The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Winter Solstice (冬至), the 22nd solar term of the year, begins this year on Dec 21.
On the first day of Winter Solstice, the Northern Hemisphere (北半球) experiences the shortest day and the longest night in the year, as the sun shines directly at the Tropic of Capricorn (南回归线). From then on, the days become longer and the nights become shorter. The Winter Solstice also marks the arrival of the coldest season in the year.
There was a saying in ancient China, “The Winter Solstice is as significant as the Spring Festival.”
As early as the Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-256BC), people worshipped the gods on the first day of the Winter Solstice, which also was the first day of the new year. The Winter Solstice became a winter festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220AD). The celebratory activities were officially organized. On this day, both officials and common people would have a rest.
During subsequent dynasties, such as the Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911), the Winter Solstice was a day to offer sacrifices to Heaven and to ancestors.
During Winter Solstice in North China, eating dumplings is essential to the festival. There is a saying that goes “Have dumplings on the first day of Winter Solstice and noodles on the first day of Summer Solstice.” People in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, are accustomed to eating wontons in midwinter. In places such as Shanghai, people eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour, to celebrate Winter Solstice. In Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, people call midwinter the “Ghost Festival”. On that day, it is customary for people there to drink mutton and vermicelli soup and eat the dumplings in the soup. They give the midwinter soup a strange name “brain” and share it with their neighbors. During the Winter Solstice, Hangzhou residents traditionally eat rice cakes. In some regions south of the Yangtze River on the first day of Winter Solstice, the whole family gets together to have a meal made of red bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about Winter Solstice?| A．The days are the shortest and the nights are the longest in the world. |
| B．The nights become longer after Winter Solstice in southern hemisphere. |
| C．The days become shorter after Winter Solstice in northern hemisphere. |
| D．The coldest season is approaching. |
| A．originated from the Zhou Dynasty |
| B．was also the first day of the Spring Festival |
| C．was a day to worship the gods and ancestors |
| D．was a holiday for people to have a rest in Song dynasty |
| A．wontons and tangyuan | B．mutton and vermicelli soup |
| C．peanuts and hazelnuts. | D．rice cakes |
| A．Winter Solstice in North China. | B．The beginning of Winter Solstice. |
| C．Different customs of Winter Solstice. | D．Reasons for eating dumplings in Winter Solstice. |
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【推荐1】WHY DO WE CELEBRATE FESTIVALS?
Festivals are celebrated all around the world. They have a wide range of origins, such as the seasons of the year, religions, famous figures, and important events. Every festival has its different customs and unique charms. However, no matter how different they may seem, all over the world, the spirit of sharing joy, gratitude, love, or peace is common in all festivals.
Of all the traditional festivals, the harvest festival can be found in almost every culture. This important agricultural festival takes place after all the crops have been gathered in. People celebrate to show that they are grateful for the year’s supply of food. In ancient Egypt, the harvest festival was celebrated during the springtime— the Egyptian harvest season. It featured a parade and a great feast with music, dancing, and sports. Today, in some European countries, people decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit, and get together to celebrate over a meal. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, families gather to admire the shining moon and enjoy delicious mooncakes.
Customs play a significant role in festivals, but sometimes they can change over time. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may fade away and others may be established. One example is the typical Chinese Spring Festival custom of lighting firecrackers to drive away the evil spirits and celebrate the new year. Nowadays, many big cities have given up this custom in order to avoid air pollution. Another example is Halloween, which slowly became an exciting festival for children, in spite of its religious origins.
Festivals are becoming more and more commercial, with businesses taking advantage of the celebrations. Online shopping websites and social media apps have made it much easier for the public to spend more on gifts for their loved ones. Although some believe festivals should not be commercialised, others believe the increase in spending is good for the economy and public happiness.
Festivals are an important part of society. They reflect people’s wishes, beliefs, faiths, and attitudes towards life. They are occasions that allow us to relax and enjoy life, and forget about our work for a little while. They help us understand where we came from, who we are, and what to appreciate. And if you study festivals carefully, you may be surprised to find that different cultures actually have a lot in common after all.
1. Why do we celebrate festivals?2. What is true about harvest festivals around the world according to the 2nd paragraph?
| A．The harvest festival is the most important one of all the traditional festivals. |
| B．In ancient time the harvest festival was celebrated during the springtime. |
| C．In some European countries, people get together to celebrate over a meal. |
| D．Both the Chinese and Japanese families enjoy delicious mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival. |
| A．The spread of new ideas. |
| B．Air pollution. |
| C．The development of modern technology. |
| D．The religious belief. |
| A．Festivals should not be commercialised. |
| B．The rise in spending is good for the economy and public happiness. |
| C．It’s OK for festivals to be commercialised. |
| D．We don’t know. |
| A．forget their work for a little while |
| B．relax and enjoy life |
| C．show their faiths towards life |
| D．find different cultures have little in common |
The answer depends largely on cultural values as well as personal experiences.To the Egyptians,green was a color that represented the hope and joy of spring,while for Muslims,it means heaven.Red is a symbol of good luck in many cultures.In China,children are given money in a red envelope to bring good fortune in the New Year.For many nations,blue is a symbol of protection and religious beliefs.Greek people often wear a blue necklace hoping to protect themselves against evils.
People's choice of colors is also influenced by their bodies' reactions toward them.Green is said to be the most restful color.It has the ability to reduce pain and relax people both mentally and physically.People who work in green environment have been found to have fewer stomach aches.
Red can cause a person's blood pressure to rise and increase people's appetites.Many decorators will include different shades of red in the restaurant.Similarly,many commercial websites will have a red "Buy Now" button because red is a color that easily catches a person's eye.
Blue is another calming color.Unlike red,blue can cause people to lose appetite.So if you want to eat less,some suggest that eating from blue plates can help.
The next time you are deciding on what to wear or what color to decorate your room,think about the color carefully.
1. Muslims regard green as a symbol of heaven mainly because of their .
| A．cultural values |
| B．commercial purposes |
| C．personal experiences |
| D．physical reactions to the color |
| A．To relax people physically. |
| B．To increase people's appetites. |
| C．To encourage people to make a purchase. |
| D．To cause a person's blood pressure to rise. |
| A．Colors and Human Beings |
| B．The Cultural Meaning of Color |
| C．Colors and Personal Experiences |
| D．The Meaning and Function of Color |
【推荐3】It was May 1945 when what would become one of America’s most common home-cooking techniques first entered the English vocabulary. In her cookbook, How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, 55-year-old Chinese immigrant Chao Yang Buwei described a process common in China, wherein cooks would cut meat and vegetables into small pieces and then tumble (翻) them rapidly together over heat. “The Chinese term for the technique, ch’ao, cannot be accurately translated into English,” Chao decided, “We shall call it ‘stir-fry’ for short.” The term has since taken on a life of its own. Nowadays, stir-frying isn’t just a method — “stir-fry” has become its own category of recipe.
Chao came to cooking unexpectedly. She moved to America with her husband in 1921 after her husband, the famed linguist Chao Yuenren, was offered a job at Harvard. Bored at home and only able to speak a little English, she turned to cooking dishes that reminded her of China. She eventually agreed when a friend earnestly persuaded her to write a cookbook, which was then translated by Chao’s daughter and polished up by her linguist husband.
Her cookbook succeeded, going into multiple printings by 1945. English-language Chinese cookbooks had been published as far back as 1911 in America, but Chao’s was the first that refused to Westernize Chinese cooking. “I’ll show you how to cook crab dishes with real crabs,” Chao told readers in a passage where she forbade them from-using sea crabs in place of the freshwater variety. Using the former, she reasoned, would result in “a caricature (夸张的描述) of the Chinese dish.” During Chao’s era, it might have been easier for foreign cooks in America to please the American taste with substitutions. She wore her Chinese heritage with pride. She didn’t follow suit.
Chao pioneered a new cooking method in America. Unwilling to compromise, she was a true visionary. Sadly, her death in 1981 didn’t make headlines despite her contributions to American food culture. Shortly thereafter even her name ended up falling through pop culture’s cracks.
1. What can be learned about “chao”?| A．It is a recognized cooking method now. |
| B．It was accurately translated into “stir-fry” by Chao. |
| C．It means tumbling many big pieces of ingredients overheat. |
| D．It was a common term already used in American cooking before 1945. |
| A．She happened to take an interest in cooking. |
| B．She didn’t know any American way of cooking. |
| C．She was bored to stay at home only to learn English. |
| D．She missed her homeland and her country’s cuisine. |
| A．It was the first to be faithful to real Chinese cooking and recipes. |
| B．It was the most successful cookbook published on Chinese cooking. |
| C．It was the first to emphasize the use of freshwater crabs over sea crabs. |
| D．It tried to please the American tastes as other similar cookbooks. |
| A．Academic and unfailingly helpful. | B．Pioneering and culturally proud. |
| C．Recognized and linguistically talented. | D．Adaptable and technically achieved. |
【推荐1】The China Opera Festival 2017 is set to open in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Dec 16. Since 2011, the Ministry of Culture, supported by local governments, has hosted two opera festivals in Fujian and Hubei provinces. Works such as Tulou, Red River Valley, and Suwu of the Han Dynasty were spoken highly of by both journalists and viewers.
During this year’s festival, 23 opera works — the highest number to date — from all around the country will be performed not only in Nanjing, but also in other cities in Jiangsu such as Xuzhou and Yixing. Free lectures about the opera works will also be given.
Among the 23 operas, there are works based on real-life events, the Chinese development, historical heroes and events, and also Western operas.
Modern Chinese opera works will be one of the highlights of this year’s festival. Eight such works will be performed during the festival.
In addition, to allow more people have chance to admire to the operas, the prices of tickets have been set from the lowest 20 yuan up to a maximum of 120 yuan. More than 60 percent of the tickets will be priced under 60 yuan.
1. What is the opera watchers’ attitude towards the festival?| A．Fond. | B．Grateful. | C．Frightened. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Historical heroes and events. | B．Twenty-three real-life events. |
| C．Free lectures about the opera. | D．Modern Chinese opera works. |
| A．20 yuan. | B．60 yuan. | C．72 yuan. | D．120 yuan. |
【推荐2】We’re all familiar with songs getting stuck in our head while we’re awake, but it turns out that this can happen during sleep as well. A new study shows that earworms getting into our brains at night could cause problems in getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Neuroscientist Michael Scullin from Baylor University and his coworkers used surveys of 199 people, as well as a sleep lab test involving 50 volunteers, to measure the influence of listening to music before bedtime on sleep.
In the survey part of the study, those who regularly listened to music during the day were more likely to report lasting nighttime earworms, which then had a negative effect on sleep quality through the night. For the lab test, individuals were played instrumental or standard versions (版本) of Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, and Don’t Stop Believin’ by Jourmey. Tests were used to measure the following sleep quality.
Earworms were reported throughout the night by the people surveyed, with those taking longer to fall asleep, spending more time in the light stages of sleep, and waking up more times during the night. Surprisingly, the instrumental versions of the songs caused about twice as many earworms and more following sleep problems than the standard ones.
Past studies have connected late-night music listening with better sleep in those with insomnia, perhaps because it can relax the body. The researchers behind the new study suggest that actually it might be worse for our sleep — that even after the tunes stop, our brains continue to process them for several hours.
Scullin suggests avoiding listening to music right before bed to limit the chance of catching earworms. Doing some other cognitive (认知的) activity before sleeping, like making a list of jobs for the next day, might also help clear the mind, Scullin says.
1. Which description best explains earworms?| A．Worms entering one’s ears. |
| B．Worms stuck in one’s brain. |
| C．Tunes repeating in one’s mind. |
| D．Problems caused by sleeplessness. |
| A．Different music has the same effect on sleep at night. |
| B．Our brain stops processing music when we are asleep. |
| C．Daytime music listening has a negative effect on sleep. |
| D．Late-night music listening contributes to sleep at night. |
| A．Lack of sleep. | B．Inability to sleep. |
| C．Cognitive disorder. | D．Bad sleeping habits. |
| A．Doing nothing to clear the mind. |
| B．Doing exercise to relax the body. |
| C．Listening to music right before bed. |
| D．Working out a schedule for tomorrow. |
【推荐3】The bad health effects of sleep loss during the week can’t be repaid by longer weekend sleep, according to a new study.
Researchers have long known that sleep deprivation (剥夺) can cause weight gain and increase other health risks. But for those who force themselves out of bed every weekday after too few hours of shut eye, they hope turning off the alarm on Saturday and Sunday will repay the weekly sleep debt and remove any ill effects.
The research, published in Current Biology, crushes those hopes. Despite complete freedom to sleep during a weekend recovery period, people in a sleep lab who were limited to five hours of sleep on weekdays gained nearly three pounds over two weeks and experienced disorders that would increase their risk for diabetes over the long term. While weekend recovery sleep had some benefits after a single week of sleep loss, those gains were wiped out when people fell right back into their same sleep deprived schedule the next Monday.
“If there are benefits of catch-up sleep, they’re gone when you go back to your daily schedule. It’s very short lived”, said Kenneth Wright, director of the sleep and chronobiology lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “These health effects are long term. It’s kind of like smoking once was — people would smoke and wouldn’t see an immediate effect on their health, but people will say now that smoking is not a healthy lifestyle choice. I think sleep is in the early stage of where smoking used to be.”
Wright said that the study suggests people should put sleep in the first place cutting out the “sleep stealers” such as watching television shows or spending time on their phones. Even when people don’t have a choice about losing sleep because of child-care responsibilities or job schedules, they should think about getting sleep in the same way they would get a healthy diet or exercise.
1. What does the underlined word “rushes” mean?| A．Arouses. | B．Guarantees. | C．Deepens. | D．Ruins. |
| A．People will see the effects of sleep loss after a long time. |
| B．People will benefit a lot from weekend recovery sleep. |
| C．Smoking and sleep loss have the same bad effects. |
| D．Sleep loss is less harmful than smoking. |
| A．Do regular exercise every day. |
| B．Reduce the screen time before sleep. |
| C．Watch some TV shows before bedtime. |
| D．Sleep as long as possible during weekdays. |
| A．To share some unhappy experiences. | B．To show some unknown facts. |
| C．To introduce a new study. | D．To promote a healthy lifestyle. |
