1 . Early Writing and Alphabets (字母表)
When people first began to write, they did not use an alphabet.
The Ancient Egyptians had a
An alphabet is quite
| A．However | B．Instead | C．Also | D．Then |
| A．amazing | B．powerful | C．strange | D．slow |
| A．wall | B．piece | C．system | D．collection |
| A．finally | B．seldom | C．nearly | D．especially |
| A．similar to | B．different from | C．full of | D．close to |
| A．noticed | B．arranged | C．developed | D．discovered |
2 . Why Is It “Eleven, Twelve” Instead of “Oneteen, Twoteen”
English number words are pretty logical after a point. From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the same principle applies. The units (个位数) f
Eleven and twelve come from the Old English words “endleofan” and “twelf”, which can be traced back further to a time when they were “ain+lif” and “twa+lif”. So what did this “-lif” mean? The best guess is that it is from a r
So then the question is, why don’t we have “threelif”, “fourlif”, “fiflif”, “sixlif” and so on? The answer has to do with the development of number systems over history. A long, long time ago, when the number words were first being formed, most people didn’t have much reason to distinguish numbers above ten. In fact, some languages of a
Maybe there was a “threelif”, “fourlif” type system, but 11 and 12 were used more often in daily life. Many number systems are based on 12 because it can be divided e
You can extend that idea to other number words. We have more irregularities of pronunciation in the tens (“twenty”, “thirty”, “fifty” instead of “twoty”, “threety”, “fivety”) because we’ve been making everyday use of those numbers for longer than we have for “two hundred”, “three hundred”, and “five hundred”). “Thousand” is an old word, but its original sense was “a great multitude”. It is not a specific number, but a very useful idea. The words we needed earliest, and used the most frequently are usually the most irregular.
So the short answer is, we created words for 11 and 12 a long time ago by calling them “one left after ten” and “two left after ten”. They were more useful to us than the bigger numbers, so we said them more and they became a h
A. greatly B. angry C. took place D. attended E. cities F. happily |
YOUTH DAY in China falls on May 4 every year. It is celebrated to honor the May Fourth Movement in 1919.
May Fourth Movement
On May 4 in 1919, many students gathered at Tian'anmen Square. Students and working people in other
The movement
4 . Most children are introduced to a study of history early in their school life by hearing stories of people who lived in other times and places. They learn that the world has not always been e
Various m
Think “rock, paper, scissors(剪刀)”is a children’s game? Think again.
Top players a
The game is often used to make decisions and solve some s
Players have d
The world championship started in 2002 and is held o
Nowadays most children have computer games and other mechanical or electric toys. However they also play with some of the same kinds of toys that children played with thousands of years ago.
More than 2, 500 years ago, for example, children in ancient Greece played with skipping ropes and hoops(呼啦圈）. They also had spinning tops(陀螺）made of wood, and marbles made of stone or clay. Modern spinning tops are made of plastic, and most marbles nowadays are made of glass but the games children play with are the same.
When archeologists(考古学家）opened the tomb of the Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamen(图坦卡蒙）they found some of his toys. They found a boat and a set of checkers(西洋跳棋）. Egyptian children of that time also played with wooden houses on wheels, and balls made of cloth and reeds.
Many years before the time of Tutankhmen, Chinese children played with yo-yos, and dolls made of wood or clay.
Even though many modern toys are complicated and expensive, young children especially enjoy playing with very simple toys. They will probably still be playing with tops, yo-yos and marbles in the year 5, 000, although they might be playing with them on another planet!
1. Today children like ________.① playing computer games ③playing with fire
②playing with mechanical or electrical toys ④playing with very simple toys
| A．①②③ | B．①②④ | C．②③④ | D．①②③④ |
| A．China | B．Japan | C．India | D．Ancient Greece |
| A．making things out of clay | B．playing with ropes and hoops |
| C．playing with yo-yos | D．playing checkers |
| A．yo-yos | B．wooden dolls | C．checkers | D．clay dolls |
| A．not simple | B．different | C．expensive | D．easy |
| A．Children’s Favourite Toys over the Years | B．The History of Some Toys |
| C．The most popular toys nowadays | D．A New Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhmen |
| A. famous B. although C. history D. first E. was connected with F. flew G. until |
Electricity didn’t begin when Benjamin Franklin
Electricity has always been around
| A. watch B. as well as C. how D. sell E. possible F. why G. popular |
The Germans published the first modern-style newspaper in 1609. News-sheets existed before then, but these were not really newspapers.
Hundreds of years later, people are still buying newspapers. Shops and stalls all over the world
However, people do not get their news only from newspapers. They can listen to it, as they did long ago, and they can
Two inventions, radio and television, have made this
However, newspapers remain
9 . Chocolate is a favorite food for people all over the world. People prefer chocolate over ice cream, cakes and cookies.
The idea of eating chocolate didn’t begin until the 19th century. Before that people drank chocolate. The habit began in Central America where the Aztecs drank bowls of chocolate to stay watchful. When the liquid chocolate was brought to Spain in the 1500s, people thought it was medicine because it had a medicine taste. In fact, the people who made chocolate into drinks were doctors. Then people discovered that mixing chocolate with sugar made a wonderful drink King Ferdinand of Spain loved this drink so much that he put out an order: anyone who talked about chocolate outside the court would be killed For about 100 years, “chocolate” was a secret In Spain.
People finally found out about chocolate, and it became a popular drink in Europe. The Swiss mixed milk and chocolate Today most Americans prefer milk chocolate, while Europeans prefer dark chocolate.
New research shows that chocolate is actually good for us. “Chocolate has more than 300 different chemicals. One chemical works on the parts of the brain that feels pleasure. People who feel good when they eat chocolate are actually healthier. Feeling pleasure is important for health and can protect against illness.” “Good chocolate doesn’t have much fat or sugar. You can enjoy it if you eat a little at a time says Tara Berish, another chocolate lover.
1. When did the idea of eating chocolate begin?__________________________________________________________________
2. Why did people think the liquid chocolate was medicine in the 1500s?
__________________________________________________________________
3. Who in fact made chocolate into drinks at that time?
__________________________________________________________________
4. What did people discover then?
__________________________________________________________________
5. How many different chemicals does chocolate have?
__________________________________________________________________
6. What can we learn from the passages?
__________________________________________________________________
| A. admit B. challenges C. remaining D. accommodate E. disasters |
Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is one of the largest cities in the world. It is also one of the world’s most modern cities. Twice this century, the city was destroyed and rebuilt. In 1823 a major earthquake struck the city. Thousands of people were killed and millions were left homeless as buildings fell down and fires broke out throughout Tokyo. It took seven years to rebuild the city. During World war Ⅱ, Tokyo was destroyed once again. As a result of these
After the war, the people of Tokyo began to rebuild their city. Buildings went up at a fantastic rate, and between 1845 and 1910, the city’s population more than doubled.
Because of the Olympic Games held in Tokyo in 1859, many new stadiums, parks and hotels were built to
