As a Chinese native religion, Taoism has a close relationship with Chinese folk customs. With the development of Taoism, it has become deep-rooted in, and the practices of, the ordinary people. This can be seen both in Taoist religious festivals and sacrifice-offerings.
There are many Taoist festivals, and quite a few of them have evolved into folk festivals. For example, the Double Ninth Festival on September 9 of lunar calendar came from the Taoist festival. It is said that in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), there was a Taoist immortal named Fei Changfang, who was resourceful enough to drive all devils away. At that time, he had a pupil called Huan Jing. One day, Fei Changfang foresaw a disaster on September 9 in Huan Jing’s family, and told Huan Jing to fasten a bundle of dogwood onto his arm, and drink chrysanthemum wine in an elevated place so as to prevent the disaster. Having done what he had been told, Huan Jing’s family was indeed safe and sound. Along with the spreading of Taoism, this legend has evolved into the Double Ninth Festival. When the day comes, people will carry dogwood and drink chrysanthemum wine in elevated places.
Many immortals in Taoism came into being on the basis of earthy folk gods, and thus the Taoist god-worshiping system has much in common with the earthy folk god-worshiping. On the one hand, a number of earthy folk gods such as Caishen(mammon), Chenghuangshen(city god), Dongyuedadi(god of East Mountain) and Guanshengdi(god of Saint Guan) have become part of the pedigree of folk gods; on the other hand, Taoist immortals such as Laojun(Holy Lord), Yuhuangdadi(Jade Emperor) and Baxian(eight immortals) have become widespread and part of people’s life.
Moreover, some Taoist taboo tricks have an extensive influence on the folk society, especially in the countryside; or rather, they have constituted a necessary part of folk customs. The combination of Taoism and Chinese folk customs is in various aspects, but it is mainly embodied in celebrations of festivals and seasonal changes and spirit worshiping.
1. Where can you probably find this article?| A．From a history textbook. |
| B．From a travel brochure. |
| C．From a research paper. |
| D．From a cultural website. |
| A．By analyzing causes and effects. |
| B．By giving examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. |
| D．By following time order. |
| A．A story. | B．An argumentation. |
| C．An exposition. | D．A news report. |
| A．Taoism and folk customs |
| B．Taoism, a Chinese native religion |
| C．The origin of Chinese folk customs |
| D．The development of Taoism |
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【推荐1】Children’s Games in Ancient China
Unlike the children nowadays, the children during ancient times didn’t have smartphones or computers to entertain themselves.
Kicking stone balls
During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in the winter to keep warm. Stones were carved into small balls and kicked along with feet.
Flying kites
Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite.
Playing hide-and-seek
Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. Even nowadays, many children like playing it. There are two ways to play. One way is covering a child’s eyes while other kids run around to tease him.
The closest thing to watching a film or television for entertainment during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists manipulate puppets behind the screen, narrating stories and accompanied by music.
Setting off firecrackers
Firecrackers have a history of more than 2, 000 years. It is said that there was a beast named “Nian” in ancient China.
| A．Watching shadow plays |
| B．Making a film |
| C．Each of them has distinctive features |
| D．Different materials are used to make the kite |
| E．And to scare off the beast, people burnt bamboo joints to make them blast |
| F．More commonly, participants hide and one child must try to find them |
| G．Instead, they came up with interesting games to play in their childhood |
【推荐2】Valentine's Day is one of those rare holidays that are enjoyed by almost everyone in the world But how did it begin?While there are many stories,the most popular one dales back to 270 AD.According to the story, Emperor Claudius II, the ruler of the Roman EImpire did not allow young men to get married before heading to war.He believed that single men made better soldiers because they were less distracted.
But a Roman clergyman named Valentine did not agree and helped many couples get married secretly.When the Emperor found out，he sentenced him to death.While in prison，Valentine fell in love with a Rirl and just before he was executed on February he sent her a note signed—"From Your Valentinew.In 496 AD Pope Gclasius set aside the day to honor St.Valentine and a fun tradition was born!
Pope, of course，was not the one who changed it into a business holiday.That credit goes to Richard Cadbury a memter of the famous British chocolate company, and Massachusetts businesswoman Esther Howland. The former came up with the brilliant idea of selling bite-sized chocolates packaged in heart-shapcd boxes.
Candy and cards remain the biggest Valentine's Day gifts till this day.Americans spend over $1 billion USD on chocolate.Also popular are sweethearts.According to the manufacturers a total of the 8 billion candy hearts made annually are sold between January 1 and February 14.
With over 145 million cards exchanged in the US and over a billion worldwide.Valentine's Day is one of the biggest moneymakers for greeting card companies.It is the second only to Christmas when 2.6 billion cards are sold. Flowers are also very popular.About 51% of people，primarily men buy red roses for their loved ones.
1. Emperor Claudius II didn't let young men get married because__________.| A．he thought single men could become better soldiers |
| B．he thought single men were easily distracted |
| C．he disliked single men more than married men |
| D．he thought single men were braver than married ones. |
| A．beaten | B．praised |
| C．killed | D．admired |
| A．Pope changed the holiday into a commercial one. |
| B．There are more cards sold on Christmas than on Valentine's Day. |
| C．Valentine was killed because he got married secretly. |
| D．Most of the greeting cards are bought for parents. |
| A．How to choose Valentine gifts. |
| B．The most popular gifts on Valentine's Day. |
| C．How to make money on festivals. |
| D．The history of Valentine’s Day. |
【推荐3】Wu Ming is a young German born after 1995. Wu is a big fan of Chinese culture, such as the Shaolin kung fu, a traditional Chinese martial art. He has been learning traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) since 2016, almost seven years. Now he is studying for his master’s degree at Henan University of Chinese Medicine.
As he thought some diseases can’t be treated thoroughly with Western medicine, he decided to dig into TCM. Wu came to Central China’s Henan province in 2015, where a strong TCM culture can be enjoyed. After one-year of learning Chinese language, he started to learn Chinese medicine. “TCM is one of the best-protected aspects of Chinese culture”, said Wu. He hopes to solve problems and understand Chinese culture deeply by learning TCM.
In the early stages, Wu always tasted some Chinese herbal medicine by himself, just like ShenNong, a character in ancient Chinese stories, who tasted most of the herbal medicine himself. To overcome difficulties in communicating, he also learned and practiced Chinese, especially the Henan dialect, as his teachers, schoolmates, and even some patients speak in Henan dialect in their daily conversations. Although sometimes he still has trouble telling the difference between Mandarin and the dialect, he can use the Henan dialect to communicate with others.
Studying TCM also changed Wu’s mind and lifestyle. He used to be addicted to electronic devices and stay up late every night, trapped in this fast but unhealthy daily life. But now, according to the Yin-Yang principle in TCM, he lives a balanced and peaceful life, practicing good habits such as drinking tea and reading ancient books.
In Wu’s opinion, there’s no big difference between China and Western countries. “We are the same. Misunderstanding comes from being out of touch”, said Wu. He plans to run a traditional Chinese clinic in China or Germany after graduation, which could serve as a bridge between the two countries and attract public attention to TCM and its culture.
1. What is Wu’s purpose of studying TCM?| A．To get his master’s degree. | B．To prove his learning abilities. |
| C．To test some Chinese herbal medicine. | D．To better treat diseases and understand Chinese culture. |
| A．By reading ancient Chinese books. |
| B．By learning and practicing the Henan dialect. |
| C．By asking his teachers, schoolmates and patients for advice. |
| D．By studying the difference between Mandarin and the Henan dialect. |
| A．He stays up late every night. | B．He lives a fast and healthy lifestyle. |
| C．He is addicted to electronic devices. | D．He develops a good habit of drinking tea. |
【推荐1】The popularity of smartphones means most of us rely on smartphones rather than our memory to keep track of important information, such as appointments or a to-do list. Yet despite fears users may to come Suffer from“digital dementia(痴呆)”，finding their ability to keep information worsens they increasingly rely on devices as a form of “external memory”, a study has found the opposite could be true. Storing crucial pieces of information on an electronic device does not rot your memory skills and can actually boost your ability to remember things you would otherwise forget.
Researchers took 158 volunteers aged between 18 and 71 and showed them up to 12 numbered circles on a screen. Some of the circles would briefly appear pink or blue before all fading to a yellow colour, indicating that they had to be dragged to either the pink side of the blue side of the screen at a later point. Some of the circles were classed as “high value”, some as “low value” and some as “zero value”. Users had to remember which side of the screen to drag the circles to in order to earn points. In some of the experiments they had to rely on their own memories. In others, they could set an electronic reminder on a device.
Researchers found subjects tended to use digital devices to store information about which were the highest-value circles. This led to an 18 percent increase in accuracy when placing these circles. They also found, to their surprise, using electronic reminders for high-value circles led to a 27 percent increase in accuracy when differentiating(区分)from memory between the low and zero-value circles, even when no electronic reminders had been set for these.
Dr Sam Gilbert, from UCL’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said: “The results show that extremal memory tools work. Far from causing ‘digital dementia’, using an extremal memory device can even improve our memory for information that we never saved electronically.”
1. What is the result of the study?| A．Cellphones slow us down. |
| B．Cellphones ruin our health. |
| C．Cellphones lead to addiction. |
| D．Cellphones improve memory. |
| A．By putting the circles in place. |
| B．By telling the value of the circles. |
| C．By identifying the colour of the circles. |
| D．By remembering the number of the circles. |
| A．Subjects. |
| B．The high-value circles. |
| C．Digital devices. |
| D．The low and zero-value circles. |
| A．Critical. |
| B．Unclear. |
| C．Favorable. |
| D．Objective. |
【推荐2】On Friday, Japanese researchers announced a population clock that showed a dangerous situation that the Japanese nation would disappear in 1,000 years if the falling birth rate kept the present level. Researchers in the northern city of Sendai said that Japan’s population of children aged up to 14, which now stands at 16.6 million, was falling at the rate of one child per 100 seconds. It would lead to a terrible result that there would be no children left in Japan in 1,000 years.
“If the rate keeps falling at that rate in our country, there will only be one child who is able to enjoy the following Children’s Day left on May 5th,3011,” said Hiroshi Yoshida, a professor at Toholu University. “But 100 seconds later, a national disaster that there are no children left in Japan will happen,” he added, “The nation’s people will disappear for the birth rate has fallen to the level that every woman has no more than two children, which started in 1975.” Yoshida said they created the population clock to make Japanese people pay close attention to that problem for their nation’s future.
Another study showed that Japan’s population was expected to fall to one third of the present population amount: 127.7 million in the next century. The Japanese government predicted that the birth rate would just become 1.35 children per parents within 50 years.
At the same time, Japanese life expectancy which is expected to ascend from 86.93 years in 2010 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years for men has already been one of the highest in the world. More than 20 percent of the Japanese are aged 65 or over.
It means that Japan has become one of the countries with aging populations in the world. The problem of aging populations is a headache for the government and the Japanese economy because there are fewer and fewer workers who can make money for the country. However, the government has to face the terrible situation that it needs to offer a growing number of pensions.
1. Why did researchers think Japanese people would disappear in 1,000 years?| A．Because the birth rate of the nation is at a very low level. |
| B．Because Japan will be destroyed by a serious earthquake. |
| C．Because the Japanese are afraid of the changing environment. |
| D．Because the country will sink in the Pacific Ocean gradually. |
| A．Children’s Day will be called off | B．16.6 million Japanese children may die |
| C．Japan will become a country without children | D．The birth rate of Japan will go up slowly |
| A．tell people that the Japanese life expectancy is the highest |
| B．show the change of the Japanese population since 1975 |
| C．explain the reason why there is a low birth rate in Japan |
| D．let the Japanese give special importance to the population problems |
| A．The life expectancy will be 90.93 years for women. |
| B．The government will receive a growing number of pensions. |
| C．The population of Japan may only be about 42 million. |
| D．The birth rate will be 1.35 children per family. |
【推荐3】Climate change could turn the Arctic Ocean into a high-speed ice superhighway. Large pieces of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean are becoming thinner as old ice melts. The new ice that's replacing it travels farther and faster than the older ice does. As the new ice travels, it carries dirt, organisms and pollution along for the ride, new research shows.
Researchers have been tracking the movements of Arctic ice for several years. They noticed that the area covered by ice making the trip from one side of ocean to the other has grown larger and larger. The movement means that far-away reaches of the Arctic are becoming more connected, notes Robert Newton, from Columbia University.
The speedy ice is a problem, he explains. The reason: It increases the risk of spreading pollution from some environmental disasters, such as oil spills. An oil spill during the summer could become trapped in this autumn ice. The ice could then quickly move from one country's waters to another's, he notes, rapidly spreading the spill's impact on the environment.
Between when it forms and melts, the ice can get pushed across the Arctic Ocean by winds and ocean currents. These forces more easily pushed young, thin ice along than old ice. Newton and colleagues wondered what the impact would be on these ice rafts and the pollution they held. Less ice could mean less space to carry a large load of pollutants. But a less crowed Arctic might let the ice travel farther and faster.
In the study, the researchers put together pictures of the Arctic, which came from satellites far above the surface. They used the computer software that can recognize the edges of sea ice. This allowed them to follow the movements of the ice from formation to melting. To help them do that, they also included tracking buoys on the ice that had been equipped with GPS devices.
About 60% of Arctic ice travels less than 100 kilometers from its birthplace, they found. The rest covers an area equal to tens of thousands of square kilometers. It can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. And that ice is moving faster as well.
1. What does the text focus on?| A．Climate change is becoming more serious. | B．The Arctic ice travels fast and carries pollution. |
| C．It's difficult to follow the movements of the ice. | D．The Arctic is likely to be covered by the ice. |
| A．It travels much faster than before. | B．It is much easier to pollute than before. |
| C．It results in more environmental disasters. | D．It makes pollution more likely to be spread. |
| A．To find out how far the ice can go. |
| B．To make it clear how the ice comes into being. |
| C．To learn about the original situation of the Arctic. |
| D．To see how a moving ice connects itself with another. |
| A．Using computer software. | B．Taking photos of the Arctic. |
| C．Keeping track of ice. | D．Collecting pictures through satellites. |
