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。

No discussion about Chinese culture is complete without mentioning of the Great Wall. It is one of the most amazing     1    (structure) in the entire world. Through more than 2,000 years from the     2    (seven) century BC to the 16th century AD, 19 Dynasties built parts of the Great Wall,     3    (add) up to over 100,000 kilometers. It prevented northern people on horseback     4     attacking people in the south.

The hardships involved in building the Great Wall are beyond     5    (imagine). A Chinese idiom     6    (vivid) expresses the Great Wall, “Efforts joined by many can build the Great Wall.”

Over the centuries, the Great Wall    7    (become) a symbol of strength for the Chinese people. For example, the national anthem, composed by Nie Er,     8    (call) on the people to “build our new Great Wall with our flesh and blood.”

The well-preserved sections we see today were mainly built during the Ming Dynasty (1368

—1644), among    9    the most popular are around Beijing, including Badaling, Mutianyu, Juyongguan, and Simatai. A day tour or     10     long hike along the Great Wall allows you to travel back in time to feel the thousands of years’ changes and the ethos (精神风貌) of the ancient Kingdom of China.

2 . A huge fire broke out on 2 September 1666 in London. The fire, known as the Great Fire of London, was the worst fire in the history of London. It burned down more than three quarters of the old city.

The fire started in the very early hours of Sunday morning in the house of the king’s baker. A strong wind blew the fire from the baker’s house into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

At that time, most of the buildings in London were made of wood, so it was easy for the fire to spread quickly. By eight o’clock, three hundred houses were on fire. By Monday, nearly a kilometre of the city was burning along the Thames River. On Tuesday, which was considered the worst day, the fire destroyed many well-known buildings, including the old St Paul’s Cathedral.

The fire burned until finally hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire were destroyed to create a firebreak. The fire then died out eventually with nothing left to burn.

1. Why is the fire of 1666 called the Great Fire of London?

A．The fire broke out in the capital of England.

B．The fire was the worst fire in the history of London.

C．People in England will never forget the fire.

D．The fire spread fast into Thames Street.

2. Where did the fire break out?

A．In the house of the king’s baker.

B．In Thames Street.

C．In the house of the baker’s neighbour.

D．In St Paul’s Cathedral.

3. Why did the fire spread quickly?

A．It started in a baker’s house.

B．It broke out on a Sunday morning.

C．A hotel was next to the baker’s house.

D．Most of the buildings in London were wooden.

4. What was destroyed in the fire?

A．The old St Paul’s Cathedral.

B．Hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire.

C．Hundreds of wooden houses.

D．All of the above.

3 . Over the course of more than 250 years, the US Postal Service has gone through many changes, including switching its focus from newspapers to package delivery service.

In the early 1830s, the Postal Service focused on delivering newspapers to keep Americans informed and connected. To keep newspaper subscriptions cheap and accessible, the Postal Service charged high prices for letter postage as much as a full-day’s wages. In order to help the expansion of the passenger transportation network in the new nation, the agency often shared the letter delivery with stagecoach lines. Later, it did the same for private steamboats and railroads, even airlines

But the competition for the letter delivery became so fierce that a wave of laws between 1845 and 1851 made the Postal Service the only letter-carrier and set aside an annual budget to support the agency. Helped by lowered rates, letters soon became the agency’s main business.

In 1863, the Postal Service began to experiment with home delivery, instead of just carrying letters from post office to post office. By the dawn of the 20th century, even remote farmers’ letters were dropped into their mailboxes. Since then, home delivery has become a “universal public service (UPS)” that every American deserves to receive at a low price.

By the early 20th century, the Postal Service had set a four-pound limit on mail: Anything heavier was supposed to be left to private companies. But the four largest private carriers secretly cooperated to charge confusing and often terribly high rates. In 1913, the Postal Service eventually took the parcel (包裹) service away from the private carriers.

Now the Postal Service’s only growing business is package delivery fed by the online shopping addictions. Since it is required by law to visit every household six days a week, the Postal Service now offers cheap rates to private companies like Amazon and FedEx to deliver their goods to our doorsteps. However, most Americans think that it is unfair to use taxpayer’s money to help such big private companies to deliver their goods.

1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?

A．Letter delivery was once a very profitable business.

B．The US was well connected by airlines in the 1820s.

C．The Postal Service charged high prices for newspapers.

D．In the 1830s. Americans had free access to newspapers.

2. What was the Postal Service’s main business in the 1850s?

A．Goods transportation.	B．Letter delivery.
C．Newspaper subscriptions.	D．Parcel services.

3. Why is it unfair for private companies to use the Postal Service to deliver their goods?

A．The private companies often charge terribly high rates.

B．The online-shoppers cannot receive their parcels on time.

C．The Postal Service usually leaves parcels in the local post offices.

D．The “UPS” is originally designed for non-commercial home delivery.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Problems of the US Postal Service

B．The Postal Service’s Roles in the US History

C．A Brief History of the US Postal Service

D．The Main Functions of the US Postal Service