Today is March 17th.About two and a half months ago, I said“Happy New Year!”to many of my friends.About fifty days ago, I said the same thing to some other friends.In about four days, I’ll say the same wishes to yet another group of friends.I’ll do the same thing in July and also in September.“How can that be?”you might ask(if you ‘re from Western Europe or the Americas).“Everyone knows that New Year’s Day is in Januare!”
In fact, the date of New Year’s Day depends on the calendar(日历)-and I have friends who use one or more of five different calendars to keep track of at least part of their lives:
●January 1st:New Year’s Day on the Western/international calendar
●In January or February(in 2006, January 29 th):New Year’s Day on the Chinese calendar(China, Korea, and a few other places)
●March 21st:New Year’s Day on the traditional Persian(波斯)calendar
●Mid-July(usually the 16 th):New Year’s Day on the Isamic(穆斯林)calendar
●September:New Year’s Day on most Eastern Orthodox Church(东正教)calendars(Central and Eastern Europe)and, usually, on the Jewish calendar
And these are just the New Year’s Days that I know about!As a matter of fact, there are probably even more!
(1)
The first time the writer said,“Happy New Year!”was about January 1st.The second time was on or after ________.
[ ]
A.
February 28th
B.
the middle of March
C.
January 29th
D.
March 21st
(2)
The writer will say“Happy New Year”around March 21st to some ________ friends.
[ ]
A.
Chinese
B.
Korean
C.
Persian
D.
Eastern Orthodox
(3)
According to the passage, we can infer that the exact(准确的)dates for the two New Year’s Days in September are ________.
[ ]
A.
probably different
B.
not always in September
C.
probably the same
D.
after September
(4)
The meaning of“keep track of”is ________.
[ ]
A.
understand
B.
choose
C.
manage
D.
forget
(5)
The Chinese calendar is used ________.
[ ]
A.
only in China
B.
in several different places
C.
only in China and Korea
D.
all over the world
(6)
The word“Years”in the title of this article ________.
[ ]
A.
means that January 1st is at different times on different calendars
B.
is a mistake and should be“Year”
C.
is used because New Year’s Day is at different times on different calendars
D.
means that the writer was polite
阅读理解
A good way to pass an exam is to work hard every day.You may not pass an exam if you don’t work hard for most time and then work a few days bofore the exam.
If you are taking an English exam, don’t only learn the rules of grammer.Try to read stories in English and speak English whenever you can.
Before you start the exam, read carefully over the question paper.Try to understand the exact(确切的)meaning of each question bofore you pick up your pen to write.When you have at last finished your exam, read over your answers.Correct the mistakes if there are many and make sure that you have not missed anying out.
(1)
You do well in an exam by ________.
[ ]
A.
working hard every day
B.
only read stories in English
C.
staying up late the night before an exam
D.
working hard only a few days before an exam
(2)
Learning the rules of grammar ________ to pass an English exam.