任务一:读下文，了解世界各地的节庆习俗

Celebrating New Year’s Day is one of theoldest and most exciting customs around the world. In European countries,people have different ways of celebrating the New Year. In Italy, boys andgirls receive gifts of money on New Year’s Day. In countries like Portugal andthe Netherlands, families start off the New Year by visiting friends andrelatives. In the villages of Scotland, barrels of tar are set afire and thenrolled down the streets. This ritual symbolises that the old year is burned upand the new year is allowed to enter.

任务二：阅读下列三则短文

The Great Wall of China is one of the greatest wonders of the world.Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts,grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching from the east to the west ofChina. With a history of more than 2,000 years, some of the sections are now inruins or have disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealingattractions all around the world.

              

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system on earth. Whenyou look at it from underneath water, it truly appears to be beautiful andsomewhat magical. If you get the chance to visit the area, you should make surethat you take along an underwater camera.

Socotra is a world heritage sight and is widely considered the mostbiodiverse place in the Arabian Sea. This land boasts some of the mostunusual-looking plants in the world, most of which are unique to Socotra due toits unique climate. Besides, Socotra is home to a host of creatures rangingfrom spiders to birds and even spectacular coral reefs.