2 . Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921,the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.

In the 1840s, the main crop, potatoes, were affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.

For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.

The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.

1. What does the author tell us in paragraph 1?

A．How the Irish fought against the English.	B．How Ireland gained independence.
C．How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.	D．How two “Irelands” came into being.

2. What can we learn about Ireland from the text?

A．Food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population.

B．People are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside.

C．It is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker.

D．Different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments.

3. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Life in Ireland	B．A Very Difficult History
C．Ireland, Past and Present	D．The Independence of Ireland

3 . 语法填空

What do the five Olympic signs on the flag represent?     1     is widely believed that the five-riing Olympic symbol was created by Frenchman Pierre De Coubertin in 1913. As the founder of the modern Olympic Games, he wanted     2    (celebrate) the 20the anniversary(周年纪念) of the Games and chose a design of five rings,     3     represented the five continents(洲) taking part in the Games. The rings     4    (become) the official Olympic symbol at the 1920 Games in Belgium.

Pierre de Coubertin thought that the five interlocking rings meant the five continents     5    (compete) in the Games and the meeting of their athletes at the Olympic games.     6    (actual) every part of the modern Olympic symbol and flag shows the main purpose of the Games in a particular way. The Olympic flag, with its familiar rings, is used as     7     international symbol of peace, unity and     8    (agree). The white background of the flag stands     9     peace and truth.

At the end of each Olympic Games, the mayor(市长) of the hosting city passes the Olympic fag to the mayor of the city where the next Olympics     10    (hold) for years later. The flag remains there until the next Olympics.

4 . The University of Sheffield

Back to its origin

The University of Sheffield is a research university in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original “red brick” universities, which are a group of top and famous old universities. The University of Sheffield was originally formed by the combination of three colleges. The Sheffield School of Medicine was founded in 1828, followed in 1879 by the opening of Firth College by Mark Firth, a steel manufacturer (制造商), to teach arts and science subjects. Firth College then helped to provide money for the opening of the Sheffield Technical School in 1884 to teach applied science. In 1897 the three institutions were joined together to form the University College of Sheffield, which in turn became the University of Sheffield by Royal Charter (特许) in 1905. This university is famous for its good education and boasts a number of Nobel Prize winners among its former students.

More information

System:   The University has five departments: Arts and Humanities; Engineering; Pure Science; Social Sciences;   Medicine,   Dentistry   and   Health.   Sheffield   also   has   many   research   programs   in   fields   including aerospace, environmental science, psychology, and biology.

City show: Sheffield is a lively city in the north of England. Sheffield is known as the greenest city in Europe because of its 2 million trees. As a result, there are many parks and woods throughout the city and beyond. Sheffield is the greenest city in England with 150 woodlands and 50 public parks within the city. Once, in Sheffield, the folk hero—Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest with 150 of his loyal friends. And Charlotte Bronte, the English writer noted for her novel Jane Eyre was born in Sheffield.

1. Sheffield is in the of England.

A．east	B．west
C．south	D．north

2. Which statement about the University of Sheffield is not TRUE?

A．It has a good fame for many great graduates.

B．It has a long history of more than 180 years.

C．It is one member of “red brick” universities.

D．It owns different departments and research programs.

3. What can we infer from the text?

A．Sheffield has very beautiful scenery.

B．Charlotte Bronte is an English writer.

C．Sheffield is the biggest city of England.

D．Robin Hood is a character in Jane Eyre.

5 . C
Napoleon, as a character in Tolstoy’sWar and Peace, is more than once described as having “fat little hands.’’ Nor does he “sit well or firmly on the horse.’’ He is said to be “undersized.’’ with“short legs’’ and a “round stomach”. The issue here is not the accuracy of Tolstoy’s description--it seems not that far off from historical accounts but his choice of facts：other things that could be said of the man are not said. We are meant to understand the difference of a warring commander in the body of a fat little Frenchman. Tolstoy’s Napoleon could be any man wandering in the streets and putting a little of powdered tobacco up his nose—and that is the point.
It is a way the novelist uses to show the moral nature of a character. And it turns out that, as Tolstoy has it, Napoleon is a crazy man. In a scene in Book Three ofWar and Peace, the wars having reached the critical year of 1812,Napoleon receives a representative from the Tsar(沙皇), who has come with peace terms. Napoleon is very angry：doesn’t he have more army? He, not the Tsar, is the one to make the terms. He will destroy all of Europe if his army is stopped. “That is what you will have gained by engaging me in the war!” he shouts. And then, Tolstoy writes, Napoleon “walked silently several times up and down the room, his fat shoulders moving quickly.’’
Still later, after reviewing his army amid cheering crowds, Napoleon invites the shaken Russian to dinner. “He raised his hand to the Russian’s…face,” Tolstoy writes, and “taking him by the ear pulled it gently….” To have one’s ear pulled by the Emperor was considered the greatest honor and mark of favor at the French court. “Well, well, why don’t you say anything?’’ said he, as if it was ridiculous in his presence to respect any one but himself, Napoleon.
Tolstoy did his research, but the composition is his own.
1. Tolstoy’s description of Napoleon in War and Peaceis _________.

A．far from the historical facts	B．based on the Russian history
C．based on his selection of facts	D．not related to historical details

2. Napoleon was angry when receiving the Russian representative because _________.

A．he thought he should be the one to make the peace terms

B．the Tsar's peace terms were hard to accept

C．the Russians stopped his military movement

D．he didn’t have any more army to fight with

3. What did Napoleon expect the Russian representative to do?

A．To walk out of the room in anger.	B．To show agreement with him.
C．To say something about the Tsar.	D．To express his admiration.

4. Tolstoy intended to present Napoleon as a man who is _________.

A．ill-mannered in dealing with foreign guests	B．fond of showing off his iron will
C．determined in destroying all of Europe	D．crazy for power and respect

5. What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

A．A writer doesn’t have to be faithful to his findings.

B．A writer may write about a hero in his own way.

C．A writer may not be responsible for what he writes.

D．A writer has hardly any freedom to show his feelings.

6 . The Chinese invented paper in 105 A. D. They mixed the bark of a tree and rags (破布) with water, put a screen into the mixture, and lifted out a thin piece of wet paper. They dried the paper in the sun.
The Chinese kept their secret of how to make paper until a war with Muslims in the ninth century. The art of papermaking soon spread throughout the Muslim world.
The Mayan Indians in Central America and Pacific Islanders also discovered how to make paper, but their knowledge never spread to the rest of the world.
For centuries, all paper was made by hand. Rags were the main material. Then a French scientist discovered that people could make paper from wood, too. Finally, in the eighteenth century. a Frenchman invented a machine to make paper from wood.
1. Who discovered how to make paper?

A．The Chinese.	B．The Pacific Islanders.
C．The Mayan Indians.	D．All of the above.

2. When did the Chinese invent paper according to the passage?

A．About 1 ,800 years ago.

B．About 1, 900 years ago.

C．About 2, 000 years ago.

D．About 2, 100 years ago.

3. How was papermaking introduced into the rest of the world from China?

A．Through wars.

B．Through the Muslims.

C．Through the Mayan Indians.

D．Through the Pacific Islanders.

4. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A．The Invention of Paper.

B．The History of Papermaking.

C．Different Ways of Making Paper.

D．The Invention of a Papermaking Machine.