最新外研社必修八-module2原文

The RenaissanceFor many people, the Renaissance means 14th to 16th century Italy, and the developments in art and architecture, music and literature which took place there at that time. But there is one work which, perhaps more than any other, expr esses the spirit of the Renaissance: the Mona L isa. It is believed to be the best example of a n ew lifelike style of painting that amazed peopl e when it was first used. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the years 1503－1506, the Mona Lisa is a mysterious masterpie ce. People want to know who Mona Lisa is, an d why she is smiling. Even if people do not kn ow much about the Renaissance, they have hea rd of this painting. But the Renaissance is, of c ourse, more than just Mona Lisa. Renaissance is a French word which means “rebirth” and it first appeared in English in the 19th century. The word was used to describe a period in Eur opean history which began with the arrival of t he first Europeans in America, an age of exploration, and the beginning of the modern world. It was as if Europe was waking up after the lo ng sleep of the Middle Ages. From Italy, the id eas of the Renaissance rapidly spread northwar ds to France, Germany, England, and the rest o f Europe.Trade with other parts of the world meant that Europe was getting richer, too. Thismeant that people had money to spend on the a rts; and it became easier for artists to find peop le who could afford to buy their works or empl oy them. Leonardo worked for important peopl e such the Duke of Milan, and, towards the en d of his life, the King of France. Renaissance artists found new ideas for their w ork in classical Greece and Rome. But they loo ked forward, too, by opening new frontiers in t he arts. Painters discovered how to perspective and the effects of light; composers put differe nt voices together and create polyphony (“ma ny voices"); architects preferred designing buil dings with more light which contrasted with the heaviness of the Gothic cathedrals of the M iddle Ages.The sense of exploration which motivated the artists went hand in hand with a new type of p hilosophy. After centuries of accepting a medie val world view in which human life was consi dered of little value compared with the greatne ss of God, philosophers began asking question s like “What is a person?” or “Why am I h ere?” For the first time, they put people, not r eligion, at the centre of the universe.The Renaissance was a time of scientific inven tion, too. Leonardo, as well as being one of the greatest painters the world has ever known, w as also a skilled inventor. Wherever he went, h e carried a notebook around with him, in whic h he wrote down his ideas. They included detai led drawings of the human body, plans for eng ineers to build canals and bridges, and astonish ing drawings of machines which were not to b e built until hundreds of years later, such as aer oplanes, parachutes, submarines and tanks. Towards the end of his life he was employed by t he King of 65 France to do scientific research, and he did not have a lot of time for painting. In short, Leonardo was an extraordinary geniu s, an example of what has been described as “Renaissance man”: someone interested in e verything and with many different talents. But even if his only contribution to history had bee n the Mona Lisa, it would have been genius en ough for all time.READING AND WRITING (2)ThursdayWe arrived on the overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland and took a train toAmsterdam Central Station. It was only a short ride. It’s not easy to find your way around the town. A lot of the roads follow the canals, which aren’t straight but are shaped like horseshoes. So yo u can walk along a street for half an hour or so and end up five minutes from where you start ed. However, most people don’t walk － there are three million bikes in town and a good bus and tram system. There are boats, too . About half of them are for tourists, the others are houseboats with people living on them. We spent the whole day walking. Tomorrow we’re going to rent bikes. FridayWe spent today looking at houses. The architec ture is astonishing, quite different from other E uropean countries we’ve been to. The houses are tall and thin, and m any of them have a fantastically ornate Renaiss ance appearance. In the Middle Ages the houses were made of wood. Then, at the end of the 1 5th century there was a huge fire and about thr ee quarters of the town was destroyed. After th at, houses were made of brick. Unlike other pl aces in Europe, where house owners were taxe d on the size of －their windows, here the taxes depended on the width of the house －so they kept them narrow, but built them tall. Well, that's what Claire says, and she read it in the guidebook. SaturdayWe visited the Van Gogh Museum, instead of t he more famous Rijksmuseum. It was astonish ing. 1 hadn’t really looked at any of Van Gogh’s paintings before. He seems to have re-invent ed the art. It doesn’t matter whether he is doing a portrait or a land scape — he’s a genius. In the last 70 days of his life before he shot himself he produced 70 paintings, and I reckon they’re almost all masterpieces. Yet in all his life Va n Gogh only ever sold one painting! We must have spent three hours in that museum. When we came out I told Claire I thought Van Gogh was the greatest painter in history. She remind ed me that we were leaving for Paris tomorrow , where we were going to see the most famous painting in the world ...The Puzzle of the Mona LisaThe Mona Lisa is the subject of many stories, but there is one anecdote which remains a puz zle. Is the painting in the Louvre the authentic work by Leonardo da Vinci... or just a copy? The story began one day in 1911 when someon e noticed the Mona Lisa was missing. A spoke sman said, “The burglar left the antique fram e and the glass behind. He must have gone through the basement to the main courtyard. A pa sserby saw a man with a moustache, carrying a parcel under his arm, dash over the street cros sing, along to the crossroads. He then fled dow n a sideroad. We’re appealing to anyone who saw the suspect t o contact us.”So who stole the Mona Lisa? And why? News about the loss of the Mona Lisa was circulated in all the French newspapers, and there was a widespread search for the burglar all over the c ountry. The police said, “We don’t think the burglar was working alone. We’re seeking a gang of criminals.”Two years later, a man with a moustache went to an dealer in Florence in Italy and made a ten tative attempt to sell the Mona Lisa. The art de aler checked it, agreed it was authentic ... and t hen called the police.Why did the burglar, Vincenzo Perugia, wait s o long? Perugia had stolen the Mona Lisa on b ehalf of the chief organiser of the crime, Eduardo de Valfierno. But Perugia made a fundame ntal mistake. He trusted de Valfierno to pay hi m for the painting. The drawback for Perugia was that de Valfierno didn’t in fact need the painting, only the news of the theft. De Valfierno made six superb copies an d sold them, claiming that each one was the au thentic stolen painting. Of course, the fact that there were six substitutes was confidential. Th e six buyers didn't know about the other painti ngs. What's more, de Valfierno didn’t need to pay his debt to Perugia.After two years, Perugia got tired of waiting to be paid, and tried to sell the painting. When th e real Mona Lisa turned up in Florence, De Val fierno simply told his buyers that it was merel y a copy.The outcome of the story is that Perugia got th e blame for the crime and went to prison. De V alfierno remained at liberty for the rest of his life.But there is still a puzzle. There were a number of precise copies of the Mona Lisa painted by gifted students of Leonardo da Vinci. Part of t he painting’s fascination is whether the one in the Louvre was authentic... even before it was stolen. And if Perugia stole a copy ... who has the authenti c Mona Lisa?PrintingPrinting is the process of making many copies of a single document using movable characters or letters. In China, printing was known as ear ly as in the 7th century, during the Tang Dynas ty; in Europe, it was an important part of the R enaissance. Printing answered a need becaus e people were thirsty for Knowledge. Before printing was invented, copies of a man uscript had to be made by hand, usually on ani mal skins. This was a difficult task that could take many years, and which made books very e xpensive. Printing made it possible to produce more copies in a few weeks than could have b een produced in a lifetime written out by hand.It is believed that a German, Johann Gutenberg , made the first printing press in Europe. He ad apted it from the machines farmers used to squ eeze oil from olives. It used paper, which was more suitable for printing (and cheaper) than a nimal skins. Paper, like printing, had been inve nted much earlier in China and it had found its way to Europe, via southeast Asia and then In dia. By the 10th century AD, paper was being produced in Baghdad. The first paper mill in E urope was built at the end of the 12th century. The first book that Gutenberg produced was a Bible. But as the ideas of the Renaissance deve loped, so did the demand for the Greek and La tin classics, which had been largely ignored for up to 2,000 years. People also wanted books i n their own languages. The invention of printing meant that this desire could be satisfied. So on there were printing presses all over norther n Europe. In 1476 William Caxton set up his o wn press in London, and England became one of the most important centres of the printing in dustry. This spread of printed books led to a re newed passion for artistic expression. Without the development of the printing press, the Ren aissance may never have happened. Without in expensive printing to make books available to a large section of society, the son of John Shak espeare, a government official in rural England in the mid-1500s, may never have been inspir ed to take up writing as a profession.What wes tern civilization gained from Gutenberg’s contribution is impossible to calculate.Printing is the process of making many copies of a single document using movable characters or letters. In China, printing was known as ear ly as in the 7th century, during the Tang Dynas ty; in Europe, it was an important part of the R enaissance. Printing answered a need becaus e people were thirsty for Knowledge. Before printing was invented, copies of a man uscript had to be made by hand, usually on ani mal skins. This was a difficult task that could t ake many years, and which made books very e xpensive. Printing made it possible to produce more copies in a few weeks than could have b een produced in a lifetime written out by hand. it is believed that a German, Johann Gutenber g, made the first printing press in Europe. He a dapted it from the machines farmers used to sq ueeze oil from olives. It used paper, which was more suitable for printing (and cheaper) than animal skins. Paper, like printing, had been inv ented much earlier in China and it had found it s way to Europe, via southeast Asia and then India. By the 10th century AD, paper was being produced in Baghdad. The first paper mill in Europe was built at the end of the 12th century .The first book that Gutenberg produced was a Bible. But as the ideas of the Renaissance deve loped, so did the demand for the Greek and La tin classics, which had been largely ignored for up to 2,000 years. People also wanted books i n their own languages. The invention of printi ng meant that this desire could be satisfied. So on there were printing presses all over norther n Europe. In 1476 William Caxton set up his o wn press in London, and England became one of the most important centres of the printing in dustry. This spread of printed books led to a re newed passion for artistic expression. Without the development of the printing press, the Ren aissance may never have happened. Without in expensive printing to make books available to a large section of society, the son of John Shak espeare, a government official in rural Englandin the mid-1500s, may never have been inspir ed to take up writing as a profession.What wes tern civilization gained from Gutenberg’s contribution is impossible to calculate.Venice , Endangered CityThere can be few more beautiful cities in the w orld than Venice; but as the world’s sea levels rise due to the warming of the atm osphere, there is also a danger that its astonishi ng architecture and precious works of art may one day end up at the bottom of the Mediterran ean.One of the most famous parts of Venice, visite d by millions of tourists, is St Mark’s Square. 150 years ago it used to flood once o r twice a year. Now it floods every week. The effect on people’s lives, and on the wonderful Renaissance buil dings, is terrible. One Venetian said: “I don’t know anyone who sleeps on the ground floor of their house any more. It’s always too wet and sometimes the water com es in.”The city’s battle with water dates back over 1,500 years . Its wealth has always depended on its positio n in the middle of the sea, which meant that it was easy for ships to stop there and trade. By t he time of the Renaissance in the 15th century, it was one of the world’s richest cities, trading with both the East and t he West. But the city’s leaders always depended on skilled engineers to keep Venice from sinking under the waves. The wonderful architecture is supported by hu ge sections of trees pushed deep into the earth under the water. Wood is destroyed by a combi nation of air and water; but under the earth the re is no air, so the wood has survived one and a half thousand years. For centuries the Veneti ans made careful calculations about how to keep the water level from getting too high. But in the 20th century the knowledge was basically forgotten. People did not realise the effect that taking water out of the ground would have on t he city. During the 1950s factories took water out of the earth, making it drier; then the weig ht of the buildings squeezed the earth and the e ntire city started to sink. By the time the gover nment found out what was happening, Venice had sunk 20 centimetres.That problem has now gone away－but the news about Venice is still very disturbi ng. Across the world, the height of the sea is g oing up all the time; and the whole of the north east of Italy is moving downwards, and taking Venice with it. Unless the government comes u p with an answer soon, this Renaissance jewel could be lost for ever.Venice , Endangered CityThere can be few more beautiful cities in the w orld than Venice; but as the world’s sea levels rise due to the warming of the atm osphere, there is also a danger that its astonishing architecture and precious works of art may one day end up at the bottom of the M editerranean.One of the most famous parts of Venice, visite d by millions of tourists, is St Mark’s Square. 150 years ago it used to flood once o r twice a year. Now it floods every week. The effect on people’s lives, and on the wonderful Renaissance buil dings, is terrible. One Venetian said: “I don’t know anyone who sleeps on the ground floor of their house any more. It’s always too wet and sometimes the water com es in.”The city’s battle with water dates back over 1,500 years . Its wealth has always depended on its positio n in the middle of the sea, which meant that it was easy for ships to stop there and trade. By t he time of the Renaissance in the 15th century, it was one of the world’s richest cities, trading with both the East and t he West. But the city’s leaders always depended on skilled engineers to keep Venice from sinking under the waves. The wonderful architecture is supported by hu ge sections of trees pushed deep into the earth under the water. Wood is destroyed by a combi nation of air and water; but under the earth the re is no air, so the wood has survived one and a half thousand years. For centuries the Veneti ans made careful calculations about how to ke ep the water level from getting too high. But in the 20th century the knowledge was basically forgotten. People did not realise the effect that taking water out of the ground would have on t he city. During the 1950s factories took waterout of the earth, making it drier; then the weig ht of the buildings squeezed the earth and the e ntire city started to sink. By the time the gover nment found out what was happening, Venice had sunk 20 centimetres.That problem has now gone away－but the news about Venice is still very disturbi ng. Across the world, the height of the sea is g oing up all the time; and the whole of the north east of Italy is moving downwards, and taking Venice with it. Unless the government comes u p with an answer soon, this Renaissance jewel could be lost for ever.。