Throughout the history of the arts, thenature of creativity has remained constant to artists．Nomatter what objects they select, artists are to bring forth new forces andforms that cause change—to find poetry where no one has ever seen orexperienced it before．

Landscape (风景) isanother unchanging element of art．It can be found from ancient timesthrough the17th-century Dutch painters to the 19th-century romanticists andimpressionists．Inthe 1970s Alfred Leslie, one of the new American realists, continued thispractice．Lesliesought out the same place where ThomasCole, a romanticist, had producedpaintings of the same scene a century and a half before．UnlikeCole who insists on a feeling of loneliness and the idea of finding peace innature, Leslie paints what he actually sees．In his paintings, there is no particularchange in emotion, and he includes ordinary things like the highway in thebackground．Healso takes advantage of the latest developments of color photography to helpboth the eye and the memory when he improves his painting back in his workroom．

Besides, all art begs the age-oldquestion: What is real? Each generation of artists has shown theirunderstanding of reality in one form or another．The impressionists saw reality in briefemotional effects, the realists in everyday subjects and in forest scenes, andthe Cro-Magnon cave people in their naturalistic drawings of the animals in theancient forests．Tosum up, understanding reality is a necessary struggle for artists of allperiods．

Over thousands of years the function ofthe arts has remained relatively constant．Past or present, Eastern or Western, thearts are a basic part of our immediate experience．Many and different are the faces ofart,and together they express the basic need and hope of human beings．

    I had to knock on the taxi to get his attention. Finally, the driver, a man about 60, looked up from behind the wheel and apologized, “I'm sorry, but I was reading a letter.” He sounded as if he had a cold or a cough.

    Since I was in no hurry, I told him to finish his letter. He shook his head, explaining that he had already read it several times and almost knew it by heart. Curious, I asked whether it was from a child or maybe a grandchild. “This isn't family,” he replied. “though he might just as well have been a regular member of the family. Old Ed and I grew up together.”

    They were always friends. But since he moved away from the neighborhood 30 years ago, it'd generally just been postcards at Christmas time between them. A couple of weeks ago, Ed died. “I should have kept in touch.” He repeated this, more to himself than to me. To comfort him, I said sometimes we just didn't seem to find the time. “But we used to find the time,” he said. “Take a look.” He handed the letter over to me.

    The first sentence “I've been meaning to write for some time, but I've always delayed it.” reminded me of myself. It went on to say that he often thought about the good times they had had together. When I read the part where it said “Your friendship really means a lot to me, more than I can say because I'm not good at saying things like that”, I found myself nodding in agreement.

    We had gone several kilometers and were almost at my hotel, so I read the last paragraph: “So I thought you'd like to know that I was thinking of you.” And it was ended with “Your Old Friend, Tom.”

    “I thought your friend's name was Ed,” I said.

    “I'm Tom,” he explained. “It's a letter I wrote to Ed before I knew he'd died. I never put it in the mailbox. I guess I should have written it sooner.” His face was pale as he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.

    When I got to my hotel room I didn't unpack right away. I had to write a letter and post it.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    Scientists have always been interested in the high level of organization in ant societies. American researchers have watched ants build life-saving rafts to keep afloat during floods. They also have recorded how ants choose their next queen — the female whose job is to produce eggs.

    New technology is helping to improve researchers' understanding of the insects. But there is still a lot to be learned.

    Fire ants living in Brazilian forests are perfectly at home in an environment where flooding is common. To save themselves, the insects connect their legs together and create floating rafts. Some ant rafts can be up to 20 centimeters wide.

    David Hu is an engineer with the Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, saying, "If you have 100 ants, which means 600 legs, 99 percent of those legs will be connected to a neighbor. So they're very, very good at keeping this network. "

    David Hu and other Georgia Tech researchers wanted to study ants and the secret of their engineering. They froze ant rafts and then looked at them with the help of computed technology, or CT images. The pictures showed that larger ants serve in central positions to which smaller ants hold. The larger ants create pockets of air that keep the insects afloat.

    Scientists say small robots or materials that can change shape could be programmed in a similar way, working towards a shared goal.

    Researchers at North Carolina State University are also studying ants. They examined how Indian jumping ants choose the leader of the colony when they lose their top female or queen.

    Many people discover Roald Dahl through his stories and poems. His books have been translated into several languages. He has also inspired TV and radio shows and movies. With his help, kids all over the world can imagine strange candies, friendly giants, and frightening villains(反派主角). Indeed, Roald Dahl led a life full of adventures (冒险). Yet, we can have a better understanding of him from other things, too.

    More than Just Words: The Roald Dahl Foundation

    Roald Dahl became interested in helping people who had serious injuries and diseases. As a writer, Roald cared about helping children read more. To carry out these goals, his family set up the Roald Dahl Foundation. The foundation helps people, hospitals, and charities by giving money for medical and educational needs. It continues the spirit of giving that Roald expressed throughout his life.

    Stories for All Ages: The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre

    Roald Dahl's wife, Felicity Dahl, wanted to set up a central place to protect all of Roald's writings. She helped create the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Buckinghamshire, England. It holds a collection of Roald's writings and recordings for the public to visit. His personal letters and postcards can be found there, as well as photographs and many of his awards. As you can see, one can get a pretty complete picture of Roald Dahl's life by visiting this library. The museum also encourages people to write creatively.

    Now, people of all ages are learning about Ronald Dahl through his works. Through his stories, the foundation, and the museum, Roald Dahl will continue to have a great effect on readers around the world for years to come.

The ancient Herculaneum scrolls (卷轴)are thought to contain works of important thinkers in ancient Greece. But the scrolls can't be unrolled (打开). Even a light wind threatens to reduce them to dust. The reason is that they were turned into carbon by a natural disaster in A.D. 79.

But now researchers from the University of Kentucky have found a way to look inside the scrolls without having to touch them. They first create a light that is 10 billion times brighter than the sun by taking advantage of a machine. Then they will use the light to go through the Herculaneum scrolls to study and finally read the words recorded on the scrolls. Researchers think it might take them six months to read the scrolls.

This isn't the first time researchers have tried to read the Herculaneum scrolls. Several years ago, scientists from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) worked on uncovering the mystery using an X-ray beam 100 billion times brighter than anything used in a hospital, This didn't allow scientists to actually read the scrolls, but it allowed them to make one surprising discovery. The scrolls were written in metallic (金属的) ink, a writing technology that scientists didn't know existed at the time the scrolls were penned.

"For a long time, we thought our studies have let us know everything about the ancient ink used to write on scrolls. Now we find it's not the case. This shows that we should tell ourselves it may not be true when thinking we fully know something once some research is done," said Daniel Delattre, one of the study's authors.

The finding wasn't just a historical curiosity. To learn just how special these scrolls are, consider that the thinker Chrysippus in ancient Greece is said to have written over 700 works; but all are lost, with the exception of a few works found in the Herculaneum scrolls. In other words, it's possible that these scrolls represent the only existing complete works left by this great thinker. And who knows what other great works could exist in the scrolls?

Aptitude Tests Recommendations

Aptitude tests are helpful to job seekers of all ages. While career quizzes explore your values and work style, aptitude tests provide a more objective evaluation of your skills, helping you select a career you're most likely to succeed in. Below are some of the best aptitude tests out there. 

Clifton Strengths

The Clifton Strengths program was created based on research around leadership. The research in question pointed to common strengths among successful leaders, like strategic thinking, adaptability and communication. To complete the test, you must answer around 150 questions, each within 20 seconds. Allen Cheung, a tech blogger, notes that CliftonStrengths is more valuable than your average career test because it includes "tricky questions which aren't as easily gamed". 

Red BullWingfinder

Developed and tested out by psychology experts, the Red Bull Wingfinder assesses your thinking under pressure. Questions include image sorting, logic puzzles and leadership-related questions. Once you complete the test, you'll receive a nine-page report and career coaching tailored to your results. 

SEI Development Report

The SEI Development Report is an extensive EQ aptitude test that has timed right-and-wrong answers that assess eight fundamentals, including emotional literacy, emotional management and empathy. At the end, you'll receive a 20-page report with recommended courses on workplace EQ development. 

CareerOneStop

While it only takes a few minutes to complete, the CareerOneStop Skills Assessment will help you rank both your technical and soft skills. The career suggestions at the end can be sorted by relevance, annual wages, and job outlook, coupled with with professional coaching or consultation improve your skills.