At 3:42 am on July 28, 1976, one of the most dangerous earthquakes of the 20th century took place in Tangshan. The world seemed to come to
However, another big quake shook Tangshan again later that afternoon
Shortly after the earthquake, soldiers were sent there to dig out those trapped
Zhoukoudian is a small village lying about 50 kilometers to the southwest of Beijing City. In the 1920s, archaeologists discovered some prehistoric human bones there, which changed people’s view of China’s history. They came from
In 1929, a complete skull(颅骨)
Zhoukoudian was listed
The Great Wall
As a symbol of ancient Chinese civilization, the Great Wall is one of the world’s oldest and most magnificent (壮丽的) man-made scenes,
The Great Wall was
Because its
The Great Wall is a place steeped in history and has much
The Chinese couplet (对联) refers to two poetic lines obeying certain rules, often written on red paper for
As a form of Chinese literature, the couplet
Chinese couplets originated in the Five Dynasties, and
It was said that the
The couplet has two equal-length lines. However,
5 . A new four-legged whale species was recently discovered by a team of researchers in Egypt. The fossil which was encased in a tomb of rock dates back to over 43 million years ago!
This ancient creature had four functional legs, so it could dwell on both land and in water. Ironically, Egypt’s Fayum Depression, the desert where the fossil was discovered, was an ocean millions of years ago.
Researchers believe this fossil is an example from an era when land animals were adapting to marine life. Modern whales evolved from deer-like land mammals (哺乳动物) over the course of millions of years, and this unique whale could travel across land and swim in the ocean.
The new species is named Phiomicetus Anubis because the whale’s skull (颅骨) resembles the Egyptian jackal-headed god of death, Anubis. Scientists have also been able to recover the whale’s partial skeleton (骨骼). They inferred that the ancient whale was about three meters in length and weighed 1,300 pounds. The mammal had a long mouthful of teeth, which indicated that it fed on smaller mammals and other sea life.
After analyzing the remains at Mansoura University in the Nile River Delta, scientists supposed that P. Anubis is the oldest semi-aquatic whale species found in Africa. Although the fossil itself was discovered thirteen years ago, researchers just completed the analysis and made the exciting announcement of a new species. Other whale fossils with legs have been found before, but the P. Anubis is the earliest, of its kind found in Africa.
1. Where did the researchers find the fossil?| A．In the India Ocean. | B．On the Rock Islands. |
| C．In the Fayum Depression. | D．In the Nile River Delta. |
| A．Its weight. | B．Its length. | C．Its teeth. | D．Its legs. |
| A．The study of Phiomicetus Anubis is time-consuming. |
| B．The analysis of Phiomicetus Anubis has a long way to go. |
| C．Phiomicetus Anubis is the oldest mammal found in Africa. |
| D．Phiomicetus Anubis is the world’s largest semi-aquatic whale species. |
| A．A whale that could travel across land |
| B．A new species that was named by Anubis |
| C．An announcement that made the world excited |
| D．A modern creature that evolved from deer-like land mammals |
6 . When it comes to the history of snow skiing, there is the early history and the modern history. The modern history is tied to the Scandinavian countries. Scandinavian farmers and hunters used skis regularly during the Middle Ages. By the 17th century, the Swedish Amy was competing (竞争) on skis and using them for battle purposes as well.
The history of skiing is complicated (复杂的), and there’s no telling no how many people had their hands in the development of skis over the years. Interestingly enough, skis were used in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the gold rush, and downhill races were organized by mining camps. By the late 1800s, people all over the world were experimenting with skis and using them for all kinds of purposes.
In 1888, for example, a Norwegian man named Frigidity Nansen crossed Greenland on skis. Nansen kept a journal of this trip, and when this journal was published in 1890, it brought great interest in skiing in both Europe and the United States. This is one of the most important moments in the history of snow skiing.
The history of skiing sees the activity, or sport if you prefer, really taking off around the tur of the 20th century. People started taking on all kinds of skiing challenges in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the technology continued to get better. The first package ski vacations were offered in and around 1903.
The Winter Olympics only helped the sport become popular. In 1932, both ski jumping and cross-country skiing were events that were featured in the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. After first featuring as a demonstration (演示) sport a the 1988 Calgary Games, freestyle skiing was introduced to the Winter Olympic programme in 1992. There were 13 events in freestyle skiing at Beijing 2022.
1. Why are the Scandinavian countries mentioned in Paragraph 1?| A．To give an example. | B．To explain the sports. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To put forward an argument. |
| A．The development of skis. | B．The experiment with gold. |
| C．The history of Greenland. | D．The story of a mining camp. |
| A．A long battle. | B．A Norwegian’s wisdom. |
| C．The gold rush. | D．The publication of a journal. |
| A．In 1888. | B．In the 1600s |
| C．In and around 1903. | D．In the 1800s. |
| A．Freestyle skiing | B．Ski jumping |
| C．Cross-county skiing | D．Downhill races. |
In the 1950s, the Egyptian government wanted to build a new dam across the Nile
A committee
8 . English family names or surnames as we know today weren’t widely used until the Norman conquest (征服)of 1066. Before that time there weren’t enough people to make it necessary to use anything other than a single name.
Occupational(职业性的)Surnames.
Descriptive Surnames. Based on a unique quality or physical characteristic of the individual, descriptive surnames often developed from nicknames. Most refer to an individual’s appearance, like size, color or physical shape, for example, Little or Armstrong.
Geographical Surnames. These are names coming from the location of the land in which the first bearer and his family lived, and are generally the most common origin of English surnames. They were first introduced into England by the Normans, many of whom were known by the name of their personal lands.
Other local surnames are from descriptive landscape features such as hills and woods which describe the land where the bearer lives.
| A．As the country’s population grew, |
| B．As a person entered under one surname, |
| C．A rare name can tell you the family’s origin. |
| D．This is the origin of surnames such as Hill and Bush. |
| E．They may also refer to an individual’s personal character. |
| F．Many English surnames developed from a person’s job or trade. |
| G．Thus, many English surnames developed from the name of an actual town or county. |
Eight years ago, several Chinese businessmen traveled to the Bolaven Plateau of Laos. One business said in surprise, “Look! Those aging tea trees
The natural conditions in Laos are very
Due to the Belt and Road Initiative, Laos has received a lot of investment (投资) from China, which has created
China is w
At the b
