Passage Two
Unlike most of the other holidays, the history of April Fool's Day is not totally clear. [29]The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Before that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25 and lasting until April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, a new calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1. However, many people did not receive the news or refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general public. They were often sent on "fool's errands" or were made the target of other practical jokes. This evolved, over time, into a tradition of joke-playing on the first day of April. [30]The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the 18th century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. Jokes performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied!"), to the elaborate. Setting a room-mate's alarm clock back an hour is a common trick. Whatever the joke, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!" Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. [31]Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "noodle farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the noodle trees. April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" celebration. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever alert, for he may be the next April Fool!

答案解析：
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
29. When was the new year celebrated in France before 1582?
[C]解析：短文第2、3句提到：“可以被確認(rèn)為愚人節(jié)傳統(tǒng)開始之日的最切近的年份是1582年，在法國(guó)。在此之前，新年從3月25日開始，4月1日結(jié)束，共慶祝8天?！币虼诉xC。考查細(xì)節(jié)，聽到什么選什么?？紤]到各選項(xiàng)提到的起始日期均不相同，只要聽到原文中的March 25就可以正確作答。
30. When did the tradition of April Fool's Day spread to England?
[B]解析：短文提到，“該傳統(tǒng)最終在18世紀(jì)傳入英格蘭和蘇格蘭?！惫蔬xB。由選項(xiàng)知，本題肯定問(wèn)時(shí)間。好在文中只提到一個(gè)18th century，故本題不難解答。
31. What do we know from the passage?
[B]解析：短文中提到，“有時(shí)候，對(duì)親友開的一些巧妙的現(xiàn)實(shí)玩笑會(huì)持續(xù)一整天。”B正確。由選項(xiàng)可推知，本題問(wèn)人們?cè)谟奕斯?jié)這一天會(huì)怎么做?！敖^對(duì)化的選項(xiàng)不是答案”，因?yàn)檫@樣的話不合事實(shí)?？梢杂纱伺懦鼳（must太絕對(duì)），C（usually，不見得）。本題也可以從時(shí)間副詞上找到解題鑰匙：sometimes不難聽出；until the end of the day與last the entire day同義替換。