阅读理解

     Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote
plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.
     During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays.
It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in
Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient
Roman writer Plautus. For his play Macbeth, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history
by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the
intensity(强度)of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other
writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
     Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He described the sights and sounds of
London in his plays. His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and
the popular language of the city's tradesmen. Shakespeare's knowledge of the English countryside is
also clear. His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular
traditions of rural people.
     It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare's works have influenced the world
culture. But the first and greatest example would be his great influence on the English language. During
his time, the English language was changing. Many new words from other languages were being added.
Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework
old ones. For example, he created the noun forms of "critic",  "mountaineer" and "eyeball". Many common expressions in English come from his plays, including "pomp and circumstance(装腔作势)"from Othello,
"full circle(绕圈子)" from King Lear, etc. The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is
almost endless. From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare was well represented.
Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major language in the world.
     Shakespeare became a wellknown writer during a golden age of theater. His years of hard work paid off.

1. Shakespeare might have learnt some information from ancient Roman works in________.
A. King Lear  
B. The Comedy of Errors
C. Macbeth  
D. Othello
2. Why could Shakespeare's works survive his time?
A. Because there were so few people writing plays in his time.
B. Because he produced too many works that nobody else could do.
C. Because he was a rich and influential person of his time.
D. Because his works were rich in imagination and language.
3. Shakespeare's greatest influence should be on________.
A. the English language  
B. paintings
C. television  
D. music and dance
4. The passage is mainly about ________.
A. an introduction to Shakespeare's life and his works
B. the main features and styles of Shakespeare's plays
C. how culture influenced Shakespeare and he influenced culture
D. Shakespeare's greatest influence on the world culture
Directions:Read the following passage.Answer the questions according to the information given in
the passage.
     For thousands of years, the most important two buildings in any British village have been the church and the pub. Traditionally, the church and the pub are at the heart of any village or town, since it is where the
people gather together to socialize and exchange news. After all, the word "pub" is actually short for "
public house"．
     As a result of this sort of history, British pubs are often old and well preserved. Many of them have
become historic sites. The most famous example is the pub in the city of Nottingham called "Ye Olde Trip
to Jerusalem", which dates back to the year 1189 AD and is probably the oldest pub in England.
However, British pubs are not just for kings and queens; they welcome people from all classes and parts of society. On a cold night, the pub's landlord or landlady can always find a warm place for you by the fire.
There is always honest and hearty food and plenty of drink available at an affordable price.
     That's how things used to be. Things are beginning to change. It is said that the credit crunch(信贷紧缩) is causing 39 British pubs a week to go out of business. People do not have enough spare money to
spend on beer. Recently, the UK government banned smoking in all pubs, and that may also have affected the number of customers going to pubs.
As you can see, British pubs now offer something for everyone. A lot of pubs used to be "working men's
clubs", meaning that women could not usually enter. Today, however, women can freely enter 99% of
pubs without experiencing any problems. Perhaps things are changing for the better after all.
1. Why are British pubs often so old and well preserved?(No more than 19 words)
________________________________________________________________________
2.Why are so many British pubs going out of business? (No more than 5 words)
________________________________________________________________________
3. What in pubs attracts people from all classes? (No more than 13 words)
________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the passage mainly about? (No more than 9 words)
________________________________________________________________________
阅读理解。
     It's easy to see how the sawfish got its name. These frightful creatures can grow to be more
than 6 meters long. Their bodies are flat and winged, like underwater airplanes. And their noses
are shaped like chainsaws.
     Sawfish are food hunters of the sea. When a sawfish is hungry, it waves its sharptoothed snout
(口鼻部) through a group of fish. Then, it lifts its nose and uses its mouth to draw the injured victims.
     Hardy (适应力强的) population of sawfish thrived in warm waters along coastlines around the
world for thousands of years. Over the past 200 years, however, human actions have severely
endangered sawfish. Threats include fishing nets that trap the huge animals, often by mistake.
     Some people collect sawfish's snouts as prizes: One snout recently sold for nearly $1,600 online.
In some Asian cultures, the toothy snouts are used in ceremonies to drive evil and disease away. And
sawfish are also delicious. A growing demand in Asia for the fish's fins for a pricey soup has contributed
to the fish's disappearance. Compared with other fish, sawfish give birth late in life and at slow rates,
which makes it hard for them to recover from overfishing.
     New efforts now aim to restore sawfish population. Beginning next month, an international agreement
will provide protection for all seven of the world's sawfish species. Scientists are hoping that it's not too
late to save the sawfish.
     "Until 1998, this fish had never been formally studied in the United States," says Tonya Wiley of the
Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FIA."We didn't know such basic things as where they live, what
habitat they use, how often they breed, how many young they have- even what age sawfish are when
they begin breeding."
     Through historical studies and field research, scientists have become aware of how much the fish's
numbers have decreased. Today, there may be 90 percent fewer sawfish than there used to be. Wiley
estimates that only 3,000 to 6,000 sawfish remain in US waters.
                                                                Sawfish
阅读理解。

     The contemporary environmental movement is often said to have begun with the publication of Silent
Spring by the zoologist and biologist Rachel Carson (1907－1964). This landmark work, which took
Carson 4 years to complete, diligently detailed the relationship between animal death  and the use-now
understood as the abuse of manmade chemicals used as pesticides, especially DDT. One of the claims of
the book that she tried to demonstrate was that DDT had the effect of softening the eggshells of birds as
well as interfering with their reproduction, and that such effects would lead to their extinction if the use of
DDT were to continue. It would eventually create a springtime of silence when the songs of birds would
not be heard. Her studies also found DDT to be a cause of human cancers.
     Born in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Carson graduated from the Pennsylvania College for Women in
Pittsburgh (now Chatham College), where she majored in English until her junior year, when a course in
biology inspired her to switch to zoology as her field of concentration. She earned a master’s degree in
this area from Johns Hopkins University and became a biologist at the Bureau of Fisheries in 1936.
During this time, she wrote for various national magazines, and her first book, Under the SeaWind, was
published. Carson had concerns as early as 1945 about pesticides being used more and more by the
government. But her cautionary claims in Silent Spring were met with anger by the pesticide and chemical
industries. Her authority as a scientist was challenged, and it was held that her findings were just the roars
of a hysterical(歇斯底里的) woman. She was even accused of being a member of the Communist Party.
Some go so far as to say that she told a lie.
     But she is often celebrated as the founder of the contemporary U. S. environmental movement. Yet her work in Silent Spring, warning about the misuse of pesticides and other chemicals, has not as yet taken
firm hold. Americans likely use twice as much the volume of pesticides that they did at the time she
published her seminal work, and globally, their use is ever increasing. Powerful pesticides are sold over the
counter, and their use is so widespread that many environmentalists are fearful that chemical runoff into
streams and rivers is still polluting the animals that humans eat and the water that they drink. In short, while
the main purpose of Silent Spring was to warn the public of the dangers of the overuse of pesticides and
chemicals, nonetheless the public haven't refused such use. Isn't it time that we firmly said no to pesticides?

Title: The    ____1____    of Environmentalism
The ____ 2____: the publication of Silent Spring
The contents
One of the claims of the book  was that DDT had the
effect on softening the eggshells of birds, interfering with
their reproduction and   ____3____
The author
Name: ____4____
Her formal major: English
Her latter major:  ____5____  
Her first published book:  ____6____    
The present  situation
Pesticides are still  ____7____, the volume of
which is twice as much as it was  
Pesticides are ____8____  to homeowners
Chemical is still polluting the animals and 
  ____9____  
Conclusion
We should ___10_____ pesticides
A. One Kind of Building Material
B. Factors That Influenced Modern Architecture
C. More Kinds of Buildings as a Result of Modern Life
D. The Achievements in Architecture as an Art
E. Restoration (复兴) of Ancient Civilization
F. Stone and Marble Are Good Building Materials
1.                         
     Architecture is to building as literature to the printed word.The best buildings are often so well
constructed that they outlast their original use. They then survive not only as beautiful objects, but as
documents of the history of cultures. These achievements are never wholly the work of individuals.
Architecture is a social art.
2.                        
     The Renaissance brought about an entirely new age, not only in philosophy and literature but in the
visual arts as well.In architecture, the principles and styles of ancient Greece and Rome were brought
back to life and reinterpreted (重新诠释). They remain dominant until the 20th century.
3.                                
     Many kinds of stone are used as building materials. Stone and marble were chosen for important
monuments because they are not burnable and can be expected to endure.Stone architecture was often
blended with stone sculpture. The use of stone has declined, however, because a number of other materials
are more adaptable to industrial use.
4.                          
     The complexity of modern life calls for a variety of building. More people live in mass housing and go to work in large office buildings; they spend their income in large shopping centers, send their children to
many different kinds of schools, and when they are sick they go to specialized hospitals and clinics. All
these different types of building accumulated experiences needed by their designers.
5.                         
     By the middle of the 20th century, modern architecture, which was influenced by new technology and
mass production, was dealing with increasingly complex social needs. Important characteristics of modern
architectural works are expanses of glass and the use of reinforced concrete (钢筋混凝土). Advances in
elevator technology, air conditioning, and electric lighting have all had important effects.
阅读理解。

     The people who built Stonehenge in southern England thousands of years ago had wild parties,
eating barbecued pigs and breaking pottery.This is according to recent work by archaeologists-history
experts who investigate how human beings lived in the past.
     Archaeologists'digging near Stonehenge last year discovered the remains of a large prehistoric
village where they think the builders of the mysterious stone circle used to live.The village is about
4,600 years old,the same age as Stonehenge and as old as the pyramids in Egypt.It is less than two
miles from the famous ancient landmark and lies inside a massive man-made circular dirt wall,or
"henge",known as the Durrington Walls.
     Remains found at the site included jewellery,stone arrowheads,tools made of deer antlers,wooden
spears and huge amounts of animal bones and broken pottery."These finds suggest Stone Age people
went to the village at special times of the year to feast and party," says Mike Parker－Pearson from
Sheffield University in England.
     He said many of the pig bones they found had been thrown away half－eaten.He also said the
partygoers appeared to have shot some of the farm pigs with arrows,possibly as a kind of sport before
barbecuing them.
     An ancient road which led from the village to the River Avon was also found.Here,the experts think,
people came after their parties to throw dead relatives in the water so the bodies would be washed
downstream to Stonehenge.
     Parker－Pearson believes Stonehenge was like a cemetery where ancient Britons buried the dead
and remembered their ancestors."The theory is that Stonehenge is a kind of spirit home to the ancestors."
     The recent discovery of the village within the Durrington Walls shows that Stonehenge didn't stand
alone but was part of a much bigger religious site,according to Parker－Pearson.
     People still come to worship and celebrate at Stonehenge today.They meet there when the sun sets
on the shortest day of winter and when it rises on the longest day of summer.But the days of barbecuing
whole pigs there and throwing family members into the river are a thing of the past.
1. What was Stonehenge according to the text?
A．A village where hundreds of people once lived.
B．A place that regularly hosted large parties.
C．A church where local villagers would get married.
D．A site where dead people were placed or remembered.
2．The underlined word"It" ( Paragraph 2) refers to________.
A．the village  
B．Stonehenge
C．the pyramid  
D．the dirt wall
3．From the text we can infer that the people who came to the village________.
A．liked to drink wine  
B．knew how to hunt
C．were from Egypt  
D．lived by the River Avon
4．What do experts think people did after the village parties?
A．Returned to live at Stonehenge.
B．Prayed for good luck in the new year.
C．Hunted farm pigs as a sport.
D．Put their dead relatives in the river.
5．When do people most often go to Stonehenge today?
A．When a new discovery is made.
B．At the beginning of summer and winter.
C．On the longest and shortest days of the year.
D．When they want to have a barbecue.
A. The Development of an Early Union
B. Support from the Public
C. The Decline of an Early Union
D. A Brief Comparison between the Union and the Medieval Craft Guilds
E. Management's Reaction to the Labour Movement
F. Reasons for starting a Union
1.                              
     Some scholars have associated trade unions with the medieval craft guilds (中世纪的行会), but there
are important differences between the two. The guild members were masters craftsmen who owned capital
and often employed workers. Unions are known as associations of workers with similar skills.
2.                              
     In the past, individual worker had no control over the conditions of their working lives; political and
economic power was concentrated in the hands of wealthy business owners. Workers found, however,
that there was strength in uniting.From their earliest years, union objectives have been higher wages and
improved working conditions.
3.                               
     Employers resisted, of course. They made great efforts to stop union organizing its activities. Union
members were fired, workers were forced to sign contracts in which they promised not to join a union,
and companies hired strike－breakers (罢工破坏者) and even gunmen to frighten organizers.
4.                             
     One of the earliest successful labour organizations in the United States was the Knights of Labour,
founded in 1869. The Knights, which included both skilled and unskilled workers, attempted to organize
all workers into one great union. After it successfully struck the Wabash railroad owned by Jay Gould in
1885, its popularity and power grew dramatically.In 1886 the Knights had 700,000 members.
5.                             
     The decline of the Knights of Labour, however, came quickly. The strike against Gould was gradually
broken, and the Knights radical positions on social issues cost them public support. In the end, a lack of
unity as well as the rapid inflow of unskilled immigrants weakened the union's economic power, and the
organization came to an end.
A. When should you go there?  
B. The main transportation there
C. Who usually goes there?  
D. Getting around and enjoying more
E. Why do young people go there?  
F. Where is it on earth in the world?
                                                                               Cape Verde
     Introduction
     Consisting of 10 main islands and eight smaller islets off the west coast of Africa, Cape Verde is an
archipelago with a lot to offer tourists, whether they are looking for a relaxing beach holiday, great surfing
or a hiking trip in valcanic and mountainous landscape. Sal, the main tourist island, has wonderful sandy
beaches to rival any in the world and also fantastic surfing and diving spots. With its warm climate all year
round, wonderfully dirverse landscapes, friendly locals and great food and music, Cape Verde really is an
attractive destination.
1.                          
     With year round warmth and cold ocean currents helping to keep the temperatures from rising too high, Cape Verde has an attractive climate for torists, and the majority of visitors are Western Europeans. The
people who go to Cape Verde for the beach life tend to be families, while it is quite a young, adventure-
seeking crowed that goes there for the diving or surfing.
2.                          
     Cape Verde is located in the Atlantic Ocean some 500 km to the west of the Afican continent. Indeed,
the name itself is taken from the name of that western－most tip, which can be found on Senegal. The
islands are divided into two groups-the Barlavento (windward islands) and the Sotavento (leeward islands).
3.                          
     With warm sunny days year round there really is no bad time to go to Cape Verde.Some visitors might
preder to visit in winter and spring when daytime temperatures are a couple of degrees cooler and rarely
exceed 25 ?
4.                          
     The resorts on Sal have plenty of facilities for families and the beaches by Santa Maria are great for
kids, with their white, fine sand. On some of the islands it is possible to do a bit of bird and turtle spotting
without intruding too much on their habitats, and on Sao Vicente and Santiago it is possible to go horse
riding.
5.                          
     On the islands public transport services are by minibuses or trucks. Taxis in central areas are cheap.
Between the islands of Santiago, Sao Vicente and Sal there are flights at least once daily. Flights to the
other islands are less frequent. TACV Cabo Verde Airlines (www.flytacv.com) is the main operator. There
are regular ferry services between the islands, but departures are sometimes unpredictable.
阅读理解
     The Parthenon in Athens is a building with a long and complex history.Built nearly 2,500 years ago
as a temple celebrating the Greek goddess Athena, it was for thousands of years the church of the
Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque (清真寺), and finally a ruin.The building was changed
and the sculptures were much damaged over the centuries.By 1800 only about half of the original
sculptural decoration remained.
     Between 1801 and 1805, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which
controlled Athens, acting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities, removed
about half of the remaining sculptures from the fallen ruins and from the building itself.Lord Elgin loved
Greek history and transported the sculptures back to Britain.The arrival of the sculptures in London
had a huge effect on the European public, greatly increasing interest in ancient Greek culture and
influencing contemporary artistic trends.These sculptures were acquired from Lord Elgin by the British
Museum in 1816 and since then they have all been on display to the public, free of charge.
     Since the early 1980s, however, the Greek government has argued for the permanent removal to
Athens of all the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum.They have also challenged the British
Museum Board of Trustees' legal title to the sculptures.
      The British Museum, however, insists that it exists to tell the story of cultural achievement throughout
the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago until the present day.The museum
considers itself an important resource for the world: the breadth and depth of its collection allows the
world public to reexamine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected world
cultures.
      It also says that, within the context of this unparalleled collection, the Parthenon sculptures are an
important representation of ancient Athenian civilization.Each year millions of visitors admire the artistry
of the sculptures and gain insights on how ancient Greece influenced-and was influenced by the other
civilizations that it encountered(遭遇).
1. For most of its history people went to the Parthenon to________.
A. admire the goddess Athena
B. pray to their god
C. search for sculptures
D. learn about its complex history
2. The underlined "it" (in Paragraph 4) refers to "________".
A. the British Museum
B. the Greek government
C. the Parthenon
D. the British Museum Board of Trustees
3. What can we learn about Lord Elgin from the passage?
A. He is greatly admired in Greece.
B. He worked for the Ottoman Empire.
C. He saved the Parthenon sculptures from being destroyed.
D. He had a deep interest in Greek culture.
4. The author's main intention in writing this passage is to tell________.
A. the history of the Parthenon and its sculptures
B. what people can see in the British Museum
C. why the British Museum refuses to return the sculptures
D. the influence of Greece on British culture
阅读理解
     Nuclear radiation from power plant leaks and bomb tests resulted in millions of fewer baby girls born
worldwide, according to a new study.
     Scientists noted these types of atmospheric blasts rather than ontheground incidents like Chernobyl
(切尔诺贝利), effected birth gender across the globe.
    Scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum M?nchen, Germany, analysed population data from 1975 to 2007 for
the U. S. and 39 European countries.
     There was an increase in the number of baby boys relative to girls in all of the countries from 1964 to
1975. This was the case in many eastern European countries for several years after 1986.
Scientists are putting the first spike down to the atomic bomb tests of the 1960s and 1970s where
radioactive atoms were blasted into the atmosphere. Air currents caught these atoms and then distributed
them around the world.
     They think the second spike is due to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in which the reactor exploded in
the Ukraine(乌克兰).
    The effects of Chernobyl were felt locally and no effect was seen in the U. S., probably because it was
too far from the disaster to have an effect.
    "The closer the country was to Chernobyl, the stronger the effect, " said study coauthor Hagen Scherb, a biostatistician(生物统计学家) at the German Research Center for Environmental Health in Munich.
     More males were born relative to females in Belarus-the Ukraine's neighbour-than in France.
     The study is based largely on Cold Warera statistics, but the findings are highly relevant for how gender could be affected after future nuclear disasters.
     And in the wake of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident experts are predicting
another baby boy boom could come, especially on the U. S. West Coast.
     Previous radiation experiments on animals may give a clue for the increase in male births. Tests showed that radiation caused damage to the X chromosome(染色体) in sperm, Dr Scherb said.
     A human sperm cell contains either an X or Y chromosome, while an egg only has an X chromosome. An XY combination will become a boy, while an XX combination will be a girl.
1. How many nuclear radiation accidents are mentioned in the passage?
A. 1.    
B. 2.    
C. 3.    
D. 4.
2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. The ontheground incidents like Chernobyl, effected birth gender across the globe.
B. There was an increase in the number of baby boys in many eastern European countries
     for several years after 1986.
C. The Japan's nuclear accident will not effect the birth gender of the U. S. because of the long distance.
D. Where radioactive material has spread, women can't give birth to children
3. How does radiation effect birth gender?
A. It damages the Y chromosome in sperm.
B. It stops X chromosomes and Y chromosomes combining.
C. It kills baby girls before they are born.
D. It damages the X chromosome in sperm.
4. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. Nuclear age has led to millions of fewer baby girls being born.
B. Nuclear radiation has bad effects upon people's health.
C. Worries about radiation risks.
D. Nuclear age helps reduce the world population.
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