The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England.
Most people consider it a special day ,the beginning of summer ,a day when the light lasts long into the evening ,and when we can look for warm weather .We don't always get it .We feel disappointed ,but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May .Winter should be over .Most people know that in the past ,when farming occupied almost everyone ,the changing seasons were of great importance .In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day .Customs of those celebrations remain.?
Of these customs ,the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole .Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns ,and even in schools and colleges ,for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May .It was a great honour to be chosen .For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands（花环）,and was ceremonially crowned with flowers .She presided over a procession ,as a rule with a number of attendants ,and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment .The Maypole was slender（苗条的） tree trunk ,cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top .The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine ,required skill from the dancer ,and was not achieved without practice .
It's the Celtic（凯尔特的）people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival .Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early ,beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel .They lit fires ,in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified（净化） and protected from disease .A tree ,which must have been blackened with smoke ,stood in the middle of the fires ,and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole .Their priests（牧师） made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly ,but it was noisy and cheerful ,since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons ,but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.?
【小题1】The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.?

完形填空（共15题，每小题1分，满分15分）
阅读下面短文，掌握大意，然后从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A long time ago, in a small house in Scotland, two friends lived together. Their names were John and Bobby.
John and Bobby were not  16   , and they had few things except friends,    17    they were happy. They lit a warm fire when it was cold outside. They had food to eat when they were hungry. They were  never     18     because they had each other.
John and Bobby     19     to take long walks together. After their     20     John usually cooked the dinner. John and Bobby ate the dinner and then     21    in front of the fire. They had a(n)     22     but happy life.
Then John developed a(n)     23     disease and died in the spring of 1858. He was  24     in a grave (坟墓). After that, Bobby stood at John’s grave and shouted. “Come on, Bobby,” John’s     25     said. “It’s time to go home.” Bobby went home, but later he returned to the grave. He     26     near it. He stayed there all night.
Bobby stayed at the grave site the next day, and the day after another. For the next 14 years, Bobby never left the    27    . When the weather was cold, he slept in a small house near the grave. When it was     28    , he slept on the ground near John’s grave.
29    , in 1872, Bobby died, too. John’s friends buried him in a     30     grave near John’s. Why was Bobby’s grave so little? Bobby, John’s best friend, was a dog.
16. A. rich                  B. lucky          C. beautiful      D. funny 
17. A. and               B. or         C. but             D. so
18. A. lonely           B. alone         C. worried                D. separate
19. A. failed   B. competed  C. imagined         D. liked
20. A. work           B. rest     C. run                 D. walk
21. A. sang                B. talked          C. sat    D. studied
22. A. hard                 B. sad          C. easy         D. simple
23. A. serious  B. unhealthy   C. big     D. sick
24. A. put                   B. escaped       C. stored         D. buried
25. A. friends B. children  C. parents   D. brothers
26. A. got up    B. turned down         C. sat down D. put up
27. A. garage   B. grave         C. home          D. town
28. A. cool                  B. warm        C. wet                D. rainy
29. A. Luckily    B. Quickly        C. Finally   D. Interestingly
30. A. large     B. small    C. firm     D. weak

完形填空（共15题，每小题1分，满分15分）

阅读下面短文，掌握大意，然后从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A long time ago, in a small house in Scotland, two friends lived together. Their names were John and Bobby.

John and Bobby were not  16   , and they had few things except friends,    17    they were happy. They lit a warm fire when it was cold outside. They had food to eat when they were hungry. They were  never     18     because they had each other.

John and Bobby     19     to take long walks together. After their     20     John usually cooked the dinner. John and Bobby ate the dinner and then     21    in front of the fire. They had a(n)     22     but happy life.

Then John developed a(n)     23     disease and died in the spring of 1858. He was  24     in a grave (坟墓). After that, Bobby stood at John’s grave and shouted. “Come on, Bobby,” John’s     25     said. “It’s time to go home.” Bobby went home, but later he returned to the grave. He     26     near it. He stayed there all night.

Bobby stayed at the grave site the next day, and the day after another. For the next 14 years, Bobby never left the    27    . When the weather was cold, he slept in a small house near the grave. When it was     28    , he slept on the ground near John’s grave.

29    , in 1872, Bobby died, too. John’s friends buried him in a     30     grave near John’s. Why was Bobby’s grave so little? Bobby, John’s best friend, was a dog.

16. A. rich                  B. lucky          C. beautiful      D. funny 

17. A. and               B. or         C. but             D. so

18. A. lonely           B. alone         C. worried                D. separate

19. A. failed   B. competed  C. imagined         D. liked

20. A. work           B. rest     C. run                 D. walk

21. A. sang                B. talked          C. sat    D. studied

22. A. hard                 B. sad          C. easy         D. simple

23. A. serious  B. unhealthy   C. big     D. sick

24. A. put                   B. escaped       C. stored         D. buried

25. A. friends B. children  C. parents   D. brothers

26. A. got up    B. turned down         C. sat down D. put up

27. A. garage   B. grave         C. home          D. town

28. A. cool                  B. warm        C. wet                D. rainy

29. A. Luckily    B. Quickly        C. Finally   D. Interestingly

30. A. large     B. small    C. firm     D. weak

LOS ANGELES--- Two lost hikers who survived three nights in mountains thanks to supplies at a campsite of another hiker who disappeared last year described their suffering, saying they had “the real special thank” for the man who is probably dead.

The couple, Allen, 24, and Brandon Day, 28, were in Southern California for an important conference. They got lost on Saturday west of Palm Springs after wandering off a trail during what was supposed to be a day hike.

Prepared only for a brief hike, they wore light jackets and tennis shoes and had no food, spare clothing or mobile phone. With night closing in, they took shelter in a small cave and spent the night sleepless, freezing and hungry.

On Monday, they discovered a campsite in a dead valley. There was a sleeping mat, a backpack, a disposable razor(一次性剃刀), a spoon and tennis shoes. Day and Allen were delighted, thinking someone there could help them find the way out. But later they realized the place was deserted.

They found identification showing the camper was Donovan, 60, a retired social worker from Virginia. They learned later in his diary that he was an experienced hiker and he disappeared on May 2, 2005, in icy weather.

They found articles in his backpack: a warm sweater for Allen, dry socks for Day and matches. They lit a small signal fire to attract a helicopter crew in the distance, but the crew did not see them.

On Tuesday morning, Day created “a really big smoke signal” that finally attracted a helicopter crew. They were examined at a hospital and had only bruises(擦伤).

“We feel great. We’re thankful. We feel like we’ve been given a second chance,” said Day, who expressed that they wouldn’t give up hiking even after this experience.

1. The passage most probably appears in ________.

A. an advertisement             B. a newspaper    C. a travel guidebook         D. a travel journal

2. Why did Allen and Day go to Southern California?

 A. To go for a short hiking in mountains.    B. To search for the hiker missing a year ago.

 C. To attend an important conference.      D. To enjoy the scenery of Palm Springs.

3. Which of the things the couple found helped them the most?

A. Tennis shoes.      B. A sleeping mat.        C. a warm sweater.     D. Matches.

4. Which of the following statements is TURE?

A. The couple realized the campsite was deserted the moment they found it.

B. The couple at first thought the person in the camp could help them out.

C. It was the icy weather that led to Donovan’s disappearance and death.

D. This experience would prevent the couple hiking again in future.

The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England. Most people consider it a special day, the beginning of summer, a day when the light lasts long into the evening, and when we can look for warm weather. We don't always get it. We feel disappointed, but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May. Winter should be over. Most people know that in the past, when farming occupied almost everyone, the changing seasons were of great importance. In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day. Customs of those celebrations remain.?

Of these customs, the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole. Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns, and even in schools and colleges, for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May. It was a great honour to be chosen. For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands（花环）, and was ceremonially crowned with flowers. She presided over a procession, as a rule with a number of attendants, and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment. The Maypole was slender（苗条的w.w.^w.k.&s.5*u.c.#o） tree trunk, cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top. The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine, required skill from the dancer, and was not achieved without practice.

It's the Celtic people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival. Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early, beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel. They lit fires, in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified and protected from disease. A tree, which must have been blackened with smoke, stood in the middle of the fires, and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole. Their priests（牧师） made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly, but it was noisy and cheerful, since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons, but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.?

57. The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.?

A. the reason why they celebrate May Day

B. the start and customs of May Day

C. the way they celebrate May Day

D. the choosing of a May Queen during May Day

58. According to the passage, which sentence is NOT true??

A. In the old days they celebrated May Day for the changing of the seasons.?

B. In England summer begins at the first of May.?

C. The custom of the choosing of a May Queen still exists in the present May Day celebration.?D. The Celtic people celebrated the first of May as a spring festival.??

59. From the surrounding words and sentences we know that the word “presided” means ____.

A. 管理    B. 越过   C. 指挥   D. 主持?

60. The best title for this passage is ________.

A. The First of May     B. The Beginning of Summer

C. May Queen        D. The Holiday of the Year?