Have you ever heard the saying “All roads lead to Rome”? At one time, this was pretty much true. During the Roman Empire, lots of roads were built in order to move armies, send messages by courier (信使), and make trade easier. This construction work went on for five centuries! If all the roads built during the Roman Empire were put together end to end, they would circle the equator twice.
The network of Roman roads was begun in 312 BC. It was demanded that the roads be built strong so that they would not fall down. Roman soldiers, supervised (监督) by engineers, laid down the roads in a special pattern of layers. The first layer was made of sand. Next, the builders added rocks and rubble. On top of these materials came gravel. On this solid foundation, the road builders placed paving stones.
Also, Roman roads were cambered. This means that they were built higher in the middle than on the edges, allowing rainwater to run off, which prevented flooding. We use the same technique in building roads today. The Romans also laid out roads over hills when necessary, setting them down in a zigzag pattern to make the road rise gradually.
All Roman roads had milestones (里程碑), placed every thousands paces (a Roman mile). The milestones told when the road was built, who was emperor at the time, the road’s destination, how far the traveler was from the destination, and how many miles had been traveled since the beginning of the road. This information was a great help to travelers.
Because of their excellence in construction, it really is no surprise that many parts of Roman road still exist today. These roadways are one of the most impressive accomplishments of the Roman Empire.What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph mean?
| A．The Roman Empire was very powerful. |
| B．Lots of roads were built during the Roman Empire. |
| C．The roads built during the Roman Empire were very long. |
| D．The roads built during the Roman Empire were very convenient. |
Which of the following correctly shows the structure of the Roman roads?
| A．Paving stones Gravel Rocks & rubble Sand |
| B．Gravel Rocks & rubble Sand |
| C．Sand Rocks & rubble Gravel Paving stones |
| D．Sand |
Rocks & rubble
GravelWhat information can you find on the milestones?
| A．The builders of the road. |
| B．The materials used in building roads. |
| C．The distance from one city. |
| D．The time spent in building roads. |
The passage mainly ______.
| A．explains the saying “All roads lead to Rome” |
| B．praises ancient Romans for their great achievements |
| C．shows how great the Roman Empire was |
| D．introduces the construction of the Roman roads |
Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California’s Santa Ana Freeway. It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home. I couldn’t reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus. Not knowing the routes, I figured I’d just head east.
A bus pulled up, and I asked the driver how far she was going. “Four more lights,” she said. There was another bus I could take from there. This clearly was going to be a long night.
She dropped me off at the end of her route and told me which bus to look for. After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home. Then a bus pulled up. There was no lighted number above its windshield(挡风玻璃). It was out of service. But the door opened, and I was surprised to find that it was the same driver.
“I just can’t leave you here,” she said. “This isn’t the nicest place. I’ll give you a ride home.”
“You’ll drive me home in the bus?” I asked, perplexed(困惑).
“No, I’ll take you in my car,” she said.
“It’s a long way,” I protested.
“Come on, ” she said. “I have nothing else to do.”
As we drove from the station in her car, she began telling me a story. A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas. A good Samaritan picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car. “I’m just passing the favor along, ” she said.
When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn’t hear of it. “That wouldn’t make it a favor, ” she said. “Just do something nice for somebody. Pass it along.”
1. Why did the writer say that he would have a long night?
A. He wondered how long he had to wait for the next bus.
B. No driver would give him a ride.
C. He didn’t know the routes.
D. He perhaps would have to take a taxi.
2. Judging from its context, the place where the writer waited for the second bus was _______.
A. very quiet and peaceful B. dark without street lights
C. neither clean nor beautiful D. a little unsafe
3. Why did the writer change his mind after waiting for 30 minutes at the end of the route?
A. No bus would come at the time.
B. A taxi ride would be more comfortable.
C. He became impatient and a bit worried.
D. He knew the driver would never return.
4. The bus driver drove the writer home later because ________.
A. she happened to go in the same direction
B. she wanted to do something good for other people
C. her brother told her to do so
D. she wanted to earn more money
5. The bus driver hoped that the writer ________.
A. would do as she did B. would keep her in memory
C. would give the money to others D. would do her a favor
Thousands of years ago people guessed the time of day by watching the sun.
Later，they found it was easier to tell the exact time by looking at the shadows.Thus， the sundial(日晷) was invented.
The sundial proved a useful timepiece in sunny weather. However，another typc of timepiece was necessary for cloudy weather and nigh time.A sand glass was another common measurer of time.Two glass bottles were connected by a very small opening. The top bottle was filled with sand，which dropped slowly into the botton one in a certain period of time.Hour glasses were widely used then.Three—minute sand glasses are still used in many homes to time the boiling of eggs.
The real ancestor of modern clocks was the water clock.In China ,an early water clock was made up of several bowls. Water trickled(滴) from one bowl to another to keep the clock going. Visitors to the Beijing Palace Museum can still see the old water clocks showing the time there.
In the Middle Ages a wateless clock was invented which worked by means of weights. To keep the weight falling at the same speed，a system of wheels was invented. The pendulum(钟摆) was soon developed to control the speed of the wheels. Thus the modern form of clock came into being.
9.Which of the following is the correct picturr of a sand glass?
A. B. C. D.
10.Three minute sand glasses are still used in many homes .
A.to boil eggs B.to measure the time of boiling eggs
C.to hold the boiled eggs D.to have eggs boiled
11.If you visit Beijing Palace Museum, you .
A.will see the old water clocks broken
B.will find the time shown by the old water clocks is wrong
C.can find the old water clocks still telling the time there
D.will find the old water clocks have gone
12.In the Middle Ages the weight falling speed of a clock was kept by .
A.several bowls B.a system of wheels
C.a system of pendulum D.several springs
Net Libray is a library that lends out digitalbooks. It treats a digital like a paperback copy. It charges libraries per book per copy and gives publishers a cut of the total income.
From the consumer’s point of view，this means that if more than，Say, five people want the latest Danielle Steel romance novel，other people who request that book will get a message saying the title can’t be found.
It’s a model many publishers seem to have embraced. More than 350 gave the company rights to hand out their digital works，and McGraw-Hill Corporation and Houghton Mifflin Corporation have put money in the company. The California public libraries and about 1，800 others across the US are trying out the Net Library service.
Some librarians criticize the New Library model. Stanford University librarian Michael Keller argues that the company is creating an unnatural fear of digital woks, which is contrary to the ideas of the Internet.
Kelle and some other librarians argue for the e-book vision set forth by E-Brary. E-Brary is starting a service that lets us users read books for free.
But it will charge about 25 cents a page when a person tries to print out material or copy and paste it into a different file or tries to download copy onto a computer.
Christopher Warnock，chief executive of E-Brarw, believes most consumers won’t want to buy entire books，only the parts that interest them.
“There’s not really a lot of good in owning an electronic file and having to store it and manage it.It doesn't make sense.”he said.
5.How do publishers get money from the Net Library?
A.They get money from selling their books to the Net Libary.
B.They share the money with the Net Library.
C.They get money by cutting the cost of the books.
D.They get the money from the readers.
6.The underlined word“embraced”in the 3rd paragraph means .
A.taken something willingly B.held something tightly
C.disliked something badly D.tried out something hard
7.From the 2nd paragraph we can see consumers .
A.don’t care if they are charged money
B.enjoy the service of the Net Library
C.don’t like other people borrowing books
D.complain about the limited number of the new books
8.What does the last paragraph mean?
A.Net Library is not a good way for the consumers.
B.There is no need for consumers to have a whole book.
C.EBrary is not a good library for the consumers.
D.It’s reasonable to charge the consumers money for copying some pages.
Despite bankruptcies，lay off and tighter comsumers spending，a few femaleled businesses in Japan are developing well.
Shizue Hamada，52，set up a business in 1991 with eight other housewives-to care for the elderly and the physically disabled.
It wasn’t long before the Tasukeai Yui(mutual -aid group) earned a reputation for its excellent service. It now employs 200 staff and has 300 million yuan(US $2.4million)in annual sales.
The woman said their business has been successful because they provide what customrs really want.
These entrepreneurs are making use of a revalized and healthy demand for everyday basic items.
Bread，for instance，is in high demand．Business woman Meiko Tanaka，26，started selling high-quality bread over the Internet in 2000．“Bread is cheap，”she said.“We migh as well eat the bread baked using the the highest-quality ingredients.”
Five women—former office workers in their late 20s—have started the“OL Food Bureau of Investigation”to review restaurants on the Internet.OL means young office lady. It’s a common nickname in Japan．
Business is increasing rapidly．Membership for their online magazine has reached 26，000． Their non-professional comments seem to carry a lot of weight with consumers．This month the five women will be appearing on Japanese TV．
What all these female entrepreneurs have in common is a strong belief in their likes and dislikes，and confidence is their own sensibilities．
They find gaps in the market and fill them with products and services that they like or want.
Japanese women headed nearly 6 percent of all businesses in Japan at the end of June—up from 4.5 per cent in 1999．
These female—led micro—businesses are playing an increasingly large role in the economy by plugging the gap between supply and demand.
1.When talking about the businesswomen in Japan，the writer
A.thinks little of them
B.thinks that they will take the place of men in future
C.sings the praises of their abilities
D.is not sure of their future development
2.The passage mainly discusses .
A.Japanese women B.female-led businesses in Japan
C.how to earn a reputation D.Japanese economic development
3.The five women will be appearing on Japanese TV because .
A.thier comments have great influences on consumers
B.they have set up the first online magazine
C.they have arranged handreds of jobs for laidoff workers
D.they used to work in offices and are fairly beautiful
4.If an old man in Japan can't live by himsilf，he should turn to for hehp.
A.Tasukeai Yui B.Meiko Tanaka C.OL Food Bureau of lnvestigation D.entrepreneurs
The volcano is one of the most surprising frightening things of nature. Maybe you have seen pictures of these " fireworks " of nature. Sometimes when a volcano erupts, a very large wall of melted rock moves down the side of a mountain. It looks like a " river of fire". Sometimes volcanoes explode, throwing the melted rock and ashes high into the air. But where does this melted rock come from?
The earth is made up of many layers (层). The top layer that we see is called the crust. Under the crust are many layers of hard rock. But far, far beneath the crust the rock is so hot that it is soft. In some places it even melts. The melted rock is called magma. Sometimes the magma breaks out to the surface through cracks (裂缝) in the crust. These cracks are volcanoes.
Most people think of mountains when they think of volcanoes. But not every mountain is a volcano. A volcano is simply the opening in the earth from which the magma escapes. The hot magma, or lava as it is called, cools and builds up on the surface of the earth. Over thousands of years, this pile of cooled lava can grow to be very, very big. For example, the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro, is a volcano. It rises more than 16,000 feet above the ground around it.
8. The underlined word "erupts" means ______.
A. moves down B. breaks away C. builds up D. suddenly throws out lava
9. Which words in the passage have the same meaning as "melted rock"?
A. volcano and crust B. crust and hard rock
C. magma and lava D. volcano and magma
10. Which is the correct order of the layers of the earth (beginning with the top layer)?
A. crust — hard rock — magma — soft rock
B. crust — hard rock — soft rock — magma
C. agma — soft rock — hard rock — crust
D. volcano — cracks — magma — crust
11. The best title of the passage should be______.
A. The Volcano B. Kilimanjaro Volcano C. The Mountains D. The Melted Rock
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