题目内容：

China is a country of many resources. Among its resources are many great rivers, which provide useful transport routes. Water transport is an efficient way to carry heavy loads, such as grain. In ancient times, a waterway was needed between China’s rich farmlands and the capital city. This need inspired engineers to build a canal. According to writings by the ancient thinker Confucius, work on a canal linking the Yangze River with the city of Huai-in began about 486 B.C. For many centuries afterward, Chinese emperors worked on extending this ancient canal.

This canal is now known as China’s Grand Canal. One thousand years after the original canal was begun, it was in extreme need of repair. This was in the year 607, during the Sui Dynasty. By 610 the emperor had had the canal extended. The Grand Canal formed a northeast-southwest link between the Yellow River in the north and the Huai River in the south. The canal remained the main waterway in this part of China for the next five hundred years.

In the thirteenth century, the Mongols had conquered China. The Yuan Dynasty established Beijing as the capital. The city’s growing population needed food, so a new canal was built to extend shipping. Building this part of the Grand Canal required enormous effort and cost. Neither the first attempt nor the second one was successful, so the builders chose another route. Finally this link in the Grand Canal was finished.

By the time of the Ming Dynasty, the Grand Canal had six sections. These were busy with goods until the nineteenth century. Then a series of severe floods struck China. Parts of the Grand Canal were badly damaged. By 1868 it had been largely abandoned as a means of northern route.

The Grand Canal was mostly restored in the twentieth century. It was widened and deepened, and a new section was constructed. Today the canal, which is about 1,200 miles in length, has new locks(运河的水闸). It is busy with ships and barges(驳船) carrying goods to and from cities along its banks.

1.The Grand Canal was first built in ancient times to provide   .

A. water for agriculture.

B. water transport between farmlands and the capital.

C. efficient transportation for the emperor’s army.

D. a convenient way for the emperor’s recreation.

2.From the passage, one can conclude that ancient engineers who began the Grand Canal   _.

A. worked with limited knowledge and skills.

B. were given a great deal of money for their achievement.

C. found a brilliant and lasting solution to their transportation problem.

D. were inspired by the ancient thinker Confucius.

3.The first large-scale(大规模的) repair of the original canal occurred in about   .

A. 486 B.C.     B. 607 A.D.     C. the Yuan Dynasty    D. the Ming Dynasty

4.Considering its history, one can predict that in the future the Grand Canal will probably  .

A. be extended to further north China.

B. change from a shipping route to a recreation area.

C. need to be repaired and rebuilt.

D. be abandoned in favor of air transport and highways.