1 . Tea is currently the world's most popular drink, only after water. However, there was a time when tea was known only to the Chinese.
While we know that tea drink started in China, its true origin remains something of a mystery. Legend has it that about 5,000 years ago, Shennong came across tea when dried leaves blew into a pot of boiling water. Following his discovery, tea was used as medicine, included in meals and later offered as a refreshing drink to officials and noblemen.
It is then not surprising that the beauty of tea was eventually revealed to a wider world.
A.So, how did tea originate in China? |
B.But how was tea introduced overseas? |
C.Tea became the main theme in ancient poems, |
D.The love of tea inspired many people to write about it, |
E.Over time, the gift of tea was further delivered to Western Asia and Eastern Africa. |
F.Eventually, it became a common drink enjoyed and embraced by all Chinese people. |
G.Tang and Song Dynasties needed strong Tibetan horses, the Tea Horse Road was born. |
2 . The concept of planning entire communities before their construction is an ancient one. In fact, one of the earliest such cities on record is Miletus, Greece, which was built in the 4th century BC. Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance various planned communities (both theoretical and actual) were conceived (构思). Leonardo da Vinci designed several cities that were never constructed. Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, the architect Christopher Wren created a new master plan for the city, combining park land and urban space. Several 18th century cities, including Washington D.C., New York City, and St Petersburg, Russia, were built according to comprehensive planning.
One of the most important planned city concepts, the Garden City Movement, arose in the latter part of the 19th century as a reaction to the pollution and crowding of the Industrial Revolution. In 1898, Ebenezer Howard published the book To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path for Real Reform in which he laid out his ideas concerning the creation of new economically sustainable towns. Howard believed that these towns should be limited in size and density, and surrounded with a belt of undeveloped land. The idea gained enough attention and financial backing to lead to the creation of Letchworth, in Hertfordshire, England. This was the first such 'Garden City'. After the First World War, the second town built following Howard's ideas, Welwvn Garden City, was constructed.
In the early 1920s, American architects Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, inspired by Howard's ideas and the success of Letchworth and Welwyn, created the city of Radbum, New Jersey. Conceived as a community which would be safe for children, Radbum was intentionally designed so that the residents would not require automobiles. Several urban planning designs were pioneered at Radbum that would influence later planned communities, including the separation of pedestrians and vehicles, and the use of 'superblocks', each of which shared 23 acres of commonly held parkland.
In America, following the stock market crash of 1929, there was great demand for both affordable housing and employment for workers who had lost their jobs. In direct response to this, in 1935 President Roosevelt created the Resettlement Administration, which brought about a total of three greenbelt towns: Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio; and Greendale, Wisconsin. These towns contained many of the elements of the Garden City Movement developments, including the use of superblocks and a 'green belt' of undeveloped land surrounding the community.
1. The first paragraph talks mainly about ________.A.famous urban planners | B.the history of urban planning |
C.the future examples of urban planning | D.problem associated with urban planning |
A.It came just before the Industrial Revolution. |
B.It was held back by a war and a lack of funds. |
C.It resulted in cities that were larger than they had been before. |
D.It was designed to address problems caused by modernization. |
A.To reduce the danger for families living in the area. |
B.To create something totally different from cities elsewhere. |
C.To make sure people could park their cars close to their home. |
D.To increase green spaces by designing houses with gardens. |
A.Their residents were affected by the stock market collapse. |
B.They were built for the wealthiest people in America. |
C.They were each surrounded by natural parkland. |
D.They were all constructed in the same year. |
Columbus was born in a port city of Italy in 1451. As a teenager, he loved sailing and showed great interest in geography,
Columbus insisted on searching for a direct sea route to the East Indies
Between 1493 and 1504, Columbus found more land later. His major
4 . A fresh and gentle wind on your face, soft sand under your feet and blue waters as far as the eye can see. Is there any other Olympic sport that is played in such pleasant conditions as beach volleyball?
“I’ve gone to a lot of beautiful places, and met a lot of beautiful people. That wouldn’t have happened if I had been playing another sport.” said Randy Stoklos, America’s most famous beach volleyball player.
The sport began as a four-a-side game on beaches in Southern California in the 1920s. The first recorded two-man game took place there in 1930, and the first tournament (锦标赛) was held in Los Angeles 18 years later. The winners were awarded a case of Pepsi. In the 1950s, women started playing and the sport soon spread to Europe and South America. Yet at that time, beach volleyball was more an entertainment show than a sport, with beauty contests included. The Association of Volleyball Professionals was founded in 1983 and beach volleyball developed into a fast, athletic sport. Its world-wide popularity won beach volleyball a place at the 1996 Olympics in Atalanta, where 24 male teams and 16 female teams took part. At present, the US and Brazil are the best in the world at beach volleyball.
The game came to China in the early 1990s and there have been national tournaments since 1994. It became an official event at the Eighth National Games in 1997. China’s You Wenhui and Wang Lu finished ninth in the women’s beach volleyball world championships in Brazil.
1. The passage is mainly about ______.A.the history of beach volleyball |
B.how to play beach volleyball |
C.the importance of beach volleyball |
D.women’s beach volleyball in China |
A.Beach volleyball was first played like other Olympic: sports. |
B.Beach volleyball has always been an entertainment show rather than a sport. |
C.Beach volleyball began on beaches in Souther California. |
D.Women started playing beach volleyball in South America in 1945. |
A.In 1948, | B.In 1996. | C.In 1950. | D.In 1997. |
A.in 1996, beach volleyball became an official event in China |
B.China’s beach volleyball team is the best in the world |
C.China’s beach volleyball players won the first place in Brazil |
D.beach volleyball came to China in the early 1990s |
5 . As early as the twelfth century AD, the settlements of Chaco Canyon in Mexico in the American Southwest were notable for “their great houses” massive stone buildings that contain hundreds of rooms and often stand three or four stories high.
One theory holds that the Chaco structures were purely residential.
A third theory proposes that houses were used as ceremonial centers. Close to one house, called Pueblo Alto, excavations of the mound revealed deposits containing a surprisingly large number of broken pots.
A.Almost every structure houses hundreds of people. |
B.Some experts think the Chaco structures were used to store food supplies. |
C.Archaeologists have been trying to determine how the buildings were used. |
D.The size of the great houses would make them very suitable for the purpose. |
E.Such ceremonies have been documented for other Native American cultures. |
F.Archaeologists identified an enormous mound formed by a pile of old material. |
G.This finding has been interpreted that people gathered at Pueblo Alto for special ceremonies. |
World Philosophy Day is every year on the third Thursday of November. The day is
The word “philosophy” comes from Greek,
It may sound broad and profound, but in fact it arises out of our
Philosophy
The discovery of the Yangshao village site in Sanmenxia, Henan province, in 1921, marked
On October 18, the National Cultural Heritage Administration announced the top 100 archacological discoveries in China in the past 100 years
In addition to the Yangshao site, many names familiar to the general public
“It provides great
“The last 100 years’ archacological research in China has
8 . Many people today think of the pyramids of Giza as the symbol of ancient Egyptian culture. But who actually built them? For years, we did not know for sure. Now, however, archaeologists have discovered an ancient city near the pyramids. Close by, there is a cemetery (墓地) where the pyramid builders were buried. From studying these places, archaeologists are sure that the pyramids were not built by slaves or foreigners.
It took about 80 years to build the pyramids. Archaeologists believe that about 20,000-30,000 people took part in the construction.
“We can see that in their skeletons(骨骼),” says Azza Mohamed Sarry El-Din, a scientist studying bones found in the cemetery. According to her research, the bones show signs of arthritis (关节炎).
A.It still remains a mystery. |
B.Ordinary Egyptians built them. |
C.The workers took on different roles. |
D.In fact, their lives may have been even harder. |
E.They worked on the same jobs but competed to be the best. |
F.The task was challenging, but builders were proud of their work. |
G.This probably developed from carrying heavy things for a long time. |
9 . Maaseik, a city in Belgium, has opened an exhibition of about 200 relics and treasures of the Tang Dynasty(618 AD - 907 AD), showing China’s golden age of ancient civilisation (文明) .
The exhibition, which opened on May 11 and will continue until Oct. 20, is part of the city’s effort to create a centre of Chinese culture. Belgian Princess Mathilde formally announced the beginning of the exhibition, titled: China’s Golden Age: Treasures from the Tang Dynasty”.
The items, including gold plates and silver wares for royal families, Tang Dynasty tri-colour glazed figurines (小雕像) of women and paintings, have recently been on exhibit in the Dutch city of Assen.
All of the exhibited items are from Shaanxi Province, China. Its provincial capital Xi’an was the most populous (人口众多的) city in the world and once the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang period is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilisation-requal to, or better than that of the earlier Han Dynasty(202 BC-220 AD), a golden age of Chinese culture.
Several years ago, said Dirk Verlaak, vice-mayor of Maaseik, his city and Assen teamed up to host history and culture exhibitions of China’s first two imperial dynasties, the Qin (221 BC-207 BC) and the Han. The Chinese relics and treasures attracted 350, 000 visitors in Assen and 190, 000 in Maaseik.
“Westerners don’t know much about China’s ancient civilisation and history, and we hope the new exhibition in Maaseik can attract more visitors,” said Verlaak.
1. Maaseik held the exhibition in order to ________.A.make money | B.educate people |
C.attract foreign visitors | D.spread Chinese culture |
A.Dirk Verlaak is interested in Chinese history |
B.All the items in the exhibition are from China |
C.Assen attracted more visitors than Maaseik several years ago |
D.This is the first time that Maaseik has held such an exhibition |
A.Doubtful | B.Content | C.Worried | D.Disappointed |
A.Tang Dynasty Treasures Exhibited in Belgium |
B.Tang Dynasty Treasures Discovered in Belgium |
C.Chinese Culture Goes around the World |
D.Chinese Civilisation Attracts Foreigners |
10 . Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors and generals, while the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year, but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think so much of them that on all the highest pillars in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general.
It is possible they are, but they are not the most civilized. Animals fight, so do savages; so to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized.
This is what the story of mankind has on the whole been like. But we must not expect too much. After all, the race of men has only just started. From the point of view of evolution, human beings are very young indeed, babies of a few months old. Scientists assume that there has been life of some sort on the earth for about twelve hundred million years; but there have been men for only one million years, and there has been civilized men for about eight thousand years.
A.Even being good at getting others to fight most efficiently is not being civilized. |
B.Most people believe those who have conquered the most nations are the greatest. |
C.However, every year conflicts between countries and nations still claim thousands of lives. |
D.And not only has it won, buts also because it has won, it has been in the right. |
E.So there has been little time to learn in, but there will be oceans of time in which to learn better. |
F.People don’t fight and kill each other in the streets, but nations still behave like savages. |