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 November 8th at Harvard, home to many of SAL’s 100 American-based fellows, Felipe Fernández-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.

1.Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the societies in Victoria’ day?

[A] They enjoyed the highest reverence and value of real estate in Victoria’s day.

[B] They enjoyed the best privilege when Burlington House was built up.

[C] They enjoyed special reward by the Queen of really substantial and grand houses.

[D] They enjoyed most privileges in Queen Victoria’s reign, much more than today.

2. Questioning the societies’ right to remain at Burlington House seems a bitter irony to the societies because_____

[A] they were not asked to pay any rent when they were first awarded the houses.

[B] the presence privilege was initially endowed by the royal monarch.

[C] they are not exempt from public attention given their maintenance of low profile.

[D] they have been cautious about keeping their invisibility for nearly a century.

3. “peppercorn rent” (Line 3, Paragraph 2) most probably means _____

[A] free rent.

[B] leaseless rent.

[C] token rent.

[D] rent in kind.

4. The author mentioned the feathers in Burlington House in order to _____

[A] show how great was the influence of the government.

[B] make a simile to describe the reactions of societies.

[C] make a metaphor to express the internal anxiety of the societies.

[D] add more elements of drama satire to his description.

5. “invisibility is a thing of the past” means_____

[A] people could see those treasures of the past in the societies.

[B] the societies could present themselves before public now.

[C] the societies need not avoid the public notice any more.

[D] the societies could present the treasures of the past now.

篇章剖析：

这篇文章讲述了伦敦一些学会占据大量建筑物的情况以及目前的解决方案。第一段讲述学会是如何得到这些建筑物的;第二段讲述这些学会为了避免房产被收走，一直低调行事;第三段讲述2004年的一次法律事件将学会免费拥有皇家房产的事情曝光;第四、五、六段讲述目前解决这种事端采取的方法。

词汇注释：

flank v. 在…的侧面 peppercorn rent n. 空有其名的租金parapet n. 低墙 turf v. 驱逐

aviary n 大型鸟舍 conviviality n. 欢乐

enamel n. 瓷釉

难句突破：

(1) 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.

[主体句式] When a 1919 Act of Parliament made it…, a committee of SAL fellows…

[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，when引导的是句子的时间状语。

[句子译文] 1919年议会法案规定如果仅仅因为性别原因而将女性排除在这些学会之外就构成违法，伦敦古文物学会的一个委员会马上就采取了行动，邀请女性加入学会。

(1) 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.

[主体句式] Rumour swept through… that …

[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，that…引导的是主语的同位语从句，which引导的是定语从句用来修饰前面的两个不定式结构。

[句子译文] 伦敦学术界谣言四传，说政府实际上是想要将学会驱逐出去，或者是索要市场租金，这其实都是一回事。

题目分析：

[答案] C

[难度系数] ☆☆☆

[分析] 细节题。根据第一段“In 1857, the government of a previous queen had built Burlington House expressly to house them all”，可见只有C选项是正确的。A和B选项的“highest reverence”和“the best privilege”都不确切。而D选项也是错误的，因为文章没有进行比较。

[答案] B

[难度系数] ☆☆☆☆

[分析 ] 推理题。根据第二段，因为最开始是维多利亚女王前任女王赋予他们进驻的权利，而现在又是另一个女王怀疑他们的权利，这看起来是个讽刺。因此，B选项为正确答案，其中“royal monarch”指的正是女王。

[答案]C

[难度系数] ☆

[分析] 细节题。根据第三段“It was given 999 years at a peppercorn rent. The Societies and their allegedly hard-headed scientist members, were leaseless and rent-free”，说明当时的出租并不是实质性的出租，只是一种象征性的租约而已。答案中C是正确答案。

[答案] B

[难度系数] ☆☆☆

[分析] 推理题。文章第四段提到“Now, three years later, feathers are smooth. Indeed, cooing can be heard occasionally from Burlington House”， 根据第四段和第五段，从“五个稀有品种鸟舍”来看，其实比喻的就是五个学会，因此，答案为B选项。

[答案] B

[难度系数] ☆☆

[分析] 推理题。根据第七段，主要描述了这些学会开展了一系列的活动，不用再在公众面前遮遮掩掩了。因此，答案为B选项。

参考译文：

位于伦敦中心的皇家艺术学院旁边有大量的建筑物，但却又不那么引人注意，这可是个技巧。但是Linnean学会、皇家化学学会、伦敦地理学会、伦敦古文物学会和皇家天文学学会在过去一个世纪里成功地做到了这一点。直到2004年，女王内阁注意到了它们的存在，而且随着情况的复杂化，人们开始质疑这些学会是否有权利驻扎在伯灵顿宫。对于这些学术学会来说，这看起来像是个极大的讽刺。1837年，前任女王政府为这些协会专门建造了伯灵顿宫。给与这些学会以如此的尊敬，并赠予如此有价值的地产，这在维多利亚时期是少见的。而这些房产的占有权一直没有更改过。

当学会们搬进伯灵顿宫的时候，只有由不切实际的艺术家们建立的皇家学院要求签立租约。当时签订了999年的象征性租期。而其他学会那些无情的科学家们既没有签订租约，也没有缴纳租金。几十年过去之后，保持低调是比较理智的主意。实际上，1920年之前，伦敦古文物学会的一些成员就认为必须这样做。1919年议会法案规定如果仅仅因为性别原因而将女性排除在这些学会之外就构成违法，伦敦古文物学会的一个委员会马上就采取了行动，邀请女性加入学会。这并不是要纠正以往的错误，而是为了避免引起批评，从而引发公众注意到他们没有为房产付租金。危险得以转移，而领导们可以继续在矮墙下度日了。

但是2004年又出现了危险，为了澄清伦敦古文物学会在伯灵顿宫驻扎的问题，政府提起了诉讼。伦敦学术界谣言四传，说政府实际上是想要将学会驱逐出去，或者是索要市场租金，这其实都是一回事。五个稀有品种鸟舍那些鸟类的羽毛纷纷飘了起来。

现在三年过去了，羽毛平静了下来。实际上，伯灵顿宫经常能听到它们咕咕的叫声。学会们与政府达成了协议，只需要付一定的租金就能拥有使用期限保证。作为报答，学会们要互相交流，并将自己介绍给公众。

学会们在院子里建立了“文化园”，用于分享知识和欢乐，也表达了它们对于成员增加感到高兴。今年早些时候，Linnean学会宣布在世界著名的瑞典自然学家Carl Linnaeus诞辰300周年之际，将保存的珍贵标本、手稿和信件做成电子档案。

而古文物学会今年也是300周年的诞辰，学会举办了9个月的系列讲座来进行庆祝。哈佛大学是伦敦古文物学会100多个美国成员的总部，在1 1月8日Felipe Fernández-Armesto进行了“Don Francisco的换镜旋座：成立新的复兴美国帝国”。规模最大的周年庆祝是从9月15日到11月2日在皇家艺术学会展出了150件伦敦古文物学会的珍品。在这些珍品当中有Hans Eworth1554年创作的 玛丽一世橡木肖像的油画，还有装Thomas Becket的遗体的12世纪瓷釉棺材。遮遮掩掩已经成为过去，这是多好的一件事情啊。