1 . A fresh and gentle wind on your face, soft sand under your feet and blue waters as far as the eye can see. Is there any other Olympic sport that is played in such pleasant conditions as beach volleyball？
“I’ve gone to a lot of beautiful places, and met a lot of beautiful people. That wouldn’t have happened if I had been playing another sport.” said Randy Stoklos, America’s most famous beach volleyball player.
The sport began as a four-a-side game on beaches in Southern California in the 1920s. The first recorded two-man game took place there in 1930, and the first tournament (锦标赛) was held in Los Angeles 18 years later. The winners were awarded a case of Pepsi. In the 1950s, women started playing and the sport soon spread to Europe and South America. Yet at that time, beach volleyball was more an entertainment show than a sport, with beauty contests included. The Association of Volleyball Professionals was founded in 1983 and beach volleyball developed into a fast, athletic sport. Its world-wide popularity won beach volleyball a place at the 1996 Olympics in Atalanta, where 24 male teams and 16 female teams took part. At present, the US and Brazil are the best in the world at beach volleyball.
The game came to China in the early 1990s and there have been national tournaments since 1994. It became an official event at the Eighth National Games in 1997. China’s You Wenhui and Wang Lu finished ninth in the women’s beach volleyball world championships in Brazil.
1. The passage is mainly about ______.| A．the history of beach volleyball |
| B．how to play beach volleyball |
| C．the importance of beach volleyball |
| D．women’s beach volleyball in China |
| A．Beach volleyball was first played like other Olympic: sports. |
| B．Beach volleyball has always been an entertainment show rather than a sport. |
| C．Beach volleyball began on beaches in Souther California. |
| D．Women started playing beach volleyball in South America in 1945. |
| A．In 1948, | B．In 1996. | C．In 1950. | D．In 1997. |
| A．in 1996, beach volleyball became an official event in China |
| B．China’s beach volleyball team is the best in the world |
| C．China’s beach volleyball players won the first place in Brazil |
| D．beach volleyball came to China in the early 1990s |
The trade routes are of great importance. In march, the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important sea trade routes,
In early history, The Silk Road was the most important trade route,
Though the Silk Road was mainly a trading route, it was
3 . Ice cream is certainly the world's favorite dessert.
A form of ice cream was eaten in China about 4,000 years ago.
Ice cream was brought to Europe in the 16th century, but at that time only the super-rich could afford it. When the Italian princess Catherine de Medici married the future King Henry Ⅱ of France in 1533, a different kind of ice cream was served every day a month!
Ice cream was introduced to America in the 1700s, but mostly enjoyed by the wealthy. Around 1800, special ice houses were invented and ice cream became an American industry.
The world's most popular flavor is vanilla（香草）, which was produced from vanilla beans. 80% of the world's vanilla beans grew on the island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa.
| A．Ice cream didn't become available to the ordinary people in France until 1660. |
| B．In Europe alone, about 11 billion dollars a year is spent on ice cream. |
| C．Americans celebrated the victory of World WarⅡwith ice cream. |
| D．California produces more ice cream than any other state. |
| E．More than 90 percent of the US families buy dessert. |
| F．It was made of milk rice, fruit and snow! |
| G．The most favorite topping is chocolate. |
