Michael and Dick are good friends, but they like to play jokes on each other. One holiday, they decided to go to London together. They went to the station and bought their tickets. Michael got on the train first. He dropped his ticket on the platform when he got into the carriage. Dick, who was close behind, saw the ticket fall and quickly picked it up. He put it in his pocket, but didn't tell Michael. After they had been in the train for a while, they heard the conductor coming down the corridor, shouting, "Tickets, please!" Michael looked for his ticket and of course couldn't find it. "Oh dear, I can't find my ticket, Dick," Michael said. "Look for it carefully, Michael; it must be somewhere." said Dick. "No, I can't find it anywhere. What shall I do?" said Michael. "Perhaps you'd better hide under the seat; then the conductor won't know you are here." So Michael hid under the seat. At this time, the conductor came in. "Tickets, please," he said. Dick handed him tow tickets and said, "This is mine. The other is my friend's. But he prefers to stay under the seat." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. who got on the train first?
2. who else went on the train?
3. are michael and dick friends?
4. do they ever play jokes on each other?
5. what was the conductor shouting?
6. did Michael have his ticket?
7. who had it?
8. where were they going?
9. where did michael hide?
10. did the conductor come by?
Answer: 1. Michael
2. Dick
3. yes
4. yes
5. Tickets, please
6. no
7. Michael
8. London
9. under the seat
10. yes

Once upon a time, there was a family with eighteen children in a small village not far from Nuremberg. Eighteen! In spite of the hopeless condition, two of the children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art. After many long discussions, the two boys finally worked out an agreement. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother who attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was excellent. By the time he graduated, he had earned considerable fees for his works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming, where Albrecht drank a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled him to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "Now you can go to Nuremberg to look for your dream, and I will take care of you."

Tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side, Albert sobbed, "No... no... no...no. It is too late for me. Look...look at what four years in the mines has done to my hands! I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less draw delicate lines with a pen or a brush... For me, it is too late."

To show thanks to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands", but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed it "The Praying Hands".

The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one - no one - no one ever makes it alone! What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who hosted a dinner?
2. When?
3. And why did they do this?
4. Who did he drink a toast to?
5. Why?
6. What did he say at the end?
7. What did the brothers dream of doing when they were kids?
8. How did they plan to do this?
9. Which one got to go to school?
10. Did Albert get to go?
Answer: 1. the Durer family
2. When Albrecht returned to his village
3. to celebrate his triumphant homecoming
4. his brother
5. for the years of sacrifice the brother made to pay for his art school
6. Now you can go to Nuremberg to look for your dream, and I will take care of you
7. pursue their talent for art
8. One would work in the mines to support the other one's tuition, then trade places
9. Albrecht
10. no

Having crossed mountains and plains, rivers and lakes, some of prefix = st1 /France's greatest works of art are now on display atChina's National Museum of fine Arts. Fifty-one Impressionist paintings are forming part of an exhibition inBeijingto kick off the Year of France.

The show is being held in the capital between October 10 and November 27. Then it will move on to Shanghai and Hong Kong.

"It is such a good opportunity to see the masters' works up close," said Feng Jiajia, a Senior student form the High School Affiliated to theAcademyofArtand Design. Although Feng is very busy with his studies at the moment he says he will definitely make time to see the exhibition. "I hope it will inspire me and help me with my own work," he said.

Worth a total of US $600 million, the paintings ate by French Impressionist masters, including Monet, Cezanne, Renoir and Degas.

As an art style, Impressionism was developed inFranceduring the late 19thand early 20thcenturies. Their work was a fresh and original way of painting. It seems that the artists painted a scene after just a quick look at it.

Often painting outside, rather than in a studio, the artists observed nature more directly and tried to capture individual moments in time especially the changing light of the sun. They avoided black and earth color1s and as a result their work is often very bright and can also look like that it is shining.

When they first appeared, the artists were criticized for not finishing their paintings and for being lazy. Critics said the Impressionists were satisfied with just a few inexact brushstrokes instead of completing a real painting. It was an art critic who first used the term "Impressionist" in a review of Monet's work "Impression, Sunrise"(1873) to satirize his loose, inexact manner of painting.

"Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love," said Monet.

Monet is the leading figure in the creation of Impressionism. He painted sunlit rivers and gardens with forceful brushstrokes and bright color1s, in which objects lose their shape in the light. Monet's painting reached its height in his later life with his paintings of water lilies. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Where are some of France's greatest works of art now on display?
2. How many Impressionist paintings are in the exhibition in Beijingto?
3. Was Impressionism developed in France?
4. Did Impressionist ever paint outside?
5. What did Monet say about how people discuss his art?
6. What is the running date of the show in China?
7. How busy is Feng with his studies?
8. Which colors did the Impressionists avoid?
9. And what other colors?
10. Were the works ever bright and shiny?
Answer:
1. in China
2. Fifty-one
3. yes
4. Often, yes
5. Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love,
6. October 10 and November 27
7. very
8. hey avoided black
9. earth colors
10. yes often