Exhibitions in the British Museum

Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is widely regarded as one of Japan’s most famous and influential artists. He produced works of astonishing quality right up until his death at the age of 90. This new exhibition will lead you on an artistic journey through the last 30 years of Hokusai’s life—a time when he produced some of his most memorable masterpieces.

25 May—13 August 2017

Room 35

Adults￡12, Members/under 16s free

Places of the mind: British watercolour landscapes 1850-1950

Drawn from the British Museum’s rich collection, this is the first exhibition devoted to landscape drawings and watercolours by British artists in the Victorian and modern eras—two halves of very different centuries.

23 February—27 August 2017

Room 90

Free, just drop in

Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia

This major exhibition explores the story of the Scythians—nomadic tribes and masters of mounted warfare, who flourished between 900 and 200 BC. Their encounters with the Greeks, Assyrians and Persians were written into history but for centuries all trace of their culture was lost—buried beneath the ice.

14 September 2017—14 January 2018

Room 30

Adults￡16.50, Members/under 16s free

Politics and paradise: Indian popular prints from the Moscatelli Gift

This display is part of the Museum’s contribution to the India-UK Year of Culture 2017. It looks at the popular print culture of India from the 1880s until the 1950s.

19 July—3 September 2017

Room 92

Free, just drop in

1. If you are interested in paintings of natural scenery,you will probably go to______.

A. Room 35           B. Room 90                C. Room 30          D. Room 92

2. Which exhibition best suit the taste of an expert in ancient civilization?

A. Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave.

B. Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia.

C. Places of the mind: British watercolour landscapes 1850-1950.

D. Politics and paradise: Indian popular prints from the Moscatelli Gift.

3. Where can we most probably find the passage?

A. In a financial report.      B. In a story book.        C. In a tour guide.      D. In a fashion magazine.

William Butler Yeats, a most famous Irish writer, was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. His childhood lacked the harmony that was typical of a happy family. Later, Yeats shocked his family by saying that he remembered “little of childhood but its pain”. In fact, he inherited (继承) excellent taste in art from his family-----both his father and his brother were painters. But he finally settled on literature, particularly drama and poetry.

     Yeats had strong faith in the coming of new artistic movements. He set himself the fresh task in founding an Irish national theatre in the late 1890s. His early theatrical experiments, however, were not received favorably at the beginning. He didn’t lose heart, and finally enjoyed success in his poetical drama.

     Compared with his dramatic works, Yeats’ poems attract much admiring notice. The subject matter includes love, nature, history, time and aging. Though Yeats generally relied on very traditional forms, he brought modern sensibility to them. As his literary life progressed, his poetry grew finer and richer, which led him to worldwide recognition.

     He had not enjoyed a major public lift since winning the Nobel Prize in 1923. Yet, he continued writing almost to the end of his life. Had Yeats stopped writing at age 40, he would probably now be valued as a minor poet, for there is no other example in literary history of a poet who produces his greatest works between the ages of 50 and 75. After Yeats’ death in 1939, W.H. Auden wrote, among others, the following lines:

     Earth, receive an honored guest:

     William Yeats is laid to rest.

     Let the Irish vessel(船) lie.

     Emptied of his poetry.

1. Which of the following can describe Yeats’ family?

A. It filled Yeats’ childhood with laughter.

B. It was shocked by Yeats’ choice.

C. It was a typically wealthy family.

D. It had an artistic atmosphere.

2. According to the passage, what do we know about Yeats’ life?

A. Yeats founded the first Irish theatre.

B. Yeats stuck to modern forms in his poetry.

C. Yeats began to produce his best works from the 1910s.

D. Yeats was not favored by the public until the 1923 Nobel Prize.

3. What kind of feeling is expressed in W. H. Auden’s lines?

A. Envy                      B. Sympathy                C. Emptiness                D. Admiration

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Yeats’ literary achievements.

B. Yeats’ historical influence.

C. Yeats’ artistic ambition.

D. Yeats’ national honor.

Intelligent people are more likely to trust others, while those who score lower on measures of intelligence are less likely to do so. Oxford University researchers based their finding on an analysis of the ‘General Social Survey’.

The authors say one explanation could be that more intelligent individuals are better at judging characters and may spend more time building relationships with people they can trust. Another reason could be that smarter people are better at weighing up situations and assessing whether or not the other person will hold up his or her end of a bargain.

“Intelligence is shown to be linked with trusting others.” said the study’s lead author, Noah Carl of Oxford University,“ This finding supports what other researchers have argued, namely that being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence.”

In addition, the study shows that individuals who are more trusting are also happier with their lives and had higher levels of physical health. The Oxford researchers found, however, that the links between trust and health, and between trust and happiness, are not explained by intelligence. The findings confirmed that trust is a valuable resource for an individual, and is not simply a measure of intelligence.

The authors say the research is significant because the study of social trust could have far-reaching implications in public welfare, as social trust contributes to the success of important social institutions, such as welfare systems and financial markets.

According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, trust is in increasingly short supply in current generation. This decline threatens world leaders’ ability to handle some of today’s key challenges like global warming, and the political system. There are good reasons to think that governments should try to develop more trust in society.

Distrust usually causes friction in personal relationships, careers and politics among others, says Stephen Covey. Although majority of people say that trust can never be restored once it’s broken, Stephen feels it can be brought back. “It’s not easy, it takes time, but you do it through your behavior, not just things you say.”

1. It can be concluded from the passage that ______.

A. intelligence accounts for the connection between trust and health

B. judgment of characters determines the level of intelligence

C. intelligent individuals spend less time on interpersonal relationship

D. intelligent people tend to show more trust in others

 2. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A. Make the best of a situation.                                B. Stick to one’s promise as agreed.

C. Figure out the true value of a bargain.                   D. Make an assessment of a deal.

3. According to the research, higher level of social trust is______.

A. a basic step to deal with global warming                      B. a decisive basis for stable political system

C. a complete solution to interpersonal conflicts        D. a contributing factor to successful public institutions

4. When it comes to rebuilding trust, Stephen is most likely to agree that______.

A. actions always speak louder than words               B. Trust is the proper fruit of knowledge

C. mind is largely determined by behavior                 D. behavior is a mirror to shows one’s image

Almost every day we come across situations in which we have to make decisions one way or another. Choice, we are given to believe, is a right. But for a good many people in the world, in rich and poor countries, choice is a luxury, something wonderful but hard to get, not a right. And for those who think they are exercising their right to make choices, the whole system is merely an illusion, a false idea created by companies and advertisers hoping to sell their products.

The endless choice gives birth to anxiety in people’s lives. Buying something as basic as a coffee pot is not exactly simple. Easy access to a wide range of everyday goods leads to a sense of powerlessness in many people, ending in the shopper giving up and walking away, or just buying an unsuitable item (商品) that is not really wanted. Recent studies in England have shown that many electrical goods bought in almost every family are not really needed. More difficult decision-making is then either avoided or trusted into the hands of the professionals, lifestyle instructors, or advisors.

It is not just the availability of the goods that is the problem, but the speed with which new types of products come on the market. Advances in design and production help quicken the process. Products also need to have a short lifespan so that the public can be persuaded to replace them within a short time. The typical example is computers, which are almost out-of-date once they are bought. This indeed makes selection a problem. Gone are the days when one could just walk with ease into a shop and buy one thing; no choice, no anxiety.

1. What does the author try to argue in Paragraph 1?

A. The practice of choice is difficult.

B. The right of choice is given but at a price.

C. Choice and right exist at the same time.

D. The exercise of rights is a luxury.

2. Why do more choices of goods give rise to anxiety?

A. People are likely to find themselves overcome by business persuasion.

B. Shoppers may find themselves lost in the broad range of items.

C. Companies and advertisers are often misleading about the rage of choice.

D. Professionals find it hard to decide on a suitable product.

3. By using computers as an example, the author wants to prove that ______.

A. products of the latest design flood the market

B. competitions are fierce in high-tech industry

C. everyday goods need to be replaced often

D. advanced products meet the needs of people

4. What is this passage mainly about?

A. The opinions on people’s right in different countries.

      B. The problems about the availability of everyday goods.

C. The helplessness in purchasing decisions.

D. The variety of choices in modern society.

People have always wanted to know what the future will look like. Then, how can we?  1 The world has changed a lot in the last 150 years, but we humans are driven by the same basic needs as we were 150 years ago, such as food, sleep, the feeling of being appreciated and loved.   2 No. In addition, generally speaking, the inventions for the last 150 years have been a human effort for freedom and communication, to be able to get in control of the time and world. Since there is still much to do in this area, this will be the focus at least for the next150 years.

But why do we need to predict the future? Predicting the future is important for two reasons: First, we need to start to think about what kind of future we would like for ourselves and to pass on to the next generation.   3 

How about the virtual worlds? It might be in the future to experience the sand between your toes, and hear the waves, just lying in your bed at home.   4  So, even if a great invention is there for an affordable price, it’ll never take the place of the common experience if it is not real.

  5  What we’ll see in the next 50 years is the transition(过渡) from an oil-dependent society to a new society. Here there’ll be new medicine, continued exploration of space, challenges in the climate change, and new inventions that make life a little easier.

A．So what will the future look like then?

B．Will this change in the next 150 years?

C．Predicting the future can help us in many ways.

D．However, you’ll never get the feeling of being there.

E．Well, to understand the future, you must know the past.

F.  However, no matter how real the experience will feel, it doesn’t happen for real.

G.  Then we need to know what decisions we need to make today that will give the best result in the future.