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?
2 . People in different countries speak different languages. But is there a lanuage that can be understood by everyone in the world ? Emojis might be the first truly universal(通用的)language.
Emojis are a kind of special language. Pictures are used to put meaning across. A group called the Unicode Consortium is in charge of choosing official(官方的) emojis. It has added new emojis every year since 2014. These new emojis do not come out of nowhere. They come from what people think about, like and care about.
Emojis can be used to represent (代表) different groups of people. In 2015, emoji faces with different skin tones (肤色） were added. In 2016, different jobs were added, such as doctor, police officer and painter along with female versions of these jobs. This year, emojis of disabled people were added, including emojis of blind people and people in wheel chairs.
But there is also more to emojis. They can also refer to pop culture and new cultural trends. New emojis in 2019 have included several animals, such as sloths（树懒） and flamingos (火烈鸟).These animals are not very common, but are known to many people. For example, sloths have become popular thanks to the 2016 film Zootopia (《疯狂动物城 》 ). Many fashion designers have included flamingos in their designs in recent years. This animal makes people feel like they're on a tropical (热带） vacation.
It seems that emojis are a mirror of the world we live in. It will be interesting to see how they change and grow in the years to come.
1. Emojis are a special language using the2. Where do new emojis come from?（回答不超过9个词）
3. When did emojis begin to show different jobs?（回答不超过2个词）
4. What kind of animals have been included in 2019?（回答不超过6个词）
5. 将画线句子翻译成汉语。
Merchants travelled along the Silk Road to carry silk, of course. They also carried and traded other things like spices (香料), cloth, jewels and gold.
Along and around these ancient path(小路), have come many fascinating and mysterious stories.
It is said that Roman soldiers who lost a war travelled through central Asia. They decided to live somewhere near the ancient Chinese villages. Some of these Romans married local Chinese women and the legend of the blond-haired, blue-eyed tribes of China was started.
Some historians believe that the people of Kashmir were taken away from their country Israel. They were prisoners (俘虏) of war almost 2800 years ago. People say that these people travelled along the Silk Road. They kept their Jewish way of life for a long time.
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 the sharing of valuable things and new ideas. It included people and trading goods from different areas. All these peoples travelled 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 and horses. There is even 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.
1. It is clear that ___________.
| A．the Silk Road was divided into Europe, Africa and Asia |
| B．Roman soldiers would like to travel along the Silk Road |
| C．people could travel to different countries along the Silk Road |
| D．people shared only silk on the Silk Road |
| A．foreigners | B．businessmen | C．soldiers | D．prisoners |
| A．the Silk Road began with the wars |
| B．the Silk Road covered almost 6500 kilometers in China |
| C．people began to travel the Silk Road about 3000 years ago |
| D．people from Israel were not included among people on the Silk Road |
| A．there are many old stories about them |
| B．the historians and scientists think highly of them |
| C．China will make good use of the Silk Road again |
| D．people can keep on traveling and trading along them |
| A．Stories along the Silk Road | B．Silk Route Museum |
| C．Trade for Silk | D．The West and the Far East |
| Inventions | |
Phone | The first telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. It made communications easier. But the telephones were only fixed in post offices. People had to go there to make calls to faraway people and the fees were very high. Later, a cellphone was developed in 1973 in America. It was one of the most useful inventions. People can use cellphones to communicate with others much more easily. They can take them anywhere to make private calls, even vision calls (可视电话). Cellphones have many other functions, such as sending messages, taking photos and reading online. |
TV | The first TV set was invented by an English scientist, John Baird, in 1926. The invention helped people watch films at home instead of going to the cinema as before. At first, TV sets only broadcast black - white pictures. Several years later, colored TV sets made the pictures lively. However, they were heavy and thick, so it was difficult to move them. Then, digital TV sets came into being. They are light and thin. Many TV programs are available (可获得的) at any time. At present, people can use the IPTV( 网络电视) to record and replay programs. |
Computer | The first modern computer was invented in America in 1946. It was as big as a room. It improved the speed and exactitude of calculation (计算). In the 1950s, desktop computers were invented in the same country. They became smaller and could be put on the desk. Since then, they have become very important in many fields of work and leisure. Before the 1970s, the computers were single. It was the Internet that joined the computers into a big family, so they could share information with one another. Around 1985, laptops were developedin Japan. They were much smaller and could be put on people's laps. They were light and easy to take. |
1. The first cellphone was invented.
| A．in 1876 | B．in 1926 | C．in 1946 | D．in 1973 |
| A．in the cinema | B．on the computer |
| C．on the cellphone | D．on TV |
| A．China | B．the USA | C．the UK | D．Japan |
| A．calculating |
| B．joining the computers into a big family |
| C．playing games |
| D．sharing information with one another |
| A．Cellphones can't be used for making vision calls. |
| B．Digital TV sets are light and thick. |
| C．The first modern computer was as big as a desktop computer. |
| D．The Internet connects computers together. |
