1 . 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 to _______________.
2. Marco was amazed by how beautiful and _______________ China was.
3. Marco Polo found Chinese people using _______________ in the markets.
4. The Description of the World by _______________ was one of the best-selling books in Europe.
5. Many people in Europe thought Marco’s stories about China were _______________.

2 . How do we know the time? A clock, a watch or a mobile phone can help us. However, many years ago there were no clocks and knowing the time was not so easy. Over the centuries people have developed different ways of telling the time.

About 5,500 years ago, the Egyptians invented the sun clock. This was a tall stone building. Its shadow (影子) showed the movement of the sun. So people were able to know midday. The Egyptians made a sundial about 3,500 years ago. It was smaller than the sun clock and could measure the time for half a day. On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial. Water clocks were the first clocks not to use the sun. The idea is simple. Water flows from one container to another, When the water reaches a certain level, it moves a lever (控制杆) and this shows the hours. The Egyptians used water clocks about 3,400 years ago. These clocks were popular in the Middle East and China. But they failed to make people know the exact time.

In the 13th century, the mechanical clock was invented. This was more exact, but it was expensive to make one. Over the next few centuries, it was developed. For example, springs (发条) were added around 1,500. This enabled people to get the correct time and allowed clocks to be smaller. In 1936 the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It’s easy for ordinary people to own a clock, People began depending on then more and more to ran business, markets and so on. More recently, in 1956, came the digital clock. And nowadays satellites send our mobile phones the time to the exact second.

There has been a lot of progress in timekeeping. Clocks are always changing but some things never change. Many of us still have trouble getting out of bed on time and not missing appointments.

1. Which of the following statement is true?

A．The Egyptians spent 100 years, more or less, inventing water clocks.

B．With a sun clock people were able to know midday and midnight clearly.

C．3500 years ago, people used water clocks instead of sundials on rainy days.

D．A sundial was not as big as a sun clock, but it could measure a longer time.

2. How many kinds of clocks are mentioned in the passage?

A．Four.

B．Five.

C．Six.

D．Seven.

3. Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?(①=para 1 ②=para 2,....)

A．

B．

C．

D．

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The importance of time.

B．The history of digital clocks.

C．The inventions of clocks.

D．The development of timekeeping.

4 . The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. It is one of the most important Chinese festivals. On that special day, people in China always have a dragon boat match. The dragon boat is quite long and there are pictures of dragons on each side. During the match, about twenty men in the boat make it move quickly. There is always a man standing in the middle of the boat to beat a drum. The audiences (观众) along the river shout for their favorite team. From this match, we have the name of the festival-the Dragon Boat Festival.

And this special day has another name-Duanwu Festival. About it we have a story. Long long ago, there was a famous poet called Qu Yuan. He was famous not only for his poems, but also for thinking a lot for the people. After he died, people eat rice dumplings in memory of him.

1. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on _________.

A．lunar May 5th

B．May 5th

C．lunar May 15th

D．May 15th

2. There are about ____ people in the dragon boat during the match.

A．ten

B．twenty

C．thirty

D．forty

3. In the match, there is always a man standing in the middle to ________.

A．shout for them

B．take photos

C．carry a dragon for them

D．beat a drum

4. It’s also called Duanwu Festival in memory of a poet called ________.

A．Qu Yuan

B．Li Bai

C．Du Fu

D．Bai Juyi

5. According to the passage, people often eat ________ at Duanwu Festival.

A．pumpkins

B．moon cakes

C．rice dumplings

D．candies

5 .         

How do we know the time? A clock, a watch or a mobile phone can help us. However, many years ago there were no clocks and knowing the time was not so easy.

        About 5, 500 years ago, the Egyptians invented the sun clock. This was a tall stone building. Its shadow (影子) showed the movement of the sun. So people were able to know midday. The Egyptians made a sundial about 3,500 years ago. It was smaller than the sun clock and could let people know the time for half a day. On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial. Water clocks were the first clocks not to use the sun. The idea is simple. Water flows (流动) from one bottle to another. When the water reaches a certain level, it shows the hours. The Egyptians used water clocks about 3,400 years ago. These clocks were popular in the Middle East and China. But they failed to make people know the exact time.
        In the 13th century, the mechanical clock was invented. This was more exact, but it was expensive to make one. Over the next few centuries it was developed. For example, springs(发条) were added. This enabled people to get the correct time and allowed clocks to be smaller. In 1927, the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It's also cheaper for ordinary people to own a clock. People began depending on them more and more to run businesses, markets and so on. More recently, in 1956, came the digital clock. And
nowadays satellites send our mobile phones the time to the exact second.

There has been a lot of progress in timekeeping. Clocks are always changing but some things never change.

1. What does the word "ordinary" in Paragraph 3 mean in Chinese?

A．现代的

B．特殊的

C．普通的

2. How many kinds of clocks are mentioned in the text?

A．Four.

B．Five.

C．Six.

3. What is the correct structure(结构) of the passage? ( P1= Paragraph 1)

A．

B．

C．

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The importance of time.

B．The inventions of clocks.

C．The development of timekeeping.

6 . 以史为镜可以明得失。历史是一面镜子，学习历史，可以提高我们对世界的认识，提升我们的思维品质。

某英文网站正在开展以“学历史”为主题的征文活动。假如你是李华，请用英语写一篇短文投稿，谈谈你在历史学习方面做了些什么，有什么收获。

提示词语：connect, mind maps, remember, improve
提示问题: What did you do to learn history?
What benefits have you got from doing so?

Just as an old saying goes, history is a bright mirror.

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8 . Silk was discovered by the Chinese more than 3,000 years ago. It was said that the wife of the Yellow Emperor accidentally dropped a silkworm cocoon(蚕茧) into her tea. The hot water caused the cocoon to break.     1     From then on, the silk industry began. At first, only the rich were allowed to wear silk clothes.

As early as 300 AD, Chinese businessmen sold silk to the Indians. By 200 BC, the Koreans had learned how to make silk. A 12,000-kilometer road going from China to Europe was built because of silk.     2    

Here's a simple version of how this amazing little thing does its work. The silkworm begins life as a moth(蛾子). The moth's life is about ten days, during which it lays eggs that change into silkworms.     3     In their short lives, 20,000 silkworms will eat more than one ton of mulberry(桑树) leaves, their main food.

    4     The finished cocoon contains 350 meters of silk. That might seem like a lot, but consider this: 5,500 silkworms have to spin 5,500 cocoons to make one kilogram of silk. People raise silkworms for silk production. The Chinese have perfected the art of making silk, gaining knowledge over many centuries.

Today, silk production remains an important economic risk in China.     5     Silk no longer costs an arm and a leg, but it is still highly prized.

A．Silkworms eat a lot.

B．As it broke apart, she realized its beauty.

C．Actually, it is a painful process for the worm.

D．In its final stage of life, the silkworm spins a cocoon.

E．From there, knowledge of silk production spread across the world.

F．While versions have recently entered the market, the beauty of naturally produced silk is not matched.

9 . 寒假即将来临，请以“My Wonderful Holiday Plan”为题写一篇寒假生活计划。请根据以下内容提示用英语完成计划。

内容要点如下：

1.完成作业，帮忙做家务；

2.坚持锻炼，大量阅读；

3.参观博物馆，了解武汉历史；

4.参加社区活动，帮助老人；

5.补充一两点个人想法｡

注意：

1.文中不得透露个人姓名和学校名称；

2.词数：60-80；

3.内容连贯，不要逐条翻译；

4.标题和开头已给出，不计入总词数｡

参考词汇：museum n.博物馆   community n.社区   the old老人

My Wonderful Holiday Plan

The winter holiday is coming. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 .
1. What’s the purpose of this book?

A．To be used as a history textbook.

B．To tell about the Yongle Emperor.

C．To teach English to Chinese students.

D．To help foreigners learn about China.

2. Where can you find the page on the right?

A．Between Pages 1～2.	B．Between Pages 3～7.
C．Between Pages 8～14.	D．Between Pages 15～18.

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The Ming Dynasty had 3 emperors in all.

B．Yongle became emperor at the age of 22.

C．Nanjing was the capital of Ming Dynasty before Yongle.

D．Yongle built the Forbidden City for tourists to visit.