四、完形填空
There are purple clothes,purple handbags,purple bicycles,purple furniture,even purple computers! So purple is one of the most __1__ colours today. But in the past,purple was a very expensive and unusual colour. Let's take a look at the rich __2__ of the colour purple.
During the time of the Roman Empire(帝国),it was very __3__ to make purple dye. The dye came from sea snails(海螺). But 10 000 dead sea snails got you just one gram of purple dye,__4__ a very bad smell!
At that time,this purple dye was called Tyrian purple,and it was the preferred colour of emperors(皇帝). In 16th-century England,purple was __5__ for the king's family members. Ordinary(普通的) people were not __6__ to wear the colour.
In 1856,William Perkin,an 18-year-old science student,noticed something strange while doing an experiment(实验). The chemicals(化学用品) he used to clean his tools __7__ with the chemicals he used in his experiment and produced a bright purple colour. William was surprised and wondered __8__ it would be a perfect way to make purple. He did the experiment again. It really worked! This discovery(发现) __9__ Perkin to start a company using this chemical mixture to make purple dye. The dye was much __10__ than sea snail dye. Thanks to Perkin,now anyone can afford to wear purple clothes.
()1. A. peaceful
B. popular
C. exciting
D. serious
()2. A. history
B. style
C. design
D. time
()3. A. dangerous
B. easy
C. difficult
D. strange
()4. A. as good as
B. as well as
C. as bad as
D. as usual as
()5. A. even
B. never
C. seldom
D. only
()6. A. allowed
B. stopped
C. hoped
D. supported
()7. A. connected
B. mixed
C. collected
D. kept
()8. A. until
B. that
C. when
D. whether
()9. A. led
B. represented
C. shaped
D. devoted
()10. A. healthier
B. thicker
C. cheaper
D. easier