1 . Libraries give kids a quiet and safe place to read and learn. For over 100 years, libraries have played an important role in Americans’ education. But how are these book-filled buildings changing with the times? You may be surprised to find out.

Benjamin Franklin famously founded (创建) America’s first lending library in 1731. But the public library system (系统) got its biggest development in the American history in the late 1800s. Businessman Andrew Carnegie donated millions of dollars to help build free public libraries across the country. Between 1886 and 1919, Carnegie’s donations helped build 1,679 new libraries.

Carnegie believed that libraries could offer the chances to Americans, young and old. He knew that the more libraries there were, the more people would have opportunities to read and use books, speeches and news. 

If you can easily find a public library in your community (社区), you’ll get more chances. After all, the United States has 9,225 public libraries. Today, libraries keep growing. Seven tenths of the libraries have free Internet. It provides much more information and opportunities (机会) to ask for jobs online.

Libraries are also teaching kids about the fun of reading. The new program Read! Build! Play! adds reading into playtime. As kids listen to a book that is being read aloud, they use Legos (乐高积木) to build images (图像) from the story happily. Today’s libraries are always looking for creative programs to bring people into the library.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “The doors of wisdom (智慧) are never shut.” As long as the doors of public libraries are open, what he said is most certainly correct!

1. The right order of the following statements is ________.
①The public library system in America developed fast.
②The first lending library was founded.
③Libraries provide information and chances to ask for jobs online.
④Libraries try to bring people into the library by using creative programs.

A．②①③④

B．②③④①

C．③④①②

D．①②③④

2. The last paragraph mainly tells us ________.

A．libraries have played an important role in Americans’ education

B．public libraries in the US should never close the doors

C．the writer doesn’t agree with Benjamin Franklin

D．libraries help people to open the doors of wisdom

3. What is the purpose of the new program Read! Build! Play!?

A．To build more libraries.

B．To add reading into playtime.

C．To provide the libraries with free Internet.

D．To look for creative programs to bring people into the libraries.

4. The best title for the passage is ________.

A．the libraries in the world	B．libraries and opportunities
C．libraries teach kids to read and learn	D．the development of the American libraries

2 . Fire was discovered many thousands of years ago. The first time humans saw fire was probably when a tree was destroyed by lightning(闪电). Humans soon learned how to make fire. They probably made the first fire by rubbing (摩擦) two sticks together.

Fire was very important to humans. They needed to keep warm at night. They used fire to cook food. They used fire to keep enemies and wild animals away. In some parts of the world fire was used to send messages. The Indians in America, for example, used fire to make smoke(烟雾) as a message. In some other countries people lit fires to warn their friends of danger.

Fire was also used to give light. Before the invention of the oil lamp(灯), humans burned sticks to get light.

One man even used fire to tell the time. He invented a candle clock. He made a candle that took exactly twelve hours to burn. Then he marked this candle in twelve equal(相等的) parts. He lit the candle and could tell the time by counting the number of parts left of the burning candle. But the candle clock did not always work well. If there was a wind blowing on the candle, it burned too quickly.

（一）根据短文内容简要回答问题。
1. How did Indians in America use fire?
_______________________________
2. What happened to the candle if there was a wind blowing on it?
_______________________________
（二）将短文中划线的句子译成汉语。
3. _______________________________
4. _______________________________
（三）请给短文拟一个适当的标题。
5. _______________________________

4 . Most children are introduced to a study of history early in their school life by hearing stories of people who lived in other times and places. They learn that the world has not always been e    1     as it is today. Later in the elementary grades a more formal study of this subject may include local history, n    2     history, world history, and contemporary history (现代史) or current events. Most schools in the United States r    3     pupils to take one year of United States history in grade 7 or 8, and a    4     year in grade 11 or 12. Other history courses, such as ancient history and English history, are sometimes offered as selective course.

Various m    5     are used to add to the information given in the regular history books used in a course. Students may increase their knowledge of history by watching filmstrips, picture slides, and films. The class may take a field trip to some historical places, visit a museum or an art gallery, or p    6     a play that dramatizes (将……搬上舞台) a historical event. Other interesting p    7     include making collections of coins, stamps, or objects from a particular period or country, making scrapbooks (剪贴簿), and constructing models of buildings or historical scenes. Older children especially enjoy reading historical novels that describe vividly a period in the past.

5 .

Although people everywhere seem to enjoy drinking coffee, they do not all have the same coffee culture. In Europe for example, coffee shops are common places for people to meet friends and to talk when they drink coffee. However, coffee shops were not as common in North America in the past. Although some people in North America went to coffee shops, most Americans liked to drink coffee in their homes with their friends better. The coffee culture in the USA changed（改变）when Starbucks coffee shops opened across the country.

The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in Seattle, Washington, in the USA. It was a small coffee shop that roasted（烘焙）its own coffee beans（豆）. The coffee sold well, and by 1981 there were three more Starbucks shops in Seattle.

Things really began to change for Starbucks in 1981. That year, Howard Schultz met the three men who ran（经营）Starbucks. He found that Starbucks ordered a large number of special coffee makers, and he really wanted to know why. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did. In 1982, the three Starbucks owners hired（雇用）Schultz as the Starbucks’ head of marketing.

In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy. He was interested in the special feeling of coffee shops there. Back in the USA, Schultz created a comfortable feeling for Starbucks coffee shops, and people everywhere seemed to like it. With the help of Schultz, Starbucks became successful and famous. It began opening more coffee shops. Today, there are more than 16,000 Starbucks coffee shops around the world.

However, that does not mean Starbucks doesn’t have problems. For example, many Starbucks shops have closed over the past few years. In some places, this is because there were too many coffee shops in one small place. In other places or countries, this is because the coffee culture there isn’t the same as Starbucks’ culture.

1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?

A．All the coffee cultures are the same.	B．People in Europe don’t like to drink coffee.
C．Americans never went to coffee shops.	D．Starbucks changed American coffee culture.

2. Which of the following is NOT true according to paragraphs 2&3?

A．The first Starbucks coffee shop was small but popular.

B．Starbucks roasted its own coffee beans to make coffee.

C．There were two Starbucks coffee shops in America in 1981.

D．Schultz found Starbucks bought many coffee makers in 1981.

3. Which of the following is TRUE about Schultz?

A．He didn’t do a good job in Starbucks.

B．He helped Starbucks to be successful.

C．He had over 16,000 shops in the US.

D．He couldn’t stand coffee shops in Italy.

4. What’s the reason for Starbucks closing?

A．All of the coffee tasted the same.

B．Coffee in Starbucks was too expensive.

C．People wait too long in Starbucks.

D．A small place has too many coffee shops.

5. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The history of Starbucks.	B．Starbucks’ main problems.
C．Different coffee cultures.	D．Coffee shops in the world.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的词，或填入括号中所给单词的正确形式（每空不多于3个单词）.

"Twinkle, twinkle, traffic light shining on the comer bright…" This is a children's song about traffic lights. The song is easy to learn and sing, but it has a special     1    （mean）.It teaches young     2    （child）about the use and importance of traffic lights. What do "traffic lights" mean? Well, everybody     3    （know）that red means "stop", green means "go", and yellow means "wait or glow down".

Do you want to know the history of traffic lights? The     4    （one）lights were designed by an engineer（工程师）in London, England, in 1868. The engineer wanted     5    （help）people keep safe and keep the traffic in order.     6     the traffic light were not perfect at first, and sometimes they brought danger. One day, a policeman     7    （lose）his life because the traffic lights exploded（爆炸）. Then people weren't interested     8     using traffic lights any more. In 1912, a policeman invented the first electric traffic lights. Two years     9    （late）, the traffic lights system was born in America, and it became much     10    （good）. Then more countries began to use traffic lights.

7 . Early in the     1     (fifteen) century during the Ming Dynasty, the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di decided     2     (create) a great encyclopedia. It was     3     huge job for the scholars to collect and copy thousands of texts from all over China.     4     (they) work was finished in 1408. This amazing collection was called Yongle Dadian. It was made up     5     22,937 rolls in 11,095 volumes, and it was one of the     6     (early) encyclopedias that had ever been made.

    7     printing techniques were already quite advanced at that time, Yongle Dadian was never printed because of its     8     (long).     9     the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the original work was lost. Nobody knows what     10     (happen) to it.

8 . Before cars appeared, people used their own feet or animals as transport (运输工具). They walked, rode horses, camels and even elephants. Animals provided the power. Travelling from one place to another was slow and difficult, so people hardly went far. Besides, they couldn't carry many things with them.

In 1769, an inventor named Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot watched horses slowly moving cannons (大炮) to the war field. Then he had a good idea. He made the first automobile or car. Auto means "self", and mobile means "moving".

Cugnot's invention could move all by itself. His car was stronger than any other horse. It could pull a few cannons at a time. But it wasn't perfect. It could only run about 7.8 kilometres per hour and had to stop about every 15 minutes.

In the 1880s, two German inventors came up with a better idea which changed cars a lot. The new cars used gas to run. They could run faster and farther, but they cost up to $2,000. That was a lot of money at that time. It took a person in the US about four years to make that much. Only the rich people could buy the cars.

However, Henry Ford changed that. He made a car and sold it for $825. Why did he sell it so cheaply? That was because he had a faster way to make cars.

1. Why does the author write the first paragraph?

A．To tell us why cars were invented.	B．To tell us what old cars looked like.
C．To tell us what animals were used in the past.	D．To tell us how old people carried things.

2. The underlined word "They" refers to (指的是)" _________.

A．Cugnot's cars

B．the new cars

C．the strong horses

D．the rich people

3. From the passage, we can learn that the German inventors' cars

A．were easy and quick to make	B．could run faster than Henry Ford's cars
C．were too expensive for most people	D．used gas to run and most people could buy them

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The history of cars.

B．The importance of cars.

C．Who invented cars.

D．How cars run fast.

9 .     1     Countries like France, Brazil and even Japan have their own hip-hop culture. But where did this strange speaking-singing style come from? Many centuries ago, in West Africa, traditional storytellers played musical instruments while they were telling stories. When this tradition traveled from West Africa to the USA, it developed into different musical styles. For example, blues and jazz.     2     And in the 1970s, there were many poor areas in New York. There wasn’t any money for music lessons in schools, so kids made their own music. Teenagers Afrika and DJ here played their records outside in the streets. Everybody joined in. MCs had rapping(说唱) competitions. Every week, there were talented new dancers, new DJs and new MCs. Hip-hop culture was born.

    3     It was 1980. I was at a party in New York. There was a young DJ at the party. He was playing records. While he was putting a record on, a kid picked up a microphone(话筒) and began rapping. Some other kids were break-dancing to the music. It was loud and boring, and I hated it. I preferred jazz.

    4     Today’s successful American artists like Missy and her friend Tim heard it on the radio when they were growing up.

The last time I heard hip-hop, I was in West Africa.     5     I was going to interview a traditional storyteller when I met a young hip-hop artist. He told me there are hundreds of rap groups in Africa today. We live on a hip-hop planet.

A．I remember the first time I heard hip-hop.

B．You can find hip-hop everywhere you go.

C．I was writing a book about African Americans.

D．Many Americans gave music lessons to poor children.

E．These styles all started in poor African-American areas.

F．During the 1980s, hip-hop became popular all over the USA.

G．Some people don’t like hip-hop because of its spoken words.

10 . The game of Go (围棋) was one of the four g    1    artistic（艺术的）types in Chinese culture. It is not only a competitive event of the mind, but also a board game（棋盘游戏）of fun.

Go was c    2    in China more than four t    3    years ago. It was introduced to Korea and Japan over 1,000 years ago, and has become a favorite a    4    of many people there since than. Today, Go still serves as a way of cultural exchange among the people in many Eastern and W    5    countries, as players in these countries take part in many international games every year.

A game of Go has many implications(含义) for real life. It shows a square world of round pieces in black and white. There are 181 black pieces and 180 white ones in total. While the board is fixed, the pieces can be put in millions upon millions of d    6     ways, just as life in the r    7     world may take many turns. The proper placement of each tiny Go piece is similar to how one might solve a difficult problem in life.

Go pays much attention to peaceful competition and coexistence(共存). In a game of Go, the players do not wipe out(消灭)each others’ pieces. Instead, they simply try to win a larger part of space while allowing the other side some space. However, in chess and Chinese chess, the players try to wipe out (消灭) as many of the other side's p    8     as possible. The one who forces the other side's commander(主帅) into a dead corner, and then w    9    the game. Therefore, Go carries deeper cultural and philosophical connotations(哲学内涵).

Wu Qingyuan(1914-2014), a modern Go talent, believed that the final purpose of the game was to try to achieve (达到) peace. I    10     of fighting as enemies, the two players work together to play an excellent game.