《考研英语阅读理解100篇 高分版》 Unit 22 - TEXT THREE

It is quite a feat to be invisible while occupying substantial buildings in central London flanking the Royal Academy of Arts. But that's just what the Linnean Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Geological Society of London, the Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) and the Royal Astronomical Society managed to do for nearly a century. Then, in 2004, Her Majesty's Government not only noticed but also questioned their right to remain at Burlington House, as the complex is called. To the Learned Societies this may have seemed a bitter irony. In 1857, the government of a previous queen had built Burlington House expressly to house them all. Reverence for such institutions, along with the value of real estate, was not what it had been in Victoria's day. But their terms of occupancy remained unchanged.
When they moved into Burlington House, only the Royal Academy of arts, run by supposedly impractical artists, asked for a lease. It was given 999 years at a peppercorn rent. The Societies and their allegedly hard-headed scientist members, were leaseless and rent-free. As decades passed, keeping a low profile must have seemed a sensible idea. Indeed, by 1920, some fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London, thought it essential. When a 1919 Act of Parliament made it illegal to bar women from such societies merely because of their gender, a committee of SAL fellows pressed for immediate action: Women must be invited to become fellows at once. This was not in order to right previous wrongs. It was to avoid criticism and with it the risk that people might notice that no rent was being paid. The danger averted, heads stayed below the parapet.
But danger reappeared in 2004. With the reputed aim of clarifying SAL's presence at Burlington House, the government brought a suit against it. Rumour swept through intellectual London that, in fact, the government wanted to turf the Societies out—or to get a full market rent, which would have amounted to much the same thing. Alarmed feathers from five aviaries of rare birds went flying.
Now, three years later, feathers are smooth. Indeed, cooing can be heard occasionally from Burlington House. Compromises reached with the government have given the Learned Societies security of tenure at affordable rents. In return, the Societies have begun introducing themselves to one another and to the public.
They have created a “cultural campus” in the courtyard to share scholarship and conviviality—and reflect their new appreciation that there is strength in numbers. Earlier this year, the Linnean Society announced it was producing a digital archive of its priceless collections of specimens, manuscripts and letters of the world famous Swedish naturalist, Carl Linnaeus, on this the 300th anniversary of his birth.
The SAL, also 300 this year, is celebrating with a nine-month series of lectures. On November 8th at Harvard, home to many of SAL's 100 American-based fellows, Felipe Fernández-Armesto tackles “Don Francisco's nose-piece: forming new empires in Renaissance America”. The biggest birthday event is an exhibition of 150 of SAL's treasures at the Royal Academy from September 15th to December 2nd. Among these treasures is an oil on oak portrait of Queen Mary I painted by Hans Eworth in 1554 and a glowing 12th-century enamel casket designed to hold the remains of Thomas Becket. How good that invisibility is a thing of the past.
1. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the societies in Victoria's day?
[A] They enjoyed the highest reverence and value of real estate in Victoria's day.
[B] They enjoyed the best privilege when Burlington House was built up.
[C] They enjoyed special reward by the queen of really substantial and grand houses.
[D] They enjoyed most privileges in Queen Victoria's reign, much more than today.
2. Questioning the societies' right to remain at Burlington House seems a bitter irony to the societies because _____.
[A] they were not asked to pay any rent when they were first awarded the houses
[B] the presence privilege was initially endowed by the royal monarch
[C] they are not exempt from public attention given their maintenance of low profile
[D] they have been cautious about keeping their invisibility for nearly a century
3. “Peppercorn rent” (Line 2, Paragraph 2) most probably means _____.
[A] free rent
[B] leaseless rent
[C] token rent
[D] rent in kind
4. The author mentioned the feathers in Burlington House in order to _____.
[A] show how great was the influence of the government
[B] make a simile to describe the reactions of the societies
[C] make a metaphor to express the internal anxiety of the societies
[D] add more elements of drama and satire to his description
5. “Invisibility is a thing of the past” means that _____.
[A] people could see those treasures of the past in the societies
[B] the societies could present themselves before public now
[C] the societies need not avoid the public notice any more
[D] the societies could present the treasures of the past now