You see people in movies celebrating a white Christmas in England or the United States. But Christmas in Australia is different.
The holiday, celebrated on Dec 25, comes at the hottest time of the year in Australia. The temperature is usually about 30°C in most cities and can even be over 40°C. There is certainly no white Christmas in Australia.
Because it is so hot, the tradition is to have a lunch outside and to swim in the pool or beach. Most people have a one-week holiday during this time, so they will travel to meet their family for Christmas lunch. Christmas lunch is usually a big meal of ham, turkey, salad and fresh seafood. (3) Family members all cook something different to bring to the big meal. I always enjoy Christmas lunch because there are lots of good cooks in the family. One year my aunt even made a delicious gingerbread house (姜饼屋) that we ate for dessert.
Children get presents from “Santa Claus” and are always excited to play with them. (4) It is a fun time to play or swim in the pool with the other members of your family.
The sport of cricket (板球) is very popular in Australia and another tradition is to play a game of cricket in your backyard. I always enjoyed playing with my uncle and cousins when I was growing up.
So Australia might not have a white Christmas. But it is still a very exciting and fun time of the year.
请务必将1-5小题的答案写在答题卡的相应位置！
(一) 根据短文内容简要回答问题。
1. Why is there no white Christmas in Australia?
2. What sports are mentioned in this passage?
（二）将短文中划线的句子译成汉语。
3.
4.
（三）请给短文拟一个适当的题目。
5.
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Partying is fun. But if you are invited to a party by a foreigner, what should you wear? Should you bring anything? If so, what? Don’t worry. We are going to give you some tips about partying with foreigners.
First, you should ask if it’s a formal (正式的) or casual party. Then you will know what to wear. 在一个非正式聚会上，带一瓶葡萄酒或一些其他饮料或食物就可以了。 It won’t be polite (礼貌的) to bring someone along with you if you don’t ask your host first. At some formal parties, like a birthday party, a small gift will be enough. Giving money would make the host uncomfortable. Finally never overstay your welcome (因为做客时间太久而不再受欢迎). When it’s getting late, it’s time to thank your host for a wonderful evening and say good night.
根据短文内容，完成下列各题。
1. How many kinds of parties are mentioned (提到) in the passage?
2. Is it polite to bring your friend to a foreigner’s party without asking the host?
3. What should you do when it’s getting late?
4. 将文中画线的英语句子译成汉语。
5. 将文中画线的汉语句子译成英语。
People in different countries greet (问候) each other in different ways. Let’s have a look at some of them.
The US People shake hands when they meet for the first time. Friends and family members (成员) often hug or kiss on the cheeks (脸颊) when they see each other.
South Korea Men bow and shake hands to greet each other. Women do not usually shake hands. If you address (称呼) someone, you use his or her full name. The family name comes first, and then the first name.
Finland (芬兰) Finns (芬兰人) greet each other with a handshake. Hugs and kisses are only for close friends and family members.
The Philippines (菲律宾) The everyday greeting for friends is a handshake for both men and women. Men sometimes pat (轻拍) each other on the back.
1. What do Americans do when they meet for the first time? （不多于3个单词）2. How do men in South Korea greet each other? （不多于5个单词）
3. Do women in South Korea usually shake hands to greet each other? （不多于3个单词）
4. For Finns, who do they only hug and kiss? （不多于6个单词）
5. What is the everyday greeting for friends in the Philippines? （不多于2个单词）
Palace Lantern(宫灯)．It was mainly used in palaces in ancient times.When making palace lanterns，fine wood was used.The palace lanterns were covered with silk or glass.Different kinds of pictures were drawn on the covers.These lanterns were not only used as lights but also as decorations(装饰) in palaces.
Gauze Lantern(纱灯)．Less expensive bamboo and gauze were used to cover the lanterns.We usually use red gauze to make a gauze lantern.①In__Chinese__culture，red__lanterns__are__a__symbol__of__happiness__and__good__luck. So red lanterns are always hung on important festivals in parks or main streets.
Shadowpicture Lantern(走马灯)．There were two layers(层) of covers and pictures were drawn on the inside layer.When the candle was lit，the heat(热量) caused a paper wheel inside the lantern to turn around so that moving pictures appeared on the outside cover.②这是这三个中最有趣的灯笼。
1. What were palace lanterns made of?
2. Where are red lanterns always hung on important festivals?
3. According to the writer，which kind of lantern is the most interesting one?
4. 将划线①译成汉语。
5. 将划线②译成英语。
Children gather around a big, old tree. They bring pigs’ feet and cakes. An old host (主持人) stands at the front of the tree. The host asks the tree to bless the children. Then, the host cuts the food into pieces and gives it out to everyone.
This is a big part of the New Year of the Yi ethnic group (彝族). The New Year begins on November 20 and lasts (持续) for three days. Yi parents cook pigs’ feet for their children. They tie strings onto the pigs’ feet. This way, the children can carry the feet on their backs.
Usually, there is a small pigs’ feet competition. A good pig’s foot should be big and strange in shape. The stranger it is, the more luck the family has. Yi children share the “lucky” pigs’ feet with the tree during the New Year. They hope they can grow as tall and strong as the tree!
Why do Yi people love trees? Most Yi people live in the mountains of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi. They grow up with lots of trees. They like the strong vitality (生命力) of trees.
Yi children have many fun ways to play with the pigs’ feet. In some villages, children pretend (假装) to be tigers and eagles. When the old host gives out the meat, they all rush to take it. Every Yi family makes a famous pork dish during the New Year. It is called tuotuorou. People cut pork into big pieces and cook them with salt.
Young men and women of the Yi ethnic group get up early. They bring some water and vegetables back home. They do it secretly. They believe it brings good luck to their families.
1. What festival is this passage about?2. How long does this festival last?
3. Why do Yi children share the “lucky” pigs’ feet with the tree?
4. What do young people of Yi ethnic group bring back home secretly?
5. Do you like this culture of Yi ethnic group? Why or why not?
There are many holidays and festivals. Dads have Father’s Day. Children have children’s Day. Is there a special day for old people?
Double Ninth Festival is a special day for old people in China. It started long ago. The festival is on lunar (农历) September 9th. This year it is on October 23rd. On this day, people show love for their grandparents.
People do many different kinds of things on this day. They enjoy flowers, eat special cakes and drink wine (葡萄酒). It’s very interesting. The best way to celebrate it is climbing hills (小山) or mountains (高山). People think climbing will bring them good luck and help old people live long. Double Ninth Festival is also a good time for a family to get together. And young people give their presents and best wishes (愿望) to the old people.
1. When is Double Ninth Festival this year?2. Why do people like climbing hills on Double Ninth Festival?
3. What do people usually do to celebrate Double Ninth Festival?
4. Which festival is your favorite? Why? Write 30 words or more.
【推荐3】As an Englishman, I can speak three languages—English, German and French, so do you think the British people are very good language learners? The fact is that they aren’t.
Some statistics(数据) from a survey showed that 62% of the British people only speak English. 38% speak at least one foreign language and 18% speak two or more. Compared with the British people, 56% of the people in other European countries speak at least one foreign language and 28% speak two or more. From this you can see that the British people are not good language learners in Europe.
In Britain, students are not required to learn a foreign language. In UK schools it is common for children to start learning a foreign language at 11. And many of the British students stop learning it at 14. They think it is more difficult to get good marks in languages than in other subjects like science or history.
To solve this situation, the British government is looking for different ways to improve language learning at school. Changing the British attitude(态度) to learning foreign languages may be a hard task but the government decides to try!
任务1：阅读短文，根据英文释义及首字母提示拼写单词。
1. r
2. t
任务2：阅读短文，进行同义句转换，每空一词。
3. They think it is more difficult to get good marks in languages than in other subjects like science or history.
They think it is more difficult to get good marks in languages than in other subjects
任务3：根据短文内容回答问题。
4. Are the British people good language learners in Europe?
5. How many languages do 18% of the British people speak according to the survey?
6. Who is looking for different ways to improve language learning at school?
The Spirit of Christmas
Many would agree that when we think of Christmas, we probably think of gifts, Christmas trees and Santa Claus. But behind all these things lies the true meaning of Christmas: the importance of sharing and giving love and joy to people around us. The story in A Christmas Carol is perhaps the best example of this.
A Christmas Carol is a famous short novel written by Charles Dickens. It is about an old man named Scrooge who never laughs or smiles. He is mean and only thinks about himself. He doesn’t treat others nicely. He just cares about whether he can make more money and he hates Christmas. One Christmas Eve, Scrooge sees the ghost of Jacob Marley, his dead business partner. Marley used to be just like Scrooge, so he was punished after he died. He warns Scrooge to change his ways if he doesn’t want to end up like him. He also tells Scrooge to expect three spirits to visit him.
That night, three ghosts visit Scrooge. First, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his childhood and reminds Scrooge of his happier days as a child. Then the second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes him to see how others are spending Christmas this year. Everyone is happy, even poor people. The last one, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, takes him to the future. Scrooge sees that he is dead, but nobody cares. He is so scared that he wakes up in his bed and finds out it is only the next morning—Christmas Day!
He decides to change his life and promises to be a better person. He happily celebrates Christmas with his relatives. He also gives gifts to people in need. He now treats everyone with kindness and warmth, spreading love and joy everywhere he goes. And that is the true spirit of Christmas!
1. The true spirit of Christmas:2. The main character of A Christmas Carol:
3. The three spirits:
4. How does Scrooge feel when he wakes up on Christmas Day?
5. The things that Scrooge does after seeing the three spirits:
【推荐2】Venice, a city in the northeast of Italy, is famous throughout the world for its buildings and romantic canals (运河). But in February every year, people come to Venice for another reason. The city carnival (狂欢节) fills the place with excitement and fun. This year, the celebration runs from 4 to 21 February.
Colourful costurnes have always played a very important role in the Venetian carnival. The carnival happens at the start of the Christian fasting (斋戒) period of Lent. It was traditionally a time to go a bit crazy with eating, drinking, dancing and dressing up before the fast began. People used masks to hide their social identity so that the nobility (贵族) would look no different from the commoners.
Today the carnival is largely for the tourists. “Venetians don’t dress up for the carnival after the age of ten,” Giuseppina Giudice, who has lived in the city all her life, said to The Guardian（卫报）. “All we see of the carnival is a river of strangers who flow into town to feel ‘Venetian’. They fill it, buy a cheap mask and leave with nothing but photographs of St Mark’s Square.”
Some locals want to bring back the original (最初的) feel of the carnival. In 2009, two social networking groups started organizing their own carnival. Visitors were invited. There were no expensive tickets or fancy ball dresses—just an old-fashioned Italian street party. “Tourists are welcome to our party—the more we can show them about the real Venice rather than the postcard Venice, the better,” Matteo Secchi, one of the organizers, told The Guardian.
The carnival of Venice | |
Location | Venice lies in the |
| This year people | |
Traditions | ♦It was a time to go a little ♦People often wore |
| ♦Today the festival is largely for people who come for a ♦Some local people want to bring back the original ♦In 2009, two social networking groups | |
April Fool’s Day is a celebration that takes place in different countries around the world. It happens on April 1st every year and is a day when many people play all kinds of tricks and jokes on each other.
One April Fool’s Day, a reporter in England announced that there would be no more spaghetti because the spaghetti farmers in Italy had stopped growing spaghetti. Many people ran to their local supermarkets to buy as much spaghetti as they could. By the time people realized that the story was a hoax, all of the spaghetti across the country had been sold out. In another famous trick a TV show in England reported the discovery of special water. They said this water would help people lose weight and that one customer had already lost a lot of weight in just four months. By the end of the day, more than 10,000 people had phoned the TV station to find out how to get this water.
Many April Fool’s jokes may end up being not very funny. A famous TV star once invited his girlfriend onto his show on April Fool’s Day. He asked her to marry him. The lady was so happy because she really wanted to get married. However, when she said yes, he replied, “April Fool!” That little joke didn’t have a very happy ending. The TV star lost his girlfriend and his show was canceled.
One of the world’s most famous tricks, however, happened in October rather than in April. In that month in 1938, actor Orson Welles announced on his radio program that aliens from Mars had landed on the earth. He described where they had landed and told how they were moving across the United States. Welles made it sound so real that hundreds of people believed the story, and fear spread across the whole country. By the time police officers announced that the story was a hoax, thousands of people had left their homes.
1. What many people do on April Fool’s Day:2. The reason why the supermarket sold out spaghetti on April Fool’s Day:
3. The thing that the TV show said the special water could do:
4. The time Orson Welles tell people about aliens from Mars landing on the earth:
5. The reason why so many people believed Orson Welles:
