Abraham Lincoln's position on slavery is one of
Lincoln, with partial compensation to owners, did end slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862.During 1861—1862 Lincoln tried unsuccessfully to get Kentucky and Maryland to do likewise. He
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln used his role as commander-in-chief to issue The Emancipation Proclamation. It made all
2 . Around the end of the first century AD, a Roman writer called Pliny wrote about a terrible volcanic eruption that he
3 . The dialect (方言) regions of the United arc most clearly marked along the Atlantic coast, where the earlier settlements (定居地) were created. There dialects can be defined: Northern, Midland, and Southern.
To some extent these regions save the traditional speech of southeastern and southern England, where most of the early colonists were born. The first settlers that arrived in Virginia (1607) and Massachusetts (1620) soon learned to adapt old words to new uses, but they were also pleased to borrow names from the local Indian languages for unknown trees, such as hickory and persimmon trees, and for unfamiliar animals, such as raccoons and woodchucks. Later they took words from other foreign settlers — the French and the Dutch.
Before the Declaration of Independence (1776), two-thirds of the immigrants (移民) had come from England, but after that date immigrants from Ireland arrived in large numbers. The Great Hunger of 1845-1852 drove 1.5 million Irish to seek homes in the New World, and the European Revolutions of 1848 drove as many Germans to settle in Pennsylvania and the Midwest. After the close of the American Civil War in 1865, millions of Scandinavians, Slavs, and Italians crossed the ocean and eventually settled mostly in the North Central and Upper Midwest states. In some areas of South Carolina and Georgia, Africans working on rice and cotton plantations developed a language called Gullah, which made use of many structural and vocabulary features of their native languages.
The speech of the Atlantic Seaboard shows far greater differences in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary than that of any area in the North Central states, the Upper Midwest, the Rocky Mountains, or the Pacific Coast. Today, urbanization, quick transport, and television have decreased some dialectal differences in the United States. On the other hand, immigrant groups have introduced new varieties in which the influence of their native languages is evident, and some immigrant languages are widely spoken.
1. Why did the first settlers borrow local Indian words?| A．To communicate with the locals. |
| B．To enrich their own languages. |
| C．To deepen their friendships with Indians. |
| D．To learn about Indians’ traditional culture. |
| A．It borrowed plenty of words from English. |
| B．It was based on Africans’ native languages. |
| C．It had rich words to describe farming practices. |
| D．It was mainly spoken in the North Central stales. |
| A．Convenient transportation. |
| B．Widespread use of the Internet. |
| C．The growth of nationwide population. |
| D．The rise of people’s educational level. |
| A．The origin of dialects in the US. |
| B．America’s immigration history. |
| C．The attractiveness of the United States. |
| D．The importance of cross-cultural communication. |
4 . The Winter Olympics is also called the White Olympics. At this time, many colorful stamps are published to mark the great Games. The first stamps marking the opening came out on January 25, 1932 in the United States for the 3rd White Olympics. From then on, publishing stamps during the White Olympics has been a rule.
During the 4th Winter Olympic Games a group of stamps were published in Germany in November 1936. The five rings of Olympics were drawn on the front of the sportswear. It was the first time that the rings appeared on the stamps of the White Olympics.
In the 1950’s, the stamps of this kind became more colorful. When the White Olympics came, the host countries as well as the nonhost countries published stamps to mark those Games. China also published four stamps in February 1980, when the Chinese sportsmen began to take part in the White Olympics.
Japan is an Asian country that has ever held the White Olympics. Altogether 14,500 million stamps were sold to raise money for this sports meet.
Different kinds of sports were drawn on these small stamps. People can enjoy the beauty of the wonderful movements of some sportsmen.
1. The Winter Olympics is held once ________.| A．every two years | B．every three years |
| C．every four years | D．every five years |
| A．Basketball. | B．Table tennis. |
| C．Football. | D．Skating. |
| A．after the year 1936 |
| B．after the 3rd White Olympics |
| C．before the 3rd White Olympics |
| D．before the year 1932 |
5 . People need to relax and enjoy themselves. One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event. Even thousands of years ago, groups of people gathered to watch skilled athletes.
Over 2,000 years ago in Greece, certain days in the year were festival days. These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves. They liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games of skill.
The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia. It was held in honour of the Greek god Zeus. For five days, athletes from all parts of the Greek world took part in the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games, people could watch them box, run, jump and so on. There was a relay race between two teams of men in which a lighted torch (火炬) was passed from runner to runner. The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting. People were allowed to travel to the games freely. Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from its colonies (殖民地) in Africa, Asia and Italy. They met as friends to cheer their favourite athletes and to enjoy themselves.
1. What happened in Greece over 2,000 years ago?| A．People stopped work and enjoyed themselves. |
| B．The cities there were often against one another. |
| C．People watched baseball games. |
| D．People didn’t go to any games at all. |
| A．They fought. |
| B．They just talked to friends. |
| C．They cheered for good athletes. |
| D．They tried to find friends. |
| A．were weak |
| B．were strong |
| C．couldn’t go to other cities freely |
| D．could see each other |
6 . The 600-year-old Forbidden City is the world’s largest palace. It
The Forbidden City was surrounded by high
The lives of the royal families were
In 1987,the Forbidden City was
| A．relieves | B．receives | C．guides | D．sells |
| A．visitors | B．students | C．teachers | D．citizens |
| A．dream | B．hope | C．wonder | D．mystery |
| A．towers | B．walls | C．trees | D．hills |
| A．Owning | B．Covering | C．Having | D．Taking |
| A．altitude | B．power | C．figure | D．position |
| A．studied | B．worked | C．gathered | D．died |
| A．happy | B．sad | C．historical | D．national |
| A．above | B．best | C．worst | D．ups |
| A．finally | B．quickly | C．gradually | D．suddenly |
| A．recorded | B．settled | C．connected | D．copied |
| A．grasp | B．ignore | C．write | D．provide |
| A．background | B．research | C．exam | D．survey |
| A．treated | B．remembered | C．listed | D．honored |
| A．palace | B．scenery | C．attraction | D．place |
7 . In 1905, as part of his special theory of relativity, Albert Einstein published the point that a large amount of energy could be released from a small amount of matter. This was expressed by equation E=mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared). But bombs were not what Einstein had in mind when he published this equation.
In 1929, he publicly declared that if a war broke out he would “refuse to do war service, direct or indirect…” His position would change in 1933, as the result of Adolf Hitler’s coming into power in Germany.
Einstein’s greatest role in the invention of the atom bomb was signing a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built because some physicists feared that Germany might be working on an atom bomb. Among those concerned were physicists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner. But Szilard and Wigner had no influence on those in power. So in July 1939 they explained the problem to someone who did: Albert Einstein. After talking with Einstein, in August 1939 Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt with Einstein’s signature on it, which was delivered to Roosevelt in October 1939.
Germany had invaded Poland the previous month; the time was ripe for action. That October the research of A-bomb began but proceeded slowly because the invention of the atom bomb seemed distant and unlikely. In April 1940 an Einstein letter, ghostwritten by Szilard, pressed the researchers on the need for “greater speed”.
As the realization of nuclear weapons grew near, Einstein looked beyond the current war to future problems that such weapons could bring. He wrote to his friend about his fear about the future use of the A-bomb.
The atom bombings of Japan occurred three months after Germany gave in.
In November 1954, five months before his death, Einstein summarized his feelings about his role in the creation of the atom bomb: “I made one great mistake in my life…when I signed a letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification—the danger that the Germans would make them.”
1. What can we learn about Szilard and Wigner?| A．They were not as influential as Einstein. |
| B．They were responsible for the invention of nuclear weapons. |
| C．They had cheated their friend Albert Einstein. |
| D．They had an intention to destroy the world. |
| A．cooperating with his workmates | B．inventing the atom bomb |
| C．publishing his equation | D．signing the letter to President Roosevelt |
| A．was important in the development of the atom bomb |
| B．was not involved in the invention of the atom bomb |
| C．directly participated in the invention of the atom bomb |
| D．helped with the invention of the atom bomb |
| A．Because President Roosevelt asked to do so. |
| B．Because it was likely that Hitler would make them. |
| C．Because it was not in favour of President Roosevelt. |
| D．Because it was not necessary to do so. |
The United Kingdom or the UK
The UK is a
Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, the attitudes to dirt are always changing.
In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, and washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. The king of England did something similar in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. France’s Henry IV was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.
Though the belief above was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbour ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea; clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?
Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家) , encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . King Tut, Egypt’s famous boy king, was buried with many valuable objects. A dagger (匕首)discovered in his tomb has recently attracted extra attention. Researchers have concluded that the dagger was probably made from a special material.
King Tut was only about nine years old when he became ruler of Egypt more than 3, 300 years ago. The young king died when he was just 19, His body was buried in a tomb filled with objects that people believed he would need in the afterlife.
In 1922, Howard Carter discovered Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Up to now, it was the best preserved ancient Egyptian tomb ever found. In 1925, Carter found the dagger which has a gold handle and an iron blade (刀片).The blade had confused experts because iron was hardly used at that time in ancient Egypt. In fact, it was so rare that it was considered more valuable than gold. Where did the iron for the blade come from?
Around the time of King Tut, ancient Egyptians started using a new word for iron that translates as “iron from the sky”. This led some experts to believe that the iron for the blade came from a meteorite (陨石).But studies of the dagger carried out in the 1970s and 1990s didn’t support that idea.
That’s where modern technology comes in. Researchers used a new technique to examine the blade. They discovered that it was made up of iron and other materials found in meteorites. After comparing it to several meteorites, they even found its possible match — a meteorite that landed in northern Egypt thousands of years ago.
Scientists hope the new study will lead to more discoveries about other ancient Egyptian relics, “It would be very interesting to analyze more Pre-iron Age objects and we could gain precious discoveries.” Daniela Comelli, who is a professor, said.
1. What do we know about Tut’s tomb?| A．It was perfectly kept when discovered. | B．It was built when he was 9. |
| C．It has a lot of iron objects in it. | D．It was the first tomb to be found. |
| A．it is King Tut’s favorite object | B．its blade is made of iron |
| C．it was more valuable than gold | D．it leads to more discoveries |
| A．The iron. | B．The material. | C．A meteorite. | D．The blade. |
| A．more valuable objects are hidden in the tombs |
| B．iron is widely used in ancient Egypt |
| C．Tut’s dagger was likely made from a meteorite |
| D．ancient Egyptian objects are excellent |
