1 . The Fire Festival is celebrated in northern Ghana. It’s a holiday we had never heard of before we came to live in a village here as Peace Corps community volunteers. It’s unbelievably great.

On the Fire Festival — Bugim Chug u in the local language — drums beat a quick and regular rhythm that locals dance to in a circle of bodies, men and women, the old and young, holding torches of burning grass above their heads, which stands for the light and getting off negative energies.

At this moment, this festival is being held at the beginning of the lunar year. The locals are all so involved in the celebration that they don’t pay as much attention to us as they normally will. When they find us getting involved as they are, they dance more vigorously and scream with joy.

Danielle, a friend of mine in the Peace Corps, says, “That we join in the celebration is significant because foreigners here are typically seen as the representatives of other organizations, not as people who are willing to join in the Fire Festival rituals (仪式). But in fact, we are dancing and celebrating as one.”

Our two-year Peace Corps service will finish up in mid-November. We can think of no better way to say goodbye than by celebrating the Fire Festival with the villagers we’ve come to know. The festival lets us see a different side of them — and lets them see a different side of us. The neighbors who sell rice are now the women who urge us to run faster and dance harder at the Fire Festival. And rather than view us as low-key (低调的) volunteers, they see us as the ones who have crazy dance steps with wild screams.

1. Why did the author go to northern Ghana?

A．To find a job.	B．To go traveling.
C．To study further.	D．To do voluntary work.

2. How do the locals feel when seeing the author and Danielle join in the celebration?

A．Annoyed.

B．Excited.

C．Confused.

D．Worried.

3. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The steps to dance well.

B．How the locals celebrate the Fire Festival.

C．How the author and Danielle help the locals sell rice.

D．The reason why the author and Danielle joined in the festival.

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．Practice makes perfect.

B．Where there is a will, there is a way.

C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

D．The grass is always greener on the other side.

2 . Festivals Around the World

Saint Patrick’s Day

Time: March 17

Place: Ireland

Saint Patrick’s Day is the traditional death date of Saint Patrick. In Ireland, celebrations include parades as well as dressing in green. The limitation on eating and drinking alcohol (酒)is canceled for the day, which has resulted in the holiday’s tradition of having various foods and drinking alcohol.

San Fermin Festival

Time: July 6-14

Place: Pamplona, Spain

The most famous event during the San Fermin Festival is the Encierro, or the Running of the Bulls (公牛), where the bulls are led through the street to the bull ring by runners at 8: 00 from 7 to 14 July. The week-long celebration includes many other traditions and events—you may also find yourself covered with flour and eggs and the streets are filled with music and dancing.

Burning Man

Time: Last Monday in August until the first Monday in September

Place: Black Rock City, Nevada, USA

You are expected to bring everything you will need for that week and you won’t spend money once you’re there and will take your rubbish with you when you leave. Over 60,000 people attend every year.

Oktoberfest

Time: 16 days from late August until the first weekend of September

Place: Munich, Germany

More than 6 million people from around the world attend Oktoberfest every year and drink large amounts of beer which has been made from 6 breweries (啤酒厂) in Munich. Attendees hang out in large beer tents dressed in Bavarian costumes and there are amusement rides and traditional foods.

1. What do people do on Saint Patrick’s Day?

A．They burn Saint Patrick.	B．They put on green clothes.
C．They throw eggs at each other.	D．They keep away from drinking.

2. Which festival has a bull show?

A．Oktoberfest.	B．Burning Man.
C．San Fermin Festival.	D．Saint Patrick’s Day.

3. What do the last two festivals have in common?

A．They take place in the same months.

B．They provide beer from Munich.

C．Attendees have no chance to spend money.

D．They have the same number of attendees every year.

3 . The Spring Festival is the most important celebration in China. There are some interesting Spring Festival traditions about Don’ts & Dos. Let’s take a look!

Don’t take out the rubbish

Taking out the rubbish, on that day, is said to stand for sweeping luck and wealth from the house.    1    .

Don’t give a watch or clock as a gift

A clock is an unpopular gift at any time of the year in China, as the phrase “giving a clock” sounds exactly like the Chinese words for “song zhong”.     2    , so it is an especially bad gift for the elderly.

    3    

During the festive period, you’ll see amazing decorations all over China, and your house should be no exception.     4    , you’ll be able to find red decorations everywhere during the Spring Festival.

Popular decorations include red lanterns driving away bad luck, door couplets showing wishes for the coming year, and the character(fu) meaning good fortune.

Give hongbao or fruit

Hongbao, or a red envelope containing money, is a popular gift for adults to give children.

Fruit, especially tangerines or kumquats, are safe for friends.     5    because the word for tangerine(ju) sounds similar to the Chinese word for luck(ji).

A．Wear red for luck

B．As red is a lucky color

C．Make your house attractive

D．Spring Festival is a time for delicious food

E．A clock also stands for running out of time

F．You will often see them on the table during the Lunar New Year

G．In fact, cleaning any kind of thing on the first day of the lunar calendar is considered unlucky

4 . 语法填空

Falls Festival in Australia is held every year between December and January, usually ranging between December 28 and January 8.

The story begins in 1993, with a small one-day concert held in Lorne, Victoria,     1    (name) Rock Above The Falls. This first event attracted nearly 11,000 people,     2    (exceed) the organizers’ expectations, and they had to negotiate the use of neighboring land     3    (accommodate) the crowd. The festival became a two-day event in 1995, and the following year the name was changed to The Falls Music &Arts Festival.

The 2003 festival was     4    first time two events were held simultaneously, one in Lorne, and an     5    (addition) event at Marion Bay, Tasmania. The same performance took place at both events; the December 30 acts     6    played at Lorne, and the December 31 acts that played at Marion Bay, and vice versa. Both the Lorne and Marion Bay festivals have continued to run at the same time, except for the 2002 edition, and    7    (art) continue to be exchanged between the two locations throughout the festival.

In 2013 the Byron edition of the event    8     (introduce), increasing the reach of the festival across the country. In 2019, the festival at the Lorne site was canceled    9    extreme bushfire risk during the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season. The Marion Bay edition of the festival was     10    (fortunate)canceled permanently in 2021, with organizers citing low revenue from the event.

5 . 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。

Liu Ruying,     1     grandfather is a huge fan of Peking Opera, has been interested in Peking Opera for much of her young life. Her grandfather is a great influence     2     her. At the age of 8, she     3    (begin) to practice the classic art. It wasn’t easy for a little girl     4    (experience) the difficult training, as performances combine martial arts, dancing and acrobatics(杂技).

“Sometimes I was tired,“ she said. ”I had to balance my studies and other     5    (course) I was interested in, such as dance. But the great charm(魅力) of Peking Opera made me always practice it.”

When Liu got the news that her region would have a cultural exchange with other countries, she had the idea of     6    (introduce) Peking Opera to the world in English. With     7     help of her mother, she took part in the activity after several months of practice.

“I     8    (extreme) love traditional Chinese culture,” she said. “Peking Opera has a long history of about 200 years and     9    (consider) a treasure of our nation. We should let     10    (we) make great efforts to carry forward our culture and protect the cultural diversity of the world.”

6 . Growing up, I was often the first Jewish person my classmates had ever met. I lived in Mississauga, Ontario, and was the only Jewish student in my grade—sometimes the only one in the whole school. This difference set me apart.

Every September, I hated presenting the note my parents had expertly made to a teacher I was just getting to know. The note explained that I would be absent during the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I fretted that my teachers would label me the “Jewish kid”.

The real trouble always came as the local new year’s festival approached. I was Jewish and celebrated Hanukkah, not this festival. At school, on one day before the winter break, every class would sit in neat rows in the gym and sing songs from the festival. However, the music teacher sometimes played Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, a Jewish festival song, and I would feel hundreds of eyes staring at my red cheeks. As my friends counted down the days until the festival, I counted the days until it was over and I could go back to feeling normal.

Each year during primary school, my mother would coordinate (协调) with my teacher to come to my class and tell the story of Hanukkah. She would prepare treats and materials depending on my age. Every time I would proudly stand beside her as she told the story of Hanukkah and explained the symbols. The children who had attended the presentation previously competed to answer questions. After my mom left, I would overhear them showing off their fried treats to kids in other classes.

My mom’s annual visits to my school sparked (激发) interest from other parents as well. Over the years, we had visits from parents who shared how festivals were celebrated in Germany and Italy.

My mom showed me, my classmates and their families that what sets us apart should be celebrated and shared, an intention which I continue to set for myself as I cycle through another holiday season.

1. What does the underlined word “fretted” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Noticed.

B．Disagreed.

C．Worried.

D．Expected.

2. What really annoyed the author during the local festival?

A．Being a trick target.	B．Singing holiday songs.
C．Being culturally different.	D．Celebrating others’ festival.

3. How did the author’s classmates react to Mom’s coming?

A．They welcomed it warmly.	B．They gave away her treats.
C．They showed off themselves.	D．They expressed sympathy for her.

4. Which of the following best states what Mom did at school?

A．She protected her child from being hurt.

B．She encouraged cross-cultural understanding.

C．She made Hanukkah a school-celebrated festival.

D．She saved the Jewish tradition from being changed.

7 . Happy Rain on a Spring Night

Good rain knows its time right;

It will fall when comes spring. With wind it steals in night; Mute, it moistens each thing. O’er wild lanes dark cloud spreads; In boat a lantern looms. Dawn sees saturated reds; The town’s heavy with blooms. (Translated by Xu Yuanchong)

(Notes: mute无声的；moisten使……湿润；lane小路；loom隐现；saturated渗透的；dawn 黎明)

When Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770) wrote this poem, he was living in Chengdu. Sometimes he went to farm in the field. The poem shows his care for farmers.

The very first word, “good”，shows the poet’s joy and love for the spring rain. The rain is good indeed, as it “knows” the proper time to come. Here the poet uses personification (拟人), as if the rain were smart enough to know that it should come in time for the farmer’s busy plowing (农耕) season.

When the rain comes, it appears during the night without making any noise. Unlike the thunder (雷) and lightning of summer storms, the quiet spring rain makes its contributions without seeking (寻求) to be known.

In the night sky，the clouds look dark and heavy，indicating (暗示) that there will be enough rain during the night. Then the poet imagines: tomorrow morning, all of the flowers in the city will bloom (盛开) after the rain.

1. The poet Du Fu died when he was ________ years old.

A．55

B．57

C．58

D．68

2. Why does the poet use the word “knows” in the first line of the poem?

A．To introduce the poem.

B．To show the farmer’s busy plowing.

C．To describe the rain’s smartness.

D．To tell the proper time of rain coming.

3. Which are mentioned in the poem?
① wind          ② thunder          ③ cloud          ④ lighting          ⑤ rain

A．②③④

B．②④⑤

C．①③⑤

D．①④⑤

4. What’s the main idea of the poem according to the text?

A．The poet’s care for farmers.	B．The poet’s love for spring.
C．The poet’s love for rain.	D．The poet’s care for the field.

8 . Whether for a special holiday, as a way of showing gratitude or just a way of letting someone know you care, gift giving is a universal custom Though the purpose may be similar from place to place, traditions vary widely from one country to the next. A behavior that shows respect in one place might be considered offensive somewhere else. Take a look at unique gifting traditions from around the world.

Here in the US, a set of kitchen knives seems like the perfect gift idea for a wedding. However, in certain European countries like Germany, people believe that a knife presented as a gift will cut off your friendship. There is a way to break it: Tie a coin to the knife or gift box. The receiver then returns the coin to you as a “payment” to remove the bad luck.

There's a well-known Italian wedding tradition where the groom's (新郎) tie is cut into a number of tiny pieces. Wedding guests can then "buy” these tie pieces in exchange for cash. It's a fun way to give money to the new couple that leaves guests with a wedding souvenir.

As left hands are considered unclean in Indian culture, behaviors such as touching, passing money, or giving gifts are to be done with the right hand. Different from some other cultures , an odd number (奇数) of things or currency represents good luck. For example, £11 should be given rather than £10.

In Zimbabwe, it is common to directly ask for a gift. When you receive a gift without asking for it, even if the giver's family is poor, it's the worst way to reject the offering. Also, expressing thanks with actions is better than giving thanks orally (口头地).These may include jumping up and down, dancing, or whistling.

1. What does the underlined word “offensive“ in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Rude.

B．Creative.

C．Suitable.

D．Caring.

2. How do people prevent friendship breaking down when giving gifts like knives?

A．The guests cut the groom's tie into pieces.

B．The receiver returns the coin to the giver.

C．The giver gives gifts with the right hand.

D．The receiver expresses thanks by dancing.

3. What can we learn about the gift giving in Zimbabwe?

A．It is not proper to ask for a gift directly.

B．It's better to reject a gift from a poor family.

C．One can express thanks by writing letters.

D．Showing gratitude with actions is better than words.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Way of Showing Gratitude	B．A Fun Behavior to Respect People
C．Various Gift Giving Traditions	D．A Special Custom of Gift Giving

9 . 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。

Niu Lang and Zhi Nv

Long ago, there was a(n)     1     (honesty) and hardworking boy, who lost his parents     2     an early age. He had an old bull. All the     3     (villager) called him Niu Lang. At the same time, a pretty princess from Heaven secretly came to the earth to look for happiness. Soon she fell     4     love with Niu Lang. They got married and had children.

    5     Niu Lang worked in the fields, the princess wove(织布) at home. The local people    6    (admire) her excellent weaving skill so much that they all called her Zhi Nv.

They lived     7     (peaceful) and happily for several years until the girl’s family find her in the village. Her Grandmother ordered her     8     (leave) at once. Niu Lang rose up to the sky to search for his wife. Then the grandmother took out her hairpin and     9     (draw) a big river across the sky,     10     (know) as the Milky Way, to separate the family forever.

Each lunar year on July 7^th, all the magpies(喜鹊) in the world form a bridge so that Niu Lang and Zhi Nv may enjoy a get-together temporarily.