At the beginning, written Chinese was a picture-
Studying the history of the country will make your visit much more
The four countries that
The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes,
However, in the 17th century when Francis Bacon (1561-1626) suggested that this type of thinking was the way to gain knowledge, he was going against the views of the day. Although Bacon held an important rank in King James’ royal court of England, his true interest was not the day-to-day, slow and inefficient working style of the government, but the worthy search for knowledge. This was certainly not the interest of most people in his days. At that time, people believed more in the church than in facts, and people like Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who proved the idea that “the Earth is not the centre of the universe”, were often punished by the church with no one coming to their defence. The church and many people tended to ignore the facts and didn’t want to challenge what they had always comfortably believed. In fact, when Galilei proved that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, instead of believing him, people chose to believe views that were almost 2, 000 years old!
It is not surprising that people wanted to believe these primitive ideas as they had been put forward by the great philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE). He said that the Earth must be the centre of the universe because it felt like the Earth was standing still. Galilei disagreed. At first, people approved of his studies and urged him to continue, but later when he proved Aristotle wrong, they grew angry and put him in prison. They didn’t want to abandon what they’d always thought as true. And this is still often true today. People make the assumption that if someone important and respected says that something is right, then it must be so. But even though Aristotle was a great man who inspired many great scientists and philosophers after him, he was wrong at times. And Galilei also made mistakes. He is now known as the father of astronomy but he believed that the Earth moved round the sun in a perfect circle. He was wrong.
1. What was Bacon’s true interest?A.The worthy search for knowledge. | B.The interest of most people in his days. |
C.The important rank in royal court of England. | D.The efficient working style of the government. |
A.Because they believed more in church than in facts. |
B.Because they didn’t want to challenge what they had always believed. |
C.Because they didn’t want to give up what they’d always thought as true. |
D.Because they chose to believe the views put forward by great philosophers. |
6 . Human faces cut into stone up to 2,000 years ago have again been found on a rocky area along the Amazon River in northern Brazil. The stone carvings (雕刻品) appeared as a result of a big drop in water levels because of dry weather in parts of northern Brazil. The water level had dropped to the lowest level in the history of the river.
“People had reported some of the stone carvings before during periods when water levels were low. But now a greater number have been identified. That will help researchers establish the history of the carvings, and more secrets of historical relics will come to light,” researcher Jaime de Santana Oliveira said recently.
One area shows smooth marks in the rock thought to be where natives once sharpened their tools such as arrows and spears before European settlers arrived.
“The carvings are prehistoric, or precolonial (殖民地时期前的). We can’t be sure of their precise date but based on the evidence of human living places of the area, we believe they are about 1, 000 to 2, 000 years old.” Oliveira said.
The rocky area is on the north shore of the Amazon River near the place where the Rio Negro River joins it.
Oliveira said the carvings were first seen in 2010, but this year’s drought has been more serious than earlier dry periods. The Rio Negro’s levels have dropped 15 meters since July, uncovering large areas of rocks and sand where there had been no beaches.
“This time we found not just more carvings, but the statue of a human face cut into the rock,” said Oliveira, who works for the Brazilian government’s National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute. The organization watches the care of historic places in Brazil.
1. What plays a key role in finding the stone carvings?A.People’s report. | B.Natural disaster. |
C.High technology. | D.Researchers’ effort. |
A.Explore the history of historical sites. | B.Move the valuable carvings to safety. |
C.Discover more underwater stone carvings. | D.Make the carvings popular among visitors. |
A.Fixed. | B.Exact. | C.Best. | D.Future. |
A.The human face stone carvings. | B.The number of stone carvings. |
C.The real value of stone carvings. | D.The place where stone carvings were found. |
7 . The history of the school bus can date back to 1886 when the Wayne Works company made horse-drawn carriages (四轮马车) known as “ school wagons” or “kid hacks” in Indiana.
In the early 1900s, the car industry was beginning to develop fast.
In 1927, a man built the first bus that primarily used steel. Before long, Wayne Works introduced the first all-steel school bus body with safety glass windows.
Many new national standards were created, determining everything from seating designs to the famous yellow color that school buses still sport today. The reason why the color was chosen was simple.
A.Horses were easy to control. |
B.Not all chose to paint their buses yellow. |
C.Yellow is quite eye-catching to human beings. |
D.Before then, many children simply walked to school. |
E.Now, school buses have had many more improvements. |
F.Still, parents were increasingly concerned for children’s safety. |
G.This gave Wayne Works a great opportunity to improve its carriages. |
8 . The United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, England-many people are confused by what these different names mean. So what is the difference between them, if any? Getting to know a little bit about British history will help you solve this puzzle.
In the 16th century, the nearby country of Wales was joined to the Kingdom of England. Later, in the 18th century, the country Scotland was joined to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Finally, in the 20th century, the southern part of Ireland broke away from the UK, which resulted in the full name we have today: “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most people just use the shortened name: “the United Kingdom” or “the UK”. People from the UK are called “British”, which means the UK is also often referred to as Britain or Great Britain.
The four countries that belong to the United Kingdom work together in some areas. They use the same flag, known as the Union Jack, as well as share the same currency and military defence. However, they also have some differences. For example, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all have different education systems and legal systems. They also have their own traditions, like their own national days and national dishes. And they even have their own football teams for competitions like the World Cup!
The United Kingdom has a long and interesting history to explore, which can help you understand much more about the country and its traditions. Almost everywhere you go in the UK, you will be surrounded by evidence of four different groups of people who took over at different times throughout history. The first group, the Romans, came in the first century. Some of their great achievements included building towns and roads. Next, the Anglo-Saxons arrived in the fifth century. They introduced the beginnings of the English language, and changed the way people built houses. The Vikings came in the eighth century, left behind lots of new vocabulary, and also the names of many locations across the UK. The last group were the Normans. They conquered England after the well-known Battle of Hastings in the 11th century. They had castles built all around England, and made changes to the legal system. The Normans were French, so many French words slowly entered into the English language.
1. What can help us find out the difference between some different names of the UK?A.British languages. | B.British history. |
C.British location. | D.British education. |
A.Britain. | B.Scotland. | C.Wales. | D.Ireland. |
A.The flag. | B.The currency. |
C.The military defence. | D.The education system. |
A.Building towns and roads. |
B.Changing the way of building houses. |
C.Leaving behind many new vocabulary. |
D.Changing the legal system. |
Here, merchants from China and many other places met to
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
It was said that the
The couplet has two equal-length lines. However,