Question

C

Christmas is still a few weeks away. But in Holland, Germany and other parts of central Europe, a man dressed in red with a big white beard will already be flying from house to house with a big sack (麻袋)and presents for children. " Sinterklaas komt！" as Dutch children say* Saint Nicholas is coming ！

It's obvious that the name "Santa Claus" comes from "Sinterklaas". Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated on Decem?ber 6， but there are many things about the saint and his festival that are similar to Christmas. Just as Santa has reindeer (柳鹿)，Sinterklaas has a white horse. Dutch and German children put their shoes out in front of the chimney just like children hang up their stockings on Christmas Eve, hoping that in the morning they will be full of presents. With Sinterklaas, however, you're also expected to put a carrot in your shoe as a present to his horse.

Like Santa, Sinterklaas also judges whether children have been "naughty or nice" in the past year to help him decide whether they deserve presents. But while good children get sweets, the consequences of being bad are far worse than those with Father Christmas. Naughty chil?dren are given a stick so their parents can beat them. If you are really* really bad, Sinterklaas will put you into a sack and take you away.

In parts of Germany and Austria, people also cele?brate December 5―but it is a celebration of naughtiness rather than niceness. On "Krampus Day", bizarre (極其怪誕的），horned demons (長(zhǎng)著角的怪物）(or rather boys dressed in costumes) run around causing havoc (浩劫) and hitting girls with sticks. Authorities have struggled for years to ban the tradition, but have not been success?ful. Luckily Saint Nicholas always comes next day to put things right.

22. What is the main focus of the article?

  A. The history of Christmas Day.

B. The traditions of Saint Nicholas Day. •

C. The similarities between Christmas Day and Saint Nicholas Day.

D. The connection between Saint Nicholas Day and Krampus Day.

23. Which of the following statements about Saint Nicho?las Day is TRUE? -

  A. The festival falls on December 5 in most European countries.

B. On the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, people usually eat carrots.

C. In Germany, children expect to get gifts in their shoes on Saint Nicholas Day.

D. Like Santa, Sinterklaas is believed to ride his rein?deer from house to house to give gifts to children.

24. What can we conclude from Paragraph 3?

  A. Naughty children don't get anything from Sinterk-laas.

B. As well as children, Sinterklaas also brings gifts for adults.

C. Sinterklaas is more generous than Father Christ?mas.

D. Sinterklaas treats good children better than naughty ones.

25. Which is TRUE about the attitude of authorities to?wards Krampus Day traditions, according to the arti?cle?

  A. They have tried in vain to get rid of some of the traditions.

B. They organize various activities to entertain peo?ple.

C. They respect the way people celebrate it.

D. They regard it as an important tradition and try to promote it.

Answer 1

C

[文章大意]本文主要介紹了在歐洲一些國(guó)家流行的有關(guān)占拉斯節(jié)（Saint Nicholas Day)的一些風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣。

   22.B.主旨大意題。結(jié)合文章的內(nèi)容可知本文主要介紹了在歐洲一些國(guó)家流行的圣•尼古拉斯節(jié)的風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣，故答案為B。

23. C 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。結(jié)合文章第二段中的"Dutch and German children put their shoes out in front of the chimney just like children hang up their stockings on Christmas Eve. hoping that in the morning they will be full of presents."可知C項(xiàng)正確。

24.D推理判斷題。結(jié)合文章第三段可知，Sinterklaas對(duì)待乖孩子和頑皮孩子的態(tài)度不同：給乖孩子禮物；給頑皮孩子棍棒或者把他們裝在麻袋里帶走。故D項(xiàng)正確。

25. A推理判斷題。結(jié)合文章最后一段中的"Authorhies have struggled for years to ban the tradition, but have not been successful.，，可知A項(xiàng)正確。