BEAUTIFUL IRELAND AND ITS TRADITIONS
Ireland has beautiful countryside, which has always had a great influence
The early 1400s
In 1405, on behalf of the emperor, Zheng He sailed the oceans
The Yellow Crane Tower is one of the Four Great Towers of China.
Each morning, amateur
The over-2,000-year-old canal that Cui
Along the canal’s 75-km section
The Amber Room was
So it served as a small reception hall for
It was completed in 1770 and was considered one of the wonders of the world. But after September 1941, when the two countries were
6 . You may think you couldn’t live through summer without air conditioning. But in ancient China, hand fans were almost the only way to drive the heat away.
Chinese people started to use hand fans over 2, 000 years ago. The fans came in different shapes and were made from all kinds of materials. Palm leaf fans were cheap and easy to make. Feather fans marked the owner’s high status. Sandalwood fans could send out a sweet smell. Later, hand fans became far more than just something that could cool you down. They developed into works of art, in which Tuanshan-round fans, and Zheshan-folded fans, were the most common. In the shape of a fullmoon, Tuanshan were usually made of silk. They had beautiful embroidery (刺绣) featuring birds and flowers on them. Women, especially those in the royal palace, liked to use them. Poets in ancient China often compared an abandoned (被抛弃的) woman to Tuanshan. A poet in the Qing Dynasty, Nalan Xingde was a typical example. He wrote, “If only life were as beautiful as when we first met, why should the autumn wind bother to pity deserted painted fans?”
Meanwhile, men, especially the literati (文人), used Zheshan. The literati liked them because Zheshan were usually made of paper and they could paint and write poems on them. It was a way for them to show off their skills in literature, painting and calligraphy (书法). Many things were painted on Zheshan, but the most popular choice was usually beautiful scenery.
Today, Chinese people still use these fans, though not many people write or paint on them any more. This summer, why not paint one of your own?
1. Which fans could show a person’s social position?| A．Hand fans. | B．Palm leaf fans. | C．Feather fans. | D．Sandalwood fans. |
| A．An abandoned woman. | B．A woman with a Tuanshan. |
| C．A woman with a Zheshan. | D．A woman in the royal palace. |
| A．They were folded fans. | B．They came in different shapes. |
| C．They had birds and flowers on them. | D．They gave them chances to show the talent. |
| A．A diary. | B．A dictionary. | C．A fairy tale. | D．A magazine. |
7 . The United States is a country of immigrants. It is a place where people from all over the world come to build a better life. Some immigrants bring their families. Some bring a few of their favorite things. Others come alone with nothing but determination. One thing that every immigrant brings with them is their culture.
American immigration began in 1607 with the colony of Jamestown. In 1620, another group of people left England to build a settlement in America. They wanted to go to a place where they could practice their religion freely. Then many more people left their homes in Europe to build a better life in America. Many also came to America from Africa. By 1770, more than two million people had moved to America. Later on, more people came to the United States than ever before.
In cities all over America, you can see different cultures that formed this country. Many things that you may think of as being “American” are actually from a foreign culture. Some of the best examples of this are the foods people eat. Pizza and spaghetti are foods that all Americans know and love. But both of them are from Italy. Baseball is an all-American sport. But the hot dogs that people eat during the game are a type of food that was brought to America by German immigrants.
Over time, pizza and hot dogs have become a part of what is considered to be American food. In the same way, different groups of people have come together to define what an American is. An American can be a person of any background. An American can be of any faith . An American can be of any skin color. They can speak English clearly. They can speak English with an accent. Each new immigrant adds something new to American culture. It will keep changing as more people come to this country.
1. Why do many foreigners move to America ?| A．To achieve individual dreams |
| B．To avoid political punishment |
| C．To improve the life quality |
| D．To reunite with the beloved ones |
| A．the history of American immigration |
| B．why people chose to move to America |
| C．the rapid growth of the population of America |
| D．what immigrants have brought to America |
| A．they have a long history in America |
| B．they are very popular with Americans |
| C．America is a country full of tasty foods |
| D．America is made up of different cultures |
| A．simple | B．strange |
| C．diverse | D．advanced |
| A．Immigrants and their American dreams |
| B．America: a melting pot of cultures |
| C．America: a land of opportunity |
| D．Life in the US: culture shock |
8 . Along with silk and paper,gunpowder is another invention by Chinese and the Silk Road helped it spread to the West. The dating of gunpowder is as early as 850 AD. The Chinese used gunpowder to make fireworks and for signal flares. Gunpowder was also thought to have been used in medicine and in alchemy(炼金术). This invention seems to have been discovered in China by accident —by alchemists when doing experiments.
The gunpowder used for military purpose was first recorded in 919 AD. By the 11th century,explosive bombs filled with gunpowder were introduced and used in China. The words “fire cannon” “rocket” and “fireball” appeared time and again in the official Song history as well as two other books written during the same period.
The first detailed description of using the “fire cannon” in warfare was in connection with a battle fought in 1126 when the Song army used it against the invading enemy. The so-called “ fire cannon” was a tube made of bamboo filled with gunpowder which, when fired, threw a flaming missile towards the enemy. According to a description of a battle scene in 1132, it took two persons to carry a “fire cannon”, and the cannons were fired from a moving platform. And this platform had to be moved close to the wall of the besieged(被围攻的) city.
Gunpowder reached Japan, the Islamic countries and then Europe in the 13th century, and the Arabs improved gunpowder for military use. The early account of gunpowder in Europe was recorded by English philosopher Roger Bacon in the 13th century. One century later the Arabs used it to attack the Spanish town Baza and the next year in 1326 Florence ordered the manufacturing of cannon and cannon balls. From Italy the making of gunpowder soon spread to other European countries, and by the 1350s it had become an effective weapon on the battlefield.
1. Gunpowder was discovered _________.| A．by alchemists when they had an accident |
| B．by alchemists after studying it for a long time |
| C．accidentally by alchemists |
| D．experimentally by alchemists |
| A．Convenient. | B．Heavy. |
| C．Useless. | D．Simple. |
| A．“fire cannons” at early times would be less helpful if they were far away from the object |
| B．alchemists devoted themselves to the study of gunpowder |
| C．the Silk Road spread to the West because of the invention of gunpowder |
| D．the first detailed description of using “fire cannons” in warfare was in 1132 |
| A．Powerful Fire Cannons | B．Four Inventions of Ancient China |
| C．The Discovery of the Alchemy | D．Gunpowder |
9 . History tells us that footwear was one of the first things ancient people learned to make. Footwear helped them across rocky paths or hot sands without injuring themselves. The earliest footwear we know of was simply a piece of plaited (编织的) grass or leather tied to the feet.
The ancient Egyptians seem to have invented the first footwear with a firm sole (鞋底) — sandals. Egyptian royalty usually wore sandals that had a different style from those with lower status (身份), while slaves were not allowed to wear anything on their feet. The sandal is still the basic form of footwear in many countries, particularly those with a hot climate, whereas in cold climates, an entirely different type of shoe appeared — the moccasin — a slipper-shaped shoe made of soft but strong leather.
The Greeks were the first to develop shoes with heels (鞋跟). Then, in the Middle Ages, shoes with long points at the toe became very chic for the nobility. These shoes were often very difficult to wear. Other trends followed, with square-toed shoes, wide shoes, and even shoes that could make a woman stand two feet taller. Not surprisingly, these sometimes led to accidents. Even today, fashion rather than comfort often leads to the kind of shoes women wear.
Mechanical shoemaking appeared in the 1800s in North America. Until then, shoes had been made with the same kinds of hand tools used by the ancient Egyptians. And in 1858, a machine was invented that could stitch (缝合) the sole of a shoe to the upper part. Now it was possible to make shoes that were shaped to fit either the left or right foot. Toward the end of the 1800s came a new type of shoe that was specifically designed for sports — the sneaker — and it soon become an all-time favorite.
1. What did shoes often show in ancient times?| A．The rich resources. | B．People's different beliefs. |
| C．People's status in society. | D．The changeable climates. |
| A．Valuable. | B．Convenient. |
| C．Fashionable. | D．Comfortable. |
| A．shoes were often very difficult for people to wear. |
| B．all the shoe patterns made by the Greeks were the same. |
| C．the only function of footwear was to protect people's feet. |
| D．people wore the same-shaped shoes on their two feet |
| A．By providing examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following the order of time. | D．By following the order of importance. |
For many centuries, people used windmills to grind (磨碎) wheat into flour or pump water from deep underground. When electricity was discovered in the late 1800s, people living in remote areas began to use them to produce electricity. This allowed them to have electric lights and radios. However, by the 1940s when electricity was available to people in almost all areas of the United States, windmills were rarely used.
During the 1970s, people started becoming concerned about the pollution that is created when coal and gas are burned to produce electricity. People realized that the supply of coal and gas would not last forever. Then, wind was rediscovered, though it means higher costs. Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind.
1. From the text we know that windmills _______.| A．were invented by European armies |
| B．have a history of more than 2,800 years |
| C．have rarely been used since electricity was discovered |
| D．used to supply power to radio in remote area |
| A．making something cleaner |
| B．making something flow freely |
| C．making something flow in a particular direction |
| D．making something into small parts |
| A．it is one of the oldest power sources |
| B．wind power is cleaner |
| C．it was cheaper to create energy from wind |
| D．coal and gas failed to meet the needs |
| A．The global trend towards producing power from wind. |
| B．The design of wind power plants. |
| C．The worldwide movement to save energy. |
| D．The advantages of wind power. |
