2 . 阅读下列短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

There are several names for Britain: Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the UK. The official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.     1     large number of people call the country “England”, but this is not correct. England is only one part of the UK. However, it is the     2     (large) part in the UK. There are four “countries” in the UK — England, Scotland, Wales     3     Northern Ireland.     4     (be) an independent country, the Republic of Ireland (or Eire) isn’t part of the UK.

London is the capital of the UK, as well as England, but all the other countries have their own smaller capital       5     (city), too.

Until 1603, Scotland and England were separate countries with their own monarchs (国王)   and parliaments (国会). In that year, however, the English queen, Elizabeth I,     6     (die). She had no children, so James VI, the King of Scotland, became King James I of England. In 1999, Scotland got its own parliament again,     7     can make laws about some things.

The English king, Edward I, conquered Wales in the 13th century. Many people in Wales,     8     (especial) in the north, speak Welsh as their first language and all children must learn Welsh at school. In some schools, other subjects     9     (teach) in Welsh, too.

Elizabeth I’s armies conquered Ireland in the 16th century and it later became part of the United Kingdom. There were a lot of problems in Ireland in the 19th century and thousands of people moved to the USA. In the 1920s, the south achieved     10     (independent), but Northern Ireland is still part of the UK.

5 . Discoveries at the famous Sanxingdui ruins in Southwest China show that the region’s ancient Shu Kingdom Civilization shared similarities with the Maya.

The Sanxingdui ruins belonging to the Shu Kingdom existed at least 4, 800 years ago, and lasted more than 2, 000 years, while the Mayan civilization built its city-states around 200 AD. Despite the differences in ages, the bronze-made remains of trees unearthed at the ruins of the Shu Kingdom resemble the sacred ceiba tree, which symbolized the union of heaven, earth, and the underworld in the Mayan civilization. “They are very important similarities,” says Santos, a Mexican archaeologist (考古学家) stressing that the representations of trees in both cultures provide a symbolism that is very similar.

While the time span between the Shu Kingdom and the Mayan culture is great, the findings show the closeness between the two civilizations. They developed in areas with comparable climates and reflected their world view through related symbols. “In the end, man is still man, independent of time and space. What we have is that at this latitude (纬度) both the Shu people and the Mayans looked at the same sky and had the same stars on the horizon,” the expert says.

One notable feature of the recent discoveries at Sanxingdui was the cross-subject work and technology applied by teams of Chinese archaeologists, which allowed the unearthing of artifacts as fragile as silk remains. Cooperation between Chinese and Mexican archaeologists could benefit projects in the Mayan world, where the rainy climate and humidity are problematic for the conservation of ruins.

“Every time our cultural knowledge increases, regardless of whether we speak one language or another, what it shows us is that we continue to be sister cultures and, therefore, the exchange of such knowledge is of vital importance,” says Santos.

1. What is the similarity between the Shu Kingdom and the Maya civilization?

A．Their starting time.	B．Their historical origins.
C．Their cultural symbols.	D．Their ceremony traditions.

2. What have the findings at the Sanxingdui ruins proved?

A．Silk was a common clothing material then.

B．Human cultures shared similarities free from time and space.

C．There were bronze-made trees in ancient Maya.

D．The Shu Kingdom and the Mayan world had close contact.

3. What is a common challenge for the conservation of both ruins?

A．Wet weather.

B．Positioning of ruins.

C．High latitude.

D．Language barriers.

4. What is the focus of Santos’ quote in the last paragraph?

A．The future of China-Mexico cooperation.

B．The benefits of speaking a different language.

C．The importance of the exchange of cultural knowledge.

D．The increasing sisterhood in culture between China and Mexico.

7 . Beijing’s Forbidden City is a place full of wonder. From its thousands of rooms to its many beautiful artifacts (工艺品), there’s no wonder it’s one of China’s most popular tourist destinations.

But even more than 600 years after it was built, it’s still managing to serve up surprises.

Since it was built during the Ming Dynasty, it’s estimated that the Forbidden City has survived more than 200 earthquakes.

And while most structures aren’t made to survive natural disasters, let alone ones built hundreds of years ago, it seems that the Forbidden City was built to withstand anything.

A recent television documentary by UK broadcaster Channel 4 explored the skills of the ancient building’s designers. A group of Chinese carpenters and engineers were shown building a model of one of the Forbidden City’s palaces, at one fifth of the size.

To show how strong ancient Chinese architecture really is, the model was put to the test. It was subjected to an artificial earthquake of 9.5 on the Richter scale equal to the largest ever recorded quake and survived. Instead of falling apart, the model was just moved gently during the test.

According to experts, the answer to the Forbidden City’s strength, as well as other ancient Chinese structures’, lies in dougong-a centuries-old building method invented in China.

This is the name for special holders on buildings. Despite being held together without any nails or glue, the holders are perfect at keeping structures together when the weather gets rough.

“Dougong design is an important earthquake-proof feature of classical Chinese structures because the framework changes in shape when under pressure, much like the shock absorbers (减震器) of a car, ”according to Chinese National Geography.

“Ancient Chinese craftsmen created structures that were both enduring and aesthetically (在美学方面) pleasing［using dougong］, revealing their advanced understanding of mathematics, architecture,   materials, and structural science.”

The Forbidden City draws visitors because of its rich history and cultural significance, but perhaps it should add one more thing to its list of attractions: earthquake shelter.

1. What is the article mainly about?

A．What has made the Forbidden City a popular tourist destination.

B．A variety of building methods used in ancient Chinese structures.

C．The characteristics of Chinese architecture during the Ming Dynasty.

D．What has helped the Forbidden City survive so many earthquakes.

2. What does the underlined word “withstand”   mean?

A．keep on

B．fight for

C．defend against

D．stand for

3. The aim of the test in the UK documentary was to________

A．reproduce a real earthquake from the Ming Dynasty

B．prove the strength of ancient Chinese architecture

C．explain the impact of earthquakes on ancient buildings

D．discover a long-lost Chinese building method

4. According to the article, dougong is________

A．a paint that gives Chinese buildings an attractive look

B．a tool used by ancient people to measure earth-quakes

C．special building parts that keep a traditional Chinese building together

D．a building piece located in the center of traditional Chinese house

8 . In 1590, the GLOBE was built using wood from an earlier theatre, which had been built by Richard Burbage's father, James Burbage, in Shoreditch in 1576. The first performance for which a firm record remains was Jonson's Every Man out of His Humour—with its fist scene welcoming the "gracious and kind spectator""- at the end of the ear.

On 29h June 1613, the GLOBE Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry VII. A theatrical gun, set off during the performance, misfired, burning the wooden beams and straws. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches (炮后膛) were put out with a bottle of beer. It was rebuilt in the following year.

Like all he other theatres in London, the GLOBE was closed down by the Puritns in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644, or slightly later — the commonly cited document dating the act to 15 April 1644 has been identified as false-to make room for other buildings. A modern reconstruction of the theatre, named "Shakespeare's GLOBE", opened in 1997, with a production of Henry V. It is an academic approximation of the original design, based on available evidence of the 1599 and 1614 buildings, and is located about 750 feet (230m)from the site of the original theatre.

1. In what order is the text arranged?

A．Space

B．Time

C．Flashback (倒叙)

D．Importance

2. How did the GLOBE Theatre start to fire on 29 June 1613?

A．It caught fire by accident during a play.

B．It was set fire to by a performer by design.

C．A man put out breeches with a bottle of beer.

D．It was started by wooden beams and straws.

3. All the plays were performed in the GLOBE Theatre EXCEPT ________.

A．Henry V	B．Every Man out of His Humour
C．Henry VIII.	D．James Burbage

4. The passage is mainly about ________.

A．The function o the GIOBE Theatre

B．The construction of the GLOBE Theatre

C．The history of the GLOBE Theatre

D．The popularity of the GLOBE Theatre

9 . The hula hoop(呼啦圈) can date back to around 1000 BC. Originally, the hula hoop was made of dried grapevines(葡萄藤).     1     Although first played for this simple game, the hula hoop has been enjoyed by adults and children for centuries. Various nations worldwide independently created and used it for entertainment purposes throughout history.

    2     Sometimes these hoops were also used for military and battle practice. Between 800 and 1500 AD, Native Americans used the hoops as moving targets in order to practice throwing spears and other weapons. Even the British army had a game named “kill the hoop”. However, this practice is not common today.

The more modern version of the hula hoop, which is spun around the waist, was first invented in the 1950s. A plastic hoop created by California’s Wham-O toy company had sold nearly 100 million hula hoops by 1960.     3    

Throughout the United States, the hula hoop craze was large and diverse. But by 1980 the use of hula hoops had begun rapidly fading.     4     In both of the countries, circuses and gymnasts took up hula hoping as part of their performances.

Eventually, the hula hoop was introduced into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1999, showing its important place within the entertainment and children’s toy industries.     5     However, methodical and structural advances have allowed for the introduction of hula hoops into various modern entertainment venues for adults as well.

A．It was lighter than the bamboo hoops.

B．This was not the case, however, in China or Russia.

C．It was just thrown and rolled down hills in children’s games.

D．As a combined exercise, it is extremely beneficial to the body.

E．Not all hula hoop games were played for fun and entertainment.

F．This created what was known as the “hula hoop craze” during the 1950s.

G．Today, hula hoping is still common among children as it was during the ancient time.

10 . 请在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

John Snow was a well-known physician in London in the 19th century.     1     famous was he that he even attended Queen Victoria to ease the birth of her babies. However, he decided to defeat cholera, a     2     (dead) disease at that time when he saw thousands of people     3       (expose) to it died every time there was an outbreak.

In 1854 when cholera broke out, he began to gather information and marked on a map     4     all the dead people     5    （live）. He found many people who had drunk     6     dirty water from the pump died. So he decided that the polluted water carried cholera. He found a woman and her daughter who had the water     7    （deliver） from the pump every day died of cholera after drinking the water.     8     this extra evidence John Snow announced that the polluted water was     9    （blame）. He suggested the source of all water supplies should be examined and new methods of     10    （deal）with water be found. Finally, “King Cholera” was defeated.