1 This date was the old mid-winter festival in pre-Christmas times, around the time
of the longest night and the shortest day. Christmas in the 21st century has many traditions:
Christmas trees, cards and presents. Shops can make about 60 percent of their year"s income
in the three months before Christmas, so most shops get ready for it in October. 2 The first
time this happened was in 1867 when Macy"s famous shop in New York, stayed open until
midnight on Christmas Eve.
By mid-December, almost every shop and street has a Christmas tree. 3 In the northern
countries, winter is cold and dark and most trees are decorated with lights and colored glass
balls give people hope that spring will come.
Father Christmas is known across the world with his white hair, red coat and big bag of toys.
Young children are told that he lives in the north of Finland and makes toys for them. 4
On Christmas Day a traditional meal is eaten, usually a turkey and a rich, spicy cake. Some
people hate Christmas. 5 They love seeing family and friends; they also love the traditions.
Love it or hate it, Christmas is a time to look back over the old year and forward to the new one.
A | B |
C | D |
E | F |
阅读理解。 | |
Paper was one of the most important inventions in the Chinese history. As a result of this invention, much is known about Chinese history because records were kept on paper. However, in other parts of the world, much of the history over hundreds of years is completely unknown. As there was no paper in these countries, no records were kept. It is believed that before paper was developed, people in China used to keep records by putting a number of stones together. As soon as writing came to development, people carved (刻) words on animal bones. Later, words were carved on metal pots; examples of these have been found from the sixteenth to the third centuries B.C. Between the second and the fifth centuries A.D. people wrote on pieces of bamboo or wood and these were tied together to form a book. Although these were much more useful than the metal pots, they were still difficult to read and were very heavy to carry. At the same time another kind of book made from silk was developed. Some silk books that have been found are over 2140 years old. It was easy to write and draw on silk. The problem was that it was too hard for everyday use. Because it was so expensive, people developed a kind of paper made from the fibers of plants. They used fishing nets, barks, pieces of old clothes and so on to make paper. This kind of paper was as soft and light as silk but much less expensive. | |
1. Paper was one of the greatest inventions because ______. | |
A. it was invented by the Chinese B. it was the first one that was invented by humans C. it helped to record human"s history D. no other countries used paper except China | |
2. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? | |
A. People wrote words on a piece of wood or bamboo to keep record. B. Animal bones were used to carve words on by people in the ancient time. C. Words carved long ago can be found on metal pots even today. D. Ancient people put stones together to write words on. | |
3. We may know that ______. | |
A. silk books were not so widely spread B. all kinds of paper were invented over 2140 years ago C. fishing nets and clothes were cheaper than paper then D. paper made from silk was not so soft to write on | |
阅读理解。 | |
The Chinese were the real inventor of printing. Centuries ago they carved messages on a stone and then sprinkled (撒) sooty(煤炭的) dust over it. When they put a small piece of paper over the stone and rubbed the paper, the sooty lines were reproduced on it. Some of these first printed papers have been preserved; the oldest ones known to exist are more than one thousand years old. Printing with carved stone blocks was the only kind of printing known for centuries. Then, about eight hundred years ago, a Chinese printer, Bi Sheng, had a clever idea. Instead of carving a whole message on a single big block of wood or stone, he formed separate Chinese words or characters out of bits of clay(粘土). By putting the clay pieces together in rows in a box, he could print just as before. But when he finished, he could keep all the separate pieces of clay and use them again. Bi Sheng"s movable type was a great step forward, but his method was not generally adopted. Movable type did not come into use in Europe until it was invented there centuries later. The Europeans had been totally ignorant of the printing traditions of the Chinese. | |
1. The oldest pieces of printed paper in existence date back ______. | |
A. 800 years B. more than 1000 years C. more than 2000 years D. 500 years | |
2. Bi Sheng used clay to form ______. | |
A. large tablets for writing B. messages C. individual words or characters D. small statues | |
3. These pieces of clay were ______. | |
A. easily lost B. broken C. reusable D. disposable | |
4. Europeans adopted printing after they ______. | |
A. realized stone carving was inadequate (不够的) B. had learned about it from the Chinese C. had copied Chinese printing D. had invented it themselves |