The Vikings, whose ancestors came from Scandinavia, were the first Europeans
Later a man, Biarni set sail from Iceland in search
In the year 1002, Leif, Eric the Red’s son, followed Biarni’s directions and sailed to
The beans cry in the pot
We grow from the same root (根)
Why should we boil each other with such impatience?
The poem is thought to be written by Cao Zhi, one of Cao Cao’s sons, Cao, who lived between 192 and 232 during the Three Kingdoms period.
It is said that after Cao Cao’s death, his oldest son Cao Pi became the emperor. Cao Pi was jealous (嫉妒的) of his younger brother Cao Zhi’s talent, so he wanted to find an excuse to kill him. One day, Cao Pi ordered Cao Zhi to make a poem about their relationship within seven steps, and was determined (决定) to have the younger brother killed if he failed. Cao Zhi then made the poem in front of him, which showed Cao Pi’s cruel idea to kill his own brother. Cao Pi, feeling ashamed, let Cao Zhi go in the end.
In China, the poem is taught to primary school students and is often used by people to describe unnecessary competitions or fighting between people, businesses, or organizations who are in the same area or want the same things.
The poem was posted on Tweeter by the CEO of Tesla and Space X Elon Musk, and it was given a title Humankind on purpose by Musk. The post drew tons of attention on both Western and Chinese social media, and internet users have been guessing what it was used for. People thought it could be an answer to the director of UN food organization, who mentioned that world hunger could be stopped if Elon Musk could give away 2% of his wealth.
1. The poem is said to be written by ________.| A．Cao Cao | B．Cao Zhi | C．Cao Pi | D．Elon Musk |
| A．Cao Zhi was one of his brothers |
| B．Cao Pi was jealous of Cao Zhi’s talent |
| C．Cao Zhi refused to follow Cao Pi’s orders |
| D．Cao Pi wanted to become the only son of Cao Cao |
| A．his brother was cruel to him | B．he was not afraid of his brother |
| C．the beans were close to its stalks | D．the beanstalk should die for its beans |
| A．Elon Musk posted the poem on Tweeter for fun. |
| B．Only Western internet users noticed the poem. |
| C．The purpose of the poem became a hot topic. |
| D．Elon Musk is mean and doesn’t care about others. |
Cold Food Festival is a
Legend has it that Chong’er, a prince of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period, experienced many hardships while he moved around the warring states. Once, when the prince suffered from
Mianshan Mountain,
4 . Why is the Mona Lisa the most famous painting in the world? Her mysterious smile? The mystery surrounding her identity? The fact she was painted by Renaissance charming boy Leonardo da Vinci? Sure, all of these things helped increase the popularity of the 16th century masterpiece. But what really threw the small, unassuming portrait to international stardom was a daring burglary over 100 years ago.
When Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911, he never could have guessed her absence would be the very thing that made her the most recognizable painting on the planet. Suddenly images of the artwork were seen across international newspapers, as the two-year police hunt hit dead-end after dead-end. It wasn’t until December 1913 that Peruggia was finally caught and the Mona Lisa recovered, becoming the best known painting in a time before we shared images on TV, internet, and phones.
So how did Peruggia carry out one of the greatest art robberies of all time? The handyman had been hired by the Louvre to make protective glass cases for some of its famous works—including the Mona Lisa. After hiding in a closet overnight, he simply removed the painting, hid it under his smock (罩衣), and was about to waltz out of the building when he discovered the door was locked. Desperate Peruggia removed the doorknob, but still it wouldn’t open—until a helpful plumber passing by opened the door with his key. It was 24 hours before anyone even noticed the Mona Lisa was missing, with artworks often removed to be photographed or cleaned.
Over the next two years, the careless police investigation dragged on, with Pablo Picasso a suspect at one point. The force even interviewed Peruggia twice, before concluding he couldn’t possibly be the man behind the shameless burglary. The head of the Paris police retired in shame.
And then two years later, an art dealer in Florence received a letter from a man saying he had the Mona Lisa. It was signed ”Leonardo.” The man was of course Peruggia. After setting up a meeting with the dealer and the director of the Uffizi gallery in Florence, Peruggia turned up with the painting which had spent years hidden in a trunk in his apartment.
Peruggia, then 32 years old, claimed to have stolen the artwork to return her to her native Italy. He was arrested and eventually sentenced to seven months in jail. He seemed to have genuinely been convinced he would be praised as a national hero and genuinely dismayed to discover he wasn’t.
1. According to the passage, what contributed to the tremendous popularity of the Mona Lisa?| A．The mysterious smile of Mona Lisa. |
| B．People’s desire to figure out the identity of Mona Lisa. |
| C．The theft of the painting in 1911. |
| D．The fact that it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. |
| A．Humble. | B．Realistic. | C．Magnificent. | D．Objective. |
| A．Peruggia slipped into the Louvre from the outside after it was closed. |
| B．It took Peruggia a lot of time to take the painting from the gallery wall. |
| C．Peruggia’s stealing of the painting would have failed but for the appearance of a plumber. |
| D．The theft of the painting was immediately discovered by the staff of the Louvre. |
| A．was defending the honour of his native country | B．wanted to show his appreciation of great art |
| C．dreamed of making a great fortune by selling it | D．was worried about the fate of the painting |
The Vikings,a group of people
Some of the most quoted quotes by experts in IT history have turned out to be ironic (讽刺的).
1899
“Everything that can be invented has already been invented.” Charles H. Duell, director of the U.S. Patent Office believed it
1943
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers,” said Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM. Thomas Watson, referring to a time when the world needed only five mainframe computers to satisfy all computing requirements,
1949
“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” This was from Popular Mechanics, talking about the future of science.
The technology has completely been beyond people’s imagination, and the computer
The surprising history of computing over the past years has taught us not to take experts’ comments too seriously. Anyone can make mistakes, and our lives will eventually become a history of limitations. When humans predicted confidently that something
Strange things happened before Tangshan Earthquake happened. The well walls had deep cracks. A
The army organized teams to dig out those who
8 . 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. |
9 . There were many battles that took place during the American Revolutionary War (1775—1783), but perhaps so ne of the worst battles involved. the American Continental Army versus(对抗) the winter at Valley Forge in 1777 and 1778. Here many people believe was where the American Army was born. Valley Forge is located about 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania.
General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and he decided to setup winter camp at Valley Forge. It was close to Philadelphia, which was where the British had been camping out for the winter. This allowed him to keep a watchful eye on their movements. There were high areas in Mount Joy and Mount Misery where the army could make fortifications(防御工事). Nearby was also the Schuylkill River, which was used as a barrier to the North.
The army's stay at Valley Forge turned into a time of training. Besides Washington, two other leaders included General Friedrich von Steuben and General Marquis de Lafayette.
Steuben was born in Prussia and arrived at Valley Forge with a recommendation letter from statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin. He trained the Continental Army using the daily drill(操练), even in the extremely cold weather. In fact, he was responsible for writing the army's Revolutionary War Drill Manual, which served as the standard United States drill manual(手册) until the War of 1812.
Lafayette was a French military leader, working for no pay, and asking for no special treatment. He later became an important commander in several key battles during the war.
Besides the freezing weather, it was consistently cold, wet, and snowy at Valley Forge. In addition, food was lacking, and there were very few warm clothes, shoes, or blankets. The log cabins they lived in were crowded, cold and damp, and allowed diseases to easily spread. Of the 10,000 men at Valley Forge, 2,500 died before the break of spring mostly from diseases.
Following the winter at Valley Forge, under Washington's leadership, a better-disciplined, trained, and more powerful army, in high spirits, left on June 19, 1778. Nine days later, their first victory against the British occurred at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.
1. Why was Valley Forge chosen as the site of a winter camp?| A．It was key to the effective conduct of war. | B．It was an ideal place for military training. |
| C．It was very far from the British camp. | D．It was an area with adequate supplies. |
| A．Benjamin Franklin. | B．George Washington. |
| C．Marquis de Lafayette. | D．Friedrich von Steuben. |
| A．Strange. | B．Tough. | C．Favorable. | D．Relaxing. |
| A．It was taken over by the American Army. | B．It won more support from the people. |
| C．It had many more soldiers. | D．It became a stronger army. |
Pedestrians only
The concept of traffic-free shopping areas goes back a long time. During the Middle Ages, traffic-free shopping areas were built to allow people to shop in comfort and, more importantly, safety. The modern, traffic-free shopping street was born in Europe in the 1960s, when both city populations and car ownership increased rapidly. Dirty exhaust fumes from cars and the risks involved in crossing the road were beginning to make shopping an unpleasant and dangerous experience. Many believed the time was right for experimenting with car-free streets, and shopping areas seemed the best place to start.
At first, there was resistance from shopkeepers. They believed that such a move would be bad for business. They argued that people would avoid streets if they were unable to get to them in their cars. When the first streets in Europe were closed to traffic, there were even noisy demonstrations, as many shopkeepers predicted they would lose customers.
However, research carried out afterwards in several European cities revealed some unexpected statistics. In Munich, Cologne and Hamburg, visitors to shopping areas increased by 50 percent. On Copenhagen’s main shopping street, shopkeepers reported sales increases of 25-40 percent. Shopkeepers in Minneapolis, USA, were so impressed when they learnt this that they even offered to pay for the construction and maintenance costs of their own traffic-free streets.
With the arrival of the traffic-free shopping street, many shops, especially those selling things like clothes, food and smaller luxury items, prospered. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good news for everyone, as shops selling furniture and larger electrical appliances actually saw their sales drop. Many of these were forced to move elsewhere, away from the city centre. Today they are a common feature on the outskirts of towns and cities, often situated in out-of-town retail zones with their own car parks and other local facilities.
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