What we have been aware of is that people from Italy speak Italian and people from Russia speak Russian．But have you ever wondered the reason why people speak Spanish in so many South American countries？Do you know why the brilliant footballers of Brazil speak Portuguese？And why is French the first language of some people in Canada？ The answer is that all these countries belonged to European empires at one time．The next question is：How did these empires begin？ To answer that question we have to probably go back to the 15th and 16 centuries，the golden age of European explorers．
Although this period is known as the golden age of European explorers，it was not the beginning of European exploration．As you probably know，Marco Polo travelled a long way to China at the end of the 13 century and some people say that the Vikings discovered America long before Columbus set sail in 1492．However，it is during this "golden"period that some famous voyages took place．Columbus' voyage to America is the best known voyage of exploration，but Ferdinand Magellan sailed round the world in this period，and Spanish explorers such as Central and Pizarro reached South America． Cortez defeated the Aztecs in what we now know as Mesico and Pizarro defeated the Incas in what we now know as Peru． The roots of the Spanish empire were established and that is why he Spanish language is so widely spoken in Central and South America today．
根据短文内容，选择最佳选项．
（1）When is the golden age of European explorers？
| A． |
The 15 thcentury |
| B． |
The 16 thcentury． |
| C． |
The l3 thcentury． |
| D． |
The 15 thand 16 thcenturies． |
（2）Which is not the voyage of exploration taking place during the golden period？
| A． |
Columbus sailed to America． |
| B． |
Marco Polo travelled to China． |
| C． |
Ferdinand Magellan voyaged round the world． |
| D． |
Cortez and Pizarro reached South America． |
（3）Who defeated the Aztecs in what we now know as Mexico？
| A． |
Pizarro． |
| B． |
Cortez． |
| C． |
Incas． |
| D． |
Columbus． |
（4）According to the passage，some countries in America didn't use to belong to ．
| A． |
Portugal |
| B． |
Spain |
| C． |
Canada |
| D． |
France |
（5）From the passage，we can know that ．
| A． |
Many countries in South America have been influenced by European countries |
| B． |
The period of the 15h and 16h centuries was the beginning of the European exploration |
| C． |
European explorers occupied some American countries in a peaceful way |
| D． |
Ferdinand Magellan's voyage round the world is not famous at all |
I will never forget the year when I was 12.My mother told us that we would not get Christmas gifts because there was not enough money .I felt sad and thought, ”What shall I say when the other kids ask me about my gifts?” I started to hope the Christmas wouldn’t come that year. Just then three women came to our house with gifts for all of us. For me，they brought a doll .I felt so happy.
Years later, my life changed a lot. So one Christmas, I wanted to do something special. I asked forty friends to help me. We visited 125 orphans(孤儿)to come to our Christmas party. For every child, we prepared a beautiful gift.
Finally the moment came. I called out,” One, two, three. Open your gifts!” As the children opened their boxes, the whole room was full of their bright smiles. The feeling I got from that Christmas so long ago came again. ___gave the writer a Christmas gift when she was 12.
| A．Nobody | B．Her mother | C．Three women | D．An old man |
From the sentence “Years later, my life changed a lot.” we can guess that _____.
| A．the writer didn’t get Christmas gifts any more. |
| B．the writer became rich. |
| C．the writer didn’t like Christmas gifts at all. |
| D．the writer hoped to help more orphans. |
The writer was so _____when she got a Christmas gift.
| A．sad | B．bored | C．tired | D．happy |
Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?
| A．The writer’s family was very poor when she was a child. |
| B．The writer wanted to do something special for the old people at Christmas. |
| C．The three women taught the writer how to help others. |
| D．The writer and her friends invited 125 orphans to come to the Christmas party. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．A special Christmas |
| B．How to choose Christmas gifts. |
| C．Three kind women. |
| D．My first Christmas. |
More than a hundred years ago, an American produced (创造) a game. He called it indoor tennis. The Americans were not interested in it at first so he sent it to his London friends and it became very popular (流行) in Britain. The game was then played across the dining-room table or on the floor with the net hung between two chairs. In the early days ，the balls were made of cork (软木) or rubber. The bats(球拍) were made of wood.
A few years later a hollow (空心) ball like the one we use today was invented. The game then quickly spread all over the world. An Englishman once made a bat covered with rubber. He first played the game in England and called it "ping - pong". "Ping" was the sound of the bat when it hit the ball, and "pong" was the sound of the ball when it hit the table. Who invented the game of ping-pong?
| A．A Chinese. | B．An Englishman. | C．An American. | D．We don't know. |
The game was first called ________ by its producer(创造者).
| A．ping- pong tennis | B．table tennis | C．our-door tennis | D．indoor tennis |
What did the British think of the game?
| A．Moving (感人的). | B．Interesting. | C．Terrible. | D．boring. |
In the early days，the ball was________.
| A．hollow | B．covered with rubber |
| C．made of cork or rubber | D．made of wood |
The name of ping-pong has something to do with __________.
| A．sound | B．size | C．history | D．place |
There are many kinds of cars in this world. My grandfather thinks this is because cars are like their drivers. He says, “Rich people have expensive cars, big people have large cars, and old people drive old cars.” But I don’t agree with him.
My neighbor, Mrs. Hill, is 82 years old. She drives only on Tuesday, and then she drives only to the bank. She never drives more than 30 kilometers an hour. Do you think Mrs. Hill has a very old and small car? No! Her car is new. It’s very large, and it can go 200 kilometers an hour!
My friend Mike is an artist. He paints beautiful pictures with lots of colors. But his car is black. Mrs. Bates has a very, very old car. It often has some trouble. Does she drive that kind of car because she is poor? No, she has four restaurants and two million dollars in the bank. My uncle Joe has a very small car. Every Sunday, he drives to the country with his wife, his three children, his mother and his dog.
Now, you have read about my friends and their cars. Do you agree with my grandfather? Maybe you have a car. Does it say something about you?The writer’s grandfather thinks ___.
| A．a person has the same kind of car as himself (herself) |
| B．different people have cars of the same kind |
| C．poor people have large cars |
| D．artists have black cars |
Mrs. Bates has an old car ___.
| A．because she is poor |
| B．because she is rich |
| C．because she likes old cars |
| D．and the passage doesn’t tell us why |
Though Uncle Joe has a very small car, ___.
| A．he has a dog |
| B．he has a large family |
| C．he has no children |
| D．he has few members in his family |
The writer’s friend Mike paints ___.
| A．pictures in black |
| B．colorful pictures |
| C．colorless pictures |
| D．pictures with only a few colors |
The writer thinks ___.
| A．his grandfather’s idea about cars is right |
| B．cars are often the same as their drivers in many ways |
| C．artists shouldn’t drive black cars |
| D．a car doesn’t say anything about its owner |
Diving or Drowning
A rich young man decided that he would like to do some diving in the sea, so he bought a rubber suit and all the other things that he needed, and took some lessons at a diving school. Then one day he walked into the water by himself and began to explore the bottom of the sea.
He saw a lot of beautiful fish and other things, and then, after half an hour, he suddenly saw a man waving his arms and legs around wildly near the bottom of the sea. He was wearing only a bathing suit.
The rich young man was very surprised to see him, so he took out a plastic notebook and a special pencil, which could write under water, and wrote, “What are you doing here?”
He showed the notebook to the other man, who then took the pencil and wrote, “Drowning!”What did the rich young man want to do?
| A．driving | B．diving | C．walking | D．swimming |
How did he prepare himself for this?
| A．He bought all the things needed for diving. |
| B．He took a diving lesson |
| C．He bought a rubber suit and a bathing suit. |
| D．both a and b. |
What did he first see at the bottom of the ocean?
| A．some fish | B．some plants |
| C．a man with a bathing suit | D．a man with a diving suit |
What was the man doing?
| A．swimming | B．diving | C．searching for fish | D．drowning |
What did the rich young man do?
| A．He talked with him. |
| B．He pulled the man out of water. |
| C．He communicated with the man by writing. |
| D．He gave his suit to the man. |
Sally was a student. It was going to be her mother’s birthday. She wanted to buy her a present that would be nice and useful but not expensive.
A week before her mother’s birthday, she went shopping after a quick and simple lunch. When she had been looking for half an hour, she found a shop that was selling cheep umbrellas（伞）, and decided to take a black one, since her mother had lost hers the month before.
She thought, “You could carry that when you are wearing clothes of any color.” So she decided to buy a lovely black umbrella and took it back to school with her until her classes had finished.
On her way back home in the train that evening, she felt hungry because she had such a small lunch that she went along to the buffet car（餐车） for another sandwich and cup of coffee. She had left the black umbrella above her seat in the compartment（车厢）, but when she got back, it had gone! When she had left the compartment, there had been no other passengers（乘客） in it, but now there were three.
Sally began to cry when she saw that the umbrella was no longer there. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what the matter was. She told them that the black umbrella she had bought for her mother was gone, and that she had to get out at the next station. After the three other passengers heard it, they asked her for her mother’s address so that they could sent the umbrella to her if someone had taken it by mistake and brought it back after Sally had got out of the train.
The next week, Sally heard from her mother. It said, “Thank you very much for your lovely presents, but why did you send me three black umbrellas?”Which of the following is the best for the sentence “You could carry that when you are wearing clothes of any color?”
| A．You can carry it when you are wearing any clothes. |
| B．Any color of your clothes will be all right. |
| C．The umbrella will be OK for your clothes in any colors. |
| D．You can take any clothes that you like to wear. |
What does the story infer（推断）?
| A．Her mother would write to her if she didn’t receive the presents. |
| B．The three umbrella were sent by the girl. |
| C．Only four people had ever been to the compartment. |
| D．Nobody brought the umbrella back. |
How many umbrellas did Sally’s mother get at last?
| A．No. | B．Only one. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
The best name of the story is ________.
| A．A Lucky Girl | B．The Missing Umbrella |
| C．A Happy Mother | D．Mother’s Present |
What does the writer want to tell us?
| A．You should take care of your things when you are traveling. |
| B．Show your love to others, and they will bring you love. |
| C．Children should often come back to see their parents. |
| D．It’s no use crying when you are in trouble. |