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　　Every year all sorts of different festivals are celebrated in Britain．Two of the most well- known British festivals are Bonfire Night and Halloween．

　　Bonfire Night has an interesting history．In 1605, a man called Guy Fawkes and some of his followers tried to blow up the British Houses of Parliament．They hoped that if they succeeded, they could take control of England and become its new rulers．Guy Fawkes and his men dug a tunnel under one of the Parliament buildings, and hid 36 barrels(桶)of gunpowder there．Fortunately, on November 5^th, Guy Fawkes was caught just before he was able to light the fuse(导火线)．He and all his followers were burned to death．

　　Today, people in Britain celebrate Guy Fawkes' capture by lighting fires and holding fireworks displays．

　　Halloween is celebrated in Britain on the night of October 31^st．There are many customs associated with Halloween．One of these is the game of‘trick or treat'．Children, dressed up as witches, ghosts or monsters, knock on their neighbors“doors, and shout‘trick or treat!'”If they are lucky, they receive a‘treat'－a bar of chocolate, or some sweets or some money．If, however, their neighbors' refuse to give them anything, they play a trick on them．They might spray their front door with shaving foam(剃须膏), or knock on their doors and then run away!

　　Another game played at Halloween is ‘bobbing for apples'．In this game, a bowl is filled with water, and apples are placed in it．Children then have to take a bite from one of the apples without using their hands．This game is difficult and messy(杂乱的), but great fun!

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　　The huge thirst for jobs in the civil service has made the national civil servant exam one of China's most competitive tests．The first exam was held in 1995, and since then more and more people have signed up for it, with applications reaching a peak over the last two years．

　　The latest online survey, carried out by China Youth Daily and www．qq．com, found that more than 73 per cent of young people want to work as civil servants．Of the 17,330 respondents, about 83 per cent said they were attracted by the job's stability, guaranteed health care and pension(养老金)．Meanwhile, 55 per cent said it could bring "practical profits．" Nearly 1 million people applied to take the exam last year, yet only just over 10,000 were finally employed．

　　This year the competition continued．The exact number of applicants is not known, with the final day for applications today．But the flood of applicants has already broken the exam's website once．China Youth Daily reported that the site was forced to close for maintenance(系统维护)due to unusually high traffic on the night of October 16．

　　In a typical year several hundred applicants will apply for many of the jobs listed．For example, the five job vacancies provided by the secretariat(秘书处)of the Central Committee of the Party have this year attracted more than 3,880 applicants．In general, the exam means 50 people competing for one post, the report said．Positions as civil servants are attractive, not only because of the stable income and good health care, but also because of the low risks compared with the power and resources the positions enjoy．Among the total 6 million public servants, around 20,000 were dismissed between 1996 and 2003．

阅读理解

　　The huge thirst for jobs in the civil service has made the national civil servant(公务员)exam one of China's most competitive tests．The first exam was held in 1995, and since then more and more people have signed up for it, with applications reaching a peak over the last two years．

　　The latest online survey, carried out by China Youth Daily and www．qq．com, found that more than 73 percent of young people want to work as civil servants．Of the 17,330 respondents, about 83 percent said they were attracted by the job's stability, guaranteed health care and pension(退休金)．Meanwhile, 55 percent said it could bring "practical profits"．Nearly 1 million people applied to take the exam last year, yet only just over 10,000 were finally employed．

　　This year the competition continued．The exact number of applicants is not known, with the final day for applications today．But the flood of applicants has already broken the exam's website once．China Youth Daily reported that the site was forced to close for maintenance due to unusually high traffic on the night of October 16, which has never happened in the past．

　　In a typical year several hundred applicants will apply for many of the jobs listed．For example, the five job vacancies provided by the secretariat(秘书处)of the Central Committee of the CPC have attracted more than 3,880 applicants this year．Positions as civil servants are attractive, not only because of the stable income and good health care, but also because of the low risks compared with the power and resources the positions enjoy．Among the total 6 million public servants, around 20,000 were dismissed between 1996 and 2007．