With a history of more than 2,000 years, the Silk Route dates back to Han dynasty. Through this route, the Chinese highly     1     (qualify) silk made its fame to the western countries. The merchants in different regions     2     (seek) the opportunity of trading Chinese silk     3     they indeed made their fortune along this route.

That route functioned     4     the life blood of international trade at that time. Meanwhile, the Chinese civilization was introduced to the Western countries and vice versa. The Silk Route     5     (consider) as a new chapter recording the friendship between the European and Asian peoples.

Throughout all these years, many great figures have made great     6     (contribute) to the development of the Silk Route. Today, the Silk Route has a poetic name     7     (call) One Belt One Road,    8     (aim) to help those connected regions in culture and economy exchange with a more advanced road. The main cities alongside it are becoming     9     (large) and more important in helping trade and culture exchange. Many countries have gained great benefits along the trading process. All in all, the ancient Silk Road is more like     10     historical textbook for everyone to read and to know about what happened during that ancient time. It has been playing a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China.

Introduction to English as a Second Language Teacher’s Book

One of the earliest-known inventions is the bow and arrow, which is still used throughout the world today, 15,000 years     1     it was first invented. Of course, these days, the bow and arrow     2     (use) mainly in sporting events, but in some places it is still a means of killing animals for food.

In western Asia, another extremely important invention was born — the ability to produce pots. As long as 6500 years ago, people were producing pottery, mostly plain and without designs, but the technique has changed little since.

Some people say that the wheel is the single most important invention. Early examples from about 5000 years ago have been found in the forests of Europe. Around 1500 years later, the Phoenicians used sand, limestone and sodium carbonate to produce     3     else which we would be lost without-glass.

How many things do you lock with a key every day? Doors, cupboards? The car? We really don't think much about them,     4     we? Well, the first example of a lock and key dates back to 2750 years ago, in Assyria. This is a lock on a large wooden door in the palace of Sargon II.

Another amazing invention, which we probably take for granted these days, is the skill of knitting       5     first appeared in the Roman Empire, some 1700 years ago. The     6     (early) examples are knitted socks!

Eye glasses developed from just one lens in a frame, like a simple magnifying glass, way back in the 13th century. In about 1290, the idea to put two lenses in a frame to sit on the nose was developed in Florence. And, believe it or not, the modern contact lens is 120 years old! 

Time flies and we spend a lot of time     7     (check) how much time we have left! This would be impossible     8     clocks and watches,     9     are all around us: on walls, on our wrists, on our PCs, and even on our mobiles and iPod’s. The first pocket watch was invented by Thomas Tompion (1639-1714) in England 330 years ago, and his watch — face design, with two (and sometimes three) hands moving around a single dial,     10     (remain) largely unchanged in all that time.

The Chinese couplet (对联) refers to two poetic lines obeying certain rules, often     1     (write) on red paper for     2     (appreciate).

As a form of Chinese literature, the couplet     3     (vary) in content and style. Some express people’s love to their motherland, some describe the beauty of nature,     4     some convey best wishes for the coming year.

Chinese couplets originated in the Five Dynasties, and since then they     5     (become) commonplace everywhere in China. It was the custom for people     6     (hang) peach wood charms to drive away evil spirits during the Spring Festival. Nowadays, couplets are used in a similar way.

It was said that the     7     (early) couplet was created by Meng Chang, king of Later Shu and it was     8     (wide) popular in the Northern Song Dynasty. At present, writing couplets     9     (regard) as a mark of the cultured life of scholars.

The couplet has two equal-length lines. However,     10     number of characters in each line can be from four to seven or more. The first and the second lines have opposite tone patterns. The last character of the first line is of an oblique tone, and its opposite in the second line, is of a level tone.

There was a state     1     (call) Zhou (周) in the Chinese history. One day, the king of Zhou asked his officials for advice on     2     (deal) with prisoners of war. An official said, “If you love someone, you     3     (suppose) to love even the crows on the roof of his house. The prisoners of war are enemies fighting     4     us. In my opinion, we’d better kill them all.”

But the king didn’t agree with him. “I think we should treat the prisoners of war     5     (different) by differing them into those     6     are guilty or not. The guilty ones will be sentenced to death in order to avoid future disasters.”

Then another one said, “Your majesty, I think all the prisoners should be set free and sent back home to work in the fields and support     7     (them) by their own labor.     8     , you should keep strictly the rules for reward and     9     (punish). The people are sure to believe in you if you govern our country by morals and laws.”

The king thought the official’s proposal was quite reasonable so he accepted and followed it. As a result,     10     domestic situation soon settled down and gradually the country became stronger.

Among the many arts in China are the performing arts. Like paintings, sculptures, carvings and other physical arts, the performing arts in China have a long history. The performing arts range from martial arts like kung fu     1     folk songs and dances that vary by region and area.

The performing arts in China date back to ancient times     2     the tribes (部落) took control of the land long before the culture became well developed. As the country began to unify and change, the performing arts used elements of different tribes     3     (create) harmonious performances.

The performing arts     4    (find) in China have constantly grown, developed and changed while keeping elements of the original art.     5     (current), performing arts like singing, acting and the traditional Chinese Opera hold many elements. The elements     6     (discover) in folk songs and dances with a modern change that includes newer    7     (instrument) and techniques.

Chinese art has     8     unique aspect that sets it apart from other cultures. Because several generations spend lots of time     9     (develop) it, Chinese art has a developed and unique design that is a     10     (significance) part of the country’s history.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Gan De was an ancient Chinese astronomer born in the State of Qi. Along with Shi Shen, he is believed to be the first     1     history known by name to produce a star catalogue (星表). He made     2    (extreme) detailed observations of the five major planets during the     3    (four) century.

Gan De may have been the first to describe one of the     4    (satellite) of Jupiter (木星), usually invisible without the aid of telescopes. He gave the following     5    (describe) of Jupiter’s journey: Every 12 years Jupiter returns to     6     same position in the sky; every 370 days it disappears in the fire of the Sun in the evening to the west, 30 days later it reappears in the morning to the east... In 1981, Gan’s work     7    (identify) by Xi Zezong as describing a naked-eye observation of either of the two     8    (large) and brightest satellites in summer 365 BC.

Gan was one of the earliest practitioners of Chinese astronomy. As the earliest attempt     9    (document) the sky during the Warring States period, Gan De’s work possesses high scientific value. He wrote two books, the Suixing Jing and the Tianwen Xingzhan,     10     sadly both texts have been lost. Some of his works’ titles and fragments (片段) quoted from them are known from later texts.

Archaeologists (考古学家) have found two shipwrecks (沉船) deep in the South China Sea, which serve as a witness to     1     (commerce) and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Along with the shipwrecks, pottery and porcelain (瓷器) have been found, most of     2     were produced in Jingdezhen, known as China’s “porcelain capital”. The locations of the shipwrecks were confirmed as a result of oceanographic detection and underwater investigation using manned submarines that dived 41 times this year.

The No. 1 shipwreck     3     (date) from the era of Emperor Zhengde (1506-1521) of the Ming Dynasty.    4    (base) on studies of the ship, archaeologists believe that it was travelling toward Malacca or another trade center in Southeast Asia. On the No. 2 shipwreck     5     (measure) about 21 meters long and 8 meters wide,     6     total of 36 artworks, including processed logs and porcelain, have been discovered.

This is one of the most important archaeological     7     (program) in South China Sea archaeology. The findings cast new light    8    the study of China’s porcelain-making history. The quality of Longquan porcelain was previously thought     9     (decline) in the late 15th century. However, the discovery of a large number of fine Longquan artworks in shipwreck No. 1     10     (lead) people to reconsider this idea so far.

A Stone Age bird sculpture uncovered in China could be a “missing link” in our understanding of prehistoric art. Dating back almost 13,500 years, the sculpture is now the oldest known example of three-dimensional art in East Asia.

Described     1     being in “an exceptional state of preservation,” the sculpture     2    (find) at an archeological site in Lingjing, Henan Province. It was hand-carved from burned animal bone. Researchers say the sculpture depicts (刻画) a bird on a base, pointing to deliberate marks     3     the creature’s eyes and bill (嘴) would be. It is believed that the bird’s oversized tail was made     4    (prevent) the sculpture from leaning forward when     5    (lay) on a surface. This discovery identifies a(n)     6    (origin) artistic tradition and pushes back by more than 8,500 years the representation of birds in Chinese art. The sculpture differs     7    (technologic) from other sculptures found in Western Europe and Siberia, and it could be the missing link     8    (trace) the origin of Chinese statues back to the early part of the Stone Age. Li Zhanyang, who led     9     study, has contributed to other archeological findings in Lingjing, including various ancient     10    (tool) and two skulls belonging to an extinct species of early humans.