People all over the world celebrate the new year．However, not all countries celebrate in the same way, and in some countries, the new year doesn't begin on the   (1)   date very year．

In many countries, the new year begins on 1st January, but people start celebrating on 31st December, New Year's Eve．In New York many people go to celebrate in Times Square．  (2)  they're waiting for the New Year, they listen to music, sing traditional songs and have fun．Just before 12 o'clock, everyone  (3)   down from 10：10, 9, 8… As soon as it's 12 o'clock, everyone shouts very  (4)  , “Happy New Year!”

New Year's Day is often a family day．Some families get together for a special meal．When the weather is fine, many families go out for a  (5)  ．

On New Year's Day, many people make resolutions for the new year．They  (6)   a list of things, such as “I will help out more with housework．I will work  (7)  at school than others．” or “I won't spend so much time playing video games．” When they have made  (8)  list, they read it to their family or friends and promise to  (9)  their resolutions．

So it doesn't matter how they celebrate,   (10)  people in countries all over the world, it's a time to say goodbye to the old year, and to welcome the new．

Formany young people, Halloween（万圣节）is the best day of the year. The festival has a very   (1)   history.

People   (2)  celebrated it in Ireland and Scotland as a festival of the dead. Families invited their ancestors（祖先）into their homes   (3)   tried to keep bad spirits（幽灵）out by   (4)   scary clothes. Now the festival is a time for  (5)  . Families make scary or funny faces into pumpkins（南瓜）and put candles inside to make them into lanterns（灯笼）. The children  (6)   and walk around to make more candy. They knock on doors and when a person opens the door, the children shout, “Trick or treat!”

If the person didn’t give them a treat, they would play a trick. But today, children usually don’t play tricks. They are too busy  (7)  as much candy as they can. Many people have Halloween parties. They like to watch scary movies and  (8)   scary stories. Sometimes they play a game. They put water and apples into a tub（盆）and try to  (9)   the apples out with their teeth. The game is so  (10)   that everyone likes it.

根据短文内容选择正确答案

How much do you know about manners? Different countries have different manners. In   (1)  Asian countries, especially in Japan, it is good manners to take off your   (2)   before you go into a house.   (3)   in European (欧洲) countries, even if the floors are very clean, people will not do this. If you are a visitor  to a Chinese family, you usually do not finish up the food when you have a meal. You often leave a little to   (4)   thatyou have had enough. But in England, a visitor always eats up food to show that he   (5)   it. We must know the customs of other   (6)   so that natives (当地人) will not think that we’re bad-mannered. People all over the world   (7)   that awell-mannered person should be kind and   (8)   to others. If you   (9)   this, at least you will not go very far wrong.   (10)   likes a person with good manners, but no one likes a person with bad manners. So, keep your manners!

Country music is one of the most popular kinds of music in the United States today because it is about simple but strong human feelings and events: love, sadness, good times, and bad times. It   (1)   real-life, stories and sounds the way people really talk.

Country is a traditional kind of music from the southern states of America. Nashville,

Tennessee is the   (2)   of country music. Country music, sometimes called country-western, comes from two kinds of music. One is the traditional music of the people in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States.   (3)   is traditional cowboy（牛仔） music from the west. The singers usually play the guitar, and in the 1920s they started   (4)   electric guitars. At first city people said country music was low class. It was popular   (5)  in the South. But during World War II, thousands of Southerners went to the Northeast and Midwest to work in the factories.   (6)   took their music with them. Soldiers from the rest of the country went to army camps（军营）in the South. They learned country music. Slowly it became   (7)   all over the country.
   Today country music is also popular everywhere in the United States and Canada—in small towns and in New York City,   (8)   black and white, and among educated and uneducated people. Many songs these days are just about modern life in the US, such as the importance of money and success, but not belonging to a group.   (9)  , country music brings back to the “good old days” when people were kind and trusted each other. It reminds us that the best things in life   (10)   free-laughter, friends, family, and the beauty of nature and the countryside.

The music that started with cowboys and poor southerners is now popular all over the world.

先通读短文，掌握其大意，然后从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个可以填入相应空白处的最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Father works very hard for the family every day. There is a special festival（节日）in China. It’s Baba’s Day. It’s for Chinese   (1)  . It is on August 8^th. This date   (2)   like the Chinese word “ Baba”. It’s from Shanghai. It is an interesting day in a year.

 Children in   (3)   often celebrate（庆祝）it with their family. It is a   (4)   chance for them to show their love to their fathers.   (5)   this day, they are very nice, helpful and happy. After they wake up, they cook breakfast in the   (6)  . They spend a long time on it. When they finish   (7)   breakfast, they take nice food and hot drinks to their father’s beds. They also buy their fathers some wonderful presents（礼物）, such as beautiful cards, new clothes and   (8)   things. They do lots of things for their fathers.

Boys and girls, do you love your fathers? Then don’t   (9)   this day. On the morning of this day you need to say to   (10)  , “Dad, I love you. Happy Baba’s Day!”

Summer is a good season for vacations. It is often very hot   4 1   the months of July and August. Students do not go to school during these two months. Most American families like   (1)  during their summer vacation.       

Many families take their lunch to a park or  (2)  far from the city. They like to eat where there are many trees or a nice lake.   (3)  they live near the sea, they often go to the beach. But for the others they don't like to  (4)  one or two weeks at one of the big seaside towns.   

Why do people like going to the beach? I think it is the sand, the sea and the sun. Of course，there are lots of new things to see,nice things   (5)   and exciting things to do , but it is the feeling of sand under one's feet , of salty water one's skin, and of the warm sun on one's back that makes the seaside what it is.       

Many   (6)   like to meet people from other countries like Mexico or Canada. Some people have   (7)   time and money to travel to other countries like France Japan. They usually   49  to these countries on planes.    

The United States is a very  (8)  country. Lots of families travel by car or by train to see  (9)  places in their own country. People   (10)  New York，Chicago，San Francisco and Los Angeles. These big cities have many famous buildings , theatres, stores and other   (11)  of interest for tourists.     

Certainly not everyone likes to go to busy cities. Some families travel to the mountains or to beautiful countries. They usually   (12)  a camera and video, and return with a lot of nice pictures and tapes of the places they visit. Then they would share them  (13)  their friends.      

Hi, everybody! Welcome to Taiwan! Now I would like to show you ____  (1)  ____ this island. After that, you will find that it is as beautiful as many ____  (2)  ____ places in our country.

     Do you know anything about the Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)？You ____  (3)  ____ ask why people call it so. If you fly high up ____  (4)  ____ the lake and look down from the plane, you will find the answer by yourself. In the middle of this lake, there is a small island. People call it Pearl Island(珍珠岛)because it ____  (5)  ____ like a pearl. On one side of Pearl Island, this lake is like the sun and on the other side it is like the moon. That is ____  (6)  ____ people call the lake the Sun Moon Lake.

    There are many mountains around this lake. The Ali Mountain (阿里山) is near the Sun Moon Lake. We will stay there ____  (7)  ____ three days. You can also have a dance party with the local people. You can climb the mountain and watch the sun ____  (8)  ____ slowly in the west. Of course, you can ____  (9)  ____ early and enjoy the beautiful sunrise(日出) in the morning.

    Now, do you think Taiwan is a wonderful place ____  (10)  ____ ?

    People celebrate Mother’s Day in the USA. It’s also a holiday in someother countries. It is on the    (1)     Sunday in May. It’s a day     (2)     mothers.      (3)      this day, mothers usually get flowers and cards     (4)     their children. On the cards children will     (5)    “Thanks, Mom”，“To my dearest(最亲爱的) mother”,“Best wishes for Mother’s Day”and so on.

How does the     (6)    for this holidays come? It was from Miss Anna M. Jarris. She        (7)         in

Virginia(弗吉尼亚). Her mother loved her very much. And she loved her mother very much, too. But her mother died(死)     (8)     she was young. After that, she wrote letters to some important people. In her letters she asked them to decide a day for all      (9)    . Then the first Mother’s Day     (10)     on the second Sunday in May, 1913 in the USA.

B

Beautiful pictures of mountains and forests, clear skies, flying birds, wild animals, silly faces —you can find them all in one place.  (1)  ? On a postcard(明星片)! Have people always sent postcards? No! Before postcards, people  (2)  sealed (密封的) letters.

The  (3)  for the first decorated (装饰的) postcard came to John P. Charlton in 1861.He thought a simple card  (4)  a border (饰边) would be a great way to send a note. Then in the late 1800s, postcards which had pictures on them  (5)  . By law, people had to write their note on the front — on the picture! The back was   (6)  for the address. Several years later, England allowed a divided-back (背面隔开的) postcard. Then people could write their   (7)  on the left side and they put the address  (8)  . During the early 1900s, the golden age of postcards, people around the world were more and more  (9)  picture postcards. In 1908, Americans alone mailed over 677 million postcards.

Today, post cards are the  (10)  most popular collection in the world after stamps and coins. You can always see or get a lot of newly-designed postcards, especially on New Year’s Day.

People from different countries greet each other differently．Read this article to learn more about the greeting 31 in different cultures，and make sure you greet people in the right way next time．

France   

    French people greet each other with a handshake，32 close friends kiss each other on both cheeks(脸颊)when they meet．33 do this when they meet and before they leave each other．

South Korea

    In South Korea，it is a 34 of respect (尊敬) for people to bow when greeting each other．Then a bow is 35 by a handshake．When 36 someone’s hand，people are supposed to support the right forearm(前臂)with the left hand．However, South Korean women do not shake hands 37 Western men；instead，they bow slightly．

Brazil

    Kissing on the cheek is a(n) 38 way of greeting in Brazil．But in a formal 39 ,a

 handshake is often done to show respect．Men should shake hands before and after meeting．and once they have 40 each other well，a light hug is often given．