Part Four: Monologue
“Almost everyone knows the painting, Mona Lisa, but not everyone knows of its bizarre history. It was sold to the king of France, and later Napoleon hung it in his own bedroom. Then, in 1911, it was stolen from the Louvre by an Italian man. Apparently, he simply put the painting under his shoulder and walked out the front door. Museum attendants didn’t even notice the painting was missing until a day or so later. The Mona Lisa turned up after about a year and a half in the shop of an antique dealer in Italy. The man who had stolen the painting wanted it back in the artist’s home country and, after his mission accomplished, he was seen as a national hero by many. Italian authorities then returned it to the Louvre Museum, where it now hangs behind bullet proof glass.”
每个人都知道蒙娜·丽莎这幅画,可是并非人人了解她的离奇的历史。她早先是卖给了法国国王,随后拿破仑把她挂在自己的卧室里。之后,在1911年,她被一个意大利人从卢浮宫偷走。很明显,这个人只是把这幅画夹在自己的腋下从前门走出去。在画被偷走的一两天之后,卢浮宫的服务人员才发现画被盗。约一年半之后,蒙娜·丽莎出现在意大利的一家古董店里。当年偷了此画的人想让她重新回到画家的国家,任务完成之后,他也被很多人视为一个民族英雄。之后意大利当局把她归还给卢浮宫,现在这幅画正悬挂在宫内的防弹玻璃窗后面。
Part Five: Vocabulary and Expressions
-- take it easy不紧张,从容,不急
-- have the day off 不上班
-- check (something) out结帐离开,看看,试试
-- due back 归还日期
-- encyclopedia百科全书
-- research (学术)研究;调查,探究
-- stressed out紧张的,感到有压力的
-- It’s so…/ It’s such a… 它如此…
-- bizarre 奇异的;异乎寻常的
--* It’s so (+ adjective). It’s such a (+ noun).
It’s so beautiful. It’s so hot. It’s so noisy.
It’s such a beautiful painting. It’s such a hot day. It’s such a noisy city.