Everyone is Irish on St Patrick's Day
Every spring, usually on March 17, people in many countries wear silly hats, dance, drink and have fun.
Most of these people will have some connection with Ireland, and all of them will be celebrating St Patrick's Day.
The holiday has become one of the most popular events in Ireland, Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. For this reason, the saying "Everyone wants to be Irish on St Patrick's Day," is now truer than ever before.
One reason people enjoy this festival is that eating and drinking are a main part of celebrating St Patrick's Day. Cities all over the world, from Dublin to New York, hold big street parades with bands, outdoor banquets and other performances.
Irish people have been celebrating St Patrick's Day for thousands of years. Nowadays, people dress up in green clothes and paint three-leaf clovers on their faces and clothes.
Green is the national symbol of Ireland and the three-leaf clover is a symbol that is supposed to bring good luck. St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. Although he is very famous, little is known about his life. One legend says he drove all the snakes out from Ireland, but this is probably a symbolic story, as Ireland was never home to any snakes at all.
In any case, although it is a religious festival (people go to church in the morning), it is the parties and celebrations that follow which make this such a famous event.
1. What is the main reason people enjoy celebrating St Patrick's Day, according to the passage?| A．Wearing silly hats. | B．Participating in street parades. |
| C．Eating and drinking. | D．Dressing up in green clothes. |
| A．People want to visit Ireland on St Patrick's Day. |
| B．People from various countries celebrate St Patrick's Day. |
| C．Irish people are known for wearing silly hats. |
| D．St Patrick's Day is a religious festival. |
| A．Green is a fashionable color. | B．It is a tradition in many countries. |
| C．St Patrick wore green. | D．Green is the national symbol of Ireland. |
| A．St Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. | B．St Patrick was a famous dancer. |
| C．St Patrick invented the three-leaf clover. | D．St Patrick organized big street parades. |
| A．Going to church in the morning. | B．Dressing up in funny hats. |
| C．Parties and celebrations. | D．Painting three-leaf clovers. |
2 . Our names are an important part of our identity (身份). Parents rack their brains when naming their children, hoping to give them a name that is meaningful and reflects their child’s personality. Recently, Great British Mag listed some of the strangest last names in the UK. Let’s look at three of them.
Gotobed
“Go to bed!” Children hear it frequently, bus it may surprise you that this phrase sounds much like a surname (姓氏) still in use. According to the online magazine, the first person to have this surname was John Gotobed in 1269.
During that time, owning a bed was rare and considered as a luxury (奢侈品). People proudly “announced” the fact they could afford to have a bed by using it in their surname.
Onions
When we think of onions, of course the idea of the vegetable comes to mind, ________. This last name was first popular in France and Ireland, dating back to 1279. It was commonly used by those who either sold or grew the vegetable.
Smellie
This surname is pronounced the same as the word “smelly”. But it has a totally different meaning. In Scotland, this name is often associated (有联系的) with people who are cheerful. Nearly 400 people in the UK presently have this surname.
1. How many family names are mentioned in the passage?| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Our names aren’t an important part of our identity. |
| B．The surname “Gotobed” is still in use. |
| C．“Smellie” means “smelly”. |
| D．The surname “Smellie” is missing now. |
| A．but it is also a surname |
| B．and some of us dislike onions |
| C．and no one uses onions as their surnames |
| D．thus, it is very good to use onions as a surname |
| A．Gotobed’s parents want their children to go to bed early |
| B．Smellie’s parents want their children to be happy and cheerful |
| C．Onions’ parents want their children to like the vegetable onions |
| D．Gotobed’s parents hope that their children can afford to have a bed one day |
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Time: Saturday, May 25, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Place: Chino Hills Community Center Theme: Taste, see, smell and hear the world |
Try international cuisines (菜肴). Shop for arts and crafts made by artisans (工匠) around the world. Enjoy music and dance performances by talented artists. Learn about traditions around the world. Learn about modern and traditional foreign fashion. |
Hosted by the Rotary Club of Greater Chino Hills. For more information, you can visit our website www.chinohillsrotaryclub.org or email us at rotary.chinohills@gmail.com. Multicultural Festival shows the culture of different national groups living in Chino Hills and Surrounding (周围的) cities. |
1. When will Multicultural Festival be held according to the passage?
| A．On May 25, 2024. | B．On June 12, 2024. | C．On July 21, 2024. |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. |
| A．We can taste local food only. |
| B．We don’t need to pay for the festival. |
| C．The festival has been hosted seven times. |
| A．By emailing it. | B．By calling it. | C．By writing a letter. |
| A．To introduce the Rotary Club. |
| B．To introduce a community center. |
| C．To introduce a multicultural festival. |
4 . According to a report, about 60% of American families have working parents. Mothers spend about 18 hours doing the housework every week, and fathers spend about 10 hours doing the housework. What about the kids? Children aged between six and twelve spend less than three hours doing the housework every week, but almost 14 hours watching TV. How about teenagers? They spend nearly 31 hours on the Internet, but only three hours helping with the housework every week. However, some parents think children should spend more time on chores. Knowing how to do the housework is an important life skill.
Doing chores sends children the messages that they are part of the family and that they should do things for others. Every morning children care for the family pets by feeding them or walking them. It can also help the children keep healthy.
Children should take part in almost all the chores. They will feel happier when they make a contribution (贡献) to the family. And it may help them understand the idea of working hard better. At the same time, they can learn a lot from doing the housework. It can help them live a better life in the future.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. American fathers spend about ________ hours doing the housework each week.
| A．18 | B．16 | C．14 | D．10 |
| A．Old people | B．Parents |
| C．Teenagers | D．Children aged between six and twelve |
| A．过程 | B．技能 | C．练习 | D．趣味 |
| A．Mothers do more chores at home. |
| B．Children can learn a lot from doing chores. |
| C．Doing chores can help children keep healthy. |
| D．Young children do not need to do any chores. |
| A．Doing chores is difficult. | B．Parents should do housework. |
| C．How much housework there is. | D．Doing chores is good for children. |
English people don’t care about (在意) what they eat, but they care about the place where they eat.
| A．So the good restaurants are quiet. |
| B．A good restaurant is usually big and clean. |
| C．The poor go to small ones or fast-food restaurants. |
| D．In summer, English people like eating outside. |
| E．Rich families usually have a nice dining room. |
1. What does Alice want to do?
| A．Make a call. | B．Send a card | C．Hold a party. |
| A．China. | B．Australia. | C．America. |
| A．“Goodbye.” | B．“How are you?” | C．“Good morning.” |
My husband and I just spent a week in Paris.
The place wasn’t entirely authentic (地道的法国住房), though. Unlike a normal Parisian apartment, the plumbing (水管) worked.
Parisians are different from you and me. They never look lazy or untidy. As someone noted in this paper a couple of weeks ago, they eat great food and never gain weight. The food is so delicious that you don’t need much of it to make you happy. French strawberries do not taste like cardboard. Instead, they explode in your mouth like little flavor bombs.
In France, quality of life is much more important than efficiency (效率). You can tell this by cafes life. French cafes are always crowded.
| A．Not all the customers are tourists. |
| B．The quality of life in France is equally excellent. |
| C．There was a nice kitchen and a comfortable bed. |
| D．The amazing food is mainly consumed by local farmers. |
| E．That’s not the only reason the French eat less than we do. |
| F．Our aim was to see if we could live, in some way, like real Parisians. |
8 . Interesting Festivals in the World
Throwing tomatoes—Spain (西班牙)
Spain takes “tomatoes fights” to a whole new level. But the tomatoes are being thrown, not eaten. The festival takes place during the last Wednesday in August. Trucks (卡车) carry tomatoes into the square. People rush to the tomatoes and throw them into the crowd.
Rolling cheese—England
This festival is celebrated on the last Monday in May. It takes place on Cooper’s Hill. A large wheel of cheese (奶酪) is roiled down Cooper’s Hill. The festival is actually a race where people run down the hill after the rolling cheese. The first person to cross the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese.
Burning man—the United States
The Burning Man Festival lasts a week, it is from the Monday before Labor Day to Labor Day (which falls on the first Monday in September in America). The festival takes place in the Black Rock Desert. The best part of the festival is the burning of a large sculpture (雕塑) of a man.
Pouring water—Thailand
The Songkran Festival is the celebration of the New Year in Thailand. Rather than a single day, Thailand celebrates the New Year from April13th to April 15th. Thai people run after each other, pouring water. Songkran is one of the most important reasons why foreigners travel to the beautiful land.
根据语篇内容，从A，B，C，D四个选项中选择最佳答案。1. How many festivals are mentioned in the passage?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Spain. | B．England. | C．The United States. | D．Thailand. |
| A．Throwing tomatoes. | B．Rolling cheese. |
| C．Burning man. | D．Pouring water. |
| A．The tomatoes are thrown into the crowd to eat. |
| B．Not all the festivals alive fall on the single day. |
| C．Burning a large real man is the best part of the festival. |
| D．Songkran is the only reason for attracting lots of tourists. |
| A．a tour guide | B．a science report |
| C．a story book | D．a fashion magazine |
9 . Most American families are smaller than the families in other countries. Most American families have one or two parents and one or two children each. Children in the USA will leave their parents’ home when they grow up. They usually live far from their parents because they want to find good jobs. They often write to their parents or telephone them. And they often go to visit their parents on holiday.
Parents usually let their children choose their own jobs. Americans think it is important for young people to decide on their lives by themselves. Children are asked to do some work around their house. And in many families, children are paid for doing some housework so that they can learn how to make money for their own use.
1. How many children are there in most American families?2. Why are children paid for doing housework in many American families?
3. 翻译文中画线处句子。
4. 从文中找出与下面画线部分意义相近的短语。
My home is not close to the library.
5. In the passage, the underlined word “They” refers to
10 . In Japan, rice cakes are part of people’s everyday life. They call them “mochi”. They usually make mochi into desserts, soups and hotpot dishes.
Every year, Japan holds a rice cake lifting competition. People make big round rice cakes and take turns to lift them. For men, the rice cakes weigh 150 kg. For women, they weigh 90 kg. By doing so, people believe that they can be healthy. Many visitors, both men and women, would also take part in the competition.
On February 23rd, 2022, the competition was held at Daigo-ji Temple. Luckily, I saw the rice cake lifting competition for the first time. It was even more exciting than I had expected. At first, they held a ceremony as they did each year to pray (祈祷) for a successful event. Then people tried to lift up the huge rice cakes to pray for their own health.
They can’t be lifted easily. All the competitors did their best. The woman who got the first prize in the girl’s part kept lifting the 198-pound rice cake for 6 minutes! It is an unbelievable record! Their performances brought happiness to not only themselves but also the audience (观众). It was a really great moment for me to remember.
根据短文内容，判断句子正 (T)、误 (F)。1. People in Japan hold the rice cake lifting competition for healthy bodies.
2. People usually hold a ceremony to pray for the competition before the competition.
3. The writer thought the competition was very exciting.
4. The writer takes part in the competition every year.
5. All the competitors must lift the cakes at the same time.
