The earliest written evidence of a soccer-like game comes from China. During the second and third centuries B.C., Chinese soldiers took part in an activity that involved kicking a ball into a small net. Historians think the game was a skill-building exercise for the soldiers.
Years of Development
In ancient Greece and Rome, teams of up to 27 players played a soccer-type game. In Britain hundreds of years later, during the thirteenth century A.D., whole villages played against each other. With hundreds of people playing, these games were both long and rough. Kicking, punching, and biting were common and allowed.
In 1331, English King Edward II passed a law in an attempt to put a stop to the popular but violent game. The king of Scotland spoke against the game a hundred years later. Queen Elizabeth I, during the late 1500s, passed a law that called for a week of jail for anyone caught playing “football”, or soccer, as we call it. But the game could not be stopped.
The Modern Game Emerges
Two hundred and fifty years later, people in Britain were still playing a game we would recognize as soccer. A well-known English college Eton developed a set of rules in 1815. A number of other colleges soon agreed to use the same rules, and those schools played against each other. Finally, 50 years later, a formal association was formed to oversee the playing of the game and its rules. In 1869, a rule against handling the ball with the hands transformed the game into the sport of soccer that is wildly popular all around the world.
1. What do historians think that soccer might have started out as?| A．A leisure activity. | B．A political issue. |
| C．A skill-building activity. | D．A military strategy. |
| A．English King Edward III. | B．The king of Scotland. |
| C．Queen Elizabeth I. | D．The Roman Emperor. |
| A．To share and reflect on playing soccer. | B．To advocate the exercise of soccer. |
| C．To introduce the history of soccer. | D．To suggest new ways of playing soccer. |
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【推荐1】The Winter Olympics are also called the White Olympics. At this time, many colourful stamps are published to mark the great Games. The first stamps marking the opening came out on January 25, 1932 in the United States for the 3rd White Olympics. From then on, publishing stamps during the White Olympics became a rule.
During the 4th Winter Olympic Games, a group of stamps were published in Germany in November, 1936. The five rings of Olympics were drawn on the front of the sportswear. It was the first time that the rings appeared on the stamps of the White Olympics.
In the 1950’s, the stamps of this kind became more colourful. When the White Olympics came, the host countries as well as the non-host countries published stamps to mark those Games. China also published four stamps in February 1980, when the Chinese sportsmen began to take part in the White Olympics. Japan is the only Asian country that has ever held the White Olympics. Altogether 14,500 million stamps were sold to raise money for this sports meet.
Different kinds of sports were drawn on these small stamps. People can enjoy the beauty of the wonderful movements of some sportsmen.
1. The White Olympics is _______________.| A．the Games whose color is white. |
| B．the Olympic Games that is held in winter. |
| C．the winter when the stamps are published. |
| D．the Games held in turn by each country. |
| A．In 1932 | B．In 1950 | C．In 1936 | D．In 1980 |
| A．Stamps are published only to mark the Winter Olympics during the Games. |
| B．Only host countries publish stamps. |
| C．Japan is the only one of the countries in Asia published stamps to mark the Games. |
| D．China hasn’t hosted the White Olympics so far. |
| A．the Winter Olympic Games | B．Stamps for the White Olympics |
| C．Olympic Countries | D．the History of the Stamps |
【推荐2】The Taj Mahal(泰姬陵)is a love story, a sad and beautiful one. If it didn’t exist, we would easily imagine that the story of its construction was simply a fairy tale. Three hundred years ago, there lived an Indian emperor called Shah Jahan. His wife was a beautiful and bright woman whom he loved greatly. Her title was Mumtazl
Mahal: its shortened form Taj Mahal, means “pride of the palace”. In the year 1630 this beloved wife of the emperor died. He was so brokenhearted that he thought of giving up his throne(王位). He decided out of his love for his wife, to build her the most beautiful tomb that he had ever seen.
He summoned the best artists and architects from India, Turkey, Persia and Arabia and finally, the design was completed. It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
The building itself stands on a marble platform 29 meters square and 6—7 meters high. Towers rise from each of the four comers. The Taj Mahal itself soars another 61 meters into the air. It is an eight-sided building made of white marble.
The emperor planned to build an identical(相同的)tomb of black marble for himself on the other side of the river connected by a silver bridge. However, his son put him into a prison in the palace before he could finish, and for the rest of his life, he could only gaze across river at the tomb of his beloved wife.
1. Why was the Taj Mahal built according to the passage? Because________.| A．Shah Jahan was heartbroken after the death of his wife |
| B．Shah Jahan loved his wife greatly |
| C．his wife was a beautiful and bright woman |
| D．his wife was the “pride of the palace” |
| A．the Taj Mahal was completed quickly owing to the efforts of the best artists and workers |
| B．a lot of people took part in the building of the Taj Mahal |
| C．the Taj Mahal and Shah Jahan’s own tomb were built at the same time |
| D．the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful tomb in the world |
| A．four-sided | B．eight-cornered | C．black-colored | D．white-colored |
| A．he died soon after his wife’s death | B．he was killed by his son |
| C．he gave up his throne | D．he was put into prison by his son |
| A．the story of the Taj Mahal |
| B．a beautiful fairy tale |
| C．white and black marble tombs made for two emperors |
| D．the love story of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife |
【推荐3】Have you ever wondered why people drive on a different side of the road? It might seem strange that U. K. drivers stay on the left, but they’re not the only ones.
Originally, almost everybody traveled on the left side of the road. However their way of transport was quite different from today:
The British Government refused to give up their left-hand driving ways, and in 1773 introduced the General Highways Act, which encouraged driving on the left.
When Henry Ford unveiled his Model T in 1908，the driver’s seat was on the left, meaning that cars would have to drive on the right hand side of the road to allow front and back passengers to exit the car onto the roadside.
| A．Think four legs instead of four wheels. |
| B．Do people get used to driving on the right? |
| C．However, British drivers remain on the left. |
| D．So why did people stop traveling on the left? |
| E．Therefore, he kept to the right side of the road. |
| F．Around 35 percent of the world population does the same. |
| G．This was later made law thanks to The Highway Act of 1835. |
【推荐1】Bluefin tuna are perfectly streamlined and equipped with cutting-edge biological gear. They are found in all the oceans except around the North and South Poles. This kind of tuna is a modern fish, yet its relationship with humanity is ancient. Japanese fishermen and the Haida people of the Pacific Northwest have caught Pacific bluefin for more than 5,000 years.
But this relationship with humans has lately been damaged. They are today among the most over-fished species on Earth.
Captain Dennis Cameron and his crew left port in his fishing boat. They were on a different kind of fishing trip. They had come to tag and measure bluefin. While Cameron went toward deep water, Steve Wilson, a Stanford University researcher who works with the Tuna Research and Conservation Center (TRCC), checked the satellite tags he hoped to attach to bluefin that day.
After another 20 minutes, they successfully tagged a big bluefin. On his laptop the night before, Wilson had programmed the satellite tag to release in a little over nine months. The tag will rise to the ocean’s surface and send information about bluefin’s movements to TRCC’s base in California.
The locations of bluefin, as reported by the many satellite tags over the years, are represented on the map by small circles in different colors. Western bluefin—represented as reddish orange circles-pack the Gulf of Mexico, their spawning (产卵) grounds. From there they spread eastward into the western Atlantic and cross over to the eastern Atlantic, reaching all the way to Portugal and Spain. Eastern bluefin—represented as white circles—fill their Mediterranean spawning grounds, and from there spread westward, crossing over to the western Atlantic, covering the coastal waters of the United States and Canada.
But an alarming lesson lies hidden at Hopkins Marine Station. Established by Stanford University in 1892, it was the first marine lab on the west coast of the United States. It sold buildings set during the age of sardines, which ended 60 years ago due to overfishing. By the 1980s sardine populations had started to come back a little, but now they are falling again.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce bluefin as a rare fish. | B．To highlight the role of bluefin in biology. |
| C．To give reasons for bluefin’s decline. | D．To explain our long history with bluefin. |
| A．They could record the spawning process of bluefin. |
| B．They could keep track of bluefin’s whereabouts. |
| C．They could know where to go deep sea fishing. |
| D．They could collect data of bluefin’s eating habits. |
| A．In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. | B．Off the coast of Spain and Portugal. |
| C．In the middle of Mediterranean Sea. | D．Oft the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. |
| A．To warn that bluefin could face a similar fate. |
| B．To give hope of bringing back fish populations. |
| C．To compare the previous outcome with the current one. |
| D．To explain the cause of their decline remains unknown. |
【推荐2】In England recently three foreign gentlemen came to a bus stop and waited. About five minutes later, the bus they wanted came along. They were just going to get on when suddenly there was a loud noise behind them. People rushed onto the bus and tried to push them out of the way. Someone shouted at them. The bus conductor came rushing down the stairs to see what all the trouble was about. The three foreigners seem all at sea and looked embarrassed. No one had told them about the British custom of lining up for a bus that the first person who arrives at the bus stop is the first person to get on the bus.
Learning the language of a country isn’t enough. If you want to have a pleasant visit, find out as much as possible about the manners and customs of your host country. You will probably be surprised just how different they can be from your own. A visitor to India would do well to remember that people there consider it impolite to use the left hand for passing food at table. The left hand is supposed to be used for washing yourself. Also in India, you might see a man shaking his head at another to show that he doesn’t agree. But in many parts of India a shake of the head means agreement. Nodding your head when you are given a drink in Bulgaria will most probably leave you thirsty.
1. The British people tried to push the three gentlemen out of the way, because the gentlemen _______ .| A．were foreigners | B．didn’t have tickets |
| C．made a loud noise | D．didn’t line up for the bus |
| A．learn the language of the country | B．understand the manners and customs of the country |
| C．have enough time and money | D．make friends with the people there |
| A．to use the right hand for passing food at table. | B．to pass food with the left hand. |
| C．to eat food with your hands. | D．to help yourself at table. |
| A．People’s Everyday Life | B．Mind Your Manners |
| C．Shaking and Nodding Head | D．Taking a Bus in England |
【推荐3】Have you ever wished you could be better organized or more sociable? Or more inventive and original? Perhaps you’re a constant worrier, and you’d prefer to be a little more carefree? If any of these thoughts ring true, you are not alone. Many surveys show that at least two-thirds of people would like to change their personality. In the past, such desires appeared to be impossible. Our personalities were thought to be formed in childhood and to remain fixed throughout lives. Recent research, however, suggests that with the right psychological strategies and enough effort, people can successfully mould (塑造) their core traits into the shape they desire. That is what psychology professor Nathan Hudson and his colleagues have shown with studies.
The research has centered on fivetraits (特点) that are thought to contain our most fundamental characteristics. Known as the “big five”, they are: extraversion-how outgoing and sociable you are; conscientiousness-how organized and disciplined you are; agreeableness- how concerned you are with social harmony; neuroticism-how nervous and sensitive you are; and openness to experience-how imaginative and curious you are. People’s scores for the big five can predict important outcomes. People who score highly on conscientiousness, for example, get better grades at school and earn more. Those who score highly on neuroticism, meanwhile, are more sensitive to stress.
In the study, someone who wished to be more conscientious might be asked to carefully read an email before sending it, or to write a to-do list before going to bed. A neurotic person might be given exercises to improve emotional regulation, such as writing down feelings when they are hard to control. The aim is for the thinking patterns and behaviours they make to become habitual. And the evidence so far suggests it works well. Similar results could be seen in a later experiment, which used a smartphone app to coach participants in their desired big five traits.
As Aristotle argued more than 2, 300 years ago, we become what we repeatedly do.
1. What can we learn from the text?| A．Personality remains fixed in life. |
| B．Personality change is possible. |
| C．Personality keeps changing with age. |
| D．Personality varies from person to person. |
| A．The aim of the research. |
| B．The method of the research. |
| C．The focus of the research. |
| D．The importance of the research. |
| A．Favourable. |
| B．Doubtful. |
| C．Disapproving. |
| D．Indifferent. |
| A．Character determines destiny. |
| B．Custom makes all things easy. |
| C．Habit determines character. |
| D．A fox may grow gray, but never good. |
