1 . 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。

The early 1400s was a glorious era in Chinese history. During this time, the Yongle Emperor wanted to develop     1     (harmony) relations with the overseas neighbors. So Zheng He, one of the most influential explorers,     2     (take) charge of the task. One of the states     3     (mention) in the historical records was Boni (present-day Brunei), a small kingdom in South-East Asia. There is     4     (prove) that China established very good relations with this state a long time ago: one of its kings was buried in Nanjing during the early Ming Dynasty, and there is a     5     (fascinate) legend about the king.

In 1405, on behalf of the emperor, Zheng He sailed the oceans     6     his first voyage. His fleet     7     (load) with gifts to the neighboring countries and regions. In 1407, he travelled to Boni,     8     strengthened the friendly relationship between     9     two countries. In the subsequent year, the King of Boni paid a friendly visit to China. He was accompanied by more than 150 people. The records show that the visitors were astonished by     10     rich and technologically advanced the Ming Dynasty was.

3 . 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 and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable 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 rare and 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 famous 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 such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so 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 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. Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?

A．The Britons got expensive tea from India.

B．Tea reached Britain from Holland.

C．The Britons were the first people in Europe who drank tea.

D．It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea.

2. What does this passage mainly discuss?

A．How tea-time was born in Holland.

B．The history of tea drinking in Britain.

C．How tea became a popular drink in France.

D．How the Britons got the habit of drinking afternoon tea.

3. When did tea become a popular drink in Britain?

A．In the eighteenth century.	B．In the sixteenth century.
C．In the seventeenth century.	D．In the late seventeenth century.

4. Why did people in Europe begin to drink tea with milk?

A．It tasted like milk.

B．It was good for health.

C．It became a popular drink.

D．They tried to copy the way Madame de Sevigne drank tea.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式.

China is known for its brilliant civilization that     1    （continue）since the ancient times despite the many ups and downs in its history. It is     2    （wide）accepted that one of the reasons has been the Chinese writing system.

Several thousand years ago written Chinese was only symbols     3    （carve）on animal bones or shells. During the Shang Dynasty, these symbols became a well-developed writing system in a     4    （vary）of forms. This, however, changed in Qin Dynasty. Emperor Qin Shihuang united the seven major states into one unified country     5     the Chinese writing system began to develop in one direction. That writing system was     6     great importance in uniting the Chinese people and culture.

Written Chinese also serves as a vital way     7    （connect）China's present with its past. People in modern times can learn about the ancient Chinese by reading their classic works or     8    （appreciate）Chinese calligraphy.

Today, with China playing     9     greater role in global affairs, the Chinese writing system has established     10    （it）as a window through which more and more international students can access China's culture and history.

5 . Dancing until you drop is a well­known saying, but would you really be able to dance until you dropped dead? In 1374, in some European towns, people did exactly that. They were struck by a dancing plague (瘟疫) that forced them to dance.

This phenomenon (现象) was reported to have happened throughout parts of Western Europe, affecting people from the 14th to the 17th century. Hardly stopping to eat or even sleep, they would dance, sometimes for days on end, making this one of the strangest sicknesses in Western history.

Over the next century, there were only a few outbreaks. However, in the summer of 1518, it reappeared in the city of Strasbourg, France. It all began with a woman called Mrs. Troffea, who started to dance crazily in the street.

She was soon joined by 34 people within a week; by the end of the month, the crowd had increased to 400, most of whom were women. Again, people were dancing until they could no longer continue, with some finally dying from heart attacks or exhaustion. One report shows that the plague was killing around 15 people per day.

As the plague worsened, concerned nobles (贵族) turned to the advice of local doctors, who said that the plague was a “natural disease” caused by “hot blood”. So the nobles encouraged more dancing.

The reason behind their actions was they believed the dancers could only recover if they danced continuously night and day. The nobles even paid for musicians to keep the moving.

Then, as before, it disappeared almost as suddenly as it had come.

While these events may sound highly unbelievable, there is clear written evidence that it did happen.

Now, historians and scientists are still trying to find out the true cause of this phenomenon.

1. What do we know about the plague?

A．It cost some people's lives.

B．It took place twice in history.

C．It affected people of all ages.

D．It stopped in the 16th century.

2. Why did the nobles encourage more dancing?

A．To see the hot blood.

B．To kill the dancing people.

C．To free people of the plague.

D．To prove the doctors' words.

3. How did the plague disappear?

A．For no reason.

B．With local doctors' help.

C．With Mrs. Troffea's help.

D．Because of some natural power.

4. What's the purpose of the text?

A．To show the history of dancing.

B．To introduce a well­known English saying.

C．To provide information on the dancing plague.

D．To explain the reason behind the dancing plague.

6 . 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。

It’s not often sunny in Paris, but people still love to walk along the banks of the Seine. They love the view of the city’s old    1    (building), especially Notre Dame Cathedral, with its fantastic spire(尖顶).

    2    , that view has been changed forever. On April 16, a fire     3     (destroy) the spire of the 850-year-old church, and two-thirds of the roof. Parisians were so shocked that they couldn’t help openly     4     (weep). Many citizens gathered around the giant church, praying for the hundreds of firefighters     5     fought the flames. For many in France, it’s not only a house of worship, a symbol of French culture, architecture and history.

It is no wonder that people felt sad. The cathedral,    6    (construct) in 1163, is home to many    7    (religion) paintings and sculptures. It is probably best known for its relation     8     the story of the Hunchback(驼背人) of Notre Dame. But its French Gothic Architecture remains the    9    (big) attraction for visitors from around the world.     10     (fortunate), its world-famous glass windows survived the fire. And French President has promised to rebuild the invaluable heritage.

7 . 课文内容填空

John Snow was a famous doctor in London —so    1    , indeed, that he attended Queen Victoria as her personal     2    . But he became inspired when he thought about helping ordinary people     3    to cholera.

First there was England. Wales was    4     to it in the thirteenth century.Now when people refer to England you find Wales    5    as well.Next England and Wales were joined to Scotland in the seventeenth century and the name was changed to “Great Britain”. Happily this was accomplished without    6     when King James of Scotland became King of England and Wales as well.

At first my new surroundings were difficult to    7    . The air seemed thin, as though its combination of gases had little oxygen     8    . Hit by a    9     of fresh air, my head ached. Just as I tried to make the necessary    10    to this new situation, Wang Ping appeared.

8 . 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。

In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea,     1     Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might     2     (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods and metal     3     (create) special designs.

The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots,     4     (use) twigs (树枝) to remove it. Over time,     5     the population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly.

Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which     6    (gradual) turned into chopsticks.

Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius,     7     lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced the     8     (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and     9     (be) too violent for use at the table.

Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat     10     their hands.

9 . The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.

The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.

1. Before Impressionism, the works of artists were ________.

A．quite abstract	B．very confusing
C．very detailed	D．quite controversial

2. Who first started Impressionism?

A．Claude Monet.	B．Edouard Manet.
C．Auguste Renoir.	D．Alfred Sisley.

3. The works of the Impressionists are best viewed ________.

A．with imagination	B．at a distance
C．outdoors	D．in a studio

4. The second paragraph is mainly about ________.

A．the painting style of the Impressionists

B．how to describe the Impressionist paintings

C．the influences of the Impressionist paintings

D．the subjects of the Impressionist paintings