1 . 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. |
2 . Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled across Europe and Asia along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally they arrived in Beijing. Although Marco was young, he was very clever and could speak four languages. The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends. He asked Marco to serve in his court and sent him to do many important tasks across the country. Marco was amazed by how beautiful and powerful China was.
There were inventions and developments in China which couldn’t be found in Europe at that time. Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets. In Europe, people didn’t pay for goods with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco had never seen coal before!
In 1291, after 17 years of service to the Emperor, Marco returned to Italy. He was now a very wealthy man. A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World, which became one of the best-selling books in Europe.
Although people enjoyed reading the book, many of them thought that Marco’s stories about China were too fantastic to be true. But Marco always stood by his tales. Just before he died, aged 70, Marco was asked the question, “Was it all true?” And this was his answer, “I have only told a half what I saw!”
1. Marco Polo and his father travelled to China to2. Marco was amazed by how beautiful and
3. Marco Polo found Chinese people using
4. The Description of the World by
5. Many people in Europe thought Marco’s stories about China were
3 . We don’t know who first discovered a way to measure time. It was probably the Hindus, the Greeks, or the Egyptians. We do know, however, that more than 7, 000 years ago the Hindus looked at the sky and measured time by looking at the position of the stars and the sun.
The Egyptians used the water clock. This measured the time it took for a certain amount of water to pass from one place to another. The Egyptians were also the first people to make a calendar of 365 days. The earliest known water clock was found in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh(法老)Amenhotep I, who was buried around 1, 500 BC.
The hourglass(时漏) was probably invented in the 3rd century BC. No one knows for sure. This was similar in a way to the water clock. Time was measured by the amount of sand that moved from one container to another. We still use this kind of clock today in the form of an egg timer(煮鸡蛋的定时器). This measures time in three minute periods.
The first clock of any kinds to be used in China were brought there by European explorers. And it was in Europe that the first mechanical clock was invented. The word “clock” comes from the Latin “clocca” which means bell, and it was first used in the 14thcentury.
根据短文内容，填写适当的单词或短语，完成下列句子。每空不超过两个单词。
1. More than 7, 000 years ago, the Hindus measured time with the help of looking at
2. People found the earliest water clock in
3. No one knows when the hourglass was invented
4.
5. The first mechanical clock was invented in
There are many inventions that have caused great changes in the world. Here is a short introduction of the maglev train (磁悬浮). The history of the maglev train started in the beginning of the 1900s. The American Robert Goddard and the French Emile Bachelet came up with the idea of frictionless (无摩擦的) trains. But scientist didn’t succeed in making it at that time.
About 60 years later, the Japanese started their research on maglev transportation. After many years of experiments, the Japanese began to build their first test line. 7 km in 1975, and finished it in 1977. Many test runs started in July, 1977 with a speed of 517 km/h. In 1990, Japan built the Yamanashi Maglev test line. This test line was 42.8 km long and the first running test was held in 1997.
The Germans also started research on the maglev train in the early 1970s. It took them ten years to make the first track(ti)model. In 1993, the longest nonstop test running was 1,674 km. That same year the speed reached 450km/h.
China finished a 30-km-long maglev train line in Shanghai in 2003. This is the first commercial (商业的) maglev train line in the world. Although this project cost over 1 billion dollars, we should feel proud of it.
1. Robert Goddard and Emile Bachelet2. In 1975, the Japanese began to build
3. The Germans spent
4. The Maglev train line in Shanghai is
5.
5 . Last summer I went to one of the world’s most famous historical places, the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. It was the home of the emperors (皇帝) of the last two dynasties (朝代) in China, the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The Forbidden City was built in 1,420. The palace has over 10,000 rooms. It was where the emperors dealt with the official business with their ministers (大臣).
In Mandarin (普通话), the Forbidden City is called the Purple Forbidden City. However, the color of the palace itself is not purple. The color purple stands for power of the great emperors of China. It was so sacred (神圣的) that the common people could not even dream of ever going in.
The emperor also had some of the largest festival celebrations at the Forbidden City. During Chinese New Year, the emperor would invite all the members of his family and his officials to a banquet. The banquet had a hundred and eight Chinese dishes. It was such an expensive banquet that it could feed a common family for three generations (三代人).
Right now the Forbidden City is known as a historical site for tourists from all over the world. Everyone can go in there. It is a museum with priceless Chinese antiques (古董) and treasures in it.
I really learned a lot about the Chinese culture and its history from this trip to the Forbidden City. It was like a dream which has come true. And I was excited to go on the trip and see the things that I had always wanted to see.
1. How long is the history of the Forbidden City?| A．About 600 years. | B．More than 600 years. |
| C．1,420 years. | D．Over 10,000 years. |
| A．power | B．beauty | C．interest | D．health |
| A．performance | B．competition | C．exhibition | D．dinner party |
| A．The emperor lived there. |
| B．The wall of the Forbidden City was purple. |
| C．It is a historical place for visiting. |
| D．The emperor had festival celebrations there. |
| A．the beauty | B．the treasures |
| C．the changes in use | D．the building process |
The Silk Road is the name of different roads that long ago connected Europe, Africa and Asia. People r
Businessmen travelled along the Silk Road to c
Along and around these ancient roads, have come many wonderful and magical stories.
It is said that Roman soldiers who lost a war travelled through central Asia. They d
Some historians believe that the people of Kashmir (克什米尔) were taken away from their country Israel (以色列). They were prisoners (俘虏) of war 2,800 years ago. People say that these people travelled along the Silk Road. They kept their Jewish (犹太人的) way of life for a long time.
D
In modern times, the old Silk Road routes (路线) are still u
7 . Many people believe Henry Ford invented the car. But Henry Ford did not start to build his first car until 1896. That was eleven years after two Germans developed the world's first car. Many people believe Henry Ford invented the production line(生产线) that moved a car's parts(零部件) to the worker, instead of making the worker move to the parts. That is not true, either. Many factory owners used methods of this kind before Ford. What Henry Ford did was to use other people's ideas and make them better. And he made the whole factory a moving production line.
In the early days of the automobile, almost every car maker raced his cars. It was the best way of getting public notice. Henry Ford decided to build a racing car. Ford's most famous race was his first one. It was also the last race in which he drove the car himself.
The race was in 1901, at a field near Detroit. All of the most famous cars had entered, but only two were left: the Winton and Ford. The Winton was famous for its speed. Most people thought the race was over before it began.
The Winton took an early lead. But halfway through the race, it began to lose power. Ford started to gain. And near the end of the race, he took the lead. Ford won the race and defeated the Winton. His name appeared in newspapers and he became wellknown all over the United States. Within weeks of the race, Henry Ford formed a new automobile company. In 1903, a doctor in Detroit bought the first car from the company. That sale was the beginning of Henry Ford's dream. Ford said: “I will build a motor car for most of people. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for one person to operate and care for. It will be built of the best materials. It will be built by the best men. It will be so low in price that everybody can afford”
The Model T was a car of that kind. It only cost $850. It was a simple machine that drivers could depend on. Doctors bought the Model T. So did farmers. Americans loved the Model T. They wrote stories and songs about it. Thousands of Model T's were built in the first few years.
1. What do we know about Henry Ford from Paragraph 1 ?| A．He knew how to improve car’s parts. |
| B．He produced the first car in the world. |
| C．He improved others’ good ideas. |
| D．He invented the first production line. |
| A．To show off(炫耀) his driving skills. |
| B．To draw public attention. |
| C．To learn about new technology. |
| D．To raise money for his new company. |
| A．Producing cars for common people. |
| B．Building very fast racing cars . |
| C．Designing(设计) more car models. |
| D．Starting more companies. |
| A．Because he started a new company. |
| B．Because he built the first car. |
| C．Because his car won the race. |
| D．Because he drove his car so well. |
| A．The car was not invented until Model T. |
| B．The car was big enough for a whole family. |
| C．The car was very expensive. |
| D．Americans didn’t want cars. |
“Where is the university?” This is a question that many visitors to Cambridge ask. But no one can give them a
Cambridge was already a
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries more and more land was used for college buildings. The town grew much
| A．true | B．clear | C．right | D．real |
| A．around | B．in | C．near | D．by |
| A．cinemas | B．parks | C．zoos | D．libraries |
| A．parents | B．farmers | C．workers | D．teachers |
| A．interesting | B．usual | C．developing | D．common |
| A．said | B．called | C．spoken | D．talked |
| A．bridge | B．building | C．station | D．house |
| A．smaller | B．slower | C．faster | D．cleaner |
| A．city | B．college | C．university | D．country |
| A．stop | B．hate | C．hope | D．need |
