The 16th Asian Games were held in city of Guangzhou, international big city in the south of China in November. [ ]A. a; an B. the; anC. a; the D. the; the 题目和参考答案——青夏教育精英家教网—

Archaeologists believe they are on the turning point of throwing light on the life of William Shakespeare — by excavating (发掘) what may have been the playwright’s dust hole.

Experts have begun excavating the ruins of New Place, Shakespeare’s former home in Stratford-upon-Avon, which was destroyed 250 years ago. Although little remains of the property, the team, led by Birmingham Archaeology, believes it has identified a dust hole used by the 16th century poet.

Small pieces of pottery (陶瓷) and broken clay pipe have already been found from a muddy hole on the site, which they claim could yield some of the most significant discoveries about Shakespeare in decades. The dig focuses on three areas of the property, which Shakespeare bought in 1597 when he returned to his home town from London having achieved fame — including the so-called knot garden at the back of the building.

Dr Diana Owen, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which owns the site, said, “We do not know if the knot garden was an area used by Shakespeare — it may have been a yard simply used by his servants. But this could actually yield some fantastic results, especially if it was an area where rubbish was thrown or the dust hole was located.”

Kevin Colls, from Birmingham Archaeology, added, “Through documentary evidence we know Shakespeare lived at New Place but we have very little information regarding the layout (布局) of the house and gardens at this time. Through archaeological fieldwork, in particular the dig of structural remains and the recovery of artifacts, we hope to fill in the blanks.”

Until October, visitors will be able to watch archaeologists and volunteers at work as they excavate the remains of the house, which was knocked down in 1759. Experts hope to unearth evidence to support theories that Shakespeare wrote many of his most famous works at the property.

This excavation intends to ______.

A. know something about the playwright’s dust hole

B. search for some treasure in the dust hole

C. explore the life of William Shakespeare

D. find something that Shakespeare lost

New Place was destroyed in the ______ century.

A. 15th B. 16th C. 17th D. 18th

Small pieces of pottery and broken clay pipe on the site ______.

A. could show Shakespeare’s luxurious life

B. could lead to important discoveries about Shakespeare

C. could show us that Shakespeare lived at New Place

D. could prove when New Place was knocked down

What can we learn from the text?

A. Shakespeare used to live at New Place.

B. Shakespeare became famous after 1597.

C. Only his servants used the knot garden.

D. Dr Diana Owen owns Shakespeare’s property.

Watercolour is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colours found in the earth with water.

Fresco (壁画), one of the greatest of all art forms, is done with watercolour. It is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster (灰泥). Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelo’s heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few know that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolour painting in the world.

The invention of oil painting by the Flemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go down-hill, and for the next several centuries watercolour was used mainly for doing sketches (草图) or as a tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolour as a serious art form. The English have a widely-known love for outdoors and also small private pictures. The softness of watercolour had a remarkably strong attraction for them.

The popularity of watercolour continued to grow until the twentieth century. The United States passed England as the center for watercolour, producing such well-known watercolour artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.

The purpose of the passage is to introduce _____.

A. the gradual weakness of fresco painting

B. oils’ power or influence over watercolour

C. the discovery of watercolour in England

D. the start and development of watercolour

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries the artists thought _____.

A. watercolour was softer, and thus better

B. oil painting lasted longer, and was better

C. watercolour wasn’t fit for finished works

D. watercolour was too hard to use in any works

According to the passage, watercolour painting was put back in England because ____

A. it was easy to use outdoors B. it was a strong medium

C. it was extremely bright in colour D. it was suited to popular tastes

What would the next paragraph most probably deal with?

A. The works of famous US watercolour artists B. Modern American oil painters

C. The weakness of oils as popular paints D. Techniques of producing watercolour

Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers fried to conquer (征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.

In the 1840s ,the main crop, potatoes was affected by disease and about 750, 000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.

For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.

The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly, Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.

1.What does the author tell us in Paragraph 1?

A. How the Irish fought against the English.

B. How Ireland gained independence.

C. How two “Irelands” came into being.

D. How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.

2.The last paragraph is mainly about____.

A. the Irish character B. Irish culture

C. Irish musical instruments D. a famous Irish writer

3.We learn from the text that in Ireland _____.

A. different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments

B. people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside

C. it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker

D. food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. Life in Ireland

B. Ireland, Past and Present

C. A Very Difficult History

D. The Independence of Ireland

Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers fried to conquer (征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.

In the 1840s ,the main crop, potatoes was affected by disease and about 750, 000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.

For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.

The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly, Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.

1.What does the author tell us in Paragraph 1?

A. How the Irish fought against the English.

B. How Ireland gained independence.

C. How two “Irelands” came into being.

D. How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.

2.The last paragraph is mainly about____.

A. the Irish character B. Irish culture

C. Irish musical instruments D. a famous Irish writer

3.We learn from the text that in Ireland _____.

A. different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments

B. people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside

C. it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker

D. food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. Life in Ireland

B. Ireland, Past and Present

C. A Very Difficult History

D. The Independence of Ireland

Switzerland is the best place to be born in the world in 2013，and the US is just 16th. A new study made by the Economist Intelligence Unit says American babies will have a dimmer（暗淡）future than those born in Hong Kong，Ireland and even Canada. The EIU，a sister company of The Economist，tried to measure how well countries will provide the best opportunities for a healthy，safe and prosperous life in years to come.

People born in Switzerland will tend to be the happiest and have the best quality of life in terms of wealth，health and trust in public institutions，according to the analysis. The Scandinavian countries of Norway，Sweden and Denmark also all make the top five in a‘quality-of-lif e’index(指数）where it is best to be born next year.

One of the most important factors is being rich，but other factors come into play including crime，trust in public institutions and the health of family life. In total，the index takes into account 11 factors. These include fixed factors such as geography，others that change slowly over time such as demography (人口学) social and cultural characteristics, and the state of the world economy. The index also looks at income per head in 2030，which is roughly when children born in 2013 will reach adulthood. Small economies take up the top 10 countries，with Australia coming second and New Zealand and the Netherlands not too far behind.

Half of the top 10 countries are European，but only one，the Netherlands，is from the eurozone. The crisis-ridden south of Europe，including Greece，Portugal and Spain，falls behind despite the advantage of a favourable climate. Interestingly，the largest European economies-Germany，France and Britain-do not do particularly well. Nigeria has the unenviable(不值得羡慕的)title of being the worst country for a baby to enter the world in 2013.

1.According to the passage，the happiest people live in ·

A．Denmark B．Switzerland C．Germany D．Nigeria

2.The factors of telling the best place to be born don’t include ．

A．economy B．geography

C．trust in public institutions D．pollution

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text？

A．The Economist Intelligence Unit is a company.

B．The Economist attempted to measure the best place to live.

C．The Scandinavian countries are hardly at the top of the list.

D．Half of the top 10 countries are from the eurozone.

4.The purpose of the text is to show people ．

A．the best place to be born in 2013

B．a new study made by the EIU

C．the worst country to be born in 2013

D．the factors of measuring the best place to be born

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