1 . Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were two young men from Germany who loved a good story. As university students, they became interested in folktales-traditional stories that people memorized and told again and again. They began to collect traditional folktales from storytellers a over Germany in order to record old German poems and to preserve history. Many were similar to stories told in France, Italy, Japan, and other countries. Between 1812 and 1814, the brothers published two books in German. The collections became known in English as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It includes some 200 stories, most of which were adopted from oral sources. The best-known tales include “Snow White,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Sleeping Beauty”.
The Grimm brothers’ tales reflected traditional life and beliefs. For example, forests are common in Germany, and this image often appears in the Grimms’ stories. In the past, many people believed forests were dangerous places. In the Grimms’ stories, a forest is the home of evil witches (女巫), talking animals, and other magical beings.
Although most people today think of these stories as fairy tales for children, the brothers first wrote them mainly for adults. Many of their early tales were dark and a little scary. Later, the brothers changed the text of some of the original stories. They “softened” many of the tales and added drawings. Ims made them more appropriate for children. Like the early tales, though, each story still has a moral (道德准则): work hard, be good, and listen to your parents.
The Grimms believed that the most natural and pure forms of culture were based in language and history. Their work influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that the fairy tales of a country were particularly typical of it.
1. What can we know about the Grimm brothers’ tales according to the text?| A．They were originally intended for children. |
| B．They were rewritten to be brighten and less frightening. |
| C．They were collected from stories around the world. |
| D．They were taken from written books of storytellers. |
| A．Traditional life and beliefs. | B．German language and history. |
| C．Magical forests and animals. | D．Famous people and stories. |
| A．A museum guidebook. | B．A social report. |
| C．A book review. | D．A culture magazine. |
2 . The Great Library of Alexandria was a marvel of ancient Egypt. Founded during the Hellenistic period, sometime between 324 and 246 BCE, the Library was reportedly an architectural wonder. More importantly, the Library housed a vast collection of works from all across the ancient world and was a major center of scholarship. The Library shouldered the mission of collecting all of the world’s books, and employed numerous methods to acquire (获得) new works. A well-funded acquisitions department searched the book fairs of Rhodes and Athens, buying individual texts or even whole libraries. Ships that landed at the harbor of Alexandria were searched for books to add to the Library’s collection. The Library also employed a number of scholars who produced original works on subjects such as astronomy, mathematics, and physics.
In addition to collecting books and conducting research, the writers and scholars of the Great Library translated texts from around the world into Greek and collected authoritative versions from different translations. Some of the first translations of Biblical (《圣经》中的) texts into Greek may have occurred at the Library in the time of Ptolemy I. Much work was done to compile (编写) and edit authoritative versions of the Homeric myths for which the Greeks are so well known today, and these were only a few of the great works of translation and editing that took place in Alexandria in the Hellenistic period.
It is ironic that the fate of the Great Library—an institution committed to the collection and preservation of knowledge—is hidden in myth and mystery. Many sources say the Library burned down, but the date is uncertain. It may have burned down more than once, either by accident, or intentionally. Smaller sister institutions may have survived the original library, to be destroyed later.
The Great Library, or some version of it, could have survived for anywhere from 300 to 1, 000 years. However it ended, there can be little doubt that the scholarship of The Great Library had a great and lasting impact on history, and the works that were kept, translated, or created there have had a profound influence on our culture even to the present day.
1. How did they get so many books for the library?| A．By sending the ships to search for books. |
| B．By translating Greek books into English. |
| C．By searching book fairs around the world. |
| D．By writing books related to certain topics. |
| A．Wonderful. | B．Typical. | C．Strange. | D．Intentional. |
| A．It survived for 1,000 years. | B．It had a hidden collection of works. |
| C．It burned down on many occasions. | D．It has had a great cultural influence. |
| A．To introduce some information about a historic library. |
| B．To report the role of great libraries throughout history. |
| C．To compare versions of the Great Library’s destruction. |
| D．To explain the importance of rebuilding the Great Library. |
3 . Walled Cities Of The World
There are numerous historical walled cities across the world, whose walls date back several centuries. These walls were fortification (碉堡), a necessity throughout medieval eras for defense. They have been preserved as historical monuments and popular tourist attractions in the modern time.
York, England
The city of York is a medieval city situated in the north of England. Historically, the city was ruled by the Romans, Angles, and the Vikings before being incorporated as part of the Kingdom of England in 954. Located in the city are walls built in 71 AD which have been restored and extended with time.
Xi’an, China
The city of Xian is one of the oldest cities in China. It prospered economically as the eastern last station of the Silk Road. The existing walls were originally built in 770 BC and reconstructed in the 14th century under the Ming Dynasty. The walls are well preserved and are a major tourist attraction in the city.
Quebec City, Canada
Quebec City was a colonial (殖民地的) town which was fortified by the settling Europeans. The walls began to be built in 1608 under both British and French regimes (政权). A fort was constructed by the British as an additional defensive measure and remains undamaged to date. The city’s fortifications were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
Mexico City, Mexico
Historically, the City of Mexico gained importance as the Aztec Capital. The Spanish then drove out the Aztecs and rebuilt it as the Spanish Capital. The walls protecting the city were built in 1521. Mexico City is also home to numerous colonial-era buildings which together with the walls are major tourist attractions in the city.
1. Which city has walls of the longest history?| A．York, England. | B．Xi’an, China. |
| C．Quebec City, Canada. | D．Mexico City, Mexico. |
| A．They were once colonies of other countries. |
| B．They were once the capital of the Aztec empire. |
| C．Their walls were once built under British regime. |
| D．Their walls were once damaged after construction. |
| A．Culture. | B．Entertainment. | C．Science. | D．Society |
4 . Scientists have confirmed that fossilized footprints found in New Mexico are between 21,000 and 23,000 years old — meaning humans existed in North America much earlier than previously believed.
It was believed humans existed in North America somewhere between 13,500 and 16,000 years ago. So, were the prints — some of which look distinctly human with five toes — really between 21,000 and 23,000 years old?
Researchers from the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other scientists decided to do a follow-up study, using two new approaches to determine the age of the prints.
“The immediate reaction in some circles of the archeological (考古的) community was that the accuracy of our dating was insufficient to make the extraordinary claim that humans were present in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum,” said co-author of the new study, Jeff Pigati, a USGS research geologist. “But our targeted methodology in this current research really paid off.”
The scientists initially used seeds from the Ruppia cirrhosa plant found in the fossils. They used radiocarbon dating to determine the age of the seeds, but because the plants are aquatic (水生的) and can hold carbon from the water instead of the air, the age estimate could have been off.
So, in the new study, they used radiocarbon dating on conifer pollen, which comes from plants on earth, that were found in the same layers as the seeds. “Even as the original work was being published, we were pushing forward to test our results with multiple lines of evidence,” said co-author Kathleen Springer, a USGS research geologist. “We were confident in our original ages, but we knew that independent time-related control was critical.” The researchers had to isolate 75,000 pollen grains from the same layer and found that their age was statistically identical to the Ruppia cirrhosa seeds.
To further check their dating, they also tested quartz grains found in the footprints using a different dating process, optically stimulated luminescence. They found the quartz had a minimum age of about 21,500 years.
USGS says with three supporting pieces of evidence, it is unlikely the age range of 21,000 to 23,000 years is incorrect.
1. What can be learned about the newly found fossils?| A．They contain diverse sea plants. |
| B．Most of them look like humans’ footprints. |
| C．They date bake to the Last Glacial Maximum. |
| D．They will bring about ground-breaking discoveries. |
| A．To improve dating accuracy. | B．To remove the public doubts. |
| C．To prove the previous assumption. | D．To test the most advanced approach. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Optimistic. | C．Doubtful. | D．Reserved. |
| A．Age of fossilized footprints confirmed. | B．Challenges in dating ancient footprints. |
| C．Early human migration to North America. | D．Radiocarbon dating in archaeological research. |
5 . That dinosaurs ate the mammals (哺乳动物) that ran beneath their feet is not in doubt. Now an extraordinary fossil newly described in Scientific Reports, unearthed by a team led by Gang Han at Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology in China, shows that sometimes the tables were turned.
The fossil -dated to about 125 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period-was formed when a flow of boiling volcanic mud swallowed two animals seemingly locked in a life-and-death fight. The one on top is a mammal. This animal is a herbivorous species closely related to the Triceratops (三角恐龙). Animal interactions such as this are exceptionally cam e in the fossil record.
One possibility is that the mammal was eating something already dead, other than hunting live prey. These days it is uncommon for small mammals to attack much larger animals. But it is not unheard of. And Dr. Han and his colleagues point out that those mammals which eat dead bodies typically leave tooth marks all over the bones of the animals. The dinosaur’s remains show no such marks. There is also a chance the fossil could be a fake. More and more convincing fake s have emerged, as this one did -though Dr. Han and his colleagues argue that the complexly connected nature of the skeletons (骨骼) makes that unlikely, too.
Assuming it is genuine, the discovery serves as a reminder that not all dinosaurs were enormous during the Cretaceous and not all mammals were tiny. From nose to tail, the dinosaur is just 1.2 meters long. The mammal is a bit under half a meter in length. Despite being half the size, the mammal has one paw firmly wrapped around one of its prey’s limbs, and another pulling on its jaw. It is biting down on the dinosaur’s chest, and has ripped off two of its ribs. Before they were interrupted, it seems that the mammal was winning.
1. Which idiom is closest in meaning to underlined part “the tables were turned” in paragraph 1?| A．The fittest survives. | B．The hunters become hunted. |
| C．Fortune always favors the brave. | D．The truth will always come to light. |
| A．To prove the fossil was fake. | B．To show the forming of the fossil. |
| C．To illustrate the process of hunting. | D．To suggest the dinosaur was hunted alive. |
| A．The size of the fossil. | B．The absence of fake fossils. |
| C．The complexity of the skeletons. | D．The consistency of the opinions. |
| A．It offers a cause. | B．It highlights a solution. |
| C．It justifies the conclusion. | D．It provides a new discovery. |
6 . The switch from water-powered to coal-powered factories in 19th-century Britain may be a result of droughts that made water power less reliable and coal more attractive.
Previously, it was thought that industrialists ran out of attractive places along rivers to build the waterwheels that powered many of their factories in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Past analyses of the water power available to early industrialists relied on 20th-century precipitation (降水) patterns, but these are unreliable for assessing historical water power, says Tara Jonell at the University of Glasgow in the UK.
Jonell used previous precipitation records combined with elevation (海拔) data to create a more accurate model of the flow in Britain’s rivers and streams at the time. She found that industrialists in England, Scotland and Wales had barely tapped potential water power when they made the change to coal. Concentrated development had completely filled a few places, such as regions along the River Spodden near Manchester, but overall “ there was still plenty of water power that existed”, says Jonell.
“This supports the argument that coal power was neither more plentiful nor more productive than water power at the time,” says Brett Christophers at Uppsala University in Sweden. “ It adds another nail to the coffin of the old belief. ”
One possibility is that a series of droughts may have made water power less reliable than coal, says Jonell. But Andreas Malm, who wasn’t involved with this work, says it is unclear whether actual droughts took place at the time. He says workers’ movements in the 1830s and 1840s may have prevented industrialists from relying on labour to make up production shortfalls that could have been driven by changing precipitation patterns. The mobility of coal was also a factor in this power change, he says. Relying on coal meant factories could be built near cheap labour or convenient transportation, instead of being limited to places along rivers.
1. What was the cause of the industrial revolution according to the previous belief?| A．The increased energy demand. |
| B．The insufficient water resources. |
| C．The lack of suitable areas for waterwheels. |
| D．The difficulty in building waterwheels. |
| A．By analyzing previous data. |
| B．By comparing water and coal power. |
| C．By referring to other studies. |
| D．By remodeling precipitation patterns. |
| A．It leads to a controversial conclusion. |
| B．It stresses the effect of droughts. |
| C．It agrees with the conventional thought. |
| D．It provides good evidence for the new finding. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Cautious. | D．Objective. |
7 . A handshake seems to be a normal gesture. In fact, in the 9th century BC, an ancient site during the ruling of Shalmaneser III clearly shows two figures holding hands. The Iliad, usually dated to the 8th century BC, mentions that two characters “taking each other’s hands and expressing their loyalty.” Centuries later, Shakespeare once wrote of two characters who shook hands and swore to be brothers in the book As You Like It. Shaking hands seems to be an ancient custom whose roots have disappeared in the sands of time.
Historians who have studied ancient etiquette (礼仪) books note that the modern handshake did not appear until the middle of the 19th century, when it was considered a slightly inappropriate gesture that could only be used between friends. But what if Shakespeare had written about handshaking hundreds of years earlier?
According to author Torbjdm Lundmark in his Tales of Hi and Bye: Greeting and Parting Rituals Around the World. the problem comes in differing definitions of the handshake. The early handshakes mentioned above were part of making deals or peace; King Shalmaneser III referred to a rebellion in which he signed a treaty with the King of Babylon. In the Iliad, Diomedes and Glaucus shook hands when they realized they were guest-friends, and Diomedes declared: 66Lefs not try to kill each other. Shakespeare was similarly referencing settlement of a conflict.
The modern handshake as a form of greeting is harder to trace. As a Dutch sociologist Herman Roodenburg — the chief authority for the history of handshaking ——wrote in a chapter of an anthology called A Cultural History of Gesture, “More than in any other field, that of the study of gesture is one in which the historian has to make the most of only a few clues”.
One of the earliest clues he cites is a 16th-century German translation of the French writer Rabelais’s Gargantua and Pantagruel. When one character meets Gargantua, Rabelais writes, ”He was greeted by countless hugs and countless good days.” But according to Roodenburg, the 16th-century German translation added references to shaking hands.
A popular saying suggests that Cleland’s statements against bowing were actually a wish to go back to a potentially traditional method of greeting in Europe. As the centuries progressed, handshaking was replaced by more hierarchical (等级的)ways of greeting - like bowing. According to Roodenburg, handshaking survived in a few remote places, like in Dutch towns where some would use the gesture to make peace after disagreements. Around the same time, those who valued equality also made use of handshaking. Then, as the Continent’s hierarchy was weakened, handshaking became a common practice among people of the same rank, as it is today.
1. Why does the author mention Shakespeare in the first two paragraphs?| A．To prove that the history of handshaking is hard to find. |
| B．To illustrate that handshaking is a very old custom. |
| C．To show readers that handshaking is common in fiction. |
| D．To explain the value of handshaking in communication. |
| A．The origin of handshaking as a form of greeting is easy to trace. |
| B．Citizens usually shake hands to show friendliness in Holland. |
| C．It was used only between friends and to reach an agreement. |
| D．It is a common practice between people of different social positions. |
| A．the science of mental ability |
| B．a collection of selected literary passages |
| C．a daily written record of experiences |
| D．all the living things of a particular region |
| A．The handshake has disappeared in some remote parts of the Netherlands. |
| B．Handshaking has different meanings in different European countries. |
| C．Handshakes are now common between people of different positions. |
| D．Most Europeans prefer to shake hands owing to the weakening effect of rank. |
8 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Wet weather. | B．Positioning of ruins. | C．High latitude. | D．Language barriers. |
| 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. |
9 . A large conch (海螺) shell brought little attention in a French museum for many years, but it is now quickly gaining attention. The shell is thought to be the oldest known seashell instrument. And it still works, producing a deep sound, like a horn from the distant past.
The shell was found during the exploration of a cave with prehistoric walk paintings in the Pyrenees Mountains in France. It was believed to be a drinking cup for ceremony. Scientists from the University of Toulouse recently took a fresh look at the conch shell. They now believe it was to serve as a wind instrument. They also invited a French horn player to play it.
“Hearing it for the first time, for me it was a big emotion and caused some worry.” Said archaeology researcher Carole Fritz She feared that playing the 31-centimeter-long shell might damage it, but it did not. The shell produced clear musical notes in C, C sharp and D. The researchers estimate it to be about 18,000 years old.
Conch shells have been used widely in musical and ceremonial traditions, including in ancient Peru, Japan and India. The shell instrument found in the Marsoulas cave is now the oldest known example. Earlier, Gilles Tosello, another archaeologist in Toulouse, said a conch shell instrument found in Syria was estimated to be about 6,000 years old.
The latest discovery was made after a recent inventory (盘货) at the Natural History Museum of Toulouse. The researchers noticed some unusual holes in the shell. Especially important is that the end of the shell was broken off. That created a hole large enough to blow through. Careful examinations with a microscope showed that the opening was made by humans.
Using a model of the shell, the archaeologists plan to continue studying the horn’s sounds. Tosello hoped to hear the ancient instrument played inside the cave where it was found. He said it was wonderful when an object was forgotten somewhere and suddenly it came again into the light.
1. In what case was the conch shell found?| A．On an exhibition in a French museum. | B．In a research on prehistoric wall paintings. |
| C．During the exploration of a cave in mountains. | D．In the observation of a ceremonial drinking cup. |
| A．To produce a deep sound. | B．To make it look more beautiful. |
| C．To create a hole to blow through. | D．To show it was unusual in design. |
| A．It gained attention as soon as it was discovered. |
| B．It could produce several unclear musical notes. |
| C．It was played by a French horn player and damage. |
| D．It was about 12,000 years older than the one found in Syria. |
| A．The oldest instrument can still be played | B．A research focuses on old shell instruments |
| C．A conch shell serves as a musical instrument | D．An ancient instrument comes into the light again |
10 . Scientists found what could be the oldest evidence of cooking at the edge of the ancient Lake Hula in Israel at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, according to a newly-published paper. The remains, especially fish teeth, were discovered near places where scientists also found signs of fire. Tests showed the teeth had been exposed to temperatures that were hot, but not super-hot. This suggested the fish were cooked slowly over a low heat, rather than being put right onto a fire.
With all the evidence together, scientists concluded that these ancient humans had used fire for cooking some 780,000 years ago. That is much earlier than the next oldest evidence for cooking, about 170,000 years ago, which showed Stone Age humans ate burnt roots in South Africa.
Scientists believe cooking started long before this, though physical evidence has been hard to come by —considering the importance of using fire to cook. Cooked food makes it easier for the body to digest and get more nutrients. When early humans figured out how to cook, they were able to get more energy, which they could use to fuel bigger brains. Based on how human ancestors’ bodies developed, scientists guess that cooking skills would have had to appear nearly 2 million years ago.
Those first cooked meals were a far cry from today’s dinners. And at that time, humans started eating not just for fuel, but for their community. In a 2010 paper, scientists described the earliest evidence of a feast(盛宴), which was a specially prepared meal that brought people together for an event in a cave. This “first feast” came at an important turning point in human history, right as hunter-gatherers were starting to settle into more permanent living situations. Gathering for special meals may have been a way to build community and reduce tensions now that people lived closer to each other. Scientists believe ancient feasts served a lot of the same social uses that modern gatherings serve: People exchange information, make connections, or try to improve their position.
1. Which is probably the earliest evidence of cooking?| A．The tools of cooking. | B．The signs of fire. |
| C．The leftover fish. | D．The burnt roots. |
| A．Food is key to keeping brains’ functioning. | B．Using fire to cook is a universal practice. |
| C．Our understanding of ancestors is limited. | D．Cooking is the driving force for human evolution. |
| A．They mark important events. | B．They have multiple functions. |
| C．They differ from modern gatherings. | D．They display excellent cooking skills. |
| A．To inform readers of a new discovery. |
| B．To explain why early humans started to cook. |
| C．To present how cooking makes us together. |
| D．To stress the importance of fire to human life. |
