专题02货币发展史、三星堆遗址-2024年中考英语最新时文热点专题训练

2024年中考英语最新时文热点专题训练

专题02《大英博物馆世界简史》列举的文物、披风、二战后着装、货币发展史、三星堆遗址

一、阅读理解

A

Can you imagine being able to learn about world history by looking at a coin with the head of Alexander the Great on it or a Chinese Ming dynasty banknote(钞票)? Or how about following mankind’s footsteps into modern culture by being able to see an Early Victorian tea set?

A History of the World in 100 Objects, a project by BBC and the British Museum, presents a history of the world through 100 items from the British Museum’s collection.

The objects, most of which are extremely valuable, have brought enjoyment to people all over the world. Those who are lucky enough to see the items in person are able to see the glory(辉煌) of history with their own eyes.

“These signals from the past speak of whole societies rather than single events, and tell of the world for which they were made, sometimes having meanings far beyond what their original(最初的)makers meant them to have,” Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, wrote in the project’s book I borrowed the book and read it. One item in particular stood out to me. It was a mechanical galleon(机械帆船)—a kind of clock. Its design is based on the great European ships that sailed across the sea in the 1500s. During that period of time, technology was developing at a fast pace, and owning a scientific product was fashionable. The clock, a combination of the growth of technology and the desire (欲望) to explore other lands, is a perfect symbol of that age.

1．Why does the writer mention the coin in Paragraph 1?

A．To show what ancient people used to buy things

B．To express why we should learn about world history.

C．To remind us that we can learn about history from old objects.

D．To compare it with a Chinese banknote.

2．According to MacGregor, what is the most valuable thing that the 100 objects tell us?

A．What they were made for.                      B．What society was like in the past.

C．How they were made.                            D．How their meanings have changed.

3．What might be a good title for this passage?

A．World History Seen in Ancient Items      B．The British Museum’s Collection

C．A Book about British History                 D．Valuable Objects of the World

B

Up, up, and away! How could a superhero fly through the sky and take down bad guys without a cape? But superheroes aren’t the first to wear this fashionable (时尚的) clothing. People have worn capes for a long time.

With most closing at the neck, any outer covering without sleeves (衣袖) can usually be called a cape. Cape styles have changed quite a lot, starting with those worn by the ancient Romans. They were fastened (扎着) or tied at the front. Or they were fixed at the shoulder with a small piece of metal. The ancient Romans wore capes for protecting the clothes from bad weather, providing warmth, and showing social position. As time went on, capes became more important in social position. For example, capes made with fur were worn by kings. Capes were also seen as part of senior soldiers’ uniforms. Once women began wearing them in the 1800s, however, the cape became more about fashion. The cape remained a favorite in women’s fashion until the 1950s.

When Superman came on the scene in the 1930s, his red cape was seen as a superhero’s uniform. It was always connected with bravery and physical power. Capes had another interesting reason for appearing on superheroes. Since most superheroes first appeared in comic (漫画) books, comic book artists could use a cape to show which way and how quickly a character was moving. When you saw a superhero’s cape sticking straight, you knew he was flying as fast as he could to save the day.

4．Picture _______ shows the meaning of the underlined sentence.

A．   B．       C．          D．

5．According to the passage, the ancient kings wore capes mainly for _______.

A．marking the social position                    B．keeping warm in cold days

C．protecting the clothes inside                   D．showing the physical power

6．From Paragraph 1 and 2, we can learn that _______.

A．superman is the first to wear the cape in the history

B．people wear capes inside clothes to provide warmth

C．capes used to be worn by senior soldiers as well

D．capes were popular with women before the 1800s

7．Comic book artists use a cape to show _______.

A．how much the superhero has changed in style

B．how fashionable the superhero’s clothing was

C．how important the superhero was in social position

D．how fast the superhero flew and moved in the sky

8．This text mainly talks about _______.

A．the history of capes                               B．the wearers of capes

C．the styles of capes                                 D．the importance of capes

C

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。

What is fashion all about? Why is it so important in our lives? What does it say about us?     9     But we can learn a lot about people and their culture from the clothes they wear.

During World War Ⅱ, women in England and America wore simple clothes. This was because many men were away at war. And women had to work at men’s jobs. After work, women wore short, straight skirts because the government needed all the extra material for the war.

    10     The French designer Christian Dior started designing clothes that were very feminine (女性化). The dresses were long and full and designers used a lot of cloth to make them. Women in England, America and all over the world loved these dresses.     11   

Later, women grew tired of wearing long, full dresses, though. Skirts started getting shorter and tighter (紧的) once again. By the 1960s, teenagers, especially in England and America, began wearing mini-skirts. Mini-shirts showed women’s legs above the knees for the first time in history.     12   

By the early 1970s, fashion changed once again, and skirts became longer. Trousers also became very fashionable in the 1970s, and for the first time, women started wearing trousers suits when they went out.     13     They said they looked like men! Another problem was that men wore their hair long during this period. And people complained it was difficult to tell the difference between men and women.

Today many different types of clothes are in fashion for both sexes (性别). In fact, many clothes are suitable for both men and women.

A．Soon women of all ages wore mini-skirts.

B．Many people didn’t like to see women in trousers.

C．It made them feel very good to wear such feminine clothes.

D．After World War Ⅱ, fashion in these countries changed greatly.

E．For most people, the word “fashion” just means clothes.

D

History is important to study because it is essential for all of us in understanding ourselves and the world around us. And in my opinion, studying history benefits beyond history itself, because it helps develop and improve our skills through studying history.

We can improve our reading skills by reading texts from different periods. Language has changed and developed over time and so has the way people write and express themselves. We can also improve our writing skills through learning not to just repeat what someone else said, but to analyze information from multiple sources and come up with our own conclusions. It’s two birds with one stone—better writing and critical thinking!

There are so many sources of information out in the world. Finding a decisive truth for many topics just doesn’t exist. What was a victory for one group was a great loss for another—we get to create our own opinions of these events.

History gives us the opportunity to learn from others’ past mistakes. It helps us understand many reasons why people may behave the way they do. As a result, it helps us become smarter as decision-makers.

In the study of history we will need to conduct research. This gives us the opportunity to look at two kinds of sources—primary (written at the time) and secondary sources (written about a time period, after the fact). This practice can teach us how to decipher between reliable and unreliable sources.

There are numbers and data to be learned from history. In terms of patterns: patterns in population, disappearances during times of war, and even in environmental factors. These patterns that are found help clarify why things happened as they did.

It’s incredibly important to learn to question the quality of the information and “history” we are learning. Keep these two questions in mind as we read through information: How do I know what I’m reading are facts and accurate information? Could they be the writer’s opinions?

14．The author thinks history helps make good decisions because ________.

A．we can learn from others’ past mistakes

B．we can meet many sources of information

C．we can look at primary and secondary sources

D．we can create our own opinions of the past events

15．What does the underlined word “decipher” in Para 5 mean?

A．put out             B．break out                C．make out                D．try out

16．Why are the two questions mentioned in the last of the passage?

A．To remind readers to read historical novels carefully.

B．To warn readers not to read too many history books.

C．To emphasize the quality of the information on history.

D．To make readers doubt about the reality of history.

17．What is the best title of the passage?

A．How to study history                           B．Why is history important

C．Reliable data of history                        D．Value of studying history

二、完形填空

Did you know that chocolate comes from a tree? The cacao tree gets large brown fruits called cocoa pods（荚）, and    18    the pods are cocoa beans. To make chocolate,    19    we leave the beans in the dark for a few days, and then    20    them in the sun. After that, the beans are pressed hard until a dark liquid（液体）comes out. That liquid is pressed    21    it separates and the result is cocoa butter（可可脂）, which can be turned into chocolate. What a lot of work just to make a piece of chocolate!

The first people to    22    cacao trees for chocolate were the Mayans, who lived in Mexico thousands of years ago. They used chocolate to make a special    23    that they used during their religious（宗教的）services. When people from Spain came to Mexico, they discovered the drink. They took chocolate home with them, and soon the passion for chocolate    24    all over Europe!

Wouldn’t you like to have a cacao tree in your    25    so you could have your own special supply chocolate? Well, don’t even think about it! Cacao trees can only grow in rainforests, where it is very hot and    26    all the time. What a pity!

Chocolate is good for you as long as you don’t eat it all day long! It has iron（铁）, which is good for your body! But remember where there is chocolate, there is     27    ! So don’t eat too much, and remember to brush your teeth after you eat it!

18．A．outside            B．around                   C．besides                   D．inside

19．A．first                B．most                      C．last                        D．though

20．A．clean               B．try                         C．dry                        D．enjoy

21．A．until               B．unless                    C．because                  D．whether

22．A．suggest            B．grow                      C．train                       D．water

23．A．water              B．fruit                       C．wealth                    D．drink

24．A．served             B．spread                    C．lived                      D．considered

25．A．garden            B．room                     C．kitchen                   D．classroom

26．A．cloudy            B．snowy                    C．foggy                     D．rainy

27．A．salt                 B．juice                      C．sugar                      D．honey

三、翻译

阅读下面的短文, 将短文中画线部分的句子译成中文。

An almost complete gold mask was found at the Sanxingdui Ruins（遗址）in Guanghan, Sichuan province recently. The discovery was along with more than 500 other cultural relics（文物）from the site, including some gold pieces in the shape of birds, ivory, some bone arts and silk as well. A．Some of them dated back over 3200 years. Without doubt, the gold mask is very important. As thin as a piece of paper, the mask is 37.2 cm wide and 16.5 cm high. It is the biggest complete gold mask found so far at Sanxingdui Ruins.

B．The Sanxingdui Ruins were first discovered in 1929.As one of the world’s greatest discoveries of the 20th century, they are believed to be the remains of the ancient Shui Kingdom.

28．

29．

四、任务型阅读

A

阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题。

Today, we consider zero as a common number. Few of us know zero has an unusual history. Yes, zero is, in fact, very different from the other numbers. At first, there were only the numbers one to nine. Zero first appeared in India about 2, 000 years ago. Many other ancient cultures had been marking nothingness. However, the ancient Indians were the first to consider nothingness a number.

Little by little, communication around the world became more often. Finally, zero was brought out of India. It was accepted as an Arabic (阿拉伯的) number. During the 13th century, Arabic numbers were introduced into the West. However, people in the west had been used to using Roman numbers (I, V, X, etc.). Arabic numbers were not popular. This was especially true for zero. Since there is no zero in Roman numbers, people found it hard to accept the new number. It was quite easy for dishonest business people to turn a “0” into a “6”or a “9”. Some people, therefore, believed zero would cause much trouble. Zero was also considered an unlucky number. That’s because it is close to negative numbers — the idea of having debts (债务). People in Florence and Italy even weren’t allowed to use zero citywide.

It was not until the 15th century that zero and the other Arabic numbers were fully accepted. Business people played an important role. Just think about doing calculations (计算) using Roman numbers. You can hardly do any trade, can you?

回答下列五个问题，每题答案不超过5个词。

30．How many numbers were there before zero was invented?

31．Who was the earliest people to use the number “zero”?

32．When did Arabic numbers appear in the West?

33．What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 3 refer to (指)?

34．What does the article mainly talk about?

B

根据短文内容完成表格，每空一词。

Have you ever heard of English Language Day? It was first celebrated on 23rd April, 2010. It was chosen on such a day because Shakespeare was born on April 23rd, 1564. The purpose of it is to tell people the history, culture and achievements of the language.

The story of the English language began when Germanic tribes (部落) invaded (入侵) Britain and brought their languages with them. Later, Scandinavian Vikings invaded and lived with their languages too. In 1066, Norman-French became the language of the official activity.

By Shakespeare’s time, modern English had developed. Printing had been invented and people had to start to agree on “correct” spelling and vocabulary (词汇). In both 1500s and 1600s, the English language was going through a lot of changes. And Shakespeare’s creativity in the language meant he gave hundreds of new words and phrases that are still used today. Shakespeare influenced modern English greatly.

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参考答案

1．C    2．B    3．A

【导语】本文是一篇说明文，主要讲了《大英博物馆世界简史》这个项目列举的文物和其背后的历史意义。

1．推理判断题。根据“Can you imagine being able to learn about world history by looking at a coin with the head of Alexander the Great on it or a Chinese Ming dynasty banknote(钞票)? Or how about following mankind’s footsteps into modern culture by being able to see an Early Victorian tea set?”可知，你能想象通过看一枚刻有亚历山大大帝头像的硬币或中国明代纸币，就能了解世界历史吗？或者跟随人类的脚步走进现代文化，看看早期维多利亚时代的茶具怎么样？作者提到这些古物件是为了提醒我们可以从古老的物品中学习历史。故选C。

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