2 . A new exhibition in Paris aims to show how England in the middle ages was very much part of Europe’s dynamic art, architectural, trade and culture scene between AD1000 and AD1500.

Organizers said the event would discredit the “popular perception” – mainly across the Channel – that medieval England was “primitive and barbaric”, while France and parts of Europe enjoyed a gothic zenith.

James Robinson, the exhibition curator, said there had been a “reassessment” of England’s contribution to European art in the middle ages over the past half a century. “I’d like to blow apart the popular perception that the middle ages were all about pestilence(plague), the Black Death and religious repression, and demonstrate the artistic and technical excellence that was evident ,” he said. “When you look at the art works in this exhibition you will see some of the true masterpieces of the age.”

Unfortunately, while France and other European countries largely preserved their medieval treasures, England’s artistic heritage was “systematically and ruthlessly decimated” by the 16th -century Reformation and the revolution led by Oliver Cromwell in the 1640s. The English Reformation , after Henry VIII wrested the Church of England away from the authority of the Catholic church in Rome, saw the king’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, close down the monasteries, confiscating their riches and in many cases dismantling the buildings.“All things of value were spoiled, plucked away or utterly defaced…and it seemed every person was intent upon filching and spoiling what he could, ” wrote Michael Sherbrook, the 16th-century rector of Wickersley near Roche Abbey in South Yorkshire .

Among the exhibits at the Paris exhibition that opens on Friday are rare treasures that escaped the 16th- and 17th -century pillage and destruction, including the Gloucester Candlestick, the Becket Casket, the Clare Chasuble, the Luck of Edenhall and the Syon Cope. Marie Lavandier, the president of France’s National Monuments Centre, said:“The exhibition highlights the extraordinary richness of the artistic exchanges that united England with continental Europe. At this moment when we are interrogating ourselves about our relationship with Europe, what the exhibition is also demonstrating is that we have always been closely tied to it in terms of commerce and diplomatic relationships.”

1. What’s the popular perception of England in the middle ages?

A．England was the centre of the medieval culture

B．England enjoyed the top level in gothic art

C．England lagged far behind France and other parts of Europe in art

D．England had the advanced and first-rate architecture then

2. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “decimated” in paragraph 4?

A．refreshed

B．replicated

C．promoted

D．undermined

3. From Michael Sherbrook’s comment we can learn that__________

A．Destructions were plotted by France and other European countries

B．Artistic treasures suffered huge loss under the Church of England

C．He was totally astonished about what happened

D．The Catholic church should be responsible for the whole event

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The chaos medieval age of England

B．The Paris exhibition dispels myth of “primitive” England in middle ages

C．How to enjoy a new exhibition in Paris

D．An introduction to artistic exchanges in England

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

English spelling is ridiculous. Sew and new don’t rhyme. Kernel and colonel     1    . The English spelling system, if you can even call it a system, is full of this kind of thing. Most people     2    (raise) with whatever language learn to read and write it to a very high level of accuracy.

Admittedly, for a non-native speaker, precise mastery usually involves a great deal of confusion and frustration. Part of the problem is that English spelling looks deceptively similar to other languages that use the same alphabet but in a much     3    (consistent) way.

English began its return as a written language in the 14th century. Over generations, it had crept back in among the nobility, as well as the clergy,     4     French and Latin were still the languages of educated and official pursuits.

Some spellings got entrenched this way, by     5    (print) over and over again in widely distributed texts, very early on. The word ghost, which had been spelled and pronounced in Old English, took on the ‘gh’ spelling     6     the influence of Flemish-trained compositors. It was such a commonly encountered word in English text, particularly in the phrase holy ghost and other translations of Latin,     7     it just began to look more common.

Other spellings     8    (arise), and were then cemented through the power exerted by the visual shape of similar words. The existence of ‘would’ and ‘should’, for example, brought about the spelling of ‘could’. There was no explicit intention     9    (make) them look the same, but the frequency of their appearance nudged (推动) them toward ending up that way.

Had the Norman invasion not interrupted the literary tradition of Old English, we might have ended up with a similar situation — old English would have continued to be the basis of the writing tradition that would have later been set into type. Instead, we had     10     number of parts moving and changing independently from each other.

4 . Exhibition of the week

Charles II : Art & Power

Queen’s Gallery, London SW1 (0303-123 7300, www.royalcollection.org.uk), Until 13 May.

Charles II had the misfortune to be in a time “loaded with a rare tonnage of national botheration”, said Waldemar Januszczak in The Sunday Times. His father Charles, of course, “paid the price for his royalty” when he died in 1649. Arguably Charles II, who regained the throne (王位) in 1660, occupied “an even hotter seat”. He was well aware that he might suffer the same fate as his father. Yet, as this “uplifting” new exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery reveals, Charles was a “brilliant operator who played his moves like a chess grand-master” — and who used art to glorify the monarchy (君主制) and to justify his rule. The exhibition bring together a wealth of paintings, drawings and furniture he inherited or collected over the course of his “remarkably successful reign (统治)”. The result is a “grand” celebration of “a king who brought gaiety back to his nation”.

Art certainly played a “vital” role in establishing the Restoration, said Laura Cumming in the Observer. Prints in the exhibition show Charles “effortlessly” calming a horse or offering his “healing touch to the sick”. The Shropshire oak in which he famously hid from the Round-heads after the Battle of Worcester can be seen again and again. Most “striking” of all is John Michael Wright’s painting, which is so big that the viewer is “just about on kissing level with the royal feet”. But the show has an inherent flaw, said Nancy Durrant in the Times. On climbing up to the throne, Charles found that most of his father’s vast art collection had been sold off by Oliver Cromwell, and he set about securing its return. While this ambitious initiative was “effective” in England, it worked less well in recovering the masterpieces that were sold overseas — and their absence is disappointing once you learn what was lost.

Nevertheless Charles added some marvelous art to the Royal collection, said Jonathan Jones in the Guardian. There are many fine British works in this show — notably Peter Lely’s painting of a royal mistress, Louise de Kerouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. However, the “drop-dead highlights” of Charles’s collection come from abroad: they include Lorenzo Lotto’s “intensely atmospheric” 1527 portrait of Andrea Odoni, and the hundreds of “amazing” drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, four of which are on show here. What an “absorbing” exhibition this is.

1. According to the passage, Charles II ________.

A．suffered the same fate as his father, Charles I

B．ruled the nation in an incomparably fierce way

C．was one of the greatest chess players in history

D．started his reign while the nation was in trouble

2. According paragraph 3, the “inherent flaw” refers to the fact that ________.

A．Charles II brought most of his father’s vast art collections abroad

B．visitors will feel disappointed to see what is on show in the exhibition

C．Oliver Cromwell wasn’t able to recover the masterpieces he once sold

D．the exhibition fails to include some masterpieces sold overseas in history

3. Which of the following statements is true of the exhibition?

A．It is most famous for its local collections.

B．It shows how art was used to restore the nation.

C．It excludes what Charles II collected in his reign.

D．It includes hundreds of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci.

5 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．She wants to find a topic for her research.	B．She tries to help the man with his paper.
C．She hopes to learn how to write a paper.	D．She plans to work on a similar topic.

2.

A．In 1813.

B．In 1826.

C．In 1839.

D．In 1856.

3.

A．They are mainly grown for the domestic market.

B．They were the first plant to be planted in England.

C．They were introduced to China from Australia.

D．They are kept warm in large plastic houses.

4.

A．Growth of domestic economy in Australia.	B．Export and import of bananas in Australia.
C．History of banana cultivation in Australia.	D．Role of agriculture in Australian economy.

6 . Around 7,000 B.C. (during the Neolithic period), some hunters and gatherers began to rely chiefly on agriculture for their life. Indeed, agriculture itself evolved over the course of time and Neolithic peoples had long known how to grow crops. The real transformation of human life occurred when huge numbers of people began to rely primarily and permanently on the grain they grew and the animals they domesticated.

Agriculture made possible a more stable and secure life. With it Neolithic peoples developed, starting an energetic, creative time. They were responsible for many fundamental inventions and innovations that the modern world takes for granted. First is systematic agriculture – the reliance of Neolithic peoples on agriculture as their primary, not merely additional, source of food.

Thus they developed the primary economic activity of the entire ancient world and the basis of all modern life. With the settled routine of Neolithic farmers came the evolution of towns and eventually cities. Neolithic farmers usually raised more food than they could consume, and their surpluses permitted larger, healthier populations. Population growth in turn created an even greater reliance on settled farming, as only systematic agriculture could sustain the increased numbers of people. Since surpluses of food could also be traded for other goods, the Neolithic time witnessed the beginnings of large-scale exchange of goods. With the increasing complexity of Neolithic societies, writing emerged with the need to keep records and later by the urge to record experiences, learning, and beliefs.

The change to settled life also had a deep impact on the family. The shared needs and pressures that encourage extended-family ties are less urgent in settled than in nomadic (游牧的) societies. Ties to the extended family weakened. In towns and cities, the nuclear family was more dependent on its immediate neighbors than on distant relatives.

1. The passage talks mainly about ____________.

A．why many human societies depend on agriculture

B．what changes agriculture brought to human life

C．how Neolithic peoples discovered agriculture

D．why the first agricultural societies failed

2. With agriculture, Neolithic people no longer needed to ____________.

A．move from one place to another

B．exchange goods with others

C．domesticate wild animals

D．worry about their safety

3. “Their surpluses” (in paragraph 3) refer to ____________.

A．the amount of food they had to consume

B．the more food they produced than needed

C．the extent to which they relied on agriculture

D．the increase in population agriculture brought about

4. According to the passage, how did the shift to agricultural societies impact people’s family?

A．Family members began to work together to raise food

B．Immediate neighbors often became family members

C．The extended family became less important

D．The nuclear family became self-sufficient

7 . The concept of planning entire communities before their construction is an ancient one. In fact, one of the earliest such cities on record is Miletus, Greece, which was built in the 4th century BC. Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance various planned communities (both theoretical and actual) were conceived (构思). Leonardo da Vinci designed several cities that were never constructed. Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, the architect Christopher Wren created a new master plan for the city, combining park land and urban space. Several 18th century cities, including Washington D.C., New York City, and St Petersburg, Russia, were built according to comprehensive planning.

One of the most important planned city concepts, the Garden City Movement, arose in the latter part of the 19th century as a reaction to the pollution and crowding of the Industrial Revolution. In 1898, Ebenezer Howard published the book To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path for Real Reform in which he laid out his ideas concerning the creation of new economically sustainable towns. Howard believed that these towns should be limited in size and density, and surrounded with a belt of undeveloped land. The idea gained enough attention and financial backing to lead to the creation of Letchworth, in Hertfordshire, England. This was the first such 'Garden City'. After the First World War, the second town built following Howard's ideas, Welwvn Garden City, was constructed.

In the early 1920s, American architects Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, inspired by Howard's ideas and the success of Letchworth and Welwyn, created the city of Radbum, New Jersey. Conceived as a community which would be safe for children, Radbum was intentionally designed so that the residents would not require automobiles. Several urban planning designs were pioneered at Radbum that would influence later planned communities, including the separation of pedestrians and vehicles, and the use of 'superblocks', each of which shared 23 acres of commonly held parkland.

In America, following the stock market crash of 1929, there was great demand for both affordable housing and employment for workers who had lost their jobs. In direct response to this, in 1935 President Roosevelt created the Resettlement Administration, which brought about a total of three greenbelt towns: Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio; and Greendale, Wisconsin. These towns contained many of the elements of the Garden City Movement developments, including the use of superblocks and a 'green belt' of undeveloped land surrounding the community.

1. The first paragraph talks mainly about ________.

A．famous urban planners	B．the history of urban planning
C．the future examples of urban planning	D．problem associated with urban planning

2. What can be learned about the Garden City Movement from the second paragraph?

A．It came just before the Industrial Revolution.

B．It was held back by a war and a lack of funds.

C．It resulted in cities that were larger than they had been before.

D．It was designed to address problems caused by modernization.

3. What was one aim in designing the city of Radbum?

A．To reduce the danger for families living in the area.

B．To create something totally different from cities elsewhere.

C．To make sure people could park their cars close to their home.

D．To increase green spaces by designing houses with gardens.

4. What do the towns of Greenbelt, Greenhills and Greendale all have in common?

A．Their residents were affected by the stock market collapse.

B．They were built for the wealthiest people in America.

C．They were each surrounded by natural parkland.

D．They were all constructed in the same year.

8 . Chemists in mid-1500s Nuremburg had discovered that bird droppings were a rich source of saltpetre, a vital ingredient in the making of gunpowder. As a consequence pigeon droppings used to be almost as valuable as silver. Understandably, by the middle of the following century, there were an estimated 26,000 pigeon houses in Britain.

The practice of keeping the pigeon was introduced to Britain by the Romans. The Normans kept pigeons in specially constructed niches in castles and courtyards. When the pigeon houses in Britain were built, they were a vital source of meat and feathers. The latter were particularly prized as a source of warmth. Droppings gathered from the pigeon houses was a rich fertilizer, too.

The pigeon house was not only a source of food and revenue in medieval times, but also a status symbol. The privilege of building or owning pigeon houses was reserved for the rich. Towards the end of her rule, Queen Elizabeth I decided to open pigeon-breeding to the free market. Then, pigeon houses sprang up all over the countryside.

The number of pigeon houses across the British countryside was not universally welcomed. Each day the birds flew off to feed themselves on other people’s crops. By the middle of the 17th century, the problem of pigeons was so great that people feared that the destructive pigeons would turn England into a desert.

Luckily, an agricultural revolutionary, Charles Townsend, had introduced the turnip to Britain around 1700, keeping farm livestock fat enough to eat through the dark winter months. Later, vast quantities of natural saltpetre were discovered in Chile and California. Keeping pigeons went out of fashion.

Now, the homeless pigeons flew off to find somewhere else to live. One species discovered that Britain’s rapidly growing towns and cities were full of the sort of rock-faces they liked to rest on—humans called them “buildings”. Over time they’d become the wild urban pigeon that we know today.

1. Which of the following people in Britain would be least likely to keep pigeons in the late Middle Ages?

A．Fruit growers.

B．The nobles.

C．Gunpowder makers.

D．The miners.

2. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Farm livestock used to be too thin for lack of food in the dark months in Britain.

B．Townsend revolutionized agricultural development in Britain around 1700.

C．The Normans set an undesirable example of raising pigeons for the British people.

D．England was once faced with the threat of disappearance because of pigeons.

3. According to the passage, why are there so many pigeons in the cities in Britain today?

A．Because people think it a sign of status and keep them to show off.

B．Because pigeons like to stay on hard surfaces which can be abundantly found in cities.

C．Because pigeons find enough food supplies when tourists and citizens feed them in squares.

D．Because the government encourages pigeon raising as a profitable investment.

4. Which is the best title of the passage?

A．A brief history of pigeon houses in Britain.

B．From function to fashion — the pigeon houses in Britain.

C．Profitable pigeon houses in Britain.

D．Pigeon houses in Britain as valuable as silver.

9 . “Universal history, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here,” wrote the Victorian sage Thomas Carlyle. Well, not any more it is not.

Suddenly, Britain looks to have fallen out with its favourite historical form. This could be no more than a passing literary craze, but it also points to a broader truth about how we now approach the past: less concerned with learning from forefathers and more interested in feeling their pain. Today, we want empathy, not inspiration.

From the earliest days of the Renaissance, the writing of history meant recounting the exemplary lives of great men. In 1337, Petrarch began work on his rambling writing De Viris Illustribus (On Famous Men), highlighting the virtus (or virtue) of classical heroes. Petrarch celebrated their greatness in conquering fortune and rising to the top. This was the biographical tradition which Niccolo Machiavelli turned on its head. In The Prince, he championed cunning, ruthlessness, and boldness, rather than virtue, mercy and justice, as the skills of successful leaders.

Over time, the attributes of greatness shifted. The Romantics commemorated the leading painters and authors of their day, stressing the uniqueness of the artist’s personal experience rather than public glory. By contrast, the Victorian author Samual Smiles wrote Self-Help as a catalogue of the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explores. “The valuable examples which they furnish of the power of self-help, if patient purpose, resolute working and steadfast integrity, issuing in the formulation of truly noble and many character, exhibit,” wrote Smiles. “what it is in the power of each to accomplish for himself.” His biographies of James Walt, Richard Arkwright and Josiah Wedgwood were held up as beacons to guide the working man through his difficult life.

This was all a bit bourgeois (庸俗的) for Thomas Carlyle, who focused his biographies on the truly heroic lives of Martin Luther, Oliver Cromwell and Napoleon Bonaparte. These epochal figures represented lives hard to imitate, but to be acknowledged as possessing higher authority than mere mortals.

Not everyone was convinced by such bombast (浮夸的描写): “The history of all existing society is the history of class struggle” wrote Marx and Engels in The Communist Manifesto. “It is man, real living man, who does all that.” And history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.

This was the tradition which revolutionized our appreciation of the past. It transformed the public history: downstairs became just as fascinating as upstairs. In place of Thomas Carlyle, Britain nurtured Christopher Hill, EP Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. Whole new realms of understanding—from gender to race to cultural studies—were opened up as scholars unpicked the diversity of lost societies.

1. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．History is no more than a pressing literary craze.

B．History should be the story of some epochal heroes.

C．History is a guide through a tough life for working men.

D．History should be inspirational rather than empathetic.

2. According to the article, ______ dismissed virtues as unnecessary for successful rulers.

A．Petrarch	B．Samuel Smiles
C．Thomas Carlyle	D．Niccolo Machiavelli

3. According to the article, Marx and Engels ______.

A．emphasized the virtues of real living men

B．stressed the uniqueness of personal experiences

C．focused on the worthy lives of truly heroic people

D．held that it is the people who make their own history

4. What can we infer from the article?

A．How people appreciate the past has never changed.

B．History from below stood alongside biographies of great men.

C．New realms of understanding great men in history were opened up.

D．Christopher Hill, EP Thompson, and Eric Hobsbaw m were Victorian sages.