题目内容
To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains. But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against rain. Its first use was as a shade against the sun!
Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the first to use it were the Chinese, as early as the eleventh century B. C.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honour and authority. In the Far East in ancient times the umbrella was allowed to be used only by royalty or by those in high office.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in common use in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans.
During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared. Then it appeared a gain in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again it was considered a symbol of power and authority. By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France, and later on in England.
By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe. Umbrellas have not changed much in style. during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasn' t until the twentieth century that women' s umbrellas began to be made, in a whole variety of colours.
According to this passage, the umbrella was probably first invented ______.
查看答案
搜索结果不匹配？点我反馈
更多问题
Among the question of design, construction, and operation remaining to be solved before commercial airliners travel faster than sound is the difficult problem of sonic boom (声震) , the explosive sound generated when an object moves through the air at supersonic speed(超音速).
A sound is a pressure disturbance: a sonic boom, like other explosive sounds, is the result of an abrupt change in pressure. An airplane in subsonic flight produces weak changed in pressure, but because these disturbances travel at the speed of sound, they move faster than the airplane and stay in front of it. In effect, these disturbances warn the air to get out of the way, and the an does just jet, however, gets ahead of its own pressure disturbances. Consequently a wave of suddenly com pressed air--a shock wave--builds up and is thrown off like the wave ;hat spreads from the bow of a speedboat.
Can sonic booms be eliminated？ The answer is a categorical negative--they are an innerent(内在的) part of supersonic flight--but the sonic boom probably can be reduced; government and private research is now under way to improve understanding of the sonic boom. If and when the booms can be reduced to tolerable levels, commercial supersonic transports can come rata service.
Before commercial airliners travel faster than sound, problems must 0e solved regarding ______.
Mrs. Peters stopped playing the piano when she began to work. She had lived in a very small flat, and there had been no room for a piano. But when she married, she had .a new flat which was big enough for one. So she decided to get one and her husband agreed and helped her. She saved some money, and her parents gave her a generous amount of money for her birthday. Then she went to a shop and said, "I'll choose whichever piano does not cost too much and fits into my living room.
When she had paid for the piano, the shop assistant asked her if she would like him to get it tuned(调音) every few months. Mrs. Peters agreed.
A few months later she heard from the shop that a man was coming to tune the piano at ten that morning. Now she had not cleaned the house yet, so it was dusty and untidy. Mrs. Peters hated having even the least amount of dirt, and felt ashamed whenever strange people saw her house like that. So she had to hurry to clean everything carefully. It meant a lot of effort, and it made her hot and tired, but anyhow, by the time the man arrived, everything was finished.
She opened the door, and the man was standing there with a big dog. "Good morning," the man said politely, "Will it disturb you if I bring my dog in, please？ I' m blind, and he leads me wherever I go."
Mrs. Peters stopped playing the piano ______.
Because he howls or whines in the presence of impending death, the dog was once thought to have supernatural powers and believed to be capable of seeing gods and ghosts invisible to men. Actually, the basis for these beliefs lies in the hound' s sensibility to people' s feelings and his superior hearing ability and sense of smell, which enable him to detect signs hidden from human observation. His record of saving lives is outstanding, for he often gives warning of fire and other dangers not noticed by his master.
The dog's major contribution, however, has been to medical research. Both his diet and his structure are comparable to those of the human being, and so he has been the subject of countless demonstrations and experiments. Open-heart surgery has been made possible largely because of the dog. But his sacrifice has repaid his own species as well by safeguarding it from rabies (狂犬病), distemper, and other diseases.
The dog has always been noted for, ______.
The first and most obvious thing is that a dictionary will【23】you the spelling of a word. If you' re not sure about the spelling of a word, you can try to find the correct spelling in a dictionary. Words are listed in alphabetical order--a, b, c, and so on .For example, on a dictionary page the word "poor" p, o, o, r--comes before "poverty"--p, o, v, e, r, t, y and the word "poverty" comes【24】the word "power'--p, o, w, e, r. The words are always given in alphabetical Order.
The second thing a dictionary will tell you is【25】. Most dictionaries give the pronunciation of a word in a special kind of alphabet. This special alphabet is called a phonetic, or sound alphabet. The phonetic spelling will tell you generally【26】a word is pronounced. There are a few different phonetic alphabets. Many dictionaries use the International Phonetic Alphabet to show pronunciation.
The【27】thing a dictionary will tell you is the meanings of words. You can【28】a word and find out what it means. Many words have more than one meaning, and a good dictionary will ex plain all of the word' s meanings. For example, in English the common word" get" has over 20 different meanings. The meaning, of course,【29】the sentence in which the word' is used.
These three things--spelling, pronunciation, and meanings--are some of the important【30】that you learn from dictionaries.
(61)
微信支付 
支付宝支付