1 . Directions：Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. measurement B. similar C. remarkably D. monetary E. astronomy F. altered G. civilization H. defined I. independence J. invariably K. dominated

The Nile

The ancient Greek writer Herodotus once described Egypt-with some envy-as ‘the gift of the Nile’. The Egyptians depend on the river for food, for water and for life. The Ancient Egyptians were able to control and use the Nile, creating the earliest irrigation systems and developing a prosperous     1    .

Snaking through the deserts, the Nile would flood almost     2     each year in June. Once the water subsided, a rich deposit of sand was left behind, making an excellent topaoil. Seeds were sown, yielding wheat, barley, beans, lentils and leeks. Drought could spell disaster for the Egyptians, so during the dry seasons, they dug basins and channels to deliver water to their land. They also devised simple channels to transfer water at the peak of the flood.

An early system of     3    , a Nilometer, was used to de determine the size of the floods. Later, during the New Kingdom, a lifting system called a shaduf was used to raise water from the river--    4     to the way in which a well is used today.

The Egyptians took up some of the earliest trading missions. Without a(n)     5     system they exchanged goods, bringing back timber, precious stones, pottery, spices and animals. Their efforts in medicine were also     6     advanced: surgeons performed operations to remove cysts(囊肿). Mummification gave them great understanding of the human body-yet they also relied heavily on various medicines to prevent disease, and discoveries were often confused with superstition(迷信). And while a great deal of time was dedicated to     7     the Egyptians thought the stars were gods.

By the 16th century Egypt was under the Ottoman Empire until Britain seized control in 1882. What is now mostly Arabic Egypt only won     8     from Britain after World War Ⅱ. The Suez Canal, opened in 1869,     9    the country as a center for world transportation. But it, and the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971     10     the ecology of the Nile, which now struggles to satisfy the country’s rapidly growing population, currently more than 76 million-the largest in the Arab world.

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. including     B. impressions     C. standing       D. restored     E. missing F. fun     G. comfort       H. associated        I. inspired       J. marked   K. contact

Ancient Civilizations Had Game Nights Too!

Morten Ramstad, a researcher at the University of Bergen, Norway, and his team spotted one of the rare objects while unearthing the remains of an Early Iron Age (400-300 BC) burial site in Western Norway. Burying loved ones with basic necessities like ceramic pots and clothing, to ensure their     1     in the afterlife, was a fairly common tradition in ancient cultures. However, the families of some lucky individuals went a step further by     2     a board game for entertainment.

Though the game board was     3    , the archeologists, who revealed their findings on April 5, 2020, managed to recover the dice（骰子）and 18 circular game pieces. Unlike the modern-day cubical（立体的）dice, which are     4     with a different number of dots from one to six on each face, the ancient game counter was square and had bulls-eye like     5    , which indicated zero to five on each of its four faces. The researchers suspect it may have been     6     by the oldest-known board game — the “Game of Mercenaries”. The two-person strategy game, which dates back to the 3rd century BC, was believed to be similar to modern-day chess.

The archeologists, who also unearthed remains of pottery jars and a bronze needle at the burial site believe the game pieces indicate the dead was a wealthy individual. In ancient civilizations, board games were a status symbol, signifying the owner’s high social and economic     7    . They indicated an individual’s intellectual ability and also proved he/she could afford to spend time on such activities.

“These are status objects that bear witness to     8     with the Roman Empire, where they liked to enjoy themselves with board games,” Ramstad said. “People who played games like this were from the upper class. The game showed that they had the time, profits, and ability to think strategically.”

The researchers planned to put the     9     game pieces in a museum as the discovery provides insights into Norway’s social structure during the Early Iron Age and gives some ideas of what tabletop     10     looked like during ancient times, at least for the upper class.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. shamed   B. consequently     C. criticism   D. scarce E. authorities F. struggled   G.   original        H. practical I. luxury   J. blanketed   K. assume

William Shakespeare came from a modest start, but finished life living in a(n)     1       house in Stratford-upon-Avon, with a coat of arms and a series of business investments to his name.

So was William Shakespeare a businessman, as well as a writer?

Researchers have uncovered information from historical documents that point to Shakespeare being a greedy businessman, anxious to grab every penny whose practices caused     2    in his lifetime.

The academics believe that many of Shakespeare’s doubtful business dealings have been     3     by people’s romantic view of him as a creative genius who made his money through acting and writing plays. The idea that Shakespeare gave the world such wonderful narratives, language and entertainment makes it uncomfortable to even     4     that he was simply motivated by his own thirst for financial interest.

Shakespeare was a grain businessman almost for his life time.   He bought and stored grain and then sold it on to his neighbors at high prices.

In the late 16th and early 17th Century a bad weather gripped England. The cold and rain resulted in poor harvests and     5     severe lack of food. Referred to as the ‘Little Ice Age’, the period was the time when thousands of people     6     for survival.   At that time, Shakespeare was under investigation for tax evasion(逃避) and later charged with storing grain when food was     7    .

One could argue that he did not do this without a conscience and that perhaps this is demonstrated in the way he portrayed one of his famous character Shylock in his play the Merchant of Venice.   Many people claim Shylock personifies Shakespeare’s own self-hatred, who is eventually     8     for his greed as a money lender and all that he owns is seized from him. Perhaps with the     9     pursuing Shakespeare for his evil dealings during Little Ice Age, Shylock’s tragic fate was a real fear for Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s     10     funeral monument at Holy Trinity Church was a bag of grain which implied that he prided himself on his role as a grain businessman as well as on his writing. It was not until the 18th century that the bag of grain was replaced by a pillow.

4 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Renaissance

The French word renaissance means rebirth. It was first used in 1855 by the historian Jules Michelet in his History of France. Then it was adopted by historians of culture, by art historians, and eventually by music historians, all of whom     1     it to European culture during the 150 years from 1450 to 1600. The concept of rebirth was appropriate to this period of European history because of the     2     interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture that began in Italy and then spread throughout Europe. Scholars and artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries wanted to     3     the learning and ideals of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. To these scholars this meant a return to human rather than spiritual values. Fulfillment in life rather than concern about an afterlife became a desirable goal. Expressing the     4     range of human emotions and enjoying the pleasures of the senses were no longer looked down upon.

These changes in     5     deeply affected the musical culture of the Renaissance period--how people thought about music as well as the way music was composed, experienced, and discussed. They could see the     6     monuments, sculptures, plays, and poems that were being rediscovered , but they could not actually hear ancient music although they could read the writings of classical philosophers, poets, essayists, and music theorists that were becoming     7     in translation. They learned about the power of ancient music to move the listener and wondered why modern music did not have the same effect. For example, the influential religious leader Bernardino Cirillo expressed     8     with the learned music of his time. He urged musicians to follow the example of the sculptors, painters, architects, and scholars who had rediscovered ancient art and literature.

The musical Renaissance in Europe was more a general cultural movement and state of mind than a(n)     9     set of musical techniques. Furthermore, music changed so rapidly during this century and a half--though at different rates in different countries-that we cannot     10     a single Renaissance style.