【推荐1】In 1996, John Jones made an unusual discovery. He had just enlarged a piece of paper money for a friend — a Confederate bank note, money issued (发行) by banks in Southern States of America during the Civil War. When he was face to face with the picture, he couldn’t believe his eyes: slaves happily picking cotton in their master’s fields.

Jones grew up in South Carolina. He had heard painful stories of slavery from his great­grandmother. The picture on the money did not match the history of African American slaves that he’d heard all his life. ＂I had never seen that type of picture on money before,＂ he said.

Jones wondered why slaves looked so happy. He started doing research.

Searching for and finding the answers to his questions changed his life. During two years’ search, Jones found more than 120 different bills. He discovered that the bills had several things in common. They showed slaves working in jobs related to farming. Many of them showed healthy and smiling slaves at work. None of the bills showed the hardships of slavery.

Jones wanted to share what he had learned. ＂I wanted other people to see what I had seen,＂ he said. He decided to make large paintings of the pictures on the money. After three years of work, Jones had painted more than 80 slavery scenes (场景). He paired each painting with the money on which the picture appeared. ＂The Color of Money＂ — an exhibit (展览) of his work — has toured the country.

Jones’ paintings tell an important story about the South 150 years ago. He likes to repeat the saying ＂The story is on the money.＂ In this case, the saying happens to be true.

1. How did Jones feel when he saw the picture on the money?

A．Angry.	B．Painful.
C．Excited.	D．Surprised.

2. Why did Jones do research on the money?

A．He had never heard of Confederate money.

B．He wanted to learn about American history through it.

C．It showed slaves quite different from those in his mind.

D．His great­grandmother told him some unusual stories about it.

3. What did Jones find?

A．About 120 different bills were issued during the Civil War.

B．The difficulty of slaves was never shown on the bills.

C．Slaves lived a harder life than he thought.

D．Slaves worked long hours on farms.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Confederate Money

B．Money Tells a Story

C．African American Slaves

D．John Jones Changes America

【推荐2】Genghis Khan（成吉思汗）remains to this day one of the most successful men to have walked the Earth. Rising from an outcast to be the ruler of the largest land empire to have ever existed, he introduced an alphabet and an official form of money, united a kingdom of tribes at war with each other, and conquered most of the known world. His empire spread from Poland to Japan. It is estimated that one in every 200 men on the planet today is related to Genghis Khan. But there are no accounts of the events that surrounded his death and burial; only a mystery focused around an area known as the Forbidden Zone.

From the time of the Khan's death in 1227 up until 1991 the Forbidden Zone was as off-limits as any place in the world. Shortly after he died, the surviving Mongol leaders ordered a group of 50 fierce families, known as the Uryangqai of the Woods, to occupy this land and kill anyone who entered without permission.

They made exceptions only for the funeral processions（队伍）of the Khan's direct descendants, who were also allowed to be buried there. This extreme degree of secrecy has led many to the conclusion that the body of Genghis Khan himself lies in a tomb somewhere in this zone, along with some of the treasures of an empire vaster than those of Napoleon and Alexander the Great combined. When the U.S.S. R.（前苏联）took over Mongolia in 1924; they killed all the Uryangqai of the Woods just as they tried to erase the memory of the great Khan. The Forbidden Zone -still remained off-limits, however. It wasn't until the fall of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 that entering the Forbidden Zone became possible for scientists and historians. Even today, eight centuries after it quietly rested, the Forbidden Zone has been visited by very few.

1. Which of the following statements about Genghis Khan is TRUE?

A．He was the ruler of the largest empire in history.

B．He united and occupied many parts of the world.

C．An exact number of 200 people are related to him today.

D．He was buried in what is known as the Forbidden Zone.

2. What can we learn about the Uryangqai of the Woods?

A．They buried Genghis Khan's body in secret.

B．They were ordered to occupy the Forbidden Zone.

C．They were killed because they hated Genghis Khan.

D．They forbade everyone from entering the Forbidden Zone.

3. What would the author probably write about next?

A．Who visited the Forbidden Zone.

B．When the Forbidden Zone was discovered.

C．Why the U.S.S.R. killed all the Uryangqai.

D．How the great Khan conquered the known world.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Genghis Khan, a Great Emperor

B．The Forbidden Zone, a Remaining Mystery

C．The Discovery of Genghis Khan's Tomb

D．The Bravery of the Uryangqai of the Woods

【推荐3】Long, long ago people couldn’t write and they had no books. But they had stories. People learned the stories by heart and taught new ones to one another. Sometimes it was hard to remember them all.     1    

The ancient Egyptians wrote their stories on something made from papyrus (纸沙草) plants. People in other places wanted to learn from the Egyptians to use papyrus.

    2     So, parchment (羊皮纸), made from goatskin, later took its place.

In ancient China books looked a little different. People there used ink to write on bamboo or silk. And then they invented paper. Made of trees, paper was easier and cheaper to make than papyrus or parchment.    3     Paper-making later spread to the West, but there was a big problem with these early books. Every single one had to be copied and written by hand.

    4     They carved (雕刻) a page of words into a piece of wood or stone. They could then print the page by spreading ink on the wood or stone and putting it against paper. But it wasn’t until a German printer invented movable, metal letters that books became fast and easy to make. The letters could be used to print copy after copy, and the letters put together again and again to print different pages of words.

    5     Once a luxury (奢侈品) only the rich could buy, they soon became a treasure everyone could enjoy.

A．It took years to finish making just one book.

B．But papyrus grew mainly in Egypt.

C．Things grew a little easier when writing was invented.

D．Finally books could be printed by the thousands.

E．The Chinese were the first to think of a way to speed things up a little.

F．Books in the West didn’t change for a long time after that.

G．Its surface was smoother and better for writing on too.

【推荐3】Do you know the following expressions?

Homeric laughter

The “Homer” in this expression is the Greek poet who wrote The Iliad and the Odyssey. People laugh differently. Some laugh silently, while others tend to laugh loudly. “Homeric laughter” refers to laughter of the latter (后者) kind. It is at times uncontrollable, and the entire body shakes during the process. This kind of laughter is called Homeric laughter because this is how the gods laughed in Homer’s classics.

Faustian bargain

According to most stories, Faust was a German scholar who was rather unhappy with his life. The devil( 魔 鬼 ), Mephistopheles, promises him that in return for his soul, he will give Faust unlimited power and knowledge. Faust agrees and experiences all kinds of pleasures, but, in the end, his soul is condemned to the hell (下地狱). A “Faustian bargain” therefore is a deal that finally results in one's ruin. It means a bargain made for temporary gain without taking future consequences into consideration.

A three-ring circus (马戏团)

When you refer to a situation as being a three-ring circus, you are saying that it is a situation of complete confusion. There are so many activities taking place all together that   they leave you confused or annoyed. The expression comes from the world of entertainment — the circus. The area where the artists perform their acts is called the “ring”. In the past, some of the circuses were so grand that they had three acts taking place simultaneously in three different “rings”. The audience had to decide which “ring” they wanted to focus on.

In the swim (of things)

When someone is in the swim of things, the individual is actively participating in the things happening around him, as in “I've been ill, but soon I'll be back in the swim of things.” In the world of fishing, fishermen use the word “swim” to refer to the section of the lake/river where fish can be found in plenty. So, if you are a fisherman and wish to catch a lot of fish, where would you be? You would be “in the swim”!

1. According to the text, Homeric laughter _______.

A．was the way Homeric laughed

B．means nervous, silent laughter

C．is a way to show disagreement

D．comes from a Greek poet’s works

2. If a person makes a Faustian bargain, _______.

A．he might come to a bad end

B．he would be considered clever

C．his life would become satisfying

D．he would gain power and knowledge

3. What does the underlined word “simultaneously” most probably mean?

A．All of a sudden.	B．Little by little.
C．At the same time.	D．One after another.

4. What do we learn about the expression “in the swim (of things)”?

A．It means having a lot of things to do．

B．It has nothing to do with swimming．

C．Originally it was used to refer to "going fishing"．

D．Patients use it to express their desire for health.

【推荐2】Discoveries at the famous Sanxingdui ruins in Southwest China show that the region’s ancient Shu Kingdom Civilization shared similarities with the Maya.

The Sanxingdui ruins belonged to the Shu Kingdom that existed at least 4,800 years ago and lasted more than 2,000 years, while the Mayan civilization built its city-states around 200 AD.

The bronze-made remains of trees unearthed at the ruins of the Shu Kingdom resemble the sacred ceiba tree, which symbolized the union of heaven, earth and the underworld in the Mayan civilization. “They are very important similarties,” says Marco Santos, a Mexican archaeologist stressing that “the representations of tress in both cultures provide a symbolism that is very similar.”

The findings at the Sanxingdui ruins, considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, also show a new aspect of Bronze Age culture, indicating the ancient civilization already had technologies that were thought to have been developed much later.

While the time span between the Shu kingdom and the Mayan culture is great, the findings highlight the closeness between the two civilizations. They developed in areas with comparable climates and reflected their worldview through related symbols. “In the end, man is still man, independent of time and space. What we have is that, at this latitude (纬度), both the Shu people and the Mayans looked at the same sky and had the same stars on the horizon,” the expert says.

One notable feature of the recent discoveries at Sanxingdui was the cross-subject work and technology applied by teams of Chinese archaeologists, which allowed the unearthing of artifacts as fragile as silk remains, which other types of less careful excavation methods would not have been able to register.

Cooperation between Chinese and Mexican archaeologists could benefit projects in the Mayan world, where the rainy climate and humidity are problematic for the conservation of ruins.

“Every time our cultural knowledge increases, regardless of whether we speak one language or another, what it shows us is that we continue to be sister cultures and, therefore, the exchange of such knowledge is fundamental.” says Santos.

1. What is a similarity between the Shu Kingdom and Mayan civilization?

A．Their starting time.	B．Their cultural symbols.
C．Their historical origins.	D．Their ceremony traditions.

2. What does the underlined word “excavation” in Paragraph 6 mean?

A．Digging.

B．Sympathy.

C．Platform.

D．Boundary.

3. What is a common challenge for the conservation of both ruins?

A．Language barriers.	B．Positioning of ruins.
C．High latitude.	D．Damp weather.

4. What is the focus of Santos quote in the last paragraph?

A．The future of the China-Mexico cooperation.

B．The benefits of speaking a different language.

C．The importance of the exchange of cultural knowledge.

D．The increasing sisterhood in culture between China and Mexico.

【推荐3】More than 3,400 years after two ancient Egyptians were laid to rest, the jars of food left still smell sweet. A team of analytical chemists and archaeologists (考古学家) has analysed these smells to help identify the jars’ contents. The study shows how the exploration of smell can enrich our understanding of the past.

The 1906 discovery of the undisturbed tomb (墓穴) of Kha and Merit symbolized an important stage in Egyptology. The tomb remains the most complete non-royal ancient one ever found in Egypt, showing important information about how high-ranking individuals were treated after death.

Unusually for the time, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb resisted the temptation to open the sealed containers even after they were sent to the Egyptian Museum. The contents of many of these containers are still unknown, although there are some clues, says analytical chemist Ilaria Degano. “From taking with the museum keeper we knew there were some fruity smells in the display cases,” she says.

Degano and her colleagues placed various artefacts (人工制品) inside plastic bags for several days to collect some of the chemical substances they released. Then the team used a special machine to identify the components of the smells from each artefact. They found some chemicals associated with dried fish, and some chemicals common in fruits. The findings will feed into a larger project to reanalyse the tomb’s contents and produce a more comprehensive picture of burial customs for non-royals that existed when Kha and Merit died, about 70 years before Tutankhamun became the Egyptian ruler.

Aside from showing more about past civilizations, ancient smells could make museum visits more inviting. Usually, people admire exhibits with their eyes in museums. “Smell is a relatively unexplored gateway to the collective past for museum visitors,” says Cecilia Bembibre at University College London. “It has the potent alto allow us to experience the in a more emotional, personal way, through our nose.”

1. What can we describe the 1906 discovery of Kha and Merit’ tomb as?

A．A landmark in Egyptology.	B．A turning point in human history.
C．A breakthrough in archaeology.	D．A mirror of ancient non-royal life.

2. What does the underlined word “temptation” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Pressure.

B．Ambition.

C．Desire.

D．Tendency.

3. Degano and her colleagues placed things inside plastic bags to         .

A．protect them from harm	B．gather their smells
C．test the special machine	D．back up a larger project

4. What can the ancient smells do for museum visitors according to Bembibre?

A．They bring them back to the past.

B．They give them emotional support.

C．They change their view on civilizations.

D．They add to their experience.