The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.

The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker (面包师) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery (面包房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them.

Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”

The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.

After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the mew St Paul’s

The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.

From the passage, we can learn that the fire began in ________.

A. a hotel              B. the palace          C. Pudding Lane   D. Thames Street

The underlined word “family” in the second paragraph means ________.

A. wife and husband        B. wife and children    C. home                  D. children

It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that ________.

A. many famous buildings were destroyed

B. some people lost their lives

C. the birds in the sky were killed by the fire

D. the King’s bakery was burned down

Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?

A. Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B. Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C. Because he wanted to give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

D. Because he wanted to show that poor people suffered most.

How was the fire put out according to the text?

A. The King and his soldiers came to help.

B. Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down.

C. All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

D. People managed to get enough water from the river.

 

第二节 信息匹配(共5小题; 每小题2分, 满分10分)

 

阅读下列应用文及相关信息,并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

以下是关于中国传统节日的起源介绍:

A. One day, Emperor Mingdi had a dream about a gold man in his palace. When he was about to ask the mysterious figure who he was, the gold man suddenly rose to the sky and disappeared in the west. The next day, Emperor Mingdi sent a scholar to India to locate Buddhist scriptures and ordered that a temple be built to house a statue of Buddha and serve as a repository for the scriptures. So Emperor Mingdi ordered his subjects to display lighted lanterns during what was to become the Festival.

B. The earth once had ten suns circling it. However, one day all ten suns appeared together. The heat was so scorching and unbearable. A strong archer named Hou Yi came out and succeeded in shooting down nine suns. He was later made the emperor but after that he became a tyrant. In order to save the people from his tyranny, his wife Chang-E stole the elixir and consumed it herself and floated to the moon taking along her pet rabbit with her.

C. Qu Yuan was a minister in the kingdom of Chu.He was upright , loyal and highly esteemed for his wise counsel that had brought peace and prosperity to the kingdom. Realizing that the country was now in the hands of evil and corrupt officials, Qu Yuan clasped a large stone and leaped into the Mi Lo river on the fifth day of the fifth moon. The people of Chu, mourning the death of Qu Yuan, threw rice into the river to feed his hungry ghost on this day every year.

D. One of the most famous legends is Nian, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast that the ancients believed would devour people on New Year's Eve. To keep Nian away, red-paper couplets are pasted on doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are set off throughout the night, because Nian is said to fear the color red, the light of fire, and loud noises. Early the next morning, as feelings of triumph and renewal fill the air at successfully keeping Nian away for another year, the most popular greeting heard is "gong xi fa cai", or "congratulations."

E. On this evening, two lovers will meet on a bridge of magpies across the Milky Way. Chinese grannies will remind children that they would not be able to see any magpies on that evening because all the magpies have left to form a bridge in the heavens with their wings.

F. The Festival itself was created by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. It is said that because the wealthy held too many expensive, elaborate ancestor-worshipping ceremonies, in a needed effort to lower this expense, Emperor Xuanzong declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestor's graves only on the day.

以下是中国传统节日的庆祝活动,请匹配庆祝活动和该传统节日的起源介绍:

56. The Qingming Festival: The most important activity on the Festival is tomb sweeping to remember and honour one's ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, (joss) paper accessories, and/or libation to the ancestors. The rites are very important to most Chinese and especially farmers.

57. The Lantern Festival: According to the Chinese tradition, at the very beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for people to appreciate. At this time, people will try to solve the puzzles on the lanterns and eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice ball) and get all their families united in the joyful atmosphere.

58. The Dragon-boat Day: The Festival was also noted for its dragon-boat races, especially in the southern provinces, where there are many rivers and lakes and a glutinous rice pudding called Zongzi was eaten

59. The Valentine’s Day: There is not so much emphasis on giving chocolates, flowers and kisses. Instead, Chinese girls prepare fruits, melons and incense as offerings to the weaving maiden, praying to acquire high skills in needlecraft, as well as hoping to find satisfactory husbands. In the evening, people sit outdoors to observe the stars. Chinese grannies would say that, if you stand under a grapevine, you can probably overhear what the weaving maiden and her husband are talking about.

60. The New Year’s Day:  It is traditional to decorate the homes with new year paintings. The most popular paintings are Door Gods pasted on the front doors to keep ghosts and monsters away. Spring couplets are traditionally written with black ink on red paper. They are hung in storefronts and often stay up for two months. A reunion dinner is held where members of the family, near and far, get together for celebration.

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网