A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin (顽童)was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car，Paul？”he asked．
Paul answered，“Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas．”The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing？Boy，I wish…”He hesitated(犹豫)．
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.
“I wish，”the boy went on，“that I could be a brother like that．”Paul looked at the boy in surprise， then he said again， "Would you like to take a ride in my car？”
“Oh yes，I’d love that．”
After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind driving in front of my house？”
Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are？ the boy asked．
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back， but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled (残疾的)brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There she is，Buddy，just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride. The street urchin was very surprised when ________．
| A．Paul received an expensive car |
| B．Paul told him about the car |
| C．he saw the shining car |
| D．he was walking around the car |
From the story we can see the urchin ________．
| A．wished to give his brother a car |
| B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car |
| C．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s |
| D．wished Paul could be a brother like that |
The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ________．
| A．to show his neighbors the big car |
| B．to show he had a rich friend |
| C．to let his brother ride in the car |
| D．to tell his brother about his wish |
We can infer（推断）from the story that ________．
| A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin |
| B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother |
| C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother |
| D．the urchin’s wish came true in the end |
The best name of the name story is _________．
| A．A Christmas Present |
| B．A Street Urchin |
| C．A Brother Like That |
| D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride |
If we say the four great inventions (Gunpowder,Compass,Paper and Art of Printing) reflected ancient China’s scientific achievements,then Zhaozhou Stone Bridge perfectly represented one of the greatest contributions to ancient China’s bridge building.Nobody was unfamiliar with the stone bridge full of legends and vivid folk stories.
The ancient Zhaozhou stone bridge started to be built in 590 during the Sui Dynasty (581～618) and established in 608.The pioneer for building the bridge was Li Chun who overcame unimaginable difficulties,undergoing all hardships.The location of the bridge is in Zhao County south,Hebei Province.It lay across the Xiaoshui River,far away from the mountains that provided rocky materials.In ancient times,it was such a busy,deep and wide river that could be used as an important carriage to transport heavy rocks and other materials.As we know,no train,no lifting machine could be used to move granite(花岗岩)blocks to the construction site.As an intelligent stonemason and engineer,Li Chun worked out his plan and design all from his own direct observation and investigation.It took his whole life-time in completing the great historical project inChina.Nowadays it is not only a historical remarkable model of architecture,but also a brilliant Chinese cultural crystallization(结晶) of wisdom.
The entire length of the bridge is 50.82 meters with 10 meters width.The whole stone bridge looks like a big bow,the span of which is 37.02 meters,and its height from the top to the surface of water at a regular position is 7.23 meters.The bridge arch seems to be moving smoothly and flatly.The whole arch consists of 28 big granite blocks connected each other tightly together.On both end sides of the general arch there are 4 smaller arches,2 of which on one side,the other 2 on the other side.The smaller arches could be used to decrease the weight of the bridge and save stone materials,and help flood get through easily,which seems to be much prettier.Such a hard-thinking and careful consideration of the engineering article is really a model of design and layout.The span was much wider than the other stone bridge in ancient times all over China.
Today Zhaozhou Stone Bridge is one of international cultural relics and perfectly protected and preserved by the concerned administration of China.The best title of this passage is _________.
| A．Great engineer in ancient China | B．Zhaozhou stone bridge |
| C．Four great inventions | D．How to build a bridge |
The third paragraph mainly tells us _________.
| A．the materials of Zhaozhou bridge | B．the structure of Zhaozhou bridge |
| C．the arches of Zhaozhou bridge | D．the importance of Zhaozhou bridge |
The underlined word “carriage” probably refers to _________.
| A．cart | B．transport | C．channel | D．resourse |
No one can believe that the over 6 300-kilometer long Great Wall might disappear some day.Believe it or not,the Great Wall is being destroyed by people.Less than 20 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty is still perfect,but about 80 percent is in danger.The Great Wall can be called “great” mostly because of its amazing length.But we should realize that the length was made up of one brick at a time.If we do nothing to save the Great Wall,it will become a series of separate wasteland rather than a historic site.
The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over the past 2 000 years.It began in the rule of China’s first emperor,Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC～206 BC),and lasted into the Ming Dynasty.The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared.People are familiar with sections such as Badaling in Beijing and Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu because they have been open to tourists for many years.But those sections far away from the public eyes have been almost forgotten.
Few local people knew the 3-meter-high walls made of earth and stones beside them are part of the Great Wall.The lack of knowledge is considered as one of the main reasons behind human.
The bricks on the Great Wall are carried off by countryside people to build their houses,sheep corral(畜栏) and pigsties(猪圈).Some were taken away to build roads.Bricks carved with people’s names are put away as remembrance.Rubbish is spread over the battlements(城垛).The bricks can be sold for 15 yuan per tractor load.Those who destroyed and are destroying the Great Wall know its name,but are not clear about its cultural meaning.It will take a long time to let them know this.The local farmers not only carried off the body of the Wall but dug out the entire base.
It is necessary to protect the Great Wall.First of all,the officials should be aware of theimportance of the Great Wall.Young Chinese should know more about the nation’s great civilization (文明)and learn to love it.The main reason for which the Great Wall can be called“great”is__________.
| A．it was made by brick | B．it was very wide |
| C．it was very long | D．it had a long history |
Why does the author say the Great Wall might disappear?
| A．It is useless from now on. | B．It will be replaced by a new one. |
| C．Some parts of it are being destroyed. | D．It’s too old to be used again. |
The underlined part “those sections far away from the public eyes” refers to the parts of the Great Wall__________.
| A．that are too difficult to understand | B．nobody can watch |
| C．that are too far to been seen | D．that are not well known to the public |
What’s the main reason of the Great Wall’s being destroyed?
| A．The local people are short of culture knowledge. |
| B．The local people need bricks and stones to build houses. |
| C．The local people think that the Great Wall is not important. |
| D．The local people are against the government. |
Chinese Ancient Science & Inventions
Chinese Inventions—Can You Name Them?
The Invention of Paper and find out everything about paper-making at The Rober C.Williams American Museum of Papermaking.
The Art of Printing(Matteo Ricci)
The Origin of Chinese Books and Printing
Chinese bookmaking an ancient craft
Paper,a contribution to human progress
The History of Chinese Ｍathematics
Chinese Ancient Science & Technology
Chinese Ancient Agriculture
The Coins of Ancient China
Chinese Agriculture
The Coins of Ancient China
Chinese Agriculture
Invented in China?
The History of Calculating(abacus)
Return of the Dragon:Hazards of Man-Made Magnetism(a discussion)
Chinese Ancient & Modern Think-tanks
Kong Fu Zi—Confucius(James A.A.Tucker)
The Philosopher Confucius (551～479 B.C.)
The Analects—Confucius (English text)
The Great Learning—Confucius (English text)
The Doctrine of the Mean—Confucius (English text)
Mencius—Meng Zi and some text (GB)
Mao Zedong—A Great Man in China History
Man of the Year—Teng Hsiao-ping (Times)
The Tao Te Ching—Lao Tzu (Translated by S.Mitchell)
XUN KUANG (Xunzi—25 B C)
Han Fei
Welcome to Taoist Resource Center A Complete Guide to Taoism and its many applications.
ASIAWEEK—MAO NOW—The Great Helmsman led China into some of the most monumental disasters of the modern era.Now,20 years after his death,Mao Zedong’s star is shining asbrightly as ever.How can it be so?
Chairman Mao’s Poems—In Chinese (GIF).
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen—The founding father of Republic of China.
Mao Zedong—An unofficial site which collects quotations of Mao and some articles on Mao.(CHINESE GB) (CHINESE PS)
Mao Zedong—A Great Man in China History—Internet resources on Mao & his era.
Sun Yat-Sen:Fundamentals of National Reconstruction—“This book is Sun Yat-sen’s most important political statement.It enunciates his famous three principles whereby he set China on the road to modernity.”
DENG Xiaoping—Deng Xiaoping leads a far-reaching,audacious but Risky Second Revolution.(Man of the Year 1985,Time Magazine)(in English)
...For more information Click the Underlined.This passage is probably take from _________.
| A．magazine | B．a webpage | C．text book | D．TV programme |
How many webpages offer the information about Confucius?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Two. |
The passage is designed mainly to _________.
| A．make us learn the great people and inventions of China |
| B．give some information about China |
| C．stress the importance of confuciusm |
| D．describe the printing in China |
Can you remember the first time you learned to ride a bike or drive a car？Learning these skills changed your life forever and opened up new horizons（视野）.Learning about computers can be like learning how to ride a bike or drive a car.Once you have invested the time to master the skills，you will never go back to the old days.The new technology is simply too convenient and too powerful.
Technological developments through the years have enabled us to do more with less effort.We have continuously looked for better ways of doing things.Each invention and new development has allowed us to extend our capabilities.Today we see one of the most dramatic technologies ever developed—the computer.It extends the capabilities of our minds.
Computers have saved organizations millions of dollars. Furthermore，these same computer systems have opened up new opportunities that would have gone undiscovered or neglected.The computer may multiply what we can do，and the return on investment is high.The growth of computer usage is surprising. On the other hand，the computer can do serious damage.Invasion of privacy（侵犯隐私），fraud（欺诈），and computer-related mistakes are just a few shocking examples.The computer is like a double-edged sword.It has the ability to cut us free from some activities，but it can also cut deep into profits，personal privacy，and our society in general.How it is used is not a function of technology.It is strictly a function of how people decide to use or misuse this new technology.The choice is yours，and only through a knowledge of computer systems will you be able to avoid the dangers while enjoying the many，many benefits of the computer age.The writer thinks learning about computers is like learning how to ride a bike or drive a car because ______.
| A．it is simple and practical | B．it needs a lot of practice |
| C．it leads people to new life experiences | D．it takes much time to master the skills |
According to the passage，computers bring people the following benefits except ______.
| A．avoiding mistakes | B．saving money |
| C．making money | D．opening up opportunities |
According to the writer，the bad effects of computers can be avoided if we ______.
| A．have some knowledge of computer systems |
| B．tell people not to misuse computers |
| C．have strict rules over the use of computers |
| D．make more investments in the technology |
This passage is probably written for ______.
| A．computers | B．computer producers |
| C．computer learners | D．computer programmers |
Two thieves came to a house to steal something.They dug a hole in the wall of the house.
There lived many mice in the house.The woman in the moonlight saw a mouse crawl（爬行）into the house.“Look！In comes one，”she said to the man in the house.The thief was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled out of the house and said to the one waiting outside，“She found me when I was just in.” But the thief outside didn’t believe him，so he said，“Let us two try to crawl into the house together.”At that time two mice happened to crawl into the house，too.The woman saw the mice and shouted，“In come two，catch them！” The two thieves were terribly frightened.The man in the house said，“You saw them come in but where are they？ I will catch them tonight.”The two thieves started running away at once.
The two thieves wanted to make it clear whether they had been found or not the night before.The next day they acted as men selling sweet potatoes and came before the house.The man and the woman were ploughing in their fields.The rein（缰绳）broke and the woman came home for a rope.She saw two men selling sweet potatoes and wanted to buy some.She picked out two which looked like mice.At the time the man couldn’t wait for her any longer in the fields and he ran back from the fields to hurry her up.The woman showed the sweet potatoes to the man and said，“How they look like the two of last night.”The man said，“I asked you to fetch a rope，why don’t you hurry for it？”The two thieves ran away quickly without their sweet potatoes.The two thieves failed to steal anything from the house because______.
| A．they were found out |
| B．they were frightened by what they had heard in the house |
| C．they didn’t work together well with each other |
| D．mice stopped them from doing so |
From the last paragraph，we know that ______.
| A．the two thieves were famous selling sweet potatoes |
| B．the woman recognized the two thieves |
| C．the woman pretended to know nothing about the two thieves and made fun of them |
| D．the two thieves didn’t know that they were not found at all |
“______”is the best title for this passage.
| A．Two Clever Thieves | B．Terrible Mice |
| C．Hit the Mark by a Fluke（歪打正着） | D．A Clever Couple |
Which of the following statements is false？
| A．The two thieves not only failed to steal things but also lost their sweet potatoes. |
| B．Whenever they found mice，the people in the house would try to catch them. |
| C．The two thieves ran away at once，because they thought the woman had seen them. |
| D．The man let the woman go home for a rope，which would be used for catching the thieves. |