1 . If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like “Shakespeare” “Samuel Johnson” and “Webster”, but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn’t even speak English-William the Conqueror.
Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups. In the west-central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic. In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon or Old English, a Germanic language. If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German.
But this state of affairs did not last. In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction (区别) between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating. When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more “foreign” than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one man’s ambition.
1. What language did people in Britain mainly speak before 1066?| A．Celtic and Old English. | B．Nordic and Germanic. |
| C．Welsh and Scottish. | D．Anglo-Saxon and Germanic. |
| A．By teaching people in Britain to speak English. |
| B．By defeating the Saxons and ruling the whole England. |
| C．By bringing French to Britain to greatly influence English. |
| D．By speaking good English to show that they were upper-class. |
| A．They know French better than German. |
| B．They know little history of the English people. |
| C．In France most of the advertisements appear in English. |
| D．There are more similarities between English and French. |
| A．The history of Great Britain. |
| B．The French effects on the English language. |
| C．The differences between English and French. |
| D．The great people who had effects on English. |
2 . Valencia is in the east part of Spain. It has a port on the sea, two miles away on the coast. It is the capital of a province that is also named Valencia.
The city is a market centre for what is produced by the land around the city. Most of the city’s money is made from farming. It is also a busy business city, with ships, railways, clothes and machine factories.
Valencia has an old part with white buildings, coloured roofs, and narrow streets. The modern part has long, wide streets and new buildings. Valencia is well known for its parks and gardens. It has many old churches and museums. The university in the centre of the city was built in the 13th century.
The city of Valencia has been known since the 2nd century. In the 8th century it was the capital of Spain. There is also an important city in Venezuela (委内瑞拉) named Valencia.
1. From the text, how many places have the name Valencia?| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．2nd century. | B．8th century. | C．13th century. | D．20th century. |
| A．Its seaport. | B．Its university. | C．Its churches and museums. | D．Its parks and gardens. |
| A．markets | B．business | C．factories | D．farming |
3 . Following the Famous Silk Roads
The Silk Roads were a network of ancient trade routes that extended from East Asia all the way to the Mediterranean. A key section of the Silk Roads is the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor（走廊）, which stretches over a distance of around 5,000 kilometres through China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, covering a total of 8,700 kilometres of trade routes. The three countries jointly pursued an application for UNESCO World Heritage (遗产) status which contained detailed research on the 33 sites along the corridor. This made history as the first successful multinational World Heritage application.
The starting point of the corridor and the entire Silk Roads network is Xi’an, in Shanxi Province. Further west on the Silk Roads, the geography gradually changes from wild deserts to high, snow-capped mountains to vast grasslands as the routes pass through the Tianshan Mountains and emerge in the valleys of Central Asia. Although the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Roads ends here, the network continues westwards until it reaches the Mediterranean.
The corridor began to develop in the 2nd century. Assigned by the emperor, the ambassador Zhang Qian journeyed from Chang’an to Central Asia, seeking to build bridges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. Following Zhang’s efforts, trade routes took shape and relationships were strengthened between the major powers of the time, with the routes network reaching as far as the Roman Empire.
Economic activities along the routes network were not limited to trade in silk. They contributed many other items to the marketplace of goods. The routes were busy with camels carrying loads of goods and businessmen selling everything imaginable. China’s exports included silk, porcelain, ironware and tea, while horses, jewellery, spices and grapes were all imported over vast distances from the West.
In addition to trade exchange, the network served as a bridge for cultural exchange which shaped the evolution of science, art, technology and many other areas in societies along the network. Astronomy and mathematics were introduced to China from India and Arabia; important Chinese inventions such as papermaking and printing were brought to the West.
All of these activities contributed to a great age of expansion as trade and cultural exchanges gave people access to new goods, knowledge and ideas. These routes connected Eastern and Western civilizations, which achieved a shared development. The addition of the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor to the UNESCO World Heritage List is a milestone in recognition of the Silk Roads as a crucial part of humanity’s common heritage.
1. The key section of the Silk Roads is________.| A．the Mediterranean | B．Xi’an, in Shanxi Province |
| C．Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan | D．the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor |
| A．stands | B．spreads | C．moves | D．flies |
| A．export silk, porcelain, ironware and tea |
| B．purchase horses, jewellery, spices and grapes |
| C．seek help from the most powerful western countries |
| D．build bridges between his country and other countries |
| A．It helped to change the wild deserts to grasslands. |
| B．It was recognized by the UNESCO as China’s heritage. |
| C．It speeded up the development of the countries involved. |
| D．It started a trade competition between countries along the way. |
A terrible fire began to burn at France’s world-famous Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (巴黎圣母院)
Notre-Dame
One man said, “Notre-Dame
5 . Argentina in the late nineteenth century was an exciting place.Around 1870,it was experiencing an economic(经济的)boom,and the capital,Buenos Aires,attracted many people.Farmers,as well as a flood of foreigners from Spain and Italy,came to Buenos Aires seeking jobs.These jobs didn’t pay well,and the people felt lonely and disappointed with their new life in the city.As the unhappy newcomers mixed together in the poor parts of the city,the dance known as the tango(探戈舞) came into being.
At the beginning the tango was a dance of the lower classes.It was danced in the bars and streets.At that time there were many fewer women than men,so if a man didn’t want to be left out,his only choice was to dance with another man so that he could attract the attention of the few available women.Gradually,the dance spread into the upper classes of Argentinean society and became more respectable.
In Europe at this time,strong interest in dance from around the world was beginning.This interest in international dance was especially evident in Paris.Every kind of dance from ballet(芭蕾舞) to belly dancing could be found on the stages of the Paris theaters.After tango dancers from Argentina arrived in Europe,they began to draw the interest of the public as they performed their exciting dance in cafes.Though not everyone approved of the new dance,saying it was a little too shocking,the dance did find enough supporters to make it popular.
The popularity(流行) of the tango continued to grow in many other parts of the world.Soldiers who returned to the United States from World War Ⅰ brought the tango to North America.It reached Japan in 1926,and in 2003 the Argentinean embassy in Seoul hired a local tango dancer to act as a kind of dance ambassador,and promote tango dancing throughout South Korea.
1. The origin of the tango is associated with .| A．belly dancers |
| B．American soldiers |
| C．a Spanish city |
| D．the capital of Argentina |
| A．It was created by foreigners from Spain and Italy. |
| B．People of the upper classes loved the tango most. |
| C．It was often danced by two males in the beginning. |
| D．A dancer in Seoul became the Argentinean ambassador. |
| A．America | B．Japan |
| C．France | D．South Korea |
| A．How to Dance the Tango |
| B．The History of the Tango |
| C．How to Promote the Tango |
| D．The Modern Tango Boom |
As settlers moved to California
Where there has been coffee, there has been the coffeehouse. From the 15th century Middle Eastern establishments where men gathered to listen to music, play chess, and hear recitations from works of literature, to Paris' Cafe le Procope where luminaries of the French Enlightenment such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot came to enjoy a hot cup of joe, coffeehouses have traditionally served as centers of social interaction, places where people can come to relax, chat, and exchange ideas.
The modern coffee shop is modeled on the espresso and pastry-centered Italian coffeehouses that arose with the establishment of Italian-American immigrant communities in major US cities such as New York City's Little Italy and Greenwich Village, Boston's North End, and San Francisco's North Beach. New York coffee shops were often frequented by the Beats in the 1950's. It wasn't long before Seattle and other parts of the Pacific Northwest were developing coffee shops as part of a thriving counterculture scene. The Seattle-based Starbucks took this model and brought it into mainstream culture.
Although coffeehouses today continue to serve their traditional purpose as lively social hubs in many communities, they have noticeably adapted to the times. Rediscovering their purpose as centers of information exchange and communication, many coffee shops now provide their customers with internet access and newspapers. It has become extremely common to see someone sitting at a Starbucks listening to music or surfing the web on his or her laptop. Coffee stores today also maintain a fairly identifiable, yet unique aesthetic: wooden furniture and plush couches, paintings and murals drawn on walls, and soft-lighting combine to give coffee shops the cozy feeling of a home away from home.
Today, big business retail coffee shops are expanding quickly all over the world. Starbucks alone has stores in over 40 countries and plans to add more. Despite its popularity, Starbucks has been criticized and labeled by many as a blood-sucking corporate machine, driving smaller coffee shops out of business through unfair practices. This has even spawned an anti-corporate coffee counterculture, with those subscribing to this culture boycotting big business coffee chains. Increasingly popular coffee stores such as The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf are also giving Starbucks some stiff competition. In any case, it seems pretty clear that coffee has weaved itself into the fabric of our consumer-oriented culture.
1. Which of the following is the correct order of coffee spreading in history?
①Egypt ②America ③the Middle East ④Netherlands ⑤Venice
| A．①③④②⑤ | B．③①⑤④② | C．①⑤④③② | D．③②⑤④① |
| A．Starbucks has beaten all the competitors |
| B．there are no changes in the development of coffee culture |
| C．the taste of coffee has changed a lot |
| D．Starbucks has some effect on the development of coffee culture |
| A．Seattle | B．Ethiopia | C．Java | D．France |
| A．play chess with other customers |
| B．enjoy delicious dishes from South America |
| C．surf the internet |
| D．watch a TV play |
It was 270 B.C. when St. Valentine stood up for love, after Roman Emperor Claudius II forbade Roman soldiers to get engaged or married, believing that married men would rather stay at home than go to war. The priest named Valentine, in defiance (对抗) of Claudius’ orders, secretly married young couples, and on Feb. 14, was punished for his “crime”, thereby becoming the patron saint (守护神) of lovers.
Besides this story, there are some old beliefs about this day:
During the Middle Ages, Europeans believed that birds chose their mates each year on Feb. 14.
Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin fly overhead on Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor; if she saw a sparrow, she’d marry a millionaire.
If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will know how many children you will have.
And some charming Valentine’s Day Customs.
In Wales, wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on Feb. 14.
Heart, keys and keyholes were favorite decorations, which meant “you unlock my heart!”
In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They’d wear these names on their sleeves for one week—hence the term “to wear your heart on your sleeve”.
1. According to the story, Valentine was originally the name of a ________.
| A．lover | B．priest |
| C．ruler | D．feast |
| A．married soldiers are not loyal to the country |
| B．married soldiers are less willing to fight |
| C．there was no time for soldiers to get married |
| D．marriage is a crime |
| A．He didn’t join the army. |
| B．He helped people escape from being sent to the battle field. |
| C．He married couples despite the prohibition from the ruler. |
| D．He openly defied the ruler’s order to end his marriage. |
| A．Feb. 14 and 15 were originally a time for keeping wolves. |
| B．People used to believe that birds chose mates on Valentine’s Day. |
| C．People believed that the birds they saw on Valentine’s Day predicted what kind of person they would marry. |
| D．The Welsh used to give out wooden spoons on Feb.14. |
| A．openly express your feelings or emotions to others. |
| B．hardly take your feelings or emotions very seriously. |
| C．officially announce that you have been married |
| D．proudly show your choice of sleeve pattern |
