A
New Year's Day is worth celebrating and you probably celebrate New Year's Day together with your family and friends, enjoying drinks and watching the ball drop. If you're lucky, perhaps you share a kiss with that special one when the clock hits 00：00am. But how New Year's Day would look in another country? Listed below are four of the top ten “Unique New Year Traditions from Around the World.”
1. Breaking Dishes on Neighbor's Door—Denmark
A strange Danish New Year tradition, depending on how you look at it, is throwing dishes at neighbor's door. The family with the tallest tower of broken plates, glasses, cups and other crockery is considered to be the luckiest person because it symbolizes their large crowd of loyal friends.
2. Talking to Spirits—Mexico
Mexicans strongly believe that they can communicate with the souls of their dead loved ones. New Year's Eve is considered the best time to communicate with dead spirits to convey a message or ask for guidance. Taos Inn, in New Mexico for example, offers 15 minutes session of spiritualism and deep thought for $15. Not a bad price for some helpful guidance!
3. Wearing Polka Dots—Philippines
Imagine people wearing polka dots and dining room tables full of round shaped food and fruits on one single day of the year in Philippines. And they believe that this will bring them prosperity by associating the round dots to coins and wealth.
4. Burning Scarecrow Dummy—Ecuador
Ecuador has a custom of crafting scarecrows and burning them. As midnight approaches, gathering outside, each family burns their own scarecrow filled with newspapers and pieces of wood. The tradition says that this destroys all the bad things that took place in the past 12 months. The scarecrow also scares away bad luck, which in turn, fills their new year with luck and happiness.
The world is large but different. People of all nations may celebrate New Year's Day much differently, but a lot of general themes are to be seen. We all want to start a new, fresh year with renewed enthusiasm and hope no matter what happened during the past year. We all want to be happier, find love, renew friendships, increase our wealth and also hope for a little extra luck in the coming new year.
【语篇解读】 本文主要叙述了丹麦、墨西哥、菲律宾、厄瓜多尔这四个国家庆祝新年的方式。但不论以哪种方式庆祝新年，人们都是期盼一个更美好、更幸福的来年。
1．People generally celebrate New Year's Day in the following ways except ．
A．sharing the time with their family
B．getting together with their friends
C．participating in the ball drop
D．spending the time with their lovers
C [细节理解题。根据首段“you probably celebrate New Year's Day together with your family and friends, enjoying drinks and watching the ball drop.”可知，你可能会和家人、朋友喝饮料并观看ball watch一起庆祝新年，而不是参与(participate in)the ball drop，故选C项。根据“If you're lucky, perhaps you share a kiss with that special one when the clock hits 00：00am”可知，与爱人一起度过时间也是庆祝新年的方式之一。]
2．Which of the following can't describe the 4 unique New Year traditions properly?
A．The more broken plates, glasses, cups you have at your door, the more good friends you have according to Danish New Year tradition.
B．By paying $15 in Taos Inn, Mexicans can communicate with the souls of their dead loved ones.
C．Wearing polka dots can help people in Philippines to gain wealth.
D．People from Ecuador make and burn scarecrows to win good luck and happiness.
B [细节理解题。由第三段“Taos Inn, in New Mexico for example, offers 15 minutes session of spiritualism and deep thought for $15.”可知，在Taos旅店人们并不是真的可以与已故的至爱之人的亡灵交流，故B项叙述不恰当。由第二段“The family with the tallest tower of broken plates, glasses, cups and other crockery is considered to be the luckiest person because it symbolizes their large crowd of loyal friends.”可知，在丹麦，谁家门口摔碎的盘子、杯子等越多，谁的朋友就越多，故A项叙述准确。由第四段内容可知，菲律宾人认为穿着圆点图案的衣服会给他们带来财富，故C项符合原文意思。根据第五段内容可知，在厄瓜多尔，人们会制作并焚烧稻草人以求带来好运和幸福，故D项内容与原文意思吻合。]
3. What can you infer from the last paragraph?
A．No matter how we celebrate New Year, increasing our wealth is very important.
B．The traditions will be changed with the time going by.
C．We seldom experience different traditions to celebrate New Year.
D．Celebrating New Year's Day means looking forward to a happier and better coming year.
D [推理判断题。由最后一段“We all want to start a new, fresh year with renewed enthusiasm and hope no matter what happened during the past year. We all want to be happier, find love, renew friendships, increase our wealth and also hope for a little extra luck in the coming new year.”可知，尽管人们庆祝新年的方式不同，但都期盼来年更幸福、更美好，故选D项。]
