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?

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?

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?

Life has changed in Mexico City. Streets normally filled with people are empty. One of the most popular professional soccer teams recently played a game in an empty stadium that can seat more than 100,000 people. It's swine (猪) flu that has made life in Mexico City grind to a halt (慢慢停了下来)

Seemingly out of nowhere, swine flu has caused confirmed deaths in 12 countries as of April 30. It has sent a wave of alarm around the world. Governments are trying to find ways to prevent further outbreaks. The World Health Organization has raised its swine flu global threat level to five out of six.

People may be familiar with bird flu. but they know little about swine flu.O Swine flu is a contagious (传染性的) respiratory (呼吸的) disease in pigs. It is caused by a type-A influenza virus.

Humans can also catch swine flu. The virus causes regular outbreaks in pigs, but people usually do not catch it. However, there have been cases of the virus spreading to people, and then from one person to another.

The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the common flu. They include fever, lethargy (无精打采的), lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea (恶心), and vomiting (呕吐). The high proportion of young adults among the deaths is one of several mysteries about this virus. Most of the dead had lung damage. What caused it is not yet known.

The virus spreads the same way the common flu does. When an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person, the latter is put at risk. People can get the disease by touching something with the flu virus on it and then "touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

There are medicines to treat swine flu. Doctors suggest using anti-viral drugs. They keep the virus from reproducing inside the body.

Although there are no vaccines (疫苗)for it now, several everyday steps can help prevent the spread of the virus: washing hands frequently; avoiding close contact with people who are sick; and avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on it.

People may worry that they will get swine flu from eating or preparing pork. In fact, you cannot catch the virus from pork products if they have been properly prepared and cooked. Cooking food at temperatures of 71^oC kills the virus.                 

56. The main idea of the passage is __________________.
A. how swine flu broke out in Mexico City.      B. some information concerning swine flu.
C. the differences between swine flu and bird flu. D. the dangers caused by swine flu.
57. The following tips can protect us from swine flu EXCEPT ________.
A. keeping us away from other people
B. washing hands frequently
C. avoiding close contact with sick people
D. avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on them
58. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
A. Mexico City is really a place of horror now.
B. People in Mexico City like staying at home.
C. People in Mexico City don’t like soccer.
D. Swine flu has seriously affected people’s life in Mexico City.
59. What can we conclude from the passage?
A. The swine flu virus causes regular outbreaks among people.
B. People usually get infected with swine flu directly from pigs.
C. All animals including pigs can easily be infected with swine flu.
D. People usually do not catch swine flu though it is a danger to people.
60. What can we infer from the passage?
A. At present there still aren’t effective vaccines for swine flu.
B. Swine flu virus cannot spread in the air.
C. From now on, people can’t eat pork if they want to be safe.
D. All of the dead killed by swine flu had lung damage.

Life has changed in Mexico City. Streets normally filled with people are empty. One of the most popular professional soccer teams recently played a game in an empty stadium that can seat more than 100,000 people. It's swine (猪) flu that has made life in Mexico City grind to a halt (慢慢停了下来)

Seemingly out of nowhere, swine flu has caused confirmed deaths in 12 countries as of April 30. It has sent a wave of alarm around the world. Governments are trying to find ways to prevent further outbreaks. The World Health Organization has raised its swine flu global threat level to five out of six.

People may be familiar with bird flu. but they know little about swine flu.O Swine flu is a contagious (传染性的) respiratory (呼吸的) disease in pigs. It is caused by a type-A influenza virus.

Humans can also catch swine flu. The virus causes regular outbreaks in pigs, but people usually do not catch it. However, there have been cases of the virus spreading to people, and then from one person to another.

The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the common flu. They include fever, lethargy (无精打采的), lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea (恶心), and vomiting (呕吐). The high proportion of young adults among the deaths is one of several mysteries about this virus. Most of the dead had lung damage. What caused it is not yet known.

The virus spreads the same way the common flu does. When an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person, the latter is put at risk. People can get the disease by touching something with the flu virus on it and then "touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

There are medicines to treat swine flu. Doctors suggest using anti-viral drugs. They keep the virus from reproducing inside the body.

Although there are no vaccines (疫苗)for it now, several everyday steps can help prevent the spread of the virus: washing hands frequently; avoiding close contact with people who are sick; and avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on it.

People may worry that they will get swine flu from eating or preparing pork. In fact, you cannot catch the virus from pork products if they have been properly prepared and cooked. Cooking food at temperatures of 71^oC kills the virus.     

56. The main idea of the passage is __________________.
A. how swine flu broke out in Mexico City.            B. some information concerning swine flu.
C. the differences between swine flu and bird flu.   D. the dangers caused by swine flu.
57. The following tips can protect us from swine flu EXCEPT ________.
A. keeping us away from other people
B. washing hands frequently
C. avoiding close contact with sick people
D. avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on them
58. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
A. Mexico City is really a place of horror now.
B. People in Mexico City like staying at home.
C. People in Mexico City don’t like soccer.
D. Swine flu has seriously affected people’s life in Mexico City.
59. What can we conclude from the passage?
A. The swine flu virus causes regular outbreaks among people.
B. People usually get infected with swine flu directly from pigs.
C. All animals including pigs can easily be infected with swine flu.
D. People usually do not catch swine flu though it is a danger to people.
60. What can we infer from the passage?
A. At present there still aren’t effective vaccines for swine flu.
B. Swine flu virus cannot spread in the air.
C. From now on, people can’t eat pork if they want to be safe.
D. All of the dead killed by swine flu had lung damage.