沪教版英语八年级上册-U1-U8-Reading-原文(含习题).doc

Unit1 Encyclopaedias
Look it up!
Here are two articles from an encyclopaedia.
Da Vinci, Leonardo
Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519) was an Italian painter, inventor, musician, engineer and scientist. Da Vinci was born in the countryside. From an early age, he showed great intelligence and artistic ability. As he grew older, he learnt to do many different things. His paintings are very famous, and one, the Mona Lisa, is perhaps the most famous painting in the world. He also had many inventions. For example, his notebooks include some interesting drawings of flying machines. (See Art)
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs lived on Earth more than 60 million years before human beings. They lived everywhere on Earth. Some dinosaurs were as small as chickens. Others were as big as ten elephants. Some could even fly.Many dinosaurs ate plants. However, some dinosaurs liked to eat meat.Dinosaurs lived on Earth for more than 150 million years. Then, suddenly, they all died out. Nobody knows why. However, we can learn about them from their fossils. (See Earth history)

Module 1
C Vocabulary
C1 The words in italics are from the two articles. Circle the correct answers to plete these sentences.
1 When somebody is born, he/she .
a es out of his/her mother's body c leaves his/her parents b goes to see a doctor
2 Benny's grandparents live in the countryside. They live the city.
a inside b outside c in the centre of
3 Birds have a musical ability. They sing.
a can b cannot c are happy to
4 The book includes some beautiful photos. These photos are the book.
a part of b at the end of c connected to
5 A human being is a(n) .
a animal b machine c person

C2 plete the article below with the words from the box. Change their forms if necessary.
even however invention notebook perhaps scientist
When I was young, I used to keep a .I wrote many poems and drew many pictures of different in it.They were not very good, but they helped me think and dream. Now I am a famous and I do many important things.my journey began when I was at school, with my studies, and my poems and pictures. I was a student just like you. you will do something important or bee famous one day. Just remember to think and to dream.

D prehension
D1 Below are some notes about the encyclopaedia articles, but some of the facts are wrong. Read the articles and correct the notes if necessary.
1 Da Vinci, Leonardo
a he lived from 1425 to 1519.
b He was born in the city.
c He showed great artistic ability from an early age.
d He is famous for his paintings and books.

2 Dinosaurs
a They lived on Earth more than 60 thousand years before human beings.
b Some were Small;others were huge.
c All of them ate meat.
d Some died out Suddenly.

D2 Read the articles again and plete the answers to the questions below.
1 Who was Leonardo da Vinci?
He was .
2 What is his most famous painting?
It is .
3 What did dinosaurs eat?
Many of them ate . Some liked to eat .
4 How long did dinosaurs live on Earth before they disappeared?
They lived on Earth for .
5 Flow can we learn about dinosaurs today?
We can learn about them .

More practice
A Read the following encyclopaedia article about big attractions in Australia and answer the questions below.
Australia's big attractions
Australia is a very big country. It also has many big attractions.
The Big Banana
The Big Banana is in Coffs Harbour. It was made in 1964 by john Landy. Landy wanted something to make people e to his fruit shop, so he built the Big Banana. The idea worked. Many people visited his fruit shop and took pictures of the Big Banana. Soon people all over Australia began making big things.
The Big Merino
The Big Merino is in the city of Goulburn. Merinos are a type of sheep. They can live in dry weather. Some places in Australia are very dry, so these sheep are very important to the farmers there. Inside the Big Merino, there isa small muscun'. about the history of wool in Australia. Visitors can also climb up to the Big Merino's head and look at the view through its eyes.
1 When was the Big Banana built?

2 Why was the Big Banana built?

3 Why are merinos important to the farmers in Australia?

4 What can you find inside the Big Merino?

5 What can you do inside the Big Merino's head?

Unit 2 Numbers
The king and the rice
A long time ago, there was a king in India. The king’s favourite game was chess.
One day, a wise old man came to the palace and the king challenged him to a game. The king promised the old man, “ You can have any prize if you win the game.”
The old man said, “If I win the game, I’d like one grain of rice for the first square of the chessboard, two for the second, four for the third, and then double the amount for each of the rest of the squares.”
“Is that all?” asked the king. “Wouldn’t you like gold or silver instead?”
“No, just rice,” replied the old man.
The king and the old man played the game for a long time. Finally, the old man won. So the king ordered his men to collect a bag of rice. He put one grain on the first square, two on the second, and so on. The king quickly realized the problem --- even with all the rice in the country, he would still not have enough rice to put on all the squares!

C Vocabulary
C1 The words in italics are from the story. Match the two halves of these sentences to make them meaningful.
1 When you ask a wise person for help, a you tell him/her that you will give him/her the
present for sure.
2 If you promise somebody a present b you know something is wrong.
3 If you get a prize in a game, c you get the number 4.
4 When you double the number 2. d you want him/her to give you good advice.
5 When you realize the problem, e you win something for doing very well.

C2 plete the story below with the words from the box. Change their forms if necessary.
double prize promise realize wise
A young man once talked to a old man. "I won a and have a little gold now, but I want much more," he said. "Can you help me?"
The old man looked at him. "I can teach you how to make more money if you to follow my advice." he said.The young man agreed. Then the old man took the young man to a window. "Look outside," he said. "I can see nothing but an empty field," the young man said. "
Use your money to buy this field," said the old man, "and grow some cotton. In a year, you can sell the cotton and your money."
The young man what the old man meant. From then on he was not lazy any more. He worked hard all year round.
D prehension
D1 Read the story on page 19 and plete the table below.
Where the story took place
.
Who was in the story
the king and a .

What happened in the story
The beginning

The king challenged to a game. The king promised to give him if he won the game.
The middle
They played the game for .
The ending
won the game, but the king did not have to give him.

D2 Find facts in the story to support these statements about the king. Write down the facts.
1 The king loved to play games. (The king's favourite ...)

2 The king thought the old man asked too little for the prize. ("Is that all?" ...)

3 The king did not have enough rice for the old man. (The king quickly realized ...)

More practice
Read the online article and then plete the flow chart about the development ofcounting methods.
Counting before numbers
Before the invention of written numbers, people used many different ways to count things.
At first, people used their fingers, and eveii their toes. However,they could only count small numbers in this way.
After that, they began to make small marks on sticks and bones. This helped them count bigger numbers. They used them to count things like the days of the month, the amount of food and the number of animals they had.
Then people began to use tokens made from clay or small stones. This helped them count even bigger numbers. They often put the tokens on pieces of string so that they could carry them around easily. This developed into tools like the abacus.
Finally, people began to develop systems of written marks to show different numbers, and this led to the Hindu-Arabic system (0-9). We are still using this system today.

First, people used .

After that, they made .

Then they used .

finally, they began to develop .

This led to .

Unit 3 puters
puter facts
 Smaller and better
In the 1940s, the first puters were bigger than cars. Now puters are being smaller and better.Some puters are tiny. You may be unaware of them. There is probably one inside your TV or washing machine. You depend on puters more than you realize.
What can we do with puters?
We can use puters to calculate. They can calculate at a faster speed than we can and almost never give wrong answers We can also type and draw things with them. In addition, puters can do important jobs like operating railways and flying planes and spaceships.
Is a puter cleverer than me?
The answer is “No”. Your brain can produce new ideas but puters cannot. However, one day puters may be able to a better job than human beings. For example, they may be better than doctors at doing their job.
What will happen to us if puters can do all our jobs? Will we have nothing to do? puters may change our lives, but will they make them better?

C Vocabulary
C1 The words in italics explain the meanings of some words. Find these words to plete the sentences. Change their forms if necessary.
1 if something is very small, it is
2 Some voting people always need help from their parents. They should learn to themselves.
3 We had fun and learnt something new as well. We had a good time. ,we learnt a lot.
4 When we make a machine work, we it.
C2 plete the conversation below with the words from the box.
depend on expensive in addition speed
Mark: I bought a new puter.
Helen: Why?
Mark: I bought my first puter five years ago. I used it almost every day and it became really slow.
Helen: I see. So how's your new puter?
Mark: It was really ,but it works at a much faster than my old one. ,it has a larger monitor.
Helen: I also my puter a lot these days. I use it to write reports, and to get on the Internet too. My puter works well, so I'm not going to buy a new one.

D prehension
D 1 Read the article and plete the answers with the examples from the article.
1 S1: There may be tiny puters in your home.
S2: Where, for example?
S1: Inside your _ or .
2 S1: We can do many things with puters in our daily life.
S2: For example?
S1: We can , _,and with them.
3 Sl: puters can do some important jobs.
S2: For example?
S1: They can and .
4 Si: One day, puters may be able to do a better job than human beings.
S2: For example?
S1: They .

D2 Read the article again and answer the questions below in plete sentences.
1 What were the first puters like?
.
2 Why are we unaware of some puters?
.
3 Are puters cleverer than you and me? Why or why not?
.

More practice
A Read the script of a speech by a head teacher and answer the questions below.
puter game problems
Good afternoon, parents and teachers. Thank you for attending this meeting.
Last weekend, one of our students went to hospital. The student played puter games on the Internet all day Saturday without stopping to drink, eat or sleep. Finally, he became very ill.
Some students play puter games for too long. This is a serious problem. In the past, students used to play outside more often, but now they spend more time in front of puters. This is bad for their health.
Tomorrow we'll have some experts here to talk to the students about the bad effects of playing puter games. They'll also give some advice on how to use puters for studying.
I hope we can all work together to stop students from spending too much time playing puter games. Thank you for your time.
1 Who is attending the meeting?

2 Why did the student bee ill?

3 What is the serious problem?

4 Who will talk to the students tomorrow?

5 What will they talk about?

Unit 4 Inventions-Great inventions
Great inventions change the world. They help people live a better life. The following are three of the most important inventions in history.
The wheel
The wheel is perhaps the greatest invention in history. After its invention, travelling became faster and more fortable. A few thousand years ago, people started to use wheels on carriages. In the early 19th century, the first trains began to carry passengers. At the start of the 20th century, cars became popular. Without the wheel, we would not have these inventions.
The telephone
Alexander Graham Bell invented one of the first practical telephones in 1876. Since then, people have been able to speak to each other over long distances. Today millions of people across the world own mobile phones. They allow people to keep in touch with each other anytime, anywhere.
The light bulb
Thomas Edison developed the first practical light bulb in 1879. Before the invention of the light bulb, people had to use oil lamps, gas lamps or candles to see at night. With light bulbs, people can do as many things in the evening as they can in the daytime. Can you imagine living without them?

C Vocabulary
C1 Find words from the article that have similar meanings to the words in italics below.
1 My new shoes felt nice and soft.
2 This modern city was only a small vill