Before   paper   was   invented,   people   wrote   or   drew   on   materials   such     as   bamboo,    1     [sɪlk], animal hide, and wooden blocks. Writing materials were    2    (real) expensive and few people learned to read. Therefore, few people wrote. This all changed, thanks    3    an man named Cai Lun.

Paper had already existed (存在) in China , but the process for    4    (produce) it was difficult and the paper was of low quality. Cai Lun began experimenting ( 试 验 ) with many different materials and different    5    (method) to turn those materials into paper. In the year 105, he made it from tree bark, bamboo, cloth rags, and fishing nets. His paper was    6    (strong) and cheaper than any paper that had been made before.

With Cai Lun’s papermaking method, Chinese culture    7    [ɡruː] more rapidly over the next several centuries. That’s because ideas were much easier to share    8    more people learned to read. The use of paper spread abroad, helping    9    ['ʌðə] cultures record and spread their ideas. Today, Cai Lun is considered a national hero in China. But    10    whole world should remember the clever Chinese papermaker forever.

Many hundreds of years ago, a native (土著的) American chief named Shenandoah lived with his people in what is now the state of Virginia. Very l    1     is known about Shenandoah, but the soft sound of his name was given to a river. The Shenandoah River still runs in a d    2     valley (山谷) between the mountains in West Virginia, just as it did when Chief Shenandoah lived. There is an old story which tells how the river got its name.

A long time ago, many c    3     before Europeans went to live in America, there was a great lake hidden in the mountains of Virginia. For hundreds of years, the native Americans lived near this lake, feeding on the f    4     they caught in its clean waters. They often climbed up the mountains and set up camp there d    5     their long hunts for food. In the evenings they sat near their camps and looked d    6     at the beautiful lake.

On a clear, starry night you could see thousands of stars s    7     and dancing on the water below. The native Americans loved this lake, and because they could see the stars in it they called the lake “Clear Daughter of the Stars.” In their l    8     the word for this was “Shenandoah.”

One day there was a loud crashing sound at one end of the lake. The lake began to disappear. Its water r    9     out of the vallev through a break (裂口) in the mountain side. The waters ran on and on until they j    10     another river, which today is known as the Potomac.

At last, the lake was gone. In its place was only a river. It is this way today. The lake is gone, but the beautiful Shenandoah River runs on.

The king and the rice

A long time ago, there was a king in     1    . The king’s favorite game was     2    . One day, a     3     old man came to the palace and the king     4     him to a game. The king     5     the old man, “You can have any     6     if you win the game.”

Great inventions

Thomas Edison     7     the first     8     light bulb in 1879. Before the invention of the light bulb, people had to use oil lamps or     9     to see at night. With light bulbs, people can do as many things as they can in the evenings as they can in the daytime. Can you     10     living without them?

Thousands of years ago, people had to hunt for food. They lived in caves and needed fire to keep w    1    . Some of them drew pictures on the walls of their caves.

Actually we don’t know why they drew the pictures. Maybe they drew the pictures to bring good l    2     to get more food when hunting. Or maybe the spears(长矛) in the pictures mean they were teaching other people to hunt.

For paint, they m    3     animal fat with some different things such as dirt or berries, a kind of fruit. Some of the drawings are colorful.

These people drew what they saw a    4     them mostly animals such as buffaloes, deer, horses, birds and fish. They drew people, too, but not very o    5    .

8 . People often remember what they were doing when they     1     (hear) the news of important events in history. In America,     2     example, many people remember what they were doing on April 4, 1968. This was     3     important event in American history. On this day, Dr. Martin Luther King was     4     (kill). Although some people may not remember who killed him, they remember what they were doing when they heard the news.

Robert Allen is now over 50, but he was a school pupil at that time. “I was at home with my parents,” Robert remembers. “We were eating dinner in the kitchen when we heard the news on the radio. The news reporter said, ‘Dr. King died just 10 minutes ago.’ My parents were     5     (compete) shocked! My parents did not talk after that, and we finished the rest of our dinner in silence.”

More recently, most Americans remember what they were doing when the World Trade Center in New York was taken down by     6     (terrorist). Even the date — September 11, 2001 — has     7     (mean) to most Americans.

This was a day Kate Smith will never forget. She remembers     8     (work) in her office near the two towers. “My friend shouted that a plane just hit the World Trade Center! I didn’t believe him at first, but then I looked out of the window and realized that it     9     (be) true. I was so     10     (scare) that I could hardly think clearly after that.”

9 . The human story began around 65 million years ago, when animals first appeared on Earth. Over thousands of years, their bodies became almost human. Their brains became     1     (big), and they learned how to use language, light fires and make tools. Modern human-people like us-developed     2     these creatures about 100,000 years ago.

Many scientists believe modern humans first appeared in Africa. By 20,000 B.C., they had travelled and settled all over the world. They travelled farthest during     3     Ice Ages, when most seas were frozen, leaving bridges of dry land,     4     people could walk across.

The first farmers on Earth lived in the Middle East. Around 9,000 B.C., people     5     (find) that grains of wheat and barley dropped on the ground grew and produced seeds,     6     they cleared land and planted more seeds. By around 6000 B.C., people in Southeast Asia had discovered how to grow rice. By 5000 B.C., in Central and South America, people were growing     7     (potato) and corn.

Early peoples had to make the big discoveries-how to build homes, farm the land, communicate and protect     8     (they). The world we live in has been built on the work of past generations, and it is still changing today. As each year     9     (pass), it becomes another chapter in our     10     (amaze) history.

10 . Archaeologists(考古学家) have long     1     interested in the origins(起源) of Chinese civilization for so long. On May 7, Chinese archaeologists announced important findings at the Shuanghuaishu site(双槐树遗址) in Gongyi, Henan Province. The site     2     the capital city of the ancient Heluo Kingdom. This provides key proof of the origins of Chinese civilization, Xinhua reported.     3     an area of 1.17 million square meters, the Shuanghuaishu site is located on the south bank of the Yellow River. It is one of China’s biggest archaeological discoveries of the 21st century.

    4     large number of relics(遗迹) dating back 5,000 to 7,000 years have been found at the site. Experts believe     5     the civilization lived near the Shuanghuaishu site is indeed the root of Yellow River culture. It can be called the “embryo(萌芽) of early Chinese civilization”.