History of English

The history of the English language started with the     1     (arrive) of the Germanic tribes (部落) in Britain during the 5th century AD. Their language in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look     2     English today. Native English speakers now have great difficulty     3       (understand) Old English. However, about half of the most common words in Modern English have Old English roots. Old English was spoken     4     around 1100.

In 1066, William, the Duke of Normandy, came to England. The new comers brought with them a kind of French,    5     became the language of the ruling and business classes. At that time, the     6     (low) classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century, English became important in Britain again, with many French words added. This language     7       (call) Middle English, which is still difficult for native English speakers to understand today.

From the 16th century on, the British had contact with many peoples from around the world, meaning that many new words and phrases     8     (slow) entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was a common language in print. Printing     9     (bring) standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604, the     10     (one) English dictionary came out. As a result, Modern English came into being.

China’s Grand Canal(大运河)

For centuries, the power of Chinese emperors rose and fell with     1    (they) control of the Grand Canal. Today, this important waterway is shorter than it once was,     2     it is still the longest man-made river in the world and continues to play an important cultural and     3    (economy) role in modern China.

The original canal system began around the year 605,     4    Emperor-Yang realized that-in order to feed his army--he needed a way to move food quickly from China’s southern rice -growing region to the country’s north.     5    (complete) in 611, the canal grew more and more important throughout China over the next 500 years. In 1279, Kublai Khan began to repair and build new parts of the canal. This rebuilding work created a more direct north-south route to and from Beijing. Future     6    (rule) then continued to expand and improve the canal. In addition to     7    (move) rice around China, the Grand Canal was also an important cultural waterway. Ideas, regional foods, and cultural practices were transported from one part of China     8    another along the county’s watery highway.

Today, boats still carry tons of coal, food, and other goods to points between Hangzhou and Jining. In 2014, the historic Grand Canal was made a UNESCO World Heritage site.It     9    (hope) that Grand Canal, one of the world’s great engineering accomplishments, will continue to link north and south China for centuries     10    (come).

Do you know the story how Alexander Graham Bell invented his famous invention-the telephone? In fact, he invented it accidentally.

It was the exploring around problems and his dynamic spirit     1     led to his most famous invention - the telephone in 1876. Bell never set out to invent the telephone and     2     he was trying to design was a multiple telegraph. This     3     (origin) telegraph sent a message over distances     4     (use) Morse code. But only one message could go

    5     a time. Bell wanted to improve it so that it could send several messages at the same time. He designed a machine that would separate different sound waves and allow different conversations to be held at the same time. But he found the problem difficult to solve. One day as he     6     (experiment) with one end of a straw joined to a deaf     7     (man) ear drum and     8     other to a piece of smoked glass, Bell noticed that when he spoke into the ear, the straw drew sound waves on the glass. Suddenly he had a flash of     9     (inspire). If sound waves could be reproduced in a moving electrical current, they could be sent along a wire. In searching to improve the telegraph, Bell had invented     10    (one) telephone!

Like the coastal cities Qingdao, Shanghai and Xiamen in China, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego     1    （locate）off the coast in California, the USA.

It was in 1848, not long after the American-Mexican war,     2     gold was discovered in California. This incredible news appealed to people from all over the world, the dreams of whom were to become rich as soon as possible.

The     3    （near）, and therefore the first to arrive were South Americans and people from the United States,     4    （follow）by adventurers from Europe and Asia soon. All of the prospectors dug excitedly and wildly with the purpose of reaching the buried gold.    5     made those who sought their fortune heart-broken was, as a matter of fact, that few achieved their dreams of becoming rich. Some died or returned home, but most remained in California to make a life for     6    （they）. In spite of the fact that they would be faced up with various     7    （suffer）, they settled in the new towns or on farms. By the time California elected to become the thirty-first federal state of the USA in 1850, it was already     8     multicultural society.

Nowadays immigrants from different parts of the world, attracted by the climate and the lifestyle, still move to California. It is believed that before long the mix of     9    （nationality）will be so great that there will be no distinct major racial or cultural groups, but     10    （simple）a mixture of many races and cultures.

Therefore, California has the distinction of being the most multicultural state in the USA, the diversity of which is not surprising when you know its history.

Sanxingdui Museum is known as the most important ancient remains of the Sichuan region. The museum consisting of two galleries with an     1     (exhibit) area of nearly 12,000 square meters is recognized as "the source of Yangtze River Civilization".

Most of the     2    (desert) cultural relics in Sanxingdui were used for sacrifice (祭祀). The unique and exquisite shapes make it hard for experts to explain     3    the ancient people did it. Although Sanxingdui Museum is a little far from the downtown area, it is well worth     4     visit.       

Sanxingdui was first discovered by a farmer in 1929 when he dug a ditch in his field. Since then, more than 10,000 relics, some of     5     date back 3,000 to 5,000 years, have been unearthed. But up to now no records     6     (find) about it either during or after the late Shang Dynasty. The Sanxingdui Ruins serve as     7    (convince) proof that the origins of Chinese civilization are diverse.     8    the excavation of Sanxingdui, Sichuan was believed to have a history of about 3,000 years.     9    is now generally recognized that civilized culture appeared in Sichuan about 5,000 years ago. During the future excavations, archaeologists expect     10    (solve) such mysteries as where raw materials came from and when and why the civilization disappeared.

Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano located just east of Naples, Italy. It is the only volcano on the continent of Europe that     1     (erupt) in the last one hundred years, though other volcanoes have erupted on islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Vesuvius's earliest     2     (record) eruption is now its most famous. In the year A. D. 79,     3     little or no warning, Vesuvius erupted and completely buried the ancient city of Pompeii. For two days the mountain shot     4     (volcano) material into the air, spreading     5     blanket of ash over the landscape. Pompeii, located seven kilometers from the volcano,     6     (bury) under five meters of ash. The destruction was so complete that it was not until sixteen hundred years later     7     the city was discovered. Evidence of the religion, culture, and everyday life of the Pompeiians, all     8     (leave) behind in the sudden panic of the volcano's catastrophe, are     9     (remarkable) well preserved. And everywhere there are     10     (remind) of its sudden eruption and the shadow of Vesuvius. Even the forms of the citizens remain. Their bodies lie much as they did on the day of their death almost twenty centuries ago.

Chinese archaeologists announced Saturday that some new major discoveries have been made at the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins site in Sichuan Province.

Archaeologists have found six new sacrificial pits(祭祀坑) and unearthed more than 500 items     1     (date) back about 3,000 years at the Sanxingdui Ruins. The new pits sit next to two sacrificial pits    2    (discover) in 1986. Together they form an area in    3    people of the ancient Shu   civilization offered    4     (sacrifice) to heaven, earth and their ancestors, and prayed for prosperity and peace.

The pits are rectangular(矩形的),     5    areas ranging between 3.5 square meters and 19 square meters. So far, archaeologists    6     (dig) out various cultural items from four of the pits, including pieces of gold masks, gold foil, bronze masks, bronze trees, ivory and jade.     7    rest of the newly discovered pits are still under excavation.

The discoveries have shown the distinctiveness of the Shu civilization and the    8     (diverse) of the Chinese civilization.

Literally meaning “Three-Star Piles”, the Sanxindui Ruins site is among China’s top ten    9     (archaeology) finds of the 20^th century. Covering 12 square km, the relics site, located in the city of Guanghan, about 60 km from Chengdu,     10     (believe) to be the remnants(遗迹)of the Shu Kingdom in ancient China.