1 . Join people around the world in a global celebration of Burns Night, honoring the poet Robert Burns. Burns was born in Alloway in 1759. More than 200 years after his death, the work of Scotland's national poet lives on through his poetry and songs, including: Auld Lang Syne and To A Mouse, Each year, communities around the world with a Scottish connection mark Burns Night with songs, dancing, poetry and a Burns Supper.

What is Burns Night?

Burns Night is a yearly celebration held on or around 25th January, the day when Burns was born. A Burns Night celebration can have many different elements and each community has its own traditions. The most important item is a Burns Supper.

What food is eaten at a Burns Supper?

A Burns Supper can be formal or informal and guests are traditionally invited to take turns in reciting Burns' poems or songs. Burns Supper special foods include Cock a Leekie Soup, Clootie dumpling and Scotch whisky.

Sites connected with the life of Robert Burns

If you'd like to find out more about the life of Robert Burns and the places he lived in, there are several museums devoted to his life and work, and you can also explore towns and villages with Burns connections. Click here to explore the website for more information.

1. Why do people celebrate Burns Night?

A．To share an animal tale.	B．To honor a Scottish poet.
C．To enjoy traditional food.	D．To improve Scotland's fame.

2. What can people do during a Burns Supper?

A．Recite Burns' poems or songs.	B．Invite guests to cook together.
C．Watch a video about Burns.	D．See a short film about museums.

3. Where is the text most likely taken from?

A．A magazine.

B．A guidebook.

C．A website.

D．A newspaper.

2 . Yesterday I celebrated my birthday exactly the way I wanted to. My parents had told me that I could ask them for anything on my birthday.     1    

My mother is always my best friend. She helped me make invitation cards and fill them up with names. She made a list of all the friends that 1wanted to invite .     2    All the cards were differently designed to meet everyone' s tastes.

Next she took me to the market and we ordered the cake and bought balloons, masks and caps to decorate the house with.

    3    We hung the balloons all over the walls and on the fans and doors and windows. We organized the masks and caps in such a way that each of my friends could pick the one he or she loved.

My mother spent hours in the kitchen cooking for us. The cake arrived in the evening and soon my friends started coming in.    4    What' s more, he acted as the referee (裁判) for all our games. He organized musical chairs, passing the parcel (包裹), and all the children enjoyed themselves.

The party ended with a share of the cake.     5    We all enjoyed it very much.   My friends left at around 9 and I went to bed with the satisfaction of having enjoyed the best birthday party of my life.

A．I was eager for the day to come.

B．My father set up some games for us.

C．Then she made cards to send to my friends

D．When we reached home, we got down to work.

E．My father made the cake exactly how I wanted it.

F．It was shaped like a watermelon and tasted really good.

G．So I asked them to throw a perfect party for me and my friends.

3 . 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.

2. What does the underlined word “them” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．ancestors.	B．young people.
C．elders.	D．ethnic groups.

3. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

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.

4. Which is a way that Lisu people in Sichuan celebrate the festival according to the text?

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.

4 . New Year’s Day in China

National holidays in China are those festivals decided by the government that everyone gets to enjoy.     1     These holidays fall into two types: those that all citizens enjoy nationwide, and those that some citizens enjoy. New Year’s Day is one that is enjoyed by people all over the country.

    2     They celebrate the New Year like people all over the world. Since ancient times, the day has been called “Yuandan” by the Chinese.     3     “Dan” means “day”，so joined together the words mean “first day of a year”. For 3,000 years，China has greeted Yuandan with joyful ceremonies.

Because of the different longitudes (经度) upon which countries lie in the world, the time of the celebration changes. China is the twelfth country to celebrate the event and the people are rewarded with one day’s vacation.     4     And organizations and schools hold parties to let everyone enter the joyful atmosphere of the festival. Sincere good wishes are sent by people’s smiles and wonderful performances at parties.     5    

A．“Yuan” means “at the beginning”.

B．Many colorful programs are shown on TV.

C．It’s a day for the working people worldwide.

D．New Year’s Day is a big holiday for the Chinese people.

E．Everyone has the right to get off work during these holidays.

F．You can read about how, where，and when to watch the program.

G．Great hopes for an excellent year are planted in everyone’s mind.