A Christina from Spain
On the last day of the year, the 31^st of December, people wait till 12 pm. Everybody must have 12 grapes(葡萄) to eat at midnight. At each sound of the clock, we must eat a group. But we can’t ever finish eating the grapes on time! Usually when people still have some grapes in their mouths, they look at each other and start to laugh. This tradition started in Spain long ago. One year, when there were a lot of grapes, the king of Spain decided to give grapes to everybody to eat on New Year’s Eve.
B Cordon from Britain
On New Year’s Day in Britain, people have parties. At 12 o’clock, the music stops, and we listen to the radio. On the radio we hear Big Ben, the famous clock in London. Then everybody sings a song about friendship and kisses their friends. We say “Happy New Year” to each other. It’s lucky if a tall man with dark hair is the first person to come to the house in the new year. So I go and visit as many friends as I can. They all give me a drink.
C Angela from Brazil
In all cities in Brazil, we have a big party on New Year’s Eve, especially in Rio de Janeiro. People in this city go to the beaches to watch fireworks(焰火)。We put flowers in the sea and think about things we want for ourselves or others. We usually wear white clothes for good luck during the New Year.
【小題1】Picture___________ is about paragraph 1.

【小題2】Who have parties on New Year’s Day?
A. People in Spain.  B. People in Britain.
C. People in Brazil.  D. Both B and C.
【小題3】From the 2nd paragraph, we can infer (推斷)that___________.

To learn a foreign language well, you need to spend a lot of time on it. The ___46___ time you spend on the language, the faster you will learn. This does not ___47___ sitting in class looking out of the window, nor listening to other students who do not speak well. This means spending time enjoyably on the ___48___ you are learning.

Listen to the language you are learning on your MP3 player. Read ___49___ you are listening to. Listen to and read things that you like, things that you can mostly ___50___, or even partly understand. One hour of listening or reading is more effective（有效率）than many hours of class time. If you ___51___ listening and reading, you will improve yourself.

Build up your vocabulary lists, which you’ll need lots of. Start to notice words and how they come ___52___ as phrases. Learn these words and phrases ___53___ listening and reading. Read online, using online dictionaries, and make your own vocabulary lists. Do not ___54___ for someone else to show you the language, nor to tell you what to do, and you should discover the language by yourself, like a child growing up. Talk when you feel like it. ___55___ when you feel like. You are learning and improving. The language will become clearer in your mind. Just make sure you spend enough time on the language.