16中国历史故事（一）-2023年中考英语热点时文阅读（含答案解析）

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2023年中考英语 热点时文阅读

16中国历史故事（一）

01

The brush pen, one of the “Four Treasures of the Study”, was invented thousands of years ago. However, the oldest pen was just a stick or a piece of bamboo. It was difficult for people to write well on thin silk.

It is said that Meng Tian, a general of the Kingdom (王国) Qin, improved the pen. When Meng was leading an army to fight against the Kingdom of Chu, he had to report the situation to his king in time. But his pen was too hard and caused him much trouble, so he was thinking of ways to improve it.

One day after hunting (狩猎), Meng made his way home with some wild rabbits on the horse back. Fat and heavy, one rabbit’s tail left a long trail (痕迹) on the ground when they moved on. Suddenly a good idea came to his mind when he saw it, “If I tie the rabbit’s hair to a stick, would it be easy to write with?”

On arriving home, he tied the rabbit’s hair to a stick and tried writing with it. But the rabbit’s hair was too smooth to write well and wasted a lot of silk. Meng was so disappointed that he threw away his “invention” into a stone hole in the yard.

However, Meng never gave up and kept trying all the time. A few rainy days later, he happened to find his “invention” fatter in a stone hole. He picked it up with hope. The brush worked beautifully on silk. It turned out that the special water had cleaned the oil from the hair. Meng succeeded at last.

Thanks to Meng, the brush pen is playing a key role in Chinese culture. Today, students are taught to use the brush pens in school. It makes their life more colorful and helps them better understand Chinese culture.

1．Why did Meng Tian want to improve the pen?

A．Because the king asked him to do so.

B．Because he wanted to be an inventor.

C．Because he didn’t have silk to write on.

D．Because the pen brought him much trouble.

2．When did Meng think of the good idea in Paragraph 3?

A．Before hunting animals.       

B．When he saw the trail.

C．During cleaning the hair.

D．After he wrote a report.

3．Which is the right order of improving the brush pen?

a．The brush pen could write well.

b．Meng tied the rabbit’s hair to a stick.

c．The special water washed the oil away.

d．Meng dropped the stick into a stone hole.

A．b-d-a-c                   B．d-b-a-c                   C．b-d-c-a                   D．c-d-b-a

4．How can the students understand Chinese culture better?

A．By learning to use brush pens.   

B．By playing a role.

C．By planting more bamboo.

D．By inventing things.

5．What can we learn from the passage?

A．Make friends with animals. 

B．Value fantastic memories.

C．Keep trying and never give up. 

D．Build a peaceful world.

02

Shang Yang was a statesman of the Qin state (秦国). He was very talented and forward-thinking. He worked out a series of reform plans for the state, including focusing on farming and giving rewards to soldiers who were successful during war.

But at the beginning, these reforms were not easily carried out. Only a few people in the state understood Shang’s talent and advantages of his plans. Most people had little trust and confidence in him.

To solve this problem, Shang came up with an idea. He ordered some soldiers to put a thin wooden pole at the south gate of the Qin state capital. This attracted many people. Then, in front of the crowd, he said loudly, “People of Qin, here is my offer. Whoever takes this pole to the north gate will get a reward of 10 gold pieces.”

It was a simple task and the reward was big. Some time passed and no one stepped forward. They all thought that Shang was joking.

Hearing no answer, Shang stepped forward and said, “I will increase the reward to 50 gold pieces.”

This offer was even more unbelievable. Finally, a man from the crowd came forward to take the pole. He put the pole on his shoulders and walked to the north gate. True to his word, Shang paid the man 50 gold pieces.

Word spread about what had happened in the capital. Soon, the people were saying that Shang was a man of his word. When he began promoting his reforms, the people followed and did not question him.

Under the reforms, Qin grew strong and unified all the states, becoming the first empire of China.

6．Which of the following is TRUE about Shang Yang’s reforms?

A．Shang Yang’s reforms were the best ones at that time.

B．Shang Yang’s reforms helped China become a bigger country.

C．Shang Yang’s reforms focused on farming and education.

D．Shang Yang’s reforms were introduced to other states.

7．Many people were attracted but no one stepped forward after hearing Shang Yang’s word because ________.

A．the task was too difficult to finish

B．they were not satisfied with the reward

C．they couldn’t believe what Shang said

D．they didn’t know how to finish the task

8．To convince people to trust him, Shang Yang ________.

A．gave a reward to anyone who supported him

B．introduced his reforms at the south gate of the capital

C．urged many young men to join the army

D．showed that he could keep his promises

9．What does the story mainly want to tell us?

A．Money talks.

B．Keeping promises can earn people’s trust.

C．Earning people’s trust is never easy.

D．Reforms are important for a country to develop.

03

To Borrow Arrows with Thatched Boats

One day, Zhou Yu ordered Zhuge Liang to make 100,000 arrows（箭）in ten days. Zhou Yu thought it was impossible, but Zhuge Liang said, “Give me three days.” Then he asked Lu Su to lend him 20 boats, and the soldiers put some scarecrows（稻草人）in line on the boats. He reminded Lu Su not to tell Zhou Yu what was happening.

When Lu Su came again to see Zhuge Liang, he found nothing unusual. Nothing happened on the second day, either. In the small hours（凌晨）of the third day, Zhuge Liang invited Lu Su for a boat ride. The 20 boats were tied together with strong ropes. Zhuge’s fleet went towards the camp of Cao Cao. The surface of the river was covered with thick mist（雾）all over. People could hardly see each other on the river. When Zhuge’s fleet got close to the Cao camp before dawn（黎明）, Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to shout and beat drums heavily to pretend an attack. But Zhuge and Lu Su only sat inside one boat drinking wine to enjoy themselves.

As soon as the Cao camp heard the shouting and drum beating, they mistook it for a surprise attack by the Zhou Yu camp. Since they could see nobody on the river, they had to order 3,000 soldiers to shoot arrows to stop the unexpected attack. The front of the scarecrows was quickly full of arrows. After a while, Zhuge Liang had his fleet turned around to get the other side of the scarecrows to face the Cao camp. When both sides were full of arrows, the day broke. Zhuge Liang ordered his soldiers to return. The soldiers shouted in excitement, “Thank you, Cao Cao, for your arrows.” After they got back to their camp, they collected more than 100,000 arrows in total from the scarecrows.

10．How many days did Zhuge Liang need to make 100,000 arrows?

A．One day.                B．Two days.               C．Three days.             D．Ten days.

11．The underlined word “feet” probably means _________ in Chinese.

A．船帆                      B．甲板                      C．船浆                      D．船队

12．Who created the idea to get the arrows?

A．Zhou Yu.                B．Zhuge Liang.          C．Lu Su.                    D．Cao Cao.

13．The soldiers in the Cao camp shot arrows because _________.

A．the Zhou Yu camp started an attack

B．they could see each other on the river

C．they mistook the shouting and beating for a surprise attack

D．Lu Su beat the drums

14．How did Zhou Yu probably feel after Zhuge Liang returned with over 100,000 arrows?

A．Surprised.              B．Bored.                   C．Tired.                     D．Lonely.

04

请认真阅读下面短文, 并根据短文内容回答问题。

According to some old Chinese stories, there once was an ancient emperor named Shennong. At that time, people could not tell the difference between medicinal and poisonous （有毒的）plants. When they got sick, there was no medicine to treat their illnesses. Many sick people could only wait for death.

To save his people, Shennong decided to find and test out different plants. He and his followers set out on a journey in search of medicinally effective plants. Once, they saw a large forest on a high cliff （悬崖）from a distance. There must be many different kinds of plants, but they couldn’t find a way to the cliff. Suddenly, they saw some monkeys climbing along the vines and trees hanging down from the cliff. Shennong was inspired by the scene. He asked his followers to cut down the tree trunks and vines. Together they built scaffold （脚手架）, with its help, they climbed to the cliff and collected many valuable plants.

Each time the team found a new type of plant, Shennong would taste it himself. Some plants made him sleepy. Some caused him to suffer pains in his stomach. Some made him tremble （颤抖） all over. After searching and testing over a long period of time, he and his followers discovered hundreds of medicinal plants.

As they continued their search, the team found a plant with small yellow flowers on a mountain. When a young man reached for it, the plant moved like a worm. Shennong picked off one piece from the plant in order to taste it. Other people tried to stop him, but Shennong said calmly, “It looks like a medicinal plant. I have to test it, or some people may misuse it.”

Suddenly, Shennong’s face turned pale and he fell on the ground. Blood flowed from his mouth and nose. Even after he was given the leaves from other medicinal plants, he was still not able to recover. The emperor soon took his last breath. People covered him with thousands of flowers. From then on, they called him the “Emperor of Medicine”.

根据短文内容回答问题

15．What could many people do when they fell ill when Shennong was the emperor?

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16．Why did Shennong decide to find and test out different plants?

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17．How did they climb to the cliff and collect valuable plants?

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18．What was special about the plant with small yellow flowers?

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19．How do you like Shennong?（请自拟一句话作答）

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05

Modesty (谦逊) is a valuable quality in many cultures around the world. In China, this is no different. However, the phrase “毛遂自荐” seems to disagree with this.

During the Warring States Period, the Qin army marched (进军) on Handan. Seeing that Handan was in danger, Prince Pingyuan asked for help from the state of Chu. He wanted to pick 20 talented people to go with him. However, he could only find 19 people who were good enough. Then, a man named Mao Sui volunteered.

Prince Pingyuan looked at Mao Sui with doubt. “How long have you been here with me?” “Three years,” Mao Sui answered. “I hear that a person with talent is like an awl (锥子) in a cloth bag. Its sharp point will soon pierce through the bag. You’ve been here for a long time, but I haven’t seen any of your achievements. Maybe you don’t have any talent.” said Prince Pingyuan.

“What I’m asking you now is to put me into that bag. If you do that, I will pierce through it. But not only the point—the whole awl,” Mao Sui said confidently.

Impressed, Prince Pingyuan allowed Mao to join his team, and Mao proved very helpful. Now the phrase “Mao Sui recommending himself ” is used to describe someone who volunteers to do a task.

However, there is a fine line between self-confidence and arrogance (傲慢) . It’s important to believe in yourself, but a strong ego (自我) can harm your career and professional relationships. So we recommend letting your work speak for itself.

根据短文内容，回答下列问题

20．When did the Qin army march on Handan?

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21．Where did Mao Sui come from?

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22．How long did Mao Sui been with Prince Pingyuan?

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23．What is the phrase “Mao Sui recommending himself” used to describe now?

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24．What do you think of Mao Sui?

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参考答案

1．D    2．B    3．C

【导语】本文讲述了蒙恬发明毛笔的历史故事。

1．细节理解题。根据“But his pen was too hard and caused him much trouble, so he was thinking of ways to improve it.”可知，蒙恬想改进笔的原因是当时的笔给他带来了很多麻烦。故选D。

2．细节理解题。根据“one rabbit’s tail left a long trail (痕迹) on the ground when they moved on. Suddenly a good idea came to his mind when he saw it”可知，当他看到兔子尾巴在地上留下的痕迹时，他想出了好主意。故选B。

3．细节理解题。根据“On arriving home, he tied the rabbit’s hair to a stick…Meng was so disappointed that he threw away his “invention” into a stone hole in the yard…It turned out that the special water had cleaned the oil from the hair. Meng succeeded at last.”可知，正确的顺序是b. 蒙恬把兔子的毛发绑在一根棍子上；d. 蒙恬把棍子扔进了一个石洞里；c. 这种特殊的水把油冲掉了；a. 这支毛笔写起来很好用。即b-d-c-a，故选C。

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