1 . 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. |
2 . 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. |
3 . 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. |
4 . The battle for women’s right to vote
One hundred years ago, British women were given the vote for the first time. How did it come about?
The first appeals for women’s right to vote in Britain date from the early 19th century. In 1818, in his Plan of Parliamentary Reform, Jeremy Bentham insisted that women should be given the vote. Women at the time had no political rights at all-they were deemed to be represented by their husbands or fathers. The old arguments prevailed. Women, it was said, were mentally less able than men; their “natural position” was in the home; they were unable to fight for their country, and thus undeserving of full rights; moreover, they simply didn’t want the vote. This was at least partly true. “I have never felt the want of a vote,” declared Florence Nightingale in 1867, while Queen Victoria condemned the “mad, wicked folly of women’s rights”. Even George Eliot was reluctant to back the cause.
It wasn’t until the second half of the 19th century that the first campaigning women’s groups were formed. Initially they focused on the lack of education, employment opportunities and legal rights for women(married women, at the time, had no independent legal standing); but the question of the vote gradually became central to their demands— both symbolically, as a recognition of women’s rights, and practically, as a means of improving women’s lives.
However, the women’s campaigning was still a subject of debate. While most historians agree that the campaigns were initially very effective in mobilizing women and highlighting injustices, a series of mass processions followed; more than 250,000 women protested in Hyde Park in 1908. Many were arrested and ill-treated; prisoners who went on hunger strike were brutally force-fed. Over time they became steadily more militant— smashing shop windows, setting fire to letter boxes, libraries and even homes. The PM, Herbert Asquith, an opponent of women’s votes, was attacked with a dog whip. Such use of violence was thought, certainly at the time, to have been unfavorable.
With the sacrifices of the First World War strengthening support for widening the right to vote generally, women suspended campaigning. More than a million women were newly employed outside the home— in munitions(军需品) factories, engineering works. Crucially, Asquith was replaced as PM by David Lloyd George, a supporter of votes for women. The Representation of the People Act 1918 was introduced by the coalition government and passed by a majority of 385 to 55, gaining the Royal Assent on 6 February 1918. Women over 30, who were householders or married to one, or university graduates, were given the vote.
1. Which of the following is NOT the reason why women were not qualified to vote?| A．Women had already enjoyed many political rights. |
| B．Women were too weak to fight against enemies. |
| C．Women were supposed to do housework and serve their husbands. |
| D．Women were not as intelligent as men. |
| A．Because it failed to mobilize women and emphasize injustices. |
| B．Because women were put in prison and abused during the protest. |
| C．Because all the emotional behaviors were regarded as improper. |
| D．Because most women didn’t want the vote. |
| A．extreme | B．splendid | C．compassionate | D．noble |
| A．The first campaigning women groups were formed originally for the sake of legal rights. |
| B．The PM, Herbert Asquith, an opponent of women’s votes, committed suicide. |
| C．Women stopped protesting for their vote because they were offered more job opportunities. |
| D．All women can enjoy their right to vote since the introduction of People Act. |
5 . Before the 1830s, most newspapers were sold through annual subscriptions in America, usually $8 to $10 a year. Today $8 or $10 seems a small amount of money, but at that time these amounts were forbidding to most citizens. Accordingly, newspapers were read almost only by rich people in politics or the trades. In addition, most newspapers had little in them that would appeal to a mass audience. They were dull and visually forbidding. But the revolution that was taking place in the 1830s would change all that.
The trend, then, was toward the “penny paper”—a term referring to papers made widely available to the public. It meant any inexpensive newspaper; perhaps more importantly it meant newspapers that could be bought in single copies on the street.
This development did not take place overnight. It had been possible(but not easy) to buy single copies of newspapers before 1830, but this usually meant the reader had to go down to the printer’s office to purchase a copy. Street sales were almost unknown. However, within a few years, street sales of newspapers would be commonplace in eastern cities. At first the price of single copies was seldom a penny—usually two or three cents was charged—and some of the older well-known papers charged five or six cents. But the phrase “penny paper” caught the public’s fancy, and soon there would be papers that did indeed sell for only a penny.
This new trend of newspapers for “the man on the street” did not begin well. Some of the early ventures(企业) were immediate failures. Publishers already in business, people who were owners of successful papers, had little desire to change the tradition. It took a few youthful and daring businessmen to get the ball rolling.
1. Which of the following best describes newspapers in America before the 1830s?| A．Academic. |
| B．Unattractive. |
| C．Inexpensive. |
| D．Confidential. |
| A．They would be priced higher. |
| B．They would disappear from cities. |
| C．They could have more readers. |
| D．They could regain public trust. |
| A．It was a difficult process. |
| B．It was a temporary success. |
| C．It was a robbery of the poor. |
| D．It was a disaster for printers. |
6 . Remote controls are one of the most common symbols of our modern technologies. In fact, remote controls are an invention born in the 1800s. Famous inventor Nikola Tesla created one of the world’s first wireless remote controls, which he exhibited in public at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1898.
Tesla called his system a “teleautomaton”, which could be used to control a mechanical device. For his demonstration, Tesla employed a minitype boat, which had a metal air wire that could receive exactly one radio frequency. He showed how his remote-controlled boat worked and whole process attracted many people. However, financially, Tesla’s remote-controlled boat was a failure. His intended client, the U.S. Navy, thought the technology was too easily damaged during use. But the concept of remote control caught on and quickly spread to many other types of equipment.
In the 1930s and 1940s, a new consumer electronics, such as garage door openers and model airplanes, arrived with remote controls. In the mid-1950s, Zenith engineer Eugene Polley designed his Flashmatic TV remote control, which used directional flashes of light to control the television. In 1956, Polley’s colleague, Robert Adler, created the Space Command control, which employed high-frequency, ultrasonic (超声的) sounds instead of light. This style of remote control increased the price of a new TV by a third, but that didn’t stop people from buying in mass quantities. Remote controls kept evolving, too. Ultrasonic sound remote controls were the standard for TVs until the 1980s, when remote controls began using the infrared (红外线) light signals that are very common today.
These days, you can find remote control capability built into a huge array of products such as toy cars and helicopters, video game consoles (控制台), ceiling fans, etc. There’s a good chance you can find a version that’s controlled by remote control. You can even buy a remote-controlled toilet.
Remote controls have allowed humans to perform many tasks that would be difficult, if not impossible. And although remote controls have a long history, they are anything but over. As we continue to introduce technology to every aspect of our lives, it’s very likely that we’ll need remote controls to keep things under control.
1. What made the U.S. Navy think poorly of Tesla’s remote-controlled boat?| A．Its high cost. |
| B．Its unsatisfactory quality. |
| C．Its damage to people’s health. |
| D．Its inaccuracy in sending signals. |
| A．Directional flashes of light. | B．Infrared light signals. |
| C．Various metal air wires. | D．High-frequency, ultrasonic sounds. |
| A．To advertise some modern inventions. |
| B．To prove the rapid evolution of kids’ toy. |
| C．To show the wide application of remote controls. |
| D．To show the principle of some high-tech products. |
| A．Human are too dependent on technology. |
| B．Remote controls are necessary in our life |
| C．Humans are trying to keep everything under control. |
| D．Remote controls will probably fade away in the future. |
| A．The history of remote controls. |
| B．The developments of our modern technologies. |
| C．The achievements of some great inventors. |
| D．The popularity of remote controls in our daily life. |
7 . There are many interesting stories about Chinese fans in historical records, novels, and legends.
The reason why fans evolved into artwork was largely related to men of letters, who liked to paint or write poetry on fans, and gave them to their friends as gifts.
It has been popular to draw fans or write poems about fans, and paint or write on paper fans. There is a story about Wang Xizhi, known for his Chinese calligraphy. Wang once saw an elderly lady selling fans. The business was not so good. She looked very upset, so Wang decided to help her.
It has been popular to paint on fans since Tang Dynasty. Artwork on fans is also a unique type of Chinese painting. As space is limited, the painters pay close attention to the composition on the half-circle fan.
For thousands of years, Chinese people never stopped innovating fan design, and adopted different materials such as bamboo, paper, bones. They made fans of many shapes, such as circular and square shapes.
| A．They asked for better decoration of fans. |
| B．Feather fans are famous due to Zhuge Liang. |
| C．Wang taught the old woman to draw on fans. |
| D．In ancient times, fans served as the symbol of social classes. |
| E．Some famous ones are the feather fan held by Zhuge Liang. |
| F．He wrote a few characters on each fan and told her to raise the price. |
| G．So the creation of imagery or scenery requires extra skill and accuracy. |
8 . Mesopotamia was home to some of the very first cities in existence, leading many to link it to the birth of civilization. The origin of these cities is still unknown today, although many theories exist. One suggestion is that the development and building of temples created a place where people would gather, and thus served as points of contact between different groups of people.
Others believe that people sought sanctuary from natural disasters. As the Mesopotamians were able to develop technology to help them control the nearby rivers, such as levees, they could ensure a good crop. They had no need to be nomadic, and were able to settle in one place comfortably. It is for this reason that all the early cities were built along the two major rivers.
From the moment the Sumerians began to form these cities, it forever altered human history. People went from being ruled by nature, to attempting to control it and make it work for them. By 4,500 BCE the first recorded city rose in the form of Uruk. However, the only urban structure at this point was the temple, which regulated all economic and social matters.
The central purpose of these early cities was to help regulate trade, as southern Mesopotamia was reliable on outside resources. This need encouraged the spread of urbanization. However, communication between the cities was difficult, so each city developed into an individual city-state. This led to territorial disputes and, inevitably, war.
In order to keep their cities protected, the Mesopotamians built fortifications, and walled cities rose. Migration to these cities increased, and more buildings were erected. Cities gradually expanded and rulers were proclaimed, who then began looking outwards for trade and conquest.
1. What does the underlined word “sanctuary” mean?| A．Rescue. | B．Stability. | C．Shelter. | D．Accommodation. |
| A．The function of early cities. | B．The structure of early cities. |
| C．The regulation of early cities. | D．The appearance of early cities. |
| A．War and conflicts. | B．Limited interaction. |
| C．The spread of urbanization. | D．Competition for resources. |
| A．The birth of city-states. | B．The first cities in the world. |
| C．The urban expansion in the world. | D．The conquest of nature in Mesopotamia. |
9 . Archeologists said on Wednesday they have unearthed the oldest wooden structure ever discovered, dating from nearly half a million years ago, which suggests that our ancestors may have been more advanced than previously thought.
The exceptionally well-preserved wooden structure was found at Kalambo Falls in the north of Zambia near the border with Tanzania. It dates back at least 476,000 years, well before the evolution of Homo sapiens (智人), according to a study describing the find in the journal Nature.
The wood bears cut-marks showing that stone tools were used to join two large logs to make the structure, which is believed to be a platform, walkway or raised dwelling to keep our ancestors above the water. A collection of wooden tools, including a wedge and a digging stick, was also discovered at the site. The ancestors of humans were already known to use wood at this time, but for limited purposes such as starting a fire or hunting.
Larry Barham, an archeologist at the U. K.’s University of Liverpool and the study’s lead author, said the structure was a “chance discovery” made in 2019 while excavating the site located on the banks of the Kalambo River, above a 235-meter waterfall.
Discoveries involving such ancient wood are rare, because it tends to rot leaving behind little trace for the historical record. But the high level of water at Kalambo Falls is believed to have preserved the structure over the centuries.
Excavations at the Kalambo site in the 1950s and 1960s unearthed some wood, but it was not able to be accurately dated. However, this time around, the researchers used a new method called luminescence dating, which determines age by measuring the last time certain minerals were exposed to sufficient heat or sunlight. This revealed that the structure was much older than the researchers had thought, dating back at least 476,000 years.
The discovery of the wooden structure “changed how I thought about these people”, Barham added. “They transformed their surroundings to make life easier, even if it was only by making a platform to sit on by the river to do their daily chores,” he said. “They used their intelligence, imagination and skills to create something they’d never seen before, something that had never previously existed.”
1. What can be learned about the wooden structure according to Paragraphs 1 and 2?| A．It was found in Tanzania. | B．It enjoyed a long history. |
| C．It was partially damaged. | D．It was used by Homo sapiens. |
| A．A bridge. | B．A weapon. | C．A walking stick. | D．A hunting tool. |
| A．The shape of the wood. | B．The water in the wood. |
| C．The weight of the wood. | D．The certain minerals in the wood. |
| A．Approving. | B．Worried. | C．Indifferent. | D．Objective. |
10 . Lisa St. Coeur Cormier, a high school science teacher in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, found a tree root. When she took a closer look, she found the shape was very strange. She realized it wasn’t a tree root though it shared the same color. She felt it was hard to break and noticed an impression of bones of what looked like some kind of animal.
Cormier sent a photo of the find to Laura MacNeil who used her knowledge in this field to confirm that what Cormier had seen really was a fossil (化石). MacNeil runs tours of sites where prehistoric fossils have been found and also helps people identify fossils. She visited the site of Cormier’s find to take more photos of it.
MacNeil contacted John Calder, a scientist, who examined the fossil and led a team of scientists to study it. John Calder said it could be as much as 300 million years old. He said it’s probably from a reptile (爬行动物) of some kind — likely one that is unknown to scientists. Scientists spent 5.5 hours carefully digging out the fossil from the ground so they could study it more in-depth and find out exactly what kind of animal it is. That research could take a year or more.
“This is an important discovery here on Prince Edward Island. It is the second of the only two articulated skeletons (关节相连的骨头) found on PEI,” Laura MacNeil said. “This creature lived about 300 million years ago. This find tells us there is a great possibility for future scientifically important fossils that could be discovered on PEI. It will lead to more researchers paying a visit.”
1. How might Cormier feel when looking at the root carefully?| A．Satisfied. | B．Surprised. | C．Concerned. | D．Proud. |
| A．The scientists will have a detailed study on the fossil. |
| B．The scientists have identified the species of the fossil. |
| C．The scientists will keep the fossil under the ground. |
| D．The scientists discovered the first articulated skeleton. |
| A．Its long history. | B．Its wide popularity. |
| C．Its scientific value. | D．Its economic importance. |
| A．A scientist’s research on fossils | B．PEI is attracting more researchers |
| C．Cormier’s unforgettable tour in PEI | D．A science teacher discovered a fossil |
