1 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

“My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively.     1     One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.

But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends are needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world.     2    

Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks.     3     When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to generation from the Eastman Kodak Company.     4     Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take unnatural pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.

A．It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor.

B．George Eastman was not only interested in commercial profits, but also in the improvement of other people’s lives.

C．In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people.

D．For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony(祖传的财物) of a century’s prosperity.

E．Before George Eastman brought photography to people, painting was the only way for people to keep a record of their ancestors.

F．It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.

2 . When Sir Ector saw Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone and then pushed it back, he rubbed his eyes. “I can’t believe it!” he cried. Then he fell on his knees before Arthur. “Father, please do not kneel before me. Tell me what you mean!” Arthur said with great confusion.

“Listen, then,” said Sir Ector. “Years ago the wise magician, Merlin, carried a baby in his arms. That baby was you. Merlin told me to bring you up as my own son. Now I can guess. You must be the late king ⸺ King Uther’s son. Who else could have pulled out the sword? Arthur, we must let all England know you are qualified to be the new king.”

“I would rather be your son than be a king!” cried Arthur.

“On Christmas the Bishop(主教) will give everyone a chance to pull the sword. You must take your turn and show everyone that you are the only person who can pull the sword out.”

On Christmas Day the great crowd of knights(骑士) and lords gathered before the church. They pulled and pushed, but no one could make the sword move.

Down the street came Merlin. Behind him came Sir Ector with Arthur. “Who are these men?” asked the Bishop. “Here is one who will try the sword,” said Merlin. He laid his hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “Here, lords of England, is the true son of King Uther!” Arthur stepped upon the stone and laid his hand on the sword. Smoothly and easily he pulled it out. He held it high so all could see.

So Arthur became King of all England. Some of the lords did not want him, and he had to fight them. As the years went by, he became stronger and greater. Knights came from all lands to be in his court. At Camelot Arthur started the famous Knights of the Round Table. These were the greatest of all the knights. They made their names famous for all time.

1. Sir Ector fell on his knees before Arthur because ______.

A．Sir Ector wanted to ask for forgiveness from the new king

B．Merlin told Sir Ector to respect Arthur as if he were the King

C．Arthur pulled the sword out and Sir Ector knew who he was

D．Arthur was so powerful that Sir Ector admired him very much

2. Arthur found it ______ when Sir Ector said he was qualified to be the new king.

A．believable	B．unacceptable
C．enjoyable	D．unchangeable

3. What did Arthur do as King of all England according to the passage?

A．Fighting the foreign countries.	B．Making the famous table.
C．Developing the national economy.	D．Gathering the greatest knights.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Arthur Becomes King	B．Arthur Trains Knights
C．Arthur Defeats Enemies	D．Arthur Loves Swords

3 . One of the most famous buildings in the United States is Carnegie Hall, the home of classical and popular music concerts in New York. Carnegie Hall is known not just for its beauty and history, but also for its amazing sound. It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument. It takes the music and makes it larger than life.

Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction. Construction on Carnegie Hall began in 1890 and the official opening night was on May 5, 1891.

The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924 when it was sold to Robert E. Simon. The building became very old and in 1960, the new owner made plans to destroy it and build an office block. Isaac Stem led a group of people who fought to save Carnegie Hall and finally, the city of New York bought it for $5 million. It was then fixed up between 1983 and 1995.

Advertisements and stories in newspapers about how Carnegie Hall needed help to recover its history led people to send in old concert programmes and information from all over the world. Over 12,000 concert programmes were received and with these it was possible to make a proper record of Carnegie Hall’s concert history.

Carnegie Hall is actually made up of several different halls, but the Main Hall, now called the Isaac Stern Hall, is the most famous. The hall itself can hold an audience of 2,804 in five levels of seating.

Because the best and most famous musicians of all time have played at Carnegie Hall, it is the dream of most musicians who want to be great to play there. This has led to a very old joke which is now part of Carnegie Hall’s history. Question: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practise, practise, practise.”

1. It can be inferred that people wanted to save Carnegie Hall mainly because _____.

A．it made a lot of money	B．it was worth visiting
C．many important concerts were held in it	D．it made some musicians become famous

2. How did Carnegie Hall recover its concert history?

A．Through newspaper reports.	B．Through old concert programmes.
C．Through old photographs.	D．Through old joke.

3. How long did it take Carnegie Hall to be fixed up?

A．9 years.

B．10 years.

C．11 years.

D．12 years.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．The History of Carnegie Hall.	B．The Best Musician Having Played in Carnegie Hall.
C．A Joke about Carnegie Hall.	D．The Dream of Most Musicians.

4 . Zhoukoudian is a small village situated about 50 kilometers to Beijing City. In the 1920s, archaeologists discovered some prehistoric human bones there which changed people’s view of China’s history. They came from an unknown species of man and were the first evidence of human life in China thousands of years ago. The remains were three teeth!

In 1929, a complete skull was also discovered. Eventually, archaeologists found almost 200 items, including six skulls and more than 150 teeth. These discoveries proved the existence of a human species who lived in the area between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago. Four sites where Peking Man and their relatives lived were discovered on the northern face of Longgushan. They lived in the caves in the area.

However, the lifespan of Peking Man was short. About 70% of the people probably died before the age of 14. Fewer than 5% lived to the age of 50. Ashes were found alongside the fossils, which showed they had used fire for cooking food and also for light, warmth, and protection against wild animals. This is the earliest evidence of the use of fire in the world. They also made tools of bones and stones.

Unfortunately, when Japan invaded China in 1937, excavations at the Peking Man Site stopped and most of the fossils disappeared, including a Peking Man skull. After the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, the work started again.

Zhoukoudian was listed as a World Heritage Site in December 1987. It has not only given us important information about prehistoric Asian societies, but also provided amazing evidence about the process of evolution. Today, parts of the caves have been badly eroded (侵蚀) by rain. Some areas are almost completely covered in weeds, causing serious damage. Pollution from the nearby factories has also contributed to the problem. This is a very serious matter and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is trying to raise public awareness of it.

1. According to the passage, archaeologists ______.

A．thought that Zhoukoudian was a beautiful village

B．thought that the findings wouldn’t change the history of China

C．discovered some prehistoric human bones in Zhoukoudian

D．thought that the findings were the first evidence of human life in Asia

2. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．The digging was delayed by the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.

B．These ancient Chinese were the first people to use fire in daily life.

C．Some valuable things excavated from the site are still missing.

D．The digging of Zhoukoudian is famous and is well funded.

3. From the passage, we can infer that ______.

A．Peking Man had a short life

B．Peking Man lived in the caves of Longgushan

C．the work of excavating the Peking Man Site didn’t proceed smoothly

D．archaeologists found six complete skulls and more than 150 teeth in 1929

4. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．The digging of Zhoukoudian is still under way.

B．Zhoukoudian plays an important part in the study of prehistoric societies.

C．Zhoukoudian is a World Heritage Site.

D．Zhoukoudian is in great need of protection.

5 . A valuable sketch (素描) from World WarⅠhas turned up in a garage sale in Perth. It’s a sketch of soldiers playing soccer with a tin can during an unofficial truce (停战) between German and Allied soldiers on the Western Front in 1914. The artwork was drawn by an unnamed German soldier during the war on the Western Front.

The artwork was given to Private Jack Shelley, a British soldier, when he was defending the town of Frelinghien, France. The sketch is an important historical document, as it provides evidence that the tales of enemy soldiers socializing together are true. But for Private Shelley’s descendants(后代) it has even greater value, since it was his prized possession. Jessie Shelley, Jack’s great-granddaughter, has fond memories of the old man sharing stories about his experiences in the war when he came to live permanently in Australia in 1930. the family lost track of the artwork after Jack’s possessions were moved during the sale of his house when he died in 1984.

‘Great-grandpa had a tobacco tin with a dozen or so buttons from the uniforms of men from both sides. He told us all the details of every one of those buttons. To Great-grandpa they represented real people he had known, some of whom hadn’t come home from the war. He had at least two buttons from German uniforms that he told us were exchanged between the men involved in the Christmas Day Truce.’

On Christmas Day of 1914, the soldiers came out of their trenches(战壕) into no-man’s-land and shared food, drinks and cigarettes. Some even exchanged small gifts. The men even played football games together. Later, this spirit of cooperation continued in unofficial agreements between the sides to stop shooting at mealtimes and even at times when soldiers were working in the open.

This fascinating image of peace and humanity during the war has continued through the years. The sketch is a symbol of the potential for humanity, hope and kindness to exist in even the most violent circumstances.

1. In what situation was the sketch done?

A．It was done in a garage

B．It was done on the front line.

C．It was done during a formal soccer match.

D．It was done by a soldier fighting in Germany.

2. Why is this sketch an important historical document?

A．It explains the specific reason for the war.

B．It shows the war on the Western Front came to an end.

C．It proves enemy soldiers could live in peace sometimes.

D．It is evidence that soldiers could adapt quickly to society.

3. What did Private Shelly say about the buttons in the tobacco tin?

A．They were from German uniforms.

B．Some of them represented his honor.

C．Some of their owners didn’t survive the war.

D．They were collected during Christmas Day in 1914.

4. What impact did the Christmas Day Truce have?

A．It brought about more truces.

B．It started wide information exchanges.

C．It led to no agreement between the sides.

D．It resulted in more celebrations between the sides.

6 . The printing press has a long history. It was invented in Germany by Joannes Gutenberg around 1440, and brought to England by William Caxton in the 1470s.Yet the basic technology of printing remained the same up to the end of the 18th century, requiring two men to operate a wooden screw press by hand, producing about 200 impressions an hour. The 19th century was the period in which this process was mechanised, automated, and made many times faster.

A key moment in the development of mass newspapers was the development of the steam-powered printing press, adopted by the times in 1814. The new presses were able to print per hour around five times the number produced by the machines. The editor, John Walter, had the machines fixed secretly at night, so that when his printers reported for duty the next morning the majority of them found that they were out of work. The Times went from a circulation of 5,000 a day in 1815 to around 50,000 in the middle of the century. This was not caused by the steam press, but neither could it have happened without it.

Later developments improved this effect: the Applegath machine achieved 5,000 impressions per hour, and the Hoe press, an import from the United States, reached to 20,000 impressions per hour. Increase in the speed of papermaking in this period brought down the cost of printed materials both for the producer and the customer. In 1896, the Daily Mail was sold at the cost of only half a penny, and by 1900 it was selling nearly 1,000,000 copies a day.

If print production was completely changed in those years, then so was its distribution. The appearance of the steam railway meant that for the first time newspapers could be distributed across the country on a daily basis.

1. What can we learn about the basic technology of printing?

A．It was invented first in the middle of the 15th century.

B．It was brought into England by Joannes Gutenberg.

C．It took over 400 years to change after invention.

D．It took two hours to produce about 200 impressions.

2. How many impressions did the new press produce an hour in 1814?

A．About 20,000.	B．About 1,000.
C．About 2,000.	D．About 5,000.

3. Increase in the speed of papermaking led to ____.

A．the invention of steam printing press	B．the development of the steam railway
C．the appearance of the Daily Mail	D．the decline of printing expenses

4. The passage is developed mainly by ____.

A．providing examples	B．making comparisons
C．following the order of time	D．following the order of space

7 . It is sometimes thought that the longing for material goods, the need to buy things, is a relatively modern invention.     1     Trade or shopping is certainly an ancient desire, and existed before our ancestors invented writing, laws, cities or farming, even before they used metal to make tools.

Humans are born to trade.     2     Evidence from hunter-gatherers suggests that the exchange of food and other necessary things comes naturally, as well as the ability to keep a record of the credits involved. And once trade begins, the benefits are hard to resist.

Ancient local coastal people in northern Australia traded fish hooks, along a chain of trading partners, with people living 400 miles inland, who cut and polished local stone to make axes (斧子).     3     Finally, both groups of “producers”, by concentrating on things they could produce and exchanging them for other things they needed, benefited as a result.

Trade in the necessities of life, such as food and simple tools, is not really surprising, considering the link between these basic items and survival. What is surprising, though, is that our taste for unnecessary expensive objects also goes back a long way.

In South Africa, 100,000-year-old decorative dyes (染料) have been found in an area where none were produced.     4     Small round pieces of glass 76,000 years old were also found at the same place. The earliest jewellery known to us were not just random findings — they were grouped together in size and had holes like those used for threading onto a necklace.

Archaeologists argue that trade prepared the way for the complex societies in which we live today.     5     However, their modern equivalents — fast cars and expensive clothes — hold the same attraction for us as “trade goods” did for people 100,000 years ago.

A．And we don’t need shops or money to do it.

B．These are powerful evidence for cash purchase.

C．In fact, its roots go back to the beginning of humanity.

D．However, first trade began from the exchange of objects.

E．Modern-day shoppers may not be impressed by ancient glass pieces.

F．It is thought that these goods were bought at least 30   kilometres   away.

G．Every individual along the chain made a profit, even if he produced neither himself.

8 . Exploring the sands on the beach, Tonya III man came across a lidless boule. She picked it up, looked inside and noticed something. She turned it upside down. Out came a damp, neatly rolled piece of paper. Tonya took it home, dried and unrolled it.

What caught her eye was the year field, 18      . Though at first sceptical of finding something this old so easily, she continued reading. It began with some coordinates (坐标). Below was a request in German asking the bolded finder to put down the date and location of where it was found and return it to the nearer German embassy.

The Illmans took the note Rosa Anderson, a curator (馆长) at the Western Australian Museum. Soon Anderson called, saying he had been able to locate a 19th - century ship named Paula. Even more exciting was that experts in Germany were able to track down Paula’s logbooks and find a record by a “Captain O. Diekmann,” confirming that a bottle had been thrown overboard on June 12. 1886 - the date on the message. The sailor had also listed the coordinates of the ship’s location, which matched the ones on the note. Another evidence of the note’s truth was the logbook’s neat script (手稿), which paired perfectly with that of the handwritten message. The records also indicated that the bottle was one of the thousands thrown by the seamen back then as part of an experiment to track the water currents.

Anderson believes the note remained undamaged because it was put in a strong bottle with a narrow opening which allowed little water in, even after the lid came off. The expert guessed it had been probably washed ashore and remained buried in the thick sand.

The 131 - year - old note, now lying in the Western Australia Museum, was confirmed as the oldest message in a bottle ever discovered.

1. What’s the purpose of writing this text?

A．To advertise for the Western Australia Museum.

B．To praise the Illmans for their important discovery.

C．To explain how the note came to light and its value.

D．To describe the habits of the seamen in the 19th century.

2. How did Tonya Illman feel when she first saw the words on the note?

A．Astonished.	B．Doubtful.
C．Optimistic.	D．Overjoyed.

3. What proved the truth of the 131 - year - old note?

A．The records in Paula’s logbooks.

B．The date and words written on it.

C．The location where it was found.

D．The sailor’s experiment to follow the water currents.

4. The note remained in good condition probably because      .

A．the note was handwritten

B．the lid of its container came off

C．the bottle had been floating in the sea

D．its container had stayed buried in the sand

9 . In 1858, two men wanted to be elected United States Senator from Illinois. One was Stephen Douglas. The other was Abraham Lincoln. Douglas was already the Senator, but his term in office was up. Lincoln had once been a U.S. Representative but was then a lawyer in Illinois.

The men agreed to have seven public meetings, or debates, in seven different cities in Illinois. That way, voters all over the state would have a chance to hear what each man stood for.

The first debate was in Ottawa on August 21, 1858. The main thing the men disagreed on was slavery. Douglas believed that as new states joined the union, they should decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to be a slave state or a free state. Lincoln believed that slavery should not spread beyond the states that already had slaves. He said the United States could not survive as half-slave and half-free states.

The debates drew large crowds in all seven cities. People in the entire country were paying attention. Lincoln lost the Senate race. The debates did, however, make him well known everywhere.

In 1860, it was time to elect a new President. Lincoln won the Republican party’s nomination(提名). Douglas won the Democratic party’s nomination. The two men again faced each other to get the people’s votes. This time Lincoln won. He became the nation’s 16th President.

The slavery issue was still causing bad feelings between slave and non-slave states. By the time Lincoln took over as President on March 4, 1861, seven states had left the union. A month later, the Civil War began.

1. Why did the two men have debates in seven cities?

A．To protect themselves.

B．To persuade each other.

C．To make their views known better.

D．To give the voters some advice.

2. What view did Stephen Douglas stick to in the debate?

A．The new states should unite with other states.

B．The new states should separate from the Union.

C．The new states were free to keep slavery or not.

D．The new states should not keep slavery any more.

3. What was the result of the debates?

A．The debates made Lincoln famous.

B．Voters strongly disagreed on slavery.

C．Lincoln failed in the president election

D．Douglas drew more attention in the country.

4. Why did the civil war break out?

A．The Northern states rose up.

B．Lincoln was defeated in the election.

C．The Southern states still kept slaves.

D．There was conflict between slave and non-slave states.

10 . Yinxu (Ruins of Yin) is the ruins of the last capital of China’s Shang Dynasty (1600 BC―1046 BC). The capital served 255 years for 12 kings. It shows the golden age of early Chinese culture, crafts and sciences, a time of great prosperity during the Chinese Bronze Age(青铜时代).

Discovered in 1899, Yinxu is one of the oldest and largest archaeological sites(考古遗址) in China and is one of the historical capitals of China and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It lies in central Henan Province, near the modern city of Anyang, and is open to the public as the Garden Museum of Yinxu. It is famous as the source of oracle bone script (甲骨文), the earliest recorded form of Chinese writing. The oracle bone script has recorded everything from dream explaining to events such as harvests, birth of a child, the weather, and the success of military campaigns.

Over 3,000 tombs, 2,200 pits, and 200 houses have been dug out at Yinxu. The large number of burial accessories found there shows the high level of the Shang crafts industry.

The site includes a main palace and an ancient tomb. Besides, there are a number of large buildings, at least 53 of which have been dug out.

Yinxu has seen many years of research, first studied by the Academia Sinica in the late 1920s to the early 1930s and most recently by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

1. During which of the following periods may Yinxu have been the capital of Shang Dynasty?

A．1600 BC—1500 BC.	B．1500 BC—1200 BC.
C．1300 BC—1046 BC.	D．1050 BC—850 BC.

2. From the passage, we can know that Yinxu____________.

A．was the last capital of China’s Shang Dynasty	B．proved the failure of Shang Dynasty
C．was discovered in the 1920s	D．can be visited by the public now

3. Which of the following is NOT true about the oracle bone script?

A．It was discovered in Yinxu.

B．It is the earliest form of Chinese writing.

C．Many things were recorded using it.

D．It is important for studying the Shang Dynasty.

4. According to the passage, which of the following belongs to things that are dug out from Yinxu?
a. craft                            
b. gold                            
c. oracle bone script             
d. tombs
e. bronze                            
f. houses                           
g. accessories

A．afg	B．bed
C．bdg	D．ace