Time, wars and natural disasters have a bad effect on the artistic and cultural objects in the world. More than 1,000 years ago, a fire destroyed the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. In 1755, an earthquake destroyed Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, along with artworks inside. In modern times, the Taliban destroyed the huge Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.

As we all know, museums play an important part in our daily lives. They keep evidence of culture and history and exhibit great works. A major goal of most museums in the world is to make sure that important historical objects do not disappear forever. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, holds 1,250 pieces of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. These objects have inspired artists and historians for many years. So the museum is working to make a complete and permanent record of the artworks so that the generations in the future will enjoy them as well.

The project is an effort of both the museum and the scientists from Indiana University in the United States. The team is using technology to create digital copies of the Uffizi’s ancient sculptures (雕像).

The process is called photogrammetry. At one time, this process was slow and expensive. But not anymore, said Professor Robert Frischer. He said photogrammetry is now much faster and cheaper. Now they can gather 3D data on a life-size sculpture in half an hour and they can process the data just in a couple of hours.

The images allow the viewer to examine the sculpture from all sides. And when the viewer zooms in (放大), the image becomes clearer. The Uffizi hopes to have the collection completed and available on the Internet by 2022.

【小题1】What caused the Ribeira Palace to ruin?

A．A fire.

B．An earthquake.

C．A war.

D．A heavy rain.

【小题2】Which is a major role of most museums worldwide?

A．To improve people’s living conditions.	B．To attract more artists and historians.
C．To make profits by selling great works.	D．To save important historical objects.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “permanent” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Elegant.

B．Valuable.

C．Lasting.

D．Effective.

【小题4】What can we learn about photogrammetry?

A．It works much faster now.	B．It is too costly to afford.
C．It can print a 3D sculpture.	D．It is developed by Uffizi.