Tourist Guide To The National Gallery
Opening hours: Daily 10am -6pm Friday 10amn-9pm
Closed.24-26 December
Reasons to visit
With over 2, 300 paintings in the collection, there are hundreds of reasons to visit the Gallery
Here are some to get you started……
Get into great art. From Leonardo da Vinci to Vincent van Gogh. See priceless works of art for free……
Get creative, Brush up your skills, and create your own great works of art……
Lean about art. Discover more about paintings.
Be inspired. Life, death, passion, beauty. Every painting tells a story.
Relax. Escape from the noisy city into a painting
Regulations
Talk in a low voice when you use your cellphone in the gallery.
Not touching the paintings or other exhibits. Not taking pets in or crossing the barriers.
Consuming food and drink in designated areas only, i. e. not in rooms that contain paintings
Following our'no-smoking' policy in any part of the building.
Following our'no –photography' policy in exhibitions where a sign is displayed
Access:
The National Gallery aims to make access to the paintings enjoyable and welcoming to the widest possible public. There are a range of facilities to help you see the collection, visit exhibitions and come to events
The Gallery offers British Sign Language -interpreted As on paintings for visitors who are deaf, and special art sessions(展期)for visitors who can't see.
Address: The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N SDN
Getting here:
By tube
The nearest stations are Charing Cross( National Rail, Northern, and Bakerloo lines )and Leicester Square( Northern and Piccadilly lines)
By bus
Routes 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 24, 87, 91, 139, and 176 stop at Trafalgar Square.
By bike
The nearest bike stands are on Orange Street, St Martin's Street, St Martins Place, and Duncannon Street
Click here to find more information.
In early February 2019, 51-year-old Rainer Schimpf and his team set out to film South Africa's Sardine Run off the coast of Point Elizabeth Sardine Run, the annual migration(迁徙)of billions of sardines (a small sea fish), is a big draw for large predators, especially the dolphin and whale. Predators are animals that kill and eat other animals. In an attempt to obtain the best images of the incredible natural phenomenon, Rainer dived into the middle of a spinning ball of fish. Suddenly the sea moved around violently, and the experienced diver and his photographer Heinz Toperczer, who was filming from the boat, instantly realized something strange was going on. Suddenly dolphins shot out of the water, a white spray came out and then a whale appeared and grasped Rainer
While Toperczer was filming the terrifying turn of events with his video camera, Rainer, who was trapped had first and engulfed(吞噬)in darkness inside the whales mouth, was trying to survive. Nothing can actually prepare you for the event when you end up inside the pure instinct(本能), "the diver told Barcroft TV. "Knowing in the whale's mouth, I tried to control my fear. But I was convinced that it was going to dive down and release me much deeper in the ocean."
"The whale quickly realized he was no sardine! As the whale turned sideways, he opened his mouth slightly to release me, and I was washed out, together with what felt like tons of water, of his mouth," recalled Rainer. Though the entire incident lasted just 1.8 seconds, it felt like a year to Rainer.
Still holding his underwater camera in his hand, the diver swam to his boat, where he was quickly rescued by the members of the team. The terrible adventure did not disturb Rainer for too long. After checking to ensure he had no injuries, the diver returned to the water to seek out more.
News anchors(主播) must have been reluctant to read out the following news: Xin Xiaomeng began working as the world's first female artificial(人工的) intelligence news anchor at Xinhua News Agency on Sunday, three months after a male robot joined the profession.
Unlike previous news robots though, Xin does not read news like a cold machine; she reads it almost like a human being. The muscles on her face stretch and relax-and her reactions change-as she continues reading. That's why many news anchors were worried: Will AI replace us in the near future?
To find the answer, we have to analyse the technologies that support Xin at her job. Three key technologies are used to support Xin. First, samples of human voices are collected and synthesized (合成). This is followed by the collection and synthesis of human muscle movement samples. And third the voices and movements are married in a way that when the Al news anchor reads, the micro -electric motors behind her face move to make her expressions seem more human.
Yet we need a thorough knowledge of deep leaning technology to make a robot imitate a person's voice. The developer needs to collect tens of thousands of pieces of pronunciations, input them into the machine and match them with the text or the Al to lean and read. The process for imitating facial movements is similar. The developer has to analyse the movements of the 53 muscles in the human face, make a model set from the collected data for the AI news anchor to lean, and imitate the movements of facial muscles via programs
Both the technologies used to make Xin's performance impressive are mature. The real difficulty lies in the third -the technology to match the pronunciations with facial movements so that Xin expressions vary according to the content of the news report. In fact, Xins expressions don't always change according to the content. As a result, her expressions look anything but human. Actually. AI is still no match for human qualities.
How far would you go for your kids education? That's a question many parents are asking in the wake of the college cheating scandal(丑闻)involving 38 wealthy parents around the country, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Here's how far I went. In the fall of 2017 my husband and I lost our jobs. We had to tell our daughter, Casey, that we couldn't afford to send her back to school for her junior year at Fordham University. We decided the best choice for our family would be for Casey to sit out a year. We promised that we would get her back the following year. Casey decided to spend the year volunteering in South Africa On Sept 30, 2017, we put our oldest child on a plane halfway around the world. Casey worked as a tutor teaching kids math, English and music in Johannesburg. We did get Casey back in school in time. When she returned to the campus, she studied harder. She isn't what she used to be. Each day is marked by gratitude because she knows what it is like not to be able to get an education.
I wonder why the college cheating scandal happened and I think it boils down to this: Parents want to create a comfort zone for their kids. Of course, we want the best for our kids but sometimes we forget that real growth doesn't happen in times of comfort; those valuable lessons come when we are forced to think in ways we otherwise wouldn't have.
While I did less for my child than these wealthy parents did in terms of means, in other ways I did more. I taught her that disappointment is a part of life and we should face it bravely rather than avoid it. My husband and I showed Casey that her strength is in her struggle. That's how far I went for my kid s education. And I dare say she is wiser and better off for it.
Finding spare change or an extra dollar in your pocket always feels like a victory, . Without thinking, you might hear the familiar rhyme in your head when you spot one on the sidewalk:" Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you'll have good luck."
According to one theory, people originally thought pennies would bring good luck because of religious beliefs. This theory also fueled other superstitions(迷信行为) like charm bracelets and metal horseshoes, which are also "lucky. "Plus, metal currency like pennies were linked to more wealth and thus more luck. That might be a straightforward explanation, but other eleven strange origins of other everyday superstition sure aren't.
Another reason people might have claimed pennies would bring good luck comes down to the battle between good and evil, which is like two sides of the coin. Finding a penny heads up. meant you'd have luck on your side, but tails up would mean the opposite,. Some people say that if you find a penny tails up, you should turn it over to make it heads up so that it can bring luck to whoever finds it next. . The Irish half-penny, which stopped circulating in 1987, is especially lucky to anyone who finds one. Then there's also the old saying" Something old, something new something borrowed, something blue, and a penny in the shoe. " .
A. Pennies from heaven is a way of thinking
B. although the exact reasoning for this is unknown
C. but even finding something worth as little as a penny is satisfying
D. No matter what the reason is, pennies are part of many lucky traditions
E. Placing g silver sixpence in the bride's left shoe is said to be a symbol of wealth
F. These are all things brides should wear on their wedding day for good luck in their marriage
G Folktales from ancient civilizations said metals were gifts from gods intended to protect people from evil
The summer before the ninth grade, procrastination(拖延 )affected my life in a deep way. With only a few days until the start of school, I had1just one of three homework tasks we were2Instead of enjoying my last few moments of 3, I spent that time doing homework, which was an4way to end the vacation.
Putting in 100 percent5, I always started with strong6at the beginning of each school year.7I struggled to maintain that energy as the weeks passed.
One night, my father and I were having a8about college. He told me, "It doesn't 9much whether you get into an Ivy League university or just a(n)10college-what matters is how you get there and what you do to11it". This really spoke to me, because it made me focus more on the12of my work rather than the quantity.
Thanks to that conversation, I13the way I went through life. I started to 14 that trying my15best is a thousand times better than simply doing something to get it done.
My effort began to16in my first year of high school. I had never17that my grades in some harder classes could be better than those in the easier ones I took last year.
Now I would rather work hard for something and enjoy the18of success, than not try at all or give up halfway. Motivation can 19become a habit if you repeat a(n)20that helps you avoid procrastination.
Kentucky Fried Chicken has launched a new themed branch in honor of Lei Feng, a legendary soldier(celebrate) in China for his(self) and modesty, in his hometown Changsha, Hunan province
The restaurant opened on Sunday, two days before the(office)remembrance day marked across the country every year on March 5people celebrate his spirits by showing goodwill and giving helping hand to others.
The restaurant will organize series of activities and also cooperate with the local Lei Fen Memorial Hall to well promote Lei Feng's spirits. the entrance to the restaurant stand two big Lei -like statues and its inner part(decorate) with Lei's cartoon portraits and quotes from his diary, with words from his poems playing in the background
He Min, general manager of KFC in Hunan province, told voc. com. en that in addition to the themed restaurant, they will also launch a project devoted to Lei's virtues in 250 outlets(门店)across the province, including (provide ) free drinking water and resting(place) for gate guards
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(Ʌ)，并在下面写出该加的词。
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。
A ship destroyed during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to the small and deserted island. The two survivors had been good friends. They agreed to pray to God separate. The first man prayed for food, a house and clothes. But like magic, all of these were given to them. However, the second man still has had nothing. Finally, the first man prayed for a ship such that he could leave the island and it worked well. As the ship was about to leaving, the first man heard a voice from heaven telling him it was the second man when prayed all his prayers would be answered. He was so touched that he burst into tear.
