People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories in pictures.

About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet.

The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picture-writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modern comic strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.

By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.

These days, we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawing, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the street, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.

Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ______.

A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures    

B. the painters were animal lovers

C. the painters wanted to show imagination

D. the pictures were thought to be helpful

The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons      EXCEPT that _______.

   A. the former was easy to write    

B. there were fewer signs in the former    

C. the former was easy to pronounce

D. each sign stood for only one sound

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.

B. The Egyptians liked to write comic-strip stories.

C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.    

D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians.

In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures ___________.

A. should be made comprehensible

B. should be made interesting

C. are of much use in our life     

D. have disappeared from our life

It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip t Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmine landmines(地雷)Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,” she said. “But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.”

The Princess concluded with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.

But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as “very ill-informed” and a “loose cannon”(乱放炮的人).

The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction(干扰), we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.”

Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged(显现出来)that the Princess’s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government’s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government.

To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkidnd, claimed that the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was “working towards” a worldwide ban. The Defense Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or misunderstanding.”

For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people an their problems.

Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997

A. to clarify(澄清)the British government’s stand on landmines

B. to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims

C. to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there

D. to voice her support for a total ban of landmines

What did Diana mean when she said “…putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me”(Line 5, Para. 1)?

A. Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.

B. She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.

C. The actual situation in Angola made her like going back home.

D. Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation.

Some members of the British government criticized Diana because

A. They were actually opposed to banning landmines.

B. She was ill-informed of the government’s policy.

C. She had not consulted the government before the visit.

D. They believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola.

How did Diana respond to the criticisms?

A. She made more appearances on TV.

B. She paid no attention to them.

C. She rose to argue with her opponents.

D. She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.

What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?

A. It had caused embarrassment to the British government.

B. It had greatly promoted her popularity.

C. It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.

D. It had affected her relations with the British government.


原创(十二)
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some   36   it highly, believing that it is   37   for social progress and prosperity. Others say that   38  is bad, that it sets one person against another; that it   39  unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the   40  that their self-worth relied on how well they   41    at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and –death affairs.  In their single-minded   42  of success, the development of many other human qualities is   43  forgotten.
44   , while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take a(n)   45  attitude. In a culture valuing only the winner and   46  to the ordinary players, they strongly   47   competition. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or   48  success.  By not trying, they always have a(n)   49 :“I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter   50  I really didn’t try.”   51    , this belief is the same as    52  of the true competitors trying to prove themselves. Both are based on the   53  belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in    54   with others.  Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve(缓解)  55   a new meaning in competition.
36.A.benefit                  B.influences                     C.value                     D.impress
37.A.cheerful                 B.meaningful            C.comfortable           D.responsible
38.A.competition           B.ability                   C.knowledge             D.challenge
39.A.runs into           B.leads to                 C.comes from            D.begins with
40.A.promise              B.belief                   C.dream                   D.task
41.A.planned                B.performed             C.delivered              D.practiced
42.A.pursuit                  B.memory                 C.behalf                   D.search
43.A.shyly                    B.cheerfully              C.sadly                     D.faithfully
44.A.Therefore              B.Meanwhile            C.However                  D.Afterwards
45.A.proper                   B.suitable                  C.confident              D.opposite
46.A.paying no attention        B.pays less attention        C.paid more attention D.pays no attention
47.A.excuse                  B.blame                    C.charge                   D.trust
48.A.enjoy                     B.apply                     C.receive                 D.achieve
49.A.opinion                  B.explanation          C.excuse                   D.reason
50.A.unless                    B.so                         C.while                    D.because
51.A.Firmly                   B.Naturally              C.Unfortunately      D.Clearly
52.A.that                      B.one                        C.it                           D.this
53.A.mistaken           B.different                C.single                    D.common
54.A.consequence          B.comparison           C.connection            D.common
55.A.we can discover       B.can we discover     C.can discover           D.we discover

In many parts of the world cars play an essential role in daily life and many societies would stop to function without them. So the claim that in 20 years’ time no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously not only by governments but also by car manufacturers.
The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized, which will mean extremely large fuel savings, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car of the 21st century will drive itself and it will not be owned by on individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.
According to Dr. David Davis, who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture ,which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.
Davis says cars will be fitted with intelligent cruise control devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. Brakes and accelerators (加速器) will become redundant(多余的) because the car will automatically speed up or slow down to match the speed of the car in front. Computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.
By 2010 Dr. David Davis believes car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road whatever the weather conditions by projecting an image of the road ahead onto the car’s windscreen. And by 2020 cars will travel in convoy linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected by an electronic tow(牵引) bar to the car in front to form “road-trains”. “The front vehicle in such a train burns the ordinary fuel” says Davis. “But all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount and so produce about ten percent of the pollution.
【小题1】We know from the passage that governments and car manufactures ________.

A.don’t believe the prediction that no one will own cars by 2020.
B.are devoted to the technological innovation (创新) in car industry.
C.consider the predictions made by the researchers seriously.
D.have put the super-intelligent car into mass production.
【小题2】Which of the following will NOT be the characteristics of the cars of 2020 ?
A.There will be no brake and accelerator in cars.
B.We will own as many cars as we want .
C.All cars will be driven by computers.
D.Car accident will no longer happen.
【小题3】The expression closest in meaning to the underlined phrase “ in convoy”(Para 5) is ______.
A.in lineB.sidelongC.side by sideD.next to one another
【小题4】What will happen if cars are linked to each other electronically in 2020 ?
A.Motorists will get a clear view of the road.
B.The weather conditions won’t have effect on motorists.
C.There will be a decrease in the pollution caused by car .
D.All trains will burn less fuel than present.

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