1. Foulsham House_____

　A. is an old farmhouse

　B. stands 25 hectares high above the River Byer

　C. is an old, 　stone house, standing in very fine farmland

　D. is twenty-five years old, and is of fine stone

5.　 What was the author most probably talk about next?

A. The role of China in the spread of the national flag.

B. The second ancestor of the national flag.

C. The use of modern flags in Europe　　

D. The importance of modern flags 　

第74天　　　　　　　　　　　　　 A

Foulsham House is a fine, large house of the 1790s．It stands high above the River Byer, in twenty-five hectares(公顷)of the best farmland in the southwest．

The house was built by Smithson, and the story that George, the son of King of Whales, who fell in love with the beautiful Lady Kitty, at one of the first Foulsham’s wild woods(野外)parties．Many years ago many great men rode on the hills about Foulsham.

House, and many fine girls took tea in the Green Room．

The house has eight bedrooms, three bathrooms(浴室), two living-rooms, and a dining-room with a real Adam fireplace．Its library has a good view over the park and the river．All rooms are light and airy, with good, high windows, and wood floors．

At the back of the house there is room for four cars．The third Foulsham once kept there．In many other ways, this house of the 1790s meets the needs of the 1990s．

If you wish to know more about Foulsham House, write to： Harvey．Platt, Longford ＆Son 6, Castle Green, Gilham, Byreside．

4.　 What does the author know of the first national flag?

A. He thinks it came from　　　　　　 B. He believes it was made in Egypt

C. He doubts where it started.　　 D. He knows when it was sent to Europe

3.　 The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because______

A. they were believed to stand for natural forces

B. they could bring good luck to fighters

C. they were handed down by the ancestors

D. they could tell wind direction

2.　 The underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 3 means_____

A. impossible to make sure of　　　　 B. difficult to find

C. likely to be protected　　　　　　 D. easy to damage

4．From the passage, we can conclude that __________.

　 A．people will no longer consider building materials in the future

　 B．energy saving buildings will become more popular in the future

　 C．almost all people will move into the houses heated by large rocks

　D．energy engineers will devote themselves only to modern technology.　　　 　　

B

The flag, the most common symbol(象征) of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.

The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive(原始的)artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years' development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.

Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers .People's food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.

Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems(图腾) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.

　These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked: The king of China around 1000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe ,where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag.

1　 The best title for the passage would be______.

A. Power of the National Flag　　　　 B. Uses of Flag

C. Types of Flags　　　　　　　　　　 D. Development of the National Flag

3．The underlined words “natural law” in the third paragraph refer to the fact that ________.

　 A．heat raises the temperature in the houses

　 B．heat goes in the upward direction

　 C．heat goes up if temperature is raised

　 D．heat increases the temperature of rocks

2．People in some areas gain a source of heat by _________.

　 A．keeping their livestock downstairs

　 B．protecting their livestock from the cold

　 C．sharing their houses only with their cows

　 D．living on the second floor with their livestock

1．What did people begin to consider as electricity was no longer cheap?

　 A．The climate of their areas.

　 B．The energy for their houses.

　 C．The fashions for their houses.

　 D．The building materials for their houses.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A Having values are better than being values

B A calm person does not choose to complain.

C The way other people think of you decides who you are.

D A responsible person does not care about financial security

第73天　　　　　　　　　　　　 A　

When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses. However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat.

　Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built. In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock(家畜).During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses. The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well. The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live. By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat.

　People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock. However, home builders use the fact that heat rises. This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas. Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks. As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat. They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses. So these houses are energy saving.

　House building becomes a great challenge(挑战)to building designers and energy engineers. They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology. And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy saving houses.