1 . We all love bank holidays. In the UK, we only get eight bank holidays in one year, and atleast five of those occur around Christmas time and Easter time! A bank holiday is a British English term. This is an official day that is decided by the government, when banks, shops and offices close for the day even though it’s a weekday — usually a M onday, and a lot of people have a day off work.

Bank holidays are different in Colombia — firstly, they are called “festivos”. There are twenty festivos for the whole country in one year ! In Britain, people get more holiday allowance (津贴) than Colombians but fewer bank holidays. There can be even more festivos in Colombia, depending on which region of Colombia you live in. This is because different regions have their own holidays. For example, some regions have a patron saint                    (守护神) in their region, so they have an extra festivo to celebrate that saint.

However, there are some days that are national holidays for historical reasons. There is an Independence Day celebration on July 20 every year. This is just like Bastille Day in France on July 14, or Independence Day in the United States on July 4. Other important festivos in Colombia are： Labor Day, on May 1, and Columbus Day on October 12. Columbus Day is a historical bank holiday that almost every country on the continent of A merica celebrates. This includes Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico and the United States. It is a memorialization of the day that the Italian sailor, Christopher Columbus, first reached land on the continent in the year 1492. Many people criticize this day and say it is not something to celebrate because of the way Columbus and his teams treated the people that were already living there.

1. What is a “bank holiday” according to the text?

A．A holiday only for the bank staff.

B．A British traditional religion festival.

C．A celebration for Christmas and Easter.

D．An official nationwide rest day.

2. What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A．Colombia and Britain have the same number of festivos.

B．All Colombians have the same number of festivos.

C．Colombians have more bank holidays than the British.

D．Different regions in Colombia have different patron saits to celebrate.

3. Why do many Americans refuse to celebrate Columbus Day?

A．Because Columbus wasn’t an American at all.

B．Because Columbus once treated the locals badly.

C．Because it wasn’t Columbus that found America first.

D．Because Columbus didn’t live in the continent of America.

4. What is the suitable title for the text?

A．Bank Holidays in Western World

B．How to Celebrate Bank Holidays

C．Celebrations of National Holidays

D．Why People Celebrate National Holidays

2 . Walk Through History

It’s no surprise to anyone who’s been to Charleston that it is among the best US cities to visit. “It can feel like you’re in a dream sometimes, like you’ve stepped back 200 years,” says Brian Sim ms, the owner of Charleston Sole Walking Tours. These are Sim ms’s must-sees.

African-American Heritage(遗产)Tour

“People don’t realize how much African culture is here.” says Sim ms. He recommends learning about the African-A merican heritage that shaped the city, region and country to fully understand Charleston.

Gullah Tours offers a two-hour bus tour for $ 18.www.gullahtours.com

Battery and White Point Gardens

A large public park and garden with walking paths and artifacts (人工制品)—all shaded by beautiful trees.

Free admission. Simms provides two- hour guided tours for $10 to $20. www.charlestonsole.com
Middleton Place

Middleton Placeis a historic plantation(种植园) with vivid exhibits and a working table. It provides an all-around view of what was going on with the history of the families that ran the plantation.

$ 28 / adult; $ 15 / student 14 and older; $ 10 / child 6-13; free / under age 6.www.middleton place.org

Fort Summer National Monument

Marking the site where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, this historic place includes several sites around Charleston Harbor and an education center at Gadsden’s Wharf. The best time of yearto visitis spring—when the azaleas(杜鹃花) are flowering—or fall.

Admission is free； boat ride is $ 19.5 / adult, $ 12 / child. www.nps.gov/fosu

1. Where can you book a tour to learn about African A merica culture?

A．On www.nps.gov / fosu.	B．On www.gullahtours.com.
C．On www.charlestonsole.com.	D．On www. middletonplace.org.

2. What can we do at Middleton Place?

A．Visit an education center.

B．Appreciate the beauty of azaleas.

C．Learn about the history of American families.

D．Learn about the operation of a historic plantations

3. How much should a young couple pay for a boat ride around Charleston Harbor?

A．$20.	B．$36.
C．$39.	D．$56.

3 . 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。

On March 31, the Eiffel Tower, one of the world’s most visited and recognizable places of interest, celebrated the 130- year anniversary (周年纪念日) of its opening.

It was only supposed to exist for 20     1     (year). Maybe Parisians decided it was     2       (easy) to just leave it in place than pull it down. It looks like they made the right choice. More than 250 million people     3     (pay) a visit to the tower so far, according to     4     (it) official website.

Designed by French Gustav Eiffel, the tower was meant     5     (serve) as the entrance to the 1889 World Fair in the     6     (begin). It took just over two years to build it. Although it is popular now, not all French people liked     7     tower when it opened. However, the visitors to the 1889 World Fair found it     8     (entertain) to visit the Eiffel Tower. Two million people visited it during the fair. It then became useful as a radio antenna (天线) during the First World War.

Tourists have a choice when they climb the tower. They can either walk 1, 665 steps to the top     9     use one of the elevator cars from 1899. Once tourists reach the top,     10     the Eiffel’s office is, they can have a drink in the tower’s top-floor champagne bar. Today, the tower stands as a symbol of France.

4 . Three days before the Christmas in 1968, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders had adventured out to the moon, becoming the first human beings to reach and orbit our closest neighbor in the space. On the Christmas Eve, they pointed a TV camera out of the window of Apollo 8 and showed a global audience (观众) of 1 billion the ancient moon moving slowly below their spaceship. As that movie played, Anders began reading, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth...”

“I didn’t choose it,” he said last October, when all three astronauts met to mark the 50th anniversary (周年) of their moon flight, at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, where their spaceship is displayed.

When the three men returned to earth on December 27, they were surrounded by a sea of joy. That kind of collective (集体的) joy—born of collective effort—can seem beyond us now. From the factory floor to the three men in the spaceship, an estimated (估计) 400,000 people had a hand in making the moon flight possible. Behind the joy there was also a dark danger Apollo 8 might face. If the astronauts made it into the moon orbit but their engine failed to fire when it was time to return, rescue would be impossible. They would circle the moon forever. But the astronauts did come home, and in the process they gave the world another gift: the celebrated photograph that came to be known as Earthrise.

Even fifty years later, Borman and Lovell continued to play jokes on Anders, 85 then.

“I’m still trying to figure out who did it,” said Borman, with a wink (眨眼睛).

“You did it, I think,” Lovell answered.

“Bill did it,” Borman admits.

He didn’t want me to take it at first,” Anders said.

“I have never said it before publicly,” said Borman, “but I’m just proud that I was able to fly with these two talented guys. You did a really good job.”

1. The men pointed a camera out of the window of Apollo 8 ________.

A．to show the moon to the world

B．to read some sentences to the audience

C．to do some research into the ancient moon

D．to record what they were doing in the spacecraft

2. What danger might the Apollo 8 astronauts face?

A．Their engine might explode in the orbit.

B．They wouldn’t land on the moon successfully.

C．They might have no chance to return to the earth.

D．Their spaceship might catch fire in the returning journey.

3. How old was Bill Anders when he reached the space?

A．27.	B．30.
C．35.	D．50.

4. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 5 refer to?

A．The flight.	B．The earth.
C．The reading.	D．The picture.

5 . 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。

Silk is mainly produced in the south of the Yangtze River Delta. The people     1    (live )in the region were the inventors of silk fabric, and no other culture discovered this process independently. The history of silk making     2    (begin)6,000 years ago, and the earliest example of silk fabric     3     has been discovered dates from 3630 BC in Henan. Silk cloth producing process was well advanced during the Shang Dynasty(1600—1046 BC)era.

China produces about 150,000 tons     4    (annual). This is much more than the rest of the world. Only India has a comparably large industry that produces about 30,000 tons.

It is thought that silk     5    (export)along the Silk Road routes about 400 BC ago. But after that, the     6    (variety)kingdoms kept secret the methods of silk     7    (produce)for another thousand years. It might have been one of the most energetically guarded secretes in history. Anyone     8    (find)secretly carrying silkworm eggs, or mulberry(桑树)seeds was put     9     death.

Silk garments were worn by emperors and royalty. It was a status symbol,     10     common people were prohibited from wearing silk. Silk was also used for a number of other applications including luxury writing material.

6 . The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.There are nine sports: cycling, tennis, gymnastics, swimming, athletics, weightlifting, rowing, wrestling and shooting. Sailing was also to have taken place, but had to be cancelled (取消) because of bad weather at sea.

In the first Olympics there were no real team sports. Then, slowly, a few team sports joined the program. Football and hockey were the first team sports introduced into the Olympics in London in 1908.Then in 1936, at the Berlin Olympics, the Germans brought in handball and the Americans had basketball accepted as an Olympic sport.

It often happens that the country that introduces a new sport into the Olympics then goes on to win the gold medals. In 1904, at the Olympics in St. Louis, the Americans introduced boxing and won all seven events. Five horse riding events were introduced into the 1912 Stockholm (斯德哥尔摩) Olympics, and Swedish riders won four of them. And in 1964, at the Tokyo Olympics, two sports which are popular in Japan were introduced: judo (柔道) and volleyball. The Japanese won all three gold medals in the judo, and also won the first women’s volleyball competition. Some new sports have recently been added to the Olympics. In Los Angeles, in 1984, baseball was introduced and became an Olympic sport. In Seoul (汉城), Korea in 1988, table tennis was introduced for the first time, and tennis returned as an Olympic sport. Unlike tennis, some sports, such as golf and rugby (橄榄球), have been tried in the Olympics but have never returned.

1. The text is mainly about ________.

A．the ancient Olympic Games	B．the modern Olympic Games
C．the ancient and modern Olympic Games	D．how many events are in the Olympic Games

2. Football was first introduced into the Olympics in ________.

A．1908, London	B．1936, Berlin
C．1904, St. Louis	D．1988, Seoul

3. Which sport is different from the other three in the group?

A．Basketball.	B．Football.
C．horse-riding.	D．Baseball.

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens.

B．At the time when the first modern Olympic Games were held, there were not so many sports as there are today.

C．The Olympic Games are held every four years.

D．The country which introduces a new sport into the Olympics usually cannot get   the gold medal for that event.

7 . “Belittle” was first used by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.

Many years ago, Buffon, a French naturalist, wrote some books about natural history. The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them. Some critics said, “Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.”

Thomas Jefferson did not like what Buffon had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that Buffon had spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.

This troubled Thomas Jefferson. He was a naturalist, as well as a farmer, inventor, historian, writer and politician. He had seen the natural wonders of Europe. To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.

In 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia. While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Buffon. At that moment, Jefferson created a new word－belittle. He said, “Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”

Noah Webster, the American word expert, liked this word. He put it in his English language dictionary in 1806, “Belittle－to make somebody or something small, unimportant.”

Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it. In 1797, the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported. “He is an honorable man,” the paper wrote, “so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please.

In 1872, a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word. He said, “‘Belittle’ has no chance of becoming English. And as more critical writers of America, like those of Britain, feel no need of it, the sooner it is forgotten, the better.” This expert failed to kill the word. Today, “belittle” is used where the English language is spoken.

1. What was the reason for Jefferson’s creating the new word?

A．He was a naturalist and writer.

B．Lots of critics disliked Button’s books.

C．He disagreed with Buffon’s views on natural wonders in America.

D．Lots of critics thought Buffon wasn’t a real naturalist.

2. What do we know about Buffon according to the text?

A．Some of his books were welcome by readers.

B．Some of his poems were known to Jefferson.

C．He made some wrong comments on Jefferson.

D．He made great contributions to the creation of “belittle”.

3. What does the underlined word “those” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．The English words.

B．The critical writers.

C．The word experts.

D．The English-speaking countries.

4. What may be the best title for the text?

A．The comment on the New World

B．The creation of Thomas Jefferson

C．The argument about the new word

D．The history of the word “belittle”

8 . The history of Chinese currency covers more than 3,000 years. Currency of some type has been used in China since the Neolithic age (新石器时代),     1     can be traced back to between 3,000 and 4,500 years ago. Cowry shells (贝壳) are believed to have been the     2     (early) form of currency used in Central China, and were used during the Neolithic period. The use of shell money is confirmed in the Chinese writing system. The traditional     3     (character) for “goods”, “buy” and “sell”, in addition to other     4     (vary) words relating to exchange, all contain the “shell”.

Around 210 BC, the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huang (260 — 210 BC) abolished all other forms of local currency and introduced     5     uniform copper coin. Although paper money     6     (invent) in China in the 9th century, the base unit of currency remained the copper coin. Copper coins were used     7     the chief currency in China until the     8     (introduce) of yuan in the late 19th century.

Currently, the RMB is the official currency of China. With over 1.3 billion people     9     (use) RMB every day, it is one of the most commonly used currencies in the world. Nowadays, online payment is taking a large share in the market. Will paper money disappear one day like shells or copper coins     10     (replace) by a new way of payment? Only time can tell.

9 . Long, long ago people couldn’t write and they had no books. But they had stories. People learned the stories by heart and taught new ones to one another. Sometimes it was hard to remember them all.     1    

The ancient Egyptians wrote their stories on something made from papyrus (纸沙草) plants. People in other places wanted to learn from the Egyptians to use papyrus.

    2     So, parchment (羊皮纸), made from goatskin, later took its place.

In ancient China books looked a little different. People there used ink to write on bamboo or silk. And then they invented paper. Made of trees, paper was easier and cheaper to make than papyrus or parchment.    3     Paper-making later spread to the West, but there was a big problem with these early books. Every single one had to be copied and written by hand.

    4     They carved (雕刻) a page of words into a piece of wood or stone. They could then print the page by spreading ink on the wood or stone and putting it against paper. But it wasn’t until a German printer invented movable, metal letters that books became fast and easy to make. The letters could be used to print copy after copy, and the letters put together again and again to print different pages of words.

    5     Once a luxury (奢侈品) only the rich could buy, they soon became a treasure everyone could enjoy.

A．It took years to finish making just one book.

B．But papyrus grew mainly in Egypt.

C．Things grew a little easier when writing was invented.

D．Finally books could be printed by the thousands.

E．The Chinese were the first to think of a way to speed things up a little.

F．Books in the West didn’t change for a long time after that.

G．Its surface was smoother and better for writing on too.

10 . The “Chong Yang Festival” is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, which is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.     1    

Climbing Mountains

People like to climb mountains on this festival, so Double Ninth Festival is also called “Mountain-climbing Festival”.

The 9th lunar month, with clear autumn sky and bracing air, is a good time for sightseeing.     2    . It is really refreshing to climb mountains and enjoy the beauty of nature at this bright and clear time in autumn.

Climbing mounting also indicates “climbing to a higher position”. Another reason why climbing mountains are valued by people, especially by the elderly is that it has a meaning of “climbing to ligneous life”. Climbing mountains on Double Ninth Festival was already popular in the Tang Dynasty.    3    

Drinking Chrysanthemum Flower(菊花) Wine

The chrysanthemum flower wine is unique in brewing. In ancient times, people usually picked fresh chrysanthemum flowers and leaves on the 9th of the 9th lunar month, and brewed the mixture of them and grains into the wine.     4    . The wine is said to have wholesome effects on sharpness of the eye, drop of high blood pressure, reduction of weight and removal of stomach trouble, thus contributing to longevity.

    5    

The Double Ninth cake is also known as “flower cake”. It dates back to the Zhou Dynasty. It is said that the cake was originally prepared after autumn harvests for farmers to have a taste of what was just in season, and it gradually grew into the present cake for people to eat on the Double Ninth Day.

A．Eating Double Ninth Cake

B．Making “flower cake” with friends

C．A lot of poems were devoted to this custom

D．So people love to go sightseeing this month

E．It would not be drunk until the same day next year

F．Here are some traditional customs of the Double Ninth Festival

G．But few Chinese people are aware of the importance of the festival