Tourism probably started in Roman times. Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman empire. But when the empire broke down, this kind of tourism stopped.
　　In the early 17th century, the idea of the“Grand Tour”was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel. They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The“Grand Tour”was an important part of young people’s education—but only for the rich.
　　In the 18th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to“take the waters”.They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns.
　　In the 19th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s,it was easier for people to travel between towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier.
　　Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to far away countries.
　　The 20th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them.
　　Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything—plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food—and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born.
　　The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949.But tourism did not take off until 1978.In 2002,the industry was worth 500 billion Yuan and became an important part of China’s social development.
【小题1】In the early times, the travelers ________.

At present time, roller skating (滑旱冰) is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn’t easy at all. Before 1750, people never tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making instruments (工具). In his free time he liked to play the violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think. He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin had an idea. He thought that he would attract a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll (滚动). Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin was very proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into the room while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be very surprised.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyone was really surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with all eyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke into many pieces with a very loud noise.
Nobody forgot Merlin’s wonderful entrance after that.
【小题1】The first paragraph tells us that people began to skate on wheels from 1750 because _______.

Once in a village, the villagers built a new church building and people came from far and wide to see it. They admired its beauty! They said it was the most beautiful building in the world. Up on the roof, a little nail（钉子）heard the people praising everything about the lovely structure – except the nail! No one even knew he was there, and he became very angry and sad.
“If I am not important, nobody will miss me if I quit!” So the nail then released (松开) its hold, got down from the roof, and fell into the mud.
That night it rained and rained. Soon, the board that had no nail was blown away, and the roof began to leak (漏水). The water flowed down along the walls and over the beautiful pictures on the walls. The plaster (石膏) began to fall, the floor was ruined, and the Bible was also ruined by water. All this was because a little nail decided to quit!
But what of the nail? While holding the board, it was not known by others but it was useful. Buried in the mud now, it was useless and would soon be eaten up by rust!
What the story wants to say is that every member is important to a whole group!
You may, like the nail, feel not important at times, but just like the nail, your absence is felt. A big building might fall to pieces. You are important to a group even if you are small.
【小题1】Why did the nail decide to quit?

A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor （售票员）hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior（行为） , "said a middle-aged man.
"Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor. "
Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said , "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..."
Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap（大腿） interrupted, "I know his name. I call him Dad."
【小题1】The passengers were ________ to see the conductor's kindness to the woman and the child.

A. Tips on playing tricks on April Fool’s Day
B. How France celebrate April Fool’s Day
C. An example of April Fool’s Day tricks
D. At what time Brits and the Danish celebrate April Fool’s Day
E. How Brits and the Danish celebrste April Fool’s Day
F. How April Fool’s Day began
Just joking around
April Fool’s Day has just gone. Maybe you have played tricks on your family and friends. Read on. You might be able to surprise them with some history and fun facts about the holidays as well.
【小题1】___________
Imagine that a friend of yours calls you or sends a short message to you. “ Did you hear? Scientists have discovered a panda that can talk. I saw it on the news!” If you hear a crazy story like this, make sure to check the date. If it’s April 1, it might be an April Fool’s Day trick!
【小题2】___________
April Fool’s Day is also known in some places as All Fool’s Day. No one knows for sure how it started. Some believe the history of April Fool’s Day goes back to the 16^th century when Europeans made January the start of the new year insead of April. Those who still celebrated the New Year on April 1 became known as “April fools ”. People began playing tricks on them.
【小题3】__________
Today, almost 500 years later, April 1 is still a day when tricks are played on people in a spirit of fun. France calls this day Poisson d’Avril,which means “ April fish”. Children tape a picture of a fish onto their friends’back and shout “ Poisson d’Avril”.
【小题4】___________
The UK only celebrates April Fool’s Day in the morning, as Brits believe it is bad luck to play jokes in the afternoon. In Denmark, people play tricks on April 1 and celebrate again on May 1.
【小题5】___________
Remember, no matter what trick you play, be sure that it’s safe and not mean. April Fool’s Day isn’t fun if someone’s crying.