A photographer takes a picture of the Chinese bronze rat head and rabbit head sculptures display on the preview of the auction（拍卖） of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge’s art collection at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, Feb, 21, 2009. Chinese lawyers have asked the French court to stop auction house Christie’s putting two bronze relics（文物）looted (掠夺)from China
under the hammer, lawyers said Friday.
A Paris court on Monday ruled against stopping the sale of two
looted Chinese bronze sculptures which come up for auction at
Christie’s on Wednesday. Under the ruling of the Tribunal de Grande
Instance in Paris, the plaintiff（起诉人）, the Association for the
Protection of Chinese Art in Europe（APCAE）,was ordered to
pay compensation（赔偿）to the defendant.
Ren Xiaohong, a lawyer for APCAE, told Xinhua that it was “of great significance” to file the lawsuit. “We hope to arouse public attention in Europe on the fate of numerous Chinese works stolen in the past, to help keep those relics well protected and collected,” Ren said.
The Qing Dynasty（1644—1911）relics, the heads of a bronze rabbit and a rat, were among an original set of 12 bronze animal heads that were once decorated at the imperial summer resort Yuanmingyuan. They were looted when the palace was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.
The pair became part of a collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. They have been put up for auction by his partner, Pierre Berge. The two items are expected to fetch between 16 million and 20 million euros.
So far, five of the 12 bronze animal heads have been returned to China, while the whereabouts of five others are unknown.
小题1:The two bronze animal heads were displayed at the Grand Palais in Paris so that .
A．they could be collected and well preserved
B．the photographers could take pictures
C．the public could see them in advance
D．they couldn’t be sold at auction小题2:The significance to stop the sale of two bronze animal heads is to .
A．fetch between 16 million and 20 million euros
B．draw public attention to the Chinese works stolen in the past
C．make the world know more about history of the Qing Dynasty
D．find the other five bronze animal heads and return them to China小题3:Which of the following is NOT true?
A．The 12 bronze animal heads have been put up for auction.
B．The 2 bronze animal heads haven’t been returned to China.
C．The 12 bronze animal heads were used as imperial decoration.
D．Yuanmingyuan was once burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces.小题4:The passage is most probably taken from .
A．a newspaper
B．an advertisement
C．a history textbook
D．an introduction of auction
