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阅读理解

　　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．

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阅读理解

　　Despite the cold morning wind in Montreal last weekend, Ahmad Al-Bahely was busy handing out candies．He was overjoyed at hearing that Saddam Hussein had been sentenced to death．

　　“That’s how we celebrate in Iraq, ” said the 15-year-old high school student．Al-Bahely’s family was forced to leave Iraq in 1991 after the first Gulf War．They fled life under Saddam Hussein for a new beginning in Canada．“We are proud that this terrible man will get what he deserves．”

　　An Iraqi court has sentenced Saddam, 69, to death after a 13-month trial．He was found responsible for the killings of 148 people in a village, north of Baghdad in 1982．The murders were carried out in revenge for an attempt on Saddam’s life．

　　Thousands of Iraqis oppressed during Saddam’s 24-year rule took, to the streets to celebrate．Meanwhile, groups near Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit gathered to support the former president．“We’ll avenge you, Saddam, ” the crowd shouted．

　　But many simply remained calm．“Whether Saddam lives or dies is not important to me?, ” said Imad Mohammed, a computer engineer．“I’m not even sure whether my family and I will live or die．”

　　Iraqis were not the only ones to have different views on the court’s decision．The international community was also divided over the sentence．

　　US President George W．Bush called the trial a milestone in the Iraqi people’s efforts to replace a tyrant with the rule of law．But many European countries said Saddam should not be put to death．The Catholic Church called the sentence “eye for an eye” revenge．

　　“This is not the way to present the new Iraq to the world．It should be different from the way of Saddam, who was behind hundreds of thousands of deaths, ” said an Italian organization opposed to the death penalty．

　　Islamic leaders warned that hanging Saddam could lead to revenge by Saddam’s supporters, deepening the rift(不和)in the war-torn country．According to new research by a leading US university, over 650,000 Iraqis have been killed since the 2003 Iraq War began．

　　“They blame Saddam for killing people．But who will judge the leaders for the killings that happen every day now?” said 30-year-old Bahjat．He refused to give his full name out of fear．

　　“The sentence is just an important settlement with the past, but the big challenge for Iraq’s people is the future．Big compromises are required for lasting freedom and secured peace, ” said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt．

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