1 . The idea that history is an outdated course of study that will lead to limited career options has spread.     1     It is a wonderful way to prepare for a successful future. Here are a few reasons why it’s important that today’s students continue to learn about the past.

Understanding where people come from is key in understanding who we are.     2     It’s deeply influenced the world and its citizens. For this reason, it’s important to understand history in order to understand why people are the way that they are.

    3     Through history classes, you can experience a change in the way you think. You’ll look at things from a new angle, as you understand the world in a new way. In the end, this change can improve your ability to assess and understand situations, make educated decisions, and learn how to weigh the consequences linked with each choice before you.

Learning from the past prevents future mistakes.     4     From wars to fashion to political trends, historians are often able to make predictions about the future based upon the past. By having a firm grasp on what happened in the past, today’s generation can better prepare for a brighter future by making the right decisions — instead of repeating old mistakes.

    5     The idea that a degree in history can’t lead to a good career is untrue. In fact, students who graduate with degrees in history can become lawyers, business owners, foundation leaders, and non-profit leaders. Besides, history degrees can lead to working as an educator, a leader in a historical organization, a writer, an editor, a journalist, or a producer of multimedia materials.

A．You will understand the world much better.

B．History degrees can lead to well-paying careers.

C．Many people don’t know well about themselves.

D．Learning history can change how you think.

E．But the truth is that studying history is still important.

F．The idea that history repeats itself is rooted in truth.

G．History has shaped cultures, attitudes, and social structures.

2 . The Origins of Famous Brands

Our lives are full of brand names and trademarked products that we use every day. Although many brand names are simple acronyms(首字母缩略词) or versions of their founders names, some of the companies we trust every day actually have fascinating and surprising back stories.

Starbucks

It seems fitting that the most famous coffee brand in the world would take its name from one of the world’s greatest works of literature. The inspiration for the name of the coffeehouse came from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. The founders’ original idea was to name the company after the Captain Ahab’s ship, but they eventually decided that Pequot wasn’t a great name for coffee, so they chose Ahab’s first mate, Starbucks, as the name instead.

Google

Google was originally called Backrub, for it searched for links in every corner of the Web. In 1997, when the founders of the company were searching for a new name showing a huge amount of data for their rapidly improving search technology, a friend suggested the word “googol”. When a friend tried to register the new domain (域) name, he misspelled “googol” as “google”.

Nike

Originally founded as a distributor for Japanese running shoes, the company was originally named BRS, or Blue Ribbon Sports. In 1971, BRS introduced its own soccer shoe, a model called Nike, which is also the name for the Greek goddess of victory. In 1978, the company officially renamed itself as Nike, Inc.

The right name is essential to a company’s success, and a great origin story is just as important as a great product. An attractive origin story is one more thing that keeps customers guessing, wondering, and buying its products.

1. What is the name of the Captain Ahab’s ship?

A．Moby Dick.	B．Starbucks.
C．Pequot.	D．Herman Melville.

2. Why did the founders of the Google want to change its name?

A．They mistook their name.

B．They wanted new customers.

C．The company’s original name was too long.

D．The company’s search technology was improving rapidly.

3. Where does the importance of the origin story of one company lie in?

A．It can change the company’s image.

B．It can add myth to the company.

C．It explains the development of the company to customers.

D．It makes customers imagine and purchase its goods.

3 . In the mid-nineteenth century, as iceboxes became increasingly common in American homes, there were efforts to find cheaper and more reliable sources of ice. In the eighteen-thirties, scientists discovered a way to make ice, which is similar to how a refrigerator works. In 1860, there were four artificial-ice plants in the United States; in 1889, there were about two hundred; by 1909, there were two thousand. Ice now came from factories, not ponds, and it was turned out in three-hundred-pound blocks by lowering steel cans of pure water into tanks of refrigerated salted water. Kept below thirty-two degrees, the salted water did not freeze, but the water in the cans did. Those cans were then lifted from the tank, and the ice was taken out of them.

The ice blocks were delivered to home users, and to the fishing and chemical industries. On the railroads, trains carrying fruit and vegetables had cars at each end filled with blocks of ice. It was a growing industry.

The great trade began to fall away in the middle years of the twentieth century. The railroad business shrank, and, in the immediate postwar period, block ice lost out to home refrigerators and then to small commercial ice machines. By the nineteen-sixties, things looked very dark. “It was scary,” Dan Ditmar, an ice expert in San Antonito, told me. “Your biggest customers were cafeterias and country clubs, and you’d go out there and they’d say, ‘We don’t need you anymore; we’ve got ice machines.’”

Then the companies that survived the slump（a slump is a period when there is a reduction in business）began investing（投资）in newly developed ice-cube machines, and by the late sixties American ice was becoming a packaged-ice business. And packaged ice was exactly what the country needed. These were years of increased leisure time—more barbecues, more cars, and more houses by the lake. “Things exploded in the nineteen-seventies,^ Paul Handler said. Ice cubes evolved. They became hugely popular^ shoveled（铲）here and there into picnic coolers and fast-foof sodas. They became noisier.

1. What happened at the beginning of the 20^th century?

A．Ice was mainly used on the railroads.

B．There was a great need for iceboxes.

C．Ice cubes got popular in the US.

D．The ice industry grew very last,

2. What was scary according to Dan Detmar?

A．The slump in the block-ice market.

B．The danger of producing block ice.

C．The social problems in the postwar period

D．The problems caused by home refrigerators.

3. What can we say about the investment in ice-cube machines?

A．It nearly destroyed the US ice industry.

B．It helped increase people’s leisure time.

C．It proved to be a huge success.

D．It caused a decline in ice sales.

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．From ponds to factories.	B．From ice blocks to ice cubes,
C．From iceboxes to refrigerators.	D．From refrigerators to ice machines.

4 . There are two ways of driving in the world—if the driver’s seat is on the left and cars travel on the right side of the road, it is called “left-hand driving”, as it is in China, while the other way of driving is called “right-hand driving”, as it is in Britain. Nowadays, around 65% of the world’s population drives on the right of the road, while the rest is used to driving on the left.

Though no one knows the exact reasons, it seems likely that people in ancient times travelled on the left. Roman coins show pictures of horsemen passing on each other’s right. And right-hand people generally got on a horse from the animal’s left. Obviously, it’s safer to do this at the left side of the road, and it makes sense for the horse to be ridden on the left.

A change happened in the late 1700s. When Napoleon conquered nations, he forced them to travel on the right side of the road, which spread left-hand driving throughout Europe. However, Britain still stuck with the right-hand driving rule and countries which were part of the British Empire were made to follow. This is why India, Australia and the former British colonies in Africa continue to drive on the left. One exception is Egypt, as that country was defeated by Napoleon before becoming part of the British Empire.

Some countries changed sides until modern times. Sweden only moved to driving on the right in 1967 and Iceland changed the following year. Ghana changed sides in 1974. On September 7, 2009, Samoa became the third country ever to change from left-to-right-hand driving for the reason that it made it easier to import cheap cars from right-hand driving Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

So if you want to travel to another country or go on business, make sure you know whether it is left-hand or right-hand driving to avoid unnecessary troubles.

1. Which picture shows the correct driving in Britain?

A．

B．

C．

D．

2. In ancient times, Romans ________.

A．travelled on the right	B．behaved as they liked
C．got on the horses from the right	D．rode past each other’s right

3. In modern times, countries follow the same driving way EXCEPT ________.

A．Egypt

B．Australia

C．Sweden

D．China

4. What is the writer’s purpose for writing this passage?

A．To explain the advantages of the two ways of driving.

B．To compare the differences of the two ways of driving.

C．To complain about the change of the two ways of driving.

D．To introduce the development of the two ways of driving.

5 . Golden Gate Bridge

Located in San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge started in the year 1933 to connect the San Francisco Peninsula with Marin County. It was finally thrown open to public traffic in 1937. It cost $25.7 million in the construction. Till the year 1957, the Golden Gate Bridge, at a length of 2,737 meters, was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is located in Brooklyn. It is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, having been opened in the year 1883. The length of the bridge is 1,843 meters. The bridge has been featured in several Hollywood movies.

George Washington Bridge

Also known as the Hudson River Bridge and the Columbus Bridge, the George Washington Bridge which connects Fort Lee to Manhattan came into use in 1931 after a construction period of almost 4 years. It is a two level suspension bridge that cost about $52 million to build.

Mackinac Bridge

This is the third biggest suspension bridge in the world at a length of 8,038 meters. The architect of this bridge was Dr. David B. Steinman, who directed the construction of the bridge which started in the year 1954 and opened to the public in 1958. People using this bridge are charged a certain amount of money.

Navajo Bridge

Located in Arizona, this bridge crosses the Colorado River and is almost 250 meters long. The construction of this bridge started in the year 1927, ending two years later, costing $390,000. In the 1990s, a second bridge was built which was opened to the public in 1994. The first bridge is now used only by pedestrians.

1. What do we know about the Golden Gate Bridge?

A．It consists of two bridges.

B．It costs the least of the five bridges.

C．It is the longest suspension bridge in the world.

D．It takes about 4 years to complete the construction.

2. Which of the following bridges was built the earliest?

A．Golden Gate Bridge.

B．Brooklyn Bridge.

C．George Washington Bridge.

D．Navajo Bridge.

3. What will you do if you drive across Mackinac Bridge?

A．Have to pay some money.

B．Use the second bridge.

C．Cover nearly 250 meters.

D．See the statue of Dr. David B. Steinman.

6 . Davidson Black was a    1    (Canada) doctor who organized the excavation that led to the discovery of the bones in the Zhoukoudian     2    (cave) near Beijing. He was a specialist in the study of bones    3    it was his ambition to find and identify bones of early humans. His university was aware    4    the significance of his work. At first they gave him ample time to do his research, but    5    (late) they realized he was prepared to pursue it regardless of his students’ needs and his    6    (teach) career, so they forbade him     7    (travel) there any more. It was his assistant, Pei Wenzhong,     8    made the discovery of these primitive bones and     9    (sharpen) tools. Davidson Black knew that his success was almost     10    (entire) due to his assistant’s systematic hard work.

7 . Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea. People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops. People had it sent from Holland. And even those people who could afford it did so only because of curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
Tea remained very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea. Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added. She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was so famous a lady that people liked to copy everything she did, they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess （公爵夫人） found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o'clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.
1. The word “curiosity” in the first paragraph probably means ________.

A．好奇

B．臆测

C．迷恋

D．决心

2. Which of the following is true of tea-drinking in Britain?

A．The British people got expensive tea from India.

B．The habit of tea-drinking reached Britain from France.

C．The British people were much slower in getting the habit.

D．People in Britain began drinking tea one thousand years ago.

3. Some people cooked tea leaves because ______

A．most children liked to have them

B．they were very good vegetables

C．they didn’t know how to use them

D．sandwiches needed mixing with them

4. People in Britain like to drink tea with milk because of the influence of _______.

A．a famous French lady

B．people in Holland

C．the upper social class

D．the ancient Chinese

5. This passage mainly discusses _______.

A．how tea-time was born in history

B．the history of tea-drinking in Britain

C．the habit of drinking tea with milk in it

D．differences about tea-drinking Europe

8 . Many centuries ago, birthdays were considered a time when the bad spirits were able to harm you. It was believed that you should have your friends and family around you so that their good wishes and present-giving would keep the bad spirits away. People also believed that, by lighting candles, they were sending a signal or wishes to the gods.

Later on, candles started to be used on birthday cakes. One story about the beginnings of the birthday cake is that it started with the Greeks, who made round cakes standing for the full moon for their moon goddess (女神). They also placed candles on the cake to make it light, again like the moon.

However, the Germans are said to have first used cakes and candles. They used a sweet cake and they put a large candle in the centre of the cake to mean “the light of life”.

The “Happy Birthday” song is more than a hundred years old. The music was written in 1893 by two sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky. The music was first used as a morning greeting to their students with the title, “Good Morning To All”. In 1935, the words legally belonged to the Hill sisters, and the copyright (版权) has been bought and sold for millions of dollars ever since. The present copyright is owned by Warner Communications. They bought it in 1989 for more than $22 million.

1. The text mainly talks about       .

A．the ways of making cakes

B．the customs of lighting candles

C．the beginnings of birthdays

D．the history of the birthday song

2. People celebrated birthdays many centuries ago to       .

A．have a great dinner

B．get birthday presents

C．light birthday candles

D．keep the bad spirits away

3. Why did the Greeks put candles on the cake?

A．To light up the dark room.

B．To make the cake beautiful.

C．To see where the cake was.

D．To make it look like the moon.

4. When was the music written?

A．In 1893.	B．In 1913.
C．In 1935.	D．In 1989.

5. Who is the present owner of the song “Happy Birthday”?

A．Patty and Mildred Hill.

B．Warner Communications.

C．A Greek cake company.

D．A German schoolteacher.

9 . While shell-like roofs, unlike anything else in the world, make the Sydney Opera House an image of timeless beauty. It is famous for being a symbol, not only of a city, but a whole country and condition too.
Its creator, Danish architect Jorn Utzon , turned 85 last Wednesday. And he was awarded the Prizker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of Architecture, on April 6. But Utzon has never seen his Opera House.
The story began in 1957 when Utzon won an international competition to design an opera house in Sydney.
But not everyone was enthusiastic (热心的 ) . Utzon left his Opera project in 1966 after an argument with the local government and a storm of public criticism over the building’s design. It was not completed until seven years later and Utzon has never returned to Australia to see the result of his work.
“Utzon made a building well ahead of its time, and he persevered (坚持) through criticism to build a building that changed the image of an entire country,” said Frank Gehry, a Pritzer Architecture Prize judge.
Although the Sydney Opera House was Utzon’s masterpiece, it damaged his career. Upon his return to Denmark, he found work hard to_____ so he become a teacher at a university in Hawaii.
Utzon said he once saw posters of the Opera House. The interiors were different from his design. But, he said, “There is no regret, for it gave me such a wonderful experience in Australia and towards which I only have love and appreciation .”
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth opened the Opera House in 1973, and it now holds around 3000 events every year. It is recognized as one of the great symbolic buildings of the 20th century.
1. The Sydney Opera House was completed_____.

A．in 1957	B．in 1906
C．in 1973	D．in 1980

2. Utzon has never seen his Opera House because _______.

A．it has white shell-like roofs, unlike anything else in the world

B．its creator is Danish architect, who returned to Denmark

C．he was not awarded the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of Architecture

D．he argued with the local government and was criticized over his design

3. The underlined word “come by” in Paragraph 6 means ______.

A．find	B．pass
C．hire	D．Develop