What does “ Solstice” mean（）

  At first the site was just a circular ditch (沟渠). Within the circle were two burial hills, and a smaller circle of 56 holes. Scientists have found ashes in the holes. They believed these are from the burning of the dead bodies.

  But Stonehenge may have been more than a ritual site. Some experts suggest it was also used as a huge calendar (日历) for watching stars. Outside the entrance of the construction stands the Heel Stone. On the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, a person standing at the center of the circle can look out through the entrance and see the first rays of the rising sun hit the top of the Heel Stone. At the winter solstice, the year's shortest day, a person standing at the entrance can look into the circle and see the setting sun between the stones of a trilithon, formed by two standing stone posts topped by a stone in flat position. In this way Stonehenge may have marked the passing seasons.

  The position of the stones and holes shows that Stonehenge may also have been used for watching the moon and stars. The construction may even have been a huge prehistoric" computer" used to study other natural objects in space. The Stone Age people in the area were farmers. Perhaps they used Stonehenge to figure out changes in the weather and to time the planting of their crops.

The purpose of the text is______.

  At first the site was just a circular ditch (沟渠). Within the circle were two burial hills, and a smaller circle of 56 holes. Scientists have found ashes in the holes. They believed these are from the burning of the dead bodies.

  But Stonehenge may have been more than a ritual site. Some experts suggest it was also used as a huge calendar (日历) for watching stars. Outside the entrance of the construction stands the Heel Stone. On the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, a person standing at the center of the circle can look out through the entrance and see the first rays of the rising sun hit the top of the Heel Stone. At the winter solstice, the year's shortest day, a person standing at the entrance can look into the circle and see the setting sun between the stones of a trilithon, formed by two standing stone posts topped by a stone in flat position. In this way Stonehenge may have marked the passing seasons.

  The position of the stones and holes shows that Stonehenge may also have been used for watching the moon and stars. The construction may even have been a huge prehistoric" computer" used to study other natural objects in space. The Stone Age people in the area were farmers. Perhaps they used Stonehenge to figure out changes in the weather and to time the planting of their crops.

The purpose of the text is______.

  You are going to read a text about Christmas, followed by a list of information. Choose the best information from the list for each numbered subheading.

  (41) What is Christmas?

  The word Christmas comes from the words Cristes maesse, or "Christ's Mass". Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus for members of the Christian religion. Most historians peg the first celebration of Christmas to Rome in 336 A.D. Christmas is both a holiday and a Holy Day.

  (42) Why does everyone give each other presents on Christmas day?

  The tradition of gifts seems to have started with the gifts that the wise men (the Magi) brought to Jesus.

  Why is there a small evergreen tree in your living room?

  This is a German tradition, started as early as 700 A.D. In the 1800's the tradition of a Christmas Tree was widespread in Germany, then moved to England and then America through Pennsylvanian German immigrants.

  (43) Why have you decorated this evergreen with ornaments, lights, fake snow and mylar plastic tinsel?

  In Victorian times, people had already started decorating trees with candies and cakes hung with ribbon. In 1880 Woolworths first sold manufactured Christmas Tree ornaments, and they caught on very quickly.

  (44) Why is there a big log in the fireplace?

  According to the book a The Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris, "Yuletide for Christmastime is a term derived from the yule log, which in olden days was a huge log used as the foundation of the holiday fires. Bringing the yule log in was, as recently as the nineteenth century, as much a part of the pre-Christmas festivities as putting up an evergreen tree today. Yule can be traced back to the Middle English Yollen (cry aloud) and is thought to date from early Anglo-Saxon revels in celebration of the discovery (after the Winter Solstice, December 22) that nights were becoming shorter."

  (45) Why are there oversized socks hanging on your mantel?

  According to a very old tradition, the original Saint Nicholas (see below) left his very first gifts of gold coins in the stockings of three poor girls who needed the money for their wedding dowries. The girls had hung their stockings by the fire to dry.

  And why are stores and malls so geared up about this holiday? Why does every mall have a Santa village, and why do kids come sit on Santa's knee?

  As mentioned above, stores and malls have been revived up about Christmas since the late 1800's. In America today the weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas are, by far, the biggest retail sales weeks of the year.

A. Up until lately it was traditiono1 to receive small items like fruit, nuts and candy in your stocking, but these have been replaced in the last half-century by more expensive gifts in many homes.

B. As recounted in the Bible's book of Matthew, "On coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." As mentioned in the previous question, however, no one was really in the habit of exchanging elaborate gifts until late in the 1800's. The Santa Claus story combined with an amazing retailing phenomena that has grown since the turn of the century has made gift giving a central focus of the Christmas tradition.

C. The survival of most retail stores depends on the Christmas buying season. Therefore retailers do whatever they can to whip people into a Christmas buying spirit and to attract them to their stores. Festive decorations, big ads, Santa's Villages and all the rest is a part of that process.

D. Up until the 19th century, the custom of burning the Yule Log flourished in England, France, Germany and