1 . A huge fire broke out on 2 September 1666 in London. The fire, known as the Great Fire of London, was the worst fire in the history of London. It burned down more than three quarters of the old city.
The fire started in the very early hours of Sunday morning in the house of the king’s baker. A strong wind blew the fire from the baker’s house into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
At that time, most of the buildings in London were made of wood, so it was easy for the fire to spread quickly. By eight o’clock, three hundred houses were on fire. By Monday, nearly a kilometre of the city was burning along the Thames River. On Tuesday, which was considered the worst day, the fire destroyed many well-known buildings, including the old St Paul’s Cathedral.
The fire burned until finally hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire were destroyed to create a firebreak. The fire then died out eventually with nothing left to burn.
1. Why is the fire of 1666 called the Great Fire of London?| A．The fire broke out in the capital of England. |
| B．The fire was the worst fire in the history of London. |
| C．People in England will never forget the fire. |
| D．The fire spread fast into Thames Street. |
| A．In the house of the king’s baker. |
| B．In Thames Street. |
| C．In the house of the baker’s neighbour. |
| D．In St Paul’s Cathedral. |
| A．It started in a baker’s house. |
| B．It broke out on a Sunday morning. |
| C．A hotel was next to the baker’s house. |
| D．Most of the buildings in London were wooden. |
| A．The old St Paul’s Cathedral. |
| B．Hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. |
| C．Hundreds of wooden houses. |
| D．All of the above. |
2 . The native Americans, the people we call the “Indians”, had been in America for many thousands of years before Columbus arrived in 1492. Columbus thought he had arrived in India, so he called the native people “Indians”.
The Indians were kind to the early settlers. They were not afraid of them and they wanted to help them. They showed the settlers the new world around them. They taught them about the local crops like sweet potatoes, corn and peanuts. They introduced the Europeans to chocolate and to the turkey and the Europeans did business with the Indians.
But soon the settlers wanted bigger farms and more land for themselves and their families. More and more immigrants were coming from Europe and all these people needed land. So the Europeans started to take the land from the Indians. Naturally, when the whites started taking all the Indians’ land, the Indians started fighting back.
But the whites were stronger and cleverer. Slowly they pushed the Indians into those parts of the continent that the whites didn’t want- the parts where it was too cold or too dry or too mountainous to live comfortably. By 1875 the Indians were living in special places called “reservations”. But even here the whites took land from them- perhaps the whites wanted the wood, or perhaps the land had important minerals in it, or they even wanted to make national parks there. So even on their reservations the Indians were not safe from the whites.
There are many Hollywood films about the fight between the Indians and the whites. Usually in these films the Indians are bad and the whites are good and brave. But was it really like that? What do you think? Do you think the Indians were right or wrong to fight against the whites?
1. Why did Columbus call the native people “Indians”?| A．Because he thought he had arrived in India. |
| B．Because he liked Indian culture very much. |
| C．Because he knew they were from India. |
| D．Because he was an Indian himself. |
| A．The Indians gave up their land willingly. |
| B．The settlers wanted to buy land from the Indians. |
| C．The whites even wanted more land on Indians’ reservations. |
| D．The Indians were stronger and cleverer than the white settlers. |
| A．the Indians are usually beautified in the films |
| B．the author is doubtful about what the films show to us |
| C．films about fights are the most popular ones in the market |
| D．films about the fight between the Indians and the whites are very limited |
| A．entertainment | B．history | C．economy | D．industry |
