Module 2 The Renaissance

跟踪导练

阅读理解

A

I'm interested in the Renaissance， so I like visiting ancient Italian cities. Ferrara is called City of the Renaissance. When I learned about this city on the Internet， I decided to pay a visit to it.

The city has its certain charm and calmness， but I find it isn't as great as other Italian cities like Verona， Venice or Rome. The Michelin Green Guide gives it two stars， which is right.

I first visited the city center. The Cathedral and the Castle are at the heart of the city. Both have striking appearances. I visited the Cathedral first. The Castle is also worth visiting. On the lower levels， the history of the city and the d'Este family is told through displays， and in another part the ceilings are shown up close in mirrors on the ground.

In the north， we can appreciate the Renaissance extension of the town， with straight streets and monumental houses. The famous Palazzo deiDiamanti lies here. When I was visiting it， it started to rain， so after taking a few photos quickly， I cut my visit there short.

It had been raining for a few days. When the rain stopped， I went to visit the historical center and the Renaissance buildings. Then I saw a street and found Castello Estense， which owes its name to the powerful family d'Este. It was built with bricks and surrounded by a moat （護城河）.

After leaving there， I visited several other interesting places such as palaces， churches and the narrow streets of the downtown. After four hours in Ferrara I left by train to Mantua.There I had a much better time.

1. Why did the author pay a visit to Ferrara？

A. It is related to the Renaissance.         B. It is full of charm and calmness.

C. It is a very famous city in Europe.       D. It is strongly recommended by a guide book.

2. What did the author think of the comment of The Michelin Green Guide on Ferrara？

A. Ridiculous.       B. Reasonable.      C. Unacceptable.     D. Unbelievable.

3. How did Castello Estense probably get its name？

A. It came from the historical buildings.     B. It originated from the straight streets.

C. It was named after the powerful family.   D. It was connected to the surrounding moat.

4. What can we infer about the author from the text？

A. He liked Mantua more than Ferrara.

B. He thought Ferrara was as great as Venice.

C. He visited Palazzo deiDiamanti for a long time.

D. He was disappointed with the visit to the Cathedral and the Castle.

B

More than 140 sign languages are used today， primarily by deaf communities. Like spoken languages， each sign language has its own grammar， vocabulary and other special features. For example， American Sign Language is unintelligible （難懂的） to British Sign Language. In fact， American Sign Language has more in common with French Sign Language， largely because French educators played a key role in helping get deaf schools founded in the United States during the 19th century.

There haven't been many comparisons of sign languages. University of Texas， Austin linguist Justin Power， and his colleagues aim to address that information gap. In order to study the question of sign language evolution， they first collected a database of manual alphabets from dozens of different sign languages around the world. So a manual alphabet is kind of a subsystem within a sign language that is used to represent a written language. And there's a hand shape that corresponds to each letter.

To uncover relationships between the alphabets， the researchers used methods that grouped sign languages in this study into five main European lineages （谱系）—Austrian origin， British origin， French origin， Spanish and Swedish. Power says manual alphabets from Austria， France and Spain could date back to one-handed manual alphabets from 16th- and 17th-century Spain. But each of those lineages evolved independently of each other.

The study also confirmed the French origins of American Sign Language and those of other countries， including Mexico， Brazil and the Netherlands. Surprisingly， the Austrian manual alphabet influenced sign languages as far away as Russia. But while this lineage has largely died out， remains of it live on in Icelandic Sign Language today.

Power says future research comparing the vocabularies of different sign languages could provide even more clues about how they've changed over time. Understanding how sign languages evolve would tell us a lot about the way that language， in general， evolves.

5. What can we learn about American Sign Language？

A. It was created by French educators.

B. It is less related to French Sign Language.

C. It was further developed before the l9th century.

D. It has little in common with British Sign Language.

6. What is special about a manual alphabet？

A. Every letter means a hand gesture.       B. It is used to replace the written language.

C. It is used together with the shape of mouth. D. Every letter is the same as the normal alphabet.

7. What does the author think of the effect of the Austrian manual alphabet？

A. Worrying.       B. Astonishing.      C. Moving.         D. Disappointing.

8. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us about sign languages？

A. Its evolution.                      B. Its vocabulary.

C. Its meaning of researching.             D. Its changes of the past.

閱读七选五

Youth is a relatively brief but vital period in one's life. During this time， habits and interests that will continue for the rest of your life are formed and developed. 1

It's a time to begin the process of self-reliance and self-motivation. Sure， you might have parents and friends to help you. 2  It builds your character and makes you independent. No one can force you to get good grades or get a perfect job—those responsibilities are yours alone. Only you can be the author of your own life.

3  Train yourself to be strong. Tell yourself that you can summon （振作） the will to overcome whatever difficulties come your way. Anything worth doing isn't easy—it's best to learn that lesson early. In the end， conquering a difficult task is always worth it， and you can thank perseverance for guiding you there.

Work hard. There's nothing better than relaxing at the end of a long day， knowing that you did all you could do for yourself， your family and friends， and your community. Be a person that others admire. 4 The process of working hard will teach you valuable lessons along the way; most importantly， it will teach you that failure is unavoidable but isn't something you should ever allow to hold you back. Change your strategy and try again.

Following these principles will surely bring success in school， work and life in general.5  Be self-reliant， persevere through hard times and always work hard to achieve your dreams.

A. Learn from failures.

B. But you must rely on yourself.

C. When times get tough， hold on.

D. So it's important to get off to a good start.

E. Do the work that others won't and never complain.

F. And you can turn to your parents and friends for help.

G. Listen to the spirit of youth inside you and follow your heart.

1.            2.            3.            4.            5.

完形填空

History has some very special qualities about it. It is a 1  of what has happened in the past， and the really interesting thing is that much of history has been 2 time and again. It allows us to learn from the past， both the 3  made and the successes achieved.

One of the 4  of history is that it allows us to know how famous people 5  when they were faced with challenges in their 6 . Although these challenges happened at a certain time in the past or in a 7  country or culture， all of them can always teach us something 8 .

Take for example the 9  of Thomas Edison and how many times he 10 while on the road to finally inventing the light bulb （電灯泡）. He could be held out as a（n） 11 of a person who never stopped trying. I am sure he was 12 by those difficulties but he did not let them stop him. He had a 13 and he just kept trying until he reached success.

Or， think about the story of Abraham Lincoln who 14 to become President of the United States even though he suffered hearing losses. Most of us only know about his 15 . In fact， his life was not a（n） 16 one. His story makes us keep moving forward no matter what 17 we have in life.

These true history stories will make you 18 to reconsider giving up going after your dreams even though you may not think you have the courage or the 19 now to get what you have always wanted. They could help you make decisions and 20 when you have no idea what to do. They could inspire you to be all that you can be.

1. A. note            B. belief           C. chance          D. record

2. A. reported          B. expected         C. repeated          D. corrected

3. A. mistakes         B. jokes            C. agreements       D. challenges

4. A. events           B. periods          C. problems        D. advantages

5. A. studied          B. reacted          C. changed          D. explored

6. A. life             B. time            C. work            D. past

7. A. developed        B. poor            C. different          D. popular

8. A. beautiful         B. simple           C. enjoyable        D. useful

9. A. name           B. story            C. position          D. character

10. A. failed          B. watched          C. escaped          D. traveled

11. A. example        B. hero            C. scientist          D. engineer

12. A. prevented       B. beaten           C. discouraged       D. controlled

13. A. job            B. dream           C. duty            D. thought

14. A. happened        B. prepared         C. proposed        D. managed

15. A. success         B. suffering         C. struggle          D. experience

16. A. easy           B. funny           C. good            D. right

17. A. directions       B. promises         C. permissions       D. difficulties

18. A. refuse          B. stop            C. attempt          D. regret

19. A. ability          B. habit            C. goal            D. choice

20. A. comments       B. conversations      C. judgments        D. impressions

語法填空

“If you're talking to me in a noisy restaurant and my nerve system （神经系统） is good at locking onto the sound of your voice， I can understand 1  you say better.”

The research at Northwestern University shows that playing a musical instrument is good for your brain. And the brain 2 （remember） how to “lock onto” the important sounds， although our ears may not work well as we age， and that helps us to hear better.

A scientist， living in France twenty years ago， 3 （write） about what he called the “Mozart Effect”. He said that it could be helpful to the brain when 4 （listen） to the classical music of Mozart. Some 5 （research） said that Mozart's music would make you much 6 （smart）， or even have some health disorders 7 （cure）. Others said that there was nothing special about Mozart's music. Any kind of high energy music would work. So if the cost of a musical instrument or music lessons is too costly， can we get 8 same brain experience just by listening？

Usually people have teachers， or they can teach themselves music. However， the point is that they're 9 （active） playing a musical instrument and engaging 10 making music instead of listening to music passively.

1. ______ 2. ______ 3. ______ 4. ______ 5. ______

6. ______ 7. ______ 8. ______ 9. ______ 10. ____

短文改错

It was my 18th birthday yesterday. As the age was special for you teenagers， my parents were held a birthday party for me at home. With my parents and some of my good friends attend my birthday party， I really had unforgettable experience. We sang songs， dancing and played games together. We all enjoyed ourselves very much. During the party， my parent told me that from then on I was no longer a child and an adult. They also said I should be more independent and responsibly. Hearing their words， I was greatly encouraging. It was just at that moment when I felt I was agrown-up.