1 . The history of the school bus can date back to 1886 when the Wayne Works company made horse-drawn carriages (四轮马车) known as “ school wagons” or “kid hacks” in Indiana.     1    

In the early 1900s, the car industry was beginning to develop fast.    2     The company managed to make its carriages powered by engines. But the design remained mostly the same as that of the previous ones, with students sitting along the walls of the bus while facing inside.

In 1927, a man built the first bus that primarily used steel. Before long, Wayne Works introduced the first all-steel school bus body with safety glass windows.     3     This led to a turning point in the history of the school bus in 1939, when a conference was organised at Manhattan College to develop school bus standards.

Many new national standards were created, determining everything from seating designs to the famous yellow color that school buses still sport today. The reason why the color was chosen was simple.     4    The color is especially easy to see in the early morning and evening light when school buses usually operate.

    5     For example, a variety of changes have been made to enable the school bus to not only be safer but also have better fuel (燃料) economy, be easier to drive, etc. The most creative approach among all of these is probably a kind of stop signal arm that warns traffic of a stop in progress, which states began to require in the early 1950s.

A．Horses were easy to control.

B．Not all chose to paint their buses yellow.

C．Yellow is quite eye-catching to human beings.

D．Before then, many children simply walked to school.

E．Now, school buses have had many more improvements.

F．Still, parents were increasingly concerned for children’s safety.

G．This gave Wayne Works a great opportunity to improve its carriages.

2 . 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。

In China, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, or “loong,” as is known in Chinese. This creature appears on many cultural artifacts     1     (pass) down through Chinese history.

Unlike Western dragons,     2     are often depicted as aggressive, fire-breathing, flying lizards, Chinese loongs     3     (traditional) symbolize strong and favourable powers. In Chinese mythology ( 神 话 ), the loong is credited with ensuring a good harvest. The unique appearance of the Chinese loong distinguishes it    4     its Western counterparts.

For thousands of years, the Chinese have respected the loong,     5     (believe) that they can bring harmony and prosperity. According to Chinese mythology, the Yan Emperor’s mother had seen a loong just before she was pregnant and soon the Yan Emperor       6       (bear). So the Chinese regard the Yan Emperor as their forefather, and they sometimes refer to     7       (they) as “descendants of the loong (龙的传人).”

At a historical site in Liaoning Province, a stone sculpture of a loong was discovered in 1994.       8       (measure) 19.70 meters in length, the sculpture       9       (date) back to more than 7,600 years ago. The idiom “龙年大吉” means “good luck in the year of the loong.” We wish all of us       10       happy and lucky Chinese New Year!

3 . 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。

Paper-making is a reflection of ancient Chinese wisdom,     1     (regard) as one of the Four Great Inventions of China. Among various types of paper in China, Xuan paper, traditionally handmade in Xuancheng, Anhui province, is famous for its close association    2    Chinese calligraphy and ink paintings.

The     3    (early) mention of Xuan paper is in On Famous Paintings Through History, a book by a scholar from the Tang Dynasty. It listed many characteristics of Xuan paper, like its stability, its durability and its    4    (resist) to insects. Yet     5    positioned it as an ideal medium for calligraphy and painting is its capacity to display various ink shades. Such are the features of the Xuan paper    6    it has gained favor among artists and calligraphers across generations.

With the growing popularity of Xuan paper in recent years, the industry has expanded     7    (dramatic) in Anhui. Last year, large quantities of Xuan paper, to be precise, about 500 metric tons,     8    (produce) in Xuancheng,     9     engaged more than 30, 000 local people in the industry. Currently, the local government is building a Xuan paper cultural park and a Xuan paper town    10     (develop) cultural tourism.

7 . Thatbyinnyu (达宾纽佛塔) is the tallest pagoda in Bagan, with seven storeys and a history of over 800 years. Over the course of hundreds of years, it has been _________ by time. Despite the constant prayers, the pagoda must still face the _________ of time. In 2016, a(n) _________ occurred in central Myanmar (缅甸) and hundreds of pagodas and Buddha statues were damaged. Thatbyinnyu was among the most seriously affected.

A team of _________ professionals from China are busily working with their Myanmar counterparts shortly after the earthquake. They must complete the reinforcement of the pagodas before the _________ season arrives. In Bagan, craftsmen hold on to the techniques passed down from generation to generation when _________ pagodas. Original local materials are used and all work is done by _________. All materials must be transported manually to the third storey of the pagoda. In order to avoid friction (摩擦) of the supporting steel pipes against the ground or the walls of the pagoda, the construction team must lay wooden boards on the third and fourth storeys. Moving a piece of board is a test of _________ and care.

The rainy season is approaching. Two days ago, the roof of the pagoda began to _________ after heavy rain. The construction team must identify the most suitable material quickly to __________ the external cracks on the roof of the pagoda to prevent new leakage. The restoration team carried out experiments using lime, sand, and Bagan’s __________ red brick powder in different proportions. In the end, they found the combination with the best overall __________ in terms of water absorption and strength. After more than a month of non-stop work, the team of Chinese and Myanmar professionals finally completes the emergency reinforcement of the Thatbyinnyu __________ the arrival of the rainy season.

Once the rainy season is over, China’s __________ to Myanmar to fully repair the Thatbyinnyu Pagoda will __________ start. This project may last for nine years.

1.

A．protected

B．restored

C．weathered

D．recognized

2.

A．damage

B．length

C．abuse

D．facilitation

3.

A．flood

B．drought

C．eruption

D．earthquake

4.

A．revision

B．restoration

C．review

D．redesign

5.

A．rainy

B．windy

C．snowy

D．dry

6.

A．painting

B．stimulating

C．repairing

D．composing

7.

A．machine

B．crane

C．equipment

D．hand

8.

A．passion

B．patience

C．inspiration

D．refreshment

9.

A．leak

B．crack

C．collapse

D．break

10.

A．copy

B．seal

C．narrow

D．examine

11.

A．big

B．tiny

C．cheap

D．local

12.

A．shape

B．formation

C．performance

D．design

13.

A．beyond

B．before

C．behind

D．after

14.

A．application

B．appreciation

C．assistance

D．appointment

15.

A．informally

B．initially

C．primarily

D．officially

8 . 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。

In 432 B.C., as the cities of Athens and Sparta    1    (battle) in a war, a deadly illness swept through Athens,    2    (strike) fear and panic into her citizens. The disease reached Athens via the port city of Piraeus and spread throughout Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, killing almost a third of its population, even the great leader then, 66-year-old Pericles    3    (include). It seemed the only thing for the citizens to do was    4    they had to wait to die.

    5    (protect) the people of Athens, when the pandemic just broke out, Pericles ordered the Athenians to move within the city’s newly built ‘long walls’, but it was when the real nightmare began. This gave the disease the perfect conditions    6    the pandemic could more quickly infect more of the Athenian population.

In the history Of Greece, the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who fell victim to the disease and survived, wrote that “people in good health were attacked    7    (severe) all of a sudden by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, the inward parts, such as the throat or tongue, becoming bloody and emitted an unnatural and fetid breath”. Despite    8    (write) evidence of the disease, its cause is still unknown. Possibilities might be    9    we call typhoid fever and Ebola nowadays.

Months later, the disease finally became less intense and for a brief period the Athenians were relieved, but it would strike twice more, forcing Athens to yield to Sparta in 404 BCE and ending Athens’ rule in ancient Greece. The history of mankind    10     (consist) of plenty of battles of fighting against epidemics, which can change history itself in turn.

9 . The discovery of the ruined palace in the Mosul Dam reservoir on the banks of the Tigris River inspired an archeological dig that would improve understanding of the Mittani Empire, one of the least-researched empires of the ancient Near East, a team of German researchers said. “The find is one of the most important archeological discoveries in the region in recent decades,” Kurdish archeologist(考古学家) Hasan Qasim said.

The palace would have originally stood just 65 feet from the river on a terrace(梯田). A terrace wall of mud bricks was later added to make the building stable. Ivana Puljiz, an archeologist from the University of Tübingen’s Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies, describes the palace, known as Kemune, as a carefully designed building with mud-brick walls up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) thick.

The team also found wall paintings in shades of red and blue, which were probably a common feature of palaces at the time but have rarely been found preserved. “Discovering wall paintings in Kemune is an archeological sensation,” Puljiz said in a press release, “Kemune is only the second site in the region where wall paintings of the Mittani period have been discovered.”

Ten clay tablets covered in cuneiform, an ancient system of writing, were also discovered and have been sent to Germany for translation. “From the texts we hope to gain information on the inner structure of the Mitani Empire, its economic organization, and the relationship of the Mittani capital with the administrative centers in the neighboring regions,” Puljiz added.

Archeologists first became aware of the site in 2010 when water levels in the reservoir were low, but this is the first time they have been able to dig. However, the site was submerged(淹没) shortly after the dig, Puljiz said, adding“It is unclear when it will come out of water again”.

1. The function of the archeological dig is to ________.

A．attract people to travel to the Tigris River

B．help people know the Mittani Empire better

C．show ways of rebuilding the Mosul Dam reservoir

D．provide some clues about research on the Near East

2. Why was the mud-brick terrace wall built later?

A．To make the palace firmly built.	B．To offer tourists a place for rest.
C．To give tourists a good view.	D．To make the building better designed

3. What can we infer from Puljiz’s words in paragraph 3?

A．Kemune is different from any other palace.

B．Wall paintings were an important discovery.

C．Kemune is famous for its special wall paintings

D．Wall paintings were first discovered in the Mittani Empire.

4. What made the dig difficult for archeologists?

A．Translating the cuneiform into English	B．Knowing relationships between regions.
C．Waiting for the water level to drop.	D．Understanding the structure of the empire.