1 . 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

In the spring of 1944, the Allied powers in World War Ⅱ took the fight against Nazi into the fifth year.     1    (plan) for months or even years, the D-Day called “Operation Overlord” was designed     2    (free) north-west Europe from German occupation. After waiting for the perfect combination of weather, moon and tides, the date for the start of Operation Overlord     3    (set) for June 6, 1944.

With General Eisenhower’s encouraging words     4    (ring) in their ears, Allied soldiers prepared for     5     would become known as D-Day. The Allied invasion     6    (stretch) across five beaches code-named “Utah”, “Omaha”, “Gold”, “Juno” and “Sword”. The fiercest fighting was at Omaha Beach. Countless Allied soldiers gave their lives on D-Day in violent attacks. Even though they were     7     the terrible cost of human life, the D-Day landings were     8     success and were considered     9    (wide) as the beginning of the end of World War Ⅱ. By the end of August 1944, the Allies had reached the River Seine. Paris was liberated.

Seventy years later, people including     10    (survive) came together for memorial ceremonies in honour of those who fought and died on D-Day.

2 . Beanstalks (豆萁) are burned to cook beans
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

2. Cao Pi wanted to kill Cao Zhi because ________.

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

3. By writing the poem, the poet wanted to show that ________.

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

4. Which one is TRUE according to the last paragraph?

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.

3 . 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.

2. What does underlined word “unassuming” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Humble.

B．Realistic.

C．Magnificent.

D．Objective.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE about how the Mona Lisa was stolen?

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.

4. Peruggia stole the painting because he ________.

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

4 . 从括号内选择合适的内容完成下面短文。

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     1     (would be, will be) a future with no more inventions. A century later, the world is telling us that there     2     (are, were) still many things to be invented, and many things that were once thought impossible are becoming true.

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,     3     (had, would have) no idea that the demands on data processing (数据处理)     4     (became, would become) so great. Time has changed, and now is the age of the PC. For the world market capacity (容量) for PCs, we now have to use “billion” after numbers.

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     5     (had long said, has long said) goodbye to its huge weight. Today’s microprocessor chips (微处理器芯片) are used in mobile phones, digital cameras and other hand-held electronic devices. Some experts predicted that one day nanotechnology     6     (would make, will make) chips as thin as a hair.

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     7     (would happen, was happening) in the future, they tended to forget they     8     (would fail, have failed) to learn the lessons of history.

5 . On June 6, World War II veterans (老兵) and other visitors gathered in Normandy for the 78th D-Day anniversary (周年纪念日) in memory of soldiers who gave up their lives to bring peace and freedom to French people. Several thousand people joined a ceremony at the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach in the French town of Colleville-sur-Mer.

US Air Force planes flew over the American Cemetery during the ceremony, in the presence of Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is the final resting place of 9,386 soldiers who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed.

Ray Wallace, then 97, a former paratrooper, was among the World War II veterans attending the ceremony in the French town of Colleville-sur-Mer. According to him, on D-Day, his plane was hit and caught fire forcing him to jump earlier than expected. He landed 20 miles away from the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, the first French village to be liberated from Nazi occupation. Less than a month later, he was caught by the Germans. He was finally liberated after 10 months and returned to the U. S. Still, Wallace thought he was “lucky”. “I remember the good friends that I lost there. So, it’s a little emotional,” he said, with tears in his eyes. “I guess you can say I’m proud of what I did but I didn’t do that much.”

On D-Day, a large number of soldiers landed on the beaches, carried by 7,000 boats. On that single day, 4,414 soldiers lost their lives, 2,501 of whom were Americans. More than 5,000 were wounded. On the German side, several thousand were killed or wounded.

Wallace, who was using a wheelchair, was among about 20 World War II veterans who opened the parade (游行) of military vehicles on the eve of the D-Day anniversary in Sainte-Mère-Église with cheers from thousands of people, in a joyful atmosphere. He did not hide his pleasure, happily waving to the crowd as parents explained the stories of World War II heroes to their children. Many history lovers, wearing military clothes from the period, also came to the stage and celebrated the event.

1. What is the purpose of the D-Day anniversary ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer?

A．To call on people to treasure their lives.

B．To remind people about the hard time.

C．To connect peace lovers worldwide.

D．To honor the dead soldiers on D-Day.

2. What did Ray Wallace probably want to express by mentioning his wartime experience?

A．His sadness at losing partners in war.

B．His doubt about the result of the war.

C．His pride in defeating the enemies.

D．His fear of losing his life in war.

3. Which words can best describe the atmosphere of the parade before the D-Day anniversary?

A．Peaceful and quiet.	B．Serious and stressful.
C．Warm and inspiring.	D．Surprising and amusing.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Veterans’ stories took people closer to D-Day.

B．People in France celebrated the success of D-Day.

C．People worldwide held activities to remember D-Day.

D．Veterans returned to mark the 78th anniversary of D-Day.

6 . 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.

2. What can be safely concluded from the passage?

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.

3. What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?

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.

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.

2. How many people lost their lives in the fire?

A．90,000.

B．18,000.

C．almost 200.

D．about 300.

3. People who stayed in Chicago after the fire showed__________ .

A．courage

B．fear

C．weakness

D．laziness

4. What helped to spread and to end the fire?

A．A cow.

B．Firemen.

C．The weather.

D．Carelessness.