2 . 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.

The biggest house of cards, the longest tongue, and of course, the tallest man: these are among the thousands of records logged in the famous Guinness Book of Records. Created in 1955 after a debate     1     (concern) Europe's fastest game bird,     2     began as a marketing tool sold to pub landlords     3     (promote) Guinness, an Irish drink, became the bestselling copyright title of all time (a category that excludes books such as the Bible and the Koran). In time, the book would sell 120 million copies in over 100 countries— quite a leap from its humble beginnings.

In its early years, the book set its sights on     4     (satisfy) man's inborn curiosity about the natural world around him. Its two principal fact finders, twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, moved wildly around the globe to collect facts. It was their task to find and document aspects of life that can be sensed or observed, things that can be quantified or measured. But not just any things. They were only interested in superlatives: the biggest and the best. It was during this period     5     some of the remarkable Guinness Records were documented, answering such questions as "What is the brightest star?" and "What is the biggest spider?"

Once aware of the public's thirst for such knowledge, the book's authors began to branch out to cover increasingly doubtful, little-known facts. They started documenting human achievements as well. A forerunner for reality television, the Guinness Book gave people     6     chance to become famous for accomplishing odd, often pointless tasks. Records were set in 1955 for consuming 24 raw eggs in 14 minutes and in 1981 for the fastest solving of a Rubik's Cube (which took a mere 38 seconds). In 1979 a man yodeled(用真假嗓音交替唱) non-stop for ten and a quarter hours.

In its latest appearance, the book has found a new home on the internet. No longer     7     (restrict) to the limits of physical paper, the Guinness World Records website contains seemingly innumerable facts concerning such topics as the most powerful combustion(燃烧) engine, or the world's longest train. What is striking, however, is that such facts are found sharing a page with the record of the heaviest train to be pulled     8     a beard.

Originating as a simple bar book, the Guinness Book of Records     9     (evolve) over decades to provide insight into the full range of modern life. And although one may be     10     (likely) now to learn about the widest human mouth than the highest number of casualties in a single battle of the Civil War, the Guinness World Records website offers a telling glimpse into the future of fact-finding and record-recording.

3 . 根据课文完成短文。

New research suggests     1     the story of Franklin’s famous experiment with lightning may be fiction instead of fact. More than one generation of school children has been amazed by his bravery and his     2     (science) approach to     3     (look) for the truth. However, neither the story nor the details of the experiment are entirely true. Although it has been proved that Franklin’s experiment     4     (take) place, more than one scientist has questioned what really happened.     5     detail about the string and the key is true. But     6     (science) all agree that if he had     7     (actual) touched the key, he would certainly have died from the electric shock. Fiction is     8     (interesting) than the truth. People have been more inspired by Franklin’s spirit of scientific     9     (explore) than by the facts themselves. But in science, facts should be proved     10     experiments and research.

5 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式.

It was Sunday, December 7, 1941.     1     usual, the wake-up call came at 5: 45 a. m. It looked like it was going to be a normal day on board the ship. Just then there was a huge crashing sound from above. The ship shook     2     (violent) and the men looked at each other in horror. Above their heads, hundreds of Japanese planes circled like eagles. They were diving down to drop bombs on Pearl Harbor. Moments later, a bomb hit the uses Arizona.

The surprise attack came as a great shock to     3     whole nation. The next day, President Roosevelt made his famous Pearl Harbor Speech,     4     (ask) the US Congress to declare war on Japan. In     5     (respond) to the attack and the president’s address, the US     6     (join) World War II. Today, the uses Arizona lies     7     it sank: in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Its location     8     (mark) with a memorial shaped like a bridge, which crosses the ship’s sunken     9     (ruin). Although about eight decades years has passed, the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of the     10     (dark) episode in American history, will never be forgotten.

6 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Notre Dame (巴黎圣母院) Fire

It feels as though the very heart of France and the soul of Europe have been broken. The fire of Notre Dame in Paris     1     Monday evening was an act of blind and terrible destruction,     2     (cause) great emotional pains to us all. We all share France’s terrible loss.

The fire struck     3     (quick) and uncontrollably. It gathered force with huge power. Much of the roof and the central building caught fire. After     4     hour or so, the Paris firefighters were able     5     (get) part of the fire under some degree of control and to protect other     6     (part) of the building that may survive. As night     7     (fall), the great west towers still stood against the sky, proud but hurt.

The Notre Dame is the symbol of the French capital and of France itself. It is world famous not simply as a Parisian building but through the     8     (write) of Victor Hugo,     9     made the building itself come alive in his novel Hunchback of Notre Dame.

We believe the Dame will rise again in time. This terrible fire is not an event that should     10     (forget) or quickly ignored. We stand with France in its hour of heartbreak. We will never, ever, turn away.

7 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Oscars are held every March in the city of Los Angeles. Many of the     1    (big) celebrities in Hollywood attend this event, hoping to win an Oscar award. Since the first ceremony in 1929, when only fifteen awards were given out, the Oscars     2    (grow) in size and popularity. Now, more than fifty of the gold-plated     3    (statue) are made every year in the city of Chicago. They then are transported to Los Angeles for the awards show.

However, on March 8,2000, someone stole the fifty-five Oscar statues that     4    (make) for that year’s ceremony. Soon after, the trucking company responsible     5     transporting the statues offered a $ 50,000 reward for them.

A few days     6    (late), Willie Fulgear was looking for some boxes in a garbage can near his home in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. Willie was moving out of his apartment and he needed boxes to pack his things in.     7    (search) through the can, he found some white boxes. He opened one of them and found an Oscar inside. He had the other boxes     8    (tear) open and got fifty-two Oscars, all in perfect condition. He     9    (immediate) called the police.

Finally Willie Fulgear received a $ 50,000 reward and the invitation to the Oscar ceremony. He didn’t receive     10     award for his honesty but he did go from liter to glitter (闪光) in just one week.

9 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

On January 24, 1848, James Marshall, a mechanic, discovered gold in the Coloma Valley of California. Word of this finding    1    (publish)in Eastern newspapers in the fall of 1848 and was further popularized in remarks    2    (make)by James K. Polk in his farewell address. Soon, passenger-loaded ships sailed    3    the East Coast, around Cape Horn, and northward to California.

Within the first year, more than 80 000 prospectors, the Forty-Niners(淘金者), arrived. San Francisco    4    (grow) to a community of 20 000 in a few months. In 1848, the population of California was about 15000. By 1852, California's population topped 250 000. The ranks of new residents were swollen by sailors    5    jumped ship in San Francisco and headed to the gold fields,    6    (leave)their ships too short on crew to continue. California attracted many reputable people,    7    the first to go were the ones with the least to lose and the    8    (few)responsibilities. The predictable result was a rise in crime, which led to the founding of the Sari Francisco Committee of Vigilance(警戒)in 1851.The    9    (discover) of gold transformed California from an underpopulated,    10    (distance) region into an area ripe for statehood.

10 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写 1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

A clay pig     1     (find) in Lianhe Ruins in Sichuan province in 2019. It is estimated to be about 3,000 years old.     2     makes this finding unusual is its adorable appearance. The clay pig looks exactly like the green pig from The Angry Birds movie.     3     (it) cute image has left the Chinese netizens surprised and delighted, with many people joking that The Angry Birds character has traveled back in time to prehistoric days. The topic     4     (attract) 400 million views and 290,000 discussions since the pig was discovered.