Choose the word or phrase (A, B, C or D) that best fits the blank space in the following passage.
SPRING FESTIVALS
From (26) _______ times people have celebrated the end of winter and the new life that spring brings. One of the most important Christian festivals is Easter, (27) _______ Christians remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Easter, however, is not the only spring festival. In Sweden, people celebrate the end of the winter by making (28) _______ bonfires. Fire also plays an important part in the Hindu festival of Holi. In some villages children are carried round bonfires by their mothers to protect them from danger in the coming year. Buddhists in Thailand soak (29) _______ in water when celebrating their New Year, which occurs in the middle of April. In Antigua in Guatemala they carpet the streets with flowers. Chinese spring parades are (30) _______ colourful, but instead of flowers they have large dragon puppets which dance in the streets.
(30) _______
A.the same
B.as
C.not less
D.equally

Read the passge carefully, then choose the correct answer.
THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US on the fourth Thursday in November. For many Americans it is the most important holiday apart from Christmas. Schools, offices and most businesses close for Thanksgiving, and many people make the whole weekend a vacation.
Thanksgiving is associated with the time when Europeans first came to North America. In 1620 the ship the Mayflowers arrived, bringing about 150 people who today are usually called Pilgrims. They arrived at the beginning of a very hard winter and could not find enough to eat, so many of them died. But in the following summer Native Americans showed them what foods were safe to eat, so that they could save food for the next winter. They held a big celebration to thank God and the Native Americans for the fact that they had survived.
Today people celebrate Thanksgiving to remember these early days.
The most important part of the celebration is a traditional dinner with foods that come from North America. The meal includes turkey, sweet potatoes (also called yams) and cranberries, which are made into a kind of sauce or jelly. The turkey is filled with stuffing or dressing, and many families have their own special recipe. Dessert is pumpkin made into a pie.
On Thanksgiving there are special television programs and sports events. In New York there is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, when a long line of people wearing fancy costumes march through the streets with large balloons in- the shape of imaginary characters. Thanksgiving is considered the beginning of the Christmas period, and the next day many people go out to shop for Christmas presents.
According to the passage Pilgrims are ______.
A.people who travelled to America by ships
B.trips that religious people make to a holy place .
C.people who left their home and went to live in North America in the early 17th century;
D.Native Americans who live in North America.

Choose the sentence that is closest in meaning to the printed one.
The sooner he stops smoking, the better he'll feel.
A.As soon as he feels better, he'll try to stop smoking.
B.When he stops smoking, he'll begin to feel better.
C.He feels so much better since he stopped smoking.
D.Though he feels better, he still smokes.

Choose the sentence that is closest in meaning to the printed one.
The doctor said, 'You really ought to rest for a few days, Jasmine.'
A.Jasmine's doctor insisted that she should rest for a few days.
B.The doctor suggested that Jasmine should take a short rest.
C.The doctor strongly advised Jasmine to take a few days’ rest
D.It is the doctor's recommendation that Jasmine rested shortly.

Choose the sentence that is closest in meaning to the printed one.
It never occurred to me to go by train.
A.I used to go by train.
B.I was used to going by train.
C.I never find it boring to go by train
D.I never thought of going by train.

Read the passge carefully, then choose the correct answer.
THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US on the fourth Thursday in November. For many Americans it is the most important holiday apart from Christmas. Schools, offices and most businesses close for Thanksgiving, and many people make the whole weekend a vacation.
Thanksgiving is associated with the time when Europeans first came to North America. In 1620 the ship the Mayflowers arrived, bringing about 150 people who today are usually called Pilgrims. They arrived at the beginning of a very hard winter and could not find enough to eat, so many of them died. But in the following summer Native Americans showed them what foods were safe to eat, so that they could save food for the next winter. They held a big celebration to thank God and the Native Americans for the fact that they had survived.
Today people celebrate Thanksgiving to remember these early days.
The most important part of the celebration is a traditional dinner with foods that come from North America. The meal includes turkey, sweet potatoes (also called yams) and cranberries, which are made into a kind of sauce or jelly. The turkey is filled with stuffing or dressing, and many families have their own special recipe. Dessert is pumpkin made into a pie.
On Thanksgiving there are special television programs and sports events. In New York there is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, when a long line of people wearing fancy costumes march through the streets with large balloons in- the shape of imaginary characters. Thanksgiving is considered the beginning of the Christmas period, and the next day many people go out to shop for Christmas presents.
On thanksgiving ______.
A.turkey, yams and pumpkin pies are served
B.people join in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
C.people wear coloured carnival masks matching through the streets
D.people go out to shop for Christmas presents

Choose the word that has main stress placed differently from the others.
A.represent
B.exchange
C.receiving
D.prepare

Choose the word that has main stress placed differently from the others.
A.polite
B.popular
C.pagoda
D.agrarian

Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentences or substitutes for the underlined part.
On Christmas Eve children go to bed full ______ excitement.
A.of
B.with
C.up
D.in

Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentences or substitutes for the underlined part.
Agrarian people depend on the lunar calendar to prepare for their crops.
A.gardeners
B.planters
C.farmers
D.highlanders