For centuries people have wondered who was the model for Leonard do da Vinci's Mona Lisa and what was the reason for her smile. But the Mona Lisa is just one of the many mysteries in the art world. Here are some other notable unsolved art mysteries that might be a little less familiar.
Mystery 1: Who Is the girl in Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring?Around 1665, Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer painted a charming portrait of a young girl. People around the globe have long wondered who this fetching young lady was. Many say she must have been Vermeer's daughter or girlfriend. Others think she wasn't a real person, but rather an intentionally mysterious, timeless figure. The painting, referred to as the Mona Lisa of the North, has been part of The Hague's permanent collection since 1903. But it draws record-breaking crowds whenever and wherever it tours around the world.
Mystery 2: Where Is Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man?Portrait of a Young Man is considered one of the most important pieces of art to go missing during World War II. The painting was created around 1513 by Raphael, a famous Italian Renaissance artist, and stolen from Poland's Princes Czartoryski Museum in 1939.
The portrait had traveled to Germany and Austria before it was gone in 1945.
Mystery 3: Was Van Gogh Murdered?One of the main things people know about Vincent van Gogh is that he cut off his ear. That was likely because the Dutch post-impressionist painter suffered from mental illness, probably severe depression. The official cause is suicide from a gun shot at close range.
That certainly seems plausible (貌似有理的), given his poor mental health. However, no gun was found near his body, and locals reported two teenage boys bullying him shortly before his death.
Nobody knows the value of a good doll better than Jandrisevits. "Dolls have a power we don't completely understand," she said. It's a conclusion she came to while working as a social worker using dolls to help her young clients adapt to their changing medical situations. Many of the kids saw themselves in those dolls. But for the kids missing a limb or who had lost their hair, there were none they could relate to.
So, seven years ago, when a friend revealed that her child was stuck in self-doubt and self-distrust, Jandrisevits, now 49, knew what might help the youth through this potentially challenging period. "It's hard to tell a kid. You are perfect the way you are, and to build self-esteem (自尊) that way, but never offer them anything that looks like them," she says.
Jandrisevits went about changing that. She crafted a doll by hand — using fabric, stitching, and markers — that resembled (像) her friend's child and sent it off. After the friend posted a photo online of the happy child and doll, another woman asked Jandrisevits to make a doll that looked like her baby, who was missing a leg.
Word spread, and soon Jandrisevits was making dolls for children with scars, birthmarks, facial deformities(畸形), — in short, a doll that looked like them. She quit her job and started a nonprofit, A Doll Like Me.
Working out of her home in Milwaukee, from photos sent by parents or caregivers, it takes Jandrisevits roughly three days to craft only one doll. A GoFundMe page helps her cover costs and allows her to donate her services. She hasn't charged for a doll since she began her nonprofit.
In all, she's made more than 400 dolls. The waiting list is long, but Jandriscvits will never give up. As she explains on her GoFundMe page, "Every kid, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, medical issue, or body type, should look into the sweet face of a doll and see their own".
Scientists based in Japan's Osaka University have found a way to 3D print wagyu beef (the most expensive Japanese beef) in a lab — a step they believe will one day help make widely available and sustainably-produced cuts of cultured meat that closely resemble original products.
Using cells that they took from wagyu cows, the Japanese scientists set out to create a structure with the special feature seen in wagyu beef that makes it different from other cuts of beef. By isolating beef cells, the scientists organized how muscles, fat and other cells should be placed. The researchers then shaped these tissues (组织) into the form of a steak using a technique called 3D bioprinting (生物打印), where cell structures can be made to look like real tissues in living things. The researchers believe that the development could be a big step toward a sustainable future. Its origins from real meat also make it different from plant-based options.
By improving this technology, it will be possible to not only reproduce complex meat structures, but also make subtle adjustments to the fat and muscle components, Michiya Matsusaki, one of the project's researchers, said excitedly in a statement. Michiya added that with these adjustments, more customers might one day be able to order a cultured cut of meat with the amount of fat they like, tailor-made to their tastes and health concerns.
Wagyu beef is known to be extremely expensive, with high-grade wagyu fetching prices of up to $200 per pound and adult cows selling for more than $30,000. In 2019, Japan's wagyu exports reached a record high of $268.8 million in profits, up 20% from 2018.
While this might be the first cut of wagyu beef ever to be 3D-printed, other attempts have been made to bio-print steaks. In February this year, Aleph Farms and the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Israel Institute of Technology jointly bio-printed and cultivated a rib eye steak using real cow cells.
From airplanes to apartments, most spaces are now designed with sound-absorbing materials that help decrease various sounds of everyday life. But most of the sound-absorbing materials that can cancel out human voices, traffic noise and music are made from plastic foams (泡沫) that aren't easily recycled or degraded. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering have created a biodegradable film (薄膜) obtained from seaweed, which effectively absorbs sounds in this range.
Controlling and optimizing the way sound moves throughout a room is the key to creating functional spaces. Foam sound-absorbing panels are a common solution, and they come in a variety of materials and thicknesses tailored to specific sound requirements. Most of these foams, however, are made from a type of plastic material and other chemical substances that are obtained from natural oil or petrol. To avoid petrochemicals, researchers have explored more renewable sources and biodegradable sound-absorbing alternatives. But many current options are made from plant fibers that don't effectively decrease noises in the most useful range of sound frequencies, or they are too thick or difficult to produce. So, Chindam's team wanted to develop a biodegradable material from a plant, which would be simple to produce and could absorb a range of sounds.
The team created films of agar (琼脂), a material that comes from seaweed, along with other additives developed from plants and varied the thickness of the films. After running the materials through a battery of tests, the researchers measured how well the films reduced sound across a range of frequencies. To do this, the team created a sound tube in which a speaker is placed at one end, and the test film is fitted over the other end. Microphones in the middle of the tube measured the amount of sound sent by the speaker and the amount of sound reflected off the film. These experiments showed that the films with many small holes made with the highest concentrations of agar had the greatest sound-absorbing qualities and performed similarly to traditional sound-absorbing foams. The researchers plan to explore ways to change the agar films to give them other desirable properties, such as flame resistance, and will explore other biologically obtained film materials.
Listening is one of the four primary forms of communication, along with reading, writing, and speaking. . There's a higher form of listening, fortunately, which leads to real communication. We call it "genuine listening". And it's the kind of practice we want to put to use.
But to do genuine listening, you need to do three things differently.
. It is reported that only 7 percent of communication is contained in the words we use. The rest comes from body language (53%) and how we say words, or the tone and feeling reflected in our voice (40%). To hear what other people are really saying, you also need to listen to what they're not saying., mostly, everyone is tender inside and has a strong need to be understood.
Stand in another man's shoes. To become a genuine listener, you need to take off your shoes and stand in another man's. In the words of Robert Byrne, "Until you walk a mile in another man's shoes you can't imagine the smell.".
Practice mirroring. Think like a mirror. What does a mirror do? It doesn't judge. It doesn't give advice. It reflects. Mirroring is simply this: Repeat back in your own words what the other person is saying and feeling. Mirroring isn't mimicking. Mimicking is when you repeat exactly what the other person says, like a parrot. If you practice mirroring but don't really desire to understand others, they will see through it. If your attitude is right but you don't have the skill, you'll be okay.. If you have both the attitude and the skill, you'll become a powerful communicator!
A. Listen with your eyes, heart, and ears
B. But it doesn't work the other way around
C. Although you can choose an interesting topic
D. Communicate with others as often as possible
E. However, many people don't know how to listen
F. No matter how hard people may appear on the surface
G. You must try to see the world as they see it and feel as they feel
Mikey and Stacey traveled to Bali, and rented a motorbike to a small town – Ubud. It was dark when they1 back. As they climbed the hill, Mikey2 down at his iPhone which was navigating (导航) their way.3, he ignored a sharp bend ahead.
Sometime later, he4 and found himself lying on his back, surrounded by thick vegetations. He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't5. The motorbike was gone, so was his cellphone. Stacey was a few feet away, badly injured, too.
But how would anyone find them? Mikey 6 his second phone which 7 him to contact his friends. He powered it on, opened his Facebook page and8 something.
Within two minutes, Aimee9 the post and responded. Mikey sent her his GPS coordinates (坐标). Aimee posted a screenshot of them to Facebook. Every few10 another friend would jump into the11.
In Los Angeles, Paul12 a map, circling the13 search area. With the help from the network, a possible situation picture was 14. Mikey and Stacey were 15 outside of Ubud, but in the jungle.
Mikey's friends began posting contact information of police, hospitals, and ambulance services in Bali, and many of them even16 those places with calls. Luckily, Mikey was still17 when he heard some sound. Soon the sound turned into18. It's a search team!
A(n) 19? Maybe. As one friend posted, When people come together, 20 things happen. Even if they come from the Internet.
Chinese paper cutting or jianzhi is the first paper-cutting design, (date) back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. Due to its unique (art) appeal, after hundreds of years' development, the paper-cuts have become a means of decorations is popular both home and abroad.
(general), the paper-cuts are used to decorate doors and windows, thus sometimes they (refer) to as ―chuanghua‖(Window Flower). They are also used for religious and ceremonial purposes, buried with the dead and burned at funerals.
Chinese people believe the red paper-cuts on the door can bring good fortune and happiness the whole family. As a result, paper-cuts are more often seen during traditional Chinese festivals, the Spring Festival in particular.
People find hope and comfort in expressing best (wish) with paper-cuttings. For instance: for a wedding ceremony, red paper-cuttings are a traditional decoration on the tea set, the dressing table glass, and other furniture. big red paper character "Xi" (happiness) is a traditional must on the newly-wed's(新婚夫妇) door. With its popularity (increase), we may never fail (feel) the existence of Chinese paper-cutting all over the world.
增加： 在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除： 把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改： 在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改 10 处，多者（从第 11 处起）不计分。
Since the COVID-19 epidemic (传染病) broke out in that winter, a number of people infected and patients who have died has kept climb. It is reported that the epidemic has something to do with the killing and selling of wild animals. There is no doubt that hunting and killing wild animals have a bad influence. Wild animals are killed for varied reasons, that causes the imbalance of nature. As far as I am concerned, something must be done to stop this legal action. First, Nature
Reserves are supposed to be built so as to offer more living space to wildlives. Second, we should never have wild animals for food, as they are part our environment. It is high time that we raise people's awareness to protect wild animals. Only in this way can you build a harmonious society and ensure a better future of mankind.
1）比赛介绍；
2）希望得到哪些指导；
注意：
1）词数 100 左右；
2）可适当增加细节使行文连贯；
3）英语名人演讲模仿比赛（English Speech Imitation Contest）
Dear Mr. Johnson,
……
Yours,
Li Hua
