1 . Welcome to Edinburgh, the world's leading festival city.

Edinburgh International Science Festival

Time: 6 April to 20 April

Edinburgh International Science Festival, founded in 1983, is the world's first public science festival. The two-week festival gives audiences amazing experiences through a diverse program of inspiring events. Alongside the annual festival in Edinburgh, the organization has a strong focus on education and runs a touring program that visits schools around Scotland throughout the year.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

Time: 10 August to 20 August

Edinburgh International Book Festival is the largest public celebration of the written word in the world, which was first held in 1997. Every August around 1,000 writers and thinkers from across the world gather with the audiences in Edinburg. Here book lovers can rub shoulders with world-renowned authors --- or just relax in the sunshine with a deckchair, a drink and a favorite read.

Scottish International Storytelling Festival

Time: 19 October to 31 October

Beginning in 1989, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival is the largest storytelling event in the world. Drawing heavily on traditional tale-tellers from Scotland — as well as international guests with stories from their own cultures, the festival is a very special celebration of the oral tradition. Skilled storytellers draw their audiences in, bringing together past and present, real and unreal, for an attractive 10 days.

Edinburgh International Children's Festival

Time: 25 May to 2 June

Edinburgh International Children's Festival is the one dedicated specifically to children. It brings some of the world's best theatre, dance and plays made for young people to Edinburgh for nine days of inspiring and entertaining shows and special events. The Festival began in 1980 and is now spread over 10 activity fields, attracting a loyal audience of 10,000 families, schools and artists.

1. What is the duration of Edinburgh International Science Festival?

A．About one week.	B．Less than 10 days.
C．About two weeks.	D．More than half a month.

2. What can the tourists do in Edinburgh International Book Festival?

A．Meet world-famous authors.	B．Buy all their favorite books.
C．Relax by listening to stories.	D．Share stories with audiences.

3. Which festival has the longest history?

A．Edinburgh International Science Festival.

B．Edinburgh International Book Festival.

C．Scottish International Storytelling Festival.

D．Edinburgh International Children's Festival.

2 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写 1 个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

The Palace Museum is working to take cultural relics into people’s daily life and bring their cultural value into full play by selling cultural and creative products, on the theme of “Bring the Palace Museum culture home”. The creative products mostly are creative daily necessities, like stationaries, bags, decorations and so on.     1    (Base) on the treasures in the museum, the Palace Museum has developed products such as Qianli Jiangshan series and Qingming Shanghe Tu series, Palace Dolls, folding fans,    2    are very popular with young people. The Palace Museum now     3    (change) the traditional way of communication, learns to use a variety of ways to publicize excellent traditional culture, and lets the Palace Museum cultural heritage resources live. The culture creative products are definitely brilliant choices for     4    (gift) that bear unique royal features.

3 . In 1888 an Egyptian farmer digging in the sand near the village of Istabl Antar uncovered a mass tomb. The bodies weren’t human. They were feline—ancient cats that had been mummified and buried in holes in astonishing numbers. “Not one or two here and there”, reported English Illustrated Magazine, “but dozens, hundreds, hundreds of thousands, a layer of them, a layer thicker than most coal joints, ten to twenty cats deep.” Some of the linen-wrapped cats still looked presentable, and a few even had golden faces. Village children peddled the best ones to tourists for change; the rest were sold as fertilizer (肥料). One ship transported about 180,000, weighing some 38, 000 pounds, to Liverpool to be spread on the fields of England.

Those were the days of generously funded (资助的) explorations—that dragged through acres of desert in their quest for royal tombs, and for splendid gold and painted masks to decorate the museums of Europe and America. The many thousands of mummified animals that turned up at religious sites throughout Egypt were just things to be cleared away to get treasure. Few people studied them, and their importance was generally unrecognized.

In the century since then, archaeology (考古学) has become less of a treasure hunt and more of a science. Archaeologists now realize that much of their sites’ wealth lies in the majority of details about ordinary folks—what they did, what they thought, how they prayed. And animal mummies are a big part of that.

“They’re really displays of daily life,” says Egyptologist Salima Ikram. After looking beneath bandages with x-rays and cataloguing her findings, she created a gallery for the collection—a bridge between people today and those of long ago. “You look at these mummified animals, and suddenly you say, Oh, King So-and-So had a pet. I have a pet. And instead of being at a distance of 5,000-plus years, the ancient Egyptians become clearer and closer to us.”

1. The underlined word “peddled” in Paragraph 1 probably means        .

A．examined	B．displayed
C．replaced	D．shared

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．Treasure hunting explorations.	B．Egyptian Royal tombs in desert.
C．Mummified animals in museums.	D．Big archaeological discoveries.

3. From the last paragraph, we can learn that Salima Ikram        .

A．wishes to keep the continuity of pets over history

B．wants to identify the King’s personal belongings and classify them

C．believes that studying the remains can help modern society relate to the past

D．doubts if current society will understand the significance of Egyptian remains

4. The passage probably encourages the readers to        .

A．make full use of the remains the ancestors left behind

B．become more sensitive to the ancient lifestyle of the ancestors

C．pay more attention to the historical and cultural value of ancient remains

D．understand there are more the historical remains waiting for explorations

4 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

As Spring Festival begins to be celebrated worldwide, the richness of Chinese cultures spreads widely as well. Recently, two special stamps    1    (design) by Han Meilin, a Chinese artist. They were used to mark the New Year of Rat. One of them shows a leaping rat bit the sky to create an opening so that sunshine could come to Earth,     2    symbolizes the wish for a better life. In the second stamp, a rat family of father, mom and baby sit by a small pile of peanuts, looking into the distance expectantly. That image represents the wish for a bountiful harvest and a happy family life. The creativity, well    3    (know) as a cultural landmark, goes beyond borders.

5 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

The “Twenty-four Solar terms”is the Chinese     1    （tradition） way of dividing and marking time. It shows the relationship between the universe, seasons, climate and agriculture, which is uniquely created     2    Chinese ancestors. The Twenty-four Solar Terms are important instructions for the agricultural production as well as people’s daily lives. At the initial stage of agricultural development, people began to explore rules of nature and used     3    （they） to guide sowing, harvesting and other agricultural activities. Until now, it     4    （become） an essential tool too.

6 . New Year's Eve Foods for Good Luck

New Year's Eve is a festival time celebrated around the world with friends, family, fireworks and foods. Do you have any New Year's Eve food traditions? Read through the foods below to figure out the best New Year's Eve foods.

Greens

Greens are a late crop mostly grown in the south, so they're easy to find in the colder months. They are go-to New Year's Eve foods because they look like money.

Cornbread

Mix and match a few different New Year's Eve food traditions with black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread to make a fortune. As the Southern saying goes, “ peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold. ”

Soba

In Japan, soba is the traditional New Year's food of choice. The length of the soba noodles is said to symbolize a long life. Part of the tradition is eating the whole noodle since the luck runs out if you break or chew the noodle.

Grapes

Make sure to add grapes to your New Year's food. On New Year's Eve, the Spanish eats a grape for each strike of midnight, with each representing a page of the calendar ahead. If one is bitter, watch out for that month!

Pork

Pigs are a lucky New Year5s Eve food because they move forward when they eat. They are also rotund (圆胖的),symbolizing a fat wallet ahead. And the meat itself is fattier than other cuts of meat, making this New Year's Eve food both tasty and a symbol of richness.

Cake

Ring-shaped cakes are a symbol of coming full circle, making them a perfect New Year's food. This tradition roots in the Greeks who make a traditional Vasilopita with a hidden coin baked inside. If you get the piece with the coin, you'll have good luck for a year.

Fish

Fish are believed to be a lucky New Year’s Eve food because their scales look like coins, and they swim in groups, which relates to the idea of abundance. Plus, fish swim forward, which represents progress.

So, try some of these dishes for your next New Year's Eve party to bring luck to all your guests and yourself.

1. Which of the New Year's Eve foods has nothing to do with wealth?

A．Fish.	B．Grapes.
C．Pork.	D．Cornbread.

2. Japanese consider the length of soba noodles as a symbol of _______.

A．richness	B．progress
C．a long life	D．coming full circle

3. In Greek, if one gets a piece of cake with a coin hidden inside, for a year, he or she will be _______.

A．rich	B．fortunate
C．healthy	D．fulfilling

7 . 假设你是红星中学高三学生李华。你的美国笔友 Jim 对中国文化十分感兴趣，你在英文报纸 China Daily 上看到“中华文化表情包设计大赛 (The China Daily Emoji Design Contest of Chinese Cultural Symbols) ”征集来自世界各地参赛作品的活动，请给他写一封邮件，邀请他参加投稿，内容包括：
1.   介绍稿件要求；
2. 告知投稿时间和方式；
3.   询问对方意向。
注意: 1. 词数不少于 50；
2.   可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.   开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

8 . 假设你是红星中学高三学生李华。你的美国朋友Jim得知你对探月感兴趣，发来邮件和你讨论该话题。请你给他回复邮件，内容包括：
1. 月亮在中国文化中的寓意；
2. 你对人类探月活动的看法。
注意：1.词数不少于50；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
提示词：探月 moon exploration
Dear Jim,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

9 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空自处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Qingming Festival-it is also called tomb-sweeping day. It     1    (fall) on April 4th or 5th. That is a special day for the living     2    show) love and respect to their dead friends or relatives. More importantly,   it is a period to honour and pay respect to one's deceased ancestors and family members. The Qingming Festival is a major    3    (tradition) Chinese festival. The major custom in Qingming Festival is tomb, sweeping. Not only is it a day in memory of the dead, it is also a festival for people to enjoy    4     (they) such as taking a spring outing, flying kites.

10 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

The International Day of Families, which was started by the United Nations in 1993,     1     (hold) on May 15 every year. The day celebrates the     2     (important) of families. It aims to deepen people’s understanding of issue     3    are related to families. With a different theme each year, the day is observed with a wide range of events that are organized at local, national and international     4     (level).