There is a one-day holiday in most western countries on New Year’s Day. The real celebration begins on New Year’s Eve-the night before New Year’s Day. There are several interesting customs（习惯）in the west, and there are many differences in different countries.

Though Christmas is a good time for families to get together, New Year’s Day is a time for some western people to be with friends. On New Year’s Day, there are always parties. At such parties, there is food, drinks and dances until New Year comes

At midnight, people often say “Happy New Year! ”to each other. In many western countries, fireworks are let off at midnight and some people like to shout aloud to drive away evil spirits.

1.People begin to have great celebrations for the New Year on___________.

2.In the west, ___________on New Year’s Day.

3.On New Year’s Eve, western people don’t often____________.

4.This passage mainly（主要）tells us___________.

Here's how you can take the taxi in Japan．

★    From train stations or airports，go to the taxi stand and wait there．

★    In the street，look for fl taxi that has a red light in the front window．It means the taxi has no passengers（乘客）．

★    When you see an empty taxi，wave（挥动）your hand and call it．

★    The back door opens automatically（自动地），so stand back and wait until the door opens．

★    Get in the taxi and tell the driver where you want to go．

★    Before you get out of the taxi，pay it．

★    Wait until the door opens and get out of the taxi．

阅读下面短文，根据短文内容选出最佳答案。

1．According to the passage，“taxi stand” means ________ in Chinese．

A．出租车停止          B．出租车车站         C．出租车站立         D．出租车柜台

2．If you want to take a taxi，you should ________ after you come out of the airport．

A．go to the bus stop                                    B．wait in the street

C．wave your hand                                         D．go to the taxi stand and wait there

3．If you see ________，you can wave your hand and call it．

A．a car with the “taxi” sign                          B．an empty taxi

C．a taxi with a green light on                          D．a taxi with some people in it

4．Before you get in the taxi，you should ________．

A．open the front door

B．open the back door

C．wait until the back door opens

D．wait until the driver opens the door for you

5．After you get in the taxi ________．

A．tell the driver where you want to go            B．tell the driver your family address

C．tell the driver your name                             D．tell the driver where you come from

    The idea of daylight saving time started with an American named Benjamin Franklin (1706~1790)．He explained how a lot of the money spent on candles used for light (this was before electricity) could be saved if everyone woke up earlier and went to bed earlier.

   Even though Franklin’s idea had a clear meaning，  1  ．Who would?

   It was not until 1907 that an Englishman named William Willet came up with a way to "make" the sun set later．His idea was to turn clocks forward by 20 minutes on each of the four Sundays in April，for a total of 80 minutes．

   William’s idea was laughed at，at first．But when World War I started in 1914，   2  ．

     3 ．The more time you spend outside playing，the less time you are spending in front of the computer or the TV．These things also use energy．

    Also． 4  ．For example，China used it in 1986，but stopped it in1991．That was because the temperatures are quite different from North to South and time from East to West．

    If the people from northwest part of China use daylight saving time，sometimes they have to get up to work when it is not very bright outside．    5  ．

Still, most parts of the world do have daylight saving time，and most people look forward to the extra hour of evening light.