1 . Today we see writing all around us. We would be _________ without writing.

The earliest people have no _________ of writing. However, writing _________ over thousands of years in different cultures around the world.

_________ writing existed, drawings were used as a form of _________. Rock drawings have been found in many places. One rock drawing in a mountainous area of New Mexico _________ a mountain goat standing up and a man riding a horse upside down. Experts believe that the drawing was a _________ to riders that the road was dangerous.

Modern forms of writing began when people _________ to use symbols, such as letters, words, to stand for _________. At first, they used __________ that stood for words. __________, a picture might show a hunter, the tools the hunter used, and a pair of deer the hunter killed. __________ developments took place in Mesopotamia, where people learned to use the same symbols to stand for different words. The writing used by ancient Egyptians also used __________ known as hieroglyphs (象形文字).

Even greater advances were __________ in China about 3500 years ago. The Chinese used tens of thousands of signs. With their systems, they could __________ new words. This, __________, was a different system. To make writing __________, things had to be simplified in some way. The __________ was the development of alphabets. The Phoenicians (腓尼基人) are __________ considered to have developed one of the first useful alphabets. The Phoenicians alphabet used about 20 or 30 signs. They were well on their way to at least one type of modern writing __________, as we know, the modern English alphabet uses 26 letters.

1.

A．lost

B．calm

C．hurt

D．skeptical

2.

A．pan

B．system

C．motivation

D．dream

3.

A．began

B．developed

C．appeared

D．failed

4.

A．When

B．While

C．After

D．Before

5.

A．communication

B．experience

C．relationship

D．education

6.

A．shows

B．notices

C．follows

D．produces

7.

A．joke

B．warning

C．memory

D．mistake

8.

A．begged

B．refused

C．learned

D．promised

9.

A．worries

B．cultures

C．ideas

D．questions

10.

A．lines

B．pictures

C．tools

D．animals

11.

A．For example

B．Above all

C．As usual

D．At first

12.

A．Less

B．Worse

C．Older

D．Further.

13.

A．letters

B．alphabets

C．stars

D．symbols

14.

A．prevented

B．checked

C．made

D．taught

15.

A．mix

B．read

C．write

D．remember

16.

A．however

B．besides

C．therefore

D．otherwise

17.

A．longer

B．easier

C．more interesting

D．more popular

18.

A．answer

B．problem

C．future

D．message

19.

A．never

B．hardly

C．even

D．often

20.

A．but

B．because

C．if

D．so

2 . 电影《花木兰》上映后引起很大反响。假如你是李华，你的笔友Peter来信向你询问中国历史上花木兰的故事。请你给他回信，要点如下：
1.花木兰的生平故事；
2.花木兰在中国人心中的地位与影响。
注意：1.词数80-100；2.开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：dress up装扮；a symbol of .....的象征；
Dear Peter,

I’m glad to know that you are interested in the story of Mulan.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

3 . 阅读下面短文，并根据短文内容完成下列各题。

Marco Polo came from a wealthy family and received a good education. He was only six years old when his father and uncle left for a journey to China or Cathay, as it was called at that time. At the age of 17, Marco followed his father and uncle on their second journey to Asia.

The Polos traveled through many countries, over mountains and along the Silk Road, the main travel route for traders. Marco would keep detailed journals and record his findings. The Polos also stopped for a year in the Mongol region. There they learnt about the lives and culture of the people. This was useful as Marco was able to share what he had learnt with the Emperor of China, Kublai Khab. The Emperor was impressed with him. The Polos traveled 9,000 kilometres in more than three and a half years before reaching China. There Marco was most surprised to find the stones that burnt like logs. The Chinese had found a source of fuel that nobody in Europe could have imagined. It was called coal.

In 1298, Marco wrote a book called The Travels of Marco Polo which was a record of his travels in Asia. The book enabled the Europeans to understand and carry out trading activities more easily with Asians.

1. What was China also called in the past? (1 word)
2. What was the Silk Road mainly used as in ancient times? (no more than 10 words)
3. What did the Polos do during their stay in the Mongol region? (no more than 12 words)
4. Why was Marco impressed with the stones? (no more than 6 words)
5. What is the main idea of the last paragraph? (no more than 10 words)

4 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does the man think the gold cup was used for in the past?

A．Drinking wine.

B．Drinking tea.

C．Holding soup.

2. Why is the gold cup more valuable now, according to the man?

A．It was used by the rich ones.

B．It is a symbol of a man.

C．It is really rare now.

3. What does the woman want to do next?

A．Buy the man a souvenir.

B．Look at other items.

C．Leave the museum.