Hanging Gardens of Babylon(巴比伦空中花园)
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built in the 7th century BC and are considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were amazing not only because of their beauty, but also because of their location.
In the 7th century BC a king named Nebudchadnezzar II created the gardens as a sign of love for his wife, Amyitis. According to legend, Amyitis, the daughter of the king of the Medes, was homesick. She missed the green hills and valleys of her homeland.
Upon marrying Nebudchadnezzar II, Amyitis moved to the ancient chief city of Babylon. The area was in the Mesopotamian desert, and the climate there was totally different from where she had left. So the new queen was very sad about the flat and the sun-baked desert. To make Amyitis happier and more comfortable the king decided to build her a series of magnificent gardens.
Many think of the gardens as an otherworldly creation that hung in the air somehow. But experts agree that the gardens were actually built on a mountainside, rather than actually “hanging”.
The hanging Gardens of Babylon are famous. Stories of them spread throughout the ancient world, and ancient writers recorded a large number of descriptions of the gardens, but some wonder whether this paradise of the past ever existed. There are no historical records of it except stories. Whatever may happen, even the idea of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is amazing. They were essentially impossible to create because of the climate, but they were kept in the minds of many as a botanical beauty created in the middle of unattractive desert scenery.Hanging Gardens of Babylon are considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, aren’t they?
What makes the Hanging Gardens of Babylon so amazing and famous?
Why did the king Nebudchadnezzar II create Hanging Gardens of Babylon?
What made the Hanging Gardens of Babylon essentially impossible to create?
According to the experts, were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon really hanging or built on a mountainside?
Did Hanging Gardens of Babylon really exist? What makes you think so? (In no more than THREE sentences)
We each have memory(记忆力).That’s why we can still remember things after a long time. Some people have very good memories and they can easily learn many things by heart, but some people can only remember things when they say or do them again and again. Many of the great men of the world have got surprising memories.
A good memory is a good help in learning a language. Everybody learns his mother language when he is a small child. He hears the sounds, remember them and then he learns to speak. Some children are living with their parents in foreign countries. They can learn two languages as easily as one because they hear, remember and speak two languages every day. In school it is not easy to learn a foreign language because the students have so little time for it, and they are busy with other subjects, too. But your memory will become better and better when you do more and more exercise.Some people can easily learn many things by heart because____________.
| A．they always sleep very well |
| B．they often eat good food. |
| C．they read a lot of books |
| D．they have very good memories |
Everybody learns his mother language_________.
| A．at the age of six |
| B．when he is a small child |
| C．after he goes to school |
| D．when he can read and write |
Before a child can speak, he must_____________.
| A．read and write | B．make sentences |
| C．hear and remember | D．think hard |
Your memory will become better and better____________.
| A．if you have lots of good food |
| B．if you do more and more exercise |
| C．if you do morning exercises every day |
| D．if you get up early |
Which of the following is the title for the passage?
| A．Memory | B．Exercise |
| C．Language | D．Mother language |
Once there was a boy in New York. His name is Sam. He started painting at the age of four, and when he was five, he was already very good at it. He painted many beautiful pictures, and a lot of people bought his pictures.Sam’s pictures were different from other people’s ，because he never painted on all of paper. He painted on half of it, and the other half was always empty.
“That’s very clever,” everybody said, “No other painters have ever done that!” One day somebody asked him,” Please tell me this, Sam .Why do you paint on the bottom（底部） half of your pictures , but not on the top half ?”
“Because I’m short,” Sam said, “and my brushes can’t reach very high.”Which country did Sam live in ?_____________
Was Sam good at painting when he was five?_________
What did Sam do with his pictures?_________________
Were Sam’s pictures the same as others’?______________
Why didn’t Sam paint on all of the paper?_____________
Surveys show that about 90% of junior high school students use QQ. Their QQ spaces(空间) tell a lot about their personalities.
Three students are showing off their QQ spaces here. Let’s see how different their QQ spaces are!
Cool and popular12, Shenzhen：
“Being cool” is my lifestyle. You can find only two colors in my QQ space: black and white.
You can also find lots of cool things in my zone like magic tricks (魔术). I find popular magic trick videos on the Internet and put them on my QQ zone. Magic trick fans leave messages in my zone. We can discuss a trick and find out how it works. I also do magic tricks myself. It makes me popular with girls.
dreamy poet13, Beijing：
I like dreams(梦) and poems (诗歌). I’ve made my QQ zone a dreamy place.
My QQ zone is pink, the color of a dream. You can read beautiful stories there. I collected them from other people’s QQ zones. I also put touching (感人的) poems there. I hope my zone can give visitors a warm feeling.
Call me an adventurer 13, Anhui：
I love adventures (冒险). I’d like to live a different kind of life. In reality (现实), it seems I can’t. But in my QQ zone, I make my dreams come true by playing games like QQ Farm. I’m so happy when the vegetables and animals in my farm grow bigger. It’s also exciting to “steal”(偷) vegetables from my friends’ farms. From the passage, we can guess “dreamy poet” must be a ____________person.
A. wild B. cool C. emotional (感情丰富的)If you like magic tricks, you can visit ________QQ space.
A. Cool and popular’s
B. dreamy poet’s
C. Call me an adventurer’s“Call me an adventurer” wants a ____________life.
A. dangerous B. different C. relaxingThe underlined word “personalities” may mean ____________.
A. 外貌 B. 性格 C.表情The best title(题目)of the passage may be ____________.
A. I want to be cool
B. My dream
C. My QQ space
Jane was not a good student. Her head was in the clouds(处于幻想之中) most of the time. She wanted to listen in class, but other things seemed more important: her clothes, her hairstyle, films and television. Many times she tried to work hard at her lessons, but soon she became absent-minded.
One day, her math teacher gave the class an important lesson and told her students that there would be a test the next week. She helped them review all the week. Jane seemed to listen in class, but her mind went away again.
The day of the test arrived. Jane couldn’t answer many of the questions on the exam. Mike, a very hard-working student, sat next to Jane. So Jane decided to copy his. Mike was very angry when he found Jane was copying his answers. He changed all his answers so that they were not right. Before the bell rang, Mike quickly changed his answers back into right ones. After the test, Mike turned to Jane and said, “ All those answers you copied from my paper are wrong.”Jane thought a lot of things except（除了）________.
A. her clothes B. her study C. films and televisionThe math teacher helped her students review for a weekbecause ________.
A. there would be an English test
B. she wanted them to fail the math test.
C. she wanted her students to study hard.Jane couldn’t answer many of the questions on the exam because _______.
A. her mind was not in the study most of the time
B. she was not clever.
C. she always slept in class.Mike was angry when he ________.
A. was changing all his answers
B. failed the math test
C. found Jane was copying his answersWhich of the following is right?
A. Jane copied the wrong answers.
B. Mike couldn’t answer the questions
C. Jane sat before Mike.
Life in the future will be different from life today. But what will the change be?
The population is growing fast. There will be more people in the world and most of them will live longer than people live now.
Computers will be much smaller and more useful and there will be at least one in every home. And computer studies will be one of the important subjects in school then.
People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and travel. Traveling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.
There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day. Instead they will eat more fruits and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier.
Work in the future will be different, too. Dangerous and hard work will be done by robots. Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.In the future there will be _______ .
A. much more fruits B. more people C.fewer peopleEvery family will have at least one _______ .
A. robot B. computer C. TV setIn the future people don't have to_______ .
A. work long hoursB. work fast C. walk on footPeople may not eat _______ as much as they do today.
A. fruit B. fish C. meatOne big problem in the future is that _______ .
A. many people don't have to work
B. many people will not be able to find work
C. People have to work fast