阅读理解。

Silk production has a long and colourful history unknown to most people. Scientific discoveries have shown that silk production existed in China from around 2500 B.C., although it could be much older. For hundreds of years, China kept the secret of silk to itself as one for the most closely protected secrets in history. Anyone revealing the secret of silkworms or trying to take silkworm eggs out of ancient China was punished by death.

At one time silk was reserved only for the Chinese emperor. Gradually, others began wearing silk. In addition to being used for clothing, silk came to have industrial uses in ancient China, something that happened in the West only in modern times. Silk was used to make musical instruments, fishing lines, weapons, ropes and even paper. During the Han Dynasty silk became a form of money. Farmers paid taxes in both rice and silk. The prices of goods were calculated in lengths of silk just as they had once been calculated in gold. The importance of silk is even reflected in the Chinese language. For example, of the 5000 most common Chinese characters, around 500 have silk as their “key”.

In spite of their secrecy, the Chinese eventually lost their monopoly on silk production. It reached Korea in around 200 B.C. when immigrants from China arrived there. Silk production came to India in 300 A.D.. It was not until 500 A.D. that silk production came to Europe when travellers smuggled out silkworms in hollow tubes of bamboo. These were used to establish silk industry in Rome (modern-day Italy), although Chinese silk was still considered to be the best.

Silk was brought to Rome from China by means of the Silk Road. There were actually two Silk Roads, one over land and one on the sea. The land route in particular had a huge effect in history. All sorts of trade goods — silver, gold, jade, porcelain — passed along this road. Ideas travelled the Silk Road too. For example the religion of Buddhism was carried to China from India by traders on the Silk Road. The Silk Road created the first international culture, exposing many people to the ideas and treasures of both Western and Chinese cultures.

1.How was China able to keep the secret of silk production?

A. It refused to sell its silk to other countries.

B. Foreigners were not permitted to enter China.

C. The silkworms needed were not able to survive outside China.

D. Chinese passing on the secret to foreigners were seriously punished.

2.Which of the following uses of silk is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. A way of purchasing goods people sold.

B. A material used for making different products.

C. A method of paying money to the government.

D. A valuable gift given to foreigners travelling in China.

3.In what order did silk production spread throughout the world according to the passage?

A. Europe à India à Korea à China.

B. China à Korea à India à Europe.

C. China à India à Korea à Europe.

D. China à Europe à India à Korea.

4.The underlined phrase “smuggled out” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.

A. quietly traded B. openly removed

C. illegally transported D. violently stole

5.Which of the following is true about the Silk Road?

A. It allowed for economic and cultural exchanges between countries.

B. It made China the most powerful country in the ancient world.

C. It could only be completed by travellers with access to a boat.

D. It was first developed for transferring religious ideas.

阅读理解。

Though the facts that too many people on earth and a too rapid increase in the number added each year are not in argument, we always begin the discussion of "population as global issue" with what most persons mean like this. It was quite right to compare demographic growth to "a long, thin powder fuse(导火线)that bums steadily and hesitatingly until it finally reaches the charge and explodes".

To understand the current situation, which is characterized by rapid increases in population, it is necessary to understand the history of population trends. Rapid growth is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Looking back at the 8,000 years of demographic history, we find that populations have been virtually stable or growing very slightly for most of human history. For most of our ancestors, life was hard, often nasty, and very short. There was high fertility(生育)in most places, but this was usually balanced by high mortality. For most of human history, it was seldom the case that one in ten persons would live past forty, while infancy and childhood were especially risky periods. Often, societies were in clear danger of extinction because death rates could exceed their birthrates. Thus, the population problem throughout most of history was how to prevent extinction of the human race.

This pattern is important to notice. Not only does it put the current problems of demographic growth into a historical perspective, but it suggests that the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years is not a sudden

enthusiasm for more children, but an improvement in the conditions that traditionally have caused high mortality.

Demographic history can be divided into two major periods: a time of long, slow growth which extended from about 8000 B.C. till approximately 1650 A.D. In the first period of some 9,600 years, the population increased from some 8 million to 500 million in 1650. Between 1650 and 1975, the population has increased from 500 million to more than 4 billion. And the population reached 6.2 billion throughout the world by the year 2000, One way to appreciate this dramatic difference in such abstract numbers is to reduce the time frame to something that is more manageable. Between 8000 B.C. and 1650, an average of only 50,000 persons was being added annually to the world's population, At present, this number is added every six hours. The increase is about 800000,000 persons annually.

1.The underlined word "demographic" in Paragraph l means.

A. extinction of human

B. statistics of human population

C. death rate of human

D. development of human population

2. Which of the following demographic growth patterns is most similar to the long thin powder fuse?

A. A slow growth for a long time and then a period of rapid, dramatic increase.

B. Too many people on earth and a few rapid increases in the number added each year.

C. A virtually stable or slightly decreasing period and then a sudden explosion of population.

D. A long period when death rates exceed birthrates and then a short period with higher fertility and lower

mortality.

3.During the first period of demographic history, societies were often in danger of extinction because .

A. only one in ten persons could live past 40.

B. our ancestors had little enthusiasm for more children

C. there was higher mortality than fertility in most places

D. it was too dangerous to have babies due to the poor conditions

4. The author of the passage intends to .

A. warn people against the population explosion in the near future

B. find out the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years

C. present us a brief and clear picture of the demographic growth

D. compare the demographic growth pattern in the past with that after 1650

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