ROME: The legend of Leonardo da Vinci is covered in mystery: How did he die? Are the remains buried in a French castle really those of the master? Was the "Mona Lisa" a self-portrait in disguise (伪装)?

A group of Italian scientists believe the key to solving those puzzles lies with the remains, and they say they are seeking permission to dig up the body to conduct carbon and DNA testing.

If the skull is undamaged, the scientists can go to the heart of a question that has fascinated scholars and the public for centuries: the identity of the "Mona Lisa." Recreating a virtual and then physical reconstruction of Leonardo's face, they can compare it with the smiling face in the painting.

"We don't know what we'll find if the tomb is opened. We could even just find grains and dust," says Giorgio Gruppioni, an anthropologist who is participating in the project. "But if the remains are well kept, they are a biological record of events in a person's life, and sometimes in their death." Silvano Vinceti, the leader of the group, said that he plans to press his case with the French officials in charge of the said burial site at Amboise Castle early next week.

Leonardo moved to France at the invitation of King Francis I, who named him "first painter to the king." He spent the last three years of his life there, and died in 1519 at age 67. The artist's original burial place, the palace church of Saint Florentine, was destroyed during the French Revolution and remains that are believed to be his were eventually reburied in the Saint-Hubert Chapel near the castle.

"The Amboise tomb is a symbolic tomb; it's a big question mark," said Alessandro Vezzosi, the director of a museum dedicated to Leonardo in his hometown of Vinci. Vezzosi said that investigating the tomb could help identify the artist's bones with certainty and solve other questions, such as the cause of his death. He said he asked to open the tomb in 2004 to study the remains, but the Amboise Castle turned him down.

The group of 100 experts involved in the project, called the National Committee for Historical and Artistic Heritage, was created in 2003 with the aim of "solving the great mysteries of the past," said Vinceti, who has written books on art and literature.

Arguably the world's most famous painting, the "Mona Lisa" hangs in the Louvre in Paris, where it drew some 8.5 million visitors last year. Mystery has surrounded the identity of the painting's subject for centuries, with opinions ranging from the wife of a Florentine merchant to Leonardo's own mother.

That Leonardo intended the "Mona Lisa" as a self-portrait in disguise is a possibility that has interested and divided scholars. Theories have existed: Some think that Leonardo's taste for tricks and riddles might have led him to hide his own identity behind that puzzling smile; others have guessed that the painting hid an androgynous lover.

If granted access to the grave site, the Italian experts plan to use a tiny camera and radar to confirm the presence of bones. The scientists would then exhume (挖掘) the remains and attempt to date the bones with carbon testing.

At the heart of the proposed study is the effort to discover whether the remains are actually Leonardo's, including with DNA testing.

Vezzosi questions the DNA comparison, saying he is unaware of any direct descendants (后代) of Leonardo or of tombs that could be attributed with certainty to the artist's close relatives.

Gruppioni said that DNA from the bones could also eventually be compared to DNA found elsewhere. For example, Leonardo is thought to have rubbed colors on the canvas with his thumb, possibly using saliva (唾液), meaning DNA might be found on his paintings.

Even in the absence of DNA testing, other tests could provide useful information, including whether the bones belonged to a man or a woman, and whether the person died young or old.

Even within the committee, experts are divided over the identity of the "Mona Lisa."

Vinceti believes that a tradition of considering the self-portrait to be not just a faithful imitation of one's features but a representation of one's spiritual identity may have resonated (共鸣) with Leonardo.

Vezzosi, the museum director, dismissed as "baseless and senseless" the idea that the "Mona Lisa" could be a self-portrait of Leonardo. He said most researchers believe the woman may have been either a wife of the artist's sponsor, the Florentine nobleman Giuliano de Medici, or Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich silk merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. The traditional view is that the name "Mona Lisa" comes from the silk merchant's wife, as well as its Italian name: "La Gioconda."  

   Where is this passage most probably taken from?

    A. A magazine.  B. A newspaper. C. A textbook.      D. A research report.

   Why does the author ask a couple of questions in the beginning?

    A. To arouse the interest of readers.   B. To puzzle Italian scientists.

    C. To answer the questions himself.     D. To make fun of French officials.

   The best title of this story might be “_____”.

    A. What Is the Purpose of an Investigation?

    B. How Did Leonardo da Vinci Die in France?

    C. Are the Remains Really Those of the Master?

    D. Did Leonardo Paint Himself as 'Mona Lisa'?

The sentence “he plans to press his case with the French officials” (underlined in Paragraph 4) suggests that Vinceti intends to _____.

    A. press the French officials to participate in their project

    B. urge the French officials to open the tomb early next week

    C. persuade the French officials to allow opening the tomb

    D. record events in a person’s life with the French officials

   Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

    A. Scholars have the same opinion on DNA testing.

    B. Scientists doubt if the remains are those of da Vinci.

    C. The identity of “Mona Lisa” has already been proved.

    D. Alessandro Vezzosi got permission to open the tomb.

   We can infer from the last two paragraphs that _____?

    A. “Mona Lisa” is the name of the wife of a silk merchant

    B. the “Mona Lisa” is a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

    C. experts divided the committee into several groups

    D. opinions differ of the identity of the “Mona Lisa”

C
Patients and doctors alike have long believed in the healing (治疗) power of humor. It is claimed that humor not only affects patients’ moods, but can actually help them recover faster.
Several studies seem to support this. Patients in better spirits are known to have higher immune cell counts. Some have even claimed to have healed themselves of serious illnesses by reading comics and watching comedies.
Despite all this, many researchers are not convinced. They point out the fact that many sufferings have been known to disappear naturally, with or without a daily dose of laughter. They also say that while optimism in general does seem to be related to better health, it is hard to tell which comes first.
Humor in times of stress, however, clearly makes us feel better. On one level, it takes our minds off our troubles and relaxes us. On another, it releases powerful endorphins, a chemical produced by your body that reduces pain.
There are cases where the appreciation of a good joke is indeed directly related to a person’s health. It can show, for example, whether a person has suffered damage to one particular area of the brain: the right frontal lobe (额叶).
Scientists confirmed this by having people read jokes and asking them to choose the funniest endings from a list. Subjects with normal brains usually chose endings that were based on a relatively complex synthesis (综合) of ideas. Subjects with specifically located brain damage, however, responded only to slapstick (闹剧) endings, which did not depend on a particular context. When pressed, the brain-damaged subjects saw the logic in the correct endings. They simply did not find them funny.
Of course, humor is largely an individual matter. Next time your friend does not get one of your jokes, there is no need to accuse him of being a lamebrain. However, you might suggest that he lighten up—for the health of it.
63. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. all researchers have agreed on the healing power of humor
B. people seldom accuse their friends of not understanding jokes
C. the author holds a positive attitude to the healing power of humor
D. reading comics will surely become a popular way of treating diseases
64. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Many researchers are not convinced of the healing power of humor.
B. Patients in bad moods are known to have higher immune cell counts.
C. Optimism in general does seem to be related to better health.
D. People should try their best to cheer up for their good health.
65. Scientists had some people read jokes and asked them to choose the funniest endings from a list to confirm that ________.
A. the brain-damaged people are different from those with normal brains
B. a person with a normal brain usually responds to slapstick endings
C. a person suffering certain brain damage doesn’t appreciate a good joke
D. humor takes our minds off our troubles by releasing powerful endorphins
66. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Which comes first, humor or health?             B. Humor can cure different illnesses
C. People need humor in times of stress        D. Humor contributes to good health

Recently we told you about a finding that more years of school could help students get higherscores on intelligence tests．That was the finding of a study of teenage males in Norway．Now，other research shows that physical activity may help students do better in their classes .

The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical education．They are using the time instead for academic subjects like maths and reading．The studies appeared between 2007 and 2013．They included more than 55，000 children，aged 6 to 18．

Amika Singh：“Based on the results of our study，we can conclude that being physically active is beneficial for academic performance. There are，first，Physiological explanations，like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain．Being physically active means there are more hormones(荷尔蒙)produced like endorphins(内啡肽)．And endorphins make your stress level lower and? your mood improved, which means you also perform better.”

Also，students involved in organized sports learn rules and how to follow them．This could improve their classroom behavior and help them keep their mind on their work．

The study leaves some questions unanswered，however．Ms．Stash says it is not possible to say whether the amount or kind of activity affected the level of academic improvement．This is because of differences among the studies .

Also．they were mostly observational studies．An observational study is where researchers do not do controlled comparisons．They only describe what they observe．So they might observe a link that students who are more active often have better grades．But that does not necessarily mean being active was the cause of those higher grades．

The researchers said they found only two high - quality studies．They called for more high-

quality studies to confirm their findings．They also pointed out that “outcomes for other parts of the world may be quite different. ”

Still，the general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school．Ms．Singh says schools should consider that finding before they cut physical education programs．Her paper on “Physical Activity and Performance at School”is published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine．

1.The passage mainly tells us that ＿＿＿＿

A．a research on physical education has been done by the researchers

B．there exists a possibility that physical activity leads to higher grades

C．the amount or kind of activity directly affects academic level

D．the research shows that the children aged 6 to 1 8 don't do sports

2.Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Being mentally active is good for academic subjects．

B．The more hormones you have，the more stressed you will get．

C．They have found many high-quality studies to prove the research．

D．The educators in the research think studies，not exercise，mean much to students．

3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 7 probably means ＿＿＿＿.

A．good marks result from high-quality study

B．findings probably vary in different areas

C．physical activity will spread all over the world

D．academic performance depends on the surroundings

4.What's the purpose of writing the passage?

A．To call our attention to the sports at school．

B．To introduce all types of physical activities．

C．To represent the academic performance．

D．To improve students' health ．

Don't blame genes for aging facial skin. A new study of twins suggests you can   1   those coarse(粗糙的) wrinkles, brown or pink spots, and dilated(膨胀的) blood vessels on too much time in the sun, smoking, and being overweight.

Because twins share genes, but may have  2  exposures to environmental factors, studying twins allows an, "opportunity to control for genetic susceptibility(敏感性)," Dr. Elma D. Baron, at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and colleagues  3  in the latest issue of Archives of Dermatology.

Their analysis of environmental skin-damaging factors in 65 pairs of twins hints that skin aging is  4  more to environment and lifestyle than  5   factors.

But when it   6   skin cancer, the researchers say their findings support previous reports that   7  environment and genes affect skin cancer risk.

Baron's team   8   facial skin of 130 twins, 18 to 77 years old, who lived  9   in the northern Midwest and Eastern regions of the U.S. who were  10   the Twins Days Festival in Ohio in August 2002.

At this time, each of the twins also  11    reported how their skin burned or tanned  12    sunscreen(防晒霜), their weight, and their history of skin cancer, smoking, and alcohol drinking.

The study group   13   of 52 fraternal and 10 identical twin pairs, plus 3 pairs who were unsure of their twin status. Identical(同卵的) twins share all of their genes and fraternal twins share only about half.

From these data, the researchers  14  strong ties, outside of twin status, between smoking, older age, and being overweight, and having facial skin with evidence of environmental  15 

 16   contrast, sunscreen use and drinking alcohol appeared correlated with   17    skin damage.

Baron and colleagues say the current findings, which highlight ties between facial   18  and potentially avoidable  19   factors -- such as smoking, being overweight, and   20   overexposure to the sun's damaging rays -- may help motivate people to minimize these risky behaviors.

(    ) 1. A. blame                         B. owe                 C. take                 D. bring

(    ) 2. A. same                      B. different           C. similar             D. common

(    ) 3. A. explain                    B. confirm            C. declare             D. shout

(    ) 4. A. equal                             B. related              C. close               D. strict

(    ) 5. A. characteristic           B. personal           C. natural             D. genetic

(    ) 6. A. comes to                 B. talks of             C. refers to           D. gets to

(    ) 7. A. all                          B. neither             C. both                 D. either

(    ) 8. A. examined               B. checked            C. inspected          D. interviewed

(    ) 9. A. most                      B. usually             C. mostly              D. always

(    ) 10. A. joining                  B. representing      C. attending          D. remarking

(    ) 11. A. separately                  B. lonely              C. commonly               D. truly

(    ) 12. A. with                             B. on                    C. in                    D. without

(    ) 13. A. consisted                      B. made up         C. contained       D. included

(    ) 14. A. documented           B. recorded           C. reported           D. noted

(    ) 15. A. damage                 B. exploration       C. protection        D. material

(    ) 16. A. In                         B. By                   C. As                    D. At

(    ) 17. A. lesser                    B. more               C. no                    D. fewer

(    ) 18. A. look                             B. aging                      C. expression               D. wrinkle

(    ) 19. A. environmental               B. genetic             C. emotional        D. psychological

(    ) 20. A. protected                      B. planned            C. unprotected       D. prevented

The first time that I had heard the term“EQ”was in the fall of 1995 when the book Emotional Intelligence，by Daniel Goleman，was widely covered by the American press.The widespread research presented in the book supported my own observations and doubts about life and emotions，and told me that I was on the right track to go after happiness.The research continues to confirm what I had concluded on my own: These feelings are extremely important to individual health，happiness，and social harmony.This might seem a bit obvious，but it was not always obvious to me.

I grew up in a family where we didn’t talk about feelings.We talked about ideas，concepts and principles.As a result，I could tell you what I thought about everything，but I couldn’t tell you how I felt about anything.After several failed relationships，I took time off to reflect on my life and realized I had made many decisions which resulted in unhappiness for myself and others.After studying the literature on emotions and feelings，I concluded that most of my poor decisions could be directly due to what is now called low emotional intelligence，or low EQ，for short.Previously，I struggled to find happiness through the traditional routes—material success.Now，however，I realize that：

There’s not much point having either wealth or relationships if you aren’t happy.

It is hard to be happy with others if you aren’t happy yourself.

It is hard to be happy alone if you don’t feel good about yourself，i.e.have high self­esteem and self­confidence.

It is hard to have good feelings about yourself if you don’t have good emotional management skills.

Emotional management skills，the main subject of EQ，are，therefore，one of the most basic elements of happiness.

56．The author’s views and ideas about life were exactly proved by ________.

A. the widespread reports in American newspapers

B. own observations and doubts about life and emotions

C. the fact that he was on the right track to go after happiness

D. ideas and views in the book Emotional Intelligence

57．The author’s family members ________.

A. are wise and hard­working                      B. are wealthy and strong

C. are not good at expressing their own feelings        D. get along badly with each other

58．Before reading the book，the author thought he could have happiness ________.

A. if he could earn a lot of money                   B. if he could avoid poor decisions

C. if he took time off to reflect on his life             D. if he ignored the traditional routes

59．A person who can’t feel happy himself ________.

A. will feel happy with lots of friends                B. will not get on well with others

C. has no self­esteem at all                         D. should read the new book on EQ

60．Loneliness most probably comes from ________.

A. lack of self­confidence and self­esteem             B. lack of the presence of others

C. lack of good relationships with others              D. lack of wealth and health