Whitman was one of the most original and inspiring American poets, well known for his art and his role as a poet. He devoted himself to poetry praising the native American experience. As America’s first epic poem, Leaves of Grass ran nine editions with more than 400 poems all written in free forms, that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. The tide implies rebirth, renewal, or green life. As Whitman once said, “Leaves of Grass was the outcropping of my own emotional and other personal nature - an attempt, from first to last, to put a person, a human being freely, fully and truly on record.”

For Whitman, science, democracy (民主) and spirituality (灵性) were the three things that underlay the structure of modern poetry. Whitman tried to combine the world of science, the democracy and the spiritual feeling of life into one, into his poetry. For Whitman, he poetic form should be free. Therefore, he threw aside the traditional form and had his own form. Both the form and content of his poems are revolutionary. With its frequent use of oral language and everyday events, his poem represented a turning point in the history of American poetry - poetry fashioned out of specially American experience in a clearly American idiom. Whitman’s unique poetic creation has developed a very significant tradition in American poetry.

In his poems, he celebrated new America rather than regretted it. He was against slavery, idolized (崇拜的) Lincoln, supported strikes, and combined the ideal of the common people and that of the ragged individual. 

1.Which is right?

      A.Whitman called on others to write poems like him

      B.Whitman praised the native rich Americans

      C.Whitman write poems to tell about the native American

      D.He wanted to become a great poet

2._____ in Whitman’s poems.

      A.There are fixed beat and regular rhyme scheme

      B.We could see rebirth, renewal or green life

      C.We could only see science, wars and damage.

      D.There are not emotional nature

3.What does the words the ragged individual mean?

      A.the rich people                                     B.the poor people

      C.the poem writers                                  D.the American lawyers

Fading beauty

     She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last for ever. 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 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(化学状态).

     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.

1.What does the writer mean by “time is catching up with the Mona Lisa”?

     A.The painting woman is not so beautiful any more.

     B.Ageing is something that affects us all.

     C.The painting needs repairing.

     D.At such an old age, she is no longer popular.

2.What makes the repair work difficult?

A.The wooden panel is thin and old.

B.No one knows exactly what materials were used to create the painting and how it might respond to treatment.

      C.The health of the painting is suffering.

      D.Experts can’t agree on how to carry out repairs.

3.What makes her so mysterious according to Professor Livingston?

A.The materials the Italian artist used.  B.The way she smiles.

C.The way Da Vinci painted the smile.  D.It plays a trick upon the human eyes

As students across the country have their yearly flu shots (打流感疫苗), doctors across the world are preparing against a possible outbreak of bird flu that few current vaccines (疫苗) will guard against. The likelihood of a bird flu spreading among humans is very high, the World Health Organization warned recently. European countries worry about bird flu very much, since many migratory birds (候鸟) start to fly back from the North.

There are at least 15 different types of bird flu virus around the world. The possible outbreak may be caused by a virus known as H5N1. It was first found to have spread from a bird to a human in Hong Kong in 1997. In addition to Asia, this bird flu has been found among birds in Romania, Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The outbreak in 1997 in Hong Kong was quickly controlled at a cost of 18 people ill and six dead. About 1.5 million chickens were collected in an effort to remove the source of the virus. But scientists say that the virus can change itself rapidly. Also, if the virus mixes with the human flu virus, it could be spread through person-to-person contact in the same way as ordinary human flu is spread. Bird flu can cause fever, coughing, sore throats and muscle aches in humans. With the introduction of vaccines, flu is not as deadly as it used to be. But throughout history it was a huge cause of death around the world. The outbreak of Spanish flu in 1918-19 killed about 40 to 50 million people worldwide.

Currently there is no vaccine against bird flu that can be used on humans. Scientists are working to develop one. This will probably take several months to complete and may not be ready in time to stop a widespread outbreak of the disease.

1.The author mainly tells us _____ in the passage.

A.people all over the world are worried about the outbreak of bird flu

B.there is a good chance of bird flu spreading to humans, which might be deadly

C.scientists are working together to develop vaccines against bird flu

D.throughout history, bird flu was a huge cause of death around the world

2.Which statement is NOT true?

A.The outbreak of bird flu in 1997 in Hong Kong was caused by a virus known as H5N1.

B.H5N1 wasn't discovered until it was found among birds in Romania and Turkey.

C.The Spanish flu in 1918-19 was deadly because it was spread from person to person.

D.People infected by bird flu suffer from fever, coughing, sore throats and muscle aches.

3.An outbreak of dangerous bird flu is possible because ______.

A.the constant changing of H5N1 may enable it to mix with the human flu virus

B.the symptoms (症状) of bird flu are just like human flu, making it hard to discover

C.there are at least 15 different types of bird flu virus

D.many countries have been affected by the dangerous disease before

4.According to the scientists, _______.

A.people needn't worry about the outbreak of bird flu

B.the virus can't be spread among humans

C.no vaccine against bird flu can be used on humans right now

D.many migratory birds start to fly back from the North

5.We can infer from the passage that _______.

A.in several months, a widespread outbreak of the disease can be stopped

B.the bird flu in 1997 in Hong Kong was soon stopped

C.as time goes on, bird flu is becoming more deadly

D.it takes scientists great effort to stop the possible outbreak of bird flu

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