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Does a 600-year-old Chinese map prove that Christopher Columbus was not the first international explorer to navigate(航行) the New World?
In his book “Who Discovered America?”, published on Tuesday, author Gavin Menzies says the settling of North America by nonnative peoples is more complex than previously thought.
“The traditional story of Columbus discovering the New World is absolute fantasy. It’s fairy tales,” Menzies, 76, said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
However, not everyone is sold on the theory. It has been described as “Unreal” by critics, who say Menzies’ claims are impractical and not based in historical fact.
Menzies has primarily focused his studies on when and how North America was first explored. He also has enthusiastic supporters—his previous books have been best-sellers, and supporters of his theories have donated millions to his efforts, allowing him to hire a number of experts to join in his investigatons.
Menzies says that the Chinese map, found in a bookstore, was drew by Chinese navigator Zheng He and shows a detailed map of America dating back to 1418. That would place Zheng He’s efforts some 70 years ahead of Columbus. In fact, Menzies says Columbus used a copy of Zheng He’s map to plot his own voyage.
The map itself has been authenticated(鉴定), but there is currently no way of proving the map was based on images drafted in the 1400s. However, Menzies says that certain observations on the map, including descriptions of communities and other cultural landmarks in Peru, coincide with known data from that period. In addition, Menzies makes an even broader claim in his book, saying that Chinese sailors were the first to cross the Pacific Ocean 40,000 years ago. Menzies says there is DNA evidence to support his claim.
So how does Menzies believe the Chinese pulled off such a giant historical accomplishment thousands of years before anyone else?
“If you just go out in a plastic bathtub, the currents will just carry you there,” Menzies told the Mail. “They just came with the current; it’s as simple as that.”
Critics of Menzies point out that he holds no degrees or professional training as a historian. But the Daily Mail says he “can no longer be called an amateur” after his most recent efforts.
1. The first paragraph serves as a(n) .
A. comment B. introduction
C. summary D. example
2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. All people are not enthusiastic about the theory.
B. Not all people are surprised at the theory.
C. Not everyone wants to sell the theory.
D. Everybody believes the theory.
3. Critics of Menzies hold that Menzies .
A. is just playing a joke B. creates the map himself
C. is no longer an amateur D. has no academic background
4. According to Menzies, .
A. Zheng He once reached South America
B. Columbus discovered America in about 1490
C. Zheng He helped Columbus discover the New World
D. it was quite hard for Chinese to cross the Pacific Ocean
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—Chinese women's volleyball team proves that with hardships ______great success.
—Absolutely! Opportunities favor the prepared mind.
A.comes B.is coming C.will come D.are coming
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In 1990,22-year-old Christopher McCandless gave up his career plans，left behind everyone he knew，donated all his savings to charity，and went off on an adventure，hiking his way through America to Alaska．
Of course,this is an unusual story most college graduates would not do so. However，studies show that in teenage years, people are more likely to try out new experiences.For example，instead of working his way up the same organization like his grandfather did，a 15-year-old may dream about becoming a traveller一only to find in his early 20s that this attraction of new places is fading and change is less attractive．
The reason why people become less keen to change as they get older may be that people
generally have similar life patterns and demands．Most people aim to find a job and a partner. As they get older，they may have young children and elderly family members to look after. These responsibilities cannot be achieved without some degree of steadiness，which means that new experiences and ideas may not have a place in the person’s life．New experiences may bring excitement as well as insecurity,and so most people prefer to stay with the familiar.
However，not every individual is the same. A child may want to play a different game every day and get fed up if nothing changes at the kindergarten．Another may play with the same children and toys on every visit. Young children who avoid new experiences will grow up to be more traditional than others. Psychologist argue that those who have more open personalities as children are more open than others might be when they are older and that young men have a greater interest in novelty than women，although as they age，this desire for new experiences fades more quickly than it does in women．
1. The first paragraph serves as a(n） ．
A. introduction B．explanation
C. comment D. background
2.What does the author think is the key factor that prevents people trying out new experiences?
A. Age B. Partner
C. Responsibility D. Education
3.The underlined phrase“interest in novelty”most probably means ．
A. independence B. curiosity
C. security D.excitement
4.According to the passage, we can infer that_______.
A. a child who likes different games may not like to change after growing up
B. a teenager is not interested in a new start before graduation
C. women are more likely to try new things than men of the same age
D. as one gets older, he prefers the old patterns of life
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The character “duang” is so new that it does not even exist in the Chinese dictionary. But it has already spread like wildfire online in China, appearing more than 8 million times on China’s micro-blogging site Weibo, where it spawned a top-trending hashtag(标签) that drew 312,000 discussions among 15,000 users. On China’s biggest online search engine Baidu, it has been looked up almost 600,000 times. It’s been noticed in the West too, with Foreign Policy seeing it as a “break the internet” viral meme － like a certain Kirn Kardashian image, or a certain multicoloured dress.
But what does it mean? “Everyone’s duang-ing and I still don’t know what it means! As if it’s back to school for me,” said Weibo user Weileiweito. Another user asked: “Have you duang-ed today? My mind is full of duang duang duang.” “To duang or not to duang, that is the question,” wrote user BaiKut automan.
“Duang” seems to be an example of onomatopoeia(拟声词), a word that phonetically imitates a sound. It all seems to have started with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who in 2004 was featured in a shampoo commercial where he said famously defended his sleek, black hair using the rhythmical-sounding “duang”. The word resurfaced again recently after Chan posted it on his Weibo page. Thousands of users then began to flood Chan’s Weibo page with comments, coining the word in reference to his infamous shampoo appearance.
The word appears to have many different meanings, and there’s no perfect translation, but you could use it as an adjective to give emphasis to the word that follows it. A kitten might be “duang cute”, for example. Or you might be “very duang confused” by this blog.
For readers of Chinese characters, the Jackie Chan theme is also apparent from the quirky(古怪的) way in which the word is written: a combination of Chan’s Mandarin names.
1.How does the writer try to prove that Duang has already spread like wildfire online in China?
A. giving examples B. listing numbers
C. making comparisons D. offering quotations
2.Why does the author mention “a certain Kirn Kardashian image”?
A. to tell us “Duang” also draws attention in the West.
B. to tell us “Duang” is just like a certain image on a certain multicolored dress.
C. to tell us Foreign Policy doesn’t like “Duang”.
D. to tell us a certain Kim Kardashian image breaks the internet.
3. Which of the following statements about “duang is NOT true?
A. It came from Jackie chan’s commertial.
B. Weibo users created the word about his infamous shampoo appearance.
C. It was first used as an adjective to stress the word that follows it.
D. Many people are confused by the word.
4.What kind of people may not know the word “duang”?
A. the old who are over sixties
B. the young who are in fashion
C. a boy who has dropped out of school
D. a woman who never surfs the internet
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Mr. Smith recommended that she______ a lot of reading in Chinese.
A. do B. will do C. does D. doing
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The Diaoyu Islands _____ in Chinese maps since the 14th and 15th centuries.
A. have been included B. had been included
C. were included D. are included
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Nothing that he suggested _____ to be of any use.
| A．prove | B．proved | C．proving | D．to prove |
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The surprising experiment I am about to describe proves that air is all around you and that it proves down upon you. Air pressure is a wonderful force. When you swim underwater, you can feel water push down your body. The air all around you does the same. However, your body is so used to it that you do not notice this. The pressure is caused by a layer of air called the atmosphere. This layer surrounds the Earth, extending to about five kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
The following experiment is an easy one that you can do at home. But make sure that you are supervised, because you will need to use matches. Now foe the experiment！
What you need
·A hard-boiled egg without the shell
·A bottle with a neck slightly smaller than the egg
·A piece of paper
·A match
Metheod
1） Check that the paper will sit firmly on the neck of the bottle.
2） Tear the paper into strips and put the strips into the bottle.
3） Light the paper by dropping a burning match into the bottle.
4） Quickly sit the egg on the neck of the bottle.
Result
Astonishingly, the egg will be sucked into the bottle. Your friends will be amazed when you show them the experiment. But be careful when you handle matches.
Why it happened
As the paper burns, it needs oxygen and uses up the oxygen （air） in the bottle. The egg acts as a seal in the neck of the bottle, so no more air can get inside. This reduces the air pressure inside the bottle. The air pressure must equalize, so more air from outside must enter the bottle. The outside air pressure against the egg and then the egg is pushed into the bottle! The proves that air is all around and that it is pressing down on it.
1.Why is there the need to take care when you are doing the experiment?
A. The bottle could break.
B. You need to light the paper with a match.
C. The egg needs to be shelled.
D. The egg has to be perfectly placed on the neck of the bottle.
2.In the experiment, the burning inside the bottle can___.
A. equalize the air pressure inside and outside
B. make a seal in the neck of the bottle
C. finish up the oxygen inside the bottle
D. produce more oxygen inside the bottle
3.How did the egg put into the bottle？
A. The oxygen inside the bottle sucked the egg in.
B. It became salt without the shell.
C. The neck of the bottle was wide enough.
D. The outside air pressure forced it into the bottle.
4.The experiment is carried cut to prove ______.
A. water pushes on your body when you swim underwater.
B. the earth is surrounded by a layer of air called the atmosphere.
C. the pressure of air around us has a powerful force.
D. the air pressure is not equalized around us.
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The surprising experiment I am about to describe proves that air is all around you and that it proves down upon you．Air pressure is a wonderful force．When you swim underwater, you can feel water push down your body．The air all around you does the same．However, your body is so used to it that you do not notice this．The pressure is caused by a layer of air called the atmosphere．This layer surrounds the Earth, extending to about five kilometers above the Earth's surface．
The following experiment is an easy one that you can do at home．But make sure that you are supervised, because you will need to use matches．
What you need
·A hard-boiled egg without the shell
·A bottle with a neck slightly smaller than the egg
·A piece of paper
·A match
Method
1）Check that the paper will sit firmly on the neck of the bottle．
2）Tear the paper into strips and put the strips into the bottle．
3）Light the paper by dropping a burning match into the bottle．
4）Quickly sit the egg on the neck of the bottle．
Result
Astonishingly, the egg will be sucked into the bottle．Your friends will be amazed when you show them the experiment．But be careful when you handle matches．
Why it happened
As the paper burns, it needs oxygen and uses up the oxygen （air）in the bottle．The egg acts as a seal in the neck of the bottle, so no more air can get inside．This reduces the air pressure inside the bottle．The air pressure must equalize, so more air from outside must enter the bottle．The outside air presses against the egg and then the egg is pushed into the bottle! That proves that air is all around and that it is pressing down on it．
1.Why is there the need to take care when you are doing the experiment?
A．The bottle could break．
B．You need to light the paper with a match．
C．The egg needs to be shelled．
D．The egg has to be perfectly placed on the neck of the bottle．
2.In the experiment, the burning inside the bottle can__．
A．equalize the air pressure inside and outside
B．make a seal in the neck of the bottle
C．finish up the oxygen inside the bottle
D．produce more oxygen inside the bottle
3.How did the egg put into the bottle?
A．The oxygen inside the bottle sucked the egg in．
B．It became salt without the shell．
C．The neck of the bottle was wide enough．
D．The outside air pressure forced it into the bottle．
4.The experiment is carried out to prove ____．
A．water pushes on your body when you swim underwater
B．the earth is surrounded by a layer of air called the atmosphere
C．the pressure of air around us has a powerful force
D．the air pressure is not equalized around us
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What does the woman want to do?
A. Find a place. B. Buy a map. C. Get an address.