Africa is a large and varied continent containing some of the oldest civilizations on earth. It is home to a wide diversity of religions and cultures, and this colorful diversity is reflected in its diverse and colorful weddings traditions.
An African wedding is, more than anything, the bringing together of two people as a single family, or the combining of two families or even the mixture of two tribes into one family unit. The concept of family is one of the unifying ideas of the African continent. There are more than 1,000 cultural units in Africa and each culture, each tribe has its own wedding and marriage traditions, many of which can trace their origins back hundreds or even thousands of years. There are also many different religions represented in Africa. Many northern Africans, especially, have been influenced by Muslim traditions, while further south there are more Christian, Hindu, and even Jewish traditions with more ancient traditions.
In many places in Africa young girls are trained to be good wives from an early age. They may even learn secret codes and secret languages that allow them to talk with other married women without their husbands understanding what is being said.
Depending on which part of Africa you are in, wedding ceremonies can be extremely elaborate, some lasting many days. Often huge ceremonies are held during which many couples are united at the same time.
In Sudan and in other areas along the Nile a man must pay his wife’s family in sheep or cattle for the loss of their daughter’s labor in support of the family. A wife may cost a man as many as 30 to 40 head of cattle. In Somalia a man is allowed to have as many as four wives if he can support them all, and it is not uncommon for a girl to be engaged before she is even born.
Bright festive colors, song, dance, and music are vital elements of many African wedding ceremonies. Common to all wedding ceremonies is the concept of changing between childhood and adulthood. In many African cultures children are encouraged to marry as young as 13 to 15 years of age, as soon as they have reached physical adulthood.
1. When two young get married in Africa it means ________.| A．they will explore a wide diversity of religions |
| B．they will live together for the rest of their life |
| C．they will contribute to the union of African tribes |
| D．they will have a chance to enjoy their romance |
| A．All the tribes in Africa have the same belief. |
| B．Africa witnesses varieties of marriage traditions. |
| C．Most of Africans are believers in Islam. |
| D．People in South Africa are all Christians. |
| A．to have a good communication with their husbands |
| B．to give their children a good education in the future |
| C．to gain the ability to talk with other married women |
| D．to master the skills about having communication |
| A．Similar. | B．Familiar. | C．Difficult. | D．Different. |
| A．wedding ceremonies are full of happiness |
| B．there are more men than women in Somalia |
| C．the cattle are well worth a lot of money |
| D．Africans prefer dancing to anything else |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】For five days, Edmonton’s Downtown Park is transformed into one huge stage where artists are able to share their talents, and where people are able to celebrate and enjoy themselves. Since its beginning in 1980, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival has been commemorating the true feeling of what folk music is all about and that’s the traditional togetherness(友爱) that is felt when people gather to share stories and feelings through songs.
This year will be the sixth year when volunteer Riedel will be offering up her time to the festival. “People coming off a busy spring and summer have a moment of relaxation,” Riedel said. “It’s really easy to relax, and it’s great seeing family and friends have fun together.” These families and friends come from all different kinds of musical tastes. People who take pleasure in Blues are there, so are people who love Bluegrass. This festival does its best to develop everyone’s musical interests.
With so many years of experience, the festival has become a well-oiled machine, and does whatever it can to make attendees feel as comfortable as possible. There are free water stations throughout the venue(举办地) for people to fill up their travel cups. When people buy food, reusable dishes are given a $2 plate fee, but that is returned when the plate is brought back.
The festival has completely sold out of tickets, and in record time. But with big names such as Van Morrison and Jakob Dylan, it’s easy to see how that was going to happen. There is no parking area during the festival, so using the Park & Ride system or Edmonton Transit is highly recommended. A bike lock-up area is provided and will be available Thursday until Sunday one hour before the gates open until 45 minutes after the gates close.
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival begins on Wednesday, Aug. 4 with Van Morrison playing the special donation fund concert, and will finish up on Sunday, Aug. 8.
1. The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is held mainly to _______.| A．gather people with different musical tastes |
| B．remind people of the real sense of folk music |
| C．exhibit the good voices of great talents in folk music |
| D．collect old stories of folk music |
| A．Riedel has volunteered for the festival for at least 5 years. |
| B．It’s hard for people to appreciate Blues. |
| C．It costs people a little to fill up their cups from water stations. |
| D．People have to pay $2 for a plate of food. |
| A．people can get tickets easily for the festival |
| B．the Edmonton Folk Music Festival is well organized |
| C．driving one’s own car to the festival is highly recommended |
| D．bikes are available at the festival from Wednesday to Sunday |
The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away.
Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany.
Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town!
Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin towns in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan(巴尔干半岛的) country!
Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skill, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations.
1. Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Town Twinning | B．Friendly Towns |
| C．Exchanging Teachers and Students | D．Peace and Understanding |
| A．Twin towns exchange newspapers and stamps. |
| B．Twin towns exchange business skill. |
| C．Schools in twin towns exchange classes for a period of time. |
| D．Ordinary people travel to the twin town. |
| A．between European countries and China |
| B．in the English-speaking countries only |
| C．in the same country |
| D．between different countries |
| A．7 | B．6. | C．5 | D．4 |
| A．earn more money |
| B．set up schools |
| C．improve students’ language skills |
| D．develop industry and agriculture |
★Boryeong Mud Festival--Boryeong, South Korea
For two weeks in July, millions gather in Boryeong to experience the grey pools and slides. What began as a way of promoting the region’s mineral-rich mud has turned into a festive party , complete with music and fireworks. While the mud is usually only available in cosmetic products, here you can cake yourself in grey as you want.
★Holi--lndia
Holi, the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu celebration full of joy and one of India’s most important holidays. During the day of the last full moon of the lunar month, usually late February or early March, the air is full of bright colored powder. The festival is celebrated differently throughout the country, but the cheerful spirit is common throughout Hindu communities around the world.
★Koninginnedag--The Netherlands
Although their current Queen’s birthday is really during the winter, the Queen still celebrates it on April 30th,the country’s official “Queen’s Day” since 1949. Orange is the national color, and the streets become a sea of feather boas（长围巾）and body paint as crowds gather in the plazas（广场）. Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, with many live music acts, but nearly every town is alive with orange on this day.
★National Elephant Day in Thailand
In Thailand, March 13 is regarded as National Elephant Day to show that the Thai elephant plays an important role in the Thai history. Thai Elephant Day has been held on an annual basis since the idea was first approved by the Thai government in 1998. Special events are held at a number of venues in northern Thailand. At the Mae Sa Elephant Camp, it has become a tradition on March 13 for the dozens of elephants there to be treated to a huge feast of fruits and sugarcane.
1. What we can learn from the passage is that ________.
| A．Boryeong Mud Festival was originally held to advertise for their mineral resources |
| B．people around the world celebrate Holi differently to promote their religions |
| C．Koninginnedag--The Netherlands was celebrated on their current Queen’s birthday |
| D．it is an international custom for the Thai elephant to eat all kinds of fruits and sugarcane |
| A．To call on people to protect these endangered elephants. |
| B．To give the Thai elephant a chance to eat fruits and sugarcane. |
| C．To stress the importance of the elephant in the Thai history. |
| D．To help people relax themselves by feeding the Thai elephant. |
| A．South Korea | B．Thailand | C．the Netherlands | D．India |
| A．To tell people how to enjoy and relax themselves. |
| B．To introduce some unique festivals around the world. |
| C．To get people to celebrate different kinds of customs. |
| D．To show the importance of celebrating different festivals. |
【推荐1】From Jilly Cooper to Winston Clurehill, horse riders have long supported the emotional benefit of the human-horse bond. Hernan Melville, the author of Moby Dick, once argued: “No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.”
When it comes to dogs, we have no doubt about it. But horses can tell when a human being is feeling unhappy, a study has found, although whether or not they care remains an open question.
The latest study, published in the journal Animal Cognition, sought to correct this. The question the researchers wanted to answer was; do horses understand a range of human emotions? To investigate this, they employed a technique often employed in studying baby cognition (认知); they showed the horses something that made no sense, and watched to see whether it puzzled them. One after another, the scientists put 28 horses in a room. Each horse was shown two pictures of the same person at the same time. In one picture the person had a happy face, in the other the person had a long face. At the same time they heard either a happy or sad voice.
From a human perspective, only one of the pictures made sense — the one with a voice that corresponded to the image. The other was “incongruent (不一致的)”. Were the horses similarly confused? It appears they were. What the scientists found was that on average the first time the horses saw the incongruent image, they spent longer looking at it.
Oceane Liehrmann, from the University of Turku in Finland, said this implied a level of emotional and cognitive complexity that we may not always credit to horses.
We don’t know whether horses themselves understand what it is to be sad, or experience the emotion. What the research suggested was that, however, it is possible they learn that it means something for a human — and that when we are sad they expect what we say to match how we look.
1. Why does the author mention Herman Melville’s words in paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic of the text. | B．To state dogs and horses are smart. |
| C．To point out philosophers’ ignorance. | D．To promote Herman Melville’s book. |
| A．By observing their behavior in a room. |
| B．By testing their reactions to different emotions. |
| C．By training them to respond to human emotions. |
| D．By showing them pictures and playing corresponding voices. |
| A．ignored the incongruent image and voice |
| B．were not confused and showed no reaction |
| C．recognized the incongruence and showed anger |
| D．were puzzled and spent more time looking at them |
| A．Horses Are the Cleverest Animal |
| B．Horses Have Strong Cognitive Ability |
| C．Horses Can Make Sense of a Human’s Long Face |
| D．Horses Can Understand Humans’ Emotions Clearly |
【推荐2】Body language is a part of non-verbal language. It includes things like the way you stand, gestures, facial expressions, and even small things like a nod of the head. We frequently communicate both bodily and verbally and about 70% of what we communicate may be non-verbal.
There are many ways to learn to understand body language but we must be aware that it is frequently connected to a culture. Still, since most of us live in one area where body language may be similar among people, it's important to know that you can communicate a lot by how you gesture. A person in much of the US who sits with hands crossed over the chest, and with legs crossed,may be sending a message that they're really not open to talking.
Eye contact is another key element of non-verbal contact in much of the Western world. Looking someone in the eyes enough but not too much may indicate that you're direct and frank.
How we gesture can tell people the level of confidence we have, or if we're a little too insistent on our opinions. Huge gestures may mean we have something to prove. Moderate gestures may simply suggest we're involved and confident in what we have to say.
Even the way you turn your head, shrug, yawn, look at your watch may all be forms of non-verbal communication that send clear signals to other people. Looking at your watch when you're in a meeting with your boss can send the message that you're bored.
If you really think your body language is improper or needs improvement, opening this book on non-verbal communication can help. You can also compare your gestures with those in the video to see if you are sending right messages.Confident body language common to a culture can be learned and may make you appear more confident or direct.
1. Which of the following is not included in body languages?| A．Eye movement. | B．Facial expressions. |
| C．Gestures. | D．Accent. |
| A．Crossing your arms while standing. | B．Looking at your watch frequently. |
| C．Using moderate gestures. | D．Always staring at the interviewers. |
| A．Body language is cultural. |
| B．Body language is equal to nonverbal language. |
| C．People from different places have the same meaning of a gesture. |
| D．Body language plays a slightly important role in our communication. |
| A．To give some suggestions on body language. |
| B．To advertise a book on body language. |
| C．To list some body language types. |
| D．To introduce something about body language. |
【推荐3】If you are hungry, what do you do? Have your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? Just like your stomach, your mind is also hungry. But it never lets you know, because, you keep it busy thinking about your friends or favorite stars. So it silently serves your needs and never lets itself grow. When mind loses its freedom to grow, creativity(创造性) sets a full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think “What happens next?”, “Why can’t I think?”
Hunger of the mind can be actually solved through wide reading. Why reading but not watching TV? It is because reading has been the most educative tool used by us right from childhood. Since it develops other ways of our life, we have to take help from reading.
Once you read a book, you run your eyes through the lines and your mind tries to explain something to you. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed(种子). Now this seed is unknowingly used by you to develop new ideas. If it is used many times, the same seed can give you great help to relate a lot of things, which you would have never thought of in your wildest dreams!
This is nothing but creativity. Also this makes a huge contribution to your vocabulary. Within no time you can start talking with your friends in English or any other language and never run out of the right words.
So guys, do give food for your thoughts by reading, reading and more reading. Now what are you waiting for? Go and get a book!
1. When your mind is hungry, the best way is________.| A．thinking | B．eating | C．reading | D．watching TV |
| A．When you read a book, your mind loses its freedom to grow. |
| B．In your wildest dream, a seed can grow a lot of different things. |
| C．The interesting part of the book you read can help you develop new ideas. |
| D．Watching TV is the most educative way for us to develop creativity in our life. |
| A．reading feeds your hungry mind. | B．reading makes creativity set a full stop. |
| C．reading can help you relate a lot of things. | D．reading will contribute to your vocabulary. |
| A．To introduce a book. | B．To persuade us to read. |
| C．To explain hunger of mind. | D．To tell us how to create things. |
