沪教版英语八年级上册-U1-U8-Reading-原文（含习题）

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 complete these sentences. 1 When somebody is born, he/she . a comes 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 Complete 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 become famous one day. Just remember to think and to dream.

D Comprehension

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.

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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 complete 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 come 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?

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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 Complete 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. \ and have a little gold now, but I want much more,\

The old man looked at him. \ to follow my advice.\he said. \

Use your money to buy this field,\the old man, \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 Comprehension

D1 Read the story on page 19 and complete the table below. Where the story took place . Who was in the story the king and a . The king challenged to a game. The beginning The king promised to give him if he won the game. What happened in the The middle They played the game for . story won the game, but the king The ending did not have to give him.

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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. (\

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

More practice

Read the online article and then complete 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 .

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