Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't   1   it to be blue - the name has nothing to   2   the color of our closest celestial(天体) neighbor.

A full moon   3   on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the   4   moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be   5   in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up  6   New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse(月蚀) on New Year's Eve when  7   of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The   8   will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurs   9   29.5 days, and most years have 12.  10  , an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The   11   time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't   12    again until 2028.

Blue moons have no astronomical   13   , said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"`Blue moon' is just a   14   in the same sense as a `hunter's moon' or a `harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon   15   after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misunderstood the Maine Farmer's Calendar and marked a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the calendar   16   a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the  17   decades later, the definition caught on. For purists(语言纯正癖者), however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a   18   moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.

In a tongue-in-cheek essay   19   on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm    20  celebrating, I'll take a peek(眯着眼睛看) at that brilliant orb(天体) as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."

(   ) 1. A. wish                  B. wait                        C. hope               D. expect

(   ) 2. A. deal with            B. do with                   C. develop with     D. form into

(   ) 3. A. occurred            B. came                      C. ran                   D. went

(   ) 4. A. full                   B. half                         C. bright               D. part

(   ) 5. A. out of sight               B. visible                     C. big                   D. clear

(   ) 6. A. until                  B. when                      C. before              D. since

(   ) 7. A. part                   B. all                           C. any                  D. none

(   ) 8. A. moon                 B. eclipse                     C. sun                  D. shadow

(   ) 9. A. each                  B. every                             C. either                      D. all

(   ) 10. A. On the whole    B. Generally speaking   C. On average       D. In addition

(   ) 11. A. last                  B. next                        C. other               D. another

(   ) 12. A. go                   B. see                          C. come               D. look

(   ) 13. A. point               B. evident                    C. theory              D. significance

(   ) 14. A. name                      B. object                      C. phenomenon     D. tradition

(   ) 15. A. created             B. came about              C. made               D. copied

(   ) 16. A. named              B. called                      C. introduced               D. defined

(   ) 17. A. error               B. name                      C. reality              D. number

(   ) 18. A. blue                 B. red                          C. yellow              D. grey

(   ) 19. A. published        B. posted                     C. printed             D. written

(   ) 20. A. in                    B. out                          C. away               D. on

Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't   1   it to be blue - the name has nothing to   2   the color of our closest celestial(天体) neighbor.

A full moon   3   on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the   4   moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be   5   in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up  6   New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse(月蚀) on New Year's Eve when  7   of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The   8   will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurs   9   29.5 days, and most years have 12.  10  , an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The   11   time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't   12    again until 2028.

Blue moons have no astronomical   13   , said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"`Blue moon' is just a   14   in the same sense as a `hunter's moon' or a `harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon   15   after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misunderstood the Maine Farmer's Calendar and marked a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the calendar   16   a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the  17   decades later, the definition caught on. For purists(语言纯正癖者), however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a   18   moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.

In a tongue-in-cheek essay   19   on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm    20  celebrating, I'll take a peek(眯着眼睛看) at that brilliant orb(天体) as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."

(   ) 1. A. wish                  B. wait                        C. hope               D. expect

(   ) 2. A. deal with            B. do with                   C. develop with     D. form into

(   ) 3. A. occurred            B. came                      C. ran                   D. went

(   ) 4. A. full                   B. half                         C. bright                   D. part

(   ) 5. A. out of sight               B. visible                     C. big                   D. clear

(   ) 6. A. until                  B. when                      C. before              D. since

(   ) 7. A. part                   B. all                           C. any                  D. none

(   ) 8. A. moon                 B. eclipse                     C. sun                  D. shadow

(   ) 9. A. each                  B. every                             C. either                      D. all

(   ) 10. A. On the whole    B. Generally speaking   C. On average       D. In addition

(   ) 11. A. last                  B. next                        C. other               D. another

(   ) 12. A. go                   B. see                          C. come               D. look

(   ) 13. A. point               B. evident                    C. theory              D. significance

(   ) 14. A. name                      B. object                      C. phenomenon     D. tradition

(   ) 15. A. created             B. came about              C. made               D. copied

(   ) 16. A. named              B. called                          C. introduced               D. defined

(   ) 17. A. error               B. name                      C. reality              D. number

(   ) 18. A. blue                 B. red                          C. yellow              D. grey

(   ) 19. A. published        B. posted                     C. printed             D. written

(   ) 20. A. in                    B. out                          C. away               D. on

In 1991, Kentucky Fried Chicken announced that it was officially changing its name to “KFC” as well as updating its packaging and logo(标识)with a more modern look. The public relations reason was that health-conscious consumers associated the word “fried” with “unhealthy”, causing some of them to completely avoid the wide variety of “healthy” menu items. The new title and image were designed to attract customers to a restaurant now offering foods branded as “better for you”.
It sounded good, but the real reason behind the shift to KFC had nothing to do with critical consumers. In 1990, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, trapped in debt, took the unusual step of trade marking its name. Therefore, anyone using the word “Kentucky” for business reasons would have to obtain permission and pay licensing fees to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was an unusual and brilliant scheme to lighten government debt, but it was also one that alienated (疏远)one of the most famous companies ever associated with Kentucky. The Kentucky Fried Chicken chain refused as a matter of principle to pay royalties on a name they had been using for four decades. After a year of fruitless talks, Kentucky Fried Chicken changed their name instead, introducing new packaging and products to hide the real reasons behind the change of the name.
Kentucky fried Chicken was not the only one who bravely refused to give in. The name of the most famous horse race in North America, held every year at Churchill Downs, was changed to “The Run for the Roses” for similar reasons.
In November 2006, KFC and the State of Kentucky finally reached a settlement over the use of the trademarked word “Kentucky”, and the restaurant chain announced it would be reusing its former name of “Kentucky Fried Chicken”.
【小题1】The public relations reason for Kentucky Fried Chicken’s updating its packaging and logo was that      .

A.it was losing money
B.most customers didn’t like the old logo
C.it wanted to get involved in other businesses
D.it decided to offer better foods to customers
【小题2】The Commonwealth of Kentucky trademarked its name to       .
A.develop American culture
B.be alienated from the famous companies
C.raise money to pay the government debt
D.make Kentucky known throughout the world
【小题3】The real reason why “Kentucky Fried Chicken” changed its name was related to      .
A.healthB.moneyC.packageD.product
【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that      .
A.KFC is still not allowed to use the name of “Kentucky Fried Chicken”
B.“Kentucky Fried Chicken” changed its name after several years of talks
C.the name “Kentucky Fried Chicken” had only been used for a short time
D.the original name of the horse race “The Run for the Roses” contained the word “Kentucky”

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