首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It is quite a feat to be invisible while occupying substantial buildings in central London flanking the Royal Academy of Arts. B
It is quite a feat to be invisible while occupying substantial buildings in central London flanking the Royal Academy of Arts. B
admin
2015-10-21
15
问题
It is quite a feat to be invisible while occupying substantial buildings in central London flanking the Royal Academy of Arts. But that’s just what the Linnean Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Geological Society of London, the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Astronomical Society managed to do for nearly a century. Then, in 2004, Her Majesty’s Government not only noticed but also questioned their right to remain at Burlington House, as the complex is called. To the Learned Societies this may have seemed a bitter irony. In 1857,the government of a previous queen had built Burlington House expressly to house them all. Reverence for such institutions, along with the value of real estate, was not what it had been in Victoria’s day. But their terms of occupancy remained unchanged.
When they moved into Burlington House, only the Royal Academy, run by supposedly impractical artists, asked for a lease. It was given 999 years at a peppercorn rent. The Societies and their allegedly hard-headed scientist members, were leaseless and rent-free. As decades passed, keeping a low profile must have seemed a sensible idea. Indeed, by 1920,some fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London(SAL),thought it essential. When a 1919 Act of Parliament made it illegal to bar women from such societies merely because of their gender, a committee of SAL fellows pressed for immediate action: women must be invited to become fellows at once. This was not in order to right previous wrongs. It was to avoid criticism and with it the risk that people might notice that no rent was being paid. The danger averted, heads stayed below the parapet.
But danger reappeared in 2004. With the reputed aim of clarifying SAL’s presence at Burlington House, the government brought a suit against it. Rumour swept through intellectual London that, in fact, the government wanted to turf the Societies out—or to get a full market rent, which would have amounted to much the same thing. Alarmed feathers from five aviaries of rare birds went flying.
Now, three years later, feathers are smooth. Indeed, cooing can be heard occasionally from Burlington House. Compromises reached with the government have given the Learned Societies security of tenure at affordable rents. In return, the Societies have begun introducing themselves to one another and to the public.
They have created a "cultural campus" in the courtyard to share scholarship and conviviality— and reflect their new appreciation that there is strength in numbers. Earlier this year, the Linnean Society announced it was producing a digital archive of its priceless collections of specimens, manuscripts and letters of the world famous Swedish naturalist, Carl Linnaeus, on this the 300th anniversary of his birth.
The SAL, also 300 this year, is celebrating with a nine-month series of lectures. On September 26th, David Starkey, one of the most high-profile of its 2,300 fellows, will talk about"The Antiquarian Endeavour"at St James’s Church, Piccadilly. On November 8th at Harvard, home to many of SAL’s 100 American-based fellows, Felipe Fern ndez-Armesto tackles " Don Francisco’s nose-piece: forming new empires in Renaissance America". The biggest birthday event is an exhibition of 150 of SAL’s treasures at the Royal Academy from September 15th to December 2nd. Among these treasures is an oil on oak portrait of Queen Mary I painted by Hans Eworth in 1554 and a glowing 12th-century enamel casket designed to hold the remains of Thomas Becket. How good that invisibility is a thing of the past.
"Feathers are smooth" in Paragraph Four implies that______.
选项
A、the Societies are forced quiet
B、the crisis is resolved
C、the Societies are freed
D、the dispute is forgotten
答案
B
解析
语义题。“feathers are smooth”的直译为“羽毛又变得平整了”,第四段第三句提到五大学会和政府达成了协议,对照前文的“羽毛满天飞”可知,风波平息了,故答案为[B]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/BPKO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
ThePilgrimFatherswere______.
Languageissaidtobearbitrarybecausethereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsand
ThecityofLondonis【N1】______foraseriesofeventstocelebratetheChineseNewYear,andiflastyear’scelebrationsarean
AccordingtoUSGBC,buildingstakeup______ofcarbonemissionsintheU.S.
HowtoStudyEnglishinYourDream:theTheoryI.IntroductionA.ConnectionsamongEnglishstudy,imaginationanddreamB.Two
BeforeJoseMartinezsetuphispizzadeliveryservice,he
"Thisorphanhasafather."isanexampleof______.
Accordingtotheinterviewee,whatbringsSouthCentralAsiahigherrisk?
Accordingtotheinterviewee,whatbringsSouthCentralAsiahigherrisk?
Forthelast82years,Sweden’sNobelAcademyhasdecidedwhowillreceivetheNobelPrizeinLiterature,therebydeterminewho
随机试题
某企业将所有产品的信息编辑成册发送给潜在顾客,该企业使用的直接营销工具是()
类风湿关节炎最常见的起病方式是
某女,第一胎,孕38周,双胎。第一个胎儿为臀位脐带脱垂,臀牵引娩出,第二个胎儿头位自娩,产后25分钟突然阴道出血250ml,胎盘尚无剥离迹象。对于该产妇最及时的处理是
地下停车库每个车位建筑面积宜为:[2010-54]
保管期满但未结清的债权债务原始凭证,经单位负责人批准后可以销毁。()
理财规划师需要根据投资规划所需要的相关信息编制特定表格,这些表格不包括()。
下列各项费用支出中,应在“销售费用”科目核算的是()。
我国选举法规定,各级人民代表大会的代表候选人的当选条件是()。
大海的波涛声是自然界最纯美、浑厚,且颇具神秘色彩的“音乐”。然而是谁“弹奏”了这一曲曲动人的音乐呢?美国科学家一项最新的研究发现,浪花中大大小小的气泡便是一位天才的“演奏家”。海洋学研究所科学家认为,涛声的音质取决于形成海浪所特有的浪端气泡的体积
ResearchShowsWalkingCanLiftDepressionNewresearchbyGermanscientistsshowsthatauthorCharlesDickenswasontoagoodt
最新回复
(
0
)