Mascots(吉祥物) for the Olympic Games

(the first Olympic mascot)
20th	23rd	26th	27th	29th	30th
1972	1984	1996	2000	2008	2012
Munich(慕尼黑)	Los Angeles	Atlanta	Sydney	Beijing	London
Germany(德国)	America	America	Australia	China	the UK

A History helps me become more mature(成熟的). I used to believe that life is simple to understand. Now I know that we shouldn't make simple judgements. People aren't " good" or "bad" ; things aren't " true" or " false".
B. Francis Bacon wrote, " Histories make men wise. " I agree with that. If you know history you will respect the past and be confident about the future. History tells you where you come from, where you are and where you are going. That is the power of history. Don't you think so？
C. What are teenagers nowadays crazy about? Popular songs? Harry Potter books? Sports or online games? For me, the answer is history.
D. History has also made me mentally(精神上) stronger. I'm more responsible now. I have learned useful things about myself from studying the rise and fall of the kings and queens. When I studied Chinese history between 1840 and 1949, I knew I must be a strong person and do my best for China.
E. History occupies much of my free time. Since I was 10, I've been reading history books, collecting old maps and visiting museums. I always get excited when people around me talk about history. I have learned a lot from history. It has helped me deal with the problems of growing up.
阅读并给5个段落正确排序，使短文意思通顺，内容完整，并将其标号填写在下面题号后的横线上。
【小题1】      
【小题2】      
【小题3】      
【小题4】      
【小题5】      

Paper is one of the most important products ever invented by man. The invention of paper meant that more people could be educated because more books could be printed. Paper provided an important way to communicate with knowledge.
Paper was first made in China about 2,000 years ago. In Egypt and the West, paper was not very commonly used before the year 1400. Paper was not made in southern Europe until about the year 1100. After that, the foreign countries of CanadA. Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United States became the most important in paper making. Today Finland makes the best paper in the world. And it has the biggest paper industry in the world.
When we think of paper, we think of newspaper, books, letters, and writing paper. So paper plays an important role in our lives.
Paper is very good for keeping you warm. Houses are often insulated(隔热) with paper. You have perhaps seen homeless men sleep on a large number of newspapers. They are insulating themselves from the cold. In Finland, in winter it is sometimes 40℃below zero. The farmers wear paper boots in the snow. Nothing could be warmer.
【小题1】 --- What did the invention of paper mean?
--- It meant _________________.
A.more people could be educated
B.more books could be printed
C.paper is one of the most important products
【小题2】 When was paper made in southern Europe?
A. Before 1100.
B. After 1100.
C. After 1400.
【小题3】 Which country makes the best paper?
A. Finland
B. Norway
C. The United States
【小题4】  What’s the main idea of the passage?
A.The invention of paper
B.The paper-making
C.The uses of paper

阅读理解（二）（10分）
There are many different ideas about when and where the first toothbrush was invented. Some say it was invented in China around the 11th century. Others say the Romans(罗马人) invented it around the time of Caesar. Nobody knows the exact history of teeth cleaning.
Before the first toothbrushes, sharp(尖的) objects were used to clean teeth.
It’s believed that tribes(部落) in Africa and Australia invented the idea of cleaning their teeth. The modem toothbrush with bristles(毛) was invented in China much later in the 16th or 17th century. Toothbrushes moved to Europe in the mid 1600’s and then became widely used in the area. Animal hair was the first type of bristle to be used.
Today, toothbrushes have nylon(尼龙) bristles and normally have a plastic handle. Animal hair was replaced by nylon in 1938. Electric toothbrushes were invented and marketed in 1880 by “Dr Scott”. The popularity of the electric toothbrush did not take off until after World War Ⅱ. When the cordless(无线的) model was invented in 1960, its popularity increased a lot.
根据短文内容，按要求完成各题
【小题1】Was the first toothbrush invented by Chinese or Romans?
 
【小题2】What were used to clean teeth before the first toothbrushes?
 
【小题3】Who invented the idea of cleaning their teeth?
 
【小题4】Where were toothbrushes introduced to in the mid 1600’s?
 
【小题5】When was the first electric toothbrush invented?
 

任务型阅读 （共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）阅读下面短文，根据短文内容回答问题并按要求完成下题。
A ship named the Sewol(岁月号) turned over and sank off an island in South Korea on April 16. It was carrying 476 passengers, including 325 high school students. By May 19, at least 287 people have died and 17 people were still missing. The accident has shocked South Korea. People are also angry with the crew (船员), especially the captain. The crew told the passengers to stay on the ship, but they themselves were some of the first people to get off.
It sank within two hours after sending a distress signal(遇险求救信号). Pictures from the scene showed rescue teams balanced on the sinking hull pulling teenagers from windows. Some of their classmates jumped into the sea as the ship went down. It is not yet clear what caused the accident, but some people described hearing an impact(碰撞) and quickly sank, but the captain seemed not to act quickly to evacuate(疏散)passengers to avoid this disaster.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has expressed sadness over the accident, saying it was truly tragic that students on a field trip were involved in such an unfortunate accident.

【小题1】When did the accident happen?
【小题2】How many students were there on the ship?
【小题3】Did the ship send a distress signal before it sank?
【小题4】The captain evacuated passengers quickly when the accident happened, didn’t he?
【小题5】请将划线句子翻译成汉语。

Bognor Regis is a small beautiful town in the UK. From March 12 to 17 of each year, lots of clowns (小丑) get together in the town to celebrate the International Clown Festival. The first one was in 1987.
During the festival, people can see all kinds of clowns. They are together for the clown shows. They have big feet, red noses and look really funny. They sing and dance in a strange way to make people happy. Children like this interesting festival best. Now women can take part in the clown shows and they're very popular. But in the past, only men could be clowns.
【小题1】The International Clown Festival finishes on _______ every year.

阅读下面的材料，然后根据材料内容回答问题。
After spelling out rare (罕见的) Chinese characters like “影戤 (ying gai, meaning to make fake goods)” correctly, Chen Keyu, 13, from Jiangsu, became the winner of CCTV’s 2014 Dictation Assembly of Chinese Characters (汉字听写大会) on Oct 3.
How could someone at such a young age memorize (记忆) so many uncommon Chinese characters? Chen surely has his secret ways.
First you have to love reading. Chen has a shelf (书架) filled with books on Chinese culture, science and inspirational (励志的) stories. After entering middle school, he added philosophy (哲学) and history to his book list. Guess what his favorite is recently? It’s Zhuangzi!
Second, you need to have your own way of memorizing. Chen used to be a big dinosaur fan when he was younger. But the boy soon found it was hard to remember the difficult names of dinosaurs. He then thought out a way. He first checked a dictionary to get the correct meaning of the new character. Then he used the character to create an idiom (短语) or sentence to help him memorize. During the dictation competition, Chen created over 200 idioms with uncommon characters to help his teammates memorize them. Although he reads a lot, Chen is not a bookworm (书呆子). In his teachers’ eyes, he is a smart boy, who never did extra work but was always top on grades.
“I think the key is he likes thinking,” said Xu Yiwen, a teacher of Chen.
Chen’s dream is to become a philosopher because he thinks philosophy can explain everything. His ultimate (终极的) task, he said, is to answer the questions like “who am I” and “Why do I live”. What an ambition (雄心)!
【小题1】Who is the winner of CCTV’s 2014 Dictation Assembly of Chinese Characters?
【小题2】Does Chen love Zhuangzi?
【小题3】How many idioms did Chen create with uncommon characters to help his teammates?
【小题4】What does the teacher think of Chen?
【小题5】Why does Chen dream of becoming a philosopher?

Do you know what Oscar is? When did it start? Maybe you can find the background of the awards in the following passage.
The awards started in 1929. Their full title is “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards”. The Academy is a group of people who have worked in the film industry for many years. They decide who will receive the awards. The awards are often referred to as the “Oscar”. This is a nickname given to the awards by a lady called Margaret Herrick. She was once the director of the Academy and she once said that the little gold statue reminded her of her uncle Oscar!
The Oscar is always an exciting event. Each year, at least one unusual thing happens. When the Italian actor and director Roberto Benigni won an Oscar for best foreign film, he danced on stage! When Gwyneth Paltrow, the star of Shakespeare in Love won the Oscar for best actress, she could not make her acceptance speech because she was crying so much with happiness!
In 1987, Roberto Benigni won the award for best director for a film about the last emperor of China. Since then, Chinese film and actors have started to make an impact at the award. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a huge success and it won the award for best foreign language film in 2001. It also won several technical awards for its amazing “flying” people. We expect to see more awards for Chinese film in the near future.
It’s time for the Oscar again. Once more, the stars will dress up in their finest and go to Kodar Theater. There, they will find out who had won the awards for best actor, best actress and best director. Millions of people watch the awards every year to find out who the winners are. Some people watch it to see the stars crying and laughing as they receive their awards.
【小题1】Who give the awards?

If you are going to Europe, you might consider taking some time to visit Provence. Whether you are interested in beautiful places, ancient history, good food, or music and theater, Provence has something to offer to you.
Provence once was a Roman province and is in the southeast of France now. You will be attracted by its green hills, olive trees, and old towns with pretty houses. Visitors can find forests, colorful flowers, horses, and people with smiles there. Provence is also “the city of dream in Europe.” Some people say it is Provence that makes France so romantic.      The place should play an important part in the romantic stories.
The Flowers: Provence is the hometown of lavenders and sunflowers. Lavender means “waiting for love”. It also means beautiful. The mountains of Lubero is the most beautiful area across France. And there are also many kinds of lavenders. Compared with the fantastic flowers Lavender, sunflower is a lot warmer. Under the sunlight, thousands of yellow sunflowers are smiling at the sun.
The Food: The people there are well-known for keeping their traditional lifestyles. And in the restaurant, you will have the experience of eating the food that has the too much use of olive oil. The food is fresh and healthy. All the things make Provence become the heaven to those who like delicious food.
The other activities: Provence is the Kingdom of city. They hold many parties, dance, and festivals. You can even see a bullfight in the towns of Arles and Nimes, or enjoy great shows with the famous stars.
May to July are the best tourist months. Not only the red sky, the sweet smell of olive, but also the wonderful lavenders, make Provence send out the breath of romantic.
【小题1】The Provence lies ___________.