In China, the history of people planting and using bamboo dates back to as far as 7, 000 years ago. As early as the Shang Dynasty, bamboo was used for food, clothing, housing, transportation, musical instruments and even weapons. Since then it 【小题1】 (use) in many aspects of people’s daily lives.

The 【小题2】 (apply) of bamboo in science and technology is thrilling. In 51 BC, Li Bing, in Sichuan, 【小题3】 (lead) the local people in building the Dujiang Weirs, the first irrigation (灌溉) network in the world, in 【小题4】 bamboo played an important role. The world’s oldest water pipe was also made of bamboo. During the Han Dynasty, the people in Sichuan 【小题5】 (success) sank a 1600-metre-deep well with thick bamboo ropes. This technology did not spread to Europe 【小题6】 the 19th century, and it was by using the technology 【小题7】 the Americans drilled the first oil well in Pennsylvania in 1859.

In Chinese culture, bamboo is well-known as 【小题8】 of the “four gentlemen” in plants. To many distinguished men, bamboo is a symbol of goodness and honesty. It is always closely 【小题9】 (connect) with people of positive spirits. Bamboo culture always plays a positive role in encouraging people to hold on when 【小题10】 (face) tough situations.

On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered in the Sierra mountains about 160 km from San Francisco. Everyone 【小题1】 (convince) that they could find their fortunes. Thousands of people from all over the country rushed to the hills. So many people came that there existed a critical 【小题2】 (short) of food. Even when supplies arrived, their goods were dumped on the beach because there was no place 【小题3】 (store) them. As many sailors left their ships to hunt for gold, their ships were pulled to shore and had them made into stores and hotels.

No one obeyed the law and everything was 【小题4】 chaos. People out fighting fires came back to find their house robbed. Many thought the fires were 【小题5】 (intent) set. 【小题6】 (anger) citizens took the law into their own hands. They hung without trial people who they thought were robbers.

But with powerful measures 【小题7】 (adopt), the place finally returned to a 【小题8】 (harmony) community. Many fortune-hunters did find their fortunes. Some of those, 【小题9】 managed to keep their money, built huge houses on Nob Hill. But the fortunes could be lost just as easily. Many lost their money on betting.

By 1855, the gold rush was over. Today, San Francisco is one of the major cities in the United States. And it is all 【小题10】 they found gold in those hills.

There are several names for Britain: Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the UK. The official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 【小题1】 large number of people call the country “England”, but this is not correct. England is only one part of the UK. However, it is the 【小题2】 (large) part in the UK. There are four “countries” in the UK — England, Scotland, Wales 【小题3】 Northern Ireland. 【小题4】 (be) an independent country, the Republic of Ireland (or Eire) isn’t part of the UK.

London is the capital of the UK, as well as England, but all the other countries have their own smaller capital   【小题5】 (city), too.

Until 1603, Scotland and England were separate countries with their own monarchs (国王)   and parliaments (国会). In that year, however, the English queen, Elizabeth I, 【小题6】 (die). She had no children, so James VI, the King of Scotland, became King James I of England. In 1999, Scotland got its own parliament again, 【小题7】 can make laws about some things.

The English king, Edward I, conquered Wales in the 13th century. Many people in Wales, 【小题8】 (especial) in the north, speak Welsh as their first language and all children must learn Welsh at school. In some schools, other subjects 【小题9】 (teach) in Welsh, too.

Elizabeth I’s armies conquered Ireland in the 16th century and it later became part of the United Kingdom. There were a lot of problems in Ireland in the 19th century and thousands of people moved to the USA. In the 1920s, the south achieved 【小题10】 (independent), but Northern Ireland is still part of the UK.