The celebrations with the military parade for China's 70th anniversary(周年纪念日)on National Day have clearly shown
On the one hand, National Day
The parade also told the
Under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have created
2 . The Railroad Builders
The Central Pacific Railroad is the first transcontinental railroad in North America, honored by BBC as one of the seven miracles after Industrial Revolution. It had made a great contribution to the US’s economy but it couldn’t be completed without Chinese labors hard work. In order to build the railroad, a lot of workers were imported from China. They had to bear the brunt of the work, deal with the dreadful environment and endure with littler pay. What challenges did they meet? And how did they cope with them?
Join us in the railroad builders to find the answers!
The first Transcontinental Railroad (known originally as the “Pacific Railroad” and later as the “Overland Route”) was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869. By linking with the existing railway network of the Eastern United States, the road thus connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States by rail for the first time. It was one of the crowning achievements in the crossing of plains and high mountains westward by the Union Pacific and eastward by the Central Pacific.
Watch Episodes | |
Part 1 The first transcontinental railroad at the time is the most ambitious engineering project ever attempted in the United States. When work started on the most challenging Western section. Chinese labors were brought in, and before long they became brunt of the work. But what did so many Chinese nationals do with the US in mid-19 Century? | Part 2 President Lincoln had a dream that one day a railroad would cross the United States from coast to coast. As the construction of the first transcontinental railroad got underway in the mid-19 Century, large numbers of Chinese labors headed to the US. But would it be the land of fortune they dreamed off? What really awaited them at the end of the long and often difficult voyage from China? |
Part 3 The first group of Chinese labor began to work on the first transcontinental railroad of the United States. To the delight of the new employers, they proved to be excellent workers. But the Sierra Nevada would be a test of their hardness and resolve. How did the Chinese labors cope with the dreadful rain and unfamiliar freezing weather? | Part 4 It was the coldest winter ever known in the American West and thousands of labors from China found themselves having to endure the unfamiliar snow and freezing cold. And yet they managed to build something that 150 years later is still regarded as an engineering marvel. What help did they get from the powerful and highly dangerous explosive? |
Part 5 The Summit Tunnel through Sierra Nevada, every inch of it was built at the cost of the blood of even the lives of Chinese labors. And yet in return, the Chinese labors faced discrimination. The rewards they received were pitiful. How did they respond and what did the Central Pacific Railroad Company do to address their grievances? | Part 6 Paid less, and yet bearing the brunt of the work, the Chinese labors building the Central Pacific Railroad demanded more money. How did the company respond? In Sierra Nevada, they broke through rock and endured harshest winter in their memory. Now in Utah, what fresh challenges awaited them? How did they finally earn the gratitude? |
1. Which of the following is Not true about the Central Pacific Railroad?
A.It was built by more than one railroad company working together. |
B.It was constructed by Chinese labors solely. |
C.It is an engineering marvel recognized even today. |
D.It was completed with blood, sweat and tears. |
A.handle the difficulty | B.deserve the credit |
C.suffer the main part | D.come under attack |
A.Before the construction of Pacific Railroad began, there was no railroad in America |
B.Pacific Railroad was intended to realize President Lincoln’s dream after he died |
C.The Chinese labors earned a lot by building Pacific Railroad at the cost of their health and even |
D.It took people much longer to travel from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast in America before 1869 |
A.a television channel | B.a railroad company |
C.BBC documentaries | D.a journal on rail building |
3 . Bill Bowerman was a track coach.He wanted to help athletes run faster. So he had learned how to make running shoes. He had also started a shoe company with a friend. It was 1971. Running shoes at the time were heavy. They had spikes(鞋钉)on the sole(鞋底). The spikes tore up the track and slowed down runners.
To make a lighter shoe, Bill tried the skins of fish. To make a better sole, he wanted to replace the spikes. Bill look through his wife Barbara's jewelry box. He hoped to find a piece of jewelry with an interesting pattern. He would then copy the pattern onto the new soles. Nothing worked. Bill was stumped. Then, one Sunday morning, Barbara made Bill waffles(华夫饼)for breakfast. Bill watched her cook. He studied the cross pattern on their old waffle iron.
Inspiration(灵感)hit.
The pattern on a waffle iron was just what Bill was looking for. The squares were fatter and wider than sharp spikes. The pattern would help the shoes grip (抓牢) any surface without tearing into it.
When Barbara left the house, Bill ran to his lab. He took the liquid chemicals that, when mixed, would harden into the sole of a shoe. He poured the mixture into the waffle iron and the Waffle Trainer was born.
Bill's company put the Waffle Trainer on the market in 1974. It was a huge hit. Maybe you've heard of that company called Nike. And today it's worth around $100 billion.
It was the waffle iron that had changed the course of Bill's life and helped turn Nike into a well-known name. Today, the waffle iron is kept at Nike headquarters. It serves as a reminder that if we keep trying, we can find a solution to even the toughest problems. And those solutions can come from unlikely places,even the breakfast table.
1. What was wrong with the running shoes before the Wattle Trainer was made?A.They were easily worn out. | B.The spikes hurt runners' feet. |
C.The spikes were sharp and heavy. | D.They were too expensive. |
A.Inspired. | B.Defeated. |
C.Satisfied. | D.Doubted. |
A.It was made quite by accident. | B.It was invented by Bill's wife. |
C.It was based on many lab tests. | D.It was supported by another company. |
A.Where there's a will, there's a way. | B.Good is rewarded with good. |
C.Two heads are better than one. | D.A misfortune may turn out a blessing. |
4 . The Egyptian city Thonis-Heracleion was founded in the eighth century B.C. For centuries, its location at the mouth of the Nile River made it a gateway to Egypt which foreign traders needed to pass through. This brought it both wealth and influence. Its name shows the city' s foreign ties: Thonis was its Egyptian name, but the Greeks, who had close contact with the Egyptians, named it Heracleion after the hero Hercules.
The neighboring city Canopus shared Thonis-Heracleion' s wealth and prestige (声望). Both cities appear in the writings of ancient historians and poets. But then they disappeared from all records. For centuries, no one even knew where these once-great cities were located.
In 1933 a British pilot flew over a bay in Egypt and spotted ruins. He reported his find, but nothing came of it. Not until 2000 did anyone research into the bay thoroughly. That year French archaeologist Franck Goddio used a tool that measured variations in the earth's magnetic field ( 磁场 ) to make a detailed map of the ocean floor. The map helped him and his team choose the most promising areas to dig.
At the bottom of the ocean, Goddio’s team found the remains of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus. They carefully dug the cities out from mountains of sand that had settled over them. They made some amazing discoveries, such as a five-meter-tall statue. A stele, (石碑) records the city' s name and information about laws, such as tax regulations. And 69 ships lay buried in the same bay - the largest group of ancient ships ever found.
For all their glory, these cities were built on a foundation of soft clay ( 黏 土 ). As their populations grew, the weight of people and homes pressed the clay. In A.D. 800 the ground below the city collapsed (坍塌), causing people to run away. The ground collapsed again some time later, and over the course of 1,000 years, the land sank under the waves. Under the water, sand settled gently over the ruins, saving them from being destroyed.
1. What can we learn about the city Thonis-Heracicion?A.It was less famous than Canopus. |
B.It was once an important center of trade. |
C.It was once under the control of the Greeks. |
D.It was recorded in more detail than Canopus. |
A.completely by chance |
B.according to the historical records |
C.with the support of the British pilot |
D.thanks to the map of the ocean floor he made |
A.They are still in good condition. | B.They are of little historical value. |
C.They were hidden in the mountains. | D.They belonged to Thonis-Heracleion. |
5 . Mr.Selfridge, the Wisconsin-born retailer (零售商) who left school at 14, rose to become a partner in Marshall Field’s, Chicago. Founded in 1852, it was one of the first and most ambitious US department stores. Mr.Selfridge had done well with Marshall Field’s. He liked to say, “The customer is always right,” which made the Chicago store popular. And he is believed to have invented the phrase “Only (so many) Shopping Days until Christmas”.
When he visited London on holiday in 1906 he was surprised to find most of the city’s department stores were no match of their American and Parisian competitors. This led Selfridge to leave the US and establish Selfridges, a department store named after him, at the west end of London’s Oxford Street. In Oxford Street, Selfridge’s design team shaped an ambitious classical palace building with a wall of plate glass windows.
Opened in 1909, Selfridges offered customers a hundred departments along with restaurants, a roof garden,reading and writing rooms, reception areas for foreign visitors, a first aid room and most importantly, a small army of knowledgeable floor-walking assistants who served as guides as well as being thoroughly instructed in the art of making a sale.
Mr.Selfridge did much to make the department store a destination rather than just a big and comprehensively stocked city shop. It became a place to meet and for ladies to lunch. Mr.Selfridge later introduced the department store as a key element of the 20th Century culture, and Chaplin acknowledged the growing trend for shopping in the department store in his film The Floorwalker.
1. What can be learned about Mr.Selfridge from Paragraph 1?A.He was well-educated. | B.He was a modest man. |
C.He was a gifted businessman. | D.He was dishonest. |
A.The broad choice of goods. | B.The large number of departments. |
C.The small group of guards. | D.The well-trained sales guides. |
A.To encourage shoppers to spend more. | B.To introduce the history of Selfridges. |
C.To compare different department stores. | D.To explain how to start a department store. |
6 . Every March, the country celebrates the achievements of women in American history. Even though these achievements go back a long way, most schools didn’t start focusing on women pioneers and their achievements until recently. Today, most schools teach kids about the many contributions women have made to our country. How did this change come about?
On March 19, 1911, a German woman named Clara Zetkin organized the very first International Women’s Day. Inspired by American working women, the event took on the causes of peace in an effort to end World War I as well as women’s rights. However, people’s interest in International Women’s Day still dwindled over the years. It gained momentum (势头) again in the 1960’s when the women’s movement caused women to wonder why they weren’t included in the history books.
By the 1970s, more female historians began to look back at women’s contributions in history. In 1978, a California school district started Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history. School officials picked the week of March 8 to include International Women’s Day. It was so popular that, in 1981, Congress passed a resolution, making the week a celebration for the entire country. The concept of studying women’s history continued to grow in popularity. In 1987, a group of women asked Congress to expand the celebration. That same year, Congress declared the entire month of March National Women’s History Month.
Today, schools and communities across the country celebrate the month with special lessons and activities designed to teach the ways women have helped shape the US. The women who have worked hard to make Women’s History Month a reality would like to see women’s history studied all year, not just every March. In 1996, the National Women’s History Museum was founded. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the various historic contributions of women. The organization is working with Congress to open a permanent (永久的) museum site in Washington, D.C.
1. What was ignored in school education in the past according to the text?A.Popularizing American history. |
B.Introducing the history of WWI. |
C.Sharing Americans’ global contributions. |
D.Teaching about American women’s achievements. |
A.Started. | B.Survived. | C.Decreased. | D.Completed. |
A.How Women’s History Month became a reality. |
B.How women were included in the history books. |
C.Why women’s history should be taught at school. |
D.Why women’s contributions should be honored in history. |
Searching for Guinevere
Stories of kings and queens have appealed to readers for centuries, and arguably, the tales of King Arthur and Guinevere are among the most appealing. Arthur ruled the kingdom of Camelot, and Guinevere was his queen.
Guinevere is identified by Geoffrey a noblewoman of Roman descent (血统) who met King Arthur in the court of Duke Cador of Cornwall.
As many Arthurian scholars know, the distinction between history and literature was unclear in the Middle Ages.
A.Geoffrey’s historical treatment of the legend is often mentioned as evidence that Guinevere existed, as the book deals with the lives of a number of historical rulers. |
B.Consequently, the true identity of Guinevere may never be known with certainty. |
C.So why were they so much welcomed by writers? |
D.In Le Morte d’Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory describes a prosperous England under King Arthur and Guinevere. |
E.Three centuries later, however, THomas Malory painted a very different portrait of Guinevere in Le Morte d’Arthur. |
F.But were they real people or fictional characters? |
A terrible fire began to burn at France’s world-famous Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (巴黎圣母院)
Notre-Dame
One man said, “Notre-Dame
9 . Can we humans avoid war? Can war be prevented ?
Our task now is not to blame the past,but to plan for the future.
If there is peace in the world, men can use their rockets to explore the mystery of space,their submarines to explore the depth of the sea,their missiles to deliver to mails and their fine equipment to penetrate(穿透)jungles of Africa ,instead of using them military.
Governments can use their money to build more schools,so that more children can be educated to be useful citizens.
We know that neither peace nor such a dream world can come true in a day or month.
A.How can a peaceful world be achieved? |
B.The process may even take decades or centuries. |
C.Peace can be won through the efforts of all human beings. |
D.Things for military use can be transformed to peaceful use. |
E.Scientists can use atomic energy to power steamships and planes. |
F.I am sure that we would not like to experience another world war, |
G.History tells that there were wars, great or small,in every century, in every decade. |
10 . Nottingham Goose (鹅) Fair started on the first Thursday in October and lasted 3 days. However, nowadays you won’t find any geese there.
The fair opened at 12:00 on the Thursday by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, but it has an interesting and shocking history.
For starters, it wasn’t always the largest fair in the area. And the main fair for the people of Nottingham in terms of trade and economy was the Lenton Fair held at Lenton Priory.
In the Middle Ages the Lenton Fair overshadowed (使显得逊色) the Goose Fair in size and importance. Harrisons Calendar of Fairs for 1587 mentions the Lenton Fair but not the Goose Fair. However, the Goose Fair competed with its local competitors and every year over 20,000 geese from the Fens in Lincolnshire arrived to be sold to provide the traditional Michaelmas dish.
It wasn’t just for geese either. All kinds of things were sold at the Goose Fair: sheep, horses and cattle were also sold.
The fair has been under threat of closure many times over the years. In 1764 they actually had cheese riots (暴乱) due to an increase of a third on the price of cheese compared with the previous year, which resulted in an attack on the stallholders (摊主) at the fair.
By 1880 the fair was reduced to a three-day event, which started on the first Thursday of October. In 1928 the fair was moved from the market square to its present site in the forest which is far away from the city centre. Despite attempts throughout its history to prevent the fair, the income from rents paid by the stallholders is financially beneficial to the local government. So regardless of the cheese riots and the various attempts to prohibit it, Nottingham Goose Fair has survived to celebrate over eight centuries of fun.
1. The cheese riots in 1764 were mentioned to show .A.the Goose Fair met strong competition from its competitors |
B.stallholders usually benefited most from the Goose Fair |
C.the Goose Fair gradually lost popularity with time going by |
D.violence and troubles used to put the Goose Fair in danger |
A.it is full of fun and enjoyed by most people | B.it brings great benefits to the local economy |
C.it has strong support from the mayor of Nottingham | D.it is representative of the traditions of Nottingham |
A.the Goose Fair didn’t become famous until 1587 |
B.the Goose Fair used to last longer than it does today |
C.those against the Goose Fair were mostly from the countryside |
D.the Lenton Fair was once held at the same time as the Goose Fair |
A.Prevent. | B.Follow. | C.Ignore. | D.Describe. |