愚人节
愚人节

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Every year on April 1, April Fools' Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. In France, it's called Poisson d'Avril or "Fish of April." In Scotland, the holiday is often called "Gowkie Day." In Iraq, the holiday is called Kithbet Neesan or "April Lie."

History experts say people have celebrated April Fools' Day for a long time. Some believe the tradition comes from the ancient Romans more than two thousand years ago. It was a day of playing games and pretending to be someone else.

Others say the day for fooling began in France in 1564, when King Charles changed the yearly calendar. He moved New Year's Day from April 1 to January 1. Many people did not know about the change because of communication problems back then. Some people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people called them April Fools and played jokes on them.

In the United States, April Fools' Day is just a day of joking and playing tricks on friends. These kinds of jokes are also called pranks. These jokes typically end in the prankster shouting "April Fools'!"

Simple pranks, like telling a friend a funny lie or making prank phone calls, are still common. But, major companies also get in on April Fools' Day fun in a much bigger way. A few years ago, on April 1, Starbucks announced it was introducing new coffee cup sizes -- Plenta and Micra. The very large cups, bigger than a human head, remained useful for customers even after finishing all that coffee. According to Starbucks, the cups could be used as a rain hat, a pot for plants, or a lampshade. It did not take long for customers to catch on to the prank!


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1.How many other names of April Fools’ Day are mentioned in the passage?

A 3

B 4

C 5

D 6

解析:选C。C 细节理解题。根据第1段...it's called Poisson d'Avril or "Fish of April." ..."Gowkie Day." ...Kithbet Neesan or "April Lie." ...可知答案,故选C。

2.The earliest people enjoying April Fools’ Day might be the _______.

A French

B Scottish

C Americans

D Romans

解析:选D。D 细节理解题。根据第2段Some believe the tradition comes from the ancient Romans more than two thousand years ago,可知答案,故选D。

3.What did the French people do on April 1 before 1564?

A They celebrated New Year's Day.

B They played jokes on others.

C They celebrated April Fools' Day.

D They dressed up as others.

解析:选A。A 推理判断题。根据第3段 ...He moved New Year's Day from April 1 to January 1可知在1564年之前,法国的新年是在四月一日,因此人们会在那一天庆祝新年,故选A。

4.The underlined word tricks in paragraph 4 probably has the same meaning with_______.

A fools

B pranks

C pranksters

D jokers

解析:选B。B 词义猜测题。根据文章第4段These kinds of jokes are also called pranks,可知答案,故选B。

5.What can we know about Plenta and Micra?

A They were cups of many uses.

B They were bigger coffee cups.

C They didn’t exist at all indeed.

D They helped make more money.

解析:选C。C 推理判断题 。由段意可知,愚人节这天,人们会说一些善意的谎言,一些大公司也参与进来,Plenta and Micra的说法不久后便被人们识破是一个恶作剧,故选C。