1 . Chinese people call the Spring Festival“Nian”. But do you know that Nian was once the name of a monster(妖怪)?
Long time ago, the monster Nian lived in the mountains. It ate animals. But in winter, it could not find food. So it came to villages and ate a lot of people. People were so afraid of Nian that they locked their doors before evening came during the winter. One day, an old man came to a village. He told people there that Nian was afraid of three things——the color red, fire and noise. He told people to play drums and gongs, make big fires and set off fireworks(放鞭炮)to make Nian go away.
On a moonless, cold night, Nian went to the village again. As soon as it opened its big mouth, people made loud noises and made fires. Nian was really afraid and ran away. wherever it went, there was noise and fire. When Nian was tired and could not run anymore, people killed the monster.
After that, on the coldest day of winter, people beat drums and gongs, and set off fireworks to celebrate the death of the monster of Nian. They put up red lanterns and have a big dinner without sleeping during the night.
In the morning people greet each other happily. So now we have the Spring Festival.
1. What was Nian?
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2. Why did the monster eat people in winter?
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3. What was Nian afraid of?
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4. When did people kill the monster?
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5. Who have   the Spring Festival according to the story?
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2 . 阅读短文，根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填人一个最恰当的单词。
We dislike too hot days. Luckily, we have air conditioners and fridges. How did Chinese people stay cool in the hot season before they have air conditioners and fridges?
The most common way Chinese people in the past kept cool was to use fans. Many fans had poems or drawings on them.
 Beginning in the Sui dynasty(朝代), Chinese people started to use porcelain pillows(瓷枕). These pillows felt cool, so people could sleep well on them.
People in old times didn't have fridges to make ice.   Instead, they collected ice in winter and kept it underground, sometimes in wells(井). When summer came, they got the ice out and put it in their living rooms to cool them down.
Rich people and members of the king family had more expensive ways to keep cool. As early as the Han dynasty, some people used a tool(工具) like modern electrical fans. It was made of a wheel(轮子) and some fan blades(叶片). A person would pull a rope to make the wheel spin(转) and then the blades would spin around fast.
In the Tang dynasty, people found a way to make their whole house cool. They built their houses next to the water, used some machines to carry water to the top of the house, and made it flow down from the eaves(屋檐). This man-made waterfall brought cool air into the house.

How people kept cool in the past
Different     1     in different times	Fans: It was very common for people to use fans with     2     or drawings on them.
	Porcelain pillows: In the Sui dynasty,     3    people began to sleep on porcelain pillows    4     these pillows were cool.
	Ice: In winter, ice was collected and stored, and then in     5     , people got the ice out and put it in houses to make the temperature     6
	7     fans: In the Han dynasty, a tool like modern electrical fans was used by only a small number of people, for it was    8
	Water: In the     9     dynasty, people kept their houses cool by making     10       waterfalls.

3 . New York City isn’t the biggest city in the world, but it is the biggest city in the USA. Most American live in much smaller cities and towns, but almost 8 million people live in New York. Why did so many people come to live in one place?

A look at the city shows us that New York City has a very good port (港口). The Dutch (荷兰) settlers (new comers.) wanted to use it for business. In 1926, the Dutch paid (付钱) the Indians twenty-four dollars for the island of Manhattan. Its Dutch name was New Amsterdam. Then the British took the land in 1664 and changed its name to New York.

The United States became an independent (独立的) country in 1776, and New York was its capital for a short time. The city became so crowded that some people moved out to other areas (places). But more people from everywhere went on coming into the city every day.

1. Which of them is the biggest city in the United States?

A．New York.	B．Washington.
C．New Amsterdam.	D．Chicago.

2. More and more people from different countries in the world come into New York because ______.

A．New York has the largest population in the United States

B．New York is as beautiful as a picture

C．New York is a developing city

D．they think it is a good place for business

3. The underlined word “took” means “ ______ ” in Chinese.

A．花费	B．耕耘
C．占领	D．测量

4. The United States became an independent country in ______.

A．the sixteenth century	B．the seventeenth century
C．the eighteenth century	D．the nineteenth century

5. From the passage, we can know ______.

A．much about Dutch

B．how the Dutch took New Amsterdam

C．some of the history of New York

D．how the people from different countries come to the USA

4 . How do you keep cool during summer? Air conditioners(空调) or electric fans are good tools in modern society. But before that, people could only use fans.
Over 3，000years ago, first fans began to be used. They were made of feathers(羽毛)，bamboo or silk. They came in different shapes, including rounds and squares.
Later, with the invention of paper, folding(可折叠的) paper fans became popular during the Song Dynasty. There are usually beautiful pictures on fans. Some are landscapes(风景).Others are flowers and animals. Moreover, many great people including SuDongpo, a poet of the Song Dynasty, and Tang Yin, a scholar(学者)and painter of the Ming Dynasty, once painted their masterpieces(杰作)on fans. This made fans not only useful tools in daily life but also great art works.
Therefore, with their value of beauty, people take fans as a symbol of status(地位).That's why in ancient China, emperors(皇帝)and scholars often held fans.
Today, fans are also great collectors' items and gifts. On the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, folding fans were given to leaders and officials of other countries, as well as other audiences. While they were waving fans to get cool, they were also experiencing Chinese culture.
1. The first fan was made of the following EXCEPT_________ before the SongDynasty.

A．feathers

B．paper

C．bamboo

2. What made fans become great artworks?

A．The invention of paper.

B．Emperors and scholars used fans.

C．Many great people painted their masterpieces on fans.

D．Fans can be folded.

3. What is Tang Yin?

A．A poet of the Song Dynasty.

B．An emperor in the Ming Dynasty.

C．A painter in the Qing Dynasty.

D．A scholar and painter in the MingDynasty.

4. Who can get folding fans on the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games?

A．Athletes.	B．Leaders and officials of other countries.
C．Other audiences.	D．Both B and C.

5. Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Today, many people collect fans and send them as presents.

B．In ancient China, emperors and scholars often held fans to get cool

5 . When we think of money, we think of coins and paper bills. That is what money is today. But in the past people used many things instead of money. Some countries used cows. Other countries used salt, tobacco or stones. Today there are still some places in the world that do not use paper money. One place is the island of Yap in the Pacific Ocean.

On the island of Yap, people use the heaviest money in the world—Yap stones. These are round, white stones with a hole in the middle. They do not originate(起源)from the island. The Yap men have to go to the islands four hundred miles away to get them. Big stones can be twelve feet high as big as two tall men. Small stones are as big as a dinner plate.

Rich people do not carry the Yap stones. Servants follow the rich. Each servant carries a stone or a long stick over his shoulder. Today the people on the island use paper money for everyday shopping. But for other things they still prefer Yap stones.

1. What is money today?
____________________________________________________________________
2. What did people use instead of money in the world in the past?
____________________________________________________________________
3. Where do people on the island of Yap get Yap stones?
____________________________________________________________________
4. What do Yap stones look like?
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5. What do the Yap men buy with Yap stones today?
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6 . 从方框中选择恰当的单词并用其适当形式填空。

product，valuable，connect，who，so，officer，trade，thousand，worth，secret

In ancient times，the Silk Road was very important. It    1    Europe with Asia. The Silk Road got its name because businessmen    2     silk along it. Besides silk，there were many other     3     that traveled along the Silk Road.

The Chinese learned to make silk     4     of years ago. For a long time the Chinese were the only ones who knew how to make silk. They kept this     5     carefully. In ancient China，silk was very     6     material. Only the emperor(皇帝)，his family and his     7     were allowed to wear clothes made of silk.

The ancient Romans were the first Europeans     8     knew this wonderful material. Indians exchanged silk for wools，gold，and silver with them.

There were deserts and high mountains in the way，    9     the trip along the Silk Road could be very dangerous. For businessmen，it was never easy to travel from China to Rome. But it was     10     it. As the years went by，some cities were built along the Silk Road.

7 . Tea has a long history with more than two thousand years. Its hometown is certainly China.

At first tea was considered as a kind of good thing that could make people awake so that they could study comfortably. Many knowledgeable people thought it was helpful for their study, because their minds could keep awake after drinking too much tea. During Tang Dynasty, tea was sent to European countries first through the Silk Road. It was tea that made Chinese culture spread over in western countries. The first book about tea was The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu in Tang Dynasty. In the book, he described all the tea cultures.

However, the tea culture changed into a kind of new form. Many people could find something bad in it in Song Dynasty. Many people spent much time on it instead of thinking about the safety of their country. Between the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, plenty of people paid more attention to tea. People thought of it as the symbol of the spirit.

Nowadays, tea has become the most gentle and comfortable drink in France. It also becomes a helpful drink that is good for people's skin and health in England. Lots of Chinese look on tea as one of the most popular presents that they give others on important festivals.

1. What did many knowledgeable people think of tea when it was invented at first?

A．Useless.

B．Difficult.

C．Meaningless.

D．Helpful.

2. When was tea spread to European countries for the first time?

A．In Tang Dynasty.	B．In Yuan Dynasty.
C．In Song Dynasty.	D．In Qing Dynasty.

3. Between the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, tea was regarded as ________．

A．a kind of drink	B．the symbol of the spirit
C．a kind of culture	D．a kind of gift

4. What's the meaning of the underlined word “gentle”？

A．速溶的

B．凉爽的

C．刺激的

D．温和的

5. Which of the following about tea is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Lu Yu was born in Song Dynasty.

B．Tea was invented in England.

C．Englishmen think tea is a kind of healthy drink.

D．Frenchmen like to give tea to others as presents.

8 . 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 of the last two dynasties in China，the Ming and Qing Dynasties．

The Forbidden City was built in 1420．The palace has over 10，000 rooms．It was where the emperors dealt with the official business with their ministers．

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 commoners could not even dream of ever going in．

The emperors 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 commoner's family for three generations（代）．

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 come true to go on the trip and see the things that I have always wanted to see．

1. How long is the history of the Forbidden City？

A．More than600 years．	B．1420 years．
C．About 600 years．	D．Over 10，000 years

2. We call the palace the Purple Forbidden City because the color purple is the symbol for_______ of the emperor．

A．fame

B．health

C．wealth

D．power

3. What's the Chinese meaning of the underlined word "banquet" in Paragraph 4？

A．表演

B．比赛

C．宴会

D．展览

4. Which of the following is NOT true about the Forbidden City in the passage？

A．The Emperor lived there

B．It is a historical place for visiting

C．The wall of the City was purple

D．The emperor had festival celebrations there

5. In the passage the writer wants to show us _______of the Forbidden City by comparing its past with present．

A．the beauty	B．the changes in use
C．the treasures	D．the building process．

9 . 根据语篇内容，用方框中所给词的正确形式填空，使短文通顺、连贯。方框中有两个词为多余项。
dream   play   name   believe   rise   divide   become   look   notice   enjoy   popularity   although
If you travel around China, you     1     a popular activity everywhere you go—basketball.This active sport     2     by many people for fun and exercise.
It    3     by more than 100 million people in over 200 countries. Basketball was invented by a Canadian doctor    4    James Naismith. He created a game to be played on a hard floor. Naismith    5     the men into two teams and taught them how to play the game. It     6     that on December 21st，1891, the first basketball game in history was played. In 1936 in Berlin, basketball     7     an event at the Olympics. Since then the popularity of basketball    8     worldwide and the number of foreign players, including Chinese players, in the NBA, has increased. Many young people    9       up to these basketball heroes and    10    of becoming famous professional basketball players.

10 . The best known vegetable in the world is the potato. It grows in many places and does not need rich soil like many other crops. But until four hundred years ago the potato was not known to the Europeans. But today it’s one of the main foods in Europe. About half of the world’s potatoes are grown in Europe.
In France the potato was not grown for a long time. Here is a story about Louis. In 1778 he saw some potato flowers for the first time. He liked them so much that he picked one and put it in his buttonhole. He was interested in the flowers not the potatoes themesleves.
根据短文内容判断对错。
1. Potatoes are grown and eaten in Europe.
2. The potatoes are grown only in the rich soil.
3. Louis was the first man to eat the potato.
4. At first the Europeans grew potatoes to eat.
5. Louis liked the potato flowers better than the potatoes.