1 . In 1996, John Jones made an unusual discovery. He had just enlarged a piece of paper money for a friend — a Confederate bank note, money issued (发行) by banks in Southern States of America during the Civil War. When he was face to face with the picture, he couldn’t believe his eyes: slaves happily picking cotton in their master’s fields.

Jones grew up in South Carolina. He had heard painful stories of slavery from his great­grandmother. The picture on the money did not match the history of African American slaves that he’d heard all his life. ＂I had never seen that type of picture on money before,＂ he said.

Jones wondered why slaves looked so happy. He started doing research.

Searching for and finding the answers to his questions changed his life. During two years’ search, Jones found more than 120 different bills. He discovered that the bills had several things in common. They showed slaves working in jobs related to farming. Many of them showed healthy and smiling slaves at work. None of the bills showed the hardships of slavery.

Jones wanted to share what he had learned. ＂I wanted other people to see what I had seen,＂ he said. He decided to make large paintings of the pictures on the money. After three years of work, Jones had painted more than 80 slavery scenes (场景). He paired each painting with the money on which the picture appeared. ＂The Color of Money＂ — an exhibit (展览) of his work — has toured the country.

Jones’ paintings tell an important story about the South 150 years ago. He likes to repeat the saying ＂The story is on the money.＂ In this case, the saying happens to be true.

1. How did Jones feel when he saw the picture on the money?

A．Angry.	B．Painful.
C．Excited.	D．Surprised.

2. Why did Jones do research on the money?

A．He had never heard of Confederate money.

B．He wanted to learn about American history through it.

C．It showed slaves quite different from those in his mind.

D．His great­grandmother told him some unusual stories about it.

3. What did Jones find?

A．About 120 different bills were issued during the Civil War.

B．The difficulty of slaves was never shown on the bills.

C．Slaves lived a harder life than he thought.

D．Slaves worked long hours on farms.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Confederate Money

B．Money Tells a Story

C．African American Slaves

D．John Jones Changes America

2 . Levi Strauss did not invent jeans, but he is considered the first person to make and sell great numbers of them. He was born in Bavaria, an area that today is part of Germany. In 1847 he and his family immigrated to the United States. Levi Strauss opened a small dry goods store, first in New York, then in San Francisco, California. Among the products he sold were jeans. These pants were especially useful for miners in California. They needed clothing made from a strong material. Jeans are usually made from a heavy cotton cloth called denim (牛仔布). Levi Strauss partnered with a clothing maker named Jacob Davis. Davis had invented a process for making rivets (铆钉) for jeans. These little metal connectors helped hold the pieces of cloth together to make the jeans stronger.

In 1873, the government gave Strauss and Davis a patent (专利证) for their invention. That meant no one else could legally copy it without their permission. They began producing what they called “copper-riveted waist overalls”. In 1928, the Levi Strauss Company registered (注册) the word Levi’s as a trademark for their product. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington has one of the oldest known pairs of Levi’s.

Writer James Sullivan published a book called “Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon”. In it, he says jeans represent two American values: creativity and rebellion. Cowboys wore jeans in the old Wild West. In the 1950s, people saw famous Hollywood actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando wearing jeans in movies. Today jeans still come in blue but also lots of other colors. They can also differ widely in price. You might find jeans for 15 dollars in an American discount store. However, they can also sell for thousands of dollars a pair.

Some people like to buy Jeans that look fresh and new. Others like to buy new jeans that are tom and look old. Early rock and roller Gene Vincent released “Blue Jean Bop” in 1956. The energetic song includes a line with the word “dungaree”. That is another way of saying blue jeans. It is an old Hindi word meaning coarse calico, or denim. The word came from the name of a village that is now Mumbai.

1. What can we learn about Levi Strauss from Paragraph 1?

A．Levi Strauss opened his first jeans store in New York.

B．Levi Strauss was born in a jeans-making family in Bavaria.

C．Levi Strauss invented jeans and sold great numbers of them.

D．Levi Strauss cooperated with Jacob Davis to make and sell jeans.

2. Davis invented rivets for jeans in order to _______ .

A．make the Jeans wear well

B．compete with other jean-makers

C．gain a patent to popularize his products

D．decorate the jeans to make them more beautiful

3. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A．Jeans show the different tastes of people.

B．Jeans have become important American values.

C．Jeans enjoy a wide popularity in the life of American people.

D．Jeans were more popular among cowboys in the old Wild West.

4. The passage mainly talks about _______ .

A．the history of jeans	B．the features of jeans
C．the life story of Levi Strauss	D．the reasons for jeans’ popularity

3 . In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, that is, early in the 15th century, China was an advanced country in the world, with a booming economy and prosperous culture.    1     Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He was ordered seven times to make voyages to these countries, known as “Zheng He’s voyages to the west seas”.

In 1405, a huge fleet of more than 300 ships manned by over 27,800 men set sail from Liujia Harbor near Suzhou on a distant voyage under the command of Zheng He.    2     The fleet sailed along China’s coast to Champa close to Vietnam and after crossing the South China Sea, visited Java, Sumatra and reached Sri Lanka finally. On the way back, it sailed along the west coast of India and returned home in 1407.    3    

In all, he had made calls at over 30 countries and territories.    4     No matter what country he visited, he called on the ruler of the land, presenting to him valuable gifts to express China’s sincere desire to develop friendly relations.    5     They sent the emperor zebras, giraffes, shells, elephant ivory and rhinoceros-horn medicine.

The voyages by Zheng He strengthened the friendly relations between China and other countries in Asia and Africa and led to cultural and economic exchange between them. Therefore, his expeditions could rightfully be called “one of greatest achievements in mankind’s history of navigation”.

A．Zheng served as commander of the fleet.

B．The response of the rulers was very generous.

C．On board the ships were large quantities of goods.

D．The Great Ming Empire launched a series of marine activities.

E．On each voyage, Zheng He acted as the representative of the Ming court.

F．All this had taken place about half a century before Columbus’ voyage to America.

G．Zheng He’s second and third voyages taken shortly after, followed the same route.

4 . Before the invention of hair dryer,vacuum cleaners were being used for the purpose of drying and styling hair. The early vacuum cleaners could draw in air as well as blowing air.So,towards the end of the 19^th century,women used to dry their hair by using a vacuum cleaner.

In 1890,a French salon owner Alexander F.Godefroy invented the first hair dryer.It blew warm air.However,it was not widely used,mainly because of its large size.

The first convenient hand-held hair dryer used at home came up in 1920.It weighed over 2 lbs.However,it only produced 100 watts of power,which was not enough to dry the hair.After almost ten years came the gas-heated dryers that were widely used in barber shops.However,these dryers produced heat that was harmful to hair and the air from them made people sick,so they were soon gone.

Around the 1940s and 1950s,the helmet（头盔）style electric dryers came into being.Curly hairstyles were popular during that time.Therefore,women used curlers and sat under the dryers to set their curls.Later,the curly style began to drop,and so did the popularity of the helmet style electric dryer.

In the late 1950s,the first workable hair dryer was made.It had a hand-held dryer.It used only 300-400 watts. Ever since the 1950s,hand-held dryers have experienced many changes,in order to become quieter,lighter and smaller.However,how it works largely remains the same.The modem technology has made improvements to the hair dryer,reducing the heat damage to a person's hair.For producing shinier,smoother and healthier hair,dryers have been included with negative ion（负离子）technology that dries hair faster and with less heat.

1. What do we learn about the hair dryer invented by Alexander F.Godefroy?

A．It looked like a vacuum cleaner.	B．It was once very popular.
C．It was inconvenient to use.	D．It blew too hot air.

2. What was the disadvantage of the hair dryer invented in 1920?

A．It needed too much power.	B．It couldn't be held by hand.
C．It was not easy to be carried around.	D．It couldn't dry hair effectively.

3. What was the main purpose of including negative ion in dryers?

A．To reduce the sizes of hair dryers.	B．To make hair dryers more beautiful.
C．To produce better hair in a beautiful way.	D．To save more power and time for users.

5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Beijing's Forbidden City is a place full     1    wonder. From its thousands of rooms to its many beautiful artifacts(工艺品), it's one of China's most popular tourist     2    (destination). But even more than 600 years after it was built,  it's still managing to serve up surprises. Since     3    Ming Dynasty, it's estimated that the Forbidden City     4    (survive) more than 200 earthquakes. And while most structures aren't made     5    (resist) natural disasters, it seems that the Forbidden City was built to stand up to anything. According to experts, the answer to the Forbidden City's strength     6    (lie) in Dougong—a centuries-old building method     7    (invent) in China. This is the name for special structures on buildings that are perfect at     8    (keep) structures together     9    the weather gets rough. The Forbidden City draws visitors because of its rich history and     10    (culture) significance, but perhaps it should add one more thing to its list of attractions: earthquake shelter.

6 . Have you ever wondered why people drive on a different side of the road? It might seem bizarre that U. K. Drivers stay on the left, but they’re not the only ones. Around 35 percent of the world population do the same, including people in Ireland, Japan, and some Caribbean islands.

Originally, almost everybody traveled on the left side of the road. However their way of transport was quite different from today: Think about four legs instead of four wheels. For Medieval swordsmen on horseback, it made sense to keep to the left to have their right arms closer to their enemies. Getting on or off was also easier from the left side of the horse, and safer done by the side of the road than in the center.

So why did people stop traveling on the left? Things changed in the late 1700s when large wagons (货车) pulled by several pairs of horses were used to transport farm products in France and the United States. The wagon driver sat behind the left horse, with his right arm free to use his whip to keep the horses moving. Since he was sitting on the left position, he wanted other wagons to pass on his left, so he kept to the right side of the road.

The British Government refused to give up their left-hand driving ways, and in 1773 introduced the General Highways Act, which encouraged driving on the left. This was later made law thanks to The Highway Act of 1835.

When Henry Ford showed his Model T in 1908, the driver’s seat was on the left, meaning that cars would have to drive on the right hand side of the road to allow front and back passengers to exit the car onto the roadside. However, British drivers remain on the left, and this is highly unlikely to change.

1. What does the underlined word “bizarre” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Funny.	B．Strange.
C．Wrong.	D．Difficult

2. Why did people riding the horse travel on the left in history?

A．It was safer to keep on the left

B．It was easier to carry goods.

C．It was easier for them to fight.

D．It was necessary to control the horse.

3. What made drivers of large wagons travel on the right?

A．Their sitting position.

B．The road conditions.

C．The number of horses.

D．The products in the wagons.

4. Which of the following may be the best title for the text?

A．UK Drivers Still Go On The Left

B．Why People Like Sitting On The Left Side

C．The History Of Transportation Means

D．The Reasons For Different Driving Sides

7 . Around the year 1000 A.D., some people from Northwest India began to travel westward. Nobody knows why.    1     they left their homes, they didn’t settle down any more, but spent their lives     2    (move) from one to another. Their later generations were called the Romany people of Gypsies (吉普赛人). There’re Gypsies all over the world, many of     3     are still traveling with no fixed homes. There are about 8,000,000 of them, including 3,000,000 in the Eastern Europe. Gypsies sometimes have     4     hard time in foreign countries because they are different. People may be afraid of them, look down     5     them, or think that they are criminals (罪犯). The Nazis treated the Gypsies     6    (cruel), like the Jews, and nobody knows how many of them     7    (die) in Hitler’s death camps. Gypsies have     8     own language, Romany. They like music and dancing. Traveling is of great importance to them, and many Gypsies are unhappy when they have to stay in one place. Because of this, it is difficult     9     Gypsy children to go to school, so Gypsies are often unable to read and write. In some places, the educational authorities try to arrange special traveling schools for Gypsy children, so that they can get the same education     10     other children.

8 . Golden Gate Bridge

Located in San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge started in the year 1933 to connect the San Francisco Peninsula with Marin County. It was finally thrown open to public traffic in 1937. It cost $25.7 million in the construction. Till the year 1957, the Golden Gate Bridge, at a length of 2,737 meters, was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is located in Brooklyn. It is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, having been opened in the year 1883. The length of the bridge is 1,843 meters. The bridge has been featured in several Hollywood movies.

George Washington Bridge

Also known as the Hudson River Bridge and the Columbus Bridge, the George Washington Bridge which connects Fort Lee to Manhattan came into use in 1931 after a construction period of almost 4 years. It is a two level suspension bridge that cost about $52 million to build.

Mackinac Bridge

This is the third biggest suspension bridge in the world at a length of 8,038 meters. The architect of this bridge was Dr. David B. Steinman, who directed the construction of the bridge which started in the year 1954 and opened to the public in 1958. People using this bridge are charged a certain amount of money.

Navajo Bridge

Located in Arizona, this bridge crosses the Colorado River and is almost 250 meters long. The construction of this bridge started in the year 1927, ending two years later, costing $390,000. In the 1990s, a second bridge was built which was opened to the public in 1994. The first bridge is now used only by pedestrians.

1. What do we know about the Golden Gate Bridge?

A．It consists of two bridges.

B．It costs the least of the five bridges.

C．It is the longest suspension bridge in the world.

D．It takes about 4 years to complete the construction.

2. Which of the following bridges was built the earliest?

A．Golden Gate Bridge.

B．Brooklyn Bridge.

C．George Washington Bridge.

D．Navajo Bridge.

3. What will you do if you drive across Mackinac Bridge?

A．Have to pay some money.

B．Use the second bridge.

C．Cover nearly 250 meters.

D．See the statue of Dr. David B. Steinman.

9 . The Great Wall of China is more than 6,000 kilometres long. It winds     1     (it) way from west to cast, across deserts, over mountains, through valleys     2    at last it reaches the sea. The Great Wall has a history of over twenty centuries. The first part of it     3     (build) during the Spring and Autumn period. During the Qin Dynasty,     4     (keep) the enemy out of his empire, Emperor Qin Shi Huang had all the walls     5     (join) up. Thus, the Great Wall came into being. The Great Wall is wide enough at     6    top for five horses or ten men to walk side by side. Along the wall are watchtowers,     7    soldiers used to keep watch. Fires were lit on the towers as a     8     (warn) when the enemy came.

It was     9     (extreme)difficult to build such a wall in the ancient days without any modern machines. All the work was done     10    hand. Thousands of men died and were buried under the wall they built. The Great Wall was made not only of stone and earth, but of the flesh and blood of millions of men.

10 . More than 2000 years ago, the brave and hardworking people of Eurasia explored and opened up several routes of trade and     1    (culture) exchanges that linked the major civilizations of Asia, Europe and Africa, collectively    2    (call) the Silk Road by later generations. For thousands of years, the Silk Road spirit—“peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness(包容性), mutual(相互的) learning and mutual benefit”—    3    (pass) from generation to generation. In the 21^st century, a new period marked by    4    theme of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit. It is more important    5    us to carry on the Silk Road Spirit in face of the weak    6    (recover) of the global economy, and complex international situations.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping    7    (visit) Central Asia in September 2013, he raised the idea of     8    (build) the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21^st-Century Maritime Silk Road,    9    have attracted close attention from all over the world. The Belt and Road Initiative is a systematic project, whose goal is    10    (meet) the interests of all, and efforts should be made to combine the development strategies of the countries along the Belt and Road.