Traditions are customs and beliefs that form a part of our culture. They are practiced to remind us of our history and are passed down from generation to generation. Some traditions are interesting and widespread, while others are quite strange and practiced only by a small group of people. Continue reading to dig more into some interesting traditions from around the world.

Smigus Dyngus in Poland

Also known as “Wet Monday”, Smigus Dyngus is a unique tradition practiced in Poland, where people throw water at each other. It is celebrated annually on Easter Monday. The traditional way to do it is for boys to throw water at girls, and it is believed that the girl who receives the most water has the greatest chance of getting married.

Hanging coffins (棺椁) in Sagada, the Philippines

There is an old tradition in Sagada where people hang their coffins in stone caves. It was carried out by the Igorot tribe (部落) of Mountain Province. The people there believe this custom prevents large animals from taking the dead bodies, and also purifies or blesses the departed soul.

The Polterabend custom in Germany

Family members and friends of future married couples meet at dinner, and break a lot of porcelain (瓷器). The couple is then asked to clean up the entire mess. This is supposedly to teach them the importance of unity and hard work, and bring good luck. Germans think this tradition is essential in making marriages last a lifetime.

Boryeong Mud Festival in the ROK

The Boryeong Mud Festival in the ROK is a fascinating and unique celebration that draws crowds from around the world. It is a major cultural event, attracting over a million visitors annually. People participate in various mud-related activities, including mud baths, mud wrestling and even a mud marathon. The festival features live music, food stalls, and wonderful street performances.

1. Why are the coffins hung in caves in Sagada?

A．To pray for good luck.

B．To protect the dead bodies.

C．To ensure a future reunion.

D．To conserve more land resources.

2. Which tradition contributes to a lasting marriage?

A．Smigus Dyngus.

B．Hanging coffins in Sagada.

C．The Polterabend custom.

D．Boryeong Mud Festival.

3. What can visitors do during the Boryeong Mud Festival?

A．Throw water at girls.

B．Learn about Igorot culture.

C．Meet famous people.

D．Enjoy mud baths.

Jiang Shumei wasn’t educated as a child, learning her first Chinese character at the age of 60. Now, the 87-year-old grandmother is the proud author of six books. She learned her first character in 1996, after her husband died in a car accident, when her daughter Zhang Ailing suggested that she learn to read to take her mind off the loneliness and sorrow.

Zhang says that her mother had her own way of learning. Whenever she came across characters she didn’t know at bus stops or shop signs, she found someone to ask. Once Jiang had learned enough characters, Zhang started giving her books to read. Enjoying the books, Jiang told her daughter that she wanted to write down her own stories to share.

She first put pen to paper in 2012, at the age of 75. It was not easy. Sometimes,completing a single sentence could take a day. Jiang usually started writing at 3 or 4 am, and revised the pieces several times until she was satisfied.

Zhang began publishing her mother’s stories on social media platforms in 2013. When Zhang and her mother drew the attention of Zhang’s writer friends, the pair made a decision to publish them. The first book, Time of Trouble, Time of Poverty, was published later that year, and proved to be a success. Some critics even praised it as the “live history of a nation plagued by tough times”. The book earned Jiang a lot of fans and sympathy.

So far, the elderly woman has published six books, totaling more than 600, 000characters in length. She lives a healthy life, exercising every day, drinking milk and soy milk, as well as having regular exercise. “If I could live as long as 130, would you still say that it is too late for me to start after 60?” she asks, jokingly.

4. Why did Jiang learn to read in her later years?

A．To become a proud author.

B．To make up for not going to school.

C．To encourage her friends and families.

D．To reduce the impact of her husband’s death.

5. What made Jiang decide to publish her first book?

A．A strong inner desire.	B．The attention from other writers.
C．Her daughter’s encouragement.	D．The development of social media.

6. What dose the underlined word“plagued”in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Aided.

B．Enlarged.

C．Troubled.

D．Defeated.

7. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．One is never too old to learn.

B．All roads lead to Rome.

C．Where there is life, there is love.

D．Gold can’t be pure and man can’t be perfect.

I couldn’t sleep at all last night, and my sister believes it was because I ate a bowl of really spicy (辛辣的) food before bedtime. However, I was skeptical about the connection between spicy foods and sleep. Can eating spicy foods before bedtime truly impact one’s sleep quality? Some people believe that eating spicy foods before bedtime can disrupt sleep by increasing body temperature and causing heartburn. It may be worth avoiding spicy foods close to bedtime.

To find out the relation, the researchers in Australia conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of spicy foods on sleep. They provided a group of individuals with delicious late-night meals, alternating (交替) between spicy and mild options. The results revealed that consuming spicy foods led to disrupted sleep patterns, causing participants to take longer to fall asleep and sleep for shorter time. This data supported the belief that there is a correlation between eating spicy foods and experiencing sleep disturbances.

While the exact mechanism(机制)by which spicy foods influence sleep remains unclear, researchers have proposed several possibilities. One is that stomach discomfort resulting from spicy food consumption may affect sleep quality. Additionally, the long digestion (消化) of spicy foods could delay the start of sleep. Furthermore, spicy foods contain something that can raise body temperature, which has been linked to poor sleep in previous studies.

Given these findings, it is advisable to avoid consuming spicy foods before bedtime to promote better sleep. Next time, I will follow my sister’s advice and opt for a milder meal in the evening to ensure a restful night’s sleep.

8. What do people usually think of eating spicy foods before bedtime?

A．It can make people addictive to it.

B．It can be bad for digestion.

C．It can make sleep difficult.

D．It can lead to an increase in energy levels.

9. How did Australian researchers conduct this study?

A．By analyzing data.	B．By studying papers.
C．By doing an experiment.	D．By doing interviews.

10. What can we know from the study?

A．Spicy foods take long to digest.

B．Body temperature has no effect on sleep.

C．Bad eating habit changes sleep patterns.

D．Sleep problems may be caused by bad habits.

11. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To forbid children from having spicy foods.

B．To suggest not eating spicy foods before bedtime.

C．To promote some healthy food that is not spicy.

D．To keep up with the latest healthy food research.

Scientists agree that predicting (预测) when and where an earthquake will occur and how big it will be is not yet possible. Therefore, much research has focused on coming up with ways to reduce the damage from earthquakes, rather than trying to predict when they will occur. Specifically, finding more information about the place under the surface helps developers and others make safer choices when constructing a building. This is where Navakanesh M Batmanathan is putting his efforts.

Batmanathan is an earthquake geologist at the National University of Malaysia. He is actively engaged in mapping the areas surrounding earthquakes in Borneo. Faults (断层) are places in the Earth’s crust (地壳) that are weak to sudden movement between masses of rock, resulting in occasional earthquakes. Batmanathan is working to map the faults, as well as the infrastructure (基础设施) in the area of the faults, to hopefully reduce the potential damage that can be caused by an earthquake. Developers and engineers can use this knowledge to plan where it is safest to build and where earthquake-resistant structures are needed.

Batmanathan is using a variety of tools to map faults. Working on the ground to map the area is just one of the methods he employs. He also uses images from satellites and ground-penetrating radar (GPR). GPR is a technology that creates an underground image without digging. It has many applications, from finding the water level to understand soil and rock types for construction projects. Batmanathan and others are using this technology to map faults, and the areas around faults, to gain a clearer picture of potential earthquake damage.

It might not ever be possible to know exactly when or where an earthquake will happen, but Batmanathan hopes that his work will help educate people and better prepare them for earthquakes.

12. What is the function of paragraph 1?

A．Providing evidence.	B．Giving suggestions.
C．Introducing the topic.	D．Drawing a conclusion.

13. What is Batmanathan actively working on in Borneo?

A．Studying volcanoes.	B．Recording rivers.
C．Predicting earthquakes.	D．Studying faults.

14. What do we know about GPR from paragraph 3?

A．It can predict where an earthquake will happen.

B．It can be applied in mapping faults.

C．It can predict the time of earthquakes.

D．It can test the quality of the soil.

15. What is the best title for the text?

A．Mapping Faults for Safer Construction

B．Challenges in Predicting Earthquakes

C．The Future of Earthquake Prediction

D．Technology for Reducing Earthquakes

A kitchen garden produces vegetables for delicious, healthy meals. It doesn’t have to be right outside the kitchen door, but the closer it is, the better.     16    , the more likely it is that you will get tasty things out of it. Just a few steps are needed for what you want.

    17    . The most important recommendation is start with what you like to eat. This may go without saying, but I have seen first-year gardens that don’t reflect the eating habits of their growers. One of the easiest and most rewarding and popular kitchen gardens is a simple salad garden. It can produce multiple harvests in most parts of the country.

Planting a garden: where, when and how. Make a garden plan of what will be planted, where, when and how.     18    . It means you should know what they like in terms of space, water, soil fertility (肥力) and soil temperatures.

When and how much to water your garden. Vegetables are made mostly of water.     19    .You’ll want to water them lightly every day or two. If nature isn’t providing that amount of rain, you’ll need to water by yourself or with a drip irrigation system.

Garden maintenance: keep an eye on it. Sun and rain willing, fast growers such as radishes (萝卜) and salad greens will begin to produce crops as early as 20 to 30 days after planting. Check on them regularly so you get to harvest them before someone else does.     20    .

A．Choosing garden crops

B．Getting ready for garden site

C．The easier it is for you to get into the garden

D．So you need to ensure your plants have enough water

E．You show an interest in how to produce multiple harvests

F．To do this, you need to get familiar with all kinds of crops

G．Besides, protective barriers and organic products can prevent pests and diseases

In a huge building after a long day work, I found myself standing next to a young man with a nice _________ . His smile was so warm that we began a chat. The chat _________ what we had in common: We all came to New York from different countries. I come from Germany while he comes from South America.

We exchanged _________ about the difficulties of starting a new life in a new country. I talked to him, “I’ve been searching for an apartment within walking distance from my _________. And what I want is to rent one with a _________ view of Central Park! Maybe I’m just _________. I can’t afford to _________ a room like that myself and I haven’t found a roommate to _________ the expense.” The young man wrote a number down on a piece of _________. “Her name’s Sally and she is a good girl,” he said. “You’ll like her, and she needs a roommate.”

I called her right away. Later, she __________ my best roommate. Sally told me that she and the young man were not __________ at all and they just met once.

“Maybe he knows of you before because you are __________ in that big company for your hardworking __________,” I told Sally. Hearing that, Sally was so happy. Even though you are a small potato in your life, you can still win your __________ by working hard or doing something__________ to others.

21.

A．personality

B．smile

C．attitude

D．voice

22.

A．proved

B．replied

C．showed

D．defined

23.

A．styles

B．stories

C．lectures

D．methods

24.

A．job

B．school

C．building

D．home

25.

A．narrow

B．personal

C．good

D．powerful

26.

A．cheating

B．dreaming

C．competing

D．pretending

27.

A．buy

B．make

C．have

D．rent

28.

A．increase

B．waste

C．pair

D．share

29.

A．cake

B．music

C．wood

D．paper

30.

A．found

B．told

C．became

D．asked

31.

A．relatives

B．friends

C．families

D．roommates

32.

A．well-trained

B．well-balanced

C．well-known

D．well-educated

33.

A．spirit

B．time

C．goal

D．design

34.

A．future

B．heart

C．honour

D．trust

35.

A．effective

B．helpful

C．skillful

D．creative

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

On March 31, the Eiffel Tower celebrated its 130th anniversary since it opened.     36    (original) planned to last only 20 years, the people of Paris wisely decided to keep it standing,    37     (recognize) its importance. Millions of people     38     (visit) the tower so far, according to its official website.

The tower was created by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel and was first intended as the main entrance     39     the 1889 World’s Fair. It was built in a little over two years and faced criticism from some locals initially. However, it quickly captured the attention of fair visitors, attracting more than two million people. It also had a     40     (practice) use as a radio antenna during World War I.

Visitors today can choose to climb 1,665 steps or take one of the original elevator cars    41     (reach) the top. At the top of the tower,     42     the tower’s administrative office is located, guests can enjoy a drink at the champagne bar on the top floor.

Today, the Eiffel Tower is a symbol of France, representing a feeling of pride and thankfulness. It is a global icon that can bring together people from different     43    (background). The tower is not only     44     popular tourist destination but also a widely recognized symbol, a     45     (believe) held by many who appreciate its enduring charm.

47. 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

In a small Chinese village, a young girl named Mei lived with a deep love for painting. Her artworks, filled with lively colors, caught the beauty of her surroundings. Despite her talent, Mei often battled with self-doubt. She wondered if her skills were truly excellent or if she was just fortunate.

One day, Mei heard about a painting contest in the town called the “Sunlit Art Challenge”. Determined to prove herself and remove the doubts, Mei quickly signed up for it. The contest stirred a mix of excitement and nervousness in her. Mei spent countless hours perfecting her painting technique, pouring her heart and soul into her works.

For the contest, Mei painted a beautiful sunrise over the sea. The sun just started to rise above the horizon (地平线), its bright light beginning to shine over the ocean. The sun’s rays looked like golden light, spreading across the water and making it shine like a giant mirror. As the sun rose higher, it looked like a bright ball of fire, warming the sea and making the waves shine brightly. The sky changed colors too, from a soft blue to bright oranges, pinks and reds. It was like watching the day begin right there on her canvas (画布). Mei s painting captured the peaceful yet lively scene of the sun’s first rays touching the vast ocean, symbolizing hope.

On the day of the contest, the village square was filled with excitement. Artists from near and far displayed their works. Mei set up her painting, feeling both proud and anxious. As the judges evaluated (评估) Mei’s painting, her heart raced with nervousness. Since their expressions were hard to read, Mei felt like her doubts were right, that she wasn’t as good as she hoped.

When the host started to announce the winners, Mei listened with hope and curiosity. But sadly her name wasn’t called. Disappointment washed over her, and she forced a smile, applauding (鼓掌) the winners. After the contest, Mei felt disheartened. She thought her painting had failed to impress anyone, and she lost her motivation to lift her brush. At that time, Mr. Zhang, a villager, approached Mei.

注意：
1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mr. Zhang told Mei that Mei’s painting was excellent and moved him.
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Mr. Zhang’s recognition of Mei’s works renewed Mei’s interest in painting.
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