1 . No one knows when the first kite was made. The first record of a kite was more than 2,000 years ago in China. Han Xin, the leader of an army, wanted to bring down a king. He decided to dig a tunnel (隧道）into the king’s palace. He flew a kite over the wall of the palace to make sure the length (长度）of its string (线).In this way, he coulddeterminehow long the tunnel should be.His men in the tunnel took the kite string with them. When they reached the end of the string, they knew to dig up.
Kites have been flown in Japan for hundreds of years. In the 1700s, kites were flown in autumn to give thanks for a good harvest. They were also flown to send good wishes to couples who had their first son. Today in Japan, kites are often flown as part of a celebration, such as the beginning of a new year. And kite festivals are held each year in many parts of the country.
Kites have been used for scientific purposes in the western world. In 1752，Benjamin Franklin tied a key to a kite and flew it in a storm to find out that lightening was a form of electricity. In the 1890s，Lawrence Hargrave invented the box kite to test ideas about flight. From 1898 until 1933，the United States Weather Bureau (气象局）used box kites to collect weather data. The Wright brothers also experimented (试验）with kites. What they learnt helped them make the first airplane flight in 1903.
1. Why did Han Xin want to dig a tunnel?
| A．To pull down the palace. | B．To fight against the king. |
| C．To search for the king’s treasure. | D．To find out the length of the kite string. |
| A．测定 | B．选择 | C．了解 | D．考察 |
| A．to give thanks for a good harvest in summer |
| B．to express good wishes to the first-born daughter |
| C．to celebrate the beginning of a new year |
| D．to hold kite festivals all over the country |
| A．In 1752. | B．In 1898. | C．In 1903. | D．In 1933. |
| A．The History of Kites | B．The Experiments of Kites |
| C．The Invention of a Kite | D．The First Record of a Kite |
2 . More than 2,000 years ago, China began selling products such as silk to Europe and Middle East. Different roads opened and together these roads are called the Silk Road. The Silk Road to Europe covered almost 6,500 kilometres. It was a long, difficult journey that could take about six months on foot.
People travelled along the Silk Road to carry silk, of course. They also carried and traded other things like spices（香料）and cloth.
During its busiest period, the Silk Road allowed people from different cultures and countries to meet. The Silk Road allowed trade in valuable things and the sharing of new ideas. People also shared stories, languages and cultures.
In modern times, the Old Silk Road is still used, but now it's crossed by trains instead of camels and horses. Today, companies such as Hewlett Packard use the New Silk Road to take laptops from China to Germany by train—in only 13 days!
There is a Silk Road Museum in Jiuquan, 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.
Questions 1-5: Answer the following questions according to the passage above. 根据上面的短文内容，回答下列问题。
1. When did Chinese people begin selling silk to Europe and Middle East?
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2. How long would it take to walk through the Old Silk Road?
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3. How did people travel the Silk Road in the past?
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4. What museum can people visit in Jiuquan, China?
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5. What do you think is the main difference between the Old Silk Road and the New Silk Road?
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It is nearly impossible to answer the question when or where baseball started. Several cultures created games which involve(涉及) hitting a ball with a bat and running. But there were several rules that made them quite different from each other. The game of baseball itself has improved over time and has several changes from its early version(版本).
When did baseball start in the US? As the legend goes, the game we know as baseball today was invented or at least built with an accepted set of rules by Alexander Joy Cartwright. As there is little proof(证据) that baseball was played in the United States before Alexander Joy Cartwright wrote up the rules of baseball, it has been formally accepted that Cartwright is, if not the biological, the the most suitable father of baseball.
The legend further goes that baseball, which has grown to become a hugely popular game in the United States today, was invented in a famous Manhattan based club called the Knickerbockers. So the name for the rules set by Alexander Joy Cartwright was then called “the Knickerbockers Rules”. The first New York baseball team was called the New York Knickerbockers. Having created the rules, Cartwright was naturally the judge (裁判) for the first ever baseball game played in the United States base on the rules.
Cartwright’s contribution(贡献) to baseball doesn’t just end in setting the rules for the game. He is also known for popularizing the game and its rules over the United States. Cartwright. Who traveled to California during California Golf Rush, spread the knowledge of baseball pretty much at every stop on his way from New York to California.
Till about the late 1860s, baseball was largely an amateur game until a Cincinnati club—the Cincinnati Red Stockings, which is known to almost all Americans—decided to recruit(招募) the best players for prize money. The first professional baseball league in the United States was the National Association of Professional Baseball Players, which was set up in 1871.
1. From Paragraph 1, we can learn that baseball___________.
| A．is a game with a long history | B．is popular all over the world |
| C．has experienced some changes | D．had strict rules as it appeared |
| A．He made baseball very popular in the world. | B．He made the rules for baseball. |
| C．He chose the judge for the first baseball game. | D．He was a famous baseball player. |
| A．常规的 | B．团体的 | C．激烈的 | D．业余的 |
| A．To introduce the history of baseball. | B．To encourage people to play baseball. |
| C．To introduce the inventor of baseball. | D．To show people how popular baseball is. |
| A．a news report | B．a sport poster | C．a history book | D．a sports magazine |
4 . Before 1800, many people spent one day a week at church. On that day, they rested and prayed. However, many workers played games and had fun on that day. And they felt too t
