1. What happened to boats and ships in the Bermuda Triangle?
A.They caught fire without reason. |
B.They crashed into each other. |
C.They disappeared. |
A.A famous explorer. | B.A popular writer. | C.A well-known reporter. |
A.In the 15th century. | B.In the 20th century. | C.In the 17th century. |
A.All of the reports on it are untrue. |
B.It is a dangerous area in the ocean. |
C.It is completely safe at the moment. |
A decade after America
Many returned with post-traumatic stress disorder (创伤后精神紧张性障碍). They still felt
3 . The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker(面包师)in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery(面包房)into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow; but he did build more than fifty churches, among them new St Paul’s.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.
1. The underlined word “family” in the second paragraph means .A.home | B.children |
C.wife and husband | D.wife and children |
A.some people lost their lives |
B.the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
C.many famous buildings were destroyed |
D.the King’s bakery was burned down |
A.Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
B.Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
C.To show that poor people suffered most. |
D.To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
a. There was a strong wind.
b. The streets were very narrow.
c. Many houses were made of wood.
d. There was not enough water in the city.
e. People did not discover the fire earlier.
A.a and b | B.a, b and c |
C.a, b, c and d | D.a, b, c, d and e |
4 . About 12,000 years ago — long before the famous Roswell UFO crash made headlines in America — an alien (外星人的) spaceship crashed in China. And their descendants are still living in a faraway Chinese village today! That is the mind-bending claim made in the new book Out of Time and Place, a collection of reports from the files of Fate, a magazine edited by Terry O’Neill.
The story first came to light in 1937 when an expedition led by Chi Pu-Tei came across a group of caves deep in the Bayan-Kara-Ula Mountains. In the caves were found strange-looking skeletons with big heads and small, slender bodies —closely matching typical descriptions of space aliens. The explorers also uncovered 716 mysterious stone discs with strange hieroglyphics (象形文字) on them.
In Qinghai province, where the mountains lie, ancient stories tell of small, skinny beings with oversize heads who came from the sky long long ago. And to this day, locals live in fear of attack from strange-looking creatures from above.
And there’s more. In 1947, British scientist Karyl Robin-Evans led an expedition into the mountains and discovered a group of dwarfs (侏儒) who called themselves the Droza. “They told him that their ancestors came from a planet in the Sirius (天狼星) system and crashed in this mountain area a long time ago,” writes Hausdorf, “Many of them were killed, but survivors adapted themselves to living on this rough planet far from home.”
For decades, Robin-Evans’ claims were dismissed as nonsense. But in 1995, the Associated Press reported that in the region a village named Huilong had been recently discovered — populated by 120 dwarfs ranging from 3-foot-10 to 2-foot-1 tall. Hausdorf asks, “Could these people be the last living descendants of the survivors of the legendary UFO crash — the Chinese Roswell?”
1. What is the meaning of the underlined word “descendants”?A.Ancestors. | B.Siblings. |
C.Intelligent people. | D.Later generations. |
A.Many people are curious about aliens from outer space. |
B.Chinese are descendants of the survivors of the alien spaceship crash. |
C.The UFO crash in the Byan-Kara-Ula Mountains has recently been seen. |
D.This passage is a piece of science news recently issued. |
A.Robin-Evans’ claims. |
B.Chi Pu-Tei’s discovery in China. |
C.News stories about Rosewell UFO Crash. |
D.Recent research about the Chinese Rosewell. |
Odysseus is a literary figure in Odyssey written by Homer. He rejected the comfortable life of a Greek king and made a promise to help another Greek leader, Menelaus, in the war
Odysseus became tired of the war and the delay in Troy. He
The Greeks built a giant wooden horse so that their soldiers could hide inside
A strong earthquake hit Tangshan, China on 28 July, 1976. The deadly quake broke out at 3:42 a.m.,
Soon after the quake, 150,000 soldiers
Tangshan started to revive itself and get back up on its
7 . The Chicago Fire of 1871 was the worst disaster of the 19th century.
The fire is said to have started one evening in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn (牲口棚) on the West Side of Chicago. Several hours after she milked her cow, it kicked over an oil lamp, and the cow started the fire. We do not know if the story is true, but we do know that the fire began in a barn on the West Side.
The fire spread quickly because of the wooden buildings, a strong wind, and a dry season. The fire lasted 27 hours and spread to all parts of the city. Other cities sent 25 fire companies to help put out the fire. Federal troops (联邦军队) were also used to help fight the fire and keep order, too. At last rain put out the fire.
There was a lot of damage. 90,000 people were homeless, and 18,000 buildings were destroyed. Property damage (财产损失) was almost 200 million dollars. In addition, about 300 people died.
People from all over the world helped Chicago by sending food and clothing. Within a month, 4,000 cottages (小屋) with two rooms had been built. In a few years, Chicago was completely rebuilt.
1. Which parts of the city were hurt by the fire?A.The West Side. | B.The South Side and the East Side. |
C.The North Side. | D.All sides. |
A.90,000. | B.18,000. | C.almost 200. | D.about 300. |
A.courage | B.fear | C.weakness | D.laziness |
A.A cow. | B.Firemen. | C.The weather. | D.Carelessness. |
1. What was the main meal for people in Prussia in the 18th century?
A.Rice. | B.Potatoes. | C.Bread. |
A.Disappointed. | B.Curious. | C.Anxious. |
A.He was very smart. |
B.He liked making jokes. |
C.He was crazy about potatoes. |
9 . Hell comes to Pearl Harbor
It was Sunday, December 7,1941. As usual, the wakeup call came at 5:45 a.m. The men aboard the warship USS Arizona stretched and rubbed their eyes. Seaman Russell Warriner was awakened by Quartermaster Louis Conter. Russell made his bed and helped clean the huge, shared room. The men went to the washroom, dressed in their uniforms and sat down to breakfast. It looked like it would be a normal day on board the ship.
But nobody ate their breakfast: at that moment, there was a huge crashing sound from above. The ship shook violently and the men looked at each other in horror. Above their heads, hundreds of Japanese planes circled like eagles. They were diving down to drop bombs on Pearl Harbor. The scream of their engines was deafening. As bombs thundered all around, clouds of black smoke rose into the sky and hung over the sea. Russell felt his blood freeze, but he quickly came to himself and rushed up to the deck. Moments later, a bomb hit the USS Arizona and Russell was thrown more than 100 meters across the ship. He suffered serious burns on his hands, arms and legs, and watched many of his friends die.
Louis, meanwhile, also standing on the deck, was lucky not to be thrown into the sea. With only minor injuries, he was able to help others who were severely burnt and in terrible pain. After receiving the order to abandon ship, Louis saved more men from the water, dragging them into the lifeboat. In the chaos and confusion after the attack, the US Navy sent a message to his family that Louis had been killed in the attack. Luckily, he was able to get in touch with them before the message arrived. Despite his remarkable actions, Louis did not think that he was a hero. “The heroes are the ones that gave their lives that day,” he said.
Russell was saved from the water, but he was badly burnt, bleeding heavily. Fortunately, he was taken to hospital and survived. For many years, Russell refused to talk about what happened that morning, describing it simply as “hell”. His wife Elsa said, “When he opened up later on, he always mentioned the horror of it.”
Louis and Russell would never forget the terrible scene of the attack, but they were fortunate enough to be among the few survivors from the Arizona. Nobody had expected the bombing. Japan had hatched a plot to launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, so the attack began without warning and without declaring war on the United States. The attack destroyed nearly 20 American ships and over 180 airplanes. In total, more than 2,000 American people were killed and over 1,000 others were wounded that day. More than 1,000 people aboard the Arizona lost their lives. Out of 37 sets of brothers, Russell and his brother were the only full pair to survive the attack.
The surprise attack came as a great shock to the whole nation. The next day, President Roosevelt delivered his famous Pearl Harbor Speech, in which he described December 7 as “a date which will live in infamy” and asked that the US Congress declare war on Japan. In response to the attack and the president’s address, the United States joined the Second World War.
Today, the USS Arizona lies where it sank: in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Its location is marked with a memorial shaped like a bridge, which crosses the ship’s sunken remains . Each year, more than two million people visit the memorial. They come to see the shadow of the ship at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, to learn about the attack, to show respect for those who had lost their lives in the attack and to pray for world peace. Although about eight decades has passed, the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of the darkest episodes in American history, will never be forgotten.
1. When did Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor?A.In the morning. | B.At noon. |
C.In the afternoon. | D.At midnight. |
A.Russell lost his hands, arms and legs in the attack. |
B.Russell was seriously burned in the attack. |
C.Louis’s family were sad to hear that he was killed. |
D.Louis was proud of his remarkable actions. |
A.Kind and skilled. |
B.Helpful and clever. |
C.Brave and clever. |
D.Brave and modest. |
A.Many American ships and airplanes were destroyed in the attack. |
B.More than 1,000 people aboard the Arizona were killed. |
C.2,000 Americans were killed and 1,000 others were wounded in the war. |
D.Both Russell and his brother survived the attack. |
1. In most ways, the English city of Liverpool is no different from other large cities. It is full of people, restaurants, museums, and shops. However, Liverpool stands out in one interesting way. Under the busy streets, there are miles of old tunnels. For many years, the tunnels were nearly forgotten. There was no evidence that the tunnels were real. In 2001, a small group of curious people were delighted to discover that the old tales were true. A huge network of tunnels snaked under the city.
2. We now know that the tunnels were built sometime in the early 1800s. A man named Joseph Williamson designed them. But there is a lot we still don't know. Why did Williamson want the tunnels? Were they ever used? If so, for what? We can only guess.
3. One idea is that Williamson, who was rich, was trying to help others. Many people were jobless at that time, and Williamson was known to be kind. Perhaps he came up with the tunnel project so that he could offer people jobs. Another guess is that Williamson used the tunnels for secret business. The tunnels would have made it possible for him to go places without being seen.
4. Still others suspect that Williamson built the tunnels for safety reasons. Perhaps he was afraid that some type of dangerous event would happen. The tunnels would have offered protection for himself and his loved ones.
5. Some people who study the tunnels have yet another idea. They believed that long ago, people removed sandstone from the land. The sandstone removal would have left huge holes. Williamson may have wanted to fix the holes. Instead of filling them, perhaps he had his workers build archways (拱道) across them. In time, houses and other constructions were built over the archways.
1. What makes the city of Liverpool stand out?2. List three guesses at why Williamson built the tunnels.
3. According to the opening sentence, complete paragraph 6. (At most 40 words)
(para.6)The ideas are interesting, but no one knows the truth.