【推荐2】阅读短文, 根据要求完成文后任务。

[1]From 1700 until 1100 BC, the area of China around the Yellow River was ruled by a family of kings called the Shang. They were rich and very powerful. The king and his family lived in large palaces, decorated (装饰) with beautiful objects. They had many servants who made them food and did all the work in the palaces, so they had an easy life.

[2]The richest people at that time were warriors (武士). They lived in cities with very high walls. Their houses were large and made of wood or brick. They wore beautiful gowns (长袍) made of silk. They didn’t work, and spent their time hunting and horse riding.

[3]Other people lived outside the walls, in houses made of mud (泥). They were businessmen and crafismen (手艺人), so they worked for their living. 3. 他们不贫穷, 但是战争期间得不到保护。

[4]Most of the people during that time were farmers. They lived in villages in the countryside. Their houses were small and made of mud or bamboo. Inside, there wasn’t any furniture, and they slept on the mud floor. They worked in fields with ①________ made of stone, grew grain such as rice, and kept animals. They were very poor. They had to obey the kings and warriors. They didn’t have a very easy life. The best place for farming at that time was by the Yellow River. Here the warm, wet weather was perfect for growing rice.

[5]During the time of the Shang, there were some important developments. Bronze (青铜) is one of them. People used it to make pots, cups, jewellery, weapons and so on. But the most important development during the time of the Shang was writing. Once people can write, they can pass on information about themselves, their lives and what they believe. 4. Although the Chinese started writing at this time, they didn’t have paper yet, so people wrote on animal bones, stones, bamboo, and even on turtle (乌龟) shells!

[6]So, life for people in ancient China was quite ②________ from our lives today.

1题短文填词，在文中空白处各填入一个恰当的单词；2-5题回答问题。注意词数限制。6-7题翻译句子。
1. ① ________   ② ________
2. How did the kings’ palaces of the Shang look like?   (No more than 10 words)
_______________________________________
3. What kind of life did the farmers live that time? (No more than 8 words)
_______________________________________
4. Why was the Yellow River area the best place for farming?   (No more than 8 words)
_______________________________________
5. What was the most important development during the time of the Shang?   (With one word)
_______________________________________
6. 将第三段划线句子翻译成英语。
_______________________________________
7. 将第五段划线句子翻译成汉语。
_______________________________________

【推荐3】阅读下面的材料，然后根据材料内容回答问题。

Chinese people have been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoying mooncakes for centuries. Mooncakes are in the shape of a full moon on the Mid-Autumn night. They carry people’s wishes to the families they love and miss.

There are many traditional folk stories about this festival. However, most people think that the story of Chang’e is the most touching. Chang’e was Hou Yi’s beautiful wife. After Hou Yi shot down the nine suns, a goddess gave him magic medicine to thank him. Whoever drank this could live forever, and Hou Yi planned to drink it with Chang’e. However, a bad man, Pang Meng, tried to steal the medicine when Hou Yi was not at home. Chang’e refused to give it to him and drank it all. She became very light and flew up to the moon. Hou Yi was so sad the he called out her name to the moon every night. One night, he found that the moon was so bright and round that he could see his wife there. He quickly laid out her favorite fruits and desserts in the garden. How he wished that Chang’e could come back.

After this, people started the traditional of admiring the moon and sharing mooncakes with their families.

1. What food do people usually enjoy on Mid-Autumn night?
________________________________________
2. Which story is the most touching about Mid-Autumn Day?
________________________________________
3. Who tried to steal the medicine?
________________________________________
4. What happened to Chang’e after she drank all the magic medicine?
________________________________________
5. How do you usually celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival?
________________________________________

【推荐2】One can’t discuss Chinese music without mentioning the Chinese seven-string zither(七弦琴), also known as the guqin, one of the four arts of ancient China. The other three arts are go(围棋), calligraphy(书法) and painting. It first appeared over 3,000 years ago and represents China’s solo musical instrument tradition.

At first, the guqin had only five strings, representing the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Later, in the Zhou dynasty, King Wen of Zhou added a sixth string for his son. King Wu of Zhou, added a seventh string to encourage his army to fight with the Shang.

Ambience(环境气氛) was important in playing the Chinese zither. Usually, it was practiced in a quiet setting and never for public performance. Ancient artists enjoyed performing by a stream in the mountains. The sound of the guqin mixed with the echoes(回音) from the mountains, until the musician found himself at one with nature. Playing it in snow was also a favorite pastime for ancient artists, who believed the instrument was the purest of its kind in the world. Also, a night with moonlight was considered ideal for playing the guqin.

Nowadays, there are fewer than one thousand well-trained guqin players. The original number of several thousand pieces has greatly reduced to only a hundred works by today. The guqin and its music were added to the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity(人类非物质文化遗产) in 2003.

1题完成句子，2-3题简略回答问题，4题找出并写下第三段主题句，5题将文中画线句子译成汉语。
1. The ________________ of ancient China are guqin, go, calligraphy and painting.
2. What does the Chinese seven-string zither stand for in Chinese history?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why did King Wu of Zhou add a seventh string?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________________________________________________
5. _________________________________________________________________________________________

【推荐3】任务型阅读
Many famous people had dreams when they were young. They often worked hard to make their dreams come true.
When I was only 13 years old, I first thought about what I should do in the future. I used to dream about being a basketball player, a soccer player, or a baseball player. However, I gave up these       dreams because I was too short. Then I thought about going into music, so I bought a guitar. But I couldn’t play it very well. Then I had to give up my dream again. After that I thought about being a reporter and I worked really hard at it. At the age of 25, my dream came true and I became a reporter
Finally, I learned the truth about making dreams come true. I should never give up and I must work hard.
1. How old was the writer when he first had a dream?
_______________________________________________
2. Why did he give up being a basketball player?
________________________________________________
3. Did his dream come true at last?
_______________________________________________