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.________
1.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.
2.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.
3.How many methods were used to test the portrait?
A. Not mentioned.B. TwoC. ThreeD. At least four.
4.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?
5.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.
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!
1.The writer of this passage must be ________.
A. an AmericanB. a ChineseC. a professorD. a student
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.
B. Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives.
C. Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy.
D. Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break.
3.From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ________.
A. warmly welcomed at the airport
B. offered a ride to his home
C. treated hospitably at his home
D. treated to dinner in a restaurant
4.The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ________.
A. strict with time B. serious with time
C. careful with time D. willing to spend time
5.A suitable title for this passage would probably be “________”.
A. Friendships between Chinese
B. Friendships between Americans
C. Americans’ hospitality
D. Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21~40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。
I never thought I would be a “runner”. I was the girl who ________ slowest in the PE class. A few years ago, I was walking with a group of ________ in the Race for the Cure, a 5km race designed to ________ money for the fight against breast cancer(癌), ________ one lady caught my ________.
She was one of the weakest-looking women I’ve ever seen. She must have been close to seventy years old, ________ a T-shirt with the word “Survivor”. She was so small that it seemed as if she could even be ________ by a strong wind. But, she was running. And she was ________ me and my group of friends. She ran slowly, but ________ —as if each step pushed her cancer further into her past. Right at that moment, I ________ that in the next Race for the Cure, I’d be running along with her.
A week later, I found myself in the ________, running on the treadmill(跑步机). Three minutes after I started, my face was bright red. I felt like my lungs were going to burst. I ________ slow down to a walk. I thought of the ________ at the race. I kept it up. I was able to go a little ________ each time. Three and a half minutes. Four minutes. Five.
A year later, I was ________ at the Race for the Cure, but this time, I ________ with the runners. When the race started, the other runners passed me by. I ran forward. I wondered if I’d be ________ to do it. But then, I remembered the brave woman. I ran as fast as I could until I finally crossed that finish line. I had just ________ my first race! I ________ down at my legs, amazed. They had done something I’d never thought ________. I have never felt stronger than at that moment. And, I knew that I wanted to do it again.
1.A. talkedB. walkedC. ranD. swam
2.A. friendsB. teachersC. studentsD. patients
3.A. saveB. useC. makeD. raise
4.A. whileB. whenC. untilD. before
5.A. breathB. handC. armD. eye
6.A. wearingB. holdingC. pullingD. waving
7.A. turned downB. turned overC. taken overD. taken down
8.A. passingB. watchingC. greetingD. calling
9.A. strangelyB. determinedlyC. excitedlyD. anxiously
10.A. agreedB. learnedC. decidedD. explained
11.A. shopB. streetC. parkD. gym
12.A. had toB. preferred toC. got toD. liked to
13.A. prizeB. survivorC. planD. woman
14.A. earlierB. longerC. harderD. farther
15.A. evenB. againC. everD. still
16.A. foughtB. traveledC. queuedD. waited
17.A. likelyB. eagerC. readyD. able
18.A. finishedB. wonC. enteredD. missed
19.A. calmedB. settledC. lookedD. set
20.A. goodB. rightC. possibleD. necessary
—Did you have a wonderful time at the ball last night?
—________! I’ve never had a more wonderful time all my life.
A. You betB. No problemC. By no meansD. Got it
When the term is coming to an end, many students can’t ________ their vacation with their parents.
A. waiting for spendB. wait to spending
C. wait for spendingD. wait to spend
It was the second time that we ________ in holding such important parties.
A. succeedB. had succeededC. succeededD. have succeeded
