When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses. However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat.
Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built. In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock. During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses. The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well. The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live. By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat.
People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock. However, home builders use the fact that heat rises. This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas. Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks. As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat. They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses. So these houses are energy-saving.
House building becomes a great challenge to building designers and energy engineers. They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology. And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy-saving houses.
【小题1】What did people begin to consider as electricity was no longer cheap?

A.The climate of their areas
B.The building materials for their houses
C.The fashions for their houses
D.The energy for their houses
【小题2】People in some areas gain a source of heat by _________.
A.keeping their livestock downstairs
B.protecting their livestock from the cold
C.sharing their houses only with their cows
D.living on the second floor with their livestock
【小题3】The underlined words “natural law” in the third paragraph refer to the fact that ________.
A.heat raises the temperature in the houses
B.heat goes in the upward direction
C.heat goes up if temperature is raised
D.heat increases the temperature of rocks
【小题4】From the passage, we can conclude that _______ .
A.people will no longer consider building materials in the future
B.almost all people will move into the houses heated by large rocks
C.energy-saving buildings will become more popular in the future
D.energy engineers will devote themselves only to modern technology
【小题5】What is the main idea of the passage?
A.Energy-saving house building
B.House building is a great challenge
C.How to live in energy-saving houses
D.Energy-saving houses’ bright future

Pingyao, in the center of Shanxi Province, is a famous historic cultural city of China and a world cultural heritage site (世界文化遗址). It’s 90 kilometers south of Taiyuan on the Fen River.
People lived in Pingyao during the New Stone Age. Its long period as a country government seat has left Pingyao with lots of historic buildings and sites, with a 2,700-year history. Ninety-nine of them are under government protection, including Zhengguo Temple, Shuanglin Temple and Pingyao Ancient City.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, businessmen organized commercial (商业的) groups that did business nationwide. Shanxi Province had some of the most important ones and Pingyao was their center. In 1823, a store, known as Rishengchang(Sunrise Prosperity), traded in bank checks rather than in silver or gold coins. It was the beginning of modern Chinese banking. Branch banks were soon set up in major cities in China and other parts of Asia, leading to great development in Pingyao. Its Lacquer ware (漆器) became well known.
In Pingyao Ancient City are many traditional houses and commercial buildings, 3,797 of which are protected and more than 400 of which are in good condition. Not only do the houses in Pingyao show Shanxi’s history and culture, but this large number is valuable for studying its history, customs, and ancient buildings and art. Most of these houses are still used as homes and shops of local people.
In 1997, Ancient Pingyao City was listed in World Heritage List as “ World Culture Heritage Site”.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “them”(in the 2nd paragraph) refer to?

A.Historic buildings and sites.B.The three temples.
C.The country government seats.D.The 2,700-year history.
【小题2】Which of the following about Pingyao is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A.Its location (位置).B.Its tourism.
C.Its business.D.Its history.
【小题3】During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Pingyao was a leading center in __________.
A.agricultureB.raising cattle
C.commercial tradeD.making gold coins
【小题4】If you want to know about the history of banking in China, you’ll visit __________.
A.Sunrise ProsperityB.Zhengguo Temple
C.A lacquer ware storeD.A commercial house

Pingyao, in the center of Shanxi Province, is a famous historic cultural city of China and a world cultural heritage (遗产) site. It’s 90 kilometers south of Taiyuan on the Fen River.
People lived in Pingyao during the New Stone Age. Its long period as a county government seat has left Pingyao with lots of historic buildings and sites, with a 2,700-year history. Ninety-nine of them are under government protection, including Zhengguo Temple, Shuanglin Temple and Pingyao Ancient City.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, businessmen organized commercial (商业的) groups that did business nationwide. Shanxi Province had some of the most important ones and Pingyao was their center. In 1823, a store, known as Rishengchang (Sunrise Prosperity), traded in bank checks rather than in silver or gold coins. It was the beginning of modern Chinese banking. Branch (分支) banks were soon set up in major cities in China and other parts of Asia, leading to great development in Pingyao. Its lacquer ware (漆器) became well known.
In Pingyao Ancient City are many traditional houses and commercial buildings, 3,797 of which are protected and more than 400 of which are in good condition. Not only do the houses in Pingyao show Shanxi’s history and culture, but this large number is valuable for studying its history, customs, ancient buildings and art. Most of these houses are still used as homes and shops of local people.
In 1997, Ancient Pingyao City was listed in World Heritage List as “World Culture Heritage Site”.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “them” (in Paragraph 2) refer to?

A.Historic buildings and sites.
B.The three temples.
C.The county government seats.
D.The 2,700-year history.
【小题2】Which of the following about Pingyao is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A.Its location.B.Its tourism.
C.Its business.D.Its history.
【小题3】During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Pingyao was a leading center in _____.
A.agricultureB.raising cattle
C.commercial tradeD.making gold coins
【小题4】If you want to know about the history of banking in China, which of the following places should you visit?
A.Sunrise Prosperity.B.Zhengguo Temple.
C.A lacquer ware store.D.A commercial house.

When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at “bed and breakfast” houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.

“We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”

I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought “VACANCIES” meant “holidays”, because the Spanish word for “holidays” is “vacaciones”. So they did not go to house where the sign outside said ‘VACANCLES’, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said ‘NO VACANCLES’, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!

We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word “DIVERSION” means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word “DIVERSION” on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hold.

English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris. when someone offered me some more coffee, I said ‘Thank you’ in French. I meant that I would like some more, However , to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that ‘Thank you’ in French means ‘No, thank you.’

1. My Spanish friends wanted advice about ______.

A. learning English                     B. finding places to stay in England

C. driving their car on English roads        D. going to England by car

2. I suggested that they stay at bed and breakfast houses because ______.

A. they would be able to practise their English

B. it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels

C. it would be convenient for them to have dinner

D. there would be no problem about finding accommodation there

3. “NO VACANCIES” in English means ______.

A. no free rooms        B. free rooms      C. not away on holiday    D. holidays

4. If you see a road sign that says ‘Diversion’, you will ______.

A. fall into a hole

B. have a lot of fun and enjoy yourself

C. find that the road is blocked by crowds of people

D. have to take a different road

5. When someone offered me more coffee and I said “Thank you” in French, I ______.

A didn’t really want any more coffee      B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away

C. really wanted some more coffee        D. wanted to express my politeness

 

When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at ‘bed and breakfast’ houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.

    “We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”

    I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought ‘VACANCIES’ meant ‘holidays’, because the Spanish word for ‘holidays” is ‘vacaciones’. So they did not go to house where the sign outside said ‘VACANCLES’, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said ‘NO VACANCLES’, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!

    We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word ‘DIVERSION’ means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word ‘DIVERSION’ on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hold.

    English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris. when someone offered me some more. coffee, I said ‘Thank you’ in French. I meant that I would like some more, However , to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that ‘Thank you’ in French means ‘No, thank you.’

1.My Spanish friends wanted advice about ______.

   A. learning English                     B. finding places to stay in England

   C. driving their car on English roads  D. going to England by car

2.I suggested that they stay at bed and breakfast houses because ______.

   A. they would be able to practise their English

   B. it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels

   C. it would be convenient for them to have dinner

   D. there would be no problem about finding accommodation there

3.“NO VACANCIES” in English means ______.

A. no free rooms                  B. free rooms     

C. not away on holiday             D. holidays

4.If you see a road sign that says ‘Diversion’, you will ______.

   A. fall into a hole

   B. have a lot of fun and enjoy yourself

   C. find that the road is blocked by crowds of people

   D. have to take a different road

5.When someone offered me more coffee and I said ‘Thank you’ in French,

I ______.

   A didn’t really want any more coffee  B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away

   C. really wanted some more coffee    D. hadn’t finished drinking my coffee

 

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