【推荐1】Unique and Weird New Year's Eve Traditions

German

In some parts of Germany, they do lead （铅）pouring. Pour a dollop （团）of lead into cold water and the shape it dorms may be telling you about the year to come. A heart shape, naturally, means love will come your way. A crown predicts wealth and fortune. A star indicates happiness. But if you see a cross, you're almost dead!

Latin America

If you are in Latin America, make sure you have some colourful underpants to ring in the New Year. End — of — the — year partiers put on colourful underwear to ensure certain types of outcomes of the following year, red for love and yellow for success.

Naples, Italy

Neapolitans like throwing things out of the windows, at least on New Year's Eve. Furniture, kitchen machines, grandma.. Well, maybe not the last one. Let's hope not, anyway. This tradition is meant to symbolize an out — with — the — old gesture and get a new beginning of the new year. These days people are a bit more mindful of what they throw into the street below.

Spain

In 1909, winegrowers in the Alicante region of Spain had a brilliant idea: Start and promote an annual tradition that would involve people in having to buy and eat more grapes. Everyone must eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve to pray for wealth of the coming year. Now, it's a popular custom in Spain. But the problem is that people have to eat a grape for each bell striking at midnight.

1. Germans would like to see the following shapes of lead Except ________.

A．a heart	B．a cross
C．a star	D．a crown

2. What can we know about Neapolitans^’ tradition?

A．They hate cooking at home.

B．They are more careful about what to throw now.

C．They throw their grandma out of the window.

D．They like making gestures in front of the windows.

3. In order to have wealth of the coming year, what do people in Spain do?

A．They buy lots of wine.

B．They pray with 12 grapes.

C．They eat as many grapes as possible.

D．They eat a grape for each bell striking,

【推荐2】In the U. S., speaking more than one language fluently is not very common except in Los Angeles, California.

The city has one of the largest population in the U. S. of young people between the ages of 18 and 34. This generation is often called millennials (新千年一代). More than half of millennials in Los Angeles are bilingual (双语的), which means they speak more than one language.

Maria Elena Burgos is cooking a Mexican breakfast. She says making Mexican food is just one of the many traditions in her home. Another is speaking Spanish to her children.

“We want them to be bilingual. We want to keep the Spanish somewhere in their learning too, not only at home.”

When Ms Burgos first came to the United States from Mexico, she learned English. She knew her children would learn English quickly. So she wanted them to speak Spanish at home and study the language at school.

She says being bilingual will give them more opportunities in the future. Knowing Spanish also means the children can talk with their relatives in Mexico.

“When we had our children, one of the decisions we as parents made was to name them with a name that was easily pronounced in English and Spanish.”

Elizabeth wants to know her family’s culture.” “The culture-to go back to our roots because that’s part of who we are.”

Monica wants to pass on the culture to her children.

“It’s nice to know our culture and then to be able to pass it onto our children and grand- children and everyone to let them know where we come from.”

And, Monica says she does not speak only English and Spanish. She has even learned some Korean in school.

1. Which of the following is a tradition of Maria?

A．Cooking breakfast for her relatives.

B．Talking with her children in Spanish.

C．Talking with her relatives in Spanish.

D．Forcing her children to speak Spanish.

2. What can be inferred from Monica’s words?

A．She doesn’t care where she comes from.

B．She looks forward to learning Spanish.

C．Everyone should know his own culture.

D．She doesn’t like American culture.

3. Which of the following is mentioned about children speaking more languages?

A．It can give children more chances in the future.

B．It can make children feel proud before their friends.

C．It can give the children a chance to go to a good college.

D．It can let children go to the places where they want to go.

4. What’s the main purpose of this passage?

A．To entertain the readers with a funny story.

B．To inform the readers of a shocking experiment result.

C．To encourage more persons to learn a second language.

D．To tell a truth that many people in Los Angeles are bilingual.

【推荐3】In Africa, Christmas Day begins with groups of carolers (欢唱颂歌的人) walking to and from through the village, along the roadway, by the houses of the missionaries (传教士), singing the lovely carols known to the world around. Often people may be awakened by a group of carolers beginning to gather at the house of worship (敬神活动). They return home to make final preparations as to the clothes one must wear and also as to their offering for the Christmas service.

The most important part of their Christmas worship service is the love offering. This is the gift in honor of Jesus. At about 8 or 9 o'clock everyone goes to the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service goes forward to lay down their gift upon the raised platform near the Communion table. No one will attend the service without giving a gift.

Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday. There is no snow, but it has many flowers, many beautiful varieties of wild flowers being in their full pride.

In Ghana, most churches show the coming of Christmas by decorating the church and homes beginning with the first week in Advent, four weeks before Christmas. This season happens to be the time of cocoa harvest, so it is a time of wealth. Everyone returns home from wherever they might be such as farms or mines.

In Africa, it is the traditional dinner of turkey, roast beef, mince pies, or suckling pig, yellow rice with raisins, vegetables, and plum pudding, crackers. In the afternoon, families go out into the country and usually there are games or bathing in the warm sunshine, and then home in the cool of the evening. Boxing Day is also a proclaimed (正式宣布的) public holiday usually spent in the open air. It falls on December 26 and is a day of real relaxation.

1. The purpose of this text is to ______.

A．persuade us to have a holiday in Africa

B．describe some important holidays in Africa

C．tell us how people celebrate Christmas in Africa

D．introduce to us when Christmas came into being

2. If you visit South Africa on Christmas Day, you’ll find ______.

A．the church and homes are being decorated	B．there are flowers all over the country
C．everyone returns home to harvest cocoa	D．it is snowing heavily everywhere

3. What is the most important part of Christmas worship service?

A．One must sing a carol on the platform.	B．One must appear in fantastic clothes.
C．Food is shared among carolers.	D．Everyone carries a gift to the scene.

【推荐1】Samsung

Samsung making great tablets might sound strange to someone not too familiar with their devices, but the company has made some interesting improvements with tablets. And much like their phones, Samsung has a wide variety in their products, with the very affordable Tab A7/A8, to the high-end flagship S8 Ultra. So if you’re team Android as opposed to Apple, Samsung is probably the way to go.

Best tablet: Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
Microsoft

Microsoft has traditionally been a major player in computing so it’s no shock that they also make well-designed and more than capable tablets—the Microsoft Surface. With the idea of the Surface tablets being a 2-in-1 device, a tablet that can functionally run like a laptop, running windows, and featuring basically the same processors that you’d find in a laptop.

And with an additional keyboard, great displays and long battery life, the Surface tablets make for great machines for work or play respectively.

Best tablet: Microsoft Surface Pro 8
Amazon

Amazon does indeed make tablets. In terms of size, they range from seven up to ten inches and even include a kids’ tablet for the young ones. So if you prefer tablets over ten inches, you may be wanting to look elsewhere.

But all in all, they’re a good shout for a first-time tablet buyer that isn’t looking to spend a few hundred pounds on a device, but still wants to watch videos or browse the web on the go.

Best tablet: Amazon Fire HD 10 plus

* This post contains links, so we may earn a small fee when you make a purchase through them on our site at no additional cost to you.

1. To satisfy both work and entertainment purposes, which tablet would a consumer most probably choose?

A．iPad Pro-12.9.	B．Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.
C．Amazon Fire HH plus.	D．Microsoft Surface Pro 8.

2. Which tablet is the most suitable for a family on a tight budget who prefer small sizes?

A．Amazon Fire HD 10 plus.	B．Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.
C．Microsoft Surface Pro 8.	D．iPad Pro-12.9.

3. What is the purpose of this piece of writing?

A．To rank tablet computer brands according to producers.

B．To encourage readers to purchase tablets via their website.

C．To inform readers about the latest models of tablets.

D．To carry out a product investigation.