New picture
The National Gallery now has a fine still life by the 18th century Dutch painter Jan van Os．This large picture （89.1 cm x 71cm） of flowers and fruit is painted in light bright colours on wood．It is one of the first pictures of this type in the Gallery．The picture is signed and dated 1777 and 1778．It is not unusual for a picture to be dated two years: the artist waited for particular flowers to come out in their different seasons in order to paint them．This picture was given to the Gallery by Miss Violet Churchman in memory of her sister Ida Nancy. It is now on show in Room 25.
Special exhibition
The exhibition "Painting in Spain During the Late 18th Century" opened in the Sunley Room on 15 March．Recently the Gallery has bought works by three Spanish painters of this period—Paret, Melendez and Francisco Bayeu, who are the focus of the exhibition．These three artists are also joined by Francisco's brother Ramon, by Antonio Gonzalez and two Italians who worked in Spain during these years—Corrado Giaquinto and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo．The exhibition runs until 31 May.
Lecture news Lectures will be given along with the special exhibition every Wednesday．On 8 April, Lizzie Barker will discuss the work of Melendez, while on 15 April, Sarah Symmons will lecture on Luis Patter．On 22 and 29 April, Juliet Wilson will talk about Francisco Bayeu．On 25 April, a Saturday, Erika Langmuir will explain how artists often "tell a story" through their pictures.
小题1:What does "still life" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A．A painting of unmoving objects．
B．A picture of a country scene.
C．A drawing done in pencil．
D．A portrait shown in a public place.小题2:How many artists' paintings are on show at the special exhibition?
A．Three．
B．Five．
C．Seven．
D．Eight.小题3:Which speaker will lecture on a general topic rather than on particular artists?
A．Juliet Wilson．
B．Lizzie Barker.
C．Sarah Symmons．
D．Erika Langmuir.小题4:Where will this passage most probably be found?
A．In the booklet of a gallery．
B．In a textbook.
C．In an academic magazine．
D．In a picture album.
