1. Paragraphs ② and ③ mainly talk about .
2. Americans used fireworks on July 4th, 1777 to .
3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

1. D 提示:段落大意题。根据第二段中“The earliest fireworks can be traced back to around 2,000 years ago in China.”和第三段中“Years later, Chinese chemists took fireworks a step further. This happened sometime between 600 and 900 AD.”可知,第二段和第三段主要介绍了烟花在中国的起源和发展。 2. B 提示:细节理解题。根据第四段中“So when July 4th began to be celebrated as America's Independence Day, fireworks were part of the plan.”可知,美国人在1777年7月4日使用烟花来庆祝第一个独立日。 3. C 提示:细节理解题。根据第三段“Years later, Chinese chemists took fireworks a step further... In China, these firecrackers were often used in celebrations.”可知,中国人改良了烟花,并经常在庆祝活动中使用爆竹。

【分析】
这是一篇关于烟花历史的英语阅读理解题，包含主旨大意题和细节理解题。解题思路：第1题需概括②③段核心，②段讲烟花最早起源于中国约2000年前，③段讲中国化学家对烟花的改进，由此确定段落主旨；第2题需定位原文中1777年7月4日与美国独立日的关联；第3题需逐一核对选项与原文表述，排除错误选项。
【解析】
1. 第1题（段落主旨题）：第②段介绍烟花最早起源于中国约2000年前，第③段讲述中国化学家在600-900年间对烟花的改进，两段主要围绕烟花在中国的起源与发展展开，故选D。
2. 第2题（细节理解题）：根据第④段“So when July 4th began to be celebrated as America's Independence Day, fireworks were part of the plan.”可知，美国人在1777年7月4日使用烟花庆祝第一个独立日，故选B。
3. 第3题（细节理解题）：A选项：根据第③段，火药被放进竹筒是制作烟花，铁屑用于产生火花，错误；B选项：烟花13世纪传到欧洲，再由欧洲人带到北美，并非13世纪从欧洲传到美国，错误；C选项：根据第③段“Chinese chemists took fireworks a step further... these firecrackers were often used in celebrations.”可知，中国人改良了烟花，且爆竹用于庆祝，正确；D选项：根据第①段，美国1777年第一次独立日庆祝时，烟花已存在，并非首次使用，错误，故选C。
【答案】
1.D 2.B 3.C
【知识点】
英语阅读理解、主旨大意题、细节理解题
【点评】
本题为英语期末阅读理解题，考查学生对段落主旨和细节信息的提取判断能力，题型常规，需精准定位原文区分干扰项，难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.6

| Festivals around the world |
| Kinds | |
| Festivals about people | To the ancestors | ● On Tomb-Sweeping Day in China, people show their respect to the ancestors and even national in the past.
● At Halloween, children special clothes and ask neighbours for sweets. |
| To famous people | ● The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours Qu Yuan.
● Columbus Day in honours Christopher Columbus. |
| Festivals about | Festivals in autumn | ● On Thanksgiving Day, people are because they have enough food to spend the winter.
● At the Mid-Autumn Festival, family members get together, watch the full moon and enjoy moon cakes. |
| Festivals in | ● The carnivals in some Western countries usually have many activities, including marching, and dancing.
● At the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan, the country is the colour of because of the flowers. |
| The of festivals is that they give us time to enjoy life and relax ourselves. |

1. Celebrations 2. heroes 3. wear 4. America 5. seasons 6. happy 7. spring 8. singing 9. pink 10. meaning

【分析】
本题为任务型阅读（每空一词），解题思路是：先通读全文和表格，明确表格结构；再针对每个空格，定位原文对应语句，提取关键信息，同时注意词性、单复数等形式的匹配，确保答案与原文一致且符合表格语境。
【解析】
1. 定位原文第一段最后一句“They always have different meanings and celebrations.”，结合表格中“Festivals around the world”的分类，此处填“Celebrations”；
2. 定位“On Tomb-Sweeping Day in China, people show their respect to their ancestors and national heroes in the past.”，提取名词“heroes”；
3. 定位“they can dress up in special clothes”，表格需填动词原形，“dress up in”对应“wear”，故填“wear”；
4. 定位“In the USA, Columbus Day honours the coming of Christopher Columbus in the New World.”，提取国家名“America”；
5. 表格下部分对应原文“Festivals about seasons”，故填“seasons”；
6. 定位“In autumn, harvest festivals like Thanksgiving Day can be very happy days”，提取形容词“happy”；
7. 定位“In spring, some Western countries have exciting carnivals (狂欢节) in February.”，提取季节“spring”；
8. 定位“people usually march, sing and dance”，与“marching、dancing”并列，填动名词“singing”；
9. 定位“The country, with lots of cherry blossoms, looks like a place full of pink snow.”，提取颜色“pink”；
10. 定位“That may be the meaning of festivals.”，提取名词“meaning”。
【答案】
1. Celebrations 2. heroes 3. wear 4. America 5. seasons 6. happy 7. spring 8. singing 9. pink 10. meaning
【知识点】
任务型阅读、细节理解、信息提取
【点评】
本题考查任务型阅读中信息定位与提取能力，需学生对照原文和表格结构，准确匹配内容，少数空需注意词性转换，整体难度不大，适合中等水平学生完成。
【难度系数】
0.7