Heritage is our legacy (遗产) from the past what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable (无可取代的) sources of life and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Great Wall of China make up our world’s heritage.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.
How does a place become a World Heritage Site? It takes a lot of people to decide.
1.If a country wants one of its places to be on the World Heritage List, it has to ask UNESCO. The place must be important and special. UNESCO put the Great Wall on the list in 1987 because, it said, it was a great part of Chinese culture and beautifully made to go with the land. When a country asks, it must also make a plan for taking care of the place.
2.The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO talks about different places and decides whether to put them on the list. The committee meets every June. Many experts help the committee to decide.
3.After a new place goes on the list, UNESCO gives money to help keep it looking good. If a place is in serious danger, it may be put on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger. UNESCO gives special care and help to those places.
4.Countries have to give UNESCO regular reports about places on the list. If UNESCO thinks a country isn’t taking good enough care of a place, the site will be taken off the lit.
1. About cultural and natural heritage around the world, UNESCO encourages all the following EXCEPT .| A．identification | B．application | C．protection | D．conservation |
| A．can ask UNESCO for more money and help |
| B．should continue to take special care of it |
| C．won’t take trouble of caring for it |
| D．will try to put it on the Lit of World Heritage Sites in Danger |
| A．to attract more tourists from other countries |
| B．to get more money and help from other countries |
| C．to have it taken better care of |
| D．to make it known to other countries |
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【推荐1】Antiquities are ancient objects and artworks. Museums acquire works to display from many different sources. Sometimes they purchase them. Other times they receive donations. Today there are strict rules forbidding art that has been stolen from other countries. However, antiquities that have been at museums for decades or even centuries may have arrived there by questionable means. Now, some countries claim that museums have a responsibility to return these antiquities to their original locations.
There are many examples of this debate. Perhaps the most famous is the argument between Greece and the UK over the Elgin marbles. In the early 19th century, the Earl (伯爵) of Elgin had numerous sculptures taken from Greece to the UK. When Elgin did this, Greece was still a part of the Ottoman Empire. He claimed that he had received a permit to export the sculptures. Today the marbles are on display in the British Museum^ However, Greece wants them to be returned to their original location.
Should museums return these antiquities? Experts disagree. Malcolm Bell III says yes. Bell is a retired professor of art at the University of Virginia. He says, “Many antiquities and artworks have special cultural value for a particular community or nation. When these works are removed from their original cultural setting they lose their context and the culture loses a part of its history.”
According to Bell, a country’s request for the return of an antiquity “usually has a strong legal basis.” It “was exported illegally, and is now stolen property.” He called the return of antiquities “an expression of justice.”
James Cuno says not always. Cuno is president of an art museum in Los Angeles. He is also the author of the book Who Owns Antiquity?. Cuno agrees that museums have “a social and legal responsibility” to return illegally exported antiquities. However, he doesn’t support the return of legally acquired works.
“An area of land held today by a given nation-state in the past likely belonged to a different political entity (实体). Even if one wanted to reunite scattered works of art, where would one do so? Which among the many countries, cities, and museums in possession of parts of a work of art should be the chosen ‘home’ of the reunited work?” Cuno believes that museums should collect art from the world’s diverse cultures. This should be done “through purchase or long-term loan and working in cooperation with museums and nations around the world.”
This debate is far from over. As a complex question with no easy answer, the issue requires more study.
1. The passage mainly discusses .| A．the return of antiquities |
| B．the sources of ancient objects |
| C．the cultural value of artworks |
| D．the responsibility of museums |
| A．the time of keeping them |
| B．the real country of origin |
| C．the identity of the exporter |
| D．the means of acquiring them |
| A．artworks become valueless away from their culture |
| B．there is no clear answer to giving back antiquities |
| C．museums are responsible for reuniting works of art |
| D．the request for recovering artworks aims to promote justice |
| A．the legality of antiquities seems a key factor |
| B．the opinions of experts are completely different |
| C．museums should look into the sources of antiquities they own |
| D．the return of antiquities is unlikely due to practical difficulties |
Old trains are very attractive and mysterious, whether it’s because of their history and their function or simply because they look so fierce and huge. Many old derailed trains have been transformed into anything like homes, art galleries and even amusement parks. As part of a recovery program to restore a failed railway, Ecuadorian design firm Al Borde transformed a tired, old train into a mobile cultural center, which they call “Wagon of Knowledge” (Vagon del Saber).
Selected by the Ecuadorian(厄瓜多尔)Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the community oriented project is to reactivate settlements along its route. After more than a decade of absence, these areas not only recover a means of communication but are enhanced economically, as the cultural promoters use the train car as an activator of public space and a meeting point for the locals. The multifunctional nature of the carriage — it is without a strictly defined architectural program and can therefore be designed flexibly — allows for musical performances, theater shows, training programs and celebrations.
The train was renovated(修复)to achieve the greatest number of uses with the minimum number of elements.
A public square and a theater with a capacity of 60-80 people, as well as work spaces for 20 users were incorporated by attaching three extensions to the train: a roof with several deployment( 部 署 )options, retractable furniture and two storage spaces — simple systems operated by the cultural romoters turn the cart into their desired requirements. Set to travel around the route, the cultural unit will begin to accumulate and facilitate new stories.
Intended to move from place to place without a strict set of limitations to define its use, it becomes something flexible that adapts to the needs of the moment, so that it “carries neither goods nor tourists, but culture and public space”. As we can see here, there are a lot of possibilities, thanks to various interchangeable components that can allow the train to shift from conference space to a performance venue in a snap.
It’s a creative way to give new life to a historically important train that was once even derailed, and to ensure that it can keep on serving the public. One more thing, people don’t have to go to this public space; it will travel to come to them.
1. Why did the design firm Al Borde carry out the project?| A．To boost the local tourism. |
| B．To sharpen rural people’s communication skills. |
| C．To bring communities along the railroad line to life. |
| D．To provide recreation for the community residents. |
| A．Advanced architectural design techniques. |
| B．The railway systems that are easy to operate. |
| C．Flexible construction features of the train car. |
| D．The financial assistance provided by cultural promoters. |
| A．By extending the length of the carriage. |
| B．By adding three components to the train. |
| C．By freely changing the position of the roof. |
| D．By expanding the seating capacity of the train. |
| A．It used to be the meeting point for the locals. |
| B．It can perform different working functions. |
| C．It was used to carry goods and tourists. |
| D．It will stay in one place to entertain locals |
| A．It is meaningful. |
| B．It is large-scale. |
| C．It is pioneering. |
| D．It is impressive. |
【推荐3】A total of 17 paintings worth between 10 and 15 million euros were stolen at a museum in northern Italy.
Three armed men with masked faces broke into the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona. Located inside a castle which was built in 1354, the Castelvecchio Museum is one of the most important museums in the northern city.
The stolen paintings included masterworks from Andrea Mantegna, Jacopo Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacopo Bellini, Hans de Jode and other world-famous artists. The group controlled the only private security guard who was there and the cashier, and then forced the guard to accompany them to the rooms where they stole the paintings.
Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi, who stayed at the scene until late in the night, said that surely someone sent them,because they acted professionally, and knew what they were looking for. “ The paintings stolen, ” he added, “ basically were the most valuable works on display. ” An investigation was opened into the theft.
The museum displays a very important collection of Italian and European art in 29 rooms on various levels exhibiting early Christian finds, Lombard goldwork, sculptures from the 10th to the 14th century, medieval arms and armor, and paintings from the 14th to the 18th century.
The museum’s director, Paola Marini, called herself shocked by the theft. The experienced art historian,who is about to leave her post after over 20 years, was receiving an award in a nearby restaurant when she was informed of what had happened.
The theft came just a day after two stolen paintings recently recovered by Italian heritage police were displayed in Rome during a ceremony attended by President Sergio Mattarella and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.
1. What do we know about the Castelvecchio Museum?| A．It is used as a castle. |
| B．It was built in 1354. |
| C．It is in the north of Italy. |
| D．It was the most important museum in Italy. |
| A．The stolen paintings are never on display. |
| B．The cashier asked the burglar to do it. |
| C．The security guard was killed. |
| D．The burglars were sent to do it. |
| A．was charged with the theft |
| B．was about to leave the museum when the theft happened |
| C．was having dinner outside when the theft took place |
| D．has been in charge of the museum for many years |
【推荐1】Leonardo da Vinci died 500 years ago at the age of 67. He was a universal genius who always enjoyed exploring ideas in many fields, including sculpting, drawing and pamting.
His surviving body of work as a painter is remarkably slim: Fewer than 20 artworks can be comfortably regarded as his, although two of them — the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper” —are easily among the most famous in the world. “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne," "St. John the Baptist" and the "Mona Lisa," now all hang at the Louvre in Paris. The French museum has two more Leonardos — one of which is currently lent to the Louvre Abu Dhabi—forming the largest collection in the world. Building on its collection, the Louvre will host a grand exhibition, starting in October, which it hopes will unite the largest ever number of Leonardo artworks under one roof. Organizers anticipate so much demand that a reservation will be required to attend, and tickets will go on sale in June.
Celebrations are already underway in Italy. Leonardo's hometown of Vinci is hosting a special exhibition featuring his earliest known drawing. In Milan, where Leonardo lived for over 20 years, celebrations will center around the Sfbrza Castle and the restored Sala delle Asse, where visitors can see original wall and ceiling decorations by Leonardo. In Venice, his most famous drawing, the “Vitruvian Man," will be on display until July—a rare occurrence, as the item's fragility means it's seldom exhibited.
In London, visitors will be able to see over 200 original drawings at the "Leonardo da Vinci: Life in drawing” exhibition, which opens at Buckingham Palace on May 24, though organizers say this is the largest exhibition of Leonardo's works in over 65 years.
The uncertainty that surrounds so many aspects of Leonardo's life and works has undoubtedly fueled the world's fascination with the Renaissance master. Five hundred years on, it seems to be stronger than ever.
1. What does the author think of Leonardo Da Vinci?| A．He was bored with art. | B．He was curious about things. |
| C．He was dead despite achievements. | D．He was intelligent in a certain aspect. |
| A．The Louvre in Paris has four of his works. | B．Only The Last Supper is regarded as the best. |
| C．More than 20 works are easily recognized as his. | D．Their exhibition in Abu Dhabi may be quite popular. |
| A．It wasn't discovered until lately. | B．It is the easiest to ruin while on show. |
| C．It is Leonardo's most famous drawing. | D．Italy has difficulty renting it for the moment. |
| A．The Life of Leonardo | B．Leonardo's Artworks |
| C．Leonardo and Louvre | D．Celebrations for Leonardo |
【推荐2】As many as five billion people, particularly in Africa and South Asia, are likely to face shortages of food and clean water in the coming decades. Hundreds of millions more could face increased risks of severe coastal storms, according to the first-ever model examining how nature and humans can survive together. “I hope no one is shocked that billions of people could be affected by 2050,” says Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, lead author of the paper Global Modeling Of Nature’s Contributions To People published in Science, who is an ecologist at Stanford University.
Nature sees a frightening sight. Human activity has resulted in the severe change of more than 75 percent of Earth’s land areas and 66 percent of the oceans, putting a million species (物种) at risk of being wiped out, according to the first-ever Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Human well-being is dependent upon nature’s contributions, also known as ecosystem services. The new model looked at three of nature’s contributions or services: providing clean water, coastal protection, or crop pollination (授粉). The model shows that the future declines in those services will hit people in Africa and South Asia hardest because they are more directly dependent on nature, says Chaplin-Kramer in an interview. Wealthier countries can buffer the effects on them through imports of food and other basic things that help their people and economy.
We have got a “deeply worrying picture of the social burdens of losing nature,” writes Patricia Balvanera, an ecologist at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in an accompanying article in Science. “What’s really scary is that the model only looked at three of the 18 contributions to human well-being we’ve identified,” says Balvanera in an interview.
1. What does Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer mean by saying so in paragraph 1?| A．We’ll lack food and clean water by 2050. |
| B．We have much dependence on nature. |
| C．We should face the serious situations. |
| D．We must prevent severe coastal storms. |
| A．We will surely lose its contributions. |
| B．Its contributions do harm to humans. |
| C．It can offer mankind coastal protection. |
| D．Its services have been in sharp decline. |
| A．Discover. | B．Use. | C．Reduce. | D．Predict. |
| A．The relationship between nature and humans. |
| B．Three of nature’s 18 contributions to humans. |
| C．Human activities and environment protection. |
| D．The first-ever model assessing mankind’s needs. |
【推荐3】Carried by the wind, dust particles (微粒) from places such as the Sahara Desert can float halfway around the world before settling to the ground. As the plastics abandoned by humans break down into tiny pieces in the environment, they, too, travel through the atmosphere. Now scientists are a step closer to understanding how these microplastics travel in the globe — both locally and on long-distance flights.
Researchers spent more than a year collecting microplastics from 11 national parks and wilderness areas in the western U.S. They examined the particles that settled on dry days and those that fell along with rain or snow. In addition to making clear how microplastics move around, the results, published on Thursday in Science, reveal the seriousness of the problem: more than 1 million kilograms of microplastics — the weight of 120 million to 300 million plastic water bottles — fall on protected lands in the country’s western region each year.
The new findings add to scientists’ concern over microplastic pollution’s potential impacts on the environment and human health. “We’re not supposed to breathe in this material,” says Steve Allen, a microplastics researcher at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, who was not involved in the new study. “Plastics in the environment “carry all sorts of pesticides (农药), heavy metals and all the other chemicals that we’ve made over time,” he adds. “They’re going to carry them directly into our lungs.”
Since their discovery in oceans in the 1970s, microplastics — which can be as large as a grain of rice or smaller than a particle of dust — have been found nearly everywhere researchers have looked: in cities, in Arctic snow, on remote mountaintops. Their presence in areas distant from the place where human live has pointed to them being carried by winds.
1. What do the scientists further understand now?| A．Why Sahara Desert is expanding to the south of Africa. |
| B．How plastic particles travel on the wind. |
| C．Why it is hard for plastics to break down. |
| D．How dust particles are spreading through the wind. |
| A．The results showed the amount of microplastics is huge. |
| B．Researchers collected microplastics across the U.S. |
| C．Researchers focused on plastic particles in dry days. |
| D．Numerous plastic water bottles were found each year. |
| A．They should be recycled. | B．They do harm to weather. |
| C．They can be used to make all sorts of pesticides. | D．They carry harmful chemicals to human lungs. |
| A．Dust Particles Is Harmful to Our Lungs | B．The Environment Is Threatened by Plastics |
| C．Microplastics Are Falling from the Sky | D．Microplastics Do Harm to Health |
