3 . The National Gallery

Description:

The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from the 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.

Layout (布局):

The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses the 13th-to 15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.

The main West Wing houses the 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titan and Veronese.

The North Wing houses the 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.

The East Wing houses the 18th-to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.

Opening Hours:

The gallery is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm (Fridays 10 am to 9 pm) and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.

Getting There:

Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).

1. Which subway station is the farthest from the National Gallery?

A．Charing Cross.	B．Piccadilly Circus.
C．Leicester Square.	D．Embankment.

2. Where are Van Gogh’s works shown?

A．In the East Wing.	B．In the main West Wing.
C．In the Sainsbury Wing.	D．In the North Wing.

3. What can we learn about the gallery?

A．It is open for eight hours every day except Saturday and Sunday.

B．You should pay to enter it and charges apply to all of the exhibitions.

C．It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of art worldwide.

D．You can have access to the more modern collections by a ground floor entrance.

4 . Famous modern Chinese buildings

Beijing International Airport

The first place most visitors see when they arrive in China is Beijing International Airport. The airport was built in the 1950s. It has an indoor garden, a children’s playground, and over 70 food businesses in Terminal 3 alone.

Shanghai World Financial Center

Completed in 2008, SWFC took over 10 years to complete as a result of financial shortages and construction (建造) delays. Since its completion, it has won countless architectural (建筑) awards

Tourists are welcome at SWFC’S viewing platform, which at 474 meters above ground is the world’s highest closed viewing platform.

The Water Cube

Completed in 2008, it was constructed for use during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Now visitors can express surprise at the architecture of the building. They can enjoy the indoor atmosphere as well.

Among the offerings of the Water Cube are a restaurant and bar, a shopping area, and Water World, a family water park.

The Bird’s Nest, Beijing

It was designed mainly for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics which was completed in 2008. It can hold up to 80, 000 people and has been used for a winter theme park. Nowadays, its main income is as a tourist attraction. It draws more than 20, 000 tourists every day.

National Center for the Performing Arts

It was completed in 2007. The building is surrounded by a man-made lake, requiring guests to enter via (通过) an underground hallway. It is home to an Opera House, a Concert Hall, and a Theater.

1. Which of the following buildings was first constructed?

A．Beijing International Airport	B．Shanghai World Financial Center
C．The Water Cube	D．The Bird’s Nest, Beijing.

2. Why was the construction of Shanghai World Financial Center delayed?

A．It needed more construction workers	B．It was short of enough money
C．It added an extra viewing platform	D．It faced too much terrible weather

3. How does the Birds Nest operate daily?

A．By renting the winter theme park	B．By increasing its opening time.
C．By charging tourists for admission fees	D．By giving some live concerts

4. What can you do in National Center for the Performing Art?

A．Enjoy sports events.	B．Play musical instruments
C．Attend science lectures	D．Watch different performances.

5 . Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening,I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftops.I stopped to watch it for a few moments,thinking about what a pity it was that most city people,myself included,usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.

My friend had also seen it.He grew up living in a forest in Europe,and the moon meant a lot to him then.It had touched much of his life.

I know the feeling.Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends.We stayed in a forest rest-house with no electricity or hot water.Our group had campfires outside every night,and indoors when it was too cold outside.The moon grew to its fullest during our trip.Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys.Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard.It was one of the quietest places I had ever known,a bottomless well of silence.And above me was the full moon,which struck me deeply.

Today our lives are filled with glass,metal,plastic and fibre-glass.We have televisions,cellphones,heaters,ovens,air-conditioners,cars and computers.

Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day,most of it spent indoors,I thought:before long,I would like to live in a small cottage.There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains.I may become an old man there,and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons.But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touch the moon.

1. The writer felt sorry for himself because .

A．there was too much pollution

B．he usually missed the full moon sights

C．he didn’t adapt to modern inventions

D．there were too many accidents on the road

2. What impressed the writer most in the mountainous jungle of northern India?

A．No modern equipment.

B．Complete silence.

C．The nice full moon.

D．The high mountains.

3. In Paragraph 4,modern things are mentioned mainly to .

A．show that the writer likes city life very much

B．tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life

C．explain that people have few chances to enjoy nature

D．show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them

4. The best title for the passage would be .

A．Touched by the Moon

B．The Pleasures of Modern Life

C．A Bottomless Well of Silence

D．Break away from Modern Life

6 . The great avenues are quiet, and the shops are closed. There’s the smell of fresh bread from a bakery somewhere. It would be hard to say which time of the day in Paris I prefer but this is probably it. Soon the streets will be full of people and traffic. As with most other cities, you see the real Paris when the city wakes up.

There is, however, another part of Paris which is silent and free from people 24 hours a day. Under the city are hundreds of kilometers of abandoned tunnels. During the 19th century, Paris needed more stones for buildings above the ground, so people dug tunnels beneath the city. After that, many farmers grew mushrooms in them. During World War II, the French soldiers also used them. Since the 1970s, many young people have started spending days and nights below the city in these tunnels. It’s now a place for parties, theatre performances, art galleries – anything goes!A “normal” tourist can visit some parts of Paris’s tunnel system, such as the underground cemetery, where you can see the bones of about six million Parisians. The bodies came from cemeteries above the ground two centuries ago when the city needed more space.

However, people are not allowed to enter other parts of the tunnel system. It’s very dangerous because some tunnels might collapse and people will be trapped below. Nevertheless, there are people who will take you to visit them. I have found two “unofficial” tour guides who take me through many tunnels. After a couple of hours we arrive at a room which isn’t on any map. The room is comfortable and clean with a table and chairs and a bed. The guide tells me there are many other places like this. “Many people come down here to party, some people to paint.... We do what we want here.”

1. What is the writer’s favourite time of the day in Paris?

A．Early morning.	B．Midday.
C．Early evening.	D．Late night.

2. Why did French people first start digging tunnels?

A．For many housing.	B．For building stones.
C．For entertainment.	D．For growing mushrooms.

3. The underlined word “collapse” in the last paragraph in closest in meaning to         .

A．disappear

B．close

C．fall down

D．blow up

4. Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?

A．Tunnels under Paris	B．Travel around Paris
C．The history of Paris	D．The best-known tourist attraction in Paris