Happy Leap Day! Leap Day, you ask? Yes, it’s February 29. You may notice this date didn’t appear on the last year’s calendar, or the year before that, or…That’s because Leap Day happens every four years and 2014 is a leap year.A leap year has 366 days instead of the usual 365 days that an ordinary year has.An extra day is added to the calendar in a leap year, and here’s why:
The 365 days of the calendar are meant to match up with the solar year.A solar year is the time it takes the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun, about one year. But the Earth’s yearly trip around the Sun takes a bit longer than 365 days. The orbit takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, to be exact. That time equals roughly one quarter of a day, so the calendar and the solar year don’t match accurately. After a few years, that extra time in the solar year begins to accumulate. After four years, for example, the four extra quarter days will make the calendar fall behind the solar year by about a day.
According to the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies — a club for people born on Leap Day — there are an estimated 4 million people whose birthdays come but every four years.But who wants to wait four years to celebrate his/her birthday? Most celebrate yearly on February 28 or March 1.
There was a time when strict rules prevented women from proposing marriage to their beloved.In most cultures, that’s not the case anymore.In fact, female pioneers who thought this rule was clearly unfair managed to get Leap Year established as an acceptable time for women to to unmarried men.So on February 29, a man could be surprised at an offer he couldn’t refuse.The first documentation of this day of ladies’ choice was in 1288 in Scotland.Officials then decided to pass a law that allowed women to propose marriage to men of their choice in that year.They also made it a law that any man who said no to a proposal in a leap day had to pay a fine.The fine could range from a kiss to payment for a silk dress or a pair of gloves.
55.What is the main idea of the first two paragraphs? ( no more than 10 words)
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56.How often does the leap day/leap year happen? ( no more than 4 words)
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57.When do people who were born on Leap Day usually celebrate their birthday yearly? ( no more than 10 words)
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58.What does the underlined word "They" in the last paragraph refer to? (no more than 2 words)
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59.Fill in the blank in the last paragraph with proper words. ( no more than 3 words)
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55.Why/ How Leap Day comes about./The source/origin of Leap Day.
56.Every four years.
57.They celebrate it yearly on February 28 or March 1.
58.Officials.
59.propose marriage