Question

    There are purple clothes, purple handbags, purple bicycles, purple furniture, even purple computers! Purple is very popular today. But a long time ago, purple was a very expensive and unusual color. Let’s take a look at the rich history of the color purple.

Some scientists believe that the first plants to appear on Earth over 500 million years ago probably looked purple, not green. Plants today are green because they use green chlorophyll (叶绿素) to produce energy. But these early plants probably used something called retinal, which is a dark purple color.

During the time of the Roman Empire (37 BC-476 AD), it was very difficult to make purple dye (染料). The dye came from sea snail (海螺). But 10,000 dead sea snails got you just one gram of purple dye... as well as a very bad smell! This special purple dye… was called Tyrian purple, and it was the preferred colour of emperors (皇帝).

In 16th-century England, purple was only for the king’s family members. Queen Elizabeth I’s clothes were purple, but common people were not allowed (允许) to wear the color.

In 1856, William Perkin, an 18-year-old science student, noticed something strange while doing an experiment (实验). The chemicals he used to clean his instruments mixed with the chemicals he used in his experiment and produced a bright purple color. This discovery led Perkin to start a company using this chemical mixture to make purple dye. The dye was not expensive. Thanks to Perkin, now anyone can afford to wear purple.

The1.of the color purple
Introduction	Purple was very expensive and unusual in the2.. Now it is one of the most popular3.. We use it a lot in our life.
The first plants on Earth probably looked4.. They5.energy by using retinal, which is dark purple. During the Roman Empire, people6.sea snails to make purple dye. 7.the dye had a bad smell, emperors liked it very much. In 16th century, common people could not8.purple clothes in England because purple was only for the royal family. In 1850, William Perkin found that something strange9.in an experiment. He got a bright purple colour by mixing certain chemicals together. Later he started a company to make purple dye, which was much10.than sea snail dye. Now everyone can afford to wear purple.

Answer

1.history

2.past

3.colours

4.purple

5.produced

6.used

7.Although/Though

8.wear

9.happened

10.cheaper

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，通过对比和举例，介绍了紫色的来历和发展，说明紫色曾经是一种非常昂贵和不寻常的颜色，但在科学家Perkin的努力下，用两种化学混合物制造紫色染料，终于使紫色成为当今最流行的颜色之一。

1.根据“Let’s take a look at the rich history of the color purple.”可知，此处表示“紫色的历史”的含义。故填history。

2.根据“But a long time ago, purple was a very expensive and unusual color.”可知，在很久以前，紫色是一种非常昂贵和不寻常的颜色。可用in the past表示“在过去”。故填past。

3.根据“Purple is very popular today. But a long time ago, purple was a very expensive and unusual color.”可知，紫色现在是非常流行的颜色，用于“one of+可数名词复数”结构中。故填colours。

4.根据“Some scientists believe that the first plants to appear on Earth over 500 million years ago probably looked purple”可知，5亿年前地球上出现的第一批植物看起来是紫色的。故填purple。

5.根据“Plants today are green because they use green chlorophyll (叶绿素) to produce energy. But these early plants probably used something called retinal, which is a dark purple color.”可知，过去的植物利用深紫色的视黄醛来产生能量，此处表示“产生”的含义，又因为时态是一般过去时，所以用其过去式形式。故填produced。

6.根据“…it was very difficult to make purple dye (染料). The dye came from sea snail (海螺).”可知，此处表示“用海螺做紫色颜料”，可用“use sth to do sth”结构表示，又因为时态是一般过去时，所以用其过去式形式。故填used。

7.根据“…as well as a very bad smell!…and it was the preferred colour of emperors (皇帝).”可知，尽管海螺做的紫色颜料味道非常难闻，但是皇帝还是很喜欢，“尽管”可用although/though表示，用于句首需大写首字母。故填Although/Though。

8.根据“but common people were not allowed (允许) to wear the color.”可知，16世纪普通人是不被允许穿紫色的。故填wear。

9.根据“In 1856, William Perkin, an 18-year-old science student, noticed something strange while doing an experiment (实验).”可知，在做实验时发现有奇怪的事情发生，可用“happen”表示，又因为时态是一般过去时，所以用其过去式形式。故填happened。

10.根据“This discovery led Perkin to start a company using this chemical mixture to make purple dye. The dye was not expensive.”可知，使用化学混合物来制造紫色染料不昂贵，也就是比海螺做紫色染料便宜很多，又因为句中有比较级提示词than，所以用其形容词比较级形式。故填cheaper。