1 . Many years ago in 1971, the US table tennis team was at the World Championship in Japan. The team from China was also there. This championship took place during the days of Cold War, so the American and the Chinese players didn’t even talk to each other.
Glen Cowan, form the US team, didn’t like this situation. One day, he saw a Chinese player and invited him to play. They played together for 15 minutes, and Cowan missed the US bus back to the hotel.
Then, something surprising happened. One of the Chinese players waved to Cowan from the Chinese bus. He thought for a moment and then he got on the bus. But the Chinese players didn’t talk to him. Suddenly, Zhuang Zedong, three times world champion, came up to Cowan. “What are you doing?” said the other Chinese players. “Don’t talk to him! Don’t make trouble!” Zedong gave Cowan a silk scarf. “I give you this to show the friendship of the Chinese people to the American people,” he said through a translator. Cowan wanted to give something back, but he didn’t have anything with him.
Then the bus arrived at the hotel. There were lots of reporters — it was big news to see an American and a Chinese player together. Later, Cowan bought a T-shirt with a peace flag on it, and he gave it to Zedong. The two men became friends.
In the same year, the US team got an invitation to visit China, and in February 1972, US President Richard Nixon went to China on a historic visit. Mary people say that the two men and their friendship made a better relationship between their countries possible.
1. Why didn’t the American and Chinese players talk to each other?| A．Because they didn’t know each other. |
| B．Because they couldn’t understand each other’s words. |
| C．Because of the Cold War. |
| D．Because they competed for the World Championship. |
| A．He invited Glen Cowan to play table tennis. |
| B．He waved to Cowan from the Chinese bus. |
| C．He followed his team members’ advice and didn’t talk to Glen Cowan. |
| D．He became friends with Glen Cowan. |
| A．Glen Cowan played with a Chinese player for fifteen minutes. |
| B．Glen Cowan gave Zhuang Zedong a silk scarf to show the friendship. |
| C．The reporters were surprised to see an American player and a Chinese player together. |
| D．China invited the US team and the President Richard Nixon visited China in February, 1972. |
| A．Novel | B．Dictionary | C．Science fiction | D．History book |
What’s the Silk Road? In history, it was an important international trade route（贸易路线）between China and the Mediterranean Sea（地中海）. The Silk Road began in the Western Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,000 years.
In the past, the road started in Chang’an（now Xi’an）and ended in Eastern Europe near the Mediterranean Sea. It was about 6,500 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 traders carried it to other places along this road. Traders also carried porcelain 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 across the Silk Road. In this way, languages and cultures influenced each other.
Today, China is trying to make the dream of the Belt and Road come true.
1. How long was the Silk Road in the past?2. The Silk Road got its name because traders
3. What does the underlined word “traders” mean in English?
4. Across the Silk Road,
5. What is the passage mainly about?
3 . Two Thanksgivings
“Why are we visiting Uncle Ed now? Thanksgiving is next month,” Curtis said. “In the United States, Thanksgiving is in November,” his dad replied. “In Canada, it’s in October.” “Why?” Curtis asked. “Ask Uncle Ed. He used to teach history. You could learn a lot from him,” his dad said.
When Curtis met Uncle Ed, he asked, “Why is Canada’s Thanksgiving so early?” “Thanksgiving is when we give thanks for the harvest (收获),” Uncle Ed said. “Canada gets colder before the United States, so its harvest and Thanksgiving come earlier.”
The next day, Curtis’s dad helped Uncle Ed cook Thanksgiving dinner. “What are we having?” Curtis asked. “You’ll find out soon,” his dad said. “Why don’t you watch TV?” “We watch football on Thanksgiving, too,” Uncle Ed said. “I’m sure there’s a game on.” On his way out of the kitchen, Curtis saw a cornucopia. It looked like one Mom used for their Thanksgiving. Football...cornucopia... was Canada copying the United States?
At dinner, Curtis sat down to turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. He said suddenly, “Your Thanksgiving is just like ours!” Uncle Ed laughed and said, “We do celebrate in similar ways. In the 1700s, many Americans moved to Canada. They brought their Thanksgiving traditions with them.” “We probably gave you our holiday, too,” Curtis said. “Actually, we celebrated Thanksgiving before you,” Uncle Ed replied. “However, Thanksgiving is much older than both Canada and the United States.’ “Really?” Curtis said, surprised.
“The First Nations people were giving thanks for the harvest long before settlers (殖民者) arrived. Also, Spanish settlers in the southern part of North America celebrated Thanksgiving even before Canada.”
“So when did Thanksgiving start in Canada?” Curtis asked. “An explorer named Martin Frobisher celebrated the first Canadian Thanksgiving in 1578. He gave thanks because he had stayed alive the long trip across the ocean from England to Canada.” Uncle Ed said.
“But now Canada gives thanks for the harvest?” Curtis asked. “Yes. In 1957, Canada made its Thanksgiving official (官方的). Since then, we have always given thanks on the second Monday in October,” Uncle Ed said.
After dinner, Curtis and his dad thanked Uncle Ed. “Come to our house for Thanksgiving next month,” Curtis said. “I’ll teach you about our holiday.” “Sure,” Uncle Ed said. “By then, I’ll ask for more pumpkin pie!”
1. Is Thanksgiving in October in Canada?2. Why does Canada’s Thanksgiving come earlier than the United States’ ?
3. What did they have for Thanksgiving dinner?
4. When did Thanksgiving start in Canada?
5. What is the passage mainly about?
People often remember what they were doing when they heard the news of important events in history. In America, for example, many people remember what they were doing on April 4, 1968. This was an important event in American history. On this day, Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. Although some people may not remember who killed him, they remember what they were doing when they heard the news.
Robert Allen is now over 50, but he was a school pupil at that time. “I was at home with my parents,” Robert remembers. “We were eating dinner in the kitchen when we heard the news on the radio. The news reporter said, “Dr. King died just 10 minutes ago”. My parents were completely shocked! My parents did not talk after that, and we finished the rest of our dinner in silence.
More recently, most Americans remember what they were doing when the World Trade Center in New York was taken down by terrorists. Even the date—September 11, 2001—has meaning to most Americans.
This was a day Kate Smith will never forget. She remembers working in her office near the two towers. “My friend shouted that a plane just hit the World Trade Center! I didn’t believe him at first, but then I looked out of the window and realized that it was true. I was so scared that I could hardly think clearly after that.”
1. The event that happened on April 4, 19682. The way that Robert’s family knew the death of Dr. King
3. The way that they finished eating their dinner
4. The reason why Americans specially remember the date—September 11, 2001
5. The place where Kate Smith was working on September 11, 2001
5 . Hundreds of years ago, a Roman（古罗马的）army came north from England to make war on Scotland（苏格兰）. The Scots, a brave people, loved their country very much. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland, but there were too many of the Romans. It looked that the Romans would win.
One night, the leader of Scots marched（行军）his soldiers to the top of a hill. “We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle. We must win or we will die.”
They were all very tired, so they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they too, were very tired, and one by one, also fell asleep.
The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they climbed up the hillside, taking care not to make a sound. Closer and closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more, the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle（蓟）. He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a moment, they stood up and ready for battle. The fighting was hard but it did not last long.The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved their country.
The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp（锋利的）needles（刺）all over it.Few people like it. But the people of Seotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.
1. Where did the Roman army come from?| A．England. | B．Germany. | C．Russia. | D．France. |
| A．they fought against the Romans | B．they had a party |
| C．they were all very tired | D．they were too exited to fall asleep |
| A．Because the guards of the Scots found the Romans. |
| B．Because the Scots were hungry. |
| C．Because one of the Romans put his foot on a thistle, and he cried out. |
| D．Because the Romans made a lot of noise. |
| A．prepared | B．raised | C．warned | D．beat |
| A．Thistle. | B．Rose. | C．Carrot. | D．Bean. |
6 . 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 |
7 . Over 25 thousand years ago people from northern Asia went to America, Today, we call these people Indians.
The Indians went to America because the weather began to c
Later Columbus found the New World in 1492 and he was k
The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in downtown Seattle, Washington, in the USA. It was a small coffee shop created (创建) by Jerry, Zev and Gordon, and the shop cooked its own coffee beans. The coffee shop’s business (生意) did well, and by 1981, there were three more Starbucks stores in Seattle．
Things really began to change for the company in 1981. That year Howard Schultz met the three men who ran Starbucks. Schultz worked in New York for a company that made kitchen equipment (设备). He noticed that Starbucks bought a large number of special coffee makers, which caused his great interest. Schultz went to Seattle to see what the Starbucks did. In 1982, the three Starbucks owners hired Schultz as the company’s head of marketing．
In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy. The special environment (环境) of the coffee bars there caught his eyes. Back in the USA, Schultz created an environment for Starbucks coffee shops, and customers everywhere seemed to like it. Starbucks began opening more stores across the USA. Then the company opened coffee shops in other countries as well. Today, there are more than 16, 000 Starbucks coffee shops all over the world．
However, that does not mean Starbucks has not had problems. In fact, many Starbucks stores have closed over the past few years. On the one hand, this is because there were too many coffee shops competing for business in one small area. On the other hand, stores in some countries closed because the coffee culture there did not match with the “feel the same everywhere” environment offered by Starbucks．
1. From Paragraph1 we know that ________.| A．the first Starbucks coffee shop was very big |
| B．Starbucks’ business grew quickly in the first ten years |
| C．Howard Schultz created the first Starbucks coffee shop |
| D．more coffee shops opened all over the USA in the first ten years |
| A．买 | B．丢弃 | C．经营 | D．参观 |
| A．all of the coffee tasted the same |
| B．the coffee in these places was too expensive |
| C．there were too many coffee shops in one place |
| D．the people in these countries didn’t drink coffee |
| A．what the culture of Starbucks is |
| B．how Starbucks makes its coffee |
| C．why Starbucks is so popular |
| D．how Starbucks has developed |
History is important to study because it is essential for all of us in understanding ourselves and the world around us. And in my opinion, studying history benefits beyond history itself, because it helps develop and improve our skills through studying history.
We can improve our reading skills by reading texts from different periods. Language has changed and developed over time and so has the way people write and express themselves. We can also improve our writing skills through learning not to just repeat what someone else said, but to analyze information from multiple sources and come up with our own conclusions. It’s two birds with one stone—better writing and critical thinking!
There are so many sources of information out in the world. Finding a decisive truth for many topics just doesn’t exist. What was a victory for one group was a great loss for another—we get to create our own opinions of these events.
History gives us the opportunity to learn from others’ past mistakes. It helps us understand many reasons why people may behave the way they do. As a result, it helps us become smarter as decision-makers.
In the study of history we will need to conduct research. This gives us the opportunity to look at two kinds of sources—primary (written at the time) and secondary sources (written about a time period, after the fact). This practice can teach us how to decipher between reliable and unreliable sources.
There are numbers and data to be learned from history. In terms of patterns: patterns in population, disappearances during times of war, and even in environmental factors. These patterns that are found help clarify why things happened as they did.
It’s incredibly important to learn to question the quality of the information and “history” we are learning. Keep these two questions in mind as we read through information: How do I know what I’m reading are facts and accurate information? Could they be the writer’s opinions?
1. The author thinks history helps make good decisions because ________.| A．we can learn from others’ past mistakes |
| B．we can meet many sources of information |
| C．we can look at primary and secondary sources |
| D．we can create our own opinions of the past events |
| A．To remind readers to read historical novels carefully. |
| B．To warn readers not to read too many history books. |
| C．To emphasize the quality of the information on history. |
| D．To make readers doubt about the reality of history. |
| A．How to study history | B．Why is history important |
| C．Reliable data of history | D．Value of studying history |
10 . La Gomera is one of a few places in the world which has a whistled (口哨) language. We do not know how and why it began because we do not know the complete history of the island. But we can certainly imagine the reasons for the beginning of the whistled language. There are many deep valleys on the island. A person on one side of a valley cannot easily shout to a person on the other side. But he can whistle and be heard. Some of the best whistlers can be heard from four miles away and the record is seven miles. The people who live on the island usually have good teeth, and this helps them to whistle well. They must also have good ears so that they can hear the other whistlers.
We can understand why the whistled language continues. It is very useful on the island, and quite easy to learn. When somebody is hurt or ill, the whistled language takes the place of the telephone. If the sick person is quite far away from the town, people pass the message from one to another. A boy guarding cattle on a hillside whistles to a man fishing from his boat. The last one is able to describe the trouble fully and exactly to the doctor in town. People help one another in the same way when a car breaks or a cow is lost.
The whistled language is hundreds of years old, and probably it will continue to live on for hundreds of years more. Radio and TV often kill the special ways of speaking in different parts of a country. But on La Gomera you are nobody if you cannot whistle. Perhaps soon after TV arrives on the island, the people there will be whistling the news and other facts and opinions.
1. Why did the whistled language begin in La Gomera?| A．There were many deep valleys on the island. |
| B．The people on the island had good ears. |
| C．The people on the island had good teeth. |
| D．The whistlers could be heard four miles away. |
| A．what people think of the island |
| B．how people pass messages |
| C．who continues the whistled language |
| D．where people learn the whistled language |
| A．an unreal person | B．an unlucky person |
| C．an unhappy person | D．an unknown person |
| A．Whistlers, Passers on an Island | B．Lo Gomera, a Famous Island |
| C．Reasons, the Start of a Whistled Language | D．Whistling, a Special Language that committee. |
