500 years ago in Britain, the burning of coal (煤) was increasing in cities like London. Coal was used in factories and also used to heat homes. Coal, when burnt makes a lot of smoke, which makes the air very dirty.
About 200 years ago, the Industrial Revolution (工業(yè)革命) began in Britain. Factories were built, and even more coal was burnt. Air pollution was becoming a really big problem.
Smoke and fog together make smog (煙霧). Smog was a big problem in London's winter. Because of the cold weather, more coal was burnt to warm houses and this made more smoke.
When smog stayed over a city, it became really hard to breathe and see clearly. In 1952, the Great London Smog happened and more than 4,000 people died because of the smog.
New laws (法律) were made in 1956 and 1968 to stop such sad things from happening again. These laws were called the Clean Air Acts.
These laws were made so that air would become cleaner. The laws encouraged people to use less coal or switch to other fuels such as gas. Factories started using tall chimneys (煙囪) so that the smoke would go high up in the sky and no longer cover cities, and new factories were built in the countryside. Smog appeared less often and the air became cleaner.
【小題1】From the passage, we learn that smog was a big problem in ______ in London.

500 years ago in Britain, the burning of coal (煤) was increasing in cities like London. Coal was used in factories and also used to heat homes. Coal, when burnt makes a lot of smoke, which makes the air very dirty.

About 200 years ago, the Industrial Revolution (工業(yè)革命) began in Britain. Factories were built, and even more coal was burnt. Air pollution was becoming a really big problem.

Smoke and fog together make smog (煙霧). Smog was a big problem in London's winter. Because of the cold weather, more coal was burnt to warm houses and this made more smoke.

When smog stayed over a city, it became really hard to breathe and see clearly. In 1952, the Great London Smog happened and more than 4,000 people died because of the smog.

New laws (法律) were made in 1956 and 1968 to stop such sad things from happening again. These laws were called the Clean Air Acts.

These laws were made so that air would become cleaner. The laws encouraged people to use less coal or switch to other fuels such as gas. Factories started using tall chimneys (煙囪) so that the smoke would go high up in the sky and no longer cover cities, and new factories were built in the countryside. Smog appeared less often and the air became cleaner.

1.From the passage, we learn that smog was a big problem in ______ in London.

A．spring            B．summer           C．autumn           D．winter

2.The underlined words "switch to" mean "______"  in Chinese.

A．發(fā)明             B．換用             C．拒絕             D．節(jié)省

3.Which was NOT a way people in Britain used to make the air cleaner, according to the passage?

A．Factories built higher chimneys.

B．People began to use less coal.

C．More People began to ride bikes.

D．New factories were built outside cities.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Air Pollution in Britain in the Past.

B．How to Make the Air Cleaner.

C．Smog Is Bad for the Environment.

D．New Laws to Stop Air Pollution.

Thousands of years ago, people only ate food that was grown near their homes. Some kinds of food were only grown in one place, so people from other places didn’t know about them. When Europeans first traveled to Central and South America in the 1500s, they discovered strange kinds of food that they had never seen before. Today, these are grown in a lot of different countries and they’re sold in supermarkets all over the world．They don’t seem strange any more!

Potatoes were first grown in the Andes in South America．In 1586, they were taken to Europe by explorers（探險家）. In 1719, they were taken to North America．Before 1719, nobody in North America had ever seen or eaten a potato. Today each American eats more than 60 kilos of potatoes a year.

Tomatoes were also first grown by native（本地的） Americans. When European explorers visited the south of America in 1500, they took tomato seeds（種子） back to Europe. Soon, tomatoes were grown in Europe, but people in England didn’t eat them. At that time, a lot of English people thought that tomatoes were poisonous!

Chilies（辣椒） have been eaten in Central and South America for more than 8,000 years! In the 1500s, chilies were taken to Europe by explorers. Today, they are grown in hot countries all over the world．

1. How many kinds of food are mentioned in the passage?

   A．Two.                              B．Three.                                  C．Four.

2. People in Central and South America have eaten chilies for more than_______ years.

   A．1,500                                    B．1,586                                   C．8,000

3. The underlined word “poisonous” in the passage means “_______” in Chinese.

   A．有毒的                           B．重要的                                 C．辛辣的

4. According to the passage, we know that _______.

   A．people only ate food grown near their homes after 1719

   B．people in Europe were the first to plant potatoes

   C．the European explorers took chilies to Europe in the 1500s

5. Which of the following is the best title（標題） for the passage?

   A．Traveling to America        B．“Strange” Food                     C．The Earliest Explorers

Over 30,000 years ago, people from northern Asia went to America. Today we can tell these people Indians.

The Indians went to America because the weather began to change. Northern Asia became very cold. Everything froze. They had to move or they would die. How did the first Indians go to America? They walked!

Later Columbus found the New World in 1492. At first, only a few Europeans followed. They traveled to America in boats. For the next 300 years, about 500,000 people went there. Then the number grew very quickly. From 1815 to 1915, over 32,000,000 Europeans left their countries for the United States. The biggest groups went from Germany and Italy. These Europeans spoke many different languages. Most of them took almost no money. They went to America so they could find a better life.

1.________ went to America first.

2.Why did the Indians go to America? Because ____________ .

3.The “New World” was _________.

4.These Europeans ___________.

5.The Europeans went to America in order to _________ .