Five thousand years ago, people thought that illnesses were the result of evil living in human bodies. They also believed that gods and superior spirits were punishing people through diseases. The practice of magic and witchcraft (巫术) was popular among many tribes, and charms (符咒) and images of gods to drive away the evil spirits were often used.

People also started using herbal(草药的) medicine and by trial and error (反复试验，不断摸索) learned how to cure stomachaches and fevers. They had a witch doctor in the community. He would treat people with simple herbal medicine and magic. Early medicine was practiced the way north tribal Indians did hundreds of years ago and the way some tribes practice it today.

The ancient Chinese believed that the body was ruled by two forces, which they called “yin” and “yang”. The body would become ill if one force overcame the other and the balance between them was changed. Acupuncture (针刺疗法) was the way to bring back the balance between the two.

Also sand painting was an important part of Navaho medicine. The medicine man paints loosely upon the floor of an earth-covered house, where the ceremony takes place, or on a buckskin (鹿皮) or a piece of cloth, by letting the colored sands flow through his fingers with control and skill.

Ancient Mesopotamians believed that diseases come either from an evil spirit or a physical problem, such as worms. The doctor would decide from which source the illness has come from and send the patient either to a herbalist or to a witch doctor.

Egyptians had a very advanced medicine. They would sometimes rely on the god’s power to receive healing, but they also treated illnesses and operated on minor health problems like snake bites. They sucked the blood from the wound and bound the affected limb to stop the poison from spreading.

66. The practice of magic and witchcraft was popular in ancient times because ________ .

A. people could avoid being punished by gods and superior spirits by doing this.

B. people thought they could avoid getting diseases in this way.

C. people believed the evil spirits could be driven away in this way.

D. people often got diseases and this way was very effective.

67. How many places are mentioned where early medicine existed in the passage?

A. Three.     B. Four.      C. Five.      D. Six.

68. From Paragraph 2 we can learn that ________.

A. people can cure lots of diseases by combining herbal medicine and magic.

B. herbal medicine is so effective that it can cure all kinds of diseases.

C. witch doctors treated people only with herbal medicine.

D. people tried lots of times to cure illnesses with herbal medicine.

69. Ancient Chinese people believed that ________.

A. diseases were the result of evil living in human bodies.

B. people would fall ill if the balance in human bodies was disturbed.

C. a medicine man could cure people’s diseases by sand painting.

D. diseases not only came from evil spirits but also were physical problems

70. The passage mainly tells us ________.

A. why ancient people became ill.

B. about the most advanced medicine in ancient times.

C. about the development of herbal medicine.

D. how ancient people cured their diseases.

 

Millions of people all over the world use the word OK. In fact, some people say the word is used more often than any other word in the world. OK means all right or acceptable. It expresses agreement or approval.

    Some people say it came from the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaw(乔克托语). The Choctaw word “okeh” means the same as the American word okay. Experts say early explorers in the American West spoke the Choctaw language in the nineteenth century.

But many people doubt this. Language expert Allen Walker Read wrote about the word “OK” in reports published in the 1960s. He said the word began being used in the 1830s.    Some foreign-born people wrote “ all correct” as “o-l-l-k-o-r-r-e-c-t”, and used the letters OK. Other people say a railroad worker named Obadiah Kelly invented the word long ago. They said he put the first letters of his name---O and K---on each object people gave him to send on the train. 

  The organization supported Martin Van Buren for president in 1840. They called their group the OK club. The letters were taken from the name of the town where Martin was born---Old Kinderhook, New York.

Then there is the expression A-OK. It is a space-age expression. It was used in 1961 during the flight of astronaut Alan Shepard. He was the first American to be launched into space. His flight ended when his spacecraft landed in the ocean, as planned. Shepard reported, “Everything is A-OK.”    One story says it was first used during the early days of the telephone to tell an operator that a message had been received.

There are also funny ways to say okay.    These expressions were first used in the 1930s. Today, a character on the American television series “The Simpsons” says it another way. He says okely-doke.

A. Some people say okey-dokey or okey-doke.

B. Still others say a political organization invented the word.

C. Therefore, it has become popular in that area from then on.

D. But many experts don’t agree on what the expression means.

E. Still, language experts do not agree about where the word came from.

F. It was a short way of writing a different spelling of the word “all correct”.

G. However, some experts say the expression did not begin with the space age.

请根据上下文内容，将文中划线部分译成汉语或者英语。

The police have stepped up their search for a fifteen-year-old boy named Justin Foster. 61 He has gone missing since last Friday night. His parents were worried when he didn’t show up for lunch. So they called the police for help.

62人们对他的消失持不同的意见。Kelly, Justin’s younger sister, did see him return home. 63 她听到他播放了他最喜欢的CD。But then she saw a large spaceship flying outside and afterwards she heard Justin shout. 64 She thought his brother must have been taken away by aliens. According to Mavis Wood, Justin was possibly taken by aliens. She once had the same experience. Luckily she returned home without any injuries.

When asked about the possibility that Justin was taken by aliens, Detective Sam Peterson, who has taken charge of the case, didn’t dismiss it. However, they won’t give up. 65 They have been looking into other possibilities as well until they find hard evidence.

 

短文改错

  It is five years now since I graduate from No.3 High

School．Last Saturday，the class that I was on held a

get-together，which took us a long time prepare．It

was indeed not easy to get in the touch with everybody

and set a well time for all of us．We all enjoyed

this precious day greatly，remember the time we spent

together and the people they were familiar with．It was

a pity which some of us were not present as they had

gone abroad for further studies，but they called back

or sent greeting card from different places．

 

Adults（成年人）usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.

         It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:

         An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg（乞讨）. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.

         His house was dirty, and a stench (恶臭) came out of the house and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.

         The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire (百万富翁). They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.

         But the old man said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.

         Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant (有意义的) for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than（除了）staying focused on（专心于）the things we enjoy doing.

1.The underlined part in the first paragraph may mean ______.

A. I get tired of learning my subjects

B. I fail to listen to lessons attentively

C. I go in the wrong direction of life

D. I wouldn’t like to go to school

2.The neighbor called the police because ______.

A. the old man kept begging money from them every day

B. there was something dangerous in the old man’s house

C. the old man wouldn’t buy tickets for the train

D. they couldn’t bear the smell from the old man’s house

3.When the old man knew he was a millionaire, he ______.

A. remained calm           B. became excited  

C. felt worried          D. became nervous

4.What lesson do we learn from the story?

A. Make great plans for your life.          

B. Keep on doing what you like.

C. Do something that is good to society.     

D. Depend on yourself rather than others.