1 . Have you ever heard about Ramadan?Ramadan is one of the most important festivals for Muslims. The name of the festival comes from the Arabic month‘in which it is celebrated. Ramadan is celebrated in countries all over the world, especially in Africa and the Middle East. The time for celebrating Ramadan varies each year. People celebrate it in the ninth month of the Arabic lunar calendar. During Ramadan, people must not eat during the day: from when the sun comes up to when the sun goes down, people celebrating Ramadan will not eat or smoke. When the sun has gone down, however, the celebration begins. People often stay up all night eating singing and dancing.

In late spring, many people around the world celebrate Easter. The festival is a celebration of spring and it is also a religious holiday. It is the time for Easter bunnies and egg hunts, and of course for eating lots of delicious foods. Easter is celebrated in late March or early April but the exact dates are different form year to year. People celebrate Easter in different ways: in some countries, the Easter Bunny—a big rabbit—will visit and children will go on egg hunts, looking for eggs and candy that have been hidden by their parents. In other countries, Easter is a time for children to dress up like witches and go from door to door asking for candy—much like Halloween in the US. The Easter Bunny and the Easter Egg are popular symbols of the festival.
1. Ramadan and Easter are             .

A．festivals celebrated in Asia and Africa

B．the only festivals that people like to celebrate during the day.

C．two names of the year

D．festivals celebrated by people all over the world

2. During Ramadan, people do not          during Easter.

A．talk	B．sing
C．eat	D．sleep

3. In some countries, children will go on           during the day.

A．picnics	B．egg hurts
C．trips	D．fighting

4. The two main popular symbols of Easter are the               and the           .

A．Easter Man, Easter egg	B．Easter Bunny, Easter tree
C．Easter Man, Easter tree	D．Easter Bunny, Easter egg

2 . The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held 46 days before Easter, especially famous for the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the festival of Saturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to bad things in a season of religious discipline to regret and prepare for Christ’s death and coming back to life.            Modern Brazilian Carnival dates back to Rio de Janeiro in 1641. It originally copied the European form of the festival, later taking in elements of Native American and African cultures.       In the late 19th century, the strings (弦乐器) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were pageant (游行) groups that paraded through city avenues performing on instruments and dancing. Today they are known as blocks, consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or special T-shirts with themes or logos. Blocks are generally connected with particular neighborhoods; they include both a music group and a lot of revelers(狂欢者).        Block parades have become an expressive feature of Rio’s Carnival. Today, they number more than 100 and the groups increase each year. Blocks can be formed by small or large groups of revelers with a clear title. Before the show, they gather in a square, then parade in sections of the city, often near the beach. Carnival time in Rio is very interesting, but is also the most expensive time to visit Rio. Hotel rooms and other lodgings (住宿) can be up to four times more expensive than the regular rates. There are big crowds at some locations and life is far from ordinary in many parts of town.
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A．The Carnival of Brazil is often held after Easter.

B．The Carnival of Brazil comes from Easter and Saturnalia.

C．The Carnival of Brazil is mainly to celebrate the birth of Christ.

D．The Carnival of Brazil is a festival to regret and begin a new life.

2. How long is the history of the people’s celebrating modern Brazilian Carnival?

A．About 100 years.	B．Less than two centuries.
C．Over five centuries.	D．About 370 years.

3. We can infer from the fourth paragraph that_______

A．block parades become bigger and bigger.

B．block parades can only be formed by big groups of revelers.

C．the theme of blocks must be serious.

D．blocks always parade only on the beach

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The famous carnivals in the world.

B．How the carnival was introduced in Brazil.

C．The happy life of the people in Rio de Janeiro.

D．The carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Hello Kitty，one of the most famous imaginary    1     (character) in the world, greets us everywhere. Since she was born，she    2    (gain) impressive popularity — she is     3       international fashion queen.

2014 was the character's 40th birthday. Fans from around the world gathered     4    (cheerful) to celebrate their love of Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty,     5     (design) as a character, was to attract pre-teenage girls. The designers could not

    6     (dream) that she would become such a     7     (globe) star as she is today.

Helen McCarthy, an author and expert on Japanese Cartoons, explained     8    the character is so popular. “Because Hello Kitty is all about happiness, friendship and fun. Women and girls all over the world are happy     9    (buy) the image of the trusting, loving childhood represented by Hello Kitty. ”

And the imaginary character does not only appeal    10    females. There are also Hello Kitty products for boys and men，such as neckties and golf bags.

4 . Who give us life，raise us and are our constant support and well­wishers？Our mothers.That’s why millions of people across the world take Mother’s Day as an opportunity to express thanks and send best wishes to their moms.
However，the celebration of Mother’s Day is not the recent thing that many believe it to be.It was the ancient Greeks who started the tradition by celebrating their annual spring festival in honor of Rhea，the mother of many gods and goddesses.
Later，in the 1600s，Mothering Sunday came to be celebrated in England.On the fourth Sunday of Lent (大斋期)，children brought flowers and special fruitcakes to show their respect for their mothers.It may be the root of the modern Mother’s Day.
Thanks to the great efforts of Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis，Mother’s Day became an official festival in the US.It is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.Later，many countries began to celebrate this day as Mother’s Day.
Today，Mother’s Day is an international festival honoring mothers.It is celebrated all over the world in different ways.In Western countries，the most common way is to treat mothers with breakfast in bed.Kids often allow their mothers to sleep till late in the morning while they prepare her favorite breakfast with their fathers.Some also make hand­made gifts or buy beautiful carnations (康乃馨)．It is the day when you acknowledge your mothers contribution in your life and pay a tribute (礼品) to her，often with flowers and gifts.It complements Father’s Day，the celebration honoring fathers.
Today，Mother’s Day is a day celebrated on various days in many places around the world.
1. Why do people across the world celebrate Mother’s Day?

A．Because they want to express thanks and send best wishes to their mothers.

B．Because they want to express thanks and send best wishes to Rhea.

C．Because Mother’s Day is an official festival in the US.

D．Because Mother’s Day is an international festival.

2. The modern Mother’s Day came from________.

A．Greece	B．England
C．America	D．China

3. From the passage we can learn that________.

A．Rhea is the mother of many gods and goddesses of England

B．many people wrongly believe Mother’s Day has a short history

C．in America Mother’s day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent

D．on Mother’s day fathers have to get up early to prepare breakfast

4. The passage mainly wants to tell us________.

A．how to celebrate Mother’s day

B．what to do on Mother’s day

C．the historical change of Mother’s day

D．the meaning of Mother’s day

5 . Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.

Different cultures emphasize the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in “small talk”, usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries, like the UK or France, people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafe rather than at the office.

Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion, instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.

Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values, however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.

People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.

1. What’s the probable meaning of the underlined word “emphasize”?

A．To draw special attention to.	B．To ignore.
C．To laugh at.	D．To get close to.

2. The author mentions his experience in Thailand to show that _____.

A．the English prefer to make long speeches

B．too many words are of no use

C．people from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature

D．even talk and silence can be culturally different

3. According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?

A．By sharing different ways of life.	B．By accepting different habits.
C．By recognizing different values.	D．By speaking each other’s languages.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Multicultural Environment.	B．Cross-Cultural Differences.
C．How to Understand Each Other.	D．How to Build Up a Relationship.

6 . Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. For example, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities).Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.

Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt to "read" people from another culture as we would "read" someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions.

Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.

It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of "reading" the other person incorrectly.

1. What does the smile usually mean in America?

A．Love.	B．Politeness.
C．Joy.	D．Thankfulness.

2. The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can ___ .

A．show friendliness to strangers

B．be used to hide true feelings

C．be used in the wrong places

D．show personal habits

3. What should we do before attempting(尝试) to "read" people?

A．Learn about their relations with others.

B．Understand their cultural backgrounds.

C．Find out about their past experience.

D．Figure out what they will do next.

4. What would be the best title for the test?

A．Cultural Differences

B．Smiles and Relationship

C．Facial Expressiveness

D．Habits and Emotions