Unit 3 课时跟踪练(一) Welcome to the unit & Reading Pre-reading

　　Ⅰ.阅读理解

　　A

　　The appearance of a rare artistic treasure in Beijing over the weekend resulted in crowds waiting in line for six hours at the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.

　　The crowds were eager to see Along the River During the Qingming Festival, the best­known scroll painting in Chinese art history, at the Hall of Martial Valor. The work is sometimes referred to as China's Mona Lisa.

　　The scroll painting by Zhang Zeduan (1085－1145), measuring 24.8 centimeters wide and 528.7 centimeters long, depicts a lively and rich landscape in Bianjing -today's Kaifeng in Henan Province.

　　Faced with its huge popularity, the Palace Museum said it would organize another exhibition of the work in 2020, the 600th anniversary of the Forbidden City.

　　"With growing public demand for exhibitions of national treasures, waiting in line for hours has become routine，" the museum said in a statement. "For example, in 2002, when the scroll painting was displayed in Shanghai, viewers also waited six hours in line."

　　The work is seldom displayed because of its fragility.

　　Wang Qi said she drove hundreds of kilometres from Hohhot in Inner Mongolia to visit the exhibition, and it took her most of the day to finally see the scroll painting."It was too exhausting, but I still think it was worthwhile，" Wang said.

　　The scroll painting forms part of a special exhibition titled "The Precious Collection of the Stone Moat"，which includes 283 ancient paintings and handwriting masterpieces once recorded in the Qing Dynasty emperors' catalog.

　　The display is a main event marking the 90th anniversary of the museum's opening to the public.

　　Shan Jixiang, the Palace Museum director, had earlier anticipated huge crowds."However, we still need to let more people know about the exhibition because it took 10 years for them to have this opportunity，" Shan said.

　　The museum suggested that visitors book tickets online in advance. The scroll painting is on display until Oct. 12.

语篇解读：本文介绍了《清明上河图》在故宫展览，迎来了大批的参观者，他们要排队六个小时才能看到。