【題目】 It's common knowledge that the woman in Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting seems to look back at observers (觀察者), following them with her eyes no matter where they stand in the room. But this common knowledge turns out wrong.

A new study finds that the woman in the painting is actually looking out at an angle (角度) that's 15.4 degrees off to the observer's right-well outside of the range that people normally believe when they think someone is looking right at them. In other words, said the study author, Horstmann, "She's not looking at you." This is somewhat ironic, because the entire phenomenon of a person's gaze (凝視) in a photograph or painting seeming to follow the viewer is called the "Mona Lisa effect (效應(yīng))". That effect is absolutely real, Horstmann said. If a person is illustrated or photographed looking straight ahead, even people viewing the portrait from an angle will feel they are being looked at. As long as the angle of the person's gaze is no more than about 5 degrees off to either side, the Mona Lisa effect occurs.

This is important for human interaction with on screen characters. If you want someone off to the right side of a room to feel that a person on-screen is looking at him or her, you don't cut the gaze of the character to that side-surprisingly, doing so would make an observer feel like the character isn't looking at anyone in the room at all. Instead, you keep the gaze straight ahead.

Horstmann and his co-author were studying this effect for its application in the creation of artificial-intelligence avatars (虛擬頭像) when Horstmann took a long look at the "Mona Lisa" and realized she wasn't looking at him.

To make sure it wasn't just him, the researchers asked 24 people to view images of the "Mona Lisa" on a computer screen. They set a ruler between the viewer and the screen and asked the participants to note which number on the ruler intersected (橫切) Mona Lisa's gaze. To calculate (估測(cè)) the angle of Mona Lisa's gaze as she looked at the viewer, they moved the ruler farther from or closer to the screen during the study. Consistently, the researchers found, participants judged that the woman in the "Mona Lisa" portrait was not looking straight at them, but slightly off to their right.

So why do people repeat the belief that her eyes seem to follow the viewer? Horstmann isn't sure. It's possible, he said, that people have the desire to be looked at, so they think the woman is looking straight at them. Or maybe the people who first created the term "Mona Lisa effect" just thought it was a cool name.

【1】It is generally believed that the woman in the painting "Mona Lisa"

A.attracts the viewers to look backB.looks at the viewers wherever they stand

C.fixes her eyes on the back of the viewersD.seems mysterious because of her eyes

【2】The purpose of the experiment involving 24 people was to _________.

A.calculate the angle of Mona Lisa's gazeB.create artificial-intelligence avatars

C.make sure Horstmann's belief is rightD.explain how the Mona Lisa effect can be applied

【3】What gaze range in a painting will cause the Mona Lisa effect?

A.B.

C.D.

【4】What can we learn from the passage?

A.Horstmann thinks it's cool to create the term "Mona Lisa effect".

B.The Mona Lisa effect contributes to the creation of artificial intelligence.

C.The position of the ruler in the experiment will influence the viewers' judgement.

D.Feeling being gazed at by Mona Lisa may be caused by the desire for attention.

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】B

【4】D

【解析】

本篇文章難度適中，主要講述蒙娜麗薩效應(yīng)，并且霍斯特曼通過實(shí)驗(yàn)論證得出：被蒙娜麗莎凝視的感覺可能是因?yàn)榭释魂P(guān)注。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)It's common knowledge that the woman in Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting seems to look back at observers (觀察者), following them with her eyes no matter where they stand in the room“眾所周知，在萊昂納多·達(dá)·芬奇最著名的畫作中，這位女性似乎在回望著觀察者，無論他們站在房間的什么地方，她的眼睛都會(huì)跟著他們”可知，無論觀眾站在哪里，都在看著觀眾。故選B。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)Horstmann and his co-author were studying this effect for its application in the creation of artificial-intelligence avatars (虛擬頭像) when Horstmann took a long look at the "Mona Lisa" and realized she wasn't looking at him“當(dāng)霍斯特曼長(zhǎng)時(shí)間地看著《蒙娜麗莎》，意識(shí)到她不是在看他�；羲固芈退暮现哒谘芯窟@種效應(yīng)，以便將其應(yīng)用于虛擬頭像的創(chuàng)造”以及To make sure it wasn't just him, the researchers asked 24 people to view images of the "Mona Lisa" on a computer screen“為了確定不只是他，研究人員讓24個(gè)人在電腦屏幕上觀看“蒙娜麗莎”的圖像”可知，確�；羲固芈男拍钍钦_的。故選C。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)As long as the angle of the person's gaze is no more than about 5 degrees off to either side, the Mona Lisa effect occurs“只要這個(gè)人的凝視角度兩邊不超過5度左右，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)蒙娜麗莎效應(yīng)”可知，故選B。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)It's possible, he said, that people have the desire to be looked at, so they think the woman is looking straight at them. Or maybe the people who first created the term "Mona Lisa effect" just thought it was a cool name“他說，可能是因?yàn)槿藗兿Ｍ蝗俗⒁�，所以他們認(rèn)為那個(gè)女人在直視他們�；蛘呤悄切┑谝粋�(gè)創(chuàng)造“蒙娜麗莎效應(yīng)”的人認(rèn)為這是個(gè)很酷的名字”可知，被蒙娜麗莎凝視的感覺可能是因?yàn)榭释魂P(guān)注。故選D。

練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】I want to have ________ ice-cream and _______ chocolate.

A. some; an B. some; a C. some; some D. any; any

查看答案和解析>>

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】She ____ to Beijing this summer.

A. goes B. is going C. is went

查看答案和解析>>

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】Books Bring Success

People growing with more books are more likely to be successful.

According to German novelist Heinrich Mann, a house without books is like a room without windows. Mann simply stated the value of books, but some researchers have found evidence that people with books in their homes really do gain a window on the world.

A new study in the journal Social Science Research, published in October, suggests that people who grow up with more books are more likely to have educational advantages, and to achieve more in life, than people who grow up without them.

In the study, over 160,000 adults from 31 countries and regions were asked about the number of books there were in their homes when they were 16 years old. They were then given tests in literacy (讀寫能力), numeracy (計(jì)算能力) and information communication technology.

The research shows that the number of books for each household varies greatly from country to country. For example, the number of books is 27 in Turkey, 143 in the UK and 218 in Estonia. But “the total effects of home library size on literacy are large everywhere”.

The researchers found that people who had only lower levels of secondary education but had a large number of books at home got a similar score as university graduates who grew up with only a few books.

The Guardian newspaper commented that “bookish adolescence makes for a good deal of educational advantage.”

“Adolescent exposure to books can compensate for shortcomings not only in adult literacy but also numeracy: its impacts are equal to additional years of education,” Sikora told Science Alert.

Apart from the educational benefits, growing up with more books also plays an important role in adult success.

Through analyzing their personal information, researchers found that people surrounded by books in adolescence are on average more successful in adulthood than those who had only few books at a younger age.

“Early exposure to books in the parental home matters because books are an basic part of routines and practices that enrich lifelong cognitive competencies (認(rèn)知能力)”, Sikora told Science Alert. These competencies are important to future development.

Without doubt, the fact that we are moving toward a digital era could weaken the importance of printed books. For now, however, “they still seem to maintain quite a large positive benefit, which shows no sign of abating (減弱)”, researchers wrote in the paper.

【1】What’s the study mainly about?

A. Reading habits of different countries.

B. Thebenefitsof growing up with more books.

C. How reading booksbringseducational advantages.

D. The impacts of books on people of different ages.

【2】How many books do an average British family own, according to the study?

A. 27.B. 32.C. 143.D. 218.

【3】The underlined phrase“compensate for”probably means ______.

A. make upforB. result inC. prepare forD. draw attention to

【4】According to the study, people who readmorebooks in adolescenceare likely to______.

a. havebetterliteracy

b. achievemorein adulthood

c.havebettercommunication skills

d.achievemorepleasant personalities

A. acB. bcC. cdD. ab

查看答案和解析>>

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】— How soon all the work ?

— In a week.

A．will; finish B．is; going to finish

C．will; be finished D．a(chǎn)re; going to be finished

查看答案和解析>>

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】–Lucy and Lily look the same. Are they twins?

-- Yes, but Lucy is of them.

A. the taller B. the tallest

C. taller D. tallest

查看答案和解析>>

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】The post office is far here. ______ you can't go there _______ foot

A. because; on B. so; by C. so; on

查看答案和解析>>

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】Last March, many trees ________ along the streets to make our city more beautiful.

A. were plantedB. were planting

C. had plantedD. planted

查看答案和解析>>

科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：

【題目】

Some people claim they “never forget a face”. But what does that saying mean? Is there really no limit to the number of faces a person can remember? A new study at the University of York in England has found that, on average, people can remember as many as 5,000 faces.

The study is the first time that scientists have been able to put a number to the abilities of humans to recognize faces. The research team tested people on how many faces they could remember from their personal lives and in the media. They also tested them to see how many famous faces they recognized. Rob Jenkins works in the psychology department at the University of York. He said the researchers’ study centered on the number of faces people actually know. He said the researchers were not able to discover whether there is a limit on how many faces the brain can handle.

In the study, people spent one hour writing down as many faces from their personal lives as possible. At first, they found it easy to come up with many faces. But by the end of the hour, they found it harder to think of new ones. Their change in speed let the researchers estimate when they would have run out of faces completely.

The results showed that these people knew between 1,000 and 10,000 faces. Jenkins explained that some people may have a natural ability for remembering faces. “There are differences in how much attention people pay to faces and how well they process the information,” he said. Jenkins also said it could be because of different social environments. Some people may have grown up in more populated places. Therefore, they may have had more social contact throughout their lives.

The people in the study included 25 men and women between 18 and 61 years old. Researchers think age may be an interesting area for further research. “It would be interesting to see whether there is a peak age for the number of faces we know”, Jenkins said. He said it is possible that we gather more faces throughout our lifetime. But, he added, there also may he an age at which we start to find it harder to remember all of those faces.

The study suggests our facial recognition abilities enable us to deal with the many different faces we see on the screens, as well as those we know, like family and friends. Today, facial recognition technology is used in many ways, including by law enforcement agencies to prevent crime and violence. Governments use it to keep secret areas secure and, in extreme cases, control populations. Even Facebook uses facial recognition. For example, when you “tag” or name a friend, Facebook technology may recognize the person’s face from a different picture you had shared before.

【1】The study at the University of York centers on ________.

A.how different people’s faces are

B.how important knowing faces is

C.how many faces people actually know

D.how much attention people pay to faces

【2】What can you learn from the passage?

A.It’s possible for anyone to remember 5000 faces.

B.The number of faces that people can remember is unlimited.

C.There is a change in the speed of people’s coming up with faces.

D.Facial recognition technology can improve social contact greatly.

【3】What does Rob Jenkins probably agree?

A.Remembering faces is not a natural ability for people.

B.People should gather more faces throughout their lifetime.

C.There is an age at which people can no longer know more faces.

D.People from a place with a large population may know more faces.

【4】What does the writer want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A.To present people’s abilities to recognize faces.

B.To tell us how facial recognition helps humans.

C.To explain the meaning of facial recognition technology.

D.To introduce the development of facial recognition technology.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案