The chocolate was
At first only dark chocolate was made. Milk chocolate came later and it was made by
Today, we consider zero as a common number. Few of us know zero has an unusual history. Yes, zero is, in fact, very different from the other numbers. At first, there were only the numbers one to nine. Zero first appeared in India about 2, 000 years ago. Many other ancient cultures had been marking nothingness. However, the ancient Indians were the first to consider nothingness a number.
Little by little, communication around the world became more often. Finally, zero was brought out of India. It was accepted as an Arabic (阿拉伯的) number. During the 13th century, Arabic numbers were introduced into the West. However, people in the west had been used to using Roman numbers (I, V, X, etc.). Arabic numbers were not popular. This was especially true for zero. Since there is no zero in Roman numbers, people found it hard to accept the new number. It was quite easy for dishonest business people to turn a “0” into a “6”or a “9”. Some people, therefore, believed zero would cause much trouble. Zero was also considered an unlucky number. That’s because it is close to negative numbers — the idea of having debts (债务). People in Florence and Italy even weren’t allowed to use zero citywide.
It was not until the 15th century that zero and the other Arabic numbers were fully accepted. Business people played an important role. Just think about doing calculations (计算) using Roman numbers. You can hardly do any trade, can you?
回答下列五个问题，每题答案不超过5个词。
1. How many numbers were there before zero was invented?
2. Who was the earliest people to use the number “zero”?
3. When did Arabic numbers appear in the West?
4. What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 3 refer to (指)?
5. What does the article mainly talk about?
Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world (after water), was invented by accident? Many people believe that tea was first drunk about 5,000 years ago. It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was the first to discover tea as a drink. One day Shen None was boiling drinking water over an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and remained there for some time. It produced a nice smell so he tasted the brown water. It was quite delicious, and so, one of the world’s favorite drinks was invented.
A few thousand years later, Lu Yu, “the saint of tea”, mentioned Shen Nong in his book Cha Jing . The book describes how tea plants were grown and used to make tea. It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.
It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th centuries. In England, tea didn’t appear until around 1660, but in less than 100 years, it had become the national drink. The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. This helped to spread the popularity of tea and the tea plant to more places around the world. Even though many people now know about tea culture. The Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.
1. The way that tea was invented (in two words):2. The person who invented tea:
3. List three countries that tea was spread to in the passage:
①
4. What the book Cha Jing talks about:
①
5. The role of the tea trade played:
| place，share，important，so，end，because，influence， successful，long，wide， trade，like |
A road is a bridge between two places. The Silk Road has been a bridge between East and West for more than 2,000 years. The Silk Road has been
But did you know the Silk Road is not a single route (路线)? It is a series of
The Silk Road got its name
The Silk Road was very
Today,
What is fashion all about? Why is it so important in our lives? What does it say about us?
During World War Ⅱ, women in England and America wore simple clothes. This was because many men were away at war. And women had to work at men’s jobs. After work, women wore short, straight skirts because the government needed all the extra material for the war.
Later, women grew tired of wearing long, full dresses, though. Skirts started getting shorter and tighter (紧的) once again. By the 1960s, teenagers, especially in England and America, began wearing mini-skirts. Mini-shirts showed women’s legs above the knees for the first time in history.
By the early 1970s, fashion changed once again, and skirts became longer. Trousers also became very fashionable in the 1970s, and for the first time, women started wearing trousers suits when they went out.
Today many different types of clothes are in fashion for both sexes (性别). In fact, many clothes are suitable for both men and women.
| A．Soon women of all ages wore mini-skirts. |
| B．Many people didn’t like to see women in trousers. |
| C．It made them feel very good to wear such feminine clothes. |
| D．After World War Ⅱ, fashion in these countries changed greatly. |
| E．For most people, the word “fashion” just means clothes. |
6 . The Silk Road is the name of different roads that long ago connected Europe, Africa and Asia. People reached these different places along these roads. Scientists believe people began to travel along the Silk Road about 3,000 years ago. When the Chinese silk trade became important in the world, the Silk Road covered almost 6,500 kilometers. It spread from Rome to China, that is to say from the Western Europe to the Far East. Traders traveling along the Silk Road carried silk, of course, they also carried and traded spices（香料）, cloth, valuable stones, gold and so on.
There is a famous old story along the old road. It is said that Roman soldiers who lost a war traveled through Central Asia. They decided to live somewhere near the ancient Chinese village of Liqian. Some of these Romans married local Chinese women and the story of blue-eyed villages of China started.
During its busiest period, the Silk Road allowed people from many different cultures and countries to meet each other and mix. The Silk Road allowed sharing valuable goods（货物）and new ideas. These included people and trading goods from the Mediterranean（地中海的）, Persian（波斯的）, Magyar（马扎尔的）, Armenian（亚美尼亚的）, Bactrian（大夏的）, Indian and Chinese areas. All these peoples traveled along the Silk Road, and they shared goods, stories, languages, and cultures.
In modern times, the old Silk Road routes（路线）are still used, but now they are crossed by trains instead of camels（骆驼）and horses. There is even a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan in China. It has over 35,000 objects from all along the Silk Road. In this way, China protects the history of many countries and peoples.
根据文章内容，判断句子正（T）、误（F）。
1. The Silk Road has a history of about 3,000 years.
2. Some Roman soldiers lost the war because they married local Chinese women.
3. Nowadays, the Silk Road routes are still crossed by camels and horses.
4. According to the passage, we can infer（推断）ancient Chinese along the Silk Road might be able to speak different languages.
5. All the objects in the museum in Jiuquan in China are from our country.
Researches show that the fork was first used in Ancient Egypt, China and Greece. And then it t
The fork began to get acceptance in Italy by the late 16th century, because the upper-class Italians had great i
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．put out | B．break out | C．make out | D．try out |
| 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 |
A castle was the fortress (堡垒) and home of a king or nobleman.
Most of the castles we think of today were built in Europe. They were built from about 1, 000 AD to about 1, 500 AD, during a period known as the Middle Ages.
Castles played an important role after the fall of the Roman Empire. When a king granted land to nobles, the nobles promised in return to serve the king and provide him with soldiers. Nobles built castles on the lands given to them. But some nobles simply claimed land as their own and built a castle on it. That was asking for trouble. There were many power struggles between nobles and kings, and among the nobles themselves.
A typical stone castle had several main parts. At the centre of the castle was a tall and very strong building called the keep. This is where people in the castle made their last stand if the outer defences (防御) failed. The keep was set in a courtyard, where there were workshops, stables, and a kitchen.
High, thick walls surrounded the keep and the courtyard. Strong, round defensive towers stood at the corners of the walls. Guards walked along the tops of the walls and towers.
Many stone castles were surrounded by a wide ditch called a moat (护城河). Some moats were filled with water, but many were not. The only way into the castle was across a wooden drawbridge over the moat. If enemies attacked, the defenders raised the bridge. Then they lowered a heavy iron-and-wood barrier called a portcullis to block the entrance to the castle.
A well-built castle was a pretty safe place to be. Attackers had a hard time getting in. But they still had some options. They could go over the walls using ladders. They could smash (撞碎) through the walls or doors. Or they could dig under the walls and try to get part of the wall to fall down. If none of those things worked, they could just camp outside until the defenders ran out of food.
Attackers sometimes brought large machines called siege engines with them to break through castle doors or walls. This was a heavy wooden beam with a metal cap. In the early 1500s, cannons entered wide use in warfare. Cannonballs could dig into the base of stone walls and weaken them. The walls then fell under their own weight. As a result, castles were no longer needed.
1. The underlined word “That” refers to the fact that ________.| A．nobles built castles on the lands given to them | B．the nobles promised to serve the king in return |
| C．some nobles simply claimed land as their own | D．the nobles provided the king with soldiers |
| A．3 | B．4 | C．5 | D．6 |
| A．Some castles were built to attract more visitors. |
| B．Kings in ancient Europe were more generous. |
| C．Portcullises were used to break through castle doors. |
| D．Warfare must be common from 1, 000 AD to about 1, 500 AD. |
| A．Attacking a castle | B．Visiting a castle | C．A pretty safe place | D．Weakness of a castle |
10 . In ancient Egypt, women did not go to work. They stayed and worked at home. Many Egyptian men were farmers. Some men were builders or fishermen. Other men worked as artists. Some other important persons did not do any farming.
The weather in Egypt was very hot. Ancient Egyptians did not wear many clothes. Men, women and children often wore simple robes made of thin cloth. On their feet they wore light open shoes. People including women, shaved hair from their heads to keep cool.
Children in ancient Egypt grew up to do the same jobs as their parents. Girls stayed at home with their mothers. They learned to look after the home. Boys worked with their fathers. They learned to do jobs their fathers did. They only went to school to learn to write if they wanted to become a scribe.
Many of the games played by ancient Egyptians are similar to games we still play today. Children played racing and jumping games. They also played ball games and with wooden toys. Older children played a game like chess.
The king of Egypt (the pharaohs) hand enough power to master their country. The people thought that pharaoh was a god. He owned everything. Everyone had to do what he told them to do. The pharaohs built huge tombs. When a pharaoh dies, he was buried in the tomb. The tombs were often in the shape of pyramids. When a pharaoh was buried, he was surrounded by treasure and by things to help him in the next world, such as food, clothes, furniture and weapons.
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