We do not know when man first began to use salt, but we do know that it has been used in many different ways in history. Historical evidence shows, for example, people ate salted fish 3,000 years ago. Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to preserve the dead.
Stealing salt was considered a major crime during some periods of history. In the 18th century, if a person was caught stealing salt, he could be put in prison and his ears could be cut.
In the Roman Empire, one of the most important roads was the one that carried salt. Guards were stationed(就位) along the route(路线) to protect against salt thieves; and they received their pay(报酬) in salt, thus bringing the English word, salary. Any guard who fell asleep while on duty was thought to be “not worth his salt”, and as a result he would get less salt on his next payday. The expression, “not worth his salt”, is still used today in English.
In the modern world, salt has many uses besides eating. It is used in making glass and airplane parts, in the growing of crops, and in the killing of weeds(杂草). It is also used to make water soft, to melt(融化) ice on roads and highways, to make soap and to fix colors in cloth.
Salt can be got in many other ways besides the underground mines. Salt water from the ocean, salt water lakes or small seas can be used to make salt. Yet, no matter where it comes from, salt will continue to play an important role in the lives of people everywhere.
1. In the Roman Empire, many people were employed as guards to ________.| A．protect the city of Rome | B．watch people carrying salt |
| C．stop thieves from stealing salt | D．carry salt from the mines to Rome |
| A．fails to do his work well | B．should not be paid in salt |
| C．doesn’t go to work at all | D．should use less salt |
| A．keep dead bodies | B．punish thieves |
| C．pay guards | D．make industrial products |
| A．故事 | B．资料 | C．证据 | D．事件 |
| A．how salt was found and got | B．salt is important in people’s life |
| C．salt was difficult to get in the past | D． what salt brings to the English language |
相似题推荐
We all love food. But how much do you know about the food in your hometown? No. 1 Secondary School from Chengdu asked its students to do something different with the food.
Lin Tingyue, 14, traveled with her dad in western Sichuan during 2022 summer holiday. She tasted so many delicious foods along the way. So she drew a food map. There are mutton, beef and bread pieces in soup in Dawu, diced pork in the pot in Hailuogou and more. Her favorite dish is fish hotpot in Ya’an. When she finished eating the fish, she got a gift from the restaurant: a fishbone sword (鱼骨剑) which is believed to be able to drive away bad luck! “After drawing the map, I felt proud of my hometown and its food culture!” Lin said.
Another student, 14-year-old Tang Zihan, made Paocai. He put in carrots, sweet pepper, apples and pears together. Then he boiled them with sugar, salt and wine. Finally, he put all these things into three pots.
People say Paocai can be unhealthy because there is nitrite (亚硝酸盐) in them. So Tang tried three different ways of fermentation (发酵法): using DVS (发酵剂), recycled pickle water (老窖水) and natural fermentation. It turns out that the pot with recycled pickle water is the best! It has the least nitrite in the first days and tastes better than the other two!
Do you have any special experiences with the food in your hometown? If you do, why not share with our readers!
1. Why did the school have the activity?| A．To ask students to make their own food. |
| B．To make students interested in school food. |
| C．To let students learn more about Sichuan food. |
| A．By telling stories. | B．By sharing reasons. | C．By giving examples. |
A． | B． | C． |
| A．Both Lin and Tang are proud of the food culture in Sichuan. |
| B．Tang’s story shows that we should make Paocai by ourselves. |
| C．Lin visited western Sichuan with her family member during summer holiday. |
| A．At the school notice board. |
| B．In a tourism magazine. |
| C．In an English textbook. |
Junk food has lots of fat(脂肪) ,salt and sugar.
Junk food is popular in the world.
| A．They are all bad for people's health. |
| B．If you are too heavy, you'd better not eat it or try to eat less. |
| C．First, it is cheap to make. |
| D．You'd better eat healthy food about 95% of the time, and junk food 5%. |
| E．Junk food is bad for health. |
Cook-less Noodle Machine (机器) in Wuhan
Everyone will order a bowl of hot dry noodles when they travel to Wuhan. But now a cook-less noodle machine in Wuhan is changing (改变) the way people enjoy hot dry noodles.
It can be paid through Wechat or Alipay (支付宝).
Most Chinese don’t take cash (现金) with them now. They like to pay by mobile phones.
Hot dry noodles are a kind of famous dish in Wuhan. It is hard to keep the noodles fresh in summer. It is also hard to clean the dishes without any help from workers.
It is small and easily-installed (安装简单的).
“
| A．The cook-less noodle machine can be paid through WeChat or Alipay |
| B．It can make the famous Wuhan dish without any cook inside |
| C．But this new machine has a refrigerator (冰箱) and a cleaning part inside to make the noodles healthy and safe to taste |
| D．We can put it in subway stations, hospitals, schools and many other places |
| E．It can make fresh and clean noodles |
【推荐1】Not all vegetables need lots of sunshine. Mark Hoffmann and his wife own a bed-and-breakfast guesthouse in rural Kempton, Illinois. They often serve their guests fresh food from the garden.
The Hoffmanns have been growing food and flowers for over twenty years. For almost ten of those years, Mr. Hoffmann has been experimenting and working with shade (阴凉) planting. He says, “Most plants will produce more in full sun, but if you do not have full sun, there are other choices.”
For example, he grows tomatoes near oak trees. Oak trees can produce a lot of shade. But Mr. Hoffmann says his tomato plants grow as long as they get five hours a day of direct (直接的) sunshine, especially the morning sun. Not only does this go against the traditional advice that tomatoes need six, eight, even twelve hours a day of full sun, it also shows how plants and tree roots can share nutrients (营养素) and water.
Mr. Hoffman says only plants with wider leaves do better in shady environments. He also found that his potatoes did better partly in shade than in full sun.
Moving them out of the sun helped control an insect problem. Mr. Hoffmann does not use pesticides. He planted the potatoes in the shade, especially on the east side of the tree. The potatoes get the morning sun, but they are shaded during the hottest part of the day. Some insects dislike shade, and the hottest part of the day is when they do the worst of their damage.
Time of day, brightness of the sun, shadows from trees, walls and buildings-these all influence how much sunlight falls on plants. And people interested in shade planting should also remember something else. The term “shade” can describe different amounts of darkness. It can even mean different things in different parts of the world.
1. Which of the following can best describe Mr. Hoffmann?| A．warm-hearted | B．Experienced | C．Easy-going | D．Funny |
| A．Five hours a day | B．six hours a day | C．Eight hours a day | D．Twelve hours a day |
| A．plants with wider leaves produce more in full sun |
| B．as a matter of fact, plants don’t need to grow in full sun |
| C．the more sunshine plants get, the more they will produce |
| D．it’s not fit for plants with less wide leaves to grow in shade |
| A．化肥 | B．灌溉 | C．农药 | D．修整 |
| A．shade planting needs no sunshine | B．shade is also important in plant growing |
| C．it is easy for people to learn shade planting | D．vegetables made in the shade are of better taste |
| A．history | B．travelling | C．agriculture | D．sports |
When humans look at a new face, their eyes usually look across the left, falling on the right hand side of the person’s face first. A possible reason for this is that the right side of the human face is better at expressing emotions.
Scientists have now shown that pet dogs also have “left gaze bias(左视偏好)”, but only when looking at human faces. No other animal has been known to do like this before. Dr. Kun Guo with his team showed 17 dogs the pictures of human, dog and monkey faces as well as something else. The dogs’ eyes and heads show a strong left gaze bias when the animals see human faces. But this did not happen when they were shown other pictures, including those of dogs.
Guo suggests that over thousands of years living with humans, dogs may have developed the left gaze bias as a way to guess our emotions.
“Recent studies show that the right side of our faces can express emotions better than the left. If true, then it makes sense for dogs and humans to see the right hand side of a face first.”
1. Why are dogs seen as man’s best friend according to the passage?
| A．Because dogs are the closest animals to humans. |
| B．Because dogs can read the emotions in humans’ faces easily. |
| C．Because dogs can understand us better when we feel sad. |
| D．Because dogs are good at expressing emotions. |
| A．get along well with humans |
| B．express emotions quickly |
| C．have more understanding friends |
| D．remember more new faces |
| A．dogs have been man’s best friends for thousands of years |
| B．humans have a “left gaze bias” |
| C．the “left gaze bias” works on all animals |
| D．dogs can read emotions the same as humans |
【推荐3】The Amazon rainforest is moving toward a “breaking point”, past which trees will start to die off in large numbers, researchers have said. According to the information from satellite photos, they have discovered that 75 percent of the rainforest is now at risk of being destroyed.
“Cutting down too many trees and climate change are possible to be the main reason for this decline (下降),” Niklas Boers of PIK and the Technical University of Munich told the BBC. The study has shown that it is only over ten years until a “significant parts” of the Amazon is changed from rainforest into savannah (大草原).
What would the world be like without the Amazon rainforest? “The Amazon stores lots of carbon and all of that would be given out into the air without the rainforest, which would then further lead to increasing temperatures and speeding up global (全球的) warming.” Professor Boulton of the University of Exeter told the BBC.
Besides that, it would also have a huge influence on the plants and animals of the Earth. The Amazon rainforest is home to thousands of various plants and animals, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. A savannah, a grassland environment that is short of a large number of plant life, would be unable to host so many animals that now live in the rainforest. It is possible that a large number of living things would be in danger or even die out, as they would be unable to find their feet in this new and strange environment.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us about the Amazon rainforest?| A．Problems. | B．Position. | C．Advantages. | D．Beauty. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．The Amazon rainforest will give off lots of carbon. |
| B．Only a few animals live in the rainforest at present. |
| C．The rainforest makes a great difference to the Earth. |
| D．The Amazon has changed from rainforest into savannah. |
| A．What is the Greenhouse Effect? |
| B．Where is the Home of Wildlife? |
| C．Why is the Amazon Rainforest so Important? |
| D．How can We Protect Grassland Environment? |
【推荐1】Are you bored(厌倦的) with your everyday life? Here are some things you should try before you are 18, because after that it’s too late!
Try at least(至少) one kind of team(团队) sports
Being a good team player is an important skill(技能) in life. You can’t just think of yourself. You have to work well with others. Other advantages (优点) of team sports like football and baseball are that they keep you fit, and they are also interesting. Teams usually have great social(社会的) life, too. You’ll go to lots of parties and make many friends.
Collect something
One of the best hobbies for young people under 18 is collecting things. You could collect stamps, or you could collect things that make you remember what you have done, like tickets for movies you’ve seen or letters from your friends. The best way to remember the things you collect is to have a special(特别的) album(集物簿册) to put your collection in and to write what each thing means to you.
Camp(露营) out in the garden
If you don’t have your own garden, find a friend who has one! You will need two or three friends, a small tent (帐篷), sleeping bags and warm blankets(毛毯).Take lots of food and drink with you into the tent and play games until(直到) it gets dark, eat all your snacks. You will need a torch or something else, or you won’t be able(有能力的) to see all your snacks.
1. What should you do in team sports?| A．Just think of yourself. | B．Work well by yourself. |
| C．Work well with other people. | D．Play better than others. |
| A．Stamps or some albums. | B．Tents or sleeping bags. |
| C．Some snacks. | D．Stamps, tickets for movies or letters. |
| A．To have a special box. | B．To put them in an album and write their meanings. |
| C．To write down the prices(价格). | D．To talk about these things with others. |
| A．A football and a baseball. | B．Tickets for movies. |
| C．A tent, sleeping bags, blankets, food, drink and a torch. | D．A good friend. |
| A．Hobbies. | B．Skills to have. |
| C．Things to do before 18. | D．Collecting things in life. |
【推荐2】Do you live in a city?
There's also the air above the sea. After spending time near the ocean, you might find that you feel more relaxed than usual.
| A．People who get more sun tend to be happier than those who do not. |
| B．So how does "blue space" make us feel better? |
| C．This is because sea air is charged（带电的）with negative ions（负离子）. |
| D．You've probably noticed how noisy and crowded cities can be. |
| E．A body chemical may have an effect on our mood. |
| F．Living near water can help us feel both happier and healthier. |
| G．People who live near water tend to be more physically active. |
【推荐3】One day an American man Simon went to London to visit his friend, Rick. Rick told him that his flat (公寓) was on the first floor. When he arrived, Simon went straight to the first floor of the building. But a man told him that there was no Rick on that floor. Do you know why? In fact, the British (英国人) call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, but Americans would call it the second floor.
The story shows that there are a few culture (文化) differences between Britain and America, though the British and Americans both speak English.
The British don’t like showing their feelings. They hardly start a small talk with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They’re more active and easier to talk with.
The British and Americans may use different words for the same things. The British use “football”, “holiday” and “autumn”, but Americans like to use “soccer”, “vacation” and “fall”.
1. What did Simon go to London to do?| A．To visit his friend. | B．To spend his holiday. |
| C．To study English. | D．To have a meeting. |
| A．playing cards | B．talking loudly |
| C．doing some reading | D．singing and dancing |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
4. What do the British call the word “fall”?
| A．Football. | B．Soccer. |
| C．Vacation. | D．Autumn. |
| A．Culture differences between Britain and America. |
| B．A funny story about Simon. |
| C．Small talk in Britain and America. |
| D．British people and American people. |
