3 . Don’t say “Cheese”, make a V!

V-sign is a common sight in informal, fun photos of people. It’s a gesture that says “I feel happy. Things are okay. Life is good. ”     1    

In the West, the V-sign has an association with Winston Churchill. Churchill flashed the sign to stand for “Victory” to boost the confidence and cheerfulness of the British during World War II. This gave us the impressive gesture that is now known all around the world.

In Asia, the V-sign first became popular in Japan in the 1970s and quickly spread to China and South Korea.     2     The first concerns an ice skater named Janet Lynn. Lynn competed at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Japan and was a huge hit with the Japanese viewers. She suffered an embarrassing fall during one of her routines but she remained smiling throughout.     3     Off the rink（溜冰场）, Lynn often flashed the V-sign to photographers. It’s thought that Lynn’s popularity at this time sparked the Japanese love of the V-sign.

The second theory was put forward by Japanese entertainment show Downtown DX which discovered that a popular actor named Jun Inoue starred in a series of commercials for Konica cameras, also in 1972.     4     In doing so, it is believed Jun Inoue started the trend of making the V-sign when posing for photographs in Japan.

    5     It’s all down to the ice skater who fell on her butt or a 1970s camera commercial. Probably.

A．Do you like to make a V-sign when taking a photo?

B．There are two theories as to why it became so popular.

C．These commercials all featured people making the V-sign.

D．Studies show that Chinese like this gesture more than others.

E．But have you ever wondered why it is popular to make a V-sign?

F．So there you have it, that’s how the whole V-sign thing started in Japan.

G．Thus, her positive spirit made her popular in a country of Olympic fever.

4 . 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，并将答案填写在答题卡上。

According to legend, Wan Hu, a Chinese astronaut, was crazy about the stars and had a rather bold (大胆的) plan to get     1     (he) closer to them. He set out to become the world’s first astronaut. Picking up on China’s then developed technology in rocketry, he took up the task of building a spaceship.

Wan Hu’s pioneering spacecraft     2     (build) around a strong chair, two kites and forty-seven of the largest gunpowder- filled rockets.     3     the launch day, Wan Hu strapped (用绳子系) himself in the chair and called upon his forty-seven servants, each armed with a flaming torch,     4     ( light) the forty-seven fuses (导火线).

Their job done, the servants speedily ran to a safe     5     (distant) and waited nervously.     6     came next was a loud noise. When the smoke eventually cleared, Wan Hu, the Chinese astronaut, and his chair were nowhere to be seen. Whether Wan Hu     7     (actual) made it or not has never been made clear.

Despite (尽管) the fact     8     the story is considered untrue by some people today, Wan Hu found his place in Chinese popular culture.

At the beginning of the 21st century, China finally launched a man into space and turned Wan Hu’s centuries-old dream into     9     (real). In 2003, Yang Liwei was launched aboard Shenzhou 5,     10     (become) the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program.

5 . If you happened to find yourself in 17th-century Naples, you were in for a rough time. The Plague (瘟疫) of 1656 was in full swing. If you were one of the unlucky ones to come down with the disease, a visit from the plague doctor may have been in your future.

The plague doctors’ uniform didn’t exactly inspire a sense of calm. They wore a head-to-toe leather overcoat paired with leather gloves, boots, and a wide-brimmed hat. The whole outfit was modeled after a soldier’s suit of armor (盔甲). Fitting, when you consider that far more people died of plague than combat in the 17th century.

By far the most frightening part of the costume was the long-beaked mask, which marks an important moment in the history of the medical mask. The mask had thick glasses and two small holes in the beak (喙). The beak, stuffed with straw and aromatic herbs, was developed by the French medical doctor Charles de Lorme. It was among the first face coverings designed to reduce the spread of illness. Charles de Lorme developed the beaked mask based upon the theory of miasma (瘴气), an idea dating back to ancient Greece. The theory held that bad smells like that from rotting animal bodies or food, caused disease.

People in the 18th century understood that breathing in certain airborne particles and dust could be harmful. This eventually led Prussian mining official Alexander von Humboldt to invent a miners’ respirator in 1799.

Throughout the 19th century, doctors continued to go without masks while workers in factories were encouraged to use them to help filter (过滤) particle-ridden air. In an Irish flax-spinning factory, workers were said to have worn a “crape mask”. But when the British physician and writer Benjamin Ward Richardson visited the factory, he did not see a mask in sight. “Science…is conquered by free will,” he wrote, noting that until people “realize its usefulness”, the face mask “will have to wait”. And so, the face mask waited.

1. What was a plague doctor’s uniform like in 17th-century Naples?

A．Light and casual.	B．Soft and stylish.
C．Clumsy and scary.	D．Lasting and convenient.

2. What gave Charles de Lorme inspiration for his beaked mask?

A．A medical herb.	B．An ancient theory.
C．A soldier’s armor.	D．A Greek philosopher.

3. What can we know about the face mask in the 19th century?

A．Its value was not fully recognized.	B．It became popular with the doctors.
C．It was widely used in mines and factories.	D．It was not effective due to its poor quality.

4. How is the text mainly developed?

A．By listing examples.	B．By following space order.
C．By following time order.	D．By making comparisons.

7 . 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。

Perhaps the most exotic fruits in China, the lychee is not only full of flavour and nutrition, but it’s also full of history.

Low in calories and rich in fibre, lychees are     1    (extreme) delicious and juicy. Legend has it that, Yang Yuhuan, one of the “Four Beauties of ancient China ”,     2    (adore) lychee so much that the Emperor had couriers ride night and day to bring her the sweet treat from Guangdong,     3     is 1,900 kilometres away from her home in the capital.

Today, lychees are available across the globe, making     4     easier for lychee lovers to obtain their favourite fruit. The king of China’s exotic fruits remains as popular as it was in Yang Yuhuan’s day, being consumed in greater     5    (quantity) worldwide every year.

    6    (globe) production of the fruit has nearly doubled over the past 15 years – most of it in China. As the world’s     7    (big) producer of the fruit, China accounts     8     more than 60 % the global output, Guangdong ranking first in the country. Advanced technology enables producers     9    (store) longer and ship over greater distances. The growers,     10    (include) the producers in Guangdong, see many new markets to conquer.

10 . 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 Great Wall of the ancient Qi State,the oldest    1    (exist) Great Wall in China, stretches across Shandong for more than 600 kilometers. It    2    (build) during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

“Historical records say the Qi State built the wall here to defend itself    3    its enemies, as well as to stop flooding    4    (effective),” says An Xingzhu, who worked at the town’s culture station for more than three decades. A key task of the station is    5    (protect) cultural relics.

In the 1970s，parts of the rammed earth wall(夯土墙)were dug out and used by farmers for their land, but since the early 1990s, the local government    6    (start) to take measures to protect the wall.

Rapid development and    7    (construct) have brought many new problems and challenges in protecting the wall.    8    is necessary to provide a solid legal guarantee for its conservation. To tackle the challenges, Shandong Province has passed a regulation protecting the structure    9    will take effect on Jan. 1.

It states that local governments will establish a dynamic conservation system using remote sensing satellites, drones, information platforms and other technological    10    (mean) to monitor the Great Wall.