Amid Italy's rapid recovery, Christmas was celebrated on Friday with greater enthusiasm and optimism compared to last year.
The mood in the country is brighter. This year's festivities were less gloomy (忧郁的）than those in 2008，with consumer confidence and expenditures on the rise.
" I have spent much more money on gifts，" said the 27-year-old Martina Dello Russo, a communication expert.
"When I went shopping last week many boutiques (专卖店）had sold out several items and for the first time in months people were actually buying，" she added, explaining that it was a good sign demonstrating the recovery of consumer confidence and purchasing power.
The center-right government under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has recently issued positive data on the state of Italy's economy, despite long-lasting effects of the downturn such as high unemployment.
Christmas in Italy is a traditional religious festivity when families stay at home and gather, rather than go out eating or go on holiday.
This year, Italians spent about  2. 8 billion euros in “intelligent gifts" such as food, wine and other typical Made-in-Italy goods, ac-cording to a survey by farmers' association Coldiretti.
For Italians the cook traditions are very important and we prefer spending on food rather than on clothes or other things, said the61-year-old businessman, Mario Corradi.
The traditional Christmas lunch is a three-course menu ： home-made meat ravioli(馄饨），lamb, artichokes(洋蓟）and fried fish.
The celebration on Friday for Christmas is full of __________.

A．flowers and smiles

B．men and women

C．exciting activities

D．enthusiasm and optimism

The atmosphere of festivities tell us that __________.

A．Italians welcome another new Christmas

B．Italians hope for a good coming luck

C．Consumer confidence and purchasing power is beginning to recover

D．Italy has made great progress in all the fields

What will Italians do on Christmas Day?

A．They will gather all friends to have a big deal.

B．All the family members gather to celebrate the festival at home.

C．All the members of family will go out eating.

D．They will do something they like at home or other places.

One thing Italians must do on Christmas Day is __________.

A．showing their culinary skills

B．showing their latest fashion

C．telling their contributions

D．making out their future plans