As a child growing up in a suburban town in the Northeast of the United States, the arrival of spring had little meaning for me. Sure, we had a weeklong spring vocation from school, but the key word there was vacation, not spring.
For the kids in my neighborhood, the arrival of spring was a non-event. There were two important seasons: winter, when we could go skating and sledding or build snow forts, and summer, when we could finally make proper use of the beach about 100 meter east of my family home. Spring and autumn were just technical details, weeks and weeks of waiting for the good times’ return.
Admittedly, spring later developed its own attractions for me- “In the spring a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love”, as the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson noted-however, it was not spring itself, but the other stuff bat got my attention.
In short, I never thought much at all about spring.... and then I arrived in China. I had been in Beijing for about three months when my first Spring Festival rolled around, and it could hardly be ignored. Aside from the random bursts of fireworks at any time day or night, what stood out most for me was that the capital seemed to be empty.
It was as though the crowds and streams of cars and trucks commonly seen in the capital had all gone into hiding. My puzzlement cleared up when I returned to work. My colleagues explained that Chinese traditionally travel, if necessary, to visit their families during Spring Festival, and that many Beijingers were not natives of the capital.
I also got my first knowledge of something about Spring Festival that never ceases to amaze me. Regardless of when the holiday is set to begin, there is an almost immediate and sudden change for the better in the weather. Spring really does arrive.
I can’t begin to figure out how the ancient Chinese could create a system that would almost always accurately predict when the season would shift year after year after year. But they did.
4. What did the author think of spring as a child?
A.It was a season full of promise. | B.It was always beyond his imagination. |
C.It was a tiring and long holiday. | D.It hardly left a good impression on him. |
5. What impressed the author most about Beijing during the Spring Festival?
A.The busy traffic. | B.The unexpected quietness. |
C.Beijingers’ love for travel. | D.Occasional bursts of fireworks. |
6. How does the author feel about the system created by ancient Chinese?
A.Adorable. | B.Confused. | C.Wonderful. | D.Convenient. |
7. What can be inferred from the text?
A.Spring Festival in Beijing will make one feel quite lonely. |
B.The author spent his first Spring Festival at a colleague’s home. |
C.In China Spring Festival always indicates the coming of Spring. |
D.The author still worked during the Spring Festival while in Beijing. |