18．
Entering a university is an important part of a person's life．Today，many people go to study and train for a future job in subjects like law，medicine or education．But the university is not a modern invention．It has a history that is over a thousand years．
The world's oldest university，AL-Azhar，is in Cario（开罗），Egypt．It was first built as a mosque（清真寺） for religion in A．D.972．A few years later，learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque．They read and talked about the subject of law．Around 988，the leaders of the city decided to open up a school for higher learning and the University of AL-Azhar was founded（成立）．
At AL-Azhar，there were many university‘firsts'．Different subjects were set up．The earliest subjects taught at AL-Azhar were law and religion．In a course，students read and studied with the teacher，but there was also free discussion．Often，students and teachers talked about a topic，and there was no‘right'answer．Finally，famous teachers from around the world came to AL-Azhar to teach and do deep studies on the subjects they were interested in．At the university，people studied the past，but it was also a place for sharing new ideas with others．
Over a thousand years later，AL-Azhar is still an important university in the world．Its library keeps more than 250，000of the world's oldest and most valuable books．Today，many of the world's most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at AL-Azhar．
41．AL-Azhar was first built forB．
A．education
B．religion
C．a meeting
D．law
42．Which of the following are the earliest subjects taught in the University of AL-Azhar？A
A．Religion and law．
B．Education and medicine．
C．Free discussion．
D．History and tradition．
43．Which order is right according to the text？D
①Then the leaders of the city decided to open up a school for higher learning．
②A mosque was built in Cario in A．D.972．
③Teachers from around the world came to the university to study and teach．
④The mosque was used as a meeting place for teachers and learners．
A．②③①④
B．③④①②
C．②①③④
D．②④①③
44．Which of the following is TRUE about the University of AL-Azhar？D
A．Its library keeps the most books in the world．
B．AL-Azhar became a university in A．D.972．
C．The University of AL-Azhar was not a place to share ideas．
D．Now AL-Azhar is still one of the famous universities in the world．
45．What is mainly the article about？C
A．The importance of a university．
B．Different types of universities．
C．The world's oldest university．
D．The world's most famous university．
B．
C．
D．
