1 . People around the world take celebrating seriously, and many of them are willing to go to great effort and expense to plan and participate in public celebrations.

Exactly when and where human beings began coming together in public to celebrate as a group can date back to hunter-gatherer societies, when success in the never-ending search for food, clothing, and shelter must have aroused the need to celebrate together.

Besides the need for food and survival, there are records of religious parades dating back to 3000 B.C. Parades were also used to demonstrate military power and celebrate military victories; to attract customers to events such as the circus by giving the public a sample of the entertainment; or to celebrate ethnic (民族的) connection and holidays. The New York Times of October 28, 1917, summed it up by saying, “If you take the parades out of history, you have precious little history left.”

Of course, many modern celebrations are not connected to any religion. In the Internet era, electronic communication makes it possible to organize celebrations almost instantly. “Flash mobs” are a new way of gathering and celebrating. Secretly planned online, they bring together tens, hundreds, or thousands of individuals to perform some unusual or funny act in a public place. Flash mobs not only reflect the increased speed of communication but also a lighter attitude to celebration. No longer is public celebrating something necessarily linked to human survival, religion, or deep traditions.

This does not mean, however, that modern celebrations are not socially conscious. One striking image inspiring community spirit is Edwards’ photograph of crowds in Australia, who were gathering in the rain for a music festival to raise funds for wildfire relief. Throughout history, across countries and cultures, celebrations are always worth significant amount of time and money spent planning, preparing, organizing, and carrying out an event. The priority given to celebrating seems to put it alongside food, shelter, love, and freedom as a basic need of humanity.

1. According to the passage, which one of the following events can make celebrations happen?

A．A business has made a huge profit.	B．It has been sunny for a week.
C．Farmers harvest in the autumn.	D．A new museum opens in the city center.

2. What does the underlined sentence (paragraph 3) imply?

A．If there is no parade, human history will be more precious.

B．Students should be taught the importance of parades in history class.

C．Only parades can be recorded in history books.

D．Many significant historic moments featured a parade.

3. Which of the following best describes a flash mob?

A．Four strangers meet at a concert and then decide to perform together in a public square.

B．Someone announces openly a series of performances to take place at school.

C．An online group plans and performs a dance in a crowded train station.

D．The number of people watching a street performer grows to several hundred.

4. Which of these is the best title for the passage?

A．Why We Celebrate?	B．Celebration and Social Responsibility
C．Planning a Parade	D．The Origin of Celebration

4 . Directions: Read the following passage and complete the brief outline that follows. Write no more than 5 words for each blank.

Interesting Traditions Around the World

Traditions are passed down from generation to generation to inform us of our history. Some are widespread and taken on by one and all, like celebrating New Year and birthdays, and then there are some that are quite strange or interesting and practiced only by a small group of people.

Famadihana, also called the turning of the bones, is a festival in Madagascar that honors the dead and celebrates family ties. Every seven years or so, families who can afford rich dinners for guests and new clothes for the living families and the dead, celebrate the festival. They give out gifts for the dead and crying is discouraged during the celebration.

Bali’s Day of Silence, or Nyepi, as they call it, is a holiday celebrated with eating little or no food as well as meditation, the practice of thinking deeply in silence. The whole island shuts off all sounds, lights, and all other activities, so there is peace all around. Days before the actual celebration, Balinese people make the ogoh-ogoh (dangerous animals) statues (雕像) that will be used and paraded through the streets the day before Nyepi. The statues are then usually burnt after supposedly attracting dangerous animals.

Having started in Middle Ages, flag throwing has long been popular in Tuscany. As the Italians love a good celebration, army parades were held with marching bands and flag bearers. Since flags are considered sacred, the flag bearers have to make sure that they do not fall to the ground. Today, flag throwing is not just popular in Tuscany but also in the whole of Italy.

Some traditions may sound strange, yet people hold them close to their hearts and still practice the age-old rituals to this day. These rituals are part of their culture and history and are able to shape and describe people.

Outline:
I. Introduction

As a form of historic culture, some traditions are shared altogether and others are     1     and celebrated by only a few.

II. Body part

People in Madagascar celebrate Famadihana to honor the dead and     2    .

During Nyepi in Bali, people eat little or no food and     3    ; days before the festival, statues are made and later they will be burnt.

Flag throwing features army parades and gains popularity in Italy.

III. Conclusion

People still hold fast to some age-old rituals, because these traditions can     4    .