1 . Festivals are a great way to experience a destination in a different way. Whether you are looking for a unique cultural difference or the experience of sheer joy, there is something here for everyone in this article.
St. Patrick's Day
Dublin, Ireland & New York, the USA, March 17th
It has been a cultural and religious celebration held in memory of the death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland, since 1762. On that day, the whole city turns green and many Irish make traditional bread. It is also one of the most fun days of the year, when the whole city turns into a big green party.
South by Southwest (SXSW)
Austin, the USA, March
Founded in 1987, SXSW has been praised by music fans and the media worldwide as one of the top 10 music festivals in the world. It is not only a music feast but also dedicated to the integration of technology and films. You can also enjoy free food, drinks and music. Sounds good?
King's Day
Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 27th
King's Day may well be the best party in Holland and Amsterdam turns a very bright color of orange on April 27th. People celebrate King Willem Alexander's birthday with music, street parties, flea markets, and fun fairs. The king himself travels through the country with his family.
Just for Laughs
Montreal, Canada, July 14th—30th
For comedy lovers there is no other festival in the word better than Montreal's Just for Laughs. The festival concentrates most of its shows in the Latin Quarter. During the day street performers delight the crowds and at night the city comes alive with comedy all over the city.
1. Which of the four festivals mainly involves music and films?| A．St. Patrick's Day. | B．South by Southwest. |
| C．King's Day. | D．Just for Laughs. |
| A．They are both religious festivals. |
| B．They are celebrated in the same month. |
| C．They are in honour of the birthday of a great person. |
| D．They both feature a color. |
| A．It lasts for a month. | B．It provides free food for all. |
| C．It's the best comedy feast. | D．It is concerned about the royal family. |
Beijing Opera,
Later, some other Anhui Opera troupes (班子)
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：
1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
With the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day come together, there will be a long holiday. Therefore, as for me, I am not going to travel anywhere, because I don’t want to join in the crowds. Instead, I just wanted to stay in my home and enjoy the family hour. I am so happily that my grandparents will come to stay with us for a few days. So my parents decide to having a family barbecue and invite more relative to spend the holiday with us. It is such a great reunion that everyone will have good time. What’s more, we will drive to our hometown, what is near to the city. There will be fewer people or we can appreciate the beauty of nature.
4 . Have you ever been to a music festival? Well if you live in the UK, the answer is probably yes. The number of festivals has grown greatly over the last few years and now there are around 200 every summer. So let’s look at the history of four famous festivals.
The Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival of contemporary(当代的) performing arts held most years in Somerset, in the south-west of England. There are a rock and pop stage, a jazz stage, the Avalon stage, a theatre comedy stage, a cinema tent, a dance tent and a circus(马戏团). The festival started in1970and about 120,000 people go to it every summer.
The Reading Festival is truly world-class with rock and pop bands(乐队) appearing from all over the world, particularly(尤其) the USA. About 80,000 music fans go to Reading every August Bank Holiday. The festival first came to its present site on the banks of the River Thames in Reading in 1971, when it moved from Plumpton in Sussex. It is still on the same site over 47 years later!
WOMAD stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance and was the idea of rock musician Peter Gabriel to promote(宣传) world music. The WOMAD Festival started in 1982 and takes place in July at Charlton Park, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, and you can see different bands and musicians from all over the world. The festival welcomes over 26, 000 visitors each year.
The one-day Monsters of Rock Festival at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes was first held in 1980 and gave visitors the chance to hear the very best of hard rock and heavy metal. There were no festivals between 1996 and 2003 as a result of changing musical fashions, but now it has returned and grown into a two-day festival with a campsite for the 30,000 people who go there in summer days.
1. Which festival draws the largest number of fans every year?| A．The Reading Festival. | B．The WOMAD Festival. |
| C．The Glastonbury Festival. | D．The Monsters of Rock Festival. |
| A．It mainly attracts rock music fans. |
| B．It is especially popular with local bands. |
| C．It is named after the place where it is held. |
| D．It has been held in the same site since it started. |
| A．All last five days. | B．All are held in the summer. |
| C．All take place every year. | D．All are held near the River Thames. |
5 . The old Chinese saying "as happy as spending the New Year" might be outdated now in the busy modern world. The Spring Festival is regarded as the most important festival for Chinese people and an occasion for all family members to get together, like Christmas in the West. But many traditional customs accompanying the Spring Festival, however, have weakened in practice.
Setting off fireworks was once the most typical custom of the Spring Festival. People thought the sputtering(爆裂) sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, the activity has been completely or partially forbidden in big cities for years as the government has taken security, noise and pollution factors into consideration.
"In recent years, some cities have begun to allow people to light fireworks during limited hours at the Spring Festival, surrendering to(屈从于) public demand. Respecting folk traditions is a gesture of respect toward public opinion," said Zhou Xing, a folklore researcher.
"As people gain more income and it becomes easier to buy daily goods, the New Year holiday is just like any other. After long workdays, many people use the New Year holiday to take a rest, rather than visiting friends and neighbors. The process of making and enjoying the family dinner on Spring Festival Eve is the most important thing. However, many families would like to eat out to save time and energy," said Li Shunzhi, a resident of Harbin, Heilongjiang.
"I enjoy the holidays very much in the countryside. My family has been preparing for the Spring Festival more than two weeks before the holiday, cleaning the house, buying holiday goods and decorating the house with paper cuttings. On New Year’s Eve, the whole family stays up to see the New Year in, and in the days to follow, a series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held. Without the ancient traditions, the holiday is nothing to us," said Zhang Hui, from Hebei.
1. Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?| A．Setting off fireworks has been forbidden in some big cities for years. |
| B．Nowadays, people can light fireworks in some cities at the Spring Festival. |
| C．People believe that the sound of fireworks can drive away evil spirits. |
| D．In the past, setting off fireworks couldn’t be seen almost anywhere. |
| A．what people do during the festival now is different from the past |
| B．people would like to have the family dinner on Spring Festival Eve |
| C．people prefer to visit friends and neighbors rather than take a rest |
| D．the New Year holiday is just like any other day |
| A．Zhang Hui often spends two weeks preparing for the Spring Festival. |
| B．Zhang Hui is used to spending the Spring Festival with his family. |
| C．Zhang Hui always takes part in a series of activities after the Spring Festival. |
| D．Zhang Hui lives in the urban area. |
| A．The Spring Festival is as lively as before. |
| B．The Spring Festival is outdated now. |
| C．The Spring Festival is losing its qualities. |
| D．The Spring Festival in China is more important than Christmas in the West. |
