题型：阅读选择 题类： 难易度：普通
江西省吉安市十校联盟2023-2024学年九年级下学期期中考试英语试题
What did people do to communicate in ancient times? Here are some very interesting answers to this question.
Alphorns（阿尔卑斯长号角） were once used to communicate in the mountains in Switzerland. They are very long and they are very heavy, too. So, alphorns are hard work to blow. Then why use them? Well, they make a loud sound which travels much further than the human voice. Herdsmen（牧民） used them to call cows in the distance for milking. At sunset, alphorns were also used to send a message down to villagers that all was well. These days, they're mostly used as musical instruments.
The people of La Gomera, an island in Europe, have their own special way of sending messages from mountain to mountain. They use a whistled（口哨） language called el silbo, which comes from their language Spanish. Whistling can be heard within five kilorneters, which means it can be used across much greater distances than shouting. El silbo can be used for all kinds of messages, including greetings and announcements. El silbo is used a lot less than it used to be, but primary school students in La Gomera have to leave it.
Did you know it 's also possible to send messages without making a noise? This is called visual communication, and it includes the use of flags and even smoke. Long ago, soldiers along the Great Wall of China used smoke as a warning. If they noticed the enemy from their signal（信号） tower, they lit a smoky fire. When soldiers in other towers saw the smoke signal, they lit fires, too. In this way, messages about the enemy's arrival could travel as far as 800 km in just a few hours.
Young Heroes for the Planet
Nowadays, people around the world are working to help our planet. Check out how the four young adults made a difference.
Saving Pandas When Jack was 11, he started a group to teach kids about pandas. He also sold toy pandas to raise money to protect pandas in danger. "I hope to encourage more people to care about pandas," Jack says. | Growing Right Kathy, 14, set up an organization to educate people growing right plants in right places. She also wrote a book to help people learn what plants are native(本土的) to their area. |
Creating Energy At the age of 12, Linda invented a machine called SuperE. It collects heat from fields to make electricity(电), Linda says her invention creates electricity in a way that is less harmful to the environment. | Cleaning Up Patrick, 13, joined the Ocean Heroes Camp last year. He started a project and picked up plastic waste around nearby lakes with his friends. The goal of the project was to fight plastic. |
试题篮
On my thirteenth birthday, my father gives me a special present. It is a little bird, cute and colorful. She is not that 
