It was Sunday, December 7, 1941.
The surprise attack came as a great shock to
2 . It was December 25, 1914, only 5 months into World War Ⅰ. German, British, and French soldiers already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and fraternized (打得火热) with “the enemy” along two-thirds of the Western Front. German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches (战壕) with signs, “Merry Christmas.”
“You no shoot, we no shoot.” Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man’s land filled with dead bodies. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, played football, and even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced (拥抱) men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the Generals (将军) forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.
It shocked the high command on either side. Here was disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight. Generals on both sides declared this peacemaking to be wrong. Fifteen million would be killed.
Not many people have heard the story of the Christmas Truce. On Christmas Day, 1988, a story in the Boston Globe mentioned that a local FM radio host played “Christmas in the Trenches” several times and was surprised by the effect. The song became the most requested recording during the holidays in Boston on several FM stations. “Some callers even telephone the host deeply moved, sometimes in tears, asking, ‘What the hell did I just hear?’”
You can probably guess why the callers were in tears. The Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we have been taught about people. It gives us a glimpse of the world as we wish it could be and says, “This really happened once.” It reminds us of those thoughts we keep hidden away, ou of range of the TV and newspaper stories that tell us how trivial (微不足道的) and mean human life is. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really are true: the world really could be different.
1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?| A．Troops celebrated their victories. | B．Generals forced their army to fight back. |
| C．Soldiers made peace with their enemies. | D．Soldiers decided to give in to their enemies. |
| A．A fierce war. | B．Many deaths. | C．A peaceful world. | D．Many heroes. |
| A．They experienced the war. | B．They lost loved ones in the war. |
| C．They valued the life in peace. | D．They desired to protect their motherland. |
| A．Being against wars. | B．Cherishing today’s happiness. |
| C．Remembering heroes. | D．Showing no respect for life. |
It was Sunday December 7, 1941. It looked like it would be a normal day
The terrible scene of the attack, which was hatched by Japan and caused great loss, left a deep impression on Louis Russell. In response to the surprise attack and the famous address
Today, the USS Arizona lies
The Oscars are held every March in the city of Los Angeles. Many of Hollywood’s biggest
However, on March 8, 2000, someone stole the fifty-five Oscar statues that were made for that year’s ceremony. Soon after, the trucking company
A few days later, 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
Finally Willie Fulgear received
5 . I'm Victor Bobra from Belarus. When I was three years old, a nuclear explosion (核爆炸) blew up in Chernobyl, Ukraine. At the time, I was living on the border with Ukraine.When the explosion happened, my dad, was looking after the trucks at the station. When he heard about the disaster, he took us to Brest on the truck. After that, my family moved to Minsk.
Many years have passed since the explosion. Different places were affected differently. If you live in an area like Minsk, it's not as polluted as other areas. Kids there were born normally. Maybe they were underweight or something, but this was because of the problems of the economic situation. If kids were born around the Brest area, they were, born almost perfectly, because it's the cleanest area in Belarus. But if kids were born around the area to the east of Belarus,most of the kids were born deformed (畸形的).
I don't know much about how it has affected my health. But what happened was that everybody had a medical check-up after the disaster. The doctors found that I had got some protein inside me: So they thought there was something wrong with me, and suggested I should be treated.
My mum set up 'a charity, Chernobyl Children Lifeline, which raised some money for me. I've stayed here for treatment since then. The reason I can't go to Belarus is because of the radiation (辐射). If I go back, I might get radiation and get ill. Certainly there isn't any medical care, because the country is very poor. At the moment I can't even see my parents for a holiday. My parents probably miss me. I think the fault (过失) that Chernobyl blew up is the government's.
1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?| A．People in Minsk were rich before the disaster. |
| B．Victor Bobra lived in the cleanest area in Belarus. |
| C．The east of Belarus was seriously affected by the disaster. |
| D．Kids born in Minsk were underweight because of the disaster. |
| A．provide home for the homeless |
| B．collect money for his treatment |
| C．raise money for deformed kids |
| D．help those suffering from radiation |
| A．The author's father didn't survive the disaster. |
| B．The author lived in Minsk when the disaster happened. |
| C．The author was given good treatment with the help of the government. |
| D．The author thought the government should take responsibility for the disaster. |
| A．everybody had a medical examination after the nuclear explosion |
| B．the doctors did not think it necessary to have the author treated |
| C．the author's country can afford to provide medical care |
| D．the author is living with his parents now |
| A．To prove the great force of the nuclear explosion. |
| B．To tell readers the nuclear explosion in Chernobyl. |
| C．To show the bad effects of the nuclear explosion. |
| D．To find out the truth of the nuclear explosion. |
6 . During World War II, a young nurse, Irena Sendler, risked her life to save over 2,500 children. Back in 2008, she was
Irena was only 29 when the war began, and at the time, she was
In the 1940s, the Nazis
When Irena heard that, she decided to
To get the kids out, Irena and her team would
The Gestapo(盖世太保)
The Gestapo
Irena received plenty of
| A．found | B．combined | C．compared | D．reunited |
| A．thank | B．pay | C．encourage | D．congratulate |
| A．performing | B．studying | C．working | D．struggling |
| A．right | B．opportunity | C．excuse | D．tool |
| A．followed | B．introduced | C．welcome | D．sent |
| A．free | B．separate | C．protect | D．attract |
| A．common | B．different | C．challenging | D．terrible |
| A．look for | B．fight for | C．live with | D．write about |
| A．directions | B．tickets | C．permission | D．Inspiration |
| A．managed | B．promised | C．expected | D．pretended |
| A．raising | B．accepting | C．saving | D．influencing |
| A．hide | B．search | C．lock | D．replace |
| A．journalists | B．experts | C．learners | D．activists |
| A．believed | B．noticed | C．wondered | D．predicted |
| A．depending on | B．waiting for | C．competing with | D．coming for |
| A．burned | B．threw | C．buried | D．shared |
| A．Unfortunately | B．Doubtfully | C．Unsuccessfully | D．Surprisingly |
| A．also | B．even | C．never | D．nearly |
| A．joined | B．caught | C．prevented | D．remembered |
| A．help | B．attention | C．questions | D．honors |
7 . It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland's oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be led to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women's Day.
The document was discovered buried in the university archives by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said, "We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus（校评议委员会）at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn't know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university's higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote."
In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.
Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice.
1. Sophia wrote a letter to St Andrews University because she wanted________.| A．to carry out a research project there |
| B．to set up a medical institute there |
| C．to study medicine there |
| D．to deliver lectures there |
| A．by pure chance | B．in the school office |
| C．with her supporters' help | D．while reading history book |
| A．the London School of Medicine for Women |
| B．a degree programme for women |
| C．a system of medical education |
| D．the University of Berner |
Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano located just east of Naples, Italy. It is the only volcano on the continent of Europe that
The US Open has been in existence for more than 120 years. The first tournament (锦标赛) was held in 1881 at the Newport Casino. It was called the US National Singles Championship. Entry was limited to only those clubs which were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association, and the competitors were all male, competing in both singles and doubles. Richard Sears won the men’s championship and he went on to win the next six men’s singles championships.
The Wimbledon
In 1875, the All England Croquet Club was troubled financially due to declining membership. A new sport called lawn tennis was gaining fast in popularity and taking away the members. Two years later, a new roller was needed for maintaining its lawns so the club proposed to hold a tournament to raise money. Twenty-two players entered that first Wimbledon tournament which was won by Spencer Gore in straight sets over W. C. Marshall. Two hundred spectators each paid a shilling to watch the final game, enabling the club to buy the needed roller plus some extra cash.
The French Open
The very first French Championship was held way back in 1891, and the tournament has since grown into one of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments we know today. The first competition was a one-day national championship which was won by a British. The competition was poorly attended by world class players. It took 24 years before it became fully international and an accepted tennis grand slam event (大满贯赛事). After the First World War, French tennis was achieving stature (名声). Suzanne Lenglen was the predominant French player, winning the championships six times between 1920 and 1926.
The Australian Open
The very first tennis tournament ever played in Australia was held in January 1880, on the courts of the Melbourne Cricket Club. In 1905, the Australian Open was established as the Australasian Tennis Championship and was played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne. It became the Australian Championship in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969. Women’s events were added in 1922.
1. What is special about the first U.S. Open?| A．It has a history of more than 120 years. |
| B．Only men were allowed to play in the game. |
| C．Richard Sears won six championships. |
| D．It has remained about the same through all these years. |
| A．raise some fund for a lawn roller |
| B．attract more people to play tennis |
| C．attract more audience to watch the game |
| D．celebrate the renaming of the club |
| A．the tournament has been played in the same place all these years |
| B．twenty-two players played in the first tournament |
| C．few good tennis players took part in the first French Championship |
| D．the players played in singles and doubles in the tournament |
| A．they were all born in the same year |
| B．they all had only male players in the first tournament |
| C．they have all experienced financial difficulties |
| D．they all have had a history of 120 years or more |
| A．how the four international tennis tournaments came into being |
| B．how long it took for women to have the right to play in the game |
| C．how the four international tennis tournaments get their present names |
| D．why the tennis tournaments are held in these four countries |
10 . A perfectly preserved wreck (沉船) that has lain unnoticed in the icy Baltic Sea for over 500 years has finally been confirmed. The European ship was first observed in 2009, when a sonar(声呐) exploration by the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) indicated a large object in the area. However, it was not until early 2019 that researchers from Soton and MMT found evidence of the sunken ship using underwater robotic cameras.
When the team observed the pictures of the 60-foot-long shipwreck, they were surprised to discover it was 99 percent complete. The scientists considered that the wreck's good condition is due to its place in the Baltic Seabed, where the oxygen levels are low. Oxygen is key to most ocean life's survival. Therefore, such an environment where the shipwreck stays reduces or completely removes the creatures that feed on rotting wood.
So although this ship is contemporary to the times of Christopher Columbus, it shows a remarkable level of preservation after 500 years at the bottom of the sea. Dr. Pacheco-Ruiz, who led the MMT effort, said,“It's almost like it sank yesterday. It's a truly astonishing sight."
The scientists are unsure what let the ship sink. However, the ship's guns, which are in their"ready to fire" positions, indicate it may have been the victim of a naval battle. Since the ship dates back to the early 16th century, historians predict it may have sunk during Sweden's three year independence war with its Danish rulers between 1521 and 1523. Alternatively, it could also have been involved in the border dispute (争端) between Russia and Sweden from 1554 to 1557.
The ship is by far the best-preserved shipwreck ever found from the Age of Exploration, when Europeans explored the world by sea.
What's more exciting is that the ship is similar to the Pinta and La Nina, which Comlubus famously sailed toward North America. The scientists, who continue to observe the shipwreck hope the boat's design will expose some of the technologies available to the Italian explorer during his 1492 voyage of discovery.
1. What scientific achievement did Soton 's and MMT' s researchers make?| A．Discovering a wreck using sonar. |
| B．Getting the wreck out or icy water. |
| C．Identifying the object found by SMA. |
| D．Making the ancient wreck well preserved. |
| A．It is generally unfit for creatures to live in. | B．It is tough for scientists to do research. |
| C．It contains too many harmful gases. | D．It is filled with rotting wood. |
| A．his curiosity about the time when the ship sank |
| B．his amazement at the ship's previous grandness |
| C．his surprise at the wreck's well-preserved condition |
| D．his shock at the sinking of the great European ship |
| A．The damage to the ship. | B．The causes of the ship's sinking. |
| C．The construction of the ship. | D．The possible function of the ship. |
| A．Recovering the ancient ships, the Pinta and La Nina. |
| B．Finding every aspect of life in the Age of Exploration. |
| C．Exploring the role the ship played in Columbus' exploration. |
| D．Leaning about Columbus' voyage according to the ship's design. |
