The following four famous paintings, from Jan van Eyck's portrait to Pablo Picasso's masterpiece, have stood the test of time.
The Arnolfini PortraitJan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait, an oil painting on wood produced in 1434, is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces in the National Gallery, London. This painting is as visually interesting as it is famed. It is also an informative document on fifteenth-century society, through van Eyck's heavy use of symbolism. While husbands went out to engage in business, wives concerned themselves with domestic duties.
The Starry NightVincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night, oil on canvas ( 帆 布 ), a moderately abstract landscape painting of an expressive night sky over a small hillside village, during his 12-month stay at the mental hospital near Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France between 1889 and 1890. When the Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased the painting from a private collector in 1941, it was not well known, but it has since become one of van Gogh's most famous works.
The HarvestersThe Harvesters is an oil painting on wood completed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565. It depicts the harvest time which most commonly occurred within the months of August and September. Nicolaes Jonghelinck, a merchant banker and art collector from Antwerp, commissioned this painting. The painting has been at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 1919.
GuernicaGuernica, a large black-and-white oil painting, was painted by the Cubist Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso in 1937. The title ‘Guernica' refers to the city that was bombed by Nazi planes during the Spanish Civil War. The painting depicts the horrors of war and as a result, has come to be an anti-war symbol and a reminder of the tragedies of war. Today, the painting is housed at the Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid.
One Sunday, my family had gathered at my parents' house to feast upon Mom's wonderful cooking. During the normal dinner chatter, I noticed that my father was slurring (说话含混) his words. No one mentioned this during dinner, but I felt compelled to discuss it with my mother afterward.
We decided that there was something seriously wrong and that Dad needed to see the doctor.
Mom phoned me two days later. The doctor found a brain tumor (肿瘤). It's too large at this point to operate. Maybe they can do something then, but the odds are long.
Even with the treatment, my father's condition worsened, and the doctor finally informed us that this condition was terminal. During one of his stays in the hospital, we brought our baby daughter Chelsey with us when we visited him. By this time he had great difficulty speaking. I finally figured out that he wanted Chelsey to sit on his stomach so he could make faces at her.
Watching the two of them together, I realized I was living an experience that would stay with me forever. Though grateful for the time they could share, I couldn't shake the feeling of a clock ticking in the background.
On the visit to my parents' home during what we all know was my father's last days, my mother took Chelsey from my arms and announced, "Your father would like to see you alone for a minute."
I entered the bedroom where my father lay on a rented hospital bed. He appeared even weaker than the day before.
How are you feeling, Dad?" I asked. "Can I do anything for you?"
He tried to speak, but he couldn't make out a word.
I'm sorry, but I can't understand you," I said.
With great difficulty he said, "I love you."
We don't learn courage from heroes on the evening news. We learn true courage from watching ordinary people rise above hopeless situations. In many ways, my father was a strict, uncommunicative man. He found it difficult to show emotion. The bravest thing I ever saw him do was overcome that barrier to open his heart to his son and family at the end of his life.
It is essential that students have a category of school-related activities they can participate in. These activities can range from activities during normal school hours to after-school activities. No matter the time, these activities should be available to every student, and at Victory Pioneers International Schools (V. P. I. S) it is encouraged that every student should participate in at least one activity, educational and recreational.
One of the primary reasons school activities are important at V. P. I. S. is that it gives students the exercise they might not normally receive. Most popularly, these types of activities include major sports such as football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track and field and soccer but also might include gymnasium games and other games.
Activities during V. P. I. S. also make a good impression on colleges if students are planning to pursue more education. Colleges look for students who do not just go to school and go home after school. These activities range from participating in clubs and sports to volunteering after school at a recreation center or having a part-time job. If a college sees you maintained good grades while participating in these activities, it will be impressed.
V. P. I. S. activities also allow students to be creative. Gifted and talented activities allow gifted students to participate in what they otherwise would never have experienced in the classroom. They are a great way to allow students to be creative. Additionally, participating in clubs such as drama that appeal to students' interest also allows them to expand their knowledge and be creative.
Students can also have their interests expanded by participating in activities. These activities could consist of anything, such as joining the Future Business Leaders, the school's debate team and the chess team, to name a few. By participating in these activities, a student might realize he is interested in something he never knew he was interested in before.
Music is good for the health. And drumming may be best of all. As well as being physically demanding, it requires people to adjust their limbs and to react to outside stimuli, such as what the rest of the band is up to. It is particularly helpful for children who have emotional and behavioral difficulties.
Researchers at the Clem Burke Drumming Project , an organization named after Blondie's drummer, who was one of its founders , have shown that teaching such children to drum helps them to control their reactions more generally, to focus more effectively on tasks they are given, and to communicate better with other people.
The project's latest work, led by Cahart of King's College, London, goes a step further. It looks at the neurological (神经系统的) changes which accompany these shifts.
Ms. Cahart and her colleagues found 36 autistic (自闭症)teenagers and divided them into two groups. One had drum lessons twice a week for eight weeks. The others did not. At the beginning and end of the project, everyone was asked to stay still for 45 minutes in a machine to see how the activity of their brains had changed. Their behaviour was also recorded.
As expected, most of the drumming group showed positive behavioral changes. And these were indeed reflected in their brains. The machine scans showed that several groups of connectivity between parts of those brains had strengthened during the experiment. In particular, two regions involved in attention control, formed strong links, respectively, with places associated with introspection (内省) and with areas involved in understanding facial expressions.
These changes in the brain thus nicely match the changes in behaviour which learning to drum brings. Not a surprise, perhaps. But drumming's power to heal is confirmed.
According to a common saying, "Honesty is the best policy. ". Lying often seems like a good way to impress people or avoid blame for mistakes. Some people lie out of habit, without even realizing they're doing it. But despite all this, honesty really is worth the effort.
. There's always a chance that the person you lied to will find out the truth. Is the gain from lying really worth the risk?
Lies are also difficult to hide because they are harder to remember than the truth. If you make up a story, you have to remember all the details. . But if you commit to telling the truth, you will never have trouble remembering. This saves you effort and makes conversations less stressful for you.
Another obvious reason to avoid lying is that lying can harm others. People who believe your lies might make bad decisions because of them. And a lie about someone else could destroy that person's reputation. . They will question whether they can trust you or wonder whether you care about them. In contrast, if you always tell the truth, you will develop a reputation for honesty.
This will help you in every area of your life. Business deals, friendships, family and romantic relationships all depend on trust.
Honesty, however, doesn't mean you have to say everything in your mind. Sometimes it's best to remain silent if your words might hurt someone else. Honesty means that when you speak, you tell the truth without holding any information back.
A. If your friends find out you have lied to them, their feelings will be hurt.
B. But in daily life, honesty can be difficult.
C. One obvious reason for honesty is that lies are difficult to maintain.
D. We will get others' respect and appreciation if telling the truth.
E. Being honest is a basic principle for us to deal with others.
F. When you do that, you will feel more relaxed and enjoy stronger relationships.
G. And the more lies you tell, the more stories you have to remember.
It's a sad reality that many of us find ourselves just too busy to contribute to our communities. For a long time, I, too, believed it cost too much in time, money and1to make a real difference. But all that changed when I2my good-deed-a-day project.
My daughter, Emily, was my primary3. I wanted to show her we could do little things to help others and be happy.
The first week, I wasn't sure if I could4it. I surfed the Internet for ideas. One day, I5 a blind man in the subway station. He smiled as he thanked me. Another day, I brought flowers from my garden to a local nursing home. . . I could only hope I was arousing6in others.
Luckily, after just a few days I found it easier than I'd expected. I knew I was making a real good 7.
Every evening at the dinner table, I 8that day's good deed to Emily. Emily began copying what I'd started. On a walk home from school, she marched over to a neighbor's pot of geraniums(天竺葵), which had toppled(摇晃) in the wind，and set it9. "That was my good deed for the day!" she yelled. Another day, she helped me collect10from our neighbors for the food bank. We dropped off the food . 11we drove away, Emily announced 12that she wanted to work there one day.
By the last week, I knew I'd changed. At first, I hadn't been entirely 13that I could do a good deed every day. Now it was practically second 14. I felt a greater responsibility to take action when I saw a need, 15looking the other way. I felt as though I'd awakened, somehow.
Situated in the Haidian District, northwest of Beijing, the Summer Palace is 15 kilometers away from the downtown area. Being the (large) and most well-preserved royal garden in China, it (great) influences Chinese horticulture(园艺)and landscape with (it) famous natural views and the works of humankind.
Originally (name) QingyiYuan or the Garden of Clear Ripples, the Summer Palace , later became the main residence of royal members in the end of the Qing Dynasty was first constructed in1750. However, like most of the gardens in Beijing , the Summer place (destroy) seriously by fire and was razed to the ground by the Anglo-French Allied Forces. Rebuilt in 1886, it was supposed to serve a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi. In 1900, the Summer Palace suffered another hit by the Eight-Power Allied Force. Then the government spent two year (repair) it. In 1924, it was open to public. The Summer Palace was added to the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1998, and became one of the first national AAAAA tourist(spot) in China.
It was Christmas Eve. The small local train was almost empty. It was snowing very hard outside. Suddenly the train stopped and everyone wondered what was wrong.
Then the train conductor walked through the train. "I am very sorry," he said to everyone. "The snow is too bad. We can't go forward and we can't go back. We have to stay here until the snow stops. And then someone will come and move the snow off the train tracks. "
"How long will we be here?" asked Melanie. "We have to get to Leeds by 8: 30 pm to catch our train to Manchester."
"I don't know," said the conductor. "But it is 7: 30 pm now. I'm sorry. I don't think we will get to Leeds in time. "
Melanie wanted to cry. When she married Craig in July, they moved to a small village in the Yorkshire Dales. She loved Craig very much, but life in the village was very quiet. She had not made any friends and she missed her family. She had not seen them since the wedding. She wanted to be with her family at Christmas.
Craig put his arms around Melanie. "It will be OK," he said. "You will see your family tomorrow." The conductor was talking to a family with two children at the back of the railway carriage. The children were crying loudly. "But we have to be at Grandma and Grandad's! We wrote letters to Santa. We told him we would be in Leeds on Christmas night! He won't know where to find us. We won't get any presents!"
Everyone was very unhappy. Everyone was talking loudly. They were shouting at the train conductor.
Then an old man stood up and said, "Everyone! Please calm down. I used to work on this railway line and know this kind of weather very well. I think we will be here until tomorrow morning, or maybe longer. So we must make our own Christmas Eve party. I have a bottle of whisky, a Christmas present for my brother. But I think I will share it with you. "
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
"I have Christmas pies and a bottle of my homemade orange drink." said the mother of the children.
……
The morning came with a lovely surprise to the children.
