1 . What’s the Silk Road? In history, it was an important international trade route（商路） between China and the Mediterranean（地中海）. The Silk Road began in the Western Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 2000 years.

In the past, the road started in Chang’an （now Xi’an） and ended in Eastern Europe near the Mediterranean. It was about 6500 kilometers long and went across 1/4 of the world.

The Silk Road got its name in the 19th century because Chinese silk was famous, and the traders also carried China’s porcelain（瓷器） and other things to the West. And glass, gems and food like carrots from the West came to China.

The Silk Road was very important to both China and the rest of the world. It was more than an international trade route. Lots of arts and science of other countries came to China through the Silk Road. In this way, languages and culture influenced each other. Today, China is trying to make the dream of the Belt and Road come true.

1. When did the Silk Road begin?

A．In the 18th century.	B．In the 19th century.
C．In the Eastern Han Dynasty.	D．In the Western Han Dynasty.

2. How long was the Silk Road in the past?

A．It was about 6500 meters long.	B．It went across 1/3 of the world.
C．It went across 1/4 of the world.	D．It was about 5000 kilometers long.

3. Traders carried China’s ________ to the West.
①silk
②glass
③porcelain

A．①②

B．①③

C．②③

D．①②③

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A．The Silk Road was only an international trade route in the past.

B．China is trying to sell everything to other countries through the road now.

C．The Silk Road got its name because traders carried silk along this road.

D．Through the Silk Road, traders only brought the food of other countries to China.

5. Where can we most probably find this passage?

A．In a history book.	B．In an art magazine.
C．In a health book.	D．In a PE magazine.

2 . The Winter Olympics are also called the White Olympics. The Winter Olympics are held every four years. At this time, many colorful stamps are published to mark (庆贺) the great Games. The earliest 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 (习惯).

In the 1950s, the stamps of this kind became more colorful. When the White Olympics came, the host countries (东道主) as well as the non­host 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 (筹集) money for this sports meeting.

        Different kinds of sports were drawn on these small stamps. People can enjoy the beauty of the wonderful movements of some sportsmen.
1. The Winter Olympics and the White Olympics ________.

A．are the same thing	B．are different games
C．are not held in winter	D．are held in summer

2. It became a rule that stamps were published to mark the Winter Olympics________.

A．after the year 1980	B．from the 3rd White Olympics
C．before the 3rd White Olympics	D．before the year 1932

3. The Winter Olympics are held ________.

A．every two years	B．every three years
C．every four years	D．every five years

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Only the host countries can publish stamps to mark the Games.

B．Only the non-­host countries can publish stamps to mark the Games.

C．Both the host and the non-­host countries can publish stamps to mark the Games.

D．Japan can’t publish stamps to mark the Games.

5. What may appear on the stamps of the White Olympics?

A．Basketball.

B．Table tennis.

C．Football.

D．Skating.

3 . Strange things happen to time when you travel because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones (时区), one hour apart (一个时区相差一小时). You can have days with more or fewer than twenty-four hours, and weeks with more or fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean (大西洋), your ship enters a different time zone every day. As you enter each zone, the time changes one hour. Traveling west, you set your clock back, traveling east you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you travel by ship across the Pacific (太平洋), you cross the international date line (国际日期变更线). By agreement, this is the point where a new day begins. When you cross the line, you change your calendar one full day, backward or forward. Traveling east, today becomes yesterday, traveling west, it is tomorrow.
1. Strange things happen to time when you travel because ______.

A．no day really has twenty-four hours	B．no one knows where time zones begin
C．the earth is divided into time zones	D．how time flies

2. The difference in time between zones is ______.

A．one hour	B．more than seven days
C．seven days	D．one day

3. If you travel across the Atlantic Ocean, going east, you set your clock ______.

A．one hour ahead in each time zone	B．one hour ahead for the whole trip
C．one full day back for each time zone	D．neither back nor ahead

4. From this passage, it seems true that the Atlantic ______.

A．is in one time zone	B．is divided into twenty-four zones
C．is divided into five time zones	D．is divided into seven time zones

5. The international date line is the name for ______.

A．the beginning of any new time zone

B．any point where time changes by one hour

C．the point where a new day begins

D．the point between two different zones

4 . Basketball is still a young game. It’s over a hundred years old. In the winter of 1891, a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students. The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors. As they couldn’t play outdoors, they were unhappy, and some even got into fights from time to time.
Some of the teachers at the college asked Dr. Naismith to invent（发明）a game so that the students might have something to play with. It was not easy to invent such a game because it had to be played indoors , and the court（球场）was not very large.
Dr. Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game. It was a fast, wonderful game with much moving and passing of the ball. It was played between two teams. To make a score , the ball had to be thrown into the basket ten feet（英尺）above
the floor on the wall. At each end of the court there was such a basket. At first, Dr.
Naismith wanted to throw the ball into a box. As he could not find boxes of the right size, he had to use fruit baskets instead. That is how the game got its name.
1. How long is it since basketball was invented?

A．100 years	B．Less than 100 years
C．110 years	D．More than 100 years

2. The students felt unhappy because _______.

A．they had little time to study	B．they often got into fights
C．they had much homework to do	D．they couldn’t play outdoors

3. Who asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game?

A．Some students	B．Some teachers
C．Some students’ parents	D．Some of his friends

4. When a student ________, he makes a score.

A．receives the ball.

B．throws the ball to another student

C．runs quickly with the ball in his hand

D．throws the ball into the basket

5. Which sentence is right?

A．The students could go outdoors when the weather was bad.

B．It was easy to invent the game.

C．Dr. Naismith had to use fruit baskets to throw the ball.

D．The ball had to be thrown into the basket five feet above the floor.