The paintings of Leonardo da Vinci have always attracted controversy . Only 14 works have ever been attributed to him and experts have ..1... the authenticity of several . Not even the Mona Lisa is above ..2 . The painting is neither signed nor dated and no ...3... of payment to Leonardo has ever been found . Belived to be the portrait of the wife of Florentine merchant Francesco del Giaconda dating from 1502 , it has been on pulic ...4.. in the Louvre since 1804 . Now housed in a bullet-...5.. glass case , it has always been surrounded by ...6.. security
Even so , on 24th August 1911 , it was ...7.. Initial leads came to nothing and no ...8.. to the thief's motives or the whereabouts of the picture materialised for 15 months . In November 1913 , Florentine art dealer Alfredo Geri received a letter from someone ..9.. they had the Mona Lisa and were prepared to sell it back to Italy for 500,000 lire . Geri contacted the director of the Uffizi museum who arranged a meeting with the alleged vendor
He turned out to be an Italian carpenter Vincenzo peruggia , who made the painting's ..10... wooden box for the Louvre and was able to steal it because he knew the museum's ....11 .. The Mona Lisa he produced was proclaimed genuine by the Uffizi and sent back to Paris . But a British conman , Jack Dean , later insisted that he had help Peruggia steal the painting but ..12.... a copybefore Peruggia took it to Iatly . Could it be that the painting seen by thousands of visitors every day in the Louvre museum is atotal ...13.. ?
1 a asked b, questioned c. wondered d enquired
2. a. question b. doubt c. qurey d. suspicion
3. a .record b. document c. receipt d. bill
4. a .exhibition b show c. display d. sight
5. a . secure b. strong c. guard d. proof
6. a. careful b. accurate c. safe d. tight
7. a. stolen b. thieved c. burgled d. pickpocketed
8. a. indications b. clues c. hints d. tips
9. a, claiming b. pretending c. arguing d. persuading
10. a. surrounding b. protective c. closed d. fake
11. a. security b. working c. doors d. routine
12. a. substituted b, replaced c. copied d. taken over
13 . a, false b. substitute c, counterfeit d. fake
