An emotional reunion has been 75 years in the making. Two WWII
Since the cousins had no way of communicating with each other after they fled their home nation, both of
Decades later, Sana’s daughter began using the Internet
2 . For almost 500 years, people have wondered what deadly disease wiped out most of the Aztecs (阿芝特克人）. The locals called it cocolizthi, and now a team of scientists think they know exactly what that was. The outbreak is considered to be one of the deadliest epidemics (传染病）in human history. For centuries, its cause has been debated by historians. New evidence suggests that the Aztecs died from a type of bacteria called salmonella enterica.
An international team of scientists came to this conclusion after analysing the skeletons (骨骼) of 29 Aztecs buried in a cocoliztli cemetery in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. The scientists obtained samples from the teeth of ten of the skeletons. They compared these with their database of bacteria and found traces of salmonella enterica.
Salmonella enterica can cause enteric fever, of which typhoid (伤寒）is a type. Today, there are around 21 million cases of typhoid worldwide and it is considered a global threat.
The Aztecs were fierce hunter-gatherers who settled in what is now Mexico at the beginning of the 13th century. From their incredible capital city Tenochtitlan(now Mexico City),the Aztecs fought wars with other tribes until they ruled much of the region.
The Aztecs ended up controlling large parts of Mesoamerica--now much of Mexico and Central America--until Spanish explorers arrived in 1519 and brought with them advanced weapons and deadly diseases. The team believe that the domesticated animals, such as goats and horses, which the explorers brought with them carried the deadly bacteria.
By 1545,not even 30 years after the Spanish had arrived, Mexico's Aztec nation started coming down with a terrible illness. Symptoms included high fever, headaches and bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth. Within five years, up to 15 million people---more than 80%of the population at the time--had died from the mystery illness they called cocoliztli. The Aztec people had no immunity (免疫) to fight the disease.
“We cannot say with certainty that salmonella enterica was the cause of the cocolizti epidemic,” said Kirsten Bos from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany.” We do believe that it should be considered a strong candidate."
1. Which helped the scientists come to the conclusion.| A．Certain traces of deadly diseases carried by goats and horses |
| B．Extensive comparison of Aztecs buried in a cocoliztli cemetery |
| C．Definite discoveries of infected tooth samples from the database |
| D．Small amounts of certain bacteria in the teeth of the skeletons |
| A．They had a population of about 15 million around 1545. |
| B．Their livelihood depended on raising domesticated animals. |
| C．Their population dropped sharply in the middle 16th century. |
| D．They won the wars with the Spanish despite being poorly equipped. |
| A．cocolizti epidemic | B．salmonella enterica | C．the typhoid | D．the Max Planck Institute |
| A．how the Aztecs got infected with salmonella enterica |
| B．why the Aztecs had no immunity to fight typhoid |
| C．which reason caused the Aztecs to abandon their native land |
| D．what led to the military and economic decline of the Aztecs |
A period of important agricultural development began in the early 1700s in Great Britain and the Low Countries(Belgium, Luxembourg. and the Netherlands, which lie below sea level).
One of the most important of these developments was an improved horse-drawn seed drill invented by Jethro Tull in England. Until that time，farmers sowed seeds by hand. Tull’s drill made rows of holes for the seeds. By the end of the 18th century, seed drilling was widely practiced in Europe. Many other machines were developed in the United States.
Along with new machines，there were several important advances in selective farming. By selectively breeding animals (breeding those with desirable traits), farmers increased the size and productivity of their livestock. Plants could also be selectively bred for certain qualities. In 1866, Gregor Mendel’s studies in heredity (遗传) were published in Austria.
New crop planting methods also evolved during this time. Many of these were adopted over the next century or so throughout Europe. For example，the Norfolk four-field system, developed in England，proved quite successful. It involved the yearly rotation (轮作) of several crops, including wheat, turnips, barley, clover, and ryegrass.
Not all parts of the world benefited from these developments instantly. However，farmers in other parts such as Australia and Africa continued to use old ways of agriculture for a long time.
| A．This could add desired nutrients to the soil thanks to the rich variety of crops. |
| B．Over centuries, the growth of agriculture contributed to the rise of civilizations. |
| C．In experiments with pea plants, he learned how traits were passed from one generation to another. |
| D．In the 1830s Cyrus McCormick’s harvesting machine helped modernize the grain-cutting process. |
| E．This helped to produce extra food to trade for other goods and allowed people to work at other tasks. |
| F．New agricultural inventions dramatically increased food production in Europe and European colonies. |
1.
| A．Goods are scarce and hard to get for ordinary consumers. |
| B．People aim for social distinction through what they own. |
| C．Manufacturers make more money by mass production. |
| D．Growth of consumerism is restricted by artificial products. |
| A．To cut down on labour costs by reducing working hours. |
| B．To make customers feel they own something rare. |
| C．To increase their coffee price without losing customers. |
| D．To focus more on quality and customer satisfaction. |
| A．Consumer awareness. | B．Social distinction. |
| C．Artificial scarcity. | D．Mass production. |
The “Penny Black”, the first postage stamp issued in Britain and, more importantly, the first postage stamp issued anywhere,
About 50 years later, to do better, Rolland Hill argued for putting an end to the postal charges and replacing them with a single national rate of one penny, which would be paid by the sender. When the post office ignored Hill’s ideas, he self-published his essay and it quickly gained
In 1839, Hill held a competition to design all the postal facility. The winning stamp
The“Penny Black”stamp went on sale on May 1, 1840. It was an immediate
6 . America’s first transcontinental railroad, completed 150 years ago today at Promontory Summit in Utah, connected the vast United States and brought America into the modern age. Chinese immigrants contributed greatly to this notable achievement, but the historical accounts that followed often ignored their role.
Between 1863 and 1869, as many as 20,000 Chinese workers helped build the dangerous western part of the railroad, a winding ribbon of track known as the Central Pacific. At first, the Central Pacific Railroad’s directors wanted a whites-only workforce. When not enough white men signed up, the railroad began hiring Chinese men for the backbreaking labor. Company leaders were skeptical of the new recruits’ ability to do the work, but they proved themselves not only capable but even superior to the other workers.
Chinese workers cut through dense forests, filled deep narrow steep-sided valley, constructed long trestles(高架桥) and built enormous retaining walls(防护墙) -- some of which remain complete and undamaged today. All work was done by hand using carts, shovels and picks but no machinery. However, progress came at great cost: an estimated 1,200 Chinese laborers died along the Central Pacific route.
Despite these facts, Chinese workers were often left out of the official story because of their identity of foreigners. On the transcontinental railroad's 100th birthday, the Chinese workers were still not honored. It was another fifty years later that their role was gradually highlighted. To celebrate the railroad’s 150th anniversary in 2019, the California assembly passed a resolution in 2017 to recognize and honor the Chinese railroad workers by designating May 10, 2017, and every May 10 thereafter, as California Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Day.
1. What might be the best title for the text?| A．The Birth of the Central Pacific Cost Dearly |
| B．May 10--A Special Day for Chinese Immigrants |
| C．Chinese Workers’ Contributions Gained Recognition |
| D．The 150th anniversary of the Central Pacific Railroad |
| A．Chinese laborers. | B．White workers. |
| C．Company leaders. | D．Railroad directors. |
| A．To prove Chinese workers’ superior skills. |
| B．To stress the danger and difficulty of the work. |
| C．To describe the grand scenery along the railroad. |
| D．To show notable achievements made by Chinese workers. |
| A．None so blind as those who won’t see. | B．No pains, no gains. |
| C．Truth will come to light sooner or later. | D．Doing is better than saying. |
7 . In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, two plants were brought to England, for the first time, by Sir Walter Raleigh, both of which are now very much used—the tobacco-plant and the potato. Sir Walter had sailed across the seas to America, in search of new lands; and he brought back both these plants with him.
When he was in America, he had seen the Indians smoke, and before long he acquired the habit himself. He became extremely fond of smoking, and frequently indulged in the practice.
When he returned to England, he was sitting by the fire one day, and began to smoke. In the middle of his smoking, the door opened, and in came his man-servant. Now this man had never in his life seen any one smoke, and did not know that where was such a plant as tobacco. So, when he saw the smoke coming from his master’s mouth, he thought that he was on fire!
But very soon the old servant got used to seeing people with smoke coming out of their mouths; and all the young nobles of the court began to smoke because Sir Walter did so.
At first, people did not like the potato at all: nobody would eat it. Yet Sir Walter told them how useful it would be. The potato, he said, could be made to grow in England. He told them that, when the corn-harvest failed—which it often used to do—people need not starve if they had plenty of potatoes.
Queen Elizabeth, who was a very clever woman, listened to what Sir Walter said, and had potatoes served up at her own table. There the grand people who dined with her majesty were obliged to eat them. But they spread a report that the potato was poisonous, because it belongs to the same order as the deadly nightshade(龙葵属植物) and many other poisonous plants. So, in spite of all that the Queen could do, no one would eat potatoes, and they were left for the pigs.
The people did not find out their mistake till many years afterwards when the French king Louis XVI asked his people to eat them. And people began to find out how good and wholesome they were. The potato was more and more liked; and now there is hardly any vegetable that is more highly esteemed.
1. What do we know about Sir Walter?| A．He introduced the tobacco-plant and the potato to England. |
| B．He went to America in order to do research on plants and animals. |
| C．He was forced to smoke by the Indians in America during his stay there. |
| D．He taught Queen Elizabeth how to smoke in court with the young nobles. |
| A．the Queen refused to eat them herself |
| B．they were used as poison by the Indians |
| C．they were long used as food for the pigs |
| D．they belong to the poisonous nightshade |
| A．Both the tobacco plant and the potato were native to France. |
| B．Young nobles in England refused to smoke for the terrible smell. |
| C．It was not easy to grow corn back in the age of Queen Elizabeth. |
| D．The English people were the first to accept potatoes as tasty food. |
| A．Only those who are willing to take risks can succeed in the end. |
| B．They are lots of new plants on the earth that can be used as food. |
| C．All people are afraid to try things that are new and strange to them. |
| D．The upper class had huge influence on the way people lived in the past. |
8 . On May 13, 1940, the newly appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, gave his first speech to Parliament. He was preparing the people for a long battle against Nazi aggression, at a time when England’s survival was still in doubt.
“…
In this crisis I think I may be pardoned if I do not address the House at any length today, and I hope that any of my friends and colleagues or former colleagues who are affected by the political reconstruction will make all allowances for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act.
I say to the House as I said to Ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, labor, tears, and sweat. We have before us a big trial of the most terrible kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.
You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage(作战)war by land, sea and air - war with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny(暴政)never surpassed(超过) in the dark and disappointing catalogue of human crime.
You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs -victory in spite of all terrors - for without victory there is no survival.
Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal.
I take up my task in optimism and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. I feel I have the right, at this critical point, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, ‘Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength’.”
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To prepare the British people for a long battle. |
| B．To ask people to listen to Winston Churchill's speech. |
| C．To provide some background information of this speech. |
| D．To inform people of the newly appointed Prime Minister. |
| A．form a new yet forceful government |
| B．let people know he was the Prime Minister |
| C．call on the British people to fight against the Nazis |
| D．inform people that Britain was facing a difficult time |
| A．tiring | B．inspiring | C．interesting | D．frightening |
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? |
10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Today the Statue of Liberty is a beloved landmark. It
Donations for the building of the statue first began coming in throughout France in 1875.Numerous people gave donations. A copper company donated the copper sheets that would be used to fashion the skin of the statue. Various donations were helpful,
While the French had announced that the funds for the statues were in place in 1880, by late 1882 the American donations, which would be needed to build the pedestal, were sadly lagging. The sculptor Bartholdi had travelled to America in 1871 top romote the idea of the statue. Despite Bartholdi’s efforts, the idea of the statue was difficult
In August1885, that final $100,000 for the statue;s pedestal had been raised.Construction work on the stone structure continued, and the next year the Statue of Liberty, which had arrived from France packed in crated, was erectedon top.
