2 . Directions: Read the following two passages. Fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper from of the given word. For the other blanks, fill in each blank with one proper word. Make sure that your answers are grammatically correct.

American Mikah Meyer has an unusual goal. He wants to visit all of the more than 400 properties operated by the National Park Service.

He spent January 2017 visiting historic areas in the southeastern United States.

One of his first stops was Fort Sumter,     1     former military position in waters just off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. Fort Sumter is famous for being the place where the first shot of the Civil War     2    (fire). It is also     3     the first person killed in the conflict died.

After years of rising tensions between Northern and Southern states, the two sides clashed in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861. That was when the Southern army launched an artillery attack on Fort Sumter. Federal troops surrendered the fort a short time later. Union forces eventually fought     4    (regain) control of the base, and defeated the South in 1865. A lone cannon symbolizes the fierce battle that took place on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this federal fort in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, marking it     5     the day when the Civil War began.

As he stood inside the large walls of Fort Sumter National Monument, Mikah Meyer looked across the water to the port at Charleston. He imagined what the area must have looked like more than a century and half ago. “You’ll see across that bridge, Charleston, South Carolina. It was under siege at one point for 17 months. There were cannons that     6     fire from where I'm standing on the fort all the way to the old town...” Meyer also visited the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site in South Carolina. There he had a chance to learn about Charles Pinckney, who helped write — and was a signer of — the U.S. Constitution. Charles Pinckney was 29 years old when he helped draft the United States Constitution,     7     he signed as a representative of South Carolina. He dedicated his considerable political and legal talents to     8    (establish) a strong national government. “Some people call him our forgotten founding father, but he was a political figure of early America who helped shape     9     our eventual constitution ended up looking like...” The National Park Service helps care for what remains of Pinckney’s former home and farm. Park service workers tell the stories of 18th-century plantation life for free and enslaved people.

During his travels in January, Meyer had a surprise. Barack Obama, in his last few days as president, named a new national park site in Beaufort, just south of Charleston. It is called the Reconstruction Era National Monument. The Reconstruction Era National Monument will help tell the story of post-Civil war America.

The Reconstruction Era     10    (stretch) from 1861 to 1898. It was a period when Americans struggled with the treatment of newly freed African Americans. The new national monument will help tell that story.

5 . 语法填空

Cholera was a deadly disease of its day. Neither its cause nor its cure     1     (understand). So thousands of     2     (terrify) people died when there was an outbreak. John Snow wanted to solve     3     problem. He knew that cholera would not be controlled     4     its cause was found.

He became interested in two theories     5     possibly explained how cholera killed people. The first suggested that cholera     6     (multiply) in the air. The second suggested that people absorbed this disease     7     their bodies with their meals.

John Snow suspected that the second theory was correct but he needed evidence. So when another outbreak hit London in 1854, he was ready    8     (begin) his enquiry. With all the evidence he gathered, John Snow was able to announce with     9     (certain) that polluted water carried the virus.     10     (final) “King Cholera” was defeated.

6 . 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，并将答案填写在答题卡上。

For centuries, people dreamed about leaving Earth and travelling to other worlds. Then, in 1957, the Soviet Union     1    （make） the first small step into space     2     sending up a small satellite called Sputnik.

Early space activities were conducted     3    （main） by the United States and the Soviet Union. But as time went by, Europe and Japan also learned how to build     4    （they）own satellites and rockets. Today, countries such as China, India, South Korea, Israel and Brazil are also developing space industries.

During the last 60 years, unmanned probes（探测器）have been sent towards many of the planets     5    （exist） in the Solar System. Many space observatories, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, have been created to look at the     6    （distance） universe. They have sent back some amazing pictures taken in visible（可见的）light. And they can also observe stars that are invisible to human eyes. The flood of     7    （discovery）has changed the way we look at the universe.

More than 500 people have flown in space since Yuri Gagarin paved the way in 1961. 20 people have travelled to the moon, 12 of     8     have walked on the moon. So far, space stations       9    （build）, and astronauts have learned to live and work in space for many months     10       even years.

9 . 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.

10 . 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.