Chinatown is the name of an area (地区) in the middle of London. It is a large Chinese Community (社区) with a lot of Chinese restaurants, Chinese surpermarkets and shops.
In the 1950s, it was a poor area and everything was very cheap. At the same time, the world rice Market became bad and thousands of farm workers in Hong Kong lost their jobs. They began going to London to look for work. They found jobs in the restaurants in this area.
These restaurant workers often worked 17 hours a day and had no time to learn English. As more Chinese arrived, more shops and businesses grew up. Women came to join their husbands and children came to join their fathers. The community grew, and Chinatown was born.
In the 1970s and 1980s, British-born Chinese started to have a better education and this brought economic (经济) success to the area. Many families moved out of Chinatown soon became a popular place for tourists.
Now everyone knows about London’s Chinatown. During the Chinese New Year, the streets are seen with flags and thousands of Chinese go into the streets. For most time of the year, though, Londoners and tourists go there mainly for the food in the Chinese restaurants. The best restaurants are the ones where the Chinese eat.
1. Was Chinatown rich or poor in the 1950s?2. Who came to London to look for jobs in the 1950s?
3. Why didn’t the restaurant workers have time to learn English?
4. When did British-born Chinese start to have a better education?
5. What is the main idea of this passage?
2 . Paris was a young prince from the city of Troy. One day, he decided to visit the Greek city of Sparta, so he got on a ship and sailed there with his men.
Queen Helen and the King of Sparta welcomed Paris. Later at a dinner, Queen Helen and Paris fell in love with each other.
The King of Sparta had to go away from Sparta for a few days. After he left, Paris took Helen to his ship. His men also stole a lot of gold from Sparta.
They sailed back to Troy. Everyone in Troy loved Helen because she was so beautiful. But the King of Sparta was very angry, so he asked many of the other Greek kings to help him fight Troy. Many Greek ships carried the large Greek army to Troy.
They wanted to get Helen back and punish（惩罚）the Trojans. And so the Trojan War began.
1. Which city did Paris decide to visit?2. What happened later at the dinner?
3. How did Sparta and Helen come back to Troy?
4. Why was Helen loved by everyone?
5. What would the Greeks do to Helen and the Trojans?
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?
4 . Two Thanksgivings
“Why are we visiting Uncle Ed now? Thanksgiving is next month,” Curtis said. “In the United States, Thanksgiving is in November,” his dad replied. “In Canada, it’s in October.” “Why?” Curtis asked. “Ask Uncle Ed. He used to teach history. You could learn a lot from him,” his dad said.
When Curtis met Uncle Ed, he asked, “Why is Canada’s Thanksgiving so early?” “Thanksgiving is when we give thanks for the harvest (收获),” Uncle Ed said. “Canada gets colder before the United States, so its harvest and Thanksgiving come earlier.”
The next day, Curtis’s dad helped Uncle Ed cook Thanksgiving dinner. “What are we having?” Curtis asked. “You’ll find out soon,” his dad said. “Why don’t you watch TV?” “We watch football on Thanksgiving, too,” Uncle Ed said. “I’m sure there’s a game on.” On his way out of the kitchen, Curtis saw a cornucopia. It looked like one Mom used for their Thanksgiving. Football...cornucopia... was Canada copying the United States?
At dinner, Curtis sat down to turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. He said suddenly, “Your Thanksgiving is just like ours!” Uncle Ed laughed and said, “We do celebrate in similar ways. In the 1700s, many Americans moved to Canada. They brought their Thanksgiving traditions with them.” “We probably gave you our holiday, too,” Curtis said. “Actually, we celebrated Thanksgiving before you,” Uncle Ed replied. “However, Thanksgiving is much older than both Canada and the United States.’ “Really?” Curtis said, surprised.
“The First Nations people were giving thanks for the harvest long before settlers (殖民者) arrived. Also, Spanish settlers in the southern part of North America celebrated Thanksgiving even before Canada.”
“So when did Thanksgiving start in Canada?” Curtis asked. “An explorer named Martin Frobisher celebrated the first Canadian Thanksgiving in 1578. He gave thanks because he had stayed alive the long trip across the ocean from England to Canada.” Uncle Ed said.
“But now Canada gives thanks for the harvest?” Curtis asked. “Yes. In 1957, Canada made its Thanksgiving official (官方的). Since then, we have always given thanks on the second Monday in October,” Uncle Ed said.
After dinner, Curtis and his dad thanked Uncle Ed. “Come to our house for Thanksgiving next month,” Curtis said. “I’ll teach you about our holiday.” “Sure,” Uncle Ed said. “By then, I’ll ask for more pumpkin pie!”
1. Is Thanksgiving in October in Canada?2. Why does Canada’s Thanksgiving come earlier than the United States’ ?
3. What did they have for Thanksgiving dinner?
4. When did Thanksgiving start in Canada?
5. What is the passage mainly about?
People often remember what they were doing when they heard the news of important events in history. In America, for example, many people remember what they were doing on April 4, 1968. This was an important event in American history. On this day, Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. 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 completely 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 terrorists. Even the date—September 11, 2001—has meaning to most Americans.
This was a day Kate Smith will never forget. She remembers working 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 was true. I was so scared that I could hardly think clearly after that.”
1. The event that happened on April 4, 19682. The way that Robert’s family knew the death of Dr. King
3. The way that they finished eating their dinner
4. The reason why Americans specially remember the date—September 11, 2001
5. The place where Kate Smith was working on September 11, 2001
Today, we consider zero as a common number. Few of us know zero has an unusual history. Yes, zero is, in fact, very different from the other numbers. At first, there were only the numbers one to nine. Zero first appeared in India about 2, 000 years ago. Many other ancient cultures had been marking nothingness. However, the ancient Indians were the first to consider nothingness a number.
Little by little, communication around the world became more often. Finally, zero was brought out of India. It was accepted as an Arabic (阿拉伯的) number. During the 13th century, Arabic numbers were introduced into the West. However, people in the west had been used to using Roman numbers (I, V, X, etc.). Arabic numbers were not popular. This was especially true for zero. Since there is no zero in Roman numbers, people found it hard to accept the new number. It was quite easy for dishonest business people to turn a “0” into a “6”or a “9”. Some people, therefore, believed zero would cause much trouble. Zero was also considered an unlucky number. That’s because it is close to negative numbers — the idea of having debts (债务). People in Florence and Italy even weren’t allowed to use zero citywide.
It was not until the 15th century that zero and the other Arabic numbers were fully accepted. Business people played an important role. Just think about doing calculations (计算) using Roman numbers. You can hardly do any trade, can you?
回答下列五个问题，每题答案不超过5个词。
1. How many numbers were there before zero was invented?
2. Who was the earliest people to use the number “zero”?
3. When did Arabic numbers appear in the West?
4. What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 3 refer to (指)?
5. What does the article mainly talk about?
Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world (after water), was invented by accident? Many people believe that tea was first drunk about 5,000 years ago. It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was the first to discover tea as a drink. One day Shen None was boiling drinking water over an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and remained there for some time. It produced a nice smell so he tasted the brown water. It was quite delicious, and so, one of the world’s favorite drinks was invented.
A few thousand years later, Lu Yu, “the saint of tea”, mentioned Shen Nong in his book Cha Jing . The book describes how tea plants were grown and used to make tea. It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.
It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th centuries. In England, tea didn’t appear until around 1660, but in less than 100 years, it had become the national drink. The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. This helped to spread the popularity of tea and the tea plant to more places around the world. Even though many people now know about tea culture. The Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.
1. The way that tea was invented (in two words):2. The person who invented tea:
3. List three countries that tea was spread to in the passage:
①
4. What the book Cha Jing talks about:
①
5. The role of the tea trade played:
The Silk Road is known all over the world. The Silk Road went from China to Eastern Europe. It went along the north of China, India, and Persia and ended up in Eastern Europe near today’s Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea.
It was called the Silk Road because one of the major products traded was silk cloth from China. Chinese silk was soft and of high quality. So people throughout Asia and Europe loved it very much. The Chinese sold silk for thousands of years. Even the Romans called China the “land of silk”.
Besides silk, the Chinese also sold tea, salt, sugar, porcelain (陶瓷) and spices. Most of the goods were expensive. This was because it was a long trip and traders didn’t have a lot of room for goods. They bought goods like cotton, ivory, wool, gold and silver.
Traders traveled in large caravans (商队). They would have many guards with them. Traveling in a big group like a caravan helped protect themselves. Most of the road was through dry land, so camels were popular animals for transport.
Although there was some trade between China and the rest of the world for some time, the silk trade developed quickly during the Han Dynasty which ruled from 202 B.C. to 220 A.D. Later, under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, trade in China along the Silk Road was fully developed.
The Silk Road was important. It not only helped develop trade between different countries, but also helped make ideas, cultures and inventions spread across the world.
Some information about the Silk Road | |
| Where | The Silk Road went from china to Eastern Europe. |
| Why | It was called the Silk Road |
| What | |
| How | Traders help to protect themselves |
| When | The silk trade developed quickly during the Han dynasty and was |
| How Important! | It not only helped develop trade between different countries, but also helped make ideas, cultures and inventions |
9 . Just like many other parts in Australia, the Lake Tyers region（泰尔斯湖地区）has long suffered from wildfires. (A)______ this region is different from others because of its fire brigade（消防队）— the firefighters are all women. ①
Charmaine is the leader of the team. About twenty years ago, a house in Lake Tyers caught fire. It was burned down because there was no fire brigade nearby. ② They started knocking on their neighbor’s doors to look for teammates. (B) 五名妇女加入了她们。 Together they asked the government to give them firefighter training.
③ Since their fire brigade was set up, this well-trained group has put up many fires. Their job is not only to protect people and houses, but also to save their own history. (C) They have helped to find hundreds of ancient artifacts（文物）on their land.
“When we first set up the team, some people called us the Banana Women,” Charmaine said, “Because we wore bright yellow uniforms.” They liked the name (D) ______ much that they kept calling themselves this name. They are the bravest “Banana Women” in Australia!
1. 在文中(A)和(D)的空白处填入适当的单词：(A)2. 将文中划线部分(B)译成英语：(B)
3. 将文中划线部分(C)改写为：
4. 在文中①②③选出能够填入 “Charmaine and her two friends decided to protect their own land by themselves.” 的位置：
5. 从文中找出能说明本文主旨大意的短语：
Many of us read news every day is probably because we’d like to know what’s happening in the world. Today we can get news from TV or the Internet, but how did ancient people get news?
At the very beginning, information spread by word of mouth. People living in tribes (部落), got news from neighbors or travelers. Ancient Romans changed the way people knew about their communities. They posted a list of daily happenings at public squares in the cities. Ancient Chinese people did it in another way. The government had news sheets sent to officials in the whole country so people could know what was going on in the capital.
The fifteenth century saw big progress in printing technology in the west. The progress brought a sudden rise of news business. Printers sold whatever people loved to read. In the sixteenth century, the first real newspaper appeared. People started to form the habit of reading newspapers. They liked to share their opinions on newspapers. The invention of telegraph (电报) machines led to another big step in history. News stories were sent to the papers in minutes instead of weeks.
Now we get news in seconds from all over the world. We can become some kind of reporters by posting online what happens around us.
1. From whom did people living in tribes get news?2. Where did ancient Romans post a list of daily happenings?
3. What brought a sudden rise of news business in the 15th century?
4. When did the first real newspapers appear?
5. How can we become some kind of reporters now?
