1 . There are many interesting stories about Chinese fans in historical records, novels, and legends.    1    He was a famous military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. And there are also stories about the plantain fan belonging to Princess Iron Fan, a fictional character in the classic novel Journey to the West.

    2     For example, men of letters preferred folding fans, military strategists preferred feather fans, girls of noble (贵族的) families liked circular fans while ordinary people usually used palm leaf fans.

The reason why fans evolved into artwork was largely related to men of letters, who liked to paint or write poetry on fans, and gave them to their friends as gifts.    3    That eventually led to fans becoming artwork.

It has been popular to draw fans or write poems about fans, and paint or write on paper fans. There is a story about Wang Xizhi, known for his Chinese calligraphy. Wang once saw an elderly lady selling fans. The business was not so good. She looked very upset, so Wang decided to help her.    4    On seeing Wang’s calligraphy on those fans, people all competed to buy them, which sold out very quickly.

It has been popular to paint on fans since Tang Dynasty. Artwork on fans is also a unique type of Chinese painting. As space is limited, the painters pay close attention to the composition on the half-circle fan.    5    

For thousands of years, Chinese people never stopped innovating fan design, and adopted different materials such as bamboo, paper, bones. They made fans of many shapes, such as circular and square shapes.

Many pieces of beautiful pottery (陶器) were discovered in Luoyang,Henan Province,     1     there were a few tombs of the Tang Dynasty, when a railway was in the process of     2     (construct) in 1899. The pieces of pottery were either in yellow, green and white colours or in yellow, green and brown colours. Because they were found from tombs of the Tang Dynasty, they were called “Tang tricoloured glazed pottery”.

The production of glassy pottery in China     3    (date) back to ancient times.The coloured glaze was usually not applied     4     the head of a pottery figure. After the base was baked, a few touches of Chinese ink     5    (paint) to represent the eyes, eyebrows and beards. The facial expression and the inner world of a small statue were portrayed (刻画) most     6    (vivid).

There are a great     7    (various) of Tang tricoloured glazed pottery pieces.With unique shapes,they had the rich flavour of life,     8    (cover) almost every field of life related to the dead, from models of architecture to plates,bowls and from small statues of the heavenly kings with     9     bad temper to those of beautiful noble ladies. They showed the     10    (colour) social life and the splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty.

4 . Every year thousands of tourists visit Pompeii, Italy. They see the sights that Pompeii is famous for, like its stadium and theatres, its shops, and restaurants. The tourists do not, however, see Pompeii’s people. They do not see them because Pompeii has no people. No one has lived in Pompeii for almost 2,000 years.

Once, Pompeii was a busy city of 22,000 people. It lay at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, a grass-covered volcano. Mount Vesuvius had not erupted for centuries, so the people of Pompeii felt safe. But they were not.

In August of AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted. The entire top of the mountain exploded, and a huge black cloud rose into the air. Soon hot rocks and ash began to fall on Pompeii. When the eruption ended two days later, Pompeii was buried under 20 feet of stones and ashes. Almost all of its people were dead.

For centuries, Pompeii lay buried under stones and ashes. Then, in the year 1861, an Italian scientist named Ginseppe began to uncover Pompeii. Slowly, carefully, Ginseppe and his men dug. The city looked almost the same as it had looked in AD 79. There were streets and fountains, houses, and shops. There was a stadium with 20,000 seats. Perhaps the most important of all, there were everyday objects, which tell us a great deal about the people who lived in Pompeii. Many glasses and jars had some dark blue colour in the bottom, so we know that the people of Pompeii liked wine. They liked bread, too; metal bread pans were in every bakery. In one bakery there were 81 round, flat loaves of bread — a type of bread that is still sold in Italy today.

Ginseppe has died, but his work continues. One-fourth has not been uncovered yet. Scientists are still digging, still making discoveries that draw the tourists to Pompeii.

Walking is the UK’s most popular sport. It has     1     interesting history. In April 1932, 400 people     2     (leave) Manchester and Sheffield in Northern England to walk across Kinder Scout in the Pennines. They fought     3     the fact that only rich people,     4     went there to kill birds, could visit this beautiful area. Because of the walk, National Parks in England and Wales finally began in 1949, as well as the Pennines Way, one of the twenty long,     5     (wonder) paths.

You don’t have to walk the whole way if you are on one of the long paths. And there     6     (be) a great number of shorter paths for you to choose. But there are a few basic     7     (rule) you should follow. Don’t drop paper and plastic; close gates after you; keep dogs on lead(绳索) if there are farm animals in the area; stay on the path.

Also, remember that British weather can change very quickly,     8     (especial) in the hilly north and west of the country. If you are in Wales, Scotland or the north of England, carry plenty of food and water, as well as warm clothes. National Parks and footpaths are the best way     9     (enjoy) Britain’s glorious,     10       (vary) countryside.

7 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson.Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams (1860－1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rachel Carson (1907－1964)

If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the danger of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.

Sandra Day O’Connor (1930－present)

When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and in 1981, the first woman to join the US Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

Rosa Parks (1913－2005)

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks did not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil­ rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” said Parks.

8 . The first men and women came to Britain over two and a half million years ago. As the climate got warmer at the end of the second ice age, tribes of hunters and gatherers of food, who used simple stone tools and weapons, made their way into Britain. It was normal for them to move from place to place so they could find new resources. But the British Isles only became islands separated from the rest of Europe about 8,500 years ago, when melting ice formed the English Channel!

3,000 years after Britain became an island, new tribes who came by boat from the mainland introduced farming. These tribes built earthworks for protection and as tombs for their dead. Many of these man­made hills can still be seen.

Later on, people learned to build stone monuments. The most amazing is Stonehenge, a circle of huge stones about 4,500 years ago. Stonehenge is the world’s most famous prehistoric (史前的) monument. We don’t know what it meant or what it was used for, though many different suggestions have been made.

3,000 years ago the climate in Britain became colder and wetter than before, and people had to move down from high ground. A bit later iron started to be used for tools and weapons instead of bronze. Knowledge of iron working may have been brought by the Celts, a new wave of immigrants (移民) who started to arrive from southern Europe in about 500 BCE.

What we know about the first people in Britain has been worked out by archaeologists from the remains they left behind them. Pytheas, a Greek, was the first person who could read and write to come to Britain. His visit was in about 330 BCE, over 2,000 years after Stonehenge was set up. Unfortunately, what Pytheas wrote has been lost, so we don’t have any written record of Britain until the Romans came, almost 300 years after he did!

The United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, England—many people are confused by     1     these different names mean. In the 16th century, the nearby country of Wales     2    (join) to the Kingdom of England. In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Finally, the southern part of Ireland     3    　(break) away from the UK, which resulted in the full name we have today. However, most people just use the     4    (shorten) name: the UK. The four countries    5    belong to the United Kingdom work together in some areas.

There were four sets of invaders and the last group were the Normans. They had castles     6    (build) all around England and made changes     7     the legal system. Studying the history of the country will make your visit much     8    (enjoy). The capital city London is     9     ancient port city that has a history     10    (date) back to Roman times.