The spirit of Christmas isn’t always so cheerful. Here are four unusual and a little scary Christmas traditions from around the world.

1. Guatmala: Burning devils

In order to make houses free from bad spirits for the New Year, Guatemalans do a full house clean in December. The dirt and dust is gathered from every home and each neighborhood creates a large amount of garbage. A devil statue is built and placed on top of the dirt, and burned. The bad luck is said to burn up with the devil.

2. South Africa: Don’t eat Santa’s cookies

To keep kids from stealing on Santa’s cookies, parents tell children a story about a boy named Danny who ate all of Santa’s cookies and really angered his grandmother. She killed him and now his ghosts visits houses during Christmas time.

3. Iceland: Fear the Yule Cat

Children who don’t receive new clothes by Christmas Eve will be eaten by the Yule Cat, a large and angry cat, which is said to hide in the snow. The strange tradition comes from farmers who used the myth to encourage their workers to finish making the autumn wool before Christmas.

4. Ukraine: A spooky tree

If you find yourself in Ukraine around the holidays, you may be wondering: Is it Christmas or Halloween? Trees here are decorated with artificial(人工的) spider weds and decorative spiders. The unusual tradition comes from a story where a spider wove a web around the tree of a poor family. When morning came, the white strands(線(xiàn)) turned to precious metals and the family became rich. The webs today show good fortune for the next year.

1.To celebrate the New Year, what will people do in Guatemala?

A. Clean their houses.

B. Show their respects to the devil statue.

C. Buy a devil statue.

D. Move to new houses.

2.Which country has a tradition that might cause kids’ fear of eating Santa’s cookies?

A. Guatemala. B. South Africa.

C. Iceland. D. Ukraine.

3.What can we infer about Christmas in Iceland?

A. The Yule Cat usually hides in the grass before Christmas.

B. All the children will receive new clothes on Christmas.

C. New clothes are popular Christmas presents for children in Iceland.

D. The Yule Cat would eat the farmers who don’t finish their work on time.

4.Why do Ukrainians like spiders on Christmas?

A. Spiders are pretty insects.

B. Spiders are believed to bring good fortune.

C. Spiders always help poor families out of pity.

D. Webs of spiders are suitable for decoration.

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2.A. make B. explain C. accomplish D. arrange

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生活中沖突時(shí)有發(fā)生。假設(shè)你班同學(xué)蘇華和李江打籃球時(shí)發(fā)生爭(zhēng)執(zhí),導(dǎo)致關(guān)系緊張。請(qǐng)你結(jié)合此事,并根據(jù)以下提示,用英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)一篇短文,向?qū)W校英文報(bào)“Happy Teens”專(zhuān)欄投稿。

簡(jiǎn)要描述事情的經(jīng)過(guò)

打籃球、碰撞、爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，等等

分析發(fā)生沖突的原因

1.遇事不夠冷靜

2. ……

談?wù)劚苊鉀_突的做法

1. ……

2. ……

注意: 1. 對(duì)所有要點(diǎn)逐一陳述,按要求適當(dāng)發(fā)揮,不要簡(jiǎn)單翻譯。

2. 詞數(shù)120 左右。開(kāi)頭已經(jīng)寫(xiě)好,不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

3. 作文中不得提及有關(guān)考生個(gè)人身份的任何信息,如校名、人名等。

參考詞匯：碰撞bump into；爭(zhēng)執(zhí)；爭(zhēng)吵quarrel；以自我為中心的self-centered；體貼的considerate；冷靜的calm；彼此責(zé)怪blame each other；諒解forgive；處理沖突handle conflicts；明智地wisely

Conflicts with others are common in everyday life._____________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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