More than 3,000 languages are spoken on the earth today. Many of these languages are spoken   (1)   small groups of people. On the   (2)   hand, over 200 languages are spoken by one million or more people. Chinese is the language spoken by the   (3)   number of people in the world. But English is most   (4)   spoken in the world.

English is spoken by more than 400 million people   (5)   their first language. It is   (6)   by most people in the U.S.A., Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And it is   (7)   used very widely in many other countries of the world.

Look at the back of your watch. You may see the English words“Made   (8)   China, or Japan, even Germany.”English is the first language in   (9)   of these countries. Why are English words   (10)   on it? That is because in the modern world English is widely used for business between different countries.

How important is music? Students, teachers and parents usually answer that music is nice, but not very   (1)  . It is often only thought to beentertainment(娱乐的), but not the  (2)  choice for education. This opinion is wrong. In fact, music education is necessary for   (3)   students.

Music provides a kind of ability to know the world in a different  (4)  . Science explains how the sun rises and sets. Music works toexplore(探索)emotive(情绪的) meanings. All people in the world   (5)   every possible way to learn about our world.

Music is a form of thought. We can “  (6)  ” to each other in this amazing way.   (7)   the language we express our feelings, discoveries, ideas and hopes. All of these can be   (8)  with others. When we do not let our children   (9)  good music education, we take  (10)  away from the meanings that music expresses. So music education is much more necessary than people generally think.

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.

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Other than your family, who are the people you see the most? Probably your neighbors. In countries like theUSAand the UK, neighbors are a big part of life. When you __41__ into a new house, you should go and introduce yourself to your neighbors. If you are __42__, they’ll give you a traditional gift like a cake to celebrate your moving into a new home. In theUSAand the UK, many people have __43__, and they can grow fruit and vegetables there. Often, people will __44__ their fruit and vegetables with their neighbors. One neighbor would grow potatoes, __45__ another would have apple trees. They give some of their fruit and vegetables to each other.

However, neighbors are not __46__ kind. The 2007 American filmDisturbiais about a young boy who is placed under home confinement(禁闭) for beating his teacher. Having nothing better to do, Kale __47__ his neighbors all day through windows. But he finds out __48__ terrible: one of his neighbors may be a murder(杀人犯).

Songkran Festival(宋干节) is the traditional Thai New Year. Thai people   (1)   it in April. For Thai people, it is an important   (2)     .

    Songkran is a time to visit families, clean away the old year and bring in a fresh one. Many Thais clean away the old year  (3)  washing their homes and Buddhas(佛像) around the house. They will  (4)  the water that runs over the Buddhas and pour(倒) it onto the shoulders of family members for good luck.

In many parts of Thailand, people  (5)  have a big water fight in the streets during

   Songkran Festival. You can throw   (6)  on anyone walking by, and they can do the same to you! Everyone takes part in this  (7)  . It is a way to express(表达) wishes for good luck.   (8)  children and adults have great fun in the water fight.People in other Asian countries like Cambodia and Laos also celebrate Songkran Festival,   (9)  the celebration in Thailand is the most exciting. Every year, a large number of   (10)  go to Thailand to welcome the arrival of Songkran. If you plan to visit Thailand, the days of Songkran are a great time to get to know Thai traditions.

They can fish swim or enjoy the sun there America is a larger country  Many families travel by   car   or by train to see interesting places.

They also travel by plane to a foreign countryMany big cities have many famous buildings theaters shops and other places  (9)  travelers

Christmas is coming. It's one of the most important holidays in the ___  (1)  ___ countries, such as America, England and Australia. But have you heard any ___  (2)  ___ about Christmas? Here is one. It is said that there was a farmer who ___  (3)  ___ a poor boy on a cold windy Christmas Eve and gave him a big Christmas meal. The boy was very ___  (4)  ___. He cut a branch of a fir tree and inserted it in to the earth. He said, “ At this time of every year, there will be many presents on this branch. I hope I can ___  (5)  ___ your favor by this beautiful fir tree.” After the boy left, the framer discovered that the branch had grown up into a big tree. Then he ___  (6)  ___ that the boy was someone from God. This is the origin of Christmas trees. In Western countries, everyone will prepare a Christmas tree to ___  (7)  ___ the happiness of Christmas. Christmas trees are __  (8)  ___ trees like fir trees because green trees mean long lives. People put Christmas presents in the tree___  (9)  ___ under the tree. At Christmas people sing and dance happily, and enjoy ___  (10)  ____ around the tree.

Almost everyone 21 the meanings of Mr, Mrs and Miss. Mr is used before the family names of men. Mrs is for married(结婚的) women and Miss is for unmarried women. But 22 is Ms?

Some businessmen(商人) in the United States 23 Ms before a womanˈs name, when they don’t know whether(是否) the woman is married. Today, however, many women like Ms better 24 Mrs or Miss.

The word " 25 " does not tell us whether a man is married or not. Some women want to be equal to(和......平等) 26 in this way. These women feel that it is not important for people to know whether they are married or not.

However, there are still some problems with "Ms". 27 women like it. Some like the older ways of doing things. Some find that  28 is difficult to read. Ms 29 [miz]. Young women like it better than older women do. It is difficult to know whether Ms will be used by more American women in the future. What do you think 30 it?