened.
Dates Sunday 8, 15, 22, 29 July, and Tuesday 24-Friday 27 July, 12noon-3pm
Venue Theatre, NGV Australia
Drawing Workshop
Distortions of scale (比例失真) can make artworks strange but interesting. Find out how Charles Blackman distorted scale in his paintings to create a curious world. then experiment with scale in your own drawings. More information upon booking.
Date Friday 27 July, 10: 30am-3pm
Venue Foryer, Level 3
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Charles Blackman's paintings come from.
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| 2． |
Which two activities can you participate in on the same day?
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| 3． |
To understand the Alice in Wonderland paintings, you should go to.
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| 4． |
Activities concerning children's books are to be held
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The city of Rome has passed a new to prevent cruelty to animals. All goldfish bowls are no longer allowed and dog owners must walk their dogs.
This comes after a national law was passed to give prison sentences to people who desert cats or dogs.
“The civilization of a city can be measured by this,” said Monica Carina, the councilor (议员) behind the new law.
“It’s good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention,” she told a Rome newspaper.
The newspaper reported that round bowls don’t give enough oxygen for fish and may make them go blind.
“Rome has tried to protect fish more than anywhere else in the world. It stands out for recognizing that fish are interesting animals who deserve(值得) over respect and compassion every bit as much as dogs and cats and other animals,” said Karin Robertson, a director of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Last year a law was passed in Italy that gives people who desert pets big fines (罚款) and prison sentences. Since then local governments have added their own animal protection rules.
The northern city of Turin passed a law in April to give pet owners fines of up to ＄598 if they do not walk their dogs three times a day.
The new law in Rome also says that owners mustn’t leave their dogs in hot cars or cut their dogs’ tails to make them look lovelies. The law also gives legal recognition to the “cat ladies” who feed homeless cats. The cats live all over the city from ancient ruins to modern office car parks.The new law passed in Rome will ________.
| A．help improve fishing environment |
| B．guarantee better conditions for goldfish |
| C．stop people from catching goldfish |
| D．discourage keeping goldfish at home |
The underlined word “compassion” in Paragraph 6 is the closest in meaning to ________.
| A．pity | B．praise | C．support | D．popularity |
People may break the law in Turin if they ________.
| A．keep their dogs or cats in cars |
| B．feed homeless animals in car parks |
| C．raise their cats near ancient ruins |
| D．shut their dogs home all day long |
Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.
The shoes- named Square Eyes- contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”
Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.
Existing pedometers(计步器) normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to _____.
| A．keep a record of the steps of the wearer. |
| B．deal with overweight among teenagers. |
| C．enable children to resist the temptation of TV. |
| D．prevent children from being tricked by TV programs. |
Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?
| A．They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time. |
| B．They determine a child’s daily pocket money. |
| C．They have raised the hot issue of overweight. |
| D．They contain information of the receiver. |
What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?
| A．The exact number of steps to be taken. |
| B．The precise number of hours spent on TV. |
| C．The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time. |
| D．The way of changing steps into TV watching time. |
Compared with other similar products, the new design ___.
| A．make it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat. |
| B．counts the wearer’s steps through shaking. |
| C．records the sudden movement of the wearer. |
| D．sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time |
| B．Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise |
| C．Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise |
| D．Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight |
When Andrea Peterson landed her first teaching job, she faced the daunting task of creating a music program with almost no money for equipment or supplies in a climate where standards-based learning was the focus and music just provided a break for students and teachers.
For her drive and creativity in overcoming those challenges, she's been name national teacher of the year.
Principal Waynes Kettler said he's worked with many outstanding teachers in his 22 years as an educator, but Peterson is "just that one step above anybody I've ever worked with before."
Kettler and others at Monte Cristo Elementary School talk about the ways she has introduced the learning from other classrooms into her music program and her creativity in working around things such as the lack of money for new music.
When students were reading S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders in their regular classroom, Peterson helped them write a 30-minute play with scenes from the book. Then they chose three Broadway tunes that focused on race, equality and social justice, the themes of the book. Peterson composed two other sons herself after classroom discussions about the play and the book.
The honor means a lot to residents of Granie Falls. It's inspiring to know that people from small towns can even win national honors.
As national teacher of the year, Peterson will spend the next year outside classroom, as a national and international spokeswoman for education.
Not surprisingly, she is a big believer in the value of arts education. She said it's essential for schools to offer classes such as art or music and physical education because for some kids one of those subjects is the only thing that motivates them to come back to school day after day.
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The underlined word "daunting" in Paragraph 1 most probably means.
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When Peterson began her teaching career,.
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What is the most important reason that Peterson won the award?
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Which of the following is an example of Peterson's way of teaching music?
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In Peterson's opinion,.
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| 6． |
It can be inferred from the text that.
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