单选题 The Great Wall of China
Walls and wall building have played a very important role in Chinese culture. These people, from the dim mists of prehistory have been wail-conscious; from the Neolithic period when ramparts of pounded earth were used to the Communist Revolution, walls were an essential part of any village. Not only towns and villages; the houses and the temples within them were somehow walled, and the houses also had no windows overlooking the street, thus giving the feeling of wandering around a huge maze. The name for "city" in Chinese (cheng) means wall, and over these walled cities, villages, houses and temples presides the god of walls and mounts, whose duties were, and still are, to protect and be responsible for the welfare of the inhabitants. Thus a great and extremely laborious task such as constructing a wall, which was supposed to-run throughout the country, must not have seemed such an absurdity.
However, it is indeed a common mistake to perceive the Great Wall as a single architectural structure, and it would also be erroneous to assume that it was built during a single dynasty, for the building of the wall spanned the various dynasties, and each of these dynasties somehow contributed to the refurbishing and the construction of a wall, whose foundations had been laid many centuries ago. It was during the fourth and third century B.C. that each warring state started building walls to protect their kingdoms, both against one another and against the northern nomads. Especially three of these states: the Chin, the Chao and the Yen, corresponding respectively to the modem provinces of Shensi, Shansi and Hopei, over and above building walls that surrounded their kingdoms, also laid the foundations on which Chin Shih Huang Di would build his first continuous Great Wall.
The role that the Great Wall played in the growth of Chinese economy was an important one. Throughout the centuries many settlements were established along the new border. The garrison troops were instructed to reclaim wasteland and to plant crops on it, roads and canals were built, to mention just a few of the works carried out. All these undertakings greatly helped to increase the country's trade and cultural exchanges with many remote areas and also with the southern, central and western parts of Asia--the formation of the Silk Route. Builders, garrisons, artisans, farmers and peasants left behind a trail of objects, including inscribed tablets, household articles, and written work, which have become extremely valuable archaeological evidence to the study of defence institutions of the Great Wall and the everyday life of these people who lived and died along the wall.

单选题 Chinese cities resembled a maze ______.
A. because they were walled B. because the houses has no external windows
C. because the name for cities means "wall" D. because walls have always been important there
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本题为因果判断题。根据原文第一段“...the houses also had no windows overlooking the street, thus giving the feeling of wandering around a huge maze.”可以得知当时的房屋没有面向街道的窗户,因此给人进入迷宫的感觉。
单选题 Constructing a wall that ran the length of the country ______.
A. honoured the god of walls and mounts B. was an absurdly laborious task
C. may have made sense within Chinese culture D. made the country look like a huge maze
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题为推理题。文章第一段提到:“The name for‘city’in Chinese (cheng) means wall,and over these walled cities,villages,houses and temples presides the god of walls and mounts,whose duties were,and still are,to protect and be responsible for the welfare of the inhabitants.”由此得出长城在中国人民心中的特殊地位,中国人民对长城的特殊的情结。
单选题 The Great Wall of China ______.
A. was built in a single dynasty
B. was refurbished in the fourth and third centuries BC
C. used existing foundations
D. was built by the Chin, the Chao and the Yen
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题为细节推断题。根据本文第二段结尾处的表述,可以得出如下的结论:秦始皇大帝在其它各个小国原来城墙基础上,建成了享誉世界的万里长城。
单选题 Crops were planted ______.
A. on wasteland B. to reclaim wasteland
C. on reclaimed wasteland D. along the canals
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题为细节推断题。文章第三段开篇就提到几个世纪以来,许多居民在长城附近安居乐业。同时,皇帝要求驻扎在此的军队开垦荒田,变废为宝。因此,可以推断农作物是种植在开垦的土地上。
单选题 The Great Wall ______.
A. helped build trade only inside China B. helped build trade in China and abroad
C. helped build trade only abroad D. helped build trade only to remote areas
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本题为推理题。文章第三段提到“All these undertakings greatly helped to increase the country's trade and cultural exchanges with many remote areas and also with the southern,central and western parts of Asia”,说明长城所起到的作用不仅是单向的,而且是双向的,即对中国与外国互通往来起到很大的作用。另外,一旦出现像only这样表示绝对意义的字眼,务必多加警惕,往往该选项是错误的,可以进行排除。