Queen Elizabeth II in her Christmas Day message shared the pain she felt after the death of her husband as she encouraged people everywhere to celebrate with friends and family, despite the grief caused by a pandemic(流行病) now stretching into its second year.

Saying she understood the difficulty of spending the holiday season “with one familiar laugh missing,” the queen delivered her address beside a photograph of Prince Philip, who died in April at age 99. “Although it’s a time of great happiness and good cheer for many, Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones,” the queen said in the prerecorded message broadcast when many British families were enjoying their traditional Christmas dinner. “This year, especially, I understand why.” She added the country still has the great future.

Despite her own loss, the queen said her family was a “source of great happiness”, noting that she had welcomed four great-grandchildren this year. “While COVID again means we can’t celebrate quite as we may have wished, we can still enjoy the many happy things, be it the singing of carols—as long as the tune is well known—decorating the tree, giving and receiving presents or watching a favorite film where we already know the ending,” she said. “It’s no surprise that families so often treasure their Christmas routines.”

As the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant(新冠病毒变种奥密克戎) spreads rapidly across the U.K., the 95-year-old queen has decided not to spend Christmas at Sandringham, the royal estate in eastern England where she traditionally spends the festive season with family. The palace said Monday that the queen would spend the holidays at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she has remained throughout most of the pandemic.

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1.What does “one familiar laugh missing” mean to the queen?

A Prince Philip’s death.

B A photograph of Prince Philip.

C Lost ones in British families.

D One of her great-grandchildren.

解析：选A。A 词意指代题。根据第一段的“Queen Elizabeth II in her Christmas Day message shared the pain she felt after the death of her husband...”和第二段“...Prince Philip, who died in April at age 99...”可知对女王说，那“熟悉的笑声消失了”就是指丈夫Prince Philip的死。故选A。

2.How did the queen feel when recording the speech?

A Delighted but anxious.

B Confident but upset.

C Painful but hopeful.

D Helpless but calm.

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。根据第二段第二句的“Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones”可知失去心爱的人她肯定很“痛苦(painful)”，结合该段最后一句的“She added the country still has the great future.”表明她对未来也充满希望(hopeful)。故选C。

3.Why do people watch a film while they know the ending?

A It is considered as a treasure.

B It is their tradition to do so.

C It is familiar to British people.

D It is a famous film around the country.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据第三段的“we can still enjoy the many happy things”和“It’s no surprise that families so often treasure their Christmas routines.”可推知，即使做那些重复的事情人们也很开心，因为这是圣诞节的传统/惯例。故选B。

4.Where did the queen use to celebrate Christmas?

A At Sandringham.

B At Windsor Castle.

C In Southern England.

D In East of London.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据第四段第一句的“the 95-year- old queen has decided not to spend Christmas at Sandringham...where she traditionally spends the festive season with family”可知她原来一般都是在桑德林汉姆府过圣诞节。故选A。