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Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year is called “Rosh Hashanah”, and is celebrated in the month of September. It is a holy time when people think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and promise to do better in the future. Special prayers are held, and an instrument called a Shofar is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruits are consumed to remind people of harvest time. Shogatsu: In Japan, the New Year (Shogatsu) celebrations are from January 1 to January 3 and most Japanese don’t work during these days. In Japan, years are traditionally seen as completely separate from each other, and the New Year is a fresh start. This means that in December all duties should be completed. Parties are held to forget the worries and troubles of the old year. Homes and cars are decorated. On New Year’s Eve, most people spend their time with their families. Bahai New Year: The Bahai people have their own calendar consisting of nineteen months of nineteen days plus a couple of extra days between the eighteenth and nineteenth months. They have, however, adopted the Iranian custom of beginning the New Year in the spring equinox (春分). The day begins at sunset rather than midnight, and the New Year celebrations are held on the evening of March 20th. 56.During the Jewish New Year, . A. people don’t mention things they have done wrong B. children often wear new clothes C. loaves and fruits are often forbidden to be served D. Shofar is their favourite food 57. Which of the following festivals are celebrated in the same month? A. Nowroz and Shogatsu. B. Rosh Hashanah and Shogatsu. C. Nowroz and Rosh Hashanah. D. Nowroz and the Bahai New Year. 58. What can we learn from the text? A. Japanese families often stay together to celebrate Shogatsu. B. The Bahai people usually hold a carnival to celebrate the New Year. C. The Jewish harvest fruits to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. D. The Iranians often hold family parties to celebrate Nowroz. B A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was alarmed to discover that it was a rat trap (捕鼠夹). Going back to the farmyard the rat gave a warning: “There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!” The chicken raised her head and said: “Excuse me, Mr Rat, I can tell this is a big concern to you, but it is of no business to me. I cannot be bothered with it.” The rat turned to the pig and told him: “There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!” “I am so very sorry, Mr. Rat,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. I will make sure that you are in my prayers.” The rat turned to the cow. She said, “Like wow, Mr. Rat. A rat trap. I am in grave danger. Duh?” So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s rat trap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a rat trap catching its prey (猎物). The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a poisonous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet (短柄斧) to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them the farmer killed the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well. She died, and so many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow killed to provide meat for all of them to eat. So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when there is a rat trap in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk. 59. The underlined word “dejected” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to . A. disappointed B. surprised C. confused D. doubtful 60. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article? A. The chicken showed great concern for the rat. B. The pig helped the rat get rid of the trap. C. The cow didn’t care about what the rat said. D. The snake was killed after being caught in the trap. 61. We can conclude from the article that . A. the farmer’s wife got good treatment in the hospital B. the farmer regretted setting up the rat trap C. the rat was very wise in avoiding the trap D. none of the other animals felt threatened by the rat trap 62. What message does the story intend to convey? A. We should mind our own business.B. Everything is related to something else. C. Helping others is always a virtue.D. We should treat animals in a friendly way. C A person steps on what seems like solid ground but discovers with horror that the ground is giving way underfoot. The person struggles desperately but is trapped. There is no escape. Slowly the person sinks deeper and at last is gone. The solid ground was solid only in appearance. It was actually quicksand, which is a deep mass of fine sand mixed with water. How is quicksand formed? Water pushes up from below the surface and is held by the sand. The grains of sand are forced apart by the water. They cannot hold any weight. The subsurface water may have come from a spring, a river, or a stream. Sometimes pools of water near beaches become filled with sand. When the soil under these pools does not allow for good drainage(排水), the sand can become stretches of quicksand. Is it true that a person who steps into quicksand is doomed to die? No, for people have fought their way from quicksand to firm land again. It is panic(恐慌) that creates the condition that can result in death, for the more a person struggles, the worse matters become. Quick movements will make the sand yield for a time, but then it rushes back and settles solidly around the body. People trapped in quicksand should either lie back with arms outstretched, or not move at all. When the weight of the sand around his body has displaced equals that person’s weight, the victim will stop sinking. With feet held still, and with slow movements of the arms, as in the backstroke(仰泳) in swimming, people have managed to roll to safety and reach firm ground. (责任编辑：admin) |