In the early  nineteenth century , people did not use stamps(郵票). They had to pay postage(郵費)
when they received letters. Sometimes they didn’t want to receive a letter at all, because they had to pay
money for it . They were unhappy about this. The postage was high at that time, because the post offices
had to send many people to get the postage.
     Rowland Hill was a school teacher in England. He was the first to think of using stamps in the 1850s.
He thought it would be much easier for people to use stamps. They could go to the post offices to buy
stamps and put them on envelopes(信封) before they sent the letters. The post offices could just put seals(印記) on the stamps so that people could not use the stamps again. In this way, the post offices did not
need to send postmen to get the postage. It only needed fewer postmen to send letters.
1. Did people use stamps in the early nineteenth century?
    _______________________________________________________________________
2. What did the people have to do when they received letters?
    _______________________________________________________________________
3. Why was the postage high at that time?
    _______________________________________________________________________
4. When did Rowland Hill think of using stamps?
    _______________________________________________________________________
5. What did the post offices put seals on the stamps for?
    _______________________________________________________________________

      Every country has its own way of cooking. American people have their way of cooking, don't they?
      Most people in the United States like fast food, but if you think that American people don't like
cooking, you are wrong. It's true that most Americans eat fast food for their breakfast and lunch, but they
also think cooking is interesting. Parents see the importance of teaching their children how to cook, and
most Americans say that home cooked meals are the best.
      Americans have their own way of cooking. For example, baking  (烘烤) is the most popular way of
cooking in America. Most American families have ovens. American cooks pay attention to (注意) the
balance of food. In planning a big meal, they try to cook meat, a few vegetables, some bread and often
some sweet food. They also like to make the meal look beautiful. There are many kinds of food of different colors, so the meal is healthy and looks beautiful, too.

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，選擇最佳答案。

1. Most Americans       .

A. don't like cooking                    
B. cook food in the morning
C. eat fast food                          
D. like having a picnic

2. Most Americans       . 

A. don't eat fast food for their breakfast or lunch
B. have fast food for their breakfast or lunch
C. like to eat fast food for supper
D. don't have breakfast or lunch

3.         is the most popular way of cooking in the USA.

A. Baking            
B. Cutting        
C. Frying      
D. Boiling

4. How does an American cook balance different kinds of food?   

A. He cooks a lot of meat.
B. He cooks meat, vegetables, bread and sweet food for a big meal. 
C. He makes the food delicious.   
D. He cooks a lot of vegetable. 
                                                                                                                                  

5. Which is right according to the passage? 

A. The meal looks beautiful because the food is in different colors. 
B. American people do not like to cook food at home.          
C. American parents do not like to teach their children to cook.    
D. Most people in the United States don't like fast food at all.  

       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 31st,
AD 2000",and was kept in the Colorado College Library.
       One hundred years later, on the appointed (約定)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(資源).  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

    Dragon-Boat Festival is also called the Duanwu Fes-tival. It is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth
monthaccording to the Chinese calendar. People hold the drag-on-boat races to remember Qu Yuan,
one of the greatestpoets in China. Now we read his poem Li Sao which wasfilled with deep love for his
country.    
    Qu Yuan was borm in Zigui of Hubei Province over2,200 years ago. Qu Yuan was an honest ministry
of theState Chu, during the Warring States period ( 475-22IBC). He tried to make the country stronger,
but hefailed because some bad officials were against him strongly. At last, he was very disappointed. He
ended his life by throwing himself into the Mi Luo River. It was said that people jumped down from boats
to try to save him at that time. But it was too late. In order to keep the hungry fish away from his body,
people threw rice into the river.    
    We can watch the dragon-Boat race and eat a kind of Chinese food named Zongzi during the Dragon
boat Festival.

根據(jù)所給材料內(nèi)容回答問題。
1. When is Dragon-Boat Festival?
      ________________________________                ____
2. Where was Qu Yuan born?
      ____________________________________________
3. How did Qu Yuan kill himself?
      ____________________________________________
4. Why did people throw rice into the river?
      ____________________________________________
5. What are the two important things on the Dragon Boat   Festival?
      ____________________________________________