【推荐1】Why is the Mona Lisa the most famous painting in the world? Her mysterious smile? The mystery surrounding her identity? The fact she was painted by Renaissance charming boy Leonardo da Vinci? Sure, all of these things helped increase the popularity of the 16th century masterpiece. But what really threw the small, unassuming portrait to international stardom was a daring burglary over 100 years ago.

When Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911, he never could have guessed her absence would be the very thing that made her the most recognizable painting on the planet. Suddenly images of the artwork were seen across international newspapers, as the two-year police hunt hit dead-end after dead-end. It wasn’t until December 1913 that Peruggia was finally caught and the Mona Lisa recovered, becoming the best known painting in a time before we shared images on TV, internet, and phones.

   

So how did Peruggia carry out one of the greatest art robberies of all time? The handyman had been hired by the Louvre to make protective glass cases for some of its famous works—including the Mona Lisa. After hiding in a closet overnight, he simply removed the painting, hid it under his smock (罩衣), and was about to waltz out of the building when he discovered the door was locked. Desperate Peruggia removed the doorknob, but still it wouldn’t open—until a helpful plumber passing by opened the door with his key. It was 24 hours before anyone even noticed the Mona Lisa was missing, with artworks often removed to be photographed or cleaned.

Over the next two years, the careless police investigation dragged on, with Pablo Picasso a suspect at one point. The force even interviewed Peruggia twice, before concluding he couldn’t possibly be the man behind the shameless burglary. The head of the Paris police retired in shame.

And then two years later, an art dealer in Florence received a letter from a man saying he had the Mona Lisa. It was signed ”Leonardo.” The man was of course Peruggia. After setting up a meeting with the dealer and the director of the Uffizi gallery in Florence, Peruggia turned up with the painting which had spent years hidden in a trunk in his apartment.

Peruggia, then 32 years old, claimed to have stolen the artwork to return her to her native Italy. He was arrested and eventually sentenced to seven months in jail. He seemed to have genuinely been convinced he would be praised as a national hero and genuinely dismayed to discover he wasn’t.

1. According to the passage, what contributed to the tremendous popularity of the Mona Lisa?

A．The mysterious smile of Mona Lisa.

B．People’s desire to figure out the identity of Mona Lisa.

C．The theft of the painting in 1911.

D．The fact that it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

2. What does underlined word “unassuming” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Humble.

B．Realistic.

C．Magnificent.

D．Objective.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE about how the Mona Lisa was stolen?

A．Peruggia slipped into the Louvre from the outside after it was closed.

B．It took Peruggia a lot of time to take the painting from the gallery wall.

C．Peruggia’s stealing of the painting would have failed but for the appearance of a plumber.

D．The theft of the painting was immediately discovered by the staff of the Louvre.

4. Peruggia stole the painting because he ________.

A．was defending the honour of his native country	B．wanted to show his appreciation of great art
C．dreamed of making a great fortune by selling it	D．was worried about the fate of the painting

【推荐2】When I turned twelve, I worked in summer at my father’s small brick cleaning business. I remember the harsh acid smell of the cleaning solution, the dim bulb light reflecting the busy figures and the scraping sound of stiff iron brushes against rough brick. It was tempting to have your job just finished. But anybody who worked for Thomas Kahoon had to meet his standards, and that included me. If I messed up, he made me stay late until I got it right. My father wasn’t being mean. He demanded the exact same of himself. Every brick he cleaned on the house stood out like a red jewel in a white setting. It was his signature.

In 1970, when I was twenty, I was to get married. I moved out of my parent’s modest place into a housing project. Drugs and gang violence were just beginning to damage the projects. Some of my friends went to jail. Some were killed. My wife Verllen, was 18, and nobody gave our marriage a chance. But we believed in each other. And our faith made us strong.

When we married, I worked as a stock clerk at Southwest Super Food. It was hard, tedious work. Each Friday night a truck came, with cases of food that had to be unloaded, priced and placed on shelves. Most of stock clerks try to get Friday night off. But I was always ready to work. By Saturday morning, all the cans and jars in my aisle were placed with a label facing smartly out, like a line of soldiers on review. That was my signature. I took pride in a job nobody wanted.

Years past since I established my belief in doing the job, influenced profoundly by my father’s persistence and standards. In my mind, it has become a tradition I hope this generation and the generations behind can keep to and follow.

1. What do we learn about the author’s father?

A．He is a tough person.	B．He is quite mean to others.
C．He is very demanding in his work.	D．He usually works very late.

2. What can be learned about the housing project?

A．It was a promising industry.	B．It was bothered by drugs and gang violence.
C．It enabled the author to get married.	D．It forced many people to go to prison.

3. Which of the following best described the author’s work as a stock clerk?

A．He was mainly responsible for unloading food.	B．He had to sign his name on every label.
C．He had to endure the hardship and boredom.	D．He was required to work at Friday night.

4. What can be implied from the author’s working experience?

A．Persistence can be passed on to the next generation.

B．Hardship can help develop a person’s patience.

C．Demanding jobs are hard to address for a beginner.

D．Strong will must be cultivated in the harsh working environment.

【推荐2】Once upon a time, a hippo(河马) lived in a river next to a big tree.

One day, a bird came and nested(筑巢) in the tree. The songs of the bird filled the hippo with so much envy(羡慕) that he couldn’t think of anything else. Every day he would think why he wasn’t born to be a bird even though the bird told him many times he was so lucky to be so big and such a good swimmer.

Finally, the hippo made up his mind that he would come out of the river, climb the tree and start singing. However, when he tried to climb the tree, it was very clear that the hippo didn’t have wings, nor claws to climb with.

Realizing that he would never climb up the tree, he angrily hit the tree until it came crashing to the ground. Then he stepped onto the leaves of the fallen tree, and began singing.

Unfortunately, hippos can’t sing, either. All that came from his mouth were terrible noises, and when the other animals heard this, they all came around to make fun of the hippo.

He was so ashamed by this. He also felt bad about having knocked the tree over. He used all his strength to raise the tree back up again, and looked after it until it completely recovered.

1. After reading this passage, we know___________.

A．the writer is telling us a true story

B．the story happened on an autumn day

C．the bird thought he was luckier than the hippo

D．the hippo tried to do something against his nature(天性)

2. From the passage, we can infer(推断) that the hippo would___________after such an experience.

A．be a good singer	B．be good at climbing trees
C．stop envying the bird	D．not make friends with other animals

3. The best title of this passage may be “___________”.

A．The hippo that wished to sing	B．The tree that was knocked over
C．The bird that wished to swim	D．The animals that were in high spirits