【正确答案】ancient and modern

【答案解析】[听力原文] Famous Christmas Places I'm Mario Ritter. Welcome to our program. People around the world are celebrating Christmas day. Christians mark the birth of Jesus Christ on this holiday. There are many traditions surrounding Christmas, both ancient and modern. We hear about Christmas in two very different places: Middleburg, a small town in the state of Virginia and Xitan, China, which has come to be known as 'Christmas village.' The first place we'd like to introduce is Middleburg, Virginia in the United States. Christmas is traditionally a time of gift-giving and family gatherings. But there are also performances, trees with lights and, of course, Santa Clause, the big man in a red suit. Small towns across the country have their own traditions. Middleburg is a town in an area known for its horses. Visitors can see horses pulling carriages with bells as people sing traditional Christmas songs. 'On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...' For more than 50 years, Middleburg has organized a yearly Christmas parade. Hunting on horseback is another tradition. Men and women ride horses through the woods and fields. They follow hunting dogs as they search for a wild fox. But first, these hunters ride in the yearly parade, wearing their bright red hunting clothes and hats. 'Before we strike off here, I want to thank all of you for being here, and wish you all a very, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Middleburg Hunt.' John Hale of Middleburg says many city people visit his town. 'We have a lot of people from an urban area that come visit, but it incorporates a lot of the old traditions.' The nighttime hay ride is one such tradition. Small groups gather under the moonlight on an open wagon filled with hay. The passengers sing as farm horses pull the wagon slowly across the fields. The second place is called Xitan, China. Christmas is a major event worldwide. In China, for example, there is a 'Christmas Village,' with many signs of the holiday. The village of Xitan, in Zhejiang province, has no snow. It looks far different than the colder, snow-covered lands of Northern Europe and North America. But last year, the village shipped around $100 million in colorful ornaments and decorations to places as far away as Europe, the United States and Brazil. Wang Lianming is the head of one of Xitan's earliest Christmas decoration companies, Ruian D-Bright Arts and Crafts. He says that although overseas buyers are still the village's main customers, that is changing. He says that Christmas was once a completely foreign holiday. But, in recent years, he says, celebrations of Christmas have grown and so has sales of ornaments. Before D-Bright started producing hand-made Christmas ornaments, they made Disco Balls. They still do. Like many other factories here, the company is expanding to make products for other Western holidays, even Halloween. In Xitan, there are 40 larger factories and about 200 smaller workshops. Some employees travel from far away to work in the village. 本题出现在短文开头，对圣诞节传统的描述，空格位于traditions之前，可考虑填形容词，录音提到关于圣诞节的传统很多，既有古老的又有现代的，因此填ancient and modem。

【正确答案】family gatherings/family reunion

【答案解析】本题出现在第二个空，是对其中一个地方米德尔堡(Middleburg)的描述，此处要求填圣诞节的含义，空格前提到圣诞节是送礼物(gift-giving)的节日，录音原文提到家庭聚会，最佳答案为family gatherings，表达类似含义的短语family reunion也可以。

【正确答案】a red suit/red clothes

【答案解析】本空提及表演、用彩灯装饰的树，这些都能让人联想到圣诞节的传统习俗，空格前提及的a big man很可能是圣诞老人，表“人”的名词后面出现介词in可以表示所穿服饰，根据录音，应该是圣诞老人所穿的红色衣服，最佳答案为a red suit，也可以用clothes代替suit。

【正确答案】parade

【答案解析】米德尔堡之所以因圣诞节闻名，就是因为在这里会举行一年一度的圣诞节游行。parade在本段是个关键词，在录音原文中多次出现。

【正确答案】urban area/cities

【答案解析】本空接在介词from后而，考查的是人来自哪里，因为前文提到Middleburg是一个小镇，录音原文提及许多城里人(city people)来参观小镇，所以填urban area或cities。

【正确答案】Christmas Village

【答案解析】本题考查的是因圣诞而闻名的第二个地方，中国浙江的溪坦村，本空前面是短语以……闻名(be known as)，这个关键词在录音原文中有出现，就是Christmas Village。

【正确答案】ornaments/decorations

【答案解析】本空考查的是数字$100 million后面的内容，空格前是形容词colorful，这里考虑名词，录音原文出现的是ornaments and decorations，这几个关键词也在后文中反复出现，溪坦村之所以成为圣诞村，是因为其生产的圣诞饰品大量出口国外，因此填入ornaments或decorations都可以。

【正确答案】overseas/foreign buyers

【答案解析】本空考查的是溪坦村主要的客户是哪些人，通过录音原文中出现的Europe，the United States and Brazil等国家和地区，可以推测是远销到国外，原文用到overseas buyers一词准确描述了溪坦村的客户群，foreign buyers表达了相同的意思，也可以填入。

【正确答案】expanding

【答案解析】根据空格前后判断，本空考查的是动词或形容词，描述溪坦村工厂如何来生产产品。根据上文提到的远销海外，工厂应该是积极扩张以保证生产，录音原文用到的是expanding一词。

【正确答案】about 200

【答案解析】本空考查的是数量。空格前提到40个工厂，空格后是小作坊，这里毫无疑问考查的是小作坊的数量，录音原文提到，在溪坦村，有40家大型工厂和大约200家小作坊，所以填about 200。