2 . Looking for something entertaining to do? Check out some awesome festivals around the world.

Koninginnedag — The Netherlands

Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Although the birthday of the current Queen, Beatrix, is actually during the winter, she has celebrated 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(围巾) and body paint as crowds gather in the plazas and on boats in the rivers. Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, with many live music events, but nearly every town is alive with orange on this day.

Thai Elephant Day — Thailand

Thai Elephant Day is a national holiday in Thailand. Thai Elephant Day has been celebrated on March 13th of every year since 1998. Because the elephant is the national animal of Thailand, they are highly respected and treasured. During the festivals elephants are honored during a ceremony in which they are fed bananas, other fruit, and sugarcane.

The Fire Festival — Shetland

On the last Tuesday in January the entire town of Lerwick, Shetland goes up in flames. At the festival, you’ll find yourself sitting, dancing, or stumbling around the largest bonfire you’ve ever seen in your life. The festival lasts only one day but takes the entire year to plan. Be prepared for an evening of singing, dancing, and fast-paced activity, and don’t worry about making it to work the next day — it’s a national holiday!

Holi — India

Holi, he Festival of Colors, is a Hindu celebration full of joy and one of India’s most important holidays. On 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, with bonfires and music, but the cheerful spirit is common throughout Hindu communities around the world.

1. What do we know about Koninginnedag?

A．It is celebrated on the day of the current Queen’s birthday.

B．It is not celebrated outside the city of Amsterdam.

C．Everyone must wear orange clothes to celebrate it.

D．It has a history of more than seventy years.

2. The festival celebrated on March 13th in Thailand is held to ________.

A．show people’s respect for their Queen

B．show Thai people’s respect for elephants

C．ask people to protect endangered animals

D．help people relax by singing and dancing

3. Why don’t people have to worry about working the day after the Fire Festival?

A．Because people are allowed to sleep at work the next day.

B．Because the activities are too simple to get people tired.

C．Because people don’t have to go to work the next day.

D．Because the festival ends very early at night.

3 . Tipping customs differ from country to country. You need to know how to tip in the country that you're in when you travel; or you'll leave servers annoyed everywhere you go. Here are just a few guidelines to tipping in different countries.

Dubai

In Dubai it's a rule for restaurants to charge 10% tip on all restaurant and bar bills You can add a couple of dirhams (迪拉姆，货币单位)to this if you feel like it. Waiters are not paid very much in Dubai, so it is always very appreciated.

Brazil

There will always be a standard 10% service charge added to your bill, and you won't necessarily have to tip. If you do feel like being generous, an extra 5-10% will really make your server very happy. Just remember to do this as skillfully as possible - Brazilians don't make a big show of this.

Czech Republic

While locals in the Czech Republic don't leave tips, that doesn't mean you're off the hook. Foreign tourists are definitely expected to leave some kind of tip for service - as long as you're in a high tourist traffic area, like Prague for instance. The standard tip is 10%.

India

Here it is often considered appropriate for a tourist to tip your server 5-10%. You have to adjust that number by yourself though. This is how the rules go in this country. If the bill is for a small meal and totals less than 300 rupees,tip the full 10％.If the bill is higher, tip towards the 5％．

1. In which country is it OK if you don’t give a tip?

A．Dubai．

B．Czech Republic．

C．Brazil．

D．India．

2. In India，the amount of tip mainly depends on________.

A．The size and environment of the restaurant．	B．The service that you have received．
C．The rules that the restaurants make．	D．The size of the meal you are eating is．

3. In which section of a website can you probably find the passage?

A．News．

B．Culture．

C．Sports．

D．Entertainment

4 . Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, "The British are the only people who like to be told how bad things are." This is definitely true of British comedy. Most people think humor is about happy things, but for the British, the opposite is true. We love to use our cruel sense of humor to complain and be negative.

British comedy, for example, draws a fine line between comedy and tragedy（悲剧）. BBC's The Office is a TV show, famous for its dry humor. The main character, David Brent, is a foolish man, and the show's comedy comes from his delusions. For example, he often tells himself that he is loved by everyone but the viewer can see that everyone hates him.

Stupid characters for the audience to laugh at are an old tradition in Britain. In Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, the character Malvolio is an old man whom people play tricks on. The audience will laugh away, although the reality is that this man is a truly tragic individual.

This side of British humor is reflected in friendships as well. At university, my friends and I would always laugh at one another. I had an American friend who actually found this sarcasm（挖苦）quite upsetting. She didn't realize that in Britain, the better friends you are with someone, the more you laugh at them.

This approach—laughing at everything—may sound rather depressing（让人郁闷的）, but our strange humor played a big part in British history. In World War II, along with a stiff upper lip（坚定沉着）, the British got through it by laughing. What else was there to do?

There is a saying in English: "Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone." If you are ever on the receiving end of British sarcasm, you may feel like crying, but it's best to just laugh it off!

1. How is British humor special?

A．It is often surprising and boring.

B．It is often about negative things.

C．It often laughs at happy people.

D．It often makes happy things depressing.

2. From paragraph 2-5 we can know that         .

A．British people will not laugh at their good friends

B．there is a great difference between comedy and tragedy

C．stupid people are often treated well in Shakespeare's plays

D．British humor used to give people courage in face of sufferings

3. How does the author advise people to react to British humor?

A．Keep silent.

B．Cry as you like.

C．Don't take it seriously.

D．Try to hold back your laughter.

5 . What did the man volunteer to do?

A．Do gardening.

B．Collect stamps.

C．Protect the plants.

6 . Housing is always an important concern, and things were no different back in Canada’s early days. The native population had several answers to the housing problem.
The igloo if a house built of ice or snow and is still in use today in more primitive areas of Canada’s north. The Inuit people find them the best type of housing, especially when away from home on hunting or fishing trips.The igloos used o such trips are smaller and only temporary homes to be used for a few nights at most. Igloos are dome shaped（圆顶形的）and made of blocks of ice or snow.First a hole is dug out in the snow and this forms the lower part of the igloo.Then the blocks of ice or snow are built in a slope inwards and upwards from this base.Often a short tunnel leads to the door.This prevents the cold winds and snow blowing into the structure.
Tipis（or tepees）are the conical（圆锥形的）tents used by the majority of native People
across America.Some Canadian aboriginal people still prefer them to other types of housing. These structures are formed by a frame of poles covered with, usually, either buffalo hide（水牛皮）or birch bark（桦树皮）.A hole at the top lets out the smoke from the cooking fires. Native people mostly travel from place to place, following their food supple across the countryside. Tepees are easy to take down, carry and put up at the next stopping place.
Another type of house iS the long house.This is exactly what the name suggests-a long narrow building that could house ten to twenty families.Built of poles covered with hides, the houses are common to the Iroquois people of Ontario and New York.These structures are also on the west coast by the Squeamish Indians.They are usually occupied by an exended family and divided into individual rooms,each with its own cooking fire.They are decorated with totem emblems （图腾标志）and a totem pole by the front door tells the history of the family.
1. Which of the following pictures matches with the igloo?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. The short tunnel leading to the door of an igloo is used to__________.

A．catch the animals	B．decorate the igloo
C．fasten the igloo	D．keep the igloo warm

3. Which of the following about a Tipi is NOT true？

A．It has a hole at the top.

B．It is made of poles covered with hides.

C．lt can be easily carried everywhere.

D．It has a firm base made of ice.

4. The underlined word “They” in the last paragraph refers to "________".

A．Squeamish Indians	B．Long houses
C．Families	D．Individual rooms

5. Where can we most probably read this passage?

A．In a medical journal.	B．In a science report.
C．In a culture magazine.	D．In a biology textbook.

7 . I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles”(风格)of directions every time I ask “ How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often confused(困惑的)in Japan because most streets there don’t have names. In Japan, people use landmarks(地标)in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “ Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat. In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “ Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map. They measure distance in time, not miles. “ How far away is the post office?” you ask. “ Oh,” they answer, “ it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “ Yes, but how many miles is it?” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn't know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “ Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “ I don't know”. People in Yucatan believe that “I don't know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
1. When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place, they usually _______ .

A．describe the place carefully

B．show him a map of the place

C．tell him the names of the streets

D．refer to recognizable buildings and places

2. What is the place where people measure distance in time?

A．New York.	B．Los Angles.
C．Kansas                 C. Iowa

3. People inYucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ________ .

A．in order to save time	B．as a test
C．so as to be polite	D．for fun

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences.

B．It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly.

C．People have similar understanding of politeness.

D．New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors.