ThefirstdayofthemonthofMayisknownasMayDay.Itisthetimeof...

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The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins. people celebrate the coming of summer with customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter. Today, May Day activities have been moved to the May Day holiday on the first Monday of the month. It is a public holiday when families take advantage of the time off to visit some of the UK’s many attractions, including parks, zoos, historic buildings, ancient towns and villages and beautiful countryside.

May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. People would decorate their houses and villages with leaves and flowers they picked at daybreak in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good luck. In the very early morning, young girls went into the fields and washed their faces with dew (露水). They believed this made them very beautiful for the following year.

May Day was an important day in the Middle Ages and was a favorite holiday of many English villages. People of the time used to cut down young trees and stick them in the ground in the village to mark the arrival of summer. This is the origin of the maypole (五月柱). People danced around them in celebration of the end of winter. Maypoles were once common all over England and were kept from one year to the next. The tallest maypole is said to have been put up in London on the Strand in 1661. It stood more than 143 feet high and was cut down in 1717, when it was used by Newton to support a new reflecting telescope (反*式望遠鏡) invented by Dutch scientist Huygens.

24. How do British people celebrate May Day?

A. They visit friends and family members. 

B. They spend a lot of time shopping around. 

C. They show great love for the long winter.

D. They celebrate it on the first Monday of May.

25. The underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

A. going into the fields         B. picking flowers at daybreak

C. washing the face with dew    D. getting up early in the morning

26. What can we learn about the maypole? 

A. People climb it on May Day.    B. It dates from the Middle Ages. 

C. It was usually found in the cities.  D. People used old, tall trees to make it. 

27. The purpose of the text is to _____.

A. describe Roman customs     B. introduce a British festival

C. suggest spring family activities   D. explain the origins of maypoles

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