Passage 53
（2005 江苏 C）

The Sahara Festival is a celebration of the very recent past.The three-day event is not fixed to the same dates each year, but generally takes place in November or december.It is well attended by tourists, but even better attended by locals.

during the opening ceremonies, after the official greetings from the government leaders, people who attend the festival begin to march smartly before the viewing stands, and white camels transport their riders across the sands.Horsemen from different nations display their beautiful clothes and their fine horsemanship.One following another, groups of musicians and dancers from all over the Sahara take their turn to show off their wonderful traditional culture.Groups of men in blue and yellow play horns and beat drums as they dance in different designs.On their knees in the sand,a group of women in long dark dresses dance with their hair: their long, dark, shiny hair is thrown back and forth in the wind to the rhythm of their dance.

The local and visiting Italian dogs are anxious to run after hares.The crowd is on its feet for the camel races.camels and riders run far into the distance, and then return to the finish line in front of the cheering people.

Towards the evening, there comes the grand finale of the opening day, an extremely exciting horserace.All the riders run very fast on horseback.Some riders hang off the side of their saddles.Some even ride upside down — their legs and feet straight up in the air — all at full speed. Others rush down the course together, men arm in arm, on different horses.On and on they went.So fast and so wonderful!

1.The Sahara Festival is a festival which ______.

A. has a very long history in North africa

B. is held in the same place on the same day

C. is attended mainly by the people in the Sahara

D. is celebrated mostly by travelers from different countries

2.before the races begin, ______ take part in the activities during the opening ceremonies.

A. musicians, dancers, horses and hares

B. camel riders, musicians, dogs and hares

C. horsemen, dancers, camels and dogs

D. musicians, officials, camels and horses

3.The underlined word “finale”in the fourth paragraph most probably means the ______ of the opening day.

A. first part

B. middle

C. last part

D. whole

4.This Passage mainly tells readers ______.

A. what happens on the opening day of the Sahara Festival

B. how people celebrate during the three-day Sahara Festival

C. what takes place at the closing ceremonies of the Sahara Festival

D. how animals race on the first and the last days of the Sahara Festival

【重点词汇】

festival n.节日

opening ceremony 开幕式

greeting n.祝贺，问候

smartly adv.潇洒地，漂亮地

horsemanship n.马术

take one's turn 轮流

rhythm n.节奏

back and forth 来回地

hare n.野兔

horserace n.赛马

saddle n.鞍

at full speed 全速地

【疑难长句】

1.during the opening ceremonies, after the official greetings from the government leaders, people who attend the festival begin to march smartly before the viewing stands, and white camels transport their riders across the sands.

（参考译文）开幕式上，在政府领导的官方致意后，参加节日的人们开始潇洒地在观众面前行进，白骆驼载着骑手穿过沙地。

2.On their knees in the sand,a group of women in long dark dresses dance with their hair: their long, dark, shiny hair is thrown back and forth in the wind to the rhythm of their dance.

（参考译文）一群跪在沙地里的妇女，身着黑色长袍，长长的、闪亮的黑发和着舞蹈的节奏在风中来回飘荡。