Han Gan, a famous artist, was born
A City Frozen in Time
The year 79 AD would have seemed just like any other year in the Roman city of Pompeii. Each day , the street
No one gave any
The eruption when it happened, was unlike anything witnessed before. A huge cloud of hot ash and rock rose into the air, covering the
A young man, watching from a distance, recorded how the thick dark cloud spread everywhere. He described how people were frighten by the sudden disaster. They took
Suddenly, there was a powerful flow of gas, ash and rock. It moved down Vesuvius at a speed of about 450 kilometres
1. How many presidents are there before Lincoln?
| A．15. | B．16. | C．17. |
| A．Rich. | B．Poor. | C．Large. |
| A．Lincoln was elected to the president of the U.S. |
| B．Some southern states wanted to break off. |
| C．Some slaves began to fight for their rights. |
| A．He was one of the greatest lawyers in the U.S. |
| B．He gave one of the most famous speeches. |
| C．He managed to keep his country together. |
4 . Try to picture the world before refrigerators. That may be difficult!
One advanced method of food storage arose in Persia around 400 BC. People there stored food in structures called Yakhchal, which were buildings made from mud brick to keep ice frozen during even the warmest summer months. During the Middle Ages, people stored meat by salting or smoking it.
Later, buildings called ice houses or ice pits were built upon the idea of the Yakhchal. Such ice houses were very common by the 1800s. At the end of the 19th century, many people kept their food fresh in iceboxes made of wood.
By the 1930s, many people were using electric refrigerators to keep food fresh.
| A．They would also dry many foods, including grains. |
| B．These containers held large blocks of ice to keep food cool. |
| C．No one knows for sure how people first learned to store food. |
| D．After all, kids today are used to grabbing a snack from the fridge after school. |
| E．Since then, growth in technology has led these machines to become more advanced. |
| F．With no means to store food, ancient people often went hungry or even died. |
| G．Actually, people found different ways to keep their food fresh thousands of years ago. |
5 . Icehouse and ice ticket
As early as Pre-Qin Dynasty, people used natural ice to keep food fresh and make cold drinks. The Zhou royal court had a specialized department called “ice administration”. They collected natural ice blocks each December to store in the icehouse. During the Qing Dynasty, “ice tickets” were used and they were available only to officials and the rich.
Ice container
The most commonly used cooling tool is called “Jian”, which is a big container filled with ice. It was made of clay in early Chinese history, and was later made of copper (铜). The “Jian” can be seen as an ancient refrigerator, which can be used to make cold drinks.
Hiding food in the well
During the Qin and Han dynasties, for common people, the most common way to cool off is by using their wells. Some families put a pot in the well as a cold closet, or put food in a basket and lowered the basket into the well with a rope.
Herbal drinks
During the Qing Dynasty, taking Chinese herbal medicine was popular in Beijing. In hot summer, some people preferred to drink ice water, some boiled perilla leaves, and liquorice as summer soup to keep off the heat. Ancient people also loved to make lotus seed soup in summer for the benefit of strengthening the body.
1. What does “Jian” have the same function as?| A．Container. | B．Refrigerator. | C．Clay. | D．Copper. |
| A．Ice tickets. | B．Ice container. | C．Hiding food in the well. | D．Herbal drinks. |
| A．To strengthen the body. | B．To keep food fresh. |
| C．To escape the summer heat. | D．To make cold drinks. |
When you pick up that piece of paper lying next to your dinner plate to wipe your mouth, have you ever wondered about its birth? Paper napkins were introduced in 1887,
One of the main reasons for the popularity of paper napkins
Today paper napkins come in a
7 . Once Popular Sports in Ancient Capital Xi'an
The ancient capital Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province is holding the National Games. As the capital of 13 dynasties throughout Chinese history, the ancient city has never been far from sports. Starting from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the city has held many sports events.
Cuju: Origin of modern soccer
Cuju was an ancient Chinese competitive game involving kicking a ball through an opening into a net. As the ancestor of soccer, it first appeared in the renowned ancient Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce（“Strategies of the Warring States”）, which describedCuju as a form of entertainment among the general public. Later, cuju was commonly played in the army for military training purposes, during the Han Dynasty.
Jiaodi: Chinese-style wrestling
Sumo, known as Japan's “national sport”, actually started in ancient China. Sumo was called jiaodi or jiaoli in ancient times. Ancient jiaodi,a Chinese-style wrestling, was performed by athletes wearing ox horns and wrestling with each other imitating wild oxen. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, jiaodi was highly favored by emperors. In the Tang Dynasty, jiaodi was part of military training and a kind of entrainment and athletic sports.
Jiju: Ancient polo
Jiju is a sport which uses a stick to hit balls while riding on a horse, pretty similar to modern polo. It was popular in the royal court and among common people in the Tang Dynasty. There were many fields for playing polo in the court and it was also a major military training program in the army. In the Tang Dynasty capital, there were formal polo courts, such as the stadium pavilion in Chang' an palace.
Archery
During ancient times, the origin of archery was closely related with hunting and defense. Ancient archery was not only an athletic event,a military training program, and an entertainment activity, but also part of education. As early as in Zhou Dynasty, the archery was listed as one of the six practical disciplines, also called the Six Arts, becoming an important and competitive form.
1. Which was popular in the army during the Han Dynasty?| A．Cuju. | B．Jiaodi. |
| C．Jiju. | D．Archery. |
| A．Only by riding a horse. |
| B．By hitting balls wearing ox horns. |
| C．By kicking a ball through an opening into a net. |
| D．By hitting balls while riding on a horse with a stick. |
| A．They were only for entertainment. |
| B．They all disappeared late gradually. |
| C．They were military training programs. |
| D．They all originated from Han Dynasty. |
8 . The commonly held view is that people arrived in North America from Asia via a land bridge once connecting the two continents. But recent discoveries have suggested humans might have been there earlier. Researchers studying fossilized human footprints in New Mexico say that humans were there at least 23,000 years ago.
Matthew Bennett, a specialist in ancient footprints and author of a study on the new findings published in Science, and his colleagues studied 61 footprints by radiocarbon dating layers of aquatic (水生的) plant seeds preserved above and below the footprints and accurately dated they were made 21,000 to 23,000 years ago. The people who made the footprints were living there in the last Ice Age when two massive ice sheets covering the continent and cold temperatures would have made a journey between Asia and Alaska impossible, indicating humans must have been there much earlier than previously thought.
According to their analysis of the footprints, they were likely made in soft ground at the edge of a wetland by children who were sent to do the work like fetching and catching by adults. Wind probably blew dust over the surface, accumulating in the prints, thus, leaving footprints that previously recorded.
Their finding also makes it possible to explore the older and more controversial sites with a different light. One such site is Chiquihuite Cave in central Mexico, where stone tools dating back to 30,000 years ago have been found.
David Rachal, an uninvolved but experienced geoarchaeologist (地质考古学家) thought the footprint dates provided by Bennett and his team looked “solid”，with seeds providing very reliable and precise ages through radiocarbon dating. “You could not ask for a better setup,” said Rachal. However, he was puzzled that no artifacts, such as stone tools, had been found in the area. He thought it was just a theme that was gaining some serious traction in the literature.
1. What is the most essential evidence dating the time in the passage?| A．The aquatic plant seeds. | B．The fossilized human footprints. |
| C．The unearthed tools. | D．The massive ice sheets. |
| A．To introduce a historical site. |
| B．To show the significance of the footprints. |
| C．To compare geoarchaeological discoveries. |
| D．To explain the course of making a discovery. |
| A．Optimistic and trustful. | B．Conservative and cautious. |
| C．Negative but curious. | D．Favorable but confused. |
| A．The discovery of human footprints. |
| B．Scientific methods of dating footprints. |
| C．The earlier arrival of people in North America. |
| D．A discussion on human history among researchers. |
9 . Pizza is almost everyone’s favorite food. Recently, it has even received recognition from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)!
Pizza has been a part of Italian culture for centuries. In the 1700s and the 1800s, the city of Naples in Italy was an independent kingdom, known for its large working class. Pizza began as a “poor man’s food”— as a way to feed poor people quickly and at a low cost.
In 1889, King Umberto Ⅰ and Queen Margherita visited Naples, which had by then come under a unified Italy.
When Italians from Naples moved to the United States, they brought more than just their desire for a better future.
The art of pizza spinning.
The skills for pizza making have been passed down in the city for generations, and those who know them are called “pizzaiuoli”.
According to UNESCO, about 3,000 pizzaiuoli work in Naples right now. In the city, there is also a pizza museum and an academy in which 120 students each year can train to become pizzaiuoli themselves.
| A．The history of pizza |
| B．The popular types of pizza |
| C．Pizzaiuoli are a select group of people |
| D．Pizza shops opened in New York and other cities |
| E．On their visit, the royal couple enjoyed pizza from a local eatery |
| F．Pizza fans and pizzaiuoli alike are excited about UNESCO’s decision |
| G．On the streets of Naples, Italy, tradition is found in the art of pizza spinning |
10 . The Renaissance，considered by modern scholars to have been the time between 1300 and 1600, was a period of European history when many new inventions and beliefs came into being.
The Renaissance is traced back to rich Italian cities such as Florence, Milan, and Venice. In these cities businessmen started to spend their extra money on things like painting and education, and to consider new techniques of banking and systems of government. A new type of scholar, the humanist (人文主义者) arose. Humanism was concerned with humankind and culture. Latin and Greek, literature and philosophy, music and mathematics were among the subjects humanists studied.
The Renaissance gave rise to new forms of painting and sculpture. During the Renaissance, artists were no longer regarded as mere artisans (工匠). Many artists drew on mathematics in order to become more accurate in their measurements and to make sure an object was presented in realistic proportions. They also studied the way light hits objects and the ways our eyes perceive it. A new kind of paint, called oil paint, was invented.
The Renaissance affected all of the society. Many people became interested in politics, and the world outside their towns. They became explorers, businessmen, etc. The effect on religion was especially strong. In the Middle Ages people were primarily concerned with serving the church and getting to heaven. But the increase in arts and education gave people things to look forward to in life, and made them lose interest in the church.
The Renaissance produced many great minds. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest, although he was not regarded that way at the time. Among his many works of art were The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He is also regarded as a great inventor, and is credited for coming up with the idea of the helicopter.
1. According to the second paragraph, the Renaissance________．| A．occurred all over Europe |
| B．started in Italy |
| C．influenced art, finance, and physical education |
| D．was the most popular in Florence |
| A．People stopped going to church. |
| B．New forms of painting emerged. |
| C．Oil paint became very popular. |
| D．The humanists disappeared. |
| A．during the Renaissance many explorers and businessmen appeared |
| B．businessmen started the Renaissance |
| C．people’s interest in education declined |
| D．the humanists took power during the Renaissance |
| A．The Renaissance in Europe. |
| B．The birthplace of the Renaissance. |
| C．The effects of the Renaissance. |
| D．Some famous artists in Europe. |
