Don: Hi, Mary! How was your trip to France? Mary: It was great! Shopping in Paris, croissants for breakfast, boat trips down the Seine... Don: What about the sights? Mary: I…

Don: Hi, Mary! How was your trip to France? Mary: It was great! Shopping in Paris, croissants for breakfast, boat trips down the Seine... Don: What about the sights? Mary: I visited the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Don: Wow! The Louvre! Mary: I know you are a passionate art lover, Don. I'm sure you'd love to see the Mona Lisa. Don: Of course, I would. What's it like? Did you like it? Mary: It was a strange experience, Don. You expect to see something extraordinary. But when you come to it, you see just an ordinary picture of an ordinary woman in dull clothes with a landscape in the background. I mean, it's a good painting, of course, but why has it become so popular? Don: Yes, it's a great painting. It shows Leonardo's great skill in using sfumato, a special technique which involves softening the transition between colours. But technique alone is not enough to make a painting so popular. I think it's because of the woman. Her identity has never been fully discovered and people love mysteries. Mary: Why, she is said to be Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. Don: That's just one of the many viewpoints. People still go on speculating on who she was. There was even an idea that she was a vampire. And the artist himself was a very mysterious person. He was a scientist, an engineer, an inventor, a sculptor and an architect, and his ideas were far ahead of his epoch. His enigmatic personality contributed greatly to the engineer, an inventor, a sculptor and an architect, and his ideas were far ahead of his epoch. His enigmatic personality contributed greatly to the popularity of the painting. 1. Mary didn't visit Paris when she was in France. True False Not stated 2. It was very expensive to visit the Louvre. True False Not stated 3. Mary expected the Mona Lisa to be very special. True False Not stated 4. There is no scenery in the background of the Mona Lisa. True False Not stated 5. Leonardo Da Vinci failed to use the sfumato technique. True False Not stated 6. There are several opinions on the identity of the woman in the painting. True False Not stated 7. Leonardo Da Vinci was a man of varied interests. True False Not stated