2 . In China, people in different areas have their own ways to celebrate the Spring Festival. Especially between Northern China and Southern China, there are many differences.    1    

One is about the food on the night before the Spring Festival. In Northern China, people usually eat dumplings during this time. For luck, people may put sugar in dumplings.    2    People in the south usually eat Niangao or Tangyuan on New Year’s Eve. Both foods are also considered to bring a better life. There are many causes. For example, Northern China grows lots of wheat (小麦) while Southern China grows lots of rice.    3    People in Northern China usually love food made by wheat.

    4    In Northern China, people often put up paper cuttings on windows to wish for happiness of the coming year. In many parts of the south, people no longer put up paper cuttings for the Spring Festival. Instead, they decorate their house with a kumquat (金橘) tree bearing fruit.

It’s true that Northern China and Southern China have differences in celebrating the Spring Festival.    5    After all, many Chinese are moving from one place to another. When reaching a new place, they also bring their customs there. So now many people in Northern China also eat Tangyuan.

A．Here are some examples.

B．Many foods are made of rice.

C．The differences bring many bad results.

D．But the differences are gradually disappearing.

E．As a result, people in Southern China often prefer rice.

F．That way, they believe life in the next year will be “sweet”.

G．China’s north and south also have a difference in New Year decorating.

3 . How can you recognize a British, a German, and a Frenchman, apart from their accents and names?

There are ways people dress, but they are very complex and would take a lot of time to explain. Some items of clothing are just more popular in some countries than in others. For example, Germans often wear sandals (凉鞋) with their socks on, which is something a Frenchman would normally never do. In Berlin, where I live, people don’t really dress as smart as they would in Paris or London. The Germans have a reputation for not caring so much about their outward appearance — as long as the clothes are comfortable, they’re happy! They also seem to love sportswear more than people anywhere else.

The French cannot queue, while the British just seem to love it. French people are always late, British people are always on time and the Germans are always early.

French people use their hands a lot more when they speak, and take a lot more time to say something. French people care a lot how things are done or said. The British do care how things are done and said, but only in a context of politeness. The Germans just care how things are done. The French and the British seem to care more how things look, for example, food products and packaging.

When it comes to food, for example in a restaurant, a Frenchman would never think of ordering beer with a meal, which is something tally normal for a German or a British.

I find the Germans the cleanest and most disciplined in public space. The French are the worst and the British somehow in between.

1. According to the passage, how can we tell the three kinds of people apart?

A．By their behaviour.	B．By their nicknames.
C．By the colour of their skin.	D．By their facial expressions.

2. If a man is dressed in casual clothes, where does he probably come from?

A．France.

B．Germany.

C．Britain.

D．India.

3. What can you learn from the passage?

A．German people care more how things look.

B．Frenchmen are strictly in order when queuing for food.

C．British people are always likely to care how things are done and said.

D．Of the three kinds of people, the Germans are the most self-controlled in public.

4. How does author explain his ideas?

A．By giving numbers.	B．By giving logical reasoning.
C．By making a comparison.	D．By making a detailed description.

4 . Vida Woodhull Stabler is the director of the Omaha culture center at Omaha Nation Public Schools in Macy, Nebraska. She has been working for years to pass on the cultural knowledge of tribal (部落的) elders for future generations. But she faces a predicament: Only about a dozen Omaha tribe members speak the language fluently today.

For Kyleigh Merrick, 15, learning the Omaha language as a teen today is important but also a challenge. She goes to language class every day, but outside of class, there are few opportunities to speak it. Her great-grandmother uses it at home, but among her peers, only a handful will sometimes greet each other in the Omaha language. At school, only a few students are taking Omaha language classes and seem deeply interested in tribal language and culture.

Another big force that has worked against passing the native tribal language on over generations is boarding schools . The local government began sending native students to boarding schools from the 1800s to the 1960s. Students there were not allowed to express tribal culture and were taught only English.

“Our language does not have access to the same types of materials that Spanish and German do ― you can walk into any library and find Spanish books to read,” Stabler said. “Our community has had to develop tangible (有形的) materials on our own. The first challenge is ensuring people want to learn. The second is making sure they have materials to learn from.”

At Omaha Nation Public Schools, Stabler put tribal culture into students’ everyday school experiences, like hanging up a calendar with months in English and Omaha. In biology class, for instance, kids might make traditional tribal foods.

For Stabler, the work of making sure tribal culture lives on into the next generations never stops. “If students are rooted to our land ― they’ll be rooted as human beings,” Stabler said.

1. What does the underlined part “a predicament” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．A golden chance.	B．A tough decision.
C．A difficult situation.	D．A different direction.

2. What do we know about Kyleigh Merrick?

A．She knows many Omaha speakers.

B．She is able to speak some tribal language.

C．She seldom takes language classes.

D．She thinks learning the Omaha language is easy for her.

3. What do Stabler’s words in Paragraph 4 suggest?

A．Few students have an interest in learning the Omaha language.

B．Spanish and German books should be banned from libraries.

C．More reading materials in the Omaha language should be provided.

D．The local government forces students to speak only English in school.

4. What efforts does Stabler make to keep the Omaha language alive?

A．Setting up tribal libraries.	B．Introducing tribal culture to school.
C．Persuading students to learn the Omaha language.	D．Encouraging tribal elders to teach the Omaha language.