When were restaurants invented? Do you know about that? Actually, the first restaurants were invented thousands of years ago. However, they were very different from restaurants today.
The first restaurants were in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. These restaurants served food in large stone bowls. People didn’t order food from a menu. Everyone used to share the food from big bowls. People believe that these places were very popular because most homes in ancient Greece and Rome did not have kitchens. Also, people didn’t have to store food at home if they ate at these restaurants.
Later, restaurants began to open in China. In the early 1100s, more than one million people lived in the city of Hangzhou, China. It was a very busy city, and people had money. All of these people had to eat. Smart cooks started cooking and selling food along the Imperial Way, a very big street in the city. Unlike in ancient Greece and Rome, people in China could choose food from a menu. They didn’t have to eat the same food as everyone else.
For the next several centuries, there were restaurants all over the world. People could buy food on the street or at inns—small hotels. Then in the middle of the 1700s, restaurants started opening in Paris. These restaurants were more similar to restaurants we know today. There was a bigger variety of food, and eating in these restaurants was a more enjoyable experience. In the 19th century, trains made travel much faster and simpler. In the end, this kind of restaurants began to appear all over Europe and in other parts of the world.
Now, restaurants are everywhere. You can buy a variety of different kinds of food. You can have food sent to your door. But remember it wasn’t always like that.
1. How did the writer start the passage?The writer did it by asking a
2. Why were the first restaurants popular?
Because in ancient Greece and Rome
3. How were the restaurants in Hangzhou different from the first restaurants in ancient Greece and Rome?
Restaurants in Hangzhou
4. What does the underlined phrase “these restaurants” refer to in the fourth paragraph?
It refers to “the restaurants
5. What does the passage mainly talk about?
It mainly talks about the
Alpha Go, a computer program, has beaten Lee Se-dol, a world-famous Go player (围棋选手), 4-1 in a competition. Lee has won 18 world championships over the past 21 years. The win is seen as a landmark (里程碑式的) moment for artificial intelligence (人工智能). The Alpha Go system was developed by British Computer Company Deep Mind.
Lee expressed great confidence ahead of the competition. However, after losing the first game, he said, “I was very surprised because I did not think I would lose the game.” Lee said he felt “regrettable (令人遗憾的)” about the result of the game. At a press conference held after the final match, Lee said he did not think Alpha Go was necessarily superior to (优于) humans. But he admitted the matches had challenged some of his ideas about the Go game.
Go originated(起源于) more than 2,500 years ago in China. It is one of the oldest board games that is still played today. Go is considered one of the most complex games. It is played on a board made up of a grid (网格) of 19 by 19 squares. The game opens with players taking turns to place black and white pieces, known as “stones,” on the board. The aim, as its name shows, is to surround a larger total area of the board than your opponent (对手) by the end of the game.
The competition was held in Seoul. It attracted huge attention. The first match was broadcast online. It was watched by 60 million viewers in China alone, with an estimated global audience of 100 million. Alpha Go’s developer got US $1 million in prize money. The money was later donated to charities.
1. Lee Se-dol didn’t win over Alpha Go in the game, did he?2. Who developed the Alpha Go system?
3. How did Lee feel before the competition?
He had great
4. Where was the competition held?
It was held
5. When did the game of Go first appear?
The game first appeared
3 . Roman numerals were invented over 2,500 years ago. They came from ancient Roman. The Romans were active in trade and business. They had a system of writing, but they needed a way to record numbers so they developed their own system of numbers. That was Roman numerals.
Around 500 AD, a new number system was born in India. It was later known as Arabic numbers because it was largely used by Arabian businessmen and people. Roman popes (教皇) stopped the use of Arabic numbers when the new system came to Europe. They said that Roman numerals were invented by God and were perfect to use. However, compared with Arabic numbers, Roman numerals didn't have a symbol for zero and were too complicated ( 复杂) to use. From the 14th century on, Roman numerals began to be taken place by the more convenient Arabic numbers.
Today, people still use Roman numerals, though not so often. You may find these numbers on some clocks or the front pages of books. You may also see them after the names of kings, queens or popes ( e. g. Elizabeth II ). Sometimes they are used on gravestones (墓碑) as well.
1. How long have Roman numerals been used?They have been used for
2. Why did the Romans want to develop their own system of numbers?
Because they needed a way to
3. What did Roman popes say about Roman numerals?
They said God
4. What were the disadvantages of Roman numerals?
They had
5. When did Roman numerals begin to be replaced by Arabic numbers?
Roman numerals began to be replaced by Arabic numbers from
4 . Have you ever heard of the story of the first Teddy bear? Do you know how the first Teddy Bear was created? The story starts with America’s twenty-sixth president Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.
President Roosevelt traveled to Mississippi because the state was having an disagreement with its neighbor, Louisiana. President Roosevelt was a great hunter, so some people took him to go hunting while he was in Mississippi. Things were not going well. Almost everyone had successfully shot an animal, but President Roosevelt hunted nothing. Nobody wanted to see the president look sad, so someone caught a bear and tied it to a tree. Then they asked President Roosevelt to shoot. The president was very surprised to see that. He felt it was unfair to shoot the bear, because it couldn’t run away. He refused to shoot the helpless and tired bear. The story of his decision went all over the country. Everyone was moved by the president’s belief.
The next day, a cartoon artist drew a picture about the scene and it was put into the Washington Post Newspaper on November 16th, 1902. Everyone saw the cartoon, including a couple named Morris and Rose Michtom who lived in New York. The Michtoms owned a toy store and decided to make a stuffed ( 填 满 填 充 物 的 ) bear to remember the president’s actions in letting the helpless bear stay alive. They call it “Teddy bear”.
Other toy bears had been made in the past, but they all looked mean and threatening ( 威 胁 他 人 的 ). The Michtoms’ bear looked sweet and harmless. People fell in love with the Teddy Bear soon and they were willing to own it.
1. What happened to the bear after someone caught it?It
2. How did President Roosevelt save the bear?
He saved the bear by
3. Who drew a picture and put it into the Washington Post Newspaper?
4. Before the first Teddy Bear was made, what were the toy bears like?
They looked
5. What does the passage mainly want to tell us?
