The Mayan Indians lived in Mexico for thousands of years. The Maya were so bright that they achieved a lot. They had farms, temples and cities with many buildings. They knew much about nature and the world around them. This knowledge helped them to live a better life than most people of that time.
In ancient Mexico there were many small clearings in the forest. In each clearing was a village with fields of crops around it. The Maya planted seeds after they cleared the land. A farmer was able to grow crops that produced for several people. But not every Maya had to be a farmer. Some were builders or priests (祭司).
The Maya believed in many gods. They built large temples to honor them. Skillful workers built cities around these temples. It was difficult because they had to carry all of the building materials themselves. Today, many of these ancient Mayan cities and temples are still standing.
Although the Maya worked hard to build the beautiful cities, very few of them lived in them. Usually, only the priests lived in the cities. The other people lived in small villages in the forests. Their houses were much simpler. Most Maya lived a simple life close to nature.
Measuring time correctly was important to the Maya, so Mayan priests made a system to keep track of time. They wrote numbers as dots ( … ) and bars ( — ). They also made a calendar (日历). The year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each with five days left over.
Around the year 800, the Maya left their villages and beautiful cities, never to return. No one knows why this happened. They may have died from a deadly disease. They may have left because the soil could no longer grow crops. The lost secrets of the Maya are still beyond the reach of modern people. They are still one of our greatest mysteries (神秘).The Maya lived better than most people of their times because _____.
| A．they had skillful workers |
| B．they believed in many gods |
| C．they knew better about nature |
| D．they could measure time correctly |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
| A．the calendar was first invented by the ancient Maya |
| B．the ancient Mayan cities and temples were well built |
| C．the ancient Mayan people led a happy life in the cities |
| D．the priests were not highly respected by the ancient Maya |
The underlined word “they” in the passage refers to _____.
| A．the Mayan people | B．the Mayan villages |
| C．the Mayan cities | D．the lost secrets of the Maya |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The Life of the Maya | B．The Cities of the Maya |
| C．The Mystery of the Maya | D．The Belief of the Maya |
ASK LASKAS
YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS. SHE'S GOT ANSWERS
My children go to a primary school where they are not allowed to play football in the playground for fear that a child might be hurt. Besides, now the school says there must be no homework because the local secondary school can't keep up with the amount of homework given in the primary school. Can the school do this?Puzzled Dad
It can't if enough parents do something about it. It is not just schools. We live in a society which wishes to get rid of risk. However, schools should have a little common sense and courage. Children need risk if they arc to grow up self-sufficient and confident. They need homework, too, if they are to fulfill their academic potential. Complain, loudly.
I have a beautiful teenage daughter who spends an hour making up her face in front of the mirror every day. I tell her to go easy. She just gets mad or bursts into tears. How can I make her understand she's beautiful the way she is.Plain Mom
You can't. Your daughter is at the age when she's trying to look beautiful, trying on new masks. And if her friends all dress up as she does, you're in for an extra hard time. Support her and tell her she's beautiful — even if she looks ridiculous for now. Then invite her to join you for a day at a spa. Let her try various looks until she's comfortable in her own skin.Why are the children not allowed to play football in the playground?
| A．The school is afraid that children might be injured. |
| B．The school is not sensible and confident. |
| C．The children don't have enough time to do homework. |
| D．The children may fail to fulfill their academic potential. |
What disturbs Plain Mom is that her daughter______.
| A．becomes mad | B．cries a lot |
| C．spends much time before the mirror | D．is not beautiful enough |
The solution to Plain Mom's problem is to______.
| A．make her daughter look less ridiculous | B．let her daughter dress up like her friends |
| C．make her daughter go to a spa every week | D．let her daughter feel herself what beauty is |
What does the underlined word spa mean?
| A．a place where water with minerals in it | B．a place where people can relax |
| C．a beauty salon | D．a swimming pool |
Lillian Hanson, a college student, expects to graduate in about two years．What makes Mrs．Hanson different from her classmates is her age-----73 years．She has been studying at college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years．
When Lillian Hanson graduated from high school, she went to the bank to borrow money for further education．The banker gave her no encouragement．He didn’t think that a country girl should borrow money to go to college．He thought she should be at home doing work in the house or around the farm．So Lillian Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college．Mrs．Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education．When her children were grown, she tried again．
She finds that it is the hardest part of going back to school at her age to sit in class for long periods of time．Because she is not as quick as she used to be, Mrs．Hanson often gets up and walks around classes to keep from getting stiff（不灵活）．At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all stood up to give her a warm welcome when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her aims were．Mrs．Hanson couldn’t go to college immediately after she graduated from high school because ____
| A．she hadn’t got enough money |
| B．she was a country girl |
| C．the banker ordered her not to borrow any money |
| D．the banker thought she should raise a family of nine children |
The computer students welcomed Mrs．Hanson warmly because ______．
| A．she had got an excellent result in the exam |
| B．she was good at telling funny stories |
| C．they wanted to get her help in their studies |
| D．they were deeply moved by her spirit |
Mrs．Hanson is the sort of person who ________．
| A．cares for study very much |
| B．likes to borrow money from the bank |
| C．never misses a chance to talk |
| D．tries to save any money for her family |
In which order did Mrs．Hanson do the following things?
a．she began her studies at college．
b．She finished high school．
c．She got married and gave birth of nine children．
d．She had her 73 rd birthday．
e．She went to the bank to borrow money．
| A．a c b e d | B．b e c a d | C．b c e d a | D．e d a c b |
Many people will remember the flight of the space shuttle （航天飞机）Challenger , in June, 1993．The achievement of Sally Ride, America’s first woman astronaut to fly into space, made this flight especially memorable．Students from two high schools in Camden, New Jersey, however, are likely to remember Norma rather than Sally whenever they think about the flight．
Norma didn’t travel alone．She brought about 100 companions along with her．Norma was an ant, a queen ant who, with her subjects, made up the first ant colony （群体） to travel into space．The ants were part of a science experiment designed by the students to test the effects of weightlessness on insects．
The equipment designed by the students for their colony functioned perfectly throughout the long space trip．The young scientists and their teachers were very sad to find that their insect astronauts had all died at some point before the container was returned to the school and opened．The problem did not occur in space, but on the ground after Challenger had landed．The container remained in the desert for nearly a week before the ant colony was removed．The hot, dry desert air dried out the colony’s container and the ants died from lack of moisture （水分）．
The project was termed a success because it did provide useful information．Students will continue their efforts to find out exactly what went wrong．They will try to prevent the same difficulties from recurring （再发生） on future missions ．They don’t want to be discouraged either by the death of the ants or by the $10,000 shuttle fare they will have to pay to send the next colony of ants into space．The story is mainly about．
| A．Sally Ride’s first ride |
| B．space equipment for insects |
| C．a space experiment with ants |
| D．going to school in New Jersey |
The project wasn’t a failure because．
| A．some important things were learned |
| B．dead ants are better |
| C．everything went as expected |
| D．students wrote about it |
The ants died because．
| A．weightlessness harmed them |
| B．space caused too much pain |
| C．no one fed them in space |
| D．they dried out in the desert |
On the next space trip , ants．
| A．will be sent without people |
| B．should not be left in the desert too long |
| C．will have to pay double fare |
| D．will escape the trip completely |
Western New Bridge Library Announcement
2008-3-10
| Shortened Library Hours for Spring Break |
| Library Hours have been shortened to 7 hours a day（9∶00 a．m．-4∶00 p．m．） for Spring Break from March 24 to March 30． |
| Coming Events |
| ●On Monday, March 24,at 10∶30 a．m．, Scott Sutton, a children’s writer, will tell stories to kids over seven．Sutton’s attractive style will surely inspire everyone present! ●At 1∶00 p．m．on March 26, the Georgetown Musicians will present an Irish Folk Concert, which will be entertaining for the entire family．Come for the music and stay to check out（完成手续拿走） some relevant（相关） books for the rest of the week! ●On Thursday, March 27,at 2∶00 p．m．, the annual Children’s Gathering will take place in Room 201,the second floor ．Pick up an invitation in the Children’s Room and return your RSVP（回复） to reserve （预定）your seat at the table by 3∶00 p．m．on Tuesday, March 25．Only children are allowed in the Gathering． ●At 10∶30 a．m．on Friday, March 28, Enzo Monfre of the hit kids’ science show, ENZOology, will bring Fossils Live! Surely Enzo will take the audience back in time, deep beneath the surface of the earth, to uncover the mysteries of killer dinosaurs, and more．Enzo recently appeared on the Ellen De Generes Show—come and see him at the library! |
| Please note： In case of emergency, please call the Help Desk at 926-3736 and follow the procedures outlined on the voice message．The call-down service is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for emergencies．The Help Desk supplies service to you all the year round! For questions about all these, please contact hld@wnbl．org． |
| Come for the great fun; Stay for the relevant books! |
To attend the annual Children’s Gathering, one has to ________．
| A．buy a ticket | B．apply in advance |
| C．make a reservation | D．contact the call-down service |
According to the passage, Enzo Monfre will ________．
| A．show the children around a zoo |
| B．tell stories to children over seven |
| C．be present at the science show in person |
| D．lead the children to the Ellen De Generes Show |
The Help Desk in this library supplies service ________．
| A．only during the daytime | B．in case of emergency |
| C．till the end of the Spring Break | D．after 22∶00 p．m．every day |
We can learn from the passage that children can ________．
| A．attend all the activities with their parents． |
| B．borrow some relevant books for the activities． |
| C．participate in the activities from 8∶00 a．m．to 4∶00 p．m． |
| D．choose only one of the activities according to their interests． |
After a 15-year ban on the sale of fireworks in Beijing, Kang Guoliang, 51, was able to start his old trade again yesterday．
As a salesman in Xinhui store in Dongcheng District, he is happy about the increasing number of buying fireworks wrapped in red paper — a color standing for happiness and good luck．
“Fireworks are available for the first time in town for more than a decade,” Kang said happily．“People will buy them．”
The store has 300 boxes of fireworks piled up and is open 24 hours at the moment．Residents are buying the fireworks and firecrackers for the upcoming Spring Festival, which falls on February 18．
Citywide, 2,116 registered stores and retailers, 585 in the centre and 1,600 on the outskirts are trading fireworks in the Chinese capital．Sales of fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road started yesterday and will last until March 4, Xinhua reported．Among the stores, 117 stores are permitted to operate 24 hours．About 600,000 boxes of firecrackers worth more than 100 million yuan have been carried to registered stores．
The Chinese capital began a ban in 1993 to reduce fireworks-related deaths and fires during the holiday season．Last September the ban was removed in response to residents’ fondness for fireworks when celebrating Spring Festival．
According to new rules, Beijing residents are allowed to set off fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road all day on Lunar New Year’s Eve and Lunar New Year’s day, from 7 a．m．to midnight every day from February 19 to March 4．
“Spring Festival without fireworks is not Spring Festival,” said Sheng Hefei, who was buying fireworks in the store．“It was fun to light the firecrackers when I was little,” he said．“The sound and view of fireworks make a real holiday．” However, not all residents welcome the return of firecrackers because of injuries, pollution and noise．“My child is scared of the sudden sound of firecrackers, and it is annoying to hear it all night long,” complained Lu Jun, a local resident．
（China Daily02/11/2008）The passage is likely to belong to a（n）__________?
| A．description | B．argument | C．advertisement | D．news report |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Beijing fireworks sales start after a 15-year ban． |
| B．People go to buy fireworks and firecrackers every where in Beijing． |
| C．Beijing residents all welcome the return of firecrackers． |
| D．Many stores began to sell fireworks and firecrackers． |
We can learn from the passage that ____________．
| A．every Spring Festival falls on February 18 |
| B．Beijing residents can set off fireworks everywhere ． |
| C．fireworks are allowed to be sold because people like them． |
| D．from February 19 to March 4, Beijing residents can set off fireworks twenty four hours every day． |
What is the writer’s attitude towards the sales of fireworks in Beijing?
| A．Negative | B．Not mentioned | C．Positive | D．Satisfactory |