Entering a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to study and train for a future job in subjects like law (法律), medicine or education. But the university is not a modern invention. It has a history that is over a thousand years.

The world’s oldest university, AL-Azhar, is in Cario, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque for religion (宗教寺院) in A.D.972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque. They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in the city of Cario decided to open up a school for higher learning and the University of AL-Azhar was founded.
At AL-Azhar, there were many university ‘firsts’. Different subjects were set up. The earliest ones taught at AL-Azhar were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic (题目), and there was no ‘right’ answer. Finally, famous teachers from around the world came to AL-Azhar to teach and do deep studies on the subjects they were interested in. At the university, people studied the past, but it was also a place for exchanging new ideas.

Over a thousand years later, AL-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library keeps more than 250,000 of the world’s oldest and most valuable (有价值的) books. Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at AL-Azhar.
【小题1】From the first paragraph（段落） we know that _________.

Entering a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to study and train for a future job in subjects like law (法律), medicine or education. But the university is not a modern invention. It has a history that is over a thousand years.

The world’s oldest university, AL-Azhar, is in Cario, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque for religion (宗教寺院) in A.D.972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque. They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in the city of Cario decided to open up a school for higher learning and the University of AL-Azhar was founded.

At AL-Azhar, there were many university ‘firsts’. Different subjects were set up. The earliest ones taught at AL-Azhar were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic (题目), and there was no ‘right’ answer. Finally, famous teachers from around the world came to AL-Azhar to teach and do deep studies on the subjects they were interested in. At the university, people studied the past, but it was also a place for exchanging new ideas.

Over a thousand years later, AL-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library keeps more than 250,000 of the world’s oldest and most valuable (有价值的) books. Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at AL-Azhar.

1.From the first paragraph（段落） we know that _________.

A．universities are important to the city life

B．the university is a quite new invention

C．university education may help a person find law。

D．the university has a history of more than a thousand years

2.AL-Azhar was first built for _______.

A．education         B．religion           C．a meeting         D．law

3.Which of the following are the earliest subjects taught in the University of AL-Azhar?

A．Education and medicine.                  B．Religion and law.

C．Free discussion.                        D．History and tradition.

4.Which of the following is not true about the University of AL-Azhar?

A．AL-Azhar was built in the city of Cario in Egypt.

B．AL-Azhar didn’t become a university until the years around 988.

C．The University of AL-Azhar was a place to read books.

D．Now AL-Azhar is still one of the famous universities in the world.

1 

Jeremy Shu -How Lin is an NBA player on the New York Knicks. He is an Asian-American NBA rising star. He was born on August 23rd, 1988. He is 1.91meters tall. He weighs 91 kilos. He is also a graduate of Harvard University. Months ago, few people knew of him, but in February, 2012, Lin started to shine. He led his team to a series of (一系列)wins. He surprised everybody and quickly became famous in the sports world.

US Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote an article about Lin for Time. He said Lin breaks lots of wrong ideas. One of them is that Asian Americans can’t play basketball well. Another is that you can’t be a great sports player and an excellent student at the same time.

Duncan also noted that Lin’s success was not an accident(偶然). He worked hard and stayed humble(谦虚的). He lives the right way. He plays the right way.

What makes Lin stand out from other players is his hard work and never-give-up spirit.

1. Which team does Jeremy Shu-How Lin play for?

A. The Houston Rockets.                 B. The Los Angeles Lakers.

C. The New York Knicks.                 D. The New Jersey Nets.

2.. How old is Jeremy Shu-How Lin this year?

A. He is twenty.                        B. He is twenty-two.

C. He is twenty-four.                    D. He is twenty-six.

3. Which university did he graduate from?

A. Taiwan University.                   B. Harvard University.

C. Oxford University.                     D. Cambridge University.

4.. According to the passage, do you think a person can be a great sports player and a good student at the same time?

A. Yes, I think so.                    B. No, I don’t think so.

C. Yes, I don’t think so.               D. No, I think so.

5.What makes him a great success?

A. Hard work and his height.

B. His coach and his weight.

C. His character(性格) and his family.

D. Hard work and never-give-up spirit.

阅读理解

A mother and her young son got on a bus in a small city and sat down. The bus conductor(售票员) came to them for their money. The mother said, “I want one ticket to Oxford,” and gave her a shilling (="12" pence).

The conductor looked at the small boy for a few seconds and then said to him, “How old are you, young man?”

The mother began speaking, but the conductor stopped her, and the boy said, “I’m four years old at home, and two and a half on buses and trains.”

The mother took six pence(便士) out of her bag and gave the money to the conductor. The conductor gave her one and a half tickets.

1.One day the mother took a bus _____.

2. The mother gave the conductor ______ pence in all(总共) that day.

3. The mother was _____.

4. The conductor asked _____ how old he was.

5. The boy was ______ years old in fact.

How would we travel without maps? It would be a bit adventurous (冒险的) to set off from Oxford University to go to London Bridge if there wasn't a map of the London Underground at each station. In fact, a lot of the early map-makers were adventurers and explorers, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries.

    So what did people do before there were maps? Well, it was quite easy to use natural signs like mountains and rivers if you were travelling on foot or riding a horse. People took small boats down rivers and followed coastlines. And it was much more logical (合理的) to use time, not distance, to measure (计量) journeys: the next village is a three-hour ride, for example.

    In fact, in the earliest maps, people didn't draw landmarks. They drew the stars. It was very easy to see the night sky and use it for navigation (航行). The sky was a lot clearer before the light pollution from cities that we have today. When towns and cities were built, people drew road maps which gave correct distances and directions.

    The London Underground was opened in 1863 and it also used a road map style. But a man called Henry Beck realized that travelling by train wasn't the same as driving your car across London. Passengers only needed to know which stations to change at. His new design (设计) for the Underground map wasn't very popular with the train companies at first. But the passengers loved it and in 1933, 700,000 copies were printed.

    These days, of course, you can ride a bike, drive a car or go through a forest and know where you are exactly, using a GPS. It's really difficult to get lost!

1.What was drawn in the earliest maps?

A. Stars.                             

B. Landmarks.

C. Cities and towns,                    

D. Mountains and rivers.

2.When did road maps come out?

A. Around 15th and 16th centuries.         

B. When people began to travel by train.

C. When people began to travel by sea.      

D. When cities and towns appeared.

3.Which of the following is true?

    A. A GPS helped people to travel long time ago.

    B. Ancient people could travel on a horse without maps.

    C. The sky was polluted by light before cities were built.

    D. Henry Beck's map wasn't popular with the passengers.

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Maps have a long history.           

B. We never get lost these days.

C. We can't travel without maps.          

D. Henry Beck designed a new map.