The Mysteries and Controversies of Art and History: From Hollywood’s Nazi Ties to the Enigmatic Mona Lisa
Hollywood & Nazi Germany (2014)
Collaboration and Censorship
1. Did Hollywood collaborate with Nazi Germany?
Yes. To maintain their business in Germany, Hollywood studios allowed Nazis to collaborate with them and even consented to their requests.
2. Why did Hollywood collaborate with the Nazis?
The author suggests that business interests were prioritized above all else, even nationality.
4. Did the Nazis stop the film “Citizen Kane”?
False. They managed to stop a film about Hitler, not “Citizen Kane.“
5. Did the Nazi German government influence Hollywood filmmaking?
True.
6. Banned
7. Beauty
8. Baker
9. Offensive
10. How often does Paul go to the movies?
11. You shouldn’t tell the secret to anybody.
12. To take
13. Doctors should prescribe those medicines.
The Boyhood of Picasso (2014)
Early Life and Artistic Influences
1. Did Picasso have any brothers?
No, there weren’t any other boys in the family; only girls. He had many girl cousins but no boy cousins.
2. What did Picasso draw as a child?
He used to draw pigeons in all possible ways.
4. Did Picasso spend his childhood idly?
False. When he was small, he spent hours alone making delightful drawings of animals and people.
5. Did Picasso’s son learn about painting from him?
False. His son learned a lot about painting from Don José.
6. Delightful
7. Long
8. Walk down
9. Up
10. What does this Nex magazine specialize in?
11. A painting by Picasso isn’t cheap enough for our museum to buy.
12. Susan ordered her son to put on his scarf if he was going out.
13. One of Picasso’s first drawings is being offered to their clients by the gallery.
The Jack the Ripper Case Solved (2014)
Unraveling the Mystery
1. Why is Jack the Ripper infamous?
Because he killed an unknown number of women, stabbing them to death in 1888.
3. Did Jack the Ripper mutilate his victims?
Yes. He usually stabbed prostitutes to death and mutilated them. He claimed it was due to a disease.
4. Were all the similar crimes attributed to Jack the Ripper?
False. All the similar crimes were attributed to the same murderer, Feigenbaum.
5. Is the image of Jack the Ripper as a well-dressed gentleman accurate?
False. The image of Jack as a well-dressed gentleman is probably nothing but an “urban myth.”
6. Investigation
7. In
8. Appearance
9. Criminal
10. What is Jack supposed to be responsible for?
11. She has been living in the new apartment for three years.
12. Smoking
13. All the women who were killed were prostitutes.
The Connected Classroom (2014)
Modernizing Education
1. Should the traditional classroom model change?
Yes, it should change because it doesn’t reflect the way the real world works today.
2. The initial idea….
3. How did teachers in the connected classroom approach instruction?
They spent less time on direct instruction and encouraged students to learn from each other.
4. Is the connected classroom a widely adopted program?
False. It’s a pilot program.
5. Did student achievement increase in the connected classroom?
True. Student achievement increased in other subjects as well.
6. Instructing
7. Performance
8. Spot
9. Encourage
10. What persists today in most schools?
11. The teacher had asked the kids to turn off their mobile phones.
12. To explain
13. I would have done
Titanic (2014)
Myths and Reality
1. Was the Titanic labeled “unsinkable” before its maiden voyage?
No, that is a myth. That label was only given after it had sunk.
2. How did the Titanic compare to other ships of its time?
It had the same size as other large ships, could carry the same number of passengers, and could reach the same speed.
3. No, a drawing…
4. Did a ship similar to the Titanic exist in a novel before the actual Titanic was built?
False. That ship existed only on paper, in the imagination of a novelist called Robertson.
5. Did the Titanic sink immediately after the fictional account was published?
False. Fourteen years later, a real luxury ship set out on her first voyage.
6. Terrifying
7. Fiction
8. Speed
9. Imaginary
10. She said, “I am going to live on a nice boat.”
11. Although she went to New York by boat, she didn’t get seasick.
12. Last month I read a novel entitled “Futility,” which I enjoyed a lot.
13. I would be happy
Are Mobile Phones Dangerous? (2013)
Health Concerns and Electromagnetic Radiation
2. Are mobile phones the only dangerous devices?
No, they aren’t the only dangerous devices. There are other wireless devices such as laptops, cordless phones, or gaming consoles that can also be dangerous for our health.
3. Why are mobile phones considered dangerous for children?
Because mobile phones emit electromagnetic radiation, and it can be dangerous for children whose brains haven’t fully developed.
4. Do mobile phones emit high-frequency radio waves?
False. The radio waves in mobile phones are lower in radio frequency.
5. Did people know about the dangers of smoking in the past?
True. Many years ago, people smoked without knowing the unhealthy effects of cigarettes.
6. Concern
7. Healthy
8. Scare
9. A device
10. What do some health professionals point out?
11. In spite of being so expensive, she bought the car.
12. Smoking
13. Mobile phones are believed to be dangerous to your health.
What is the Mystery of the Mona Lisa?
Unraveling the Enigmatic Smile
1. Who is the woman depicted in the Mona Lisa?
The lady seems to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant.
2. Why is the Mona Lisa’s smile so famous?
It is because of the technique of “sfumato” developed by Leonardo and its ambiguity.
3. Why did Vincenzo Perugia steal the Mona Lisa?
Because he thought that the work of this great Italian artist shouldn’t be in France.
4. Is the Mona Lisa unfinished?
False. It took the artist four years to complete, so it’s finished.
5. Did Vincenzo Perugia deny stealing the Mona Lisa?
False. He admitted to the theft.
6. Musician
7. Stare
8. At
9. Into
10. She asked him if he had gone to the museum the day before.
11. Would have run away
12. This is the story of a man whose wife is losing her memory.
13. Mona Lisa is said to be the feminine version of Da Vinci himself.