Holidays come and go in our lives. While some of those holidays feel really “special” to us, the others make us feel really “disappointed”. However, today, I would like to talk about one such holiday that I would call the “most frightening” one of my life.
This heart-stopping moment I’ve never experienced happened while I was spending Christmas in Tenerife, the largest of the seven Canary Islands and a great place to travel. My brother Jose was working there and unfortunately, he couldn’t get any time to come home, so I spent the holiday with him.
Of course, I had a lot of fun with my brother. We went to watch movies in the theatre and we ate dinners in many restaurants with specialties. As there were so many wonderful places to visit, we often returned home very late. I didn’t want to miss out on all the fun!
On the last day of my visit, we decided to go up Mt Teide — a volcano in the centre of the island and officially the second largest mountain in Europe. We hired a little car for the day — I couldn’t drive at the time, but my brother could.
We set off in brilliant sunshine, before long it got much colder and by the time we reached there it was snowing. It was freezing outside. What is more, all the restaurants, hotels and petrol stations at the top of the mountain were shut. It was then that we realized that we had almost run out of petrol. That was particularly desperate because I had to catch the plane home that evening, and if not, I would have to pay for a new ticket. So Jose decided to do something extremely dangerous — to switch off the engine of the car and freewheel down the other side of the mountain. He did it for several kilometers, along hairpin bends (急转弯) on dangerous icy roads. I was absolutely scared to death, but for some reason I didn’t tell him to stop.
注意： 1. 续写词数应为 150 左右； 2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Para. 1: Then the worst thing happened.
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Para. 2: Without saying a word, the three men surrounded our car
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1. What does the speaker talk about?
| A．Different stories of Santa Claus. |
| B．Christmas traditions in warm places. |
| C．The importance of Christmas in western countries. |
| A．A ski jacket. |
| B．A diving suit. |
| C．A red scarf. |
| A．By dancing together. |
| B．By doing some shopping. |
| C．By relaxing on the beach. |
| A．Their parents. |
| B．Their friends. |
| C．Their kids. |
1.中国传统中医的历史：
2.中国传统中医是一门科学，它的优点正得到越来越广泛的认可：
3.你对中国传统中医的看法。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右：
2.可适当增加组节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：中国传统中医Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)
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1). 中国文化中月亮的寓意；
2). 你对人类探月活动的看法。
注意：文章开头和结尾已给出，无须再誊抄到答题卡上。
Dear Michael,
I am more than glad to share with you more details
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Yours,
Li Hua
5 . Customs of the Lantern Festival
Eating yuanxiao
Yuanxiao, also called tangyuan in the south, is the special food for the Lantern Festival. It is believed that yuanxiao is named after a palace maid, Yuanxiao, of Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty. Yuanxiao is a kind of sweet dumpling, which is made with sticky rice flour filled with sweet stuffing (甜馅). And the Lantern Festival is named after the famous dumpling, It is very easy to cook—simply drop them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes—and eaten as a dessert.
Guessing lantern riddles
Guessing lantern riddles (谜语) is also a necessary part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have answers to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answers. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity during people’s enjoyment of lanterns appeared in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all of China.
Watching fireworks
On the night of the Festival, except for great lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people are really excited by the fireworks and the bright moon in the sky.
1. What can we know about yuanxiao?| A．It is difficult to cook. | B．It is made with sticky rice flour. |
| C．It is named after a famous poet. | D．It is the special food for the Spring Festival. |
| A．A free meal. | B．A new lantern. | C．A new riddle. | D．A small present. |
| A．Health. | B．Education. | C．Culture. | D．Entertainment. |
6 . Have you ever heard someone say, “you totally look like you’re a Jessica” or something similar? People seem to think that they know what kind of person a “Jessica” or a “Michael” looks like. Why is this?
According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, humans tend to associate (联系) people’s names with their appearance, and can even guess someone’s name based on how they look.
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, collected thousands of photos of people’s faces. They labeled each photo with four names and then asked volunteers to guess which of the four names was correct.
The volunteers were able to guess the right name 38 percent of the time. It seems that certain features of faces give them clues about someone’s name, Reader’s Digest reported.
However, this only worked when the volunteers looked at names from their own culture. In addition, the volunteers were not as good at guessing the real names of people who used nicknames (绰号) more often than their real names. This may show that a person’s appearance is affected by their name only if they use it often.
This kind of face-name matching happens “because of a process of self-realization, as we become what other people expect us to become,” Ruth Mayo from the university told science news website Eurek Alert.
Earlier studies have shown that gender and race stereotypes can affect a person’s appearance. The researchers believe there are also similar stereotypes about names. For example, people tend to think that men named Bob should have rounder faces because the word itself looks round. People may think that women named Rose are beautiful. They expect them to be “lovely” and “feminine (女性的)”, just like the flower they are named for.
1. What’s the purpose of the study?| A．To learn how names influence personality. |
| B．To figure out whether names relate to their looks. |
| C．To find out today’s most popular English names. |
| D．To show how men’s names are different from women’s. |
| A．Names have different associations in different cultures. |
| B．A less used name has a greater effect on the appearance. |
| C．Volunteers found it easier to guess nicknames correctly. |
| D．Volunteers rarely got wrong answers at face-name matching. |
| A．They want to please everyone around them. |
| B．They don’t want to be different from others. |
| C．They grow into what others expect them to be. |
| D．They are influenced by people with the same name. |
| A．Positive opinions. | B．Wrong beliefs. |
| C．Unreal images. | D．Fixed ideas. |
7 . Playing games, singing carols (圣诞颂歌) and getting dressed in your best for Christmas lunch are British festive traditions that need to be saved for future generations, a study has found.
The survey of 2,000 people found the festive pleasure that people believe is most in need of saving is playing games as a family, with 33% of those surveyed giving it the nod. Carol singing is close behind on 31%, with making paper chains to decorate the home on 28%.
Popular pursuits also listed as being in need of saving are making Christmas cake, putting decorations up on Christmas Eve, making home-made pies and writing a letter to Santa. The study also found that 64% of British families celebrate with their own family-specific traditions, such as leaving the tree decoration to the children, and 62% of people said the most important element in having a good Christmas is spending time with family.
Dr. Martin Johns from Swansea University, said: “Wearing your ‘best’ clothes and giving fruit and nuts in stockings both have their origins before the Second World War. However, the pre-war tradition of putting a lucky piece of coal in children’s stockings has disappeared.”
Many Christmas traditions are imports from America, but Christmas cards are one that Britain gave to the world. The first Christmas card is widely claimed to date back to 1843, the same year as A Christmas Carol was published by Dickens, but they were actually on sale by the end of the 1820s. The Victorians saw them as luxurious items and bought them individually, choosing specific designs for each friend and relative. Up until the 1960s, cards were delivered on Christmas morning, adding to the specialness of receiving one.
1. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to “________”.| A．playing games | B．festive pleasure |
| C．the survey | D．the festival |
| A．Festive traditions are the same in different families. |
| B．Christmas time is a family time for many people. |
| C．Making paper chains is most in need of saving. |
| D．People don’t make Christmas cake any more. |
| A．is replaced by giving fruit and nuts |
| B．appeared during the World War II |
| C．should be put on the saving list |
| D．is no longer observed today |
| A．were received before Christmas |
| B．were regarded as special gifts |
| C．were brought from America |
| D．were invented in 1843 |
International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, is celebrated on the first day of May. There are more than eighty countries
In the late 18th century, in order to make more money, the capitalists demanded their employees to work all day, but only
9 . Indonesia’s festival scene is one of the most popular festivals in Southeast Asia, attracting thousands of music and party lovers every year. Make sure to keep an eye on these events.
We The Fest
Born in 2014, We The Fest has become the pioneer on the southeast Asian music festival scene. By mixing the pleasures of art, music, fashion and food, it’s a must-go event for festival lovers. In 2017 it took place over three days for the first time, with more than 50,000 participants. Great names like The Kooks, Phoenix, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have played on We The Fest stage.
DJakarta Warehouse Project
DJakarta Warehouse Project is the biggest EDM festival in southeast Asia, since 2014. When it was born, it wasn’t a festival, but a warehouse party organized by clubs in Jakarta. The event usually takes place in December. Past editions featured world-class DJs, including Carl Cox, Cashmere Cat, Robin Schulz and many others. Before going, make sure to pack your dancing shoes and get ready for a good dance.
Java Jazz Festival
Feeling inspired for some jazz music? BNI Java Jazz Festival history goes back 13 years ago: they are the pioneers of music festivals in Indonesia and held their 14th edition in 2018. They organize many other awesome music projects around the country. This one is unmissable.
A: M Festival
Last but for sure not least is A: M (Absence of Mute) Festival. 2018 has been its first edition, held in Kuningan City Ballroom with a lineup filled with awesome local names. Their mission is to help new musicians enter the industry. Shout out for that and look forward to the next year.
1. DJakarta Warehouse Project differs from other festivals in that ________.| A．it lasts longer |
| B．it starts as a club gathering |
| C．it features Indonesia’s best DJs |
| D．it aims at helping new musicians |
| A．We The Fest. |
| B．DJakarta Warehouse Project. |
| C．Java Jazz Festival. |
| D．A: M Festival. |
| A．To highlight the popularity of music. |
| B．To attract more visitors to Indonesia. |
| C．To compare different Indonesia’s festivals. |
| D．To introduce Indonesia’s festivals to the public. |
10 . It is always said that China is the homeland of tea, which has a very long history of tea.
➢Color
➢Flavor(味道)
New tea is extremely clear and transparent with strong aroma(芳香), while old tea is characterized by brown color and weak fragrance. Take green tea and black tea for example, new green tea tastes a little bitter first, and then the fresh sweet taste begins to surface gradually, leaving a long and memorable after taste in mouth.
➢Place of origin
There is great gap of quality among various places of origin.
| A．Every tea leaf has its own shape. |
| B．Some varieties are identified by tightness of the leaves. |
| C．It is always advised to select tea from its main producing areas. |
| D．While you’re selecting tea, you should pay attention to following aspects. |
| E．For foreigners in China, drinking tea may seem like simple refreshment(提神). |
| F．Generally, new tea leaves look fresh and pleasing, with light green or dark green. |
| G．On the contrary, if bitter taste takes the lead and fresh sweet taste subsides(减弱), it is black tea. |
