2 . Imagine you are a citizen of Athens, enjoying a warm Mediterranean night in the Theater of Herodes Atticus. You are wearing jeans and a T-shirt, listening to a great concert.

Now rewind this picture 1,839 years. You are in the same seat, only you are watching classical Greek entertainment.

The city of Athens is a fun mix of the old and the new, the classic and the modern. Often a little shop is located next to the ruins of a temple, which is only a block from a large, air-conditioned hotel. The great city of 2,500 years ago is still visible today.

Ruins are the most obvious sign of ancient Athens, and the most famous of these is the Acropolis(卫城). The Acropolis is a large hill that was the center of life in Athens. On its slopes were temples, monuments, and theaters. From the top, you can see how the urban area of Athens stretches out in every direction.

On the top of the Acropolis is the Parthenon. This was once a huge temple to Athena, the city’s patron. It was first completed in 432 B.C., but has been damaged and destroyed several times. However, visitors can still see the “tricks” used in building the Parthenon. The columns along the outside lean inward, and are slightly fatter in the middle. The temple is also higher in the middle than on the sides. All these effects make the Parthenon look perfectly straight from a distance.

Only a block away from the Acropolis is the neighborhood of Plaka. The area, with its little shops and restaurants, is very popular with both tourists and locals, and is an important part of modern Athenian culture. Many great thinkers, writers, and political leaders lived in ancient Athens. The ruins of their homes and favorite spots are scattered throughout the busy port city. The hill where St. Paul addressed early Christian Athenians is located near the Acropolis. Great thinkers such as Perikles and Demosthenes spoke to the civil assemblies held at the Pnyx Hill. Today the Pnyx is an open-air theater for light and sound shows.

Tourism is very important to people who live in modern-day Athens. Thousands of people come every year to see these ruins and to tour the many museums that house artifacts from ancient times. This provides many jobs and brings money into Athens, which helps the city pay for improvements. Athenians take pride in the accomplishments of their ancestors, and people from all around the world come to admire them. By looking around the city today, we can imagine what life was like in ancient Athens.

1. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT about the city of Athens?

A．The culture of the city is a mixture of the old and modern.

B．Traces of the ancient city can still be found

C．Ruins and modern hotels co-exist in the city.

D．All the temples are not far away from air-conditioned hotels.

2. According to the context, “tricks” in Paragraph Five refer to ________.

A．naughty acts	B．confusing constructing skills
C．skillful constructing methods	D．constructing materials

3. The writer mentioned all the following benefits of tourism in Athens for Athenians EXCEPT ________.

A．offering job opportunities to Athenians

B．enriching Athenians by providing accommodation for tourists

C．enabling Athenians to improve the infrastructures

D．making Athenians proud of their ancestors

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Tourism in Athens	B．Athens: Then and Now
C．Historic Interests in Athens	D．The Magic of Ancient Athens

3 . Hunting to Farming Is Not Necessarily Good

A. support          B. effectiveness             C. expanding       D. escape             E. reached          F. questioning          G. switched                 H. control             I. recording        J. allowed        K. inferring

Shifting from hunting to farming made life 50 percent more difficult for humans, a study by Cambridge University suggests. Although farming     1    previously wandering communities to stay put and grow, it came at a huge cost. Researcher Dr. Mark Dyble, lived with 10 Agta groups and found that those who still hunted and searched for their food spent around 20 hours working in the week to live, but those who had    2     to farming needed to work 30 hours for the same amount of food.

“For a long time, the shift from hunting to farming was assumed to represent progress, allowing people to    3    a laborious and uncertain way of life,” said Dr. Dyble, “But as soon as researchers started working with hunter-gatherers they began     4     this narrative, finding that hunters actually enjoy quite a lot of leisure time. Our data provides some of the clearest     5    for this idea yet.” The researchers followed 359 people from the Agta community     6     how much time they spent on leisure, childcare, domestic chores and out-of-camp work. As well as the overall difference in hours worked, the study also found that women living in the communities most involved in farming had half as much leisure time as those in communities which only hunted. Co-author, Dr. Abigail Page added: “We have to be really careful when     7     from contemporary hunter-gatherers to different societies in pre-history.” But if the first farmers really did work harder than hunters then this begs an important question-why did humans adopt agriculture?

Previous studies suggested the adoption of farming grew up to help cope with    8    societies, although other experts claimed that it was agriculture itself that allowed sedentary (定栖的) communities to expand, and once they    9     a certain size, it would have been impossible for groups to return to a hunter-gathering lifestyle, even if they had wanted to. Dr. Page says: “The amount of leisure time that Agta enjoy is evidence to the    10    of the hunter-gatherer way of life. This leisure time also helps to explain how these communities manage to share so many skills and so much knowledge within lifetimes and across generations."

4 . Questions are based on the following passage.
1.

A．A promotion of outdoor clothes.	B．An introduction of West Virginia.
C．A weekend vacation to a famous resort.	D．A free trip to an unknown destination.

2.

A．Regretful.

B．Frustrating.

C．Worthwhile.

D．Comfortable.

3.

A．Mystery trips.

B．Outdoor adventures.

C．Social media.

D．Travel destinations.

5 . Directions：Complete the brochure according to the given Chinese.

Shanghai—an important center of economy, technology, information and culture.

As a noted historic and culture city, Shanghai attracts millions of tourists from home and abroad     1    (以她独特的风韵). Shanghai is also a paradise for gourmets (美食家); its local cuisine (本帮菜)     2    (特别受到海外人士的青睐).

The most attractive work of architecture is no other than the Oriental Pearl TV Tower     3    (坐落于黄浦江畔). Mounting the observation floor and     4    (环顾四周), you will admire the view of the famous Bund and the charming skyline of the city in the distance,     5    (流连忘返).

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The ancient Chinese were stonewall masters. China     1     has the world's longest fortification (buildings or walls built to defend a place), the 21,196-kilometer-long Great Wall, but the world's longest circular city wall, the Ming City Wall, which was originally 35 kilometers around. The latter stands in Jiangsu's provincial capital of Nanjing. It's one of China's most underrated tourist attractions and many local residents think it is worthy     2     (visit).

Currently, visitors can access only about three kilometers of the wall, but about 22 of the     3     (remain) 25 kilometers of the once-inaccessible wall are scheduled to open to the public soon. "In the past, the wall was the end of the city," says Sun Xiaowei, 32, president of the Nanjing-based urban hiking community. "But now it's the starting point of Nanjing's culture.” Sun recently shared with us the greatest barbican (楼堡) (an outer defensive work)     4     attracts him most: Zhonghua Gate.

    5     (locate) immediately to the north of Qinhuai River, Zhonghua Gate, is one of the best preserved and most intricate barbicans in the world, according to Sun.The gate is used as a grand entrance to any tour of the City Wall.

It once served as the southern gate of ancient Nanjing, a 15,168-square-meter fortification that contained four layers of defenses, as well as three grand castles,     6     the ruins are connected to each other by a wide ring of wall. If paying an entry fee, visitors     7     view former garrisons, an exhibition about the history and variety of bricks used to build the City Wall.

7 . Ship tourism to Antarctica is on the rise: More than 35,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctic this summer. In 1992-1993, 6,750 visited Antarctica, according to the Antarctica Treaty. All of this tourism, however, is putting both tourists and the environment in great danger.

Among the tourist ships that visit the continent, the Explorer, a Canadian ship, was one of the first. Put to use in 1969, it was built to carry tourists to Antarctica. Last week, however, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink beneath the waters. Fortunately, all of the passengers and crew members were rescued from the ship. However, the sunken ship endangered the Antarctic’s fragile(脆弱的) environment. The ship was estimated to be holding 48,000 gallons of fuel.

The accident was not unexpected. Both the US and UK had warned a conference of the Antarctic Treaty member countries in May that the tourism situation in this area was a potential disaster. The US said in a paper, people “should take a hard look at tourism issues now, especially those related to ship safety.” Although the Antarctic seas are relatively calm, floating ice causes a potential threat to ships. The owner of the Explorer blamed the sinking on a fist-like hole in the ship created by ice.

Many of the other large ships now visiting Antarctica are not designed especially against thick ice. Such ships generally can only come to the continent in summer. But the tourist rush is pushing ships into dangerous situations. “The increasing number of ships operating in Antarctic means that the ship are under great pressure to get there in time for the key visiting sites,” the British government wrote in a paper at the meeting of member countries.

As a natural frontier, Antarctica is in a messy legal situation. There are no obvious answers as to who is responsible for dealing with the threat that tourist may cause to human life and the environment.

There is no coast guard for Antarctica. Do we want it to become Disneyland, or do we need some controls?

1. Which of the following is true according to this passage?

A．Antarctica tourism has a history of about 17 years.

B．The number of tourists to the Antarctic is over 5 times as large as that of 17 years ago.

C．The tourism boom has caused holes in the floating ice in the Antarctic.

D．The Antarctica Treaty is responsible for the environmental problems.

2. The sinking of the Explorer____________.

A．led to a conference about the tourism situation in the Antarctic.

B．was caused by the rough seas

C．had been predicted

D．did harm to the Antarctic.

3. In this passage, the writer suggests that___________.

A．people had better not make a tour of the Antarctic

B．ships to the Antarctic should be built strong enough

C．there should be legal controls over tourism in the Antarctic

D．the Antarctic’s environment is fragile to be protected

8 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. approach   B. architectural   C. captured   D. complicated   E. defensive   F. defined G. extension   H. houses   I. reflect   J. shades   K. status

Why India’s ‘Pink City’ is a Photographer’s Heaven

The city of Jaipur is one of India’s wonders. It     1     some of the country’s most decorative royal palaces—elegant structures designed hundreds of years ago that still attract visitors today. Largely built in the 1700s, Jaipur is surrounded by a city wall and several     2     castles. Considered as a commercial center, it was ahead of its time due to the use of grid iron (网格状)city planning.

A romantic dusty pink type—which has     3     the city since 1876, after it was painted pink to welcome Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert—gives Jaipur its     4     as the “Pink City”. This     5     beauty is what first brought Hong Kong-based photographers Victor Cheng and Samantha Wong to Jaipur.

Walking in glass skyscrapers for century-old royal palaces and historic castles, the pair—who have 130,000 Instagram followers between them—said that the images they     6     in Jaipur received a lot of response online. “A lot of our followers hadn’t seen this side of India, so we’re happy we were able to show this side of the country.” Cheng said.

For the photographers, one of the city’s most fascinating features is the light pink coloring of its buildings. “The first gates you see when you enter are pink,” said Wong. “Once you’re through, everything around you varies in different     7     of the color—from bright pinks to reddish browns.”

The building is a(n)     8     of the City Palace, and its windows allowed royal women to observe street life without appearing in public. One of Cheng’s most striking photos shows a straight front of the building and its hundreds of windows. The building’s lively coloring also pushed Cheng to take a different     9     to editing than with images of other cities. “I toned down my usual editing process because the pink was so bright in reality,” he said, “I wanted the photos to     10     the actual color I was seeing myself and to maintain its tone.”

9 . Directions：Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. recently 　　　　B. estimated 　　　　C. employing 　　　　D. definition 　　　　E. confusing F. updated 　　　　 G. scientific　　　 H. argument 　　　I. depending 　　　J. distinct 　　　K. finally

Most of us learn at primary school that there are seven continents, but the next generation of kids may be adding one more to that list.

According to a recent paper published     1     in the Geological Society of American Journal by a group of researchers, “Zealandia” is a new continent that’s hidden beneath the ocean.

Zealandia is     2     to be five million sq. km. Most of this massive area is covered by water, but its highest mountains already have their own name: New Zealand.

The small country is the only part of Zealandia that isn’t underwater, but the paper’s authors want the huge landmass to be recognized worldwide as its own continent.

“The     3     value of classifying Zealandia as a continent is much more than just an extra name on a list,” the researchers wrote in their paper.

Scientists discovered Zealandia all the way back in 1995, then started extensive research on the area     4     underwater and satellite mapping technology. After completing their work, they were     5     able to write a report suggesting that Zealandia be named a continent.

But who decides on what is a continent and what isn’t? There is, in fact, no official organization that does. Some countries’ schools teach that there are six or even five continents. This changes     6     on where in the world school is.

Due to their     7     as a “continuous expanse of land”, some classify Europe and Asia as the same continent --known as Eurasia. Schools in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe teach this.

And to make things even more     8    , France and Greece, as well as other countries, classify North America and South America as simply America.

This     9     over how land is defined has even stretched into outer space. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union（IAU）decided that Pluto was no longer a planet, 76 years after its discovery in 1930. Experts argued that it no longer met the requirements needed to be called a planet alongside the eight others in our solar system. It was therefore renamed a “dwarf planet（矮行星）”，meaning that countless books, models and museum exhibits all over the world had to be     10    .

But will the world take the same notice of Zealandia? The best way to tell is to keep an eye on our textbooks.

10 . Directions: Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

A new report by the World Bank shows that the effects of climate change could force 140 million people to move within their countries by 2050.

The report looked at three developing regions of the world-sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America.     1    .

Climate migrants are people who are forced to move within their country because of water scarcity, crop failure, rising sea levels and storm surges due to climate change.

    2    It is important to help people make good decisions about whether to stay where they are or move to new locations where they are less vulnerable.

The report noted that the effects of climate change will often force people to move from rural areas suffering from droughts or crop failures to cities where there are different opportunities.     3     “Without the right planning and support, people migrating from rural areas into cities could be facing new and even more dangerous risks,” said Kanta Jumari Rigaud, the report’s team lead. “    4    ” Rigaud added.

The report recommends key actions to help prevent wide-scale climate migration: cutting global greenhouse gas emissions; improving development planning at the local level for climate migration; and investing in data to better understand climate migration trends in each country. The report notes that any rise in climate migration will be in addition to millions of other migrants within countries, moving for economic, social, political or other reasons.

A．We would see increased tensions and conflict as a result of pressure on scarce resources.

B．The report shows that with proper efforts the number of climate migrants could be reduced dramatically, from 140 million to 40 million by 2050.

C．Some measures that could help helpless people adapt to climate change were on the agenda.

D．However, it noted that cities must take the time to plan for the possibility for a flood of people.

E．Countries that are becoming more restrictive on migration are those who are largely responsible for global warming.

F．It found that unless urgent action is taken, the regions will likely have to deal with tens of millions of so-called climate migrants.