2 . The Eiffel Tower is one of the most famous buildings in the world. It was named after Alexandre Eiffel whose team of engineers designed it. It cost £260,000 to build in 1889 with most of the money being provided by Eiffel himself and the French state. The Eiffel Tower rises to a height of 985 feet and for over forty years it was the highest building in the world. The tower is largely composed of triangulated(三角形的)sections and this allowed the engineers to build the tower so high.

Originally looked upon as a short-lived building, the Tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair. It was the entrance gate to the World’s Fair and one of a number of designs entered as part of a competition. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel’s company won the competition, so the tower became known as the Eiffel Tower. However, it was Morris Koechlin, an employee of Eiffel, who designed the thousand - foot tower. And he also designed the structure(结构)for the Statue of Liberty.

The original idea was for the tower to be dismantled after a twenty-year period. However, it was so well built and engineered that it was decided to leave it in position. The various parts were so well engineered that not even one had to be returned to workshops.

After the first year of opening so much money had been raised from people visiting the tower that the cost of construction was covered. After that, Alexandre Eiffel became rich. Later on, he conducted experiments on the tower such as using it as an instrument for measuring air resistance and atmospheric pressure. In 1898 it was discovered that the tower could also be used as a great radio tower. Thus, the Eiffel Tower was saved.

1. What makes the high tower possible?

A．Its structure.

B．Its position.

C．Its materials.

D．Its cost.

2. Why was the tower originally built?

A．To stand in Paris as a landmark.	B．To work as a great radio tower.
C．To compare with the Statue of Liberty.	D．To serve as the gate of the World’s Fair.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined word in Paragraph 3?

A．Set up.

B．Burnt down.

C．Taken apart.

D．Passed down.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Eiffel Tower’s history.	B．Eiffel Tower’s designer.
C．Alexandre Eiffel’s team.	D．Alexandre Eiffel’s success.

4 . Sometimes shipwrecks（沉船）contain sunken treasure, loads of gold or jewelry. Other shipwrecks are themselves the treasure—the stories of their ill-fated voyages creating a legend that makes them sparkle far more than any gold or precious stones.

The wreck of HMS Endurance, which has finally been located deep beneath the icy seas of Antarctica after being lost 107 years ago, was arguably the most valuable shipwreck ever sought. That’s because its discovery adds another thrilling new chapter to an already fascinating tale of perseverance and survival that has echoed down the decades and still inspires today.

Incredibly well preserved at a depth of almost two miles, the ship is little changed from the day in November 1914 when it finally sank beneath the ice. Endurance became embedded in ice while crossing Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. The video shot by underwater search vehicles shows painted timbers, an undamaged guardrail（护栏）and the name “Endurance” written above the five-pointed symbol of a polar star.

“I tell you, you would have to be made of stone not to feel a bit soft at the sight of that star and the name above,” Mensun Bound, the mission’s marine archaeologist, told the BBC. “You can see a porthole（舷窗）that is in Shackleton’s cabin. At that moment, you really do feel the breath of the great man upon the back of your neck.” Shackleton’s leadership was crucial to getting his men out alive. The reason why Shackleton is still applauded as a great man becomes obvious when you consider what he achieved in the face of disasters and hardships during his 1914-16 expedition. The practicality and humanity he showed in the face of severe situations was arguably praised.

1. What makes Endurance the most valuable shipwreck?

A．The treasure aboard.	B．Its inspiring stories.
C．Its undamaged guardrail.	D．The symbol of a polar star.

2. What can we infer from Mensun Bound’s words?

A．The floating ice is as hard as stones.

B．The well-preserved shipwreck is amazing.

C．The heroic deeds of Shackleton are touching.

D．The discovery of Endurance is challenging.

3. What is the text type of the passage?

A．A book review.	B．A news report.
C．A biography.	D．A travel journal.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

It is hard to give Western art a precise     1     (define). As there have been so many styles of Western art,     2     is impossible to describe them all in a short text. Perhaps the best way to understand Western art is to look at its development. During the Middle Ages, the main aim of painters was     3     (represent) religious themes. Their works were often primitive and two-dimensional. During the Renaissance, new ideas and values     4     (gradual) replaced old one     5     (hold) in the Middle Ages and painters adopted a more humanistic attitude     6     life. Some influential painters produced some of the greatest works that Europe had ever seen. With time going by, great changes took place in society,     7     (lead) to new painting styles. Then Impressionism emerged, during     8     Impressionists painted scenes of nature, daily life or people. After Impressionism is Modern Art. Some painters gave their paintings a     9     (reality) but dream-like quality while others turned to abstract art. Maybe, no one can predict     10     painting styles will be like in the future.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单问或括号内单词的正确形式。

When     1     new year rolls around, people set out to better themselves. They say they will lose weight, find a new job, learn something new, save more money, spend more quality time     2    family members or take that vacation they’ve always talked about. But why do we make these resolutions (决心) to ourselves at that time, and where     3    (do) this tradition come from? Why does this tradition live on when so many people fail     4     (keep) the resolutions they make? Well, we can start with the ancient Babylonians (巴比伦人).

Around 4, 000 years ago in Babylon, the earliest    5    (record) celebration of the coming of a new year was held. Calendars were     6    as they are today, so the Babylonians celebrated in late March during the     7     (one) new moon after the Spring Equinox (春分).

To this day, the traditions of the ancient Babylonians and Romans continue on around the world. Google launched a Resolution: Map in 2013,     8     people could add resolutions and see others adding theirs in real time. However, no matter how many people participated in Google’s project, the numbers are small when    9     comes to the amount of people who maintain their resolutions and only eight percent of people are     10    (success) in sticking them out.

8 .

The tracks found at New Mexico’s White Sands National Park are turning upside down past assumptions on when humans first came into North and South America. They look like they were left behind just moments ago by a barefoot teen visitor to New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, each footprint freshly defined (描出外形) by sand. But this is no tourist track. These footprints are among the oldest evidence of humans in the Americas, marking the latest addition to a growing body of evidence that challenges when and how people first got into this unexplored land.

According to the research team, the footprints were pressed into the mua near an ancient lake at White Sands between 21, 000 and 23, 000 years ago, a time when many scientists think that huge ice sheets walled off human passage into North America.

Exactly when humans populated the Americas has been heatedly debated for nearly a century, and until recently, many scientists insisted that this first occurred no earlier than 13, 000 years ago. A growing number of discoveries suggest people were in North and South America thousands of years before. These include the Monte Verde site in Chile that is as old as 18, 500 years and the Gault site in Texas that is up to 20,000 years old. But each find kicks up a firestorm of controversy among scientists.

While the White Sands discovery doesn’t close the book on these debates, it is stirring excitement. “A discovery like this is very close to finding the Holy Grail (圣杯),” says Ciprian Ardelean, an archacologist at the Chiquihuite Cave in Mexico, where researchers believe they have evidence for human activity in the Americas as early as 30,000 years ago.

If confirmed, the discovery of people in the Americas during the last glacial maximum (末次盛冰期)would require a major change in scientifie thinking about how people arrived in the New Werld.

1. What is the previous conclusion on the first arrivals of Americas?

A．Humans came into Americas about 23, 000 years ago.

B．Humans first appeared in Americas to explore the land.

C．Humans didn’t arrive in Americas until 13, 000 years ago.

D．Humans couldn’t enter Americas because of White Sands.

2. Why are the Monte Verde site in Chile and the Gault site in Texas mentioned?

A．To add evidence.	B．To introduce the background.
C．To give data.	D．To end the debate.

3. What does the underlined word “controversy” mean?

A．Excitement.

B．Argument.

C．Disagreement.

D．Interest.

4. What does Ciprian Ardelean think of the discovery in Paragraph 4?

A．Trustworthy.

B．Questionable.

C．Inspiring.

D．Disappointing.

5. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Humans populated the Americas for nearly one hundred years.

B．The tracks were found at New Mexico’s White Sands National Park.

C．The footprints are among the oldest evidence of humans in the Americas.

D．Surprising footprints push back human arrival in Americas by thousands of years.

9 . The pasty (馅饼) has been a recorded part of the British diet since the 13th century, at that time being enjoyed by the rich upper classes. The fillings were different and rich. It wasn’t until the 17th and 18th centuries that the pasty was popular among miners and farm workers in Cornwall as a means for providing themselves with easy and tasty meals while they worked. And so the Cornish pasty was born.

Traditionally, the pasty fillings are beef with potato, onion and swede! As meat was much more expensive in the 17th and 18th centuries, its presence was rare and so pasties traditionally included much more vegetables than today. The presence of carrot in a pasty, although common now, was the mark of a poor pasty at first.

Filling ideas are endless however, and can be as different as your taste will take you. There is much discussion as to whether the ingredients (原料) should be mixed together first or lined up on the pastry in a special order. However, there is agreement that the meat should be cut into pieces, the vegetables sliced and none should be cooked before they are sealed (密封) within the pastry. It is this that makes the Cornish pasty different from other similar foods.

It was such a commonly used method of eating amongst the miners that some mines had tools down the mineshafts (井筒) specifically to cook the pasties. If they were cooked in the mornings, the pastry could keep the fillings warm for 8-10 hours and, when held close to the body, keep the miners warm too. It was also common for the pasties to provide not only a main course lunch, but also a sweet or fruity dessert course. The salty filling would be cooked at one end of the pasty and the sweet course at the other end. Hopefully these ends would be marked on the outside too!

1. What do we know about the pasty in the 13th century?

A．It was enjoyed in Cornwall only.

B．It was popular among miners and farm workers.

C．It had few and simple fillings.

D．It was widely eaten by the rich upper classes.

2. If carrot was in a pasty in the 17th and 18th centuries, the pasty would ______.

A．be more expensive	B．be sold out very soon
C．be seen as one of bad quality	D．be made without other fillings

3. What is special about the Cornish pasty?

A．Its fillings can’t be very different.	B．Its ingredients should be mixed.
C．Its ingredients should be put in the correct order.	D．Its fillings shouldn’t be cooked before they are sealed.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To show how to make pasties.	B．To introduce the basic information of pasties.
C．To compare different pasties.	D．To encourage people to taste pasties.

10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Hanfu is the     1     (old) of China's traditional clothes. The main characteristic of Hanfu is the collar, which     2     (tie) with rope instead of buttons, giving people the impression of free and easy. These characteristics are obviously different     3     other ethnic costumes.

According to legend, it     4     (date) back to over 4, 000 years ago, when Lei Zu, Huangdi's wife, used silk     5     (make) cloth. It was constantly improved throughout several     6     (dynasty). Until the Han Dynasty, the Hanfu was adopted by the ruling class. It then became the     7     (nation) clothing of the Han ethnic people.

The ancient Hanfu culture is an important part of the ancient traditional culture,     8     has lasted for more than 3, 000 years and has     9     glorious history until the Ming Dynasty. It also had a far-reaching influence on neighboring Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Nowadays, Hanfu is     10     (rare) worn except on special occasions, such as festivals and weddings, or when young girls want to show off or take photos.