1 . St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s National Day, is celebrated on 17th March every year, marking the anniversary of the day on which he passed away. St. Patrick is the most famous saint of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain, he was enslaved in Ireland at the age of 16, but he successfully escaped. Later, he returned to Ireland and brought his religious beliefs to its people.

On St Patrick’s Day, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. People would dance, drink, and feast on traditional meals of Irish bacon and cabbage. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years.

Interestingly, however, the first parade held to celebrate St Patrick’s Day took place not in Ireland but in the United States. On 17th March 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the English army marched through New York City. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as with fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.

Over 100 St. Patrick’s Day parades happen across the U.S., with New York City and Boston hosting the biggest. In 1848, New York Irish Aid societies joined to create the official New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the world’s oldest civilian (平民的) parade and the largest in the U.S. It draws over 150,000 participants and nearly 3 million spectators (观众), lasting over five hours. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Savannah also celebrate the day with major parades.

Today, people of all backgrounds celebrate St Patrick’s Day, especially throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. It is also celebrated in many other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.

1. Why is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated on 17th March?

A．Saint Patrick died on 17 March.	B．Saint Patrick was born on 17 March.
C．Saint Patrick became a slave on 17 March.	D．Saint Patrick escaped from Ireland on 17 March.

2. What does the underlined word “marched” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Rode.

B．Sailed.

C．Advanced.

D．Wandered.

3. How do people in the USA celebrate St Patrick’s Day?

A．By attending church with family members.	B．By attending outdoor musical performances.
C．By organizing large St Patrick’s Day parades.	D．By setting off fireworks and enjoying Irish cuisine.

4. What do we know about St Patrick’s Day?

A．It is no longer a religious festival for the Irish.	B．It has the largest parade in Ireland.
C．It was first celebrated in the United States.	D．It has now become an international festival.

6 . 专注于画画，Peter没有注意到夜幕正在降临。(absorb; approach) (汉译英)
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9 . 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。

In the city of Nanjing, 300 captive-bred (圈养的) Chinese sturgeon (鲟), along with other rare fish, were released into the     1     (long) river in the country.

It marked the first time the first-class state-protected animal had been released in the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River. Some 4,000 mullets (鲻鱼), a species under second-class state protection, were released     2     the same time.

These released sturgeon, which     3     (raise) through artificial breeding (人工养殖), are generally 15 months old,     4     (measure) between 50 cm to 80 cm. Each of these sturgeon is equipped with a harmless transponder (应答器) to track their whereabouts.

Nicknamed “aquatic (水栖的) pandas”, Chinese sturgeon     5     (exist) for more than 140 million years. However, the population of the species in the Yangtze fell     6     (sharp) in the late 20th century due to human activities.

Releasing artificially bred sturgeon is     7     (benefit) to the reproduction and recovery of the species’ wild population in the Yangtze River. Since a 10-year fishing ban took effect in the waters of the Yangtze River in 2021, the population of rare aquatic     8     (creature) has increased. For example, a scientific investigation,     9     was conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2022, showed that     10     number of Yangtze finless porpoises (江豚) had passed 1,200, up 23.42 percent from five years ago.