1 . The Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, is one of     1    most important festivals for all of us.    2    we celebrate is the end of winter, arrival of spring, and reunion with family and relatives. Usually the Spring Festival         3    (celebrate) for fifteen days, during which people do not work except for the workers on duty.

On New Year’s Eve all family members get together     4    (have) a big meal. After the meal they watch TV until the clock strikes twelve. Then every family sets off fireworks     5    (excite) to welcome the new year. On the first day of the new year, almost everyone is dressed in his or her best clothes. Friends and relatives are busy    6    (visit) each other with presents. At that time, children are the happiest because    7    can get many red packets from their relatives.

With the     8    (improve) of living standard, people     9    (change) the ways of celebrating the Spring Festival greatly so far. No matter how it changes, the meaning of the Spring Festival is still     10    great significance in China.

2 . 近年来， 越来越多的中国年经人热衷于过洋节，忽略了中国传统节日。为了更好地传承中国的传统节日，最近国家出台了不提倡过洋节的规定。作为年轻人，我们要不要传承（inherit）和发展中国传统节日？请就此问题写一篇短文表达你的观点并阐述理由。
注意：1.字数100字左右；

2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3.文章开头已给出，不计入总词数。

An increasing number of Chinese young people are fond of celebrating western festivals these days.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . Living in a culture that is different from your own can be both an exciting and challenging experience. The following are 6 cultural differences between China and the USA to help promoting mutual understanding.

Money

As is well known, the Chinese are conservative when they are planning to spend money, but far fewer American families are saving money for emergencies and education than their Chinese counterparts (对等的人)..

Privacy

Chinese people do not have the same concept of privacy as American do. They talk about topic such as ages, income or marital (婚姻的) status, which Americans think is annoying and disturbing.

Family

In China, elders are traditionally treated with great respect while young are cared for. In America, the goal of the family is to encourage independence, particularly that of the children. Unlike the Chinese, older Americans seldom live with their children.

Friends

Chinese people have different meanings to define friends. Just hanging out together time to time is not friendship. Friendship means lifelong friends who feel it deeply necessary to give each other whatever help might seem required. Americans always call people they meet friends, so the definition of friends is general and different. There are work friends, playing friends, school friends and drinking friends.

Education

Chinese people value education and career more than Americans, who in turn attach more great importance to good character and faith, which they think are of great value in their life.

________

Basically China values the community and the USA values the individual. If you achieve something in the USA, it’s because you are great. While in China, if you achieve something, it’s because the team, or family, or company is great. Everything you do gets owed to the greater whole, while in American individual achievements are celebrated.

1. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Americans lay more stress on faith and good personality.

B．Americans think much of the individual and the community.

C．Americans are mean with money to spend while Chinese are not.

D．Americans define friendship almost the same.

2. Which of the following can best describe the last difference?

A．Achievements	B．Individual
C．Team VS Individual	D．Teamwork

3. What is the purpose of writing the passage?

A．To promote friendship between China and the USA.

B．To help Chinese live well in the USA.

C．To have a complete understanding of the USA.

D．To introduce the cultural differences between China and the USA

4 . 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。

There are many different taboos (禁忌) around the world. A taboo is a social action that is not     1     (allow). Almost every culture in the world has     2     (it) own taboos. When you meet people from different cultures, it is important     3     (understand) what you can and cannot do. If we are not aware     4     these differences, some unusual     5     (thing) might happen. For instance, in China, it     6     (be) rude to put the chopsticks into a bowl of rice straightly as it is often done for the dead. If you visit Nepal, you will find Nepalese often greet each other with the hands pressed together instead of shaking hands,     7     in North America and the UK, people greet one another by     8     (shake) hands. If you will do business with a South American, it seems     9     (impolitely) to be dressed in the light colors. What about Japanese? They dislike the lotus and     10     not give it as a gift to Japanese because they regard it as the mourning flower (丧花). While these different customs might seem strange to you, remember that what you consider normal probably seems just as unusual to others.

5 . In Korea, it is rude to wear shoes inside someone’s house because it is considered dirty. In Saudi Arabia, you should not bring food to someone’s house because taking food or drink suggests that you think the host cannot afford the meal. More and more people around the world are travelling abroad to study, to go on vacation, or to work, and while it can be a great way to learn about other cultures, there may be times when travelers accidentally annoy their host.

The same gesture can have very different meanings in different countries. The gesture meaning OK in the United States means something completely different in Brazil as Ella Yao discovered. Ella had travelled to Brazil to study and was living with a host family. During dinner, her host asked Ella if she was enjoying the meal. Because her mouth was full of food, Ella made a sign with her hand that to her meant OK. Although Ella meant the food was good, this symbol in Brazilian culture is extremely rude and her host was deeply annoyed.

While travelling in Thailand, Elizabeth Brown learned that there are differences in food in the United States and Thailand. She stopped at a small, family-owned restaurant in Chiang Mai and ordered spring rolls. She was really enjoying eating them until she got the last one and noticed that there was an insect inside. She complained to the server. Later, she discovered that although insects are disgusting to most Americans, they are considered a delicacy(佳肴) in some countries.

All these mistakes can be avoided with some research on cultural differences before you go abroad. However, if you do accidentally annoy someone, quickly apologize, and learn from your mistake.

1. For what reason did Ella make her host angry?

A．She spoke with her mouth full.

B．Her host misunderstood her gesture.

C．She didn’t like the meal her host prepared.

D．Her host didn’t like using body language.

2. What happened to Elizabeth Brown in a Thai restaurant?

A．She ate an insect.	B．She was badly treated.
C．She argued with the server.	D．She learned insects are welcome there.

3. What may be the best title for the text?

A．What matters	B．When in Rome
C．How to be polite	D．Why make mistakes

6 . When I was in college, I spent a semester studying abroad at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. In my brief time there, I came to love Scotland for its local culture, food and scenery.

You might think, “Scotland isn’t so different from the US; they still speak English there!” But when I stepped off the plane, I was greeted by a gruff-voiced (声音粗哑的) lady at customs. “You’ll be coming from America, then?” She asked me, and I nodded. “But all of our guys are leaving Glasgow for the States!” Her thick Scottish English and sense of humor were obvious right away. I was not in the US any more, where customs agents never joke around.

As I settled in at the university, I could feel myself getting used to hearing—and even speaking—the Scottish English of my customs agent. In classroom discussions, people would say “em” when they couldn’t think of what to say instead of “um”, which was great fun. After the first few weeks, I stopped chuckling about this. Strathclyde students stayed up late into the night, running around campus and shouting, “Go! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go [curse word] Glasgow!” Pretty soon, I was no longer saying “thanks” at the supermarket—instead, I said “cheers”.

My Scottish friends drank whiskey and ate haggis (羊杂碎布丁). I drank plenty of whiskey but felt ashamed to admit that I wasn't brave enough to try haggis. Scottish bakeries usually sell bridies (肉馅饼). Add a cup of tea—though I usually Americanized it by choosing coffee instead—and a bridie makes for a delicious breakfast.

Every time I took a train anywhere in Scotland, I’d gaze out at the rolling hills and wonder if grass was greener than anywhere else in the world. Then I’d reflect that there’s a reason this country was the birthplace of golf.

1. What did the author think of the lady at customs?

A．Impolite.	B．Friendly.
C．Serious.	D．Calm.

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “chuckling” in Paragraph 3?

A．Talking loudly.	B．Comparing.
C．Laughing quietly.	D．Hearing.

3. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To explain why Scotland was famous for golf.

B．To promote the development of Scottish catering trade.

C．To introduce different pronunciations of “em”and “um”.

D．To share his experiences in Scotland as an exchange student.