Greece today is a small country in southeastern Europe. The population is about nine million, and the capital city is Athens.

High mountains with rich, fertile land between them cover northern Greece. The hilly southern part is a peninsula called the Peloponnesus. Hundreds of islands surround the mainland. The largest island is Crete.

No part of the nation is far from water. The Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea carved deep bays and gulfs into the long coastline. Greece has been a seafaring nation for centuries, and Greece is very well known for its shipping industry.

More than three thousand years ago, the Greek people developed a very sophisticated society. They have a great civilization, one of the greatest that the Western would have ever seen. Greek architecture, thinking and art influenced other languages, including English. For example, the English words alphabet, democracy, and arithmetic come from Greek.

Today Greece is one of the most popular nations with the tourists who visit Europe. Thousands of people are attracted to the country because of its beautiful scenery, magnificent ancient buildings, and its excellent summer weather.

小题1:A good title for this reading passage is _______

A．The Earliest Civilizations

B．The Influence of the Sea on Greece.

C．The Small but Important Nation of Greece

D．The Ionian Sea小题2:The underlined word “carved” means _______

A．cut, made

B．said, told

C．lost, wasted

D．attracted小题3:We may conclude that most of the food is grown in the _______.

A．north

B．east

C．south

D．west小题4:Hills can be found _______.

A．in the southern part

B．on the Peloponnesus

C．both A and B

D．in the Aegean Sea小题5:The Greeks had a great civilization around _______

A. 5000B.C.       B. 3000B.C.      C.1000B.C.     D.2000B.C.