Chinese mooncake is the representative food of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a kind of round cookie with various fillings and different artistic patterns on the surface.
In Chinese culture, roundness symbolizes completeness and togetherness. The mooncake is not just a food. It’s a cultural tradition deep in Chinese people’s hearts, symbolizing a spiritual feeling. At Mid-Autumn Festival, people eat mooncakes together with family, and present mooncakes to relatives or friends to express love and best wishes.
As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties in what today are Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in east China, there was a kind of “Taishi cake” thick at the center and thin at the edge, which was the origin of the mooncake. In the Han Dynasty, sesame (芝麻) and walnuts were introduced into China, and round cookies filled with these foods appeared. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the name “mooncake” was used for the first time. In the Northern Song Dynasty, mooncakes got popular in the royal palace. In the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating these cookies during the Mid-Autumn Festival became popular.
Mooncakes vary according to different regional styles and tastes. Cantonese-style mooncakes are known for their sweetness. Suzhou-style mooncakes have existed for more than a thousand years. They have soft layers of dough (面团) and lots of sugar and lard, making them available in sweet or salty tastes. Beijing-style mooncakes use sweetness delicately and are decorated well. Chaoshan-style mooncakes are usually larger than other mooncakes with common fillings of red bean paste and potato paste.
Most mooncakes contain high amounts of sugar and oil, which are not healthy. To decrease the harmfulness that high fat and calories bring to our body, some foods are recommended to eat together with mooncakes, including tea, sour fruit like grapes, and wine. They help digest and take away fat in our body. Also, do not eat too much at one time.
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．The features of moon cakes. | B．The history of the moon cakes. |
| C．The customs of the moon cakes. | D．The meaning behind moon cakes. |
| A．In the Han Dynasty. | B．In the Tang Dynasty. |
| C．In the Ming Dynasty. | D．In the Northern Song Dynasty. |
| A．They contain less sugar. | B．They are generally larger in size. |
| C．They have a much longer history. | D．They feature fine decorative patterns. |
| A．To stress the importance of a healthy diet. | B．To call on people to value traditional culture. |
| C．To tell people how to eat mooncakes healthily. | D．To recommend some new flavors of mooncakes. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Whether you consume it in ice cream, coffee, cupcakes, pudding, or protein shakes, the vanilla you eat in the future might taste just a little bit sweeter thanks to a surprising new ingredient: used plastic.
Admittedly, it doesn’t sound very appetizing. To scientists Joanna Sadler and Stephen Wallace at Scotland’s University of Edinburgh, however, what’s even less delicious is plastic waste, which currently enters the ocean at a rate of 8 million tons per year—enough plastic waste to outweigh all of the ocean’s fish by the year 2050. To help stop the plastic pollution on land and at sea, they’ve designed a novel way to turn it into vanillin, a chemical substance in vanilla extract that gives it its distinct vanilla smell and flavor.
Although it can be found in natural vanilla bean extract, vanillin also can be made synthetically using chemicals coming from petrol. To create it from plastic, instead, researchers genetically modified a strain of E. coli bacteria so that it can make vanillin from a raw material used in the production of plastic bottles.
According to their research paper, around 85% of the world’s vanillin is synthesized from chemicals that are obtained from fossil fuels. That’s because demand for vanillin—which is used widely not only in food, but also in beauty products, cleaning products, and herbicides—is far greater than supply. In Madagascar, which grows 80% of the world’s natural vanilla, pollinating, harvesting, and curing vanilla beans is a long and painstaking process that couldn’t possibly yield enough vanillin for modern appetites. And even if it could, the only way to naturally increase vanillin supply would be to plant more vanilla plantations, which would drive deforestation.
Being able to create vanillin with plastic instead of petroleum means increasing vanillin supply while decreasing plastic waste, reducing industrial reliance on fossil fuels, and preserving forests.
“Using microorganisms to turn waste plastics, which are harmful to the environment, into an important product is a beautiful demonstration of green chemistry,” said Ellis Crawford, publishing editor at the United Kingdom’s Royal Society of Chemistry.
1. How do scientists produce vanilla?| A．Extracting it from plastic bottles. |
| B．Forming it without bacteria. |
| C．Changing the formula of protein shakes. |
| D．Taking it from ocean life. |
| A．Naturally. | B．Artificially. |
| C．Biologically. | D．Industrially. |
| A．Madagascar is the biggest vanilla import country in the world. |
| B．Making natural vanilla is an easy process. |
| C．Enlarging vanilla plantations is environmentally-friendly. |
| D．Producing vanilla from plastic is a win-win solution. |
| A．In a science magazine. | B．In a travel booklet. |
| C．In an economic textbook. | D．In an advertisement. |
【推荐2】The World Health Organization says the widespread use of sugar in food products and drinks is a major concern in many areas. So WHO officials are calling on governments to require taxes on sugary drinks in an effort to limit their usage and popularity. The officials believe the taxes also would reduce the risk of health problems resulting from obesity.
Obesity is a condition in which the body stores large, unhealthy amounts of fat. Obese individuals are considered overweight. A new report says that in 2014 more than one-third of the adults in the world were overweight, and 500 million were considered obese. The United Nations agency estimates that in 2015, 42 million children under age 5 were either overweight or obese. It says that number represents an increase of about 11 million during the past 15 years. Almost half of these boys and girls live in Asia and one-fourth in Africa.
The U.N. agency blames unhealthy diets for a rise in diabetes cases. There are 422 million cases of the disease worldwide. WHO says 1.5 million people die from it every year. It says the use of sugar in food products, like sugary drinks, is a major reason for the increase in rates of obesity and diabetes.
Temo Waqanivalu is with the agency’s Department for the Prevention on Non-Communicable Diseases. He told VOA hat taxing sugary drinks would reduce consumption and save lives. Waganivalu noted that Mexico enacted a 10 percent tax on sugary drinks in 2014. He said by the end of the year, there was a 6 percent drop in the consumption of such drinks. Among poor people, the number of people who consumed sugary drinks dropped by 17 percent.
The WHO says people should limit the amount of sugar they consume. It says they should keep their sugar intake to below 10 percent of their total energy needs, and reduce it to less than 5 percent for improved health.
1. Why are taxes on sugary drinks required?| A．To limit their use and popularity. |
| B．To readjust the economic structure. |
| C．To warn people to change their life style. |
| D．To ensure the market’s diverse development. |
| A．Adult obesity is ignored at present. |
| B．Obesity is a severe worldwide problem. |
| C．Obesity can block economic development. |
| D．Obesity is most serious in developed countries. |
| A．Abolish | B．Pass |
| C．Promise | D．Reduce |
| A．Tax policies are unfair to the poor. |
| B．Sugary drinks are a threat to health. |
| C．The poor consume more sugary drinks. |
| D．Taxing sugary drinks makes a difference. |
【推荐3】Pu’er is the home of the world-known tea of the same name. Since other tea-growing centers in Pu’er may have a larger output, more famous brands and heritage surrounding the history of the Tea-horse Ancient Road, Jingmai, also in Pu’er, nay not be people’s first choice to look for the best Pu’er Tea.
However, being cut off from the outside by rivers, this mountainous area has become a perfect place for an ancient planting technique, growing too trees under forest, known as the “under-story” method, which filters (过滤) sunshine while ensuring water.
Nan Kang, former head of Mangjing village, said, “Compared to modern plantations, we’ll surely produce less tea in the ancient forest. But we have to respect our tradition and belief. Birds eat insects to protect the tea and the fallen leaves from trees provide fertilizer. Everything improves the other, but also limits each other. It is the way of nature.”
Nan is an old-time Blang leader’s grandson. Following an old leader named Pa Aileng, his ancestors came to settle near the Jingmai Mountain centuries ago. It is believed that Pa Aileng found that tea leaves made his people recover from diseases they suffered from during their moving to other places, so the hero is also considered as a “tea ancestor”. Blang people chose a mountain to remember him. They call it Peak Aileng.
“We Blang people believe tea has its own spirit,” Nan says, “The first planted tea tree in every field is called the Tea Spirit Tree. That means the field has an owner. And the symbol also makes everyone follow moral codes and protect the plants.”
Now, this mountain of tea, also a storehouse of the time-tested traditions of local ethnic groups, attracts global attention. The Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er was named as a World Heritage Site, becoming China’s 57th entry on the list.
1. What is Jingmai famous for in planting Pu’er Tea?| A．A larger production. | B．The advanced technology. |
| C．Its transport system. | D．Its unique planting method. |
| A．It is widely used in China. | B．It was invented by Nan Kang. |
| C．It follows the laws of nature. | D．It makes sure to produce more tea. |
| A．Medical treatment. | B．Gifts for friends. |
| C．Main food. | D．A kind of nice drink. |
| A．The Export of Pu’er Tea | B．A Tea Planting Tradition to Treasure |
| C．The Modern Plantations of Pu’er Tea | D．The Tea-drinking Habit of Blang People |
Most cultures have a festival of light. Each culture celebrates this festival in a different way. There is one thing that is the same, however, and this is the wish for peace and happiness in the world.
The Jewish Festival of Light is called Hanukkah. Hanukkah usually takes place in December. The story of why Hanukkah is celebrated is very old. It is told that a very long time ago, Jewish people called the Macabees were at war with a country called Syria. On the day that the Macabees won the war, they cleaned up their holy place, which is called a temple, because the Syrian people had been living there. They wanted to light their holy lamps to say thank you for the end of the war, but found only a very small amount of oil left over to do that. The Macabees lit the lamps anyway, thinking that they would soon go out. The lamps kept burning for eight days! The Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah every year by lighting a candlestick that has eight candleholders. Every night a new candle is lit so that on the eighth night, all eight candles stand together. Presents are given at this time and money is given to the poor.
Lanterns are another form of light. In China, lanterns are famous works of art. The Lantern Festival goes back more than 2,000 years to the Qin Dynasty. It takes place on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, bringing the New Year season to a close. During the festival, parks become a sea of lanterns. Sometimes streets are blocked off and lanterns are put down on each side to make a hallway of lanterns. People also hang lanterns in their gardens, outside their houses or on boats. The lanterns are made in many shapes, sizes and colours. They are usually made from silk, paper and plastic. Some are even made from ice. It is believed that these lanterns will guide visitors and the spirits of ancestors to the celebrations. The Lantern Festival is a time for families, young and old to spend together. Every New Year the wish is the same—peace and happiness to all.
1. What’s the same with the festivals of light in different cultures? (不超过11个单词)2. Why do the Jewish light a new candle every night during the festival? (不超过12个单词)
3. What festival brings an end to the new year season? (不超过5个单词)
4. What is the purpose of this article? (不超过8个单词)
【推荐2】HEY boys, attention please! If you want to go to the US, you’d better be fully prepared, because, well, you and the boys in the US are a bit different.
Firstly, know how to knot a tie. In the US, every boy above school age wears suits when they go to weddings.
Secondly, be a gentleman. I know in China some boys are still proud of being strong. But in the US, a good man should also be polite.
The last is to learn something about football and baseball. Chinese boys like ping-pong, basketball and soccer, but American boys love football and baseball. They get very happy when they play and watch these sports.
| A．Many boys are fans of football or baseball in America. |
| B．In my opinion, you’d better try to do the following things. |
| C．The stronger you are, the more highly people will think of you. |
| D．My friend Madison from Virginia said it shows respect to others. |
| E．However, all this doesn’t mean that the American way is always the right way. |
| F．It’s not necessary to be a fan of football or fix your TV channel to baseball games. |
| G．Here are two examples: holding the door for people behind you and giving the seat on a bus to old people. |
【推荐3】The Tuareg bride, Assalama, who has spent most of her time tending her family’s goats and sheep, sits silently as female relatives and helpers make sure that every hair is perfect for the wedding. The Tuareg are nomads, and it was only by chance that she was reunited with her 25-year-old cousin Mohamed a month earlier. Back from working in Libya, Mohamed spotted Assalama as she drew water from a well. “I knew from that moment that I wanted to marry her”, he says. He asked for her hand and she gave him a piece of jewelry to demonstrate her acceptance. Their families approved, and wedding plans began.
Following Tuareg traditions, the marriage ceremony is performed at a nearby mosque (清真寺) in the presence of only the couple’s parents. Assalama and Mohamed are absent. A few days later, the celebration approaches. For a week, some 500 guests enjoy camel races, sing, and eat rice, dates, and roasted meat in tents under the Saharan stars.
Mohamed wears an indigo tagelmust, a cloth that wraps his head and face. For the Tuareg, the tagelmust not only keeps out the desert sand and sun, it keeps evil creatures called jinns away, as does henna, a reddish-brown coloring used on Mohamed’s feet. It is also a symbol of purity, reserved for a man’s first marriage.
At the celebration, a tent called an ehan is prepared for Assalama and Mohamed. Women take down and put up the tent each day, making it larger each time to symbolize the progress of the celebration and of the couple’s relationship. Assalama stays inside the tent during the whole celebration, only showing her face or speaking to Mohamed, her best friend, her mother, and one special helper. During the celebration, neither Assalama nor Mohamed is ever left alone for fear they might be harmed by jealous jinns.
As the celebration ends, the couple prepares to spend the first year of their marriage with Assalama’s family. Mohamed must work hard to win his in-laws’ approval. Once he does that, he will take his bride back to his camp and start his nomad’s caravan moving again.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．The romantic love story of the two Tuareg cousins. |
| B．The marriage difficulties of a young Tuareg couple. |
| C．The description of the marriage of a Tuareg couple. |
| D．The changing wedding customs of the Tuareg people. |
| A．were forbidden to show up |
| B．visited the nearest mosque |
| C．showed respect to their parents |
| D．wore traditional Tuareg clothing |
| A．he is marrying his cousin |
| B．he is thought to be very pure |
| C．he is not wearing a Tagemust |
| D．he has not been married before |
| A．Starting his caravan moving again. |
| B．Finishing the wedding celebration. |
| C．Working hard for Assalama’s family. |
| D．Obtaining permission from his in-laws. |
【推荐1】Nonverbal communication is a broad term used to describe any method of conveying information without words. Whether intentional, based on societal cues (提示), or completely unconscious, common forms of nonverbal communication include body language and facial cues, fashion and personal clothing, hand gestures, as well as graphical signs and design.
It is important to note that nonverbal communication is really about a lack of words, rather than a lack of speech sounds. That means writing would be considered verbal communication while sounds like grunts (嘟哝) would not.
Nonverbal communication can be broadly divided into relatively universal forms and culturally dependent forms. Many facial expressions, for example, are relatively universal, with most cultures able to identify expressions of fear, joy, or anger. On the other hand, nonverbal cues like bowing, shaking hands,or flashing a peace sign are culturally characteristic, and therefore have little meaning outside of cultures that understand them.
Fashion is a form of nonverbal communication, and in many modern cultures is a hugely important way in which people telegraph things about themselves.
Gestures also act as a form of nonverbal communication. A wide range of hand gestures can be found in most cultures, and in the west there are some almost universal gestures, such as a wave goodbye, a thumbs-up to show everything is okay, or handy outspread to signify offerings.
Body language is one of the most studied forms of nonverbal communication, and deals with how the body rests, how it is situated in relation to other bodies, and the special distance between bodies. For example, turning towards a person when seated and speaking to them is a nonverbal cue showing interest, while turning away shows a lack of interest. Tipping your head slightly is a form of nonverbal communication to show curiosity or express that you are listening closely or what they are saying, while constantly looking away would show a lack of attention.
1. What is the purpose of the author in writing the text?| A．To explain what nonverbal communication is. |
| B．To introduce some universal body languages. |
| C．To compare nonverbal cues and verbal ones. |
| D．To discuss the cultural shock of communication. |
| A．smiling | B．grunting |
| C．bowing | D．screaming |
| A．Body language is the most frequently studied by scientists. |
| B．Body language relies on body movements to convey messages. |
| C．Body language can be used to express your different meanings. |
| D．Body language varies very slightly from one country to another. |
【推荐2】Why do so many of us eat the same thing for breakfast day after day, yet later in the same day, seek variety in our choice of food?
Two goals influence all kinds of decisions about what we eat—hedonic and utilitarian goals. Hedonic goals drive people to eat foods that provide pleasurable experiences and feelings, and utilitarian goals drive people to eat to efficiently achieve our aims such as weight control, health, convenience or efficiency
We find that as the day progresses, people change from pursuing practical goals for breakfast to getting the pleasure from their afternoon and evening meal.
Where do these goals come from? Our research suggests that the different goals we pursue in our meals are not due to the different amounts of time available to prepare and eat our meals. Instead, how much time we spend eating meals seems to be determined by the goals we pursue.
We find that culture and biology may each contribute to the goals we pursue at meals. As a reflection of our culture, marketing tends to emphasize the practical rather than hedonic benefits of breakfast foods. In over 3000+ products’ name descriptions from Amazon, we find that there are more pleasure-related words (e.g., tasty, savory, delicious) for breakfast compared to practical words (e.g., energized, healthy) . The goals we pursue may also come, in part, in the biology of our natural stimulation levels. Our level of physiological arousal (生理唤醒) varies throughout the day. We are most energized in the morning, and our arousal level declines until we go to sleep. We may prefer less stimulating foods in the morning to avoid feeling overstimulated, and prefer more stimulating foods later to avoid feeling under-stimulated.
Whether the goals we pursue come from our culture or biology, we have control over the goals to improve our diet.
1. Which of the following shows breakfast is eaten for the hedonic goal?| A．I order dumplings because they make me energized. |
| B．I order an egg because it’s a good source of protein. |
| C．I order a tiramisu because I love its creamy flavor. |
| D．I order bread and milk because it saves me much time. |
| A．To increase arousal level |
| B．To be more energetic. |
| C．To improve efficiency. |
| D．To avoid feeling overstimulation. |
| A．what other goals we pursue |
| B．why we seek variety in diet |
| C．how to improve efficiency |
| D．what to eat for breakfast |
| A．What Breakfast Tells Us |
| B．Breakfast Matters A Lot |
| C．Behind Repeated Breakfast |
| D．Goals Of The Same Breakfast |
【推荐3】Do you need to throw your smart phone away to live your best life? Not necessarily, according to researchers from Ruhr Universitat Bochum who suggest that we could all benefit from cutting down on screen time—just only a little bit time.
On average, we spend more than three hours a day glued to our smart phone screens. Between social media, news feeds, endless video games, and an app for pretty much everything else, there’s always something to draw our attention. In recent years, studies have blamed smart phones for modern problems ranging from rising anxiety rates to neck pain. It begs the question: Are people all really better off switching back to landlines(座机)?
“The smart phone is both a blessing and a curse,” says the study leader Dr. Julia Brailovskaia, whose team set out to answer that question by gathering together 619 volunteers, hoping to know how much the smart phone is good for us. Two hundred people put their smart phones completely aside for a week; 226 reduced the amount of time they used the device by one hour a day; 193 people didn’t change anything in their behavior.
Researchers interviewed each person about both their overall lifestyle habits and well-being four months later after the experimental week ended. “We found that both completely giving up the smart phone and reducing its daily use by one hour had positive effects on the well-being of the participants,” as Brailovskaia sums up the upshots. Notably, changing their smart phone habits for just one week appeared to produce lasting outcomes among subjects. Even four months afterward, participants who were told to avoid using their smart phones totally were using their phones for an average of 38 minutes less per day.
Meanwhile, the “one hour less” group were using their phones as much as 45 minutes less per day after four months. This group also showed improved life satisfaction, more exercise, and less depression.
“It’s not necessary to completely give up the smart phone to feel better.” Brailovskaia concludes.
1. What’s the purpose of Paragraph 2?| A．To answer the question on the smart phones. | B．To explain why the experiment was done. |
| C．To state disadvantages of the experiment. | D．To stress the benefits of smart phones. |
| A．They trained them. | B．They interviewed them. |
| C．They gave them a physical exam. | D．They divided them into groups. |
| A．Purposes. | B．Reasons. | C．Results. | D．Doubts. |
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a chemical report. | C．In a biography. | D．In a sports magazine. |
