阅读理解

　　People celebrate birthdays in almost every country on earth. And they celebrate them in many different ways.

　　In China and Japan, for example, the arrival of the New Year is more important than a person's birthday. So, everyone adds a year to their ages on New Year's Day, instead of on their birthdays.

　　In Brazil the special birthday food isn't cake, but special candies. In China, it's long noodles for long life. In Iceland, pancakes with candies rolled inside them are served on birthdays.

　　In Great Britain, a birthday is all- day celebration. At school, the birthday kid is lifted up and “bumped”by his classmates. This means the person is lifted by the ankles and aims and bumped on the ground, once for each year and once for growth. In Israel, the same custom is followed, except the birthday person is raised and lowered while sitting in a chair.

　　In Holland, children not only get gifts, but they give things out, too. It's customary to give cakes, cookies, and candies to your classmates and teacher on your birthday.

　　In Mexico, it's good luck to give birthday greetings as early in the day as possible. So it's not unusual to be awakened at midnight by friends singing birthday songs.

　　In India, birthday celebrations also begin before dawn. The birthday is also a religious event, so prayers and blessings must be said before dawn. And the birthday person gets to stay home from school that day.

　　In Thailand, two call candles are lighted the night before a birthday. One is as tall as the birthday person. It stands for how long the birthday person will live. If it goes out early, it's bad luck. Another Thai custom involves buying live fish and birds. The birthday person frees the animals, which brings luck.

　　In Nigeria, people don't celebrate individual birthdays. Instead, everyone in a certain age group celebrates together on a certain day.

　　In many countries, birthday customs are changing. Old customs are giving way to Western style birthdays, complete with candle-topped cakes. But one thing never changes - birthdays are special days for everyone !

1．It's a custom to lift and lower the birthday person in a chair in ________.

[　　]

2．In Mexico the birthday greetings are usually given at midnight because ________.

[　　]

A．birthday celebrations must begin before dawn

B．the birthday person must be awakened at midnight

C．prayers must be said before dawn

D．it will cause good things to happen to the birthday person

3．According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．In Western countries people eat a candle-topped cake at the end of the birthday party.

B．In Western countries a birthday cake is always prepared for a birthday person.

C．Every Japanese adds a year to their ages on New Year's Day .

D．More and more people celebrate their birthdays in Western style.

4．How many countries are mentioned in this passage?

[　　]

People celebrate birthdays in almost every country on earth. And they celebrate them in many different ways.
In China and in Japan, for example, the arrival of New Year is more important than a person’s birthday. So everyone adds a year to celebrate their ages on New Year’s Day, instead of on their birthdays,
In Brazil, the special birthday food isn’t cake, but special candles. In China, it’s long noodles—for long life. In Iceland, people have pancakes with candies rolled inside them on birthdays.
In Britain, a birthday is an all-day celebration. At school, the birthday child is lifted up and “bumped” by his classmates. This means the child is lifted by the feet and arms and bumped to the ground, once for each year once for good growth. In Israel, the same custom is followed, except the birthday person is lifted and lowered while sitting in a chair.
In Holland, children not only get presents, but also give things out. They give cakes, cookies and candles to their classmates and teachers on their birthdays.
In Mexico, it’s good luck to give birthday greetings as early in the day as possible. So it’s usual for the birthday child to be woken up at midnight by fiends singing birthday songs.
In India, birthday celebrations also begin before dawn. Prayers and blessings must be said before morning comes.
In Thailand, two tall candles are lighted the night before the birthday. One is as tall as the birthday person. If it goes out early, it’s bad luck. Another customs of Thailand is that they buy live fish and birds for the birthday person and then the birthday person frees the animals, and it brings good luck.
In Nigeria, people in a certain age group celebrate their birthdays together, on a certain day.
In many countries birthday customs are changing. Old customs are giving way to western style of birthdays, with candle topped cakes. But one thing never changes—birthdays are special days for everyone!
【小题1】It’s a custom to lift and lower the birthday person in a chair in _____.