Question

    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 the 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（马鞍）. 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.last part C.middle D.whole

4.This passage mainly tells readers _____.

A.how animals race on the first and the last days 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.what happens on the opening day of the Sahara Festival

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。本文讲述的是The Sahara Festiva1开幕式那一天发生的事。

1.细节理解题。根据文章第一段的句子It is well attended by tourists, but even better attended by the locals.可知游客虽然也参加这个节日，但更多的是当地人，故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第二段的内容，可知在这个节日的开幕式中参加活动的有officials, camels and horses，horsemen，musicians and dancers以及参加表演的男士和女士；dogs 和hares 并没有参加表演活动，所以选项A、B、C要被排除。故选D。

3.词义猜测题。根据Towards the evening, there comes the grand finale of the opening day, an extremely exciting horserace.可知，接近傍晚，the opening day的活动即将结束。可判断“finale”的意思是“最后一项”。故选B。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章重点讲述的是the Sahara Festival的the opening day开幕日活动。故选D。