To us, it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains. But in fact the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain. Its first use was as a shade against the sun.
Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the first to use it were the Chinese, way back in the eleventh century B.C..
We know that the umbrella was also used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor and power. In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in high office or by royal people such as the kings or queens.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in common use in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrellas as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans. During the middle ages in Europe, the use of the umbrella most disappeared. Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again it became a symbol of power.
Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasn't until the twentieth century that the umbrellas for women began to be made in all kinds of colors.
1.Ancient people first used umbrellas as ______.
A.a symbol of honor B.a symbol of power
C.protection against the sun D.protection against the rain
2.According to the passage, the umbrella was probably first used in accident__________.
A.Babylon B.China
C.Egypt D.Rome
3.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A.The ancient Greeks used the umbrella in their daily life
B.Europeans hardly used the umbrella during the middle ages
C.The umbrellas for woman were made colorful in ancient times
D.The style of the umbrella hasn’t changed a lot since it was invented
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A.The sales of the umbrella B.The history and the use of the umbrella
C.The invention of the umbrella D.The differences among umbrellas
A beautiful and rich lady always told her doctor that she showed no interest in anything. so the doctor called over an old woman named Mary. She cleaned the office floors. The doctor said to the rich lady, “All I want you to do is to listen to Mary's story.”
Mary sat on a chair and told her story, “Well, my husband died of cancer and three months later my only son died in a car accident. I had nothing left. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I never smiled at anyone. I thought life meant nothing to me. I even thought of ending my own life. Then one evening a cat followed me home from work. I felt sorry for that cat. It was cold outside, so I decided to let it in. I gave it some milk, and it soon had it. Then it rubbed against my leg. and for the first time, I smiled. I even felt kind of happy. Then I stopped to think, if helping a cat could make me smile, maybe doing something for other people could make me happy as well. Every day I tried to do something nice for someone, even though I didn't know them. Now I can sleep and eat better than before. I've found what really makes me happy.”
After the rich lady heard the story, she cried. She had everything that money could buy, but she lost the thing that money couldn't buy.
1.What did the rich lady think of her life?
A.Wonderful. B.Interesting.
C.Exciting. D.Boring.
2.Which of the following is TRUE about Mary?
A.She often fell ill. B.She was rich and happy.
C.She had an unlucky past. D.She never went to see a doctor.
3.What made Mary become happy and have hope for life?
A.Feeding animals. B.Helping others.
C.Talking to the rich lady. D.Working in the hospital.
Jim was a young man in his early twenties who was studying to be a carpenter. He was a good worker, honest and worthy of trust, so his boss was pleased with him. As he was such a likable man and easy to deal with, he was popular with his workmates, too. They also made fun of him a great deal but he never got angry with them and would only laugh.
But Jim's one great shortcoming was that he could never tell a lie, no matter how hard he tried, not even a little one. In fact, he was so honest and shy that he would blush even when he was telling the truth. He used to stand in front of the mirror and practise lying while looking himself in the eyes at the same time. But as soon as he saw his face starting to go red he had to look away.
One morning, however, he didn't feel like going to work because he had been to a party the night before and it hadn't ended till the early hours of the morning. And so far the first time in his life he decided to take the day off. He rang his boss, pretending to be a woman. “I'm afraid Jim can't come to work today. He isn't feeling very well.”
Poor Jim was thankful that his boss couldn't see him just at that moment because his hands were trembling and his face was bright red.
“Thank you for letting me know,” said Mr. Woods, his boss, and then just as he was about to hang up, he said, “just a moment, madam, who's speaking?”
“Oh!”he stammered(口吃的说）, going all out for making a voice like a woman, and cried in a voice: “This is my landlady speaking!”
1.According to the passage we know that Jim was a .
A.skillful worker B.skillful carpenter
C.being-trained carpenter D.researcher studying how to be a carpenter
2.What does the underlined word “blush”in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A.stammer B.look away
C.go red D.feel hot
3.Why did Jim try to practise lying?
A.To avoid being laughed at by his workmates.
B.To overcome his shortcoming.
C.To get his boss pleased with him.
D.To get ready for asking for leave.
假设你是李华，你们学校下周举办英语艺术节。请根据下边的节目安排调整表，给外教老师Dave写一封100词左右的电子邮件，告知他调整的内容并给出你认为恰当的理由。
Schedule for English Art Festival | |||
Date | Time | Activities | Place |
Jan 6th | 14:00—15:00 13:30—14:30 | English Talk Show | Art Theater |
15:00—16:00 | English Speech Contest | Library | |
16:00—17:00 | English Corner | School Hall Playground |
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（˄），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Yesterday I showed my friend Kate in Baoding city. First, we went to Zhili Governor Office, where is a very famous tourist spot in China. And then we visited the Ancient Lotus Pond Garden, where we had a great fun. Later, I took him to Baoding Botanic Garden. We both attracted by its beautiful scenery at first see. We nearly spent three hours walk around it. At about 6 pm we went back happy. From Kate’s high spirit I learned that she is very pleased with this visit.
阅读下列短文，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
In general, spoken statements are a major way of 1. (communicate), but body language is also important.
Last week, I went to the airport 2. (meet) an international student, Tony Garcia from Columbia. After a half hour’s waiting, I got sight of him and quickly approached to greet him. To my surprise, he touched my shoulder and kissed me on the cheek. I felt so 3. (embarrass) that I stepped back and put up my hands, as if to defend 4.. I guessed that there 5. (be) some misunderstanding between us.
As I get to know more foreign friends, I learn that not all cultures greet each other the same way. English people, for example, don’t 6. (usual) touch strangers when they meet. 7., people from places like Spain, Italy and South American countries get close to others and likely to touch them.
8. the development of society, international exchange is becoming 9. (much) frequent, so we should learn about the different customs and behave properly 10. meeting international friends.
