【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) 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驗論證得出：被蒙娜麗莎凝視的感覺可能是因為渴望被關(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)霍斯特曼長時間地看著《蒙娜麗莎》，意識到她不是在看他。霍斯特曼和他的合著者正在研究這種效應(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個人在電腦屏幕上觀看“蒙娜麗莎”的圖像”可知，確保霍斯特曼的信念是正確的。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“只要這個人的凝視角度兩邊不超過5度左右，就會出現(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，可能是因為人們希望被人注視，所以他們認(rèn)為那個女人在直視他們�；蛘呤悄切┑谝粋�創(chuàng)造“蒙娜麗莎效應(yīng)”的人認(rèn)為這是個很酷的名字”可知，被蒙娜麗莎凝視的感覺可能是因為渴望被關(guān)注。故選D。

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