1 . In Europe, men do not usually wear skirts. But the Scottish national clothing for men is a kind of skirt. It is called a kilt. The Scottish like to be different. They are also proud of their country and its history, and they feel that the kilt is part of that history. That’s why the men still wear kilts at traditional dance and on national holidays. They believe they are wearing the same clothes that Scottish men always used to wear.
That’s what they believe. However, kilts are not really so old. Before 1703, Scottish men wore a long shirt and blanket around their shoulders. These clothes got in the way when the men started to work in factories. So in 1730 a factory owner changed the blanket into a skirt — the kilt. That’s how the first kilt was made.
Then in the late 1700s Scottish soldiers in the British Army began to wear kilts. One reason for this was national feelings: The Scottish soldiers wanted to be different from the English soldiers. The British Army probably had a different reason: A Scottish soldier in a kilt was always easy to find! The Scottish soldiers fought very hard and became famous. The kilt was part of the fame, and in the early 1800s men around Scotland began to wear kilts.
These kilts had colorful stripes (条纹) going up and down and across. In the 1700s and early 1800s, the color of the stripes had no special meaning. Men sometimes owned kilts in several different colors. But later the colors became important to the Scottish families. By about 1850, most families had special colors for their kilts. For example, men from the Campbell family had kilts with green, yellow and blue stripes. Scottish people often believe that the colors of the kilts are part of their family history. In fact, each family just chose the color they liked best.
This is not the story you will hear today if you are in Scotland. Most Scottish people still believe that kilts are as old as Scotland and that the colors are as old as the Scottish family. Sometimes feelings are stronger than facts!
1. Scottish soldiers were dressed in kilts partly because of .| A．the colors | B．the weather | C．the feelings toward nation | D．the design |
| A．The English soldiers were the first to wear kilts. |
| B．Colors are not specially designed in the first kilts. |
| C．It was hard then to tell the Scottish soldiers from the English ones. |
| D．The factory owner made the first kilt from long shirts to make his workers different. |
| A．not part of the Scottish family history | B．older than the Scottish family history |
| C．for the Campbell family only | D．mainly green, yellow and blue |
| A．the European people are full of strong feelings |
| B．there are no stories about kilts in Scotland today |
| C．the British like to do things not on facts |
| D．the Scottish prefer to keep their tradition rather than believe the fact |
2 . The Torch Festival (火把节) is a traditional festival which is celebrated among some ethnic groups in southwestern China, such as the Yi, Bai, Hani, Lisu, and Lahu, etc. It usually falls on the 24th or 25th of June, with three days of celebrations. The festival came from worship (崇拜) of fire by ancestors (祖先). For some ethnic groups, it’s a tradition in the festival for elders to share farming experience with young people and educate them about taking care of crops.
During the festival, big torches are made to stand in all villages, with small torches placed in front of the door of each house. When night falls, the torches are lit and the villages are bright. At the same time, people walk around the fields and houses, holding small torches and placing the torches in the field corners. Inside the villages, young people are singing and dancing around the big torches that keep burning throughout the night. Other activities like horse races are also held during the festival.
In a horse race of the Yi people in Yunnan, torches are used to form hurdles for riders to get through. The Hani people in Yunnan traditionally tie fruits to torches with strings. When the strings are broken after the torches are lit, people struggle for the fruits for good luck.
For the Lisu people in Sichuan, the festival is an occasion for holding torch parades. Big torches are carried by teams of people, which is like a fire dragon. If different teams meet, it’s a tradition to exchange the big torches with one another.
1. What can we know about the Torch Festival from the first paragraph?| A．It has nothing to do with farming. |
| B．Its celebrations usually last two days. |
| C．It is a traditional festival of all China. |
| D．It is a festival to show worship of fire. |
| A．ancestors. | B．young people. |
| C．elders. | D．ethnic groups. |
| A．Why the festival is enjoyed. | B．Where the festival is celebrated. |
| C．How the festival is celebrated. | D．What torches are used for the festival. |
| A．Holding torch parades. | B．Tying fruits to torches with strings. |
| C．Struggling for fruits for good luck. | D．Using torches as hurdles for a horse race. |
