The Louvre Museum is one of the largest, oldest, most important and famous museum in the world. It is famous for holding several of the world’s most valuable works of art. Its collections’ number is over 380,000 objects, though not one of the world’s largest collections, arguably one of the finest. The art treasures of the Louvre Museum cover 5,000 years and are displayed in over 10 kilometers of galleries. The oldest artifact in the museum is 9,000 years old. Mona Lisa(1503-1506), painted by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. The artist’s use of very deep space in the background with a half-length portrait is typical of Renaissance painting style. This painting hangs in the Louvre, Paris. It is one of the most famous collections in the Louvre.
On November 8th, 1793, the Louvre was opened as a public museum.
It is open from 9 am to 6 pm all days except Tuesdays. The entrance fee is 7.5 before 3 pm. It is free under 18 years old. The Louvre Museum in Paris had a record number of visitors in 2005. About 7.3 million people visited the art museum in 2005.
【小题1】 After reading the first paragraph, we can come to the conclusion that ____.

From early times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world’s art treasures.

Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre (卢浮宫) in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries.

The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a fort (要塞)with high walls and a round tower. It had a moat (护城河) to keep out the enemies. Over the years, the number of buildings around the fort grew. By 1350,the fort was no longer needed and became a palace home for French kings and queens.

 During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During times of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged(毁损).

When Francis I became King of France in the year of 1515,he brought in artists from many countries, and one of them was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy, whose Mona Lisa is the best-known painting in the museum today.

 In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures have been saved for everyone to enjoy.

1.The above passage is about        

A. the world-famous painting Mona Lisa  

B. a king of France by the name of Francis I

C. a grand art museum in the capital of France 

D. an artist named Leonardo da Vinci

2.It seems to be necessary for great art works to be kept in public museum because     .

A. only in this way will they not be stolen     

B. it gives everyone a chance to enjoy them

C. it helps people to remember the life of French kings and queens

D. it tells people what meaningful work the French kings did in the past

3.The Louver became an art museum         

A. in the year of 1350                

B. in 1515 when Francis I became King of France   

C. in the seventeenth century            

D. in the nineties of the eighteenth century

4.Though the story does not say so, it makes you think         

A. lots of people pay visits to the Louvre

B. Leonardo da Vinci was once the keeper of the museum

C. the Louvre was only open to the artists from other countries

D. the Louvre became a public museum at the beginning of the last century 

She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last forever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.
The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louvre museum(卢浮宫博物馆)where it is housed.
“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago,” the museum said. Visitors have noticed the changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state.
Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. “It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops,” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University. “It’s because direct vision(视觉)is excellent at picking up detail, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows.”
However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile. Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519.
In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee, who took it out of the museum hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later.
During World War II, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces.
Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell.
【小题1】The underlined sentence in the first paragraph means the Mona Lisa ________.

American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19．2003．Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which has become one of London’s main tourist attractions.

Looking thinner and darker, 30-year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames and immediately went to hospital．He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors say could be life threatening．He had been drinking only water since September 5.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s．He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends.

Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention.

In 1999, he was buried in a coffin(棺材) for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice．Last year he stood on top of a 25-meter pillar(柱子) in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes.

“I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they’re able to do what they can do,” he said．“They don’t realize we can survive．The human being is an amazing creation.” But he seems to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box．He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste.

It is __________ for David Blaine to eat food after such a long starvation.

A．pleasant　　　       B．delicious　　　      C．dangerous　　 D．important

Having spent such a long time in the glass box, he suffered the following EXCEPT that __________.

A．he had become blind　　　　　　      B．he had serious back pains

C．he lost his sense of taste　　　      D．he was in weak health

Which of the following can best describe David Blaine?

A．Serious　　     B．Adventurous    C．Mad　　　　　      D．Crazy

Which of the following is NOT true of David Blaine?

       A．Blaine immediately went to hospital after he was taken out of his box.

       B．Blaine was born and brought up in England.

       C．In Blaine’s opinion, people can create a wonder．

       D．Blaine didn’t have any food for 44 days.　

From the earliest times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world's art treasures.

Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries.

The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a fort(炮台). In 1190, it was the king's castle with high walls and a round tower. It had a moat to keep out his enemies.5u

Over the years, the number of buildings around the castle grew. By 1350, the castle was no longer needed as a fort. The Louvre became a palace home for French kings and queens.

During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During days of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged.

When Francis I became king of France in 1515, he brought in artists from many countries. One of the artists was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy. Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ is the best known painting in the museum today.

In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures have been saved for everyone to enjoy.

On the whole, this passage is mainly about________.???

A. an art museum called the Louvre   B. an Italian artist named Leonardo da Vinci

C. a king of France named Francis I ?D. the best known painting in Louvre

Which of the following is not true？

A. The Louvre used to be a fort a very long time ago．

B. French kings and queens once lived in it．

C. The Louvre was taken by enemies in 1190．

D. Many treasures were brought into the Louvre over the years．

Why is it good for great art to be kept in public museums？

A. It helps people remember who the King of France is．

B. It keeps people out of the palaces．

C. It gives everyone a chance to enjoy good art．

D. It helps people to know who is the greatest artist．

From the passage we know that _____．

A. it is not possible for treasures to be stolen

B. old forts always make the best museums

C. great art should be shared with all the people

D. king Francis I of France brought in artists from an old fort