1 . Hand gestures are a very useful communication tool because they are easy to learn and simple to perform
Thumbs-up
Is there a more well-known sign of approval than the thumbs-up?
V Sign
High Five
On October 2, 1977, after Dusty Baker hit a home run, L.A Dodgers baseball player Glenn Burke raised his hand to greet his teammate.
| A．Not all hand gestures are about communication. |
| B．Without thinking, Baker struck Burke’s hand hard |
| C．In the 1400s, there was a war between Britain and France. |
| D．They allow us to express strong emotions without the need for words. |
| E．However, new studies have shown that a thumbs-up meant that the loser should die! |
| F．In French, V stands for victoire, “victory,” and in Dutch, it stands for vrijheid, “freedom.” |
| G．The origins of this popular gesture actually go back to the bloody games of ancient Rome |
2 . More than 4, 000 people died in car crashes in the United States in 1913. The nation’s roads weren’t built for vehicles that could speed along at 40 miles an hour.
Hoge’s light made the first public appearance in 1914.
By 1930, all major American cities and many small towns had at least one electric traffic signal, and the innovation was spreading around the world.
| A．Drivers approaching the intersection now saw two lights hung above it |
| B．When those machines met at a crowded intersection |
| C．The public is pleased with its operation |
| D．People there were not content with the invention |
| E．A Cleveland engineer named James Hoge had a solution for all this chaos |
| F．As it is remarkable that the passengers escaped with their lives |
| G．And the technology became symbol of progress |
3 . Every March, the US celebrates the accomplishments of women in American history. Even though these accomplishments go back a long way, most schools didn’t start focusing on women pioneers and their achievements until recently. Today, most colleges offer classes in women’s history and most schools teach kids about the many contributions women have made to the country. How did this change come about?
International Women’s Day Is Born
On March 19,1911,a German woman named Clara Zetkin organized the very first International Women’s Day. Inspired by American working women, the annual event took on the causes of peace to end World War I as well as gain women’s rights. Over the years, interest in International Women’s Day decreased. It gained development again in the 1960s,when the women’s movement caused women to wonder why they weren’t included in the history books.
National Women’s History Week Is Celebrated
By the 1970s,more female historians began to look back at the contributions of women in history. In 1978,a California school district started Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history. School officials picked the week of March 8 to include International Women’s Day. It was so popular that, in 1981,Congress passed a resolution making the week a celebration for the entire country. The concept of studying women’s history continued to grow in popularity. In 1987,a group of women, supported by people working in museums, schools and libraries, asked Congress to expand the celebration. That same year, Congress declared the entire month of March National Women’s History Month.
National Women’s History Museum
Today, schools and communities across the country celebrate the month with special lessons and activities designed to teach the ways women have helped shape the US. The women who have worked hard to make Women’s History Month a reality would like to see women’s history studied all year, not just every March. In 1996,the National Women’s History Museum was founded. It is a non-profit organization devoted to preserving and celebrating the various historic contributions of women. The organization is working with Congress to open a permanent museum site in Washington, DC.
1. Long ago in American history, women pioneers| A．were heroes in schools |
| B．struggled hard for a peaceful world |
| C．were greatly respected in schools |
| D．rarely became the focus in schools |
| A．To be famous. |
| B．To develop more interests. |
| C．To be supported by American working women. |
| D．To struggle for peace and gain women’s rights. |
| A．The whole March. |
| B．A week of March. |
| C．The week of March 8. |
| D．One month of the year. |
| A．To become a permanent museum site. |
| B．To keep and observe the various historic contributions of women. |
| C．To teach students the ways women have helped shape the USA. |
| D．To earn lots of money and help women who had made contributions. |
4 . When another old cave is discovered in the south of France, it is not usually news. Rather, it is an ordinary: event. Such discoveries are so frequent these days that hardly anybody notices them. However, when the Lascaux Cave was discovered in 1940, the world was amazed. Painted directly on its walls were hundreds of scenes showing how people lived thousands of years ago. The scenes show people hunting animals, such as bison or wild cats. Other images depict birds and, most noticeably, horses, which appear in more than 300 wall images, by far outnumbering all other animals.
Early artists drawing these animals accomplished a monumental and difficult task. They did not limit themselves to the easily accessible walls but carried their painting materials to spaces that required climbing steep walls or crawling into narrow passages in the Lascaux Cave.
Unfortunately, the paintings have been exposed to the destructive action of water and temperature changes, which easily wear the images away. Because the Lascaux Cave have many entrances, air movement has also damaged the images inside.
Although they are not out in the open air, where natural light would have destroyed them long ago, many of the images have deteriorated and are barely recognizable. To prevent further damage, the site was closed to tourists in 1963, 23 years after it was discovered.
1. Which title best summarizes the main idea of the passage?| A．Wild animals in art | B．Hidden prehistoric paintings |
| C．Exploring caves respectfully | D．Determining the age of French caves |
| A．Show. | B．Hunt. | C．Count. | D．Draw. |
| A．It was completely dark inside. |
| B．The caves were full of wild animals. |
| C．Painting materials were hard to find. |
| D．Many painting spaces were difficult to reach. |
5 . For more than two hundred years, the White House has stood as a symbol of the United States Presidency, the U.S. government, and the American people. In 1790, President George Washington declared that the federal government would reside in a district “not exceeding ten miles square … on the river Potomac.” As preparations began, a competition was held to find a builder of the “President’s House.” Nine proposals were submitted, and the Irish-born architect James Hoban won the gold medal for his practical and handsome design. Construction began when the first cornerstone was laid in October of 1792. Although President Washington oversaw (监督) the construction of the house, he never lived in it. It was not until 1800, when the White House was nearly completed, that its first residents, President John Adams and his wife Abigail, moved in.
American presidents can express their individual style in how they decorate the house and in how they receive the public. Thomas Jefferson held the first inaugural (就职典礼) open house in 1805; many of those who attended the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol simply followed him home. President Jefferson also opened the house for public tours, and it has remained open, except during wartime, ever since. In addition, Jefferson welcomed visitors to annual receptions on New Year’s Day and on the Fourth of July. Abraham Lincoln did the same, but then the inaugural crowds became far too large for the White House to accommodate comfortably, and this also created a security issue. It was not until Grover Cleveland’s first presidency that some effective crowd control measures were implemented to address the problem caused by this practice.
At various times in history, the White House has been known as the “President’s Palace,” the “President’s House,” and the “Executive Mansion.” President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901.
1. What is this passage mainly about?| A．The design of the White House. | B．The location of the White House. |
| C．The importance of the White House. | D．The history of the White House. |
| A．Holding an inaugural open house. |
| B．Accommodating the crowds comfortably. |
| C．Decorating the White House. |
| D．Joining in the swearing-in ceremony. |
| A．John Adams. | B．James Hoban. |
| C．George Washington. | D．Thomas Jefferson. |
| A．The White House has had several names. |
| B．The designer of the White House was an American president. |
| C．People were not allowed to visit the White House during wartime. |
| D．The White House is located in a district not larger than ten miles square. |
6 . People need to relax and enjoy themselves. One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event. Even thousands of years ago, groups of people gathered to watch skilled athletes(运动员).
Over 2,000 years ago in Greece, some days in the year were festival days. These were holidays when people stopped their work and enjoyed themselves. During festivals, people liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games.
The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia. It was held in honor of the Greek god Zeus. For five days, athletes from all corners of Greece took part in the Olympic Games.
At the Olympic Games, people could watch athletes run, jump and so on. They could also watch exciting races, which included a relay race between two teams in which a lighted torch(火炬) was passed from runner to runner.
The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities throughout Greece which were at war with one another had to stop fighting. During the time, people were allowed to travel to the Games safely.
Thousands of people came to the Olympic Games from cities in Greece and from its colonies(殖民地) in Africa, Asia, and Italy. They met as friends to cheer their favorite athletes and to enjoy themselves.
1. What did people do at the Olympic Games?| A．They fought for their freedom. | B．They just talked to friends. |
| C．They cheered good athletes. | D．They tried to find friends. |
| A．Greek cities. | B．Africa and Asia. | C．Italy. | D．All of the above. |
| A．couldn’t go to other cities freely | B．could see what each other do |
| C．win the right to join in the Olympics. | D．respect the Greek god Zeus |
| A．Greece at war | B．Together for the Olympic Games |
| C．Stop fighting | D．Greek people |
7 . Brownrigg is a London tour guide and leads walks through the capital all summer long, whatever the weather. His dozen or so routes range in topics from Harry Potter to the London Underground, but all have something in common. “I often end up talking about the weather,” he says. “It’s a national obsession (痴迷). I realised how much it has shaped London’s existence and history.”
Brownrigg’s Discovering Britain walk takes in several of the city’s famous landmarks, from the Tower of London lo the Shard, each stop exploring some of London’s extraordinary weather events.
We begin at the Monument Christopher Wren’s elegy to the Great Fire of London. With its pale stone column topped by a golden orb. the Monument was designed to look like a giant candle. It stands 202ft high, exactly 202ft away from where the lire began in Pudding Lane. Despite its size, the structure is dwarfed by (相形见绌) today’s surrounding tower blocks. Similarly, the causes behind the fire are sometimes overlooked. The Great Fire was a significant event in the City of London’s history, one that was shaped by the capitals geography. The spark was the weather.
As we enjoy some autumn sun beside the Monument, Brownrigg explains: “The summer of 1666 was unusually warm. At that time London was crammed (塞满) with wooden buildings, many only a few feet apart. A long, hot summer left them bone dry. Add stores of flammable materials including gunpowder left over from the Civil War and the city was a giant tinderbox.” It caught a light on 2 September when a bakery oven wasn’t cleaned properly. The inferno (特大火) lasted three days thanks to a strong breeze. Besides fanning the flames, the wind caused more mess by changing direction.
1. What does “it” refer to in paragraph 1?| A．Introducing the celebrities in London. | B．Talking about the weather. |
| C．Explaining the public transport. | D．Exploring the culture of Britain. |
| A．Admiring the special architecture. |
| B．Warning tourists of the public safety. |
| C．Paying a visit to the famous museums. |
| D．Probing some historical matters with weather. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By analyzing the important figures. |
| C．By offering some examples. | D．By describing the features of the buildings. |
| A．Showing the materials of the buildings. | B．Expressing the cause of the Great Fire. |
| C．Predicting the change of the weather. | D．Describing the surroundings of the bakery. |
8 . In the world of Chinese archaeology(考古学), a sign of a dig's importance is the sight of Zhou Mingsheng at work. A field technician who has worked at archaeological sites all around China. Master Zhou is credited with the gentlest touch in his profession. Born into a farming family, he is a “national-level craftsman” with a talent for using simple tools to get relics(遗物) that would crumble in other hands, says his current boss, Wang Xu, director of an archaeological site at Shuanghuaishu, a Neolithic(新石器时代的) settlement near the Yellow River in the central province of Henan.
It is not beauty that attracts visitors to Shuanghuaishu. At 5,300 years old, the settlement is the work of a culture too simple to have left behind many buried treasures. The single most precious find, to date, is a finger-length sculpture of a silkworm. Nor is the setting lovely: an area surrounded by deafening insects, between a highway and two power stations. Rather, the site's importance is historical. For since the birth of Chinese archaeology in the 1920s, it has been inseparable from claims that China has the oldest unbroken civilisation on Earth.
Leading archaeologists say that the site has the right combination of location, age and distinctive cultural elements to be the capital of an early Chinese kingdom. That would make it a bridge between China's written history and the era of the Yellow Emperor, who is said to rule over these central plains almost 5,000 years ago, though many foreign scholars doubt his existence. Chinese media call the site proof of China's 5,000 years of history.
Foreigners complain about a lack of written records, Mr. Wang notes. Perhaps they are missing symbols that will one day be understood, for instance in patterned pottery. Outsiders “can't keep using Western standards to apply to Chinese ruins,” he argues.
1. What does the underlined word “crumble” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Break. | B．Start. | C．Wait. | D．Shine. |
| A．It has appealing scenery. | B．It has various precious treasures. |
| C．It is of great historical significance. | D．It is easily accessible. |
| A．Unconcern. | B．Disapproving. | C．Supportive. | D．Not mentioned. |
| A．Chinese history amazes the world. | B．Chinese archaeology catches on. |
| C．China follows its tradition. | D．China digs its past. |
9 . The Pharos, the great lighthouse of Alexandria, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It stood on the island of Pharos, in the harbor of the city of Alexandria. In 290 B.C, Ptolemy I Soter, the ruler of Egypt, ordered the building of the lighthouse. Twenty years later, it was finished−the first lighthouse in the world and the tallest building on Earth except the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
The Pharos was designed by Sostrates, a Greek architect. Sostrates wanted to leave his name on the base of the lighthouse. But Ptolemy refused, ordering that only his own name appear on the building. But Sostrates found a way to do that. At the base of the Pharos, Sostrates left a message containing his own name. Then he covered it with plaster (建筑石膏) and left Ptolemy's name over it. After many years, the plaster disappeared and people knew the true architect of the lighthouse.
In 1302 and 1323, two strong earthquakes hit Alexandria, and the lighthouse was damaged. In 1326, it finally fell into the sea. Much of what we know about the lighthouse comes from the writings of Arabs who once visited the Pharos.
The Pharos was about 384 feet tall, the same height as a modern 40-storey building. At the top of the lighthouse stood a large statue of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Under it was a beacon, the source of light for the lighthouse. The Pharos used two kinds of beacons. At night, a large fire created the light. During the day, a huge mirror made use of the sunlight to create the light.
It was said that the mirror was also used to set enemy ships on fire as they entered the harbor by directing the sun’s rays (sunlight) at them. Although it is clearly impossible, the idea is interesting.
1. Why did Sostrates use plaster at the base of the Pharos?| A．To follow Ptolemy's orders. |
| B．To hide his name left on the base. |
| C．To protect the base from damage. |
| D．To make the lighthouse more beautiful. |
| A．For about 800 years. | B．For about 1,000 years. |
| C．For about 1,600 years. | D．For about 2,000 years. |
| A．The lighthouse. | B．The statue. |
| C．A large fire. | D．A huge mirror. |
| A．Sostrates and Ptolemy. |
| B．The function of an old lighthouse. |
| C．The Pharos, a wonder of the ancient world. |
| D．The architect of an old lighthouse. |
10 . Architectural history can take you through the evolution of those structures that served as a mark to remote civilizations, like the Egyptians and their architecture, reflected in pyramids, tombs, and many other ancient buildings along the Nile River．
In fact, the first big architectural design recorded in history was the work of Imhotep, Egyptian high priest（主教）, who designed and built the complex（综合建筑群） that took the name of his king, between the years 2630 to 2611 BC．
Ruins of the most varied architecture speak for themselves about the most varied civilizations, traditions, and beliefs around the world．Without architecture, the history of mankind would be incomplete．
Many surviving buildings of the ancient world are examples of the great things that architecture can do for the world．Among them, we can name the Great Pyramid, listed as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and the great Wall of China, built between the years 221 to 206 BC．
As time passed, all buildings and designs began to take special characteristics, becoming symbols of different eras identified as architectural styles．In ancient Greece, where buildings seemed to always be the same, there were three types of columns to identify each period of time．
The Romans inherited from the Greeks most of their traditions, beliefs, and customs, including architecture, but they also developed their own．
Architectural history was influenced by artistic, economic, politic, and socio-cultural events throughout the centuries, and Europe became the cradle（摇篮） of many well-known architects in the years following the fall of the Roman Empire．
As time passes, the actual architecture differs in shape, materials, construction methods, and designing goals, but the work of the architects will continue for generations to come．
1. Who made the first big architectural design recorded in history?| A．Chinese | B．Indians | C．Egyptians | D．British |
| A．They give tourists chances to visit them． |
| B．They help to satisfy the needs of houses． |
| C．They can bring in a great deal of money for the local people． |
| D．They represent different cultivations, traditions, and beliefs there and then． |
| A．To show its strength | B．To tell us its importance |
| C．To show its special style | D．To prove the function of architecture |
| A．Architectural history was only influenced by economic and politic events． |
| B．The Roman Empire was the cradle of famous architects earlier than Europe． |
| C．The actual architecture remains the same in shape, material and designing goals． |
| D．Europe was the cradle of famous architects earlier than the Roman Empire． |
