2 . This is a story about two wise men in ancient China - Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu.

One day, Zhou Yu gave Zhuge Liang     1     impossible task--to make 100,000 arrows within ten days. “No problem,” Zhuge Liang said     2     (confident). He promised     3     (bring) Zhou Yu 100,000 arrows within 3 days.

Zhuge Liang asked his soldiers to fill 20 large boats     4     many straw men(稻草人). In the early morning of the     5     (three) day, Zhuge Liang’s soldiers sailed the boats towards the camps of Cao Cao’s army on the other side of the river. The soldiers shouted and beat their     6     (drum) loudly. When Cao Cao’s soldiers heard the sounds, they thought they were under attack.     7    , the fog is so thick on the river     8    they could not see through. Cao Cao ordered his soldiers to shoot towards the sounds. Zhuge Liang’s boats were soon full of arrows. Zhuge Liang’s soldiers then turned the boats around and shouted，“Thank you for your arrows, Cao Cao.” Zhuge Liang took all these arrows back. Zhou Yu was very amazed by     9     (he) wisdom.

Since then, Chinese people     10     (tell) the story to their children for many many years.

5 . Discoveries in Greenland indicate that Vikings ( 维 京 人) lived there for hundreds of years, trading with the European continent before they disappeared.     1     In 980 C.E., Erik the Red headed farther west when he was driven away from Iceland for some reason. He set sail for land that was visible west of Iceland. Three years later, he returned to Iceland and convinced hundreds of others to join him in settling in this new country. Some 25 boats set out for what Erik the Red had called Greenland.     2    

Settling in Greenland posed an enormous challenge. Shelter, food, and clothing were, of course, essential to survival. There were no trees large enough to produce wood for housing. These settlers had to build homes of driftwood, stone, and sod (草皮). The summer was too short to grow grain crops, so they farmed domesticated animals imported from Europe and mainly relied on secondary products, such as milk and cheese.     3     The settlers usually wore clothes made of the fur of wild animals.

At some point during the fourteenth century, Greenland’s climate grew colder. Glaciers (冰川) began moving slowly over the land, bringing with them a runoff of sand, mud, and stones. These things slowly robbed the settlers of valuable grassland.     4     Recent evidence shows that their diet shifted from land-based food to sea products. Like their relatives in Norway, the Vikings in Greenland tried to take advantage of the sea. Soon, the percentage of their food taken from the sea had risen to 80 percent.

    5     According to Danish archaeologist (考古学家) Jette Arneborg, they struggled to adapt to the increasingly difficult conditions. As the weather worsened, they may have abandoned their settlements and returned to Iceland.

A．Who were the Vikings?

B．Besides, they netted fish and hunted deer.

C．However, the Greenlanders learned to adapt.

D．Sports were also widely practiced by the Vikings.

E．Well, what became of these early settlers in Greenland?

F．Only 14 boats survived the seas, and about 450 people set foot ashore.

G．A central figure in this story was Erik the Red, who grew up in Iceland.

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。

Abraham Lincoln’s position on slavery is one of    1    most discussed aspects of his life.     2    (start)in 1831, a growing group of abolitionists(废奴主义者) called for total, immediate abolition of slavery.

Lincoln never called for this, and focused instead     3    the less politically challenging goal of preventing the    4    (create)of new slave states. Lincoln’s activism on that issue started in reaction io the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act    5    (design) by his great rival(对手) Stephen A. Douglas. The act allowed the settlers    6    (decide) on slavery in their territory.

Lincoln, with partial compensation to owners, did end slavery in the District of Columbia in l862. During 186l-1862 Lincoln tried unsuccessfully to get Kentucky and Maryland to do likewise. He     7    (repeated) stated that his goal was the preservation of the Union, not ending slavery in the states    8    it existed. In 1862, Lincoln used his role as commander-in-chief to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. It made all     9    (slave)in Confederate areas forever free under the U.S. law as soon as the U.S. army reached and controlled them and it controlled all of them by 1865. Final abolition in the border states     10    (achieve) later that year.

9 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages 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 other.

Elon Musk Tweets an Ancient Chinese Poem. Here’s What It Means.

The world’s richest man caught up in Twitter spats (小争吵), now wants some peace. In a Monday tweet, Elon Musk wrote “humankined,” followed by the Chinese poem The Quatrain of Seven Steps, a widely known classical poem used     1    (describe) infighting between closely-related people. Here is the poem     2    (translate) into English by Moss Roberts:

Beans a simmer on a beanstalk flame

From inside the pot expressed their ire:

“Alive we sprouted on a single root — What’s your rush to cook us on the fire?”

The verses were attributed to Cao Zhi, the son of famous warlord Cao Cao,     3     lived between 192 and 232 during the Three Kingdoms period. What exactly happened in history is contested. But the popular tale goes     4     after Cao Cao’s death, his oldest son Cao Pi succeeded him to become an emperor. Cao Pi was jealous of his younger brother Cao Zhi’s literary talent and wanted to find an excuse to kill him. One day, Cao Pi ordered Cao Zhi to make a poem about their fraternal (兄弟间的) relationship within seven paces, and swore to have the younger brother executed     5     he failed.

Cao Zhi then made the bean-themed verses     6     the spot, alluding (影射) to Cao Pi’s cruel attempt to murder his own sibling.     7    (feel) ashamed, Cao Pi eventually let Cao Zhi go.

In China, the poem is taught to primary school students and is often quoted by people to describe unnecessary rivalries. Interest users, including people in China, are confused over what Musk     8    (refer) to. Musk later liked a reply to his post that translated the verses as “Humans are from the same ancestor, why are we so eager to destroy each other?” He     9     be talking bout a recent argument with the United Nations’ World Food Program. After the program’s director David Beaslety challenged the ultra-rich to provide $6 billion to help 42 million people, Musk over the weekend said he would sell his Tesla shares if the program could show on Twitter exactly     10     $6 billion could solve world hunger. Beasley invited Musk to talk, but Musk demanded open books (一目了然的事物) from the organization.

10 . In 1803, the United States acquired a huge new piece of land called the Louisiana Territory. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were given the job of leading an expedition to collect data about this uncharted territory. President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and Clark three tasks for the journey: Find an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean, make friends with the Native Americans along the way, and gather detailed information about the plants, animals, landforms (地形), and climate of the area.

In order to discover if there was an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean, Lewis and Clark attempted to travel up the Mississippi River by boat. In this way, they hoped that they would eventually reach the Pacific. Ultimately, the explorers discovered the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide, but not the Pacific Ocean. The hope for an all-water route from the East to the Pacific would have to be abandoned.

Lewis and Clark’s second task was to make friends with Native Americans in the area. They packed hundreds of pounds of gifts for the indigenous people, including beads, sewing needles, cloth, yarn, and knives. Their intention was to use these items as offerings of peace and good faith. However, many tribes were hostile. They felt threatened by the Americans’ presence and refused to communicate with them. Other tribes were more welcoming and aided the explorers in finding food and navigating the new region.

The explorers’ final task was extensive and ongoing. Lewis and Clark had to take detailed notes about the landforms and climate of the different areas through which they travelled. President Jefferson also wanted samples of notable plant and animal life. They prepared animal fur and plant samples to send back to the president throughout the trip. They also kept individual journals with detailed descriptions and drawings of the environment and terrain (地势).

Up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, across the Great Plains, over the Rockies, down the Columbia River, and to the Pacific Ocean, Lewis and Clark travelled. After 3 years, Jefferson received a letter from Lewis stating, “It is with great pleasure that I announced to you the safe arrival of myself and my partner. In obedience to your orders, we have penetrated (穿过)the continent of North America to the Pacific Ocean.”

1. Which of the following is Not among the tasks that President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and Clark?

A．Find a direct waterway from the U.S. to the Pacific Ocean.

B．Collect geographic and ecological information about the unknown area.

C．Locate the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide.

D．Build relationships with the Native Americans on the way.

2. What does the underlined word “hostile” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Determined not to change their attitudes.

B．Very unfriendly or aggressive.

C．Not wanting to talk to other people.

D．Belonging to a very simple society.

3. What can we learn about the final task?

A．The task was less challenging than the former two tasks.

B．The task required a wide range of knowledge and skills.

C．The task focused on collecting data about landforms and climate.

D．Lewis and Clark didn’t send back samples until they finished their journey.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．Lewis and Clark had to turn back before completing their tasks.

B．Lewis and Clark successfully found an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean.

C．Lewis and Clark finished the expedition without the help of Native Americans.

D．The expedition covered the area from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.