2 . The 90-minute long game involves two goals, black and white checkered (格子) balls, goalkeeper, and no hand use. This sport, of course, is soccer or football, as the majority of the rest of the world says. It’s confusing that some countries call this sport “football” while Americans and Canadians say “soccer”, but apparently the British are mostly to blame.

The name confusion is actually thanks to British universities in the early 1800s who tried standardizing various sports games that had different rules and regulations to differentiate between them.

Rugby, formerly known as “rugby football” or “rugger”, is a translation of “football” where you can use your hands. Soccer, originally “association football” or “asoccer”, is the traditional translation of “football” where people don’t use their hands. People in England started shortening the names by dropping the “association” part of the phrase as well as the “a” in “asoccer”. If your head hurts from thinking about this, prepare to have your mind blown by these things you probably never thought about — until just now.

Now comes the complexity: in 1869, Rutgers and Princeton colleges held the first traditional, recorded, football game using a unique combination of rules from both rugby and soccer, creating what we know as “American football” and what other countries refer to as “gridiron”. Thanks to the popularity of American football, soccer players in America keep to “soccer” to help differentiate themselves, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

If the name “soccer” stuck in Britain, and if Americans came up with a better one for American football, there would be much less confusion. So why did the “football” short kind of “association football” become more popular than “soccer” in England anyway? Originally, American influence on Britain during World War II made “soccer” the popular term in England before the 1980s, The Atlantic reports. Once the sport became more popular in the United States around that time, the British stopped using “soccer”.

1. What caused the name confusion in the early 1800s?

A．Sports rules.	B．Game time.
C．Ball popularity.	D．News organizations.

2. In which of the following do the two belong to the same one?

A．“Rugby” and “Soccer”.	B．“Rugger” and “American football”.
C．“American football” and “Gridiron”.	D．“Gridiron” and “Association football”.

3. What does the underlined sentence mean in Paragraph 3?

A．The names make it more difficult for people to understand.

B．You cannot use your hands while playing games.

C．The name confusion is becoming stronger.

D．Making the best of the head in the sports is extremely vital.

4. What does the author imply in the last paragraph?

A．The name confusion would become less.

B．History and culture had a great effect on the name.

C．The British disliked soccer during World War II.

D．American soccer was more popular than English football.

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。

Due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), people all over the world are wearing masks     1    (reduce) the risk of infection. It’s a very simple     2     incredibly effective method to protect oneself from a     3     (various) of harmful things. The fact is     4     masks have been helping mankind for centuries. In the first century, many people in Roman Empire     5     (work) underground in mines to support their families. But most of them suffered     6     and even eventually died of respiratory (呼吸的) illnesses. To address this problem, Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), a Roman philosopher and naturalist, recommended the use of animal bladder (膀胱) skins to stop dust from being breathed in. Although primitive, his idea     7     (consider) the very first recorded mask invention.

With several outbreaks of     8     (infect) diseases and the flu, and the rise of pollution caused by industrial waste, the materials in masks have continued to evolve to     9     (well) protect its wearer. For example, in 2012 when China suffered from smog, mask models such as N95 and KN90, which can filter out this fine particulate (微粒) matter, became highly popular. In the future, masks will continue to improve, hopefully     10     will the habits of humans.

4 . Magic (魔术) is believed to have begun with the Egyptians, in 1700 BC. A magician named Dedi of Dedsnefu was reported to have performed for the pharaoh (法老), or the king. He was also known to have entertained (使娱乐) the slaves who built the pyramids. The “Cups and Balls” trick that he was particularly good at is still performed by magicians all over the world today.

The ancient Greeks and Romans were also fascinated by the idea of magic. Actually, one of their main interests was the art of deception (欺骗). This explains why at that time the priests even built magic devices into their temples. These devices made it possible for doors to open by themselves and wine to flow magically out of statues’ mouths. This was done mainly to make people believe that the priests had unusual power.

Magic however, was not well accepted before the 1800s. Magicians were thought to be freaks(怪物) and, were only allowed to perform in a circus. It was in the 19^th century that the magician Robert Houdin came along and changed people’s views and attitudes about magic. It was because of Robert Houdin that many magicians were able to add Dr. or MD to their names. Today magicians try hard to find new ways to show their practiced skills. Magic is now entertainment for families all over the world.

1. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Magical Tricks	B．A Great Magician
C．Magic as Entertainment	D．The History of Magic

2. The underlined word “fascinated” in Paragraph 2 means _______.

A．amused

B．encouraged

C．attracted

D．moved

3. In ancient Greece, what did the priests do to show people they had unusual power?

A．They performed magical tricks to entertain people.

B．They made the statues in the temples drink wine as they wished.

C．They treated the people with wine flowing down from statues’ mouths.

D．They built magic devices in the temples to make doors open by themselves.

4. What did people think of magic before the 1800s?

A．Magic should be used only in temples.

B．Magic could only be performed in a circus.

C．Magic was performed by freaks and doctors.

D．Magic was the major daily activity for the pharaohs.

5. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Magic began about 3,700 years ago.

B．Dedi of Dedsnefu performed magic for kings only.

C．Robert Houdin was the first magician to perform magic.

D．The “Cups and Balls” trick has been performed for about 1,700 years.

5 . 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.