Girls' Day or Doll Festival takes place on March 3rd every year in Japan．Its origins go back to China，which had the custom of making a doll and then putting the doll in a river in order to get rid of bad luck．

Girls' Day in Japan is celebrated on the 3rd of March．And from mid to late February，families with daughters put out dolls in the hope that their daughters will grow up healthy and happy．One superstition（迷信）related to this is that if they are late in putting away the dolls when the festival is over，their daughters will become old maids．Most displays have just a prince and a princess，but some more beautiful displays include the dolls，along with candy，rice boiled with red beans，white sake（清酒），peach blossoms，diamond-shaped rice cakes，toys，and tiny furniture．Traditionally，parents or grandparents will begin their first display for their daughter or granddaughter，called hatsu zekku，when she is just one year old，and some families have passed their dolls down from generation to generation．When a girl gets married，she usually takes her dolls with her to her new home．Aside from displaying dolls．Japanese people used to go to view the peach blossoms，drink sake with a blossom in it，and bathe in water with blossoms．

The festival developed into the form we see today during the Edo Period（1603--1867），and it is still possible for people to buy Girls' Day dolls made during that time as well as ones made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in antique（古董）shops during the season．

1．What is this passage mainly about?

A．The development of Girls' Day in Japan．

B．A brief introduction to Girls' Day in Japan．

C．What Japanese people usually do on Girls' Day．

D．Why dolls are very important on Girls' Day．

2．Parents put out dolls in the hope that ________．

A．their daughters will hive a good marriage

B．the family will get rid of bad luck

C．their daughters will grow up happy and healthy

D．their daughters will not become old maids

3．According to the superstition mentioned in the passage，________．

A．the dolls should be put out on time

B．all the dolls should be put away by the end of March 3rd

C．the displays should only have dolls of a prince and a princess

D．parents should begin the first display when their daughter is one year old．

4．After reading the passage，we learn that ________．

A．Japanese people no longer celebrate Girls' Day

B．all the dolls for Girls' Day must be made by the girls' parents

C．the Doll Festival usually lasts from mid to late February

D．the history of Japanese Girls' Day can be traced back to ancient China．

5．What can we infer from the passage?

A．That all the girls should drink white sake on Girls' Day．

B．That all the dolls that have been displayed must be passed down．

C．That Japanese people first started to celebrate Girls' Day in 1603．

D．That peach blossoms used to platy an important role on Girls' Day．

Autumn means different things to different people. It all depends on your personality, said British naturalist Richard Mabey. "Personality shapes your view of the season," he said. "You may see it as a fading away, a packing up（结束）, or as a time of packing in another sense – the excited gathering of resources before a long journey."

If this is true, perhaps it tells us a little about, for instance, Thomas Hood, the 19th Century English poet. About November, he wrote:

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees

November!

On the other hand, another English poet John Keats, already sensing he was seriously ill, was inspired by a late September day to pen one of the most famous poems in the English language, To Autumn. He wrote to a friend afterwards that there was something comforting and healing about it.

According to Richard Mabey, Keats has the biological evidence on his side. Autumn is not a time of slowing down, but a time of new beginnings and great movements of creatures. For example, just at the moment that Keats's "gathering swallows" （in To Autumn） are departing for Africa, millions of creatures are fleeing from the frozen north like Iceland, Greenland and Russia to winter along the east and south coasts of Britain. According to scientists, before falling, the leaves transfer their chlorophyll（叶绿素） and carbohydrates into the woody parts of the tree for safe-keeping over winter. What remains are the natural antioxidants（防老剂） in the leaves: the yellow and orange carotenoids（类胡萝卜素）, and another protective chemical specially produced for autumn, the bright-red anthocyanin（花青素）. High color is not a signal of deterioration（退化） and decline, but of detox（排毒的） ability and good health.

A century after Keats, the American poet Loren Eiseley wrote in his journal: "Suppose we saw ourselves burning like maples in a golden autumn. [And that we could] disintegrate（瓦解） like autumn leaves…dropping their substance like chlorophyll. Would not our attitude towards death be different?"

From Thomas Hood’s poem, we may infer that _______.

         A．he suffered a lot from cold November

         B．he missed the shining summer days very much

         C．he had a negative attitude towards autumn

         D．he enjoyed butterflies and bees very much

Which word can best describe Loren Eiseley’s attitude towards autumn?

         A．Optimistic.        B．Fearful.     C．Doubtful.   D．Realistic.

In autumn, leaves turn yellow before falling because ______.

         A．they can’t bear the freezing

         B．they can’t get enough water from the wood part

         C．chlorophyll and carbohydrates have been lost through leaves

         D．chlorophyll and carbohydrates have come back to the wood part

What does the underlined sentence mean?

         A．Man can never live long, just as leaves must leave the tree annually.

         B．Man is different from autumn leaves, which will come again the next spring.

         C．Man should treat death calmly, just like autumn leaves fall to the ground.

         D．Man should have a positive attitude towards death, quite different from autumn leaves.