Birthday traditions in different countries
Birthdays are celebrated all over the world. Some traditions are fairly similar from country to country: candles, cakes and birthday wishes, birthday games and pinches for good luck. Other customs are quite different. Here are a few.
Argentina–In Argentina, as in many Latin American countries, one of the most important birthday parties is a girl’s fifteenth. When girls turn 15, they have a huge party and dance the waltz first with their father, and then the boys at the party.
China– The birthday child pays respect to the parents and receives a gift of money. Friends and relatives are invited to lunch, and noodles are rved to wish the birthday child a long life. Denmark– A flag is flown outside a window to show that someone who lives in that hou is having a birthday. Prents are placed around the child’s bed while they are sleeping so they will e them immediately when they wake up.
The Netherlands– Special year birthdays such as 5, 10, 15, 20, 21 are called "crown〞years and the birthday child receives an especially large gift. The family also decorates the birthday child’s chair with flowers or paper streamers, paper flowers and balloons.
India – Usually Indian children wear white to school. However, on their birthday children wear coloured clothes to school and give out chocolates to everyone in the class. Their best friend helps them to do this.
Japan– The birthday child wears new clothes to mark the occasion. Certain birthdays are more important than others and the are celebrated with a visit to the local shrine. The are the third and venth birthdays for girls and the fifth for boys.
Questions 1-5
Match the countries in the box with their descriptions.
1A country where longevity is celebrated by a special dish ________
2 A country where candies are distributed among peers ________
3A country where the birthday is made known to the community ________
4A country where the houhold is full of birthday ornaments ________
5A country where religious worship is sometimes involved ________
The American Revolution was not a revolution in the n of a radical or total change. It was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already independent nations. Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking. What happened was accelerate evolution rather than outright revolution. During the conflict itlf people went on working and praying, marrying and playing. Most of them were not riously disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely knew that a war was on.
America’s War of Independence heralded the birth of thr ee modern nations. One was Canada, which received its first large influx of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States. Another was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no longer available for prisoners and debtors. The third newcomer – the United States – bad itlf squarely on republican principles.
Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppo. In some states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial lf-rule already existing. British officials, everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and Parliament.
Questions 6-10
6. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A The United States: An Isolated Community
B Breathtaking Events During the American Revolution
C Canada and the American War of Independence
D The American Revolution: Evolution Not Revolution
7. In the first paragraph, what does the author suggest about the French and Russian Revolutions?
A They were explosive and abrupt.
B They were ineffective.
C They involved only tho people living in urban areas.
D They led to the relea of all political prisoners.
公章怎么做
8. In line 5, what does the author mean by "people went on working and praying, marrying and
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praying〞?
A More people got married than divorced.
B The war created new jobs.
C Life went on as usual.
D People had more than enough leisure time.
9. In t he cond paragraph, the author states that the colonies’ struggle for lf-government preceded the creation of all of the following countries EXCEPT
A Canada
B The United States
酒文化的经典语录C Australia
D The United Kingdom
陈师师
10. It can be inferred from the passage that the loyalists who escaped to Canada were
A Russian
B French
C British
wet的比较级和最高级D Australian
Reading Passage 3
Puffery in Advertising
A "Our coffee is loved by millions worldwide.〞Do you often e this kind of advertising in your country? Statements like the, that no-one can prove, are called puffery This is a term that has been developed for exaggerated claims that are made in advertising. Puffery is legal, even though such claims cannot be proved. In fact, puffery has been termed "a licence to lie〞, as it is vague enough to be clasd as opinion, an expression of the salesperson's evaluation of the product, rather than an objective statement.
B Using puffery to rai awareness of products and to generate incread sales is a common advertising strategy. Goods and rvices are described in terms of superlatives, subjective opinions and exaggerations; various kinds of general claims are made, with no specific facts. So, why do some people worry about puffery? One of the concerns is whether consumers are misled by fal advertising. Legal guidelines and government controls are required to prevent dishonest
advertising. Companies understandably object to untruthful ads which give a competitor an unfair advantage in the market. The claims can be tested in the courts, and the decisions that are made help to make the boundary between acceptable puffery and illegal advertising.
C Puffery is nothing new. It has been identified in documents dating from as long ago as the sixteenth century, when the notion of "caveat emptor〞or "let the buyer beware〞developed in business transactions. Although this initially applied to property deals, it came to be ud more generally. This Latin term basically meant that anyone buying a product had a responsibility to check it carefully before payment. The ller did not need to take responsibility for defects <unless a problem had been deliberately concealed>. In tho days, of cour, there was no notion of consumer rights or returns policies.
D The days, however, if a company claims to ll the country's "best-loved〞or "favourite〞product, whether a brand of coffee or a make of car, this is held to be puffery, rather than an objective claim of market share. Similarly, the company does not have to produce proof that this claim is actually backed up by numbers or facts. In other words, claims such as "the world's best cup of coffee〞are impossible to prove. They are also so exaggerated that it is expected that any consumer will understand how subjective they are. In effect, the company in question is said to be "boasting〞rather than making objective claims. The claims are therefore not considered to be deceptive. In fact, puffery is often considered to add to the entertainment value of advertiments, especially television commercials.
E On the other hand, a company that states their product is the "safest〞or "cheapest〞needs to show proof, becau the claims can directly affect their competitors. Statements that are objective need to be backed up by proof or statistics, as consumer rights organisations can run tests to compare products such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners. They also investigate companies involved in insurance, finance, property, credit cards and other such rvices. Companies and salespeople should therefore be very careful when making factual statements about a product, or asrtions regarding the quality of goods and rvices. In most developed countries, th
ere is likely to be an official organisation which overes the validity of advertising claims. In addition, there may be a government council with the authority to take legal action against companies that overstep the limit.
F A primary function of advertising is to create product awareness. As consumers, we need to
know about competing products, so we can make informed decisions on which one to buy. While it is important that advertirs are monitored to ensure they do not mislead consumers, it can be argued that puffery is a good technique for raising awareness of new products that otherwi would go unnoticed in a crowded market. As long as there are effective ways of monitoring the claims of advertirs, to prevent deliberate deception in terms of safety or particular aspects of performance, it ems that most puffery is relatively harmless. Rather, it should be en as an integral part of advertising, which most consumers can detect and laugh at rather than being misled.
Questions 11-16
The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-E Choo the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-vii, next to the appropriate paragraph. There are more headings than paragraphs.
好逸恶劳
11> Paragraph A资源搜索引擎
12> Paragraph B
13> Paragraph C
14> Paragraph D
15> Paragraph E
月亮代表什么生肖
16> Paragraph F
Questions 17- 23
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? Write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
