In 1901, the citizens of Colorado Springs in the USA decided to collect everyday items and to seal (封住）them in a special box. The box was marked “To be opened after midnight, December 31^st, AD 2000”，and was kept in the Colorado College Library.
One hundred years later, on the appointed (约定）day, 300 people gathered to watch the opening of the box. Many in the crowd were the descendants (后代）of people who had placed things inside the box.
When the box was opened after midnight, the things inside the box were in very good condition. There were newspapers, photos, diaries, name cards, family trees, books and lots of letters, including one written by Theodore Roosevelt, who became the President of the USA later that year. One of Roosevelt’s friends lived in Colorado Springs at that time.
Many of the letters were written to their descendants. They describe the hopes that the people of 1901 had for the people of the next century. At that time, Colorado Springs had just a few thousand people. Now nearly half a million people live there.
Colorado College Library has scanned the materials and put them on a website. Cecil Muller, whose grandfather had placed a collection of postcards in the box, said that the time capsule was a great treasure. “This is a wonderful educational resource(资源）.  We can learn so much about our history,”he said. “I never knew my grandfather, but now I feel very close to him. ”
【小题1】According to the passage, “time capsule” means ______.

A．a collection of clocks and watches

B．a machine for travelling through time

C．a collection of items for people to look at in the future

D．a collection of unwanted items

【小题2】Many of the letters in the time capsule talked about   .

A．the history of the town

B．the people who lived in the town

C．the politics of the USA

D．people’s hopes for the future

【小题3】Cecil Muller says that the time capsule ______.

A．helps him to get to know his grandfather

B．is worth a lot of money

C．brings back his memories of his grandfather

D．helps him to remember his younger day

When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, at the same time they usually talk about a lot of subjects, including children, men, careers and what’s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen---they can’t do both---and they don’t understand that women can. Besides(此外), women think that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships--not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring (盯着) at the screen.
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot(the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.) and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the small body language signals that show how the characters are feeling emotionally(情绪上). Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully because they want to keep relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to connect to the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a way of keeping relationship. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing(令人信服的)evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls’ mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to and looked at baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents reply to the brain differences of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech, we talk to them more. As a result, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short complaints in reply.
【小题1】While watching TV with others, women usually talk a lot because they ___________.

A．are afraid of silence with their families and friends

B．can both talk and watch the screen at the same time

C．think they can have a good time and develop relationships

D．have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands

【小题2】After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours so as to ___________.

A．experience the happy time again

B．keep a close tie with her

C．recommend her a new wonderful place

D．remind her of something forgotten

【小题3】What does the writer want to tell us most?

A．Women’s brains are better organized for language and communication.

B．Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men.

C．Men do not like talking because they believe more in facts.

D．Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking.

【小题4】Which of the following would be the BEST title for the passage?

A．Women Are Socially Trained to Talk

B．Talking Keeps Relationships

C．Women Love to Talk

D．Men Talk Differently from Women

What do you think are the most important inventions of the past 2,000 years? The TV? The printing? The telephone? Or the computer? A report shows that these are not the only important inventions. Here are four other important ones.

Paper is one of the most important inventions. You can’t have printing without paper. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented paper in China. Long before the printing and Internet, Cai Lun’s invention allowed us to write down information, stories and history.

One of the simplest (最简单) inventions to save life is the toilet. Before toilets, waste ran into the rivers from people’s houses. Illnesses were common (普通的) in big cities, and it was often difficult to find clean drinking water.

Animal food is another invention. Before the invention, most animals were killed every autumn because there was not enough food for them in the winter. After hay (干草) became a kind of common animal food, animals could live through the long winter.

Reading glasses is the fourth invention. People start getting far-sighted (远视) from the age of 45. Glasses mean that anyone can read, write and do “close work” after that age. Without glasses, the world would be difficult for the people above 45.

1.Cai Lun’s invention of paper makes it possible to ______.

A．have printing                           B．feed animals

C．drink clean water                       D．do “close work”

2.The invention of the toilet can stop people from ______.

A．saving water                           B．getting ill

C．living in big cities                        D．finding clean water

3.Why couldn’t the animals live through the winter?

A．It was very cold in winter.                 B．They didn’t have enough food to eat.

C．They had no drinking water.               D．They died of illness.

4.From the last paragraph we learn that ______.

A．all people need reading glasses

B．anyone must do “close work” after 45

C．reading glasses are useful

D．life is more difficult for the people under 45

 

In 1901, the citizens of Colorado Springs in the USA decided to collect everyday items and to seal (封住）them in a special box. The box was marked “To be opened after midnight, December 31^st, AD 2000”，and was kept in the Colorado College Library.

One hundred years later, on the appointed (约定）day, 300 people gathered to watch the opening of the box. Many in the crowd were the descendants (后代）of people who had placed things inside the box.

When the box was opened after midnight, the things inside the box were in very good condition. There were newspapers, photos, diaries, name cards, family trees, books and lots of letters, including one written by Theodore Roosevelt, who became the President of the USA later that year. One of Roosevelt’s friends lived in Colorado Springs at that time.

Many of the letters were written to their descendants. They describe the hopes that the people of 1901 had for the people of the next century. At that time, Colorado Springs had just a few thousand people. Now nearly half a million people live there.

Colorado College Library has scanned the materials and put them on a website. Cecil Muller, whose grandfather had placed a collection of postcards in the box, said that the time capsule was a great treasure. “This is a wonderful educational resource(资源）.  We can learn so much about our history,”he said. “I never knew my grandfather, but now I feel very close to him. ”

1.According to the passage, “time capsule” means ______.

A．a collection of clocks and watches

B．a machine for travelling through time

C．a collection of items for people to look at in the future

D．a collection of unwanted items

2.Many of the letters in the time capsule talked about   .

A．the history of the town

B．the people who lived in the town

C．the politics of the USA

D．people’s hopes for the future

3.Cecil Muller says that the time capsule ______.

A．helps him to get to know his grandfather

B．is worth a lot of money

C．brings back his memories of his grandfather

D．helps him to remember his younger day

 

What do you think are the most important inventions of the past 2,000 years? The TV? The printing? The telephone? Or the computer? A report shows that these are not the only important inventions. Here are four other important ones.
Paper is one of the most important inventions. You can’t have printing without paper. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented paper in China. Long before the printing and Internet, Cai Lun’s invention allowed us to write down information, stories and history.
One of the simplest (最简单) inventions to save life is the toilet. Before toilets, waste ran into the rivers from people’s houses. Illnesses were common (普通的) in big cities, and it was often difficult to find clean drinking water.
Animal food is another invention. Before the invention, most animals were killed every autumn because there was not enough food for them in the winter. After hay (干草) became a kind of common animal food, animals could live through the long winter.
Reading glasses is the fourth invention. People start getting far-sighted (远视) from the age of 45. Glasses mean that anyone can read, write and do “close work” after that age. Without glasses, the world would be difficult for the people above 45.
【小题1】Cai Lun’s invention of paper makes it possible to ______.

A．have printing	B．feed animals
C．drink clean water	D．do “close work”

【小题2】The invention of the toilet can stop people from ______.

A．saving water	B．getting ill
C．living in big cities	D．finding clean water

【小题3】Why couldn’t the animals live through the winter?

A．It was very cold in winter.	B．They didn’t have enough food to eat.
C．They had no drinking water.	D．They died of illness.

【小题4】From the last paragraph we learn that ______.

A．all people need reading glasses

B．anyone must do “close work” after 45

C．reading glasses are useful

D．life is more difficult for the people under 45