Dads have Father’s Day. Moms have Mother’s Day. Kids have Children’s Day. However, do our grandparents have a special holiday? Yes, they do!
The Double Ninth Festival is a special day for elderly people in China. The festival is on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. As the Chinese word for nine has the same sound as the word for long, people take the Double Ninth Festival to show their wishes of long life for elderly people. This year it falls on Oct. 23.
There are many traditions for this festival. On that day, families get together and climb mountains for luck and in the hope that elderly people will live much longer. They also drink chrysanthemum wine (菊花酒) and wear a plant called zhuyu to celebrate it. Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are regarded as clean plants that can clean houses and cure diseases.
Respecting elderly people is shown not only on this special day but also in daily life. For example, when an older person enters a room, everyone stands up. When there are several guests at the table, the host usually introduces them from the oldest to the youngest. When a younger person is presenting something to an older person, two hands are used. On a crowded subway or bus, younger people always offer their seats to elderly people.
It is a traditional virtue (美德) in China to respect elderly people. That’s because the Chinese know that elderly people have knowledge and experience that young people can learn from. So, Chinese people are proud of being old. Besides, to respect the elderly people is to respect yourself tomorrow.
1. The Double Ninth Festival is a celebration for .| A．fathers | B．mothers | C．children | D．elderly people |
| A．On the ninth day of September. |
| B．On the fourth day of October. |
| C．On the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. |
| D．On the ninth day of the ninth month of the solar calendar. |
| A．Why we should respect older people. |
| B．What young people usually do on this festival. |
| C．Examples of respecting older people in daily life. |
| D．Traditional ways of celebrating the festival. |
| A．It means they don’t have to work for others. |
| B．It means they have knowledge and experience. |
| C．It means they have more virtues than others. |
| D．It means what they did in the past was meaningful. |
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【推荐1】Around 250 students from 23 countries at East China Normal University, who are staying in Shanghai during the winter Vacation, celebrated this year’s Spring Festival ahead of time on its campus.
Many wore traditional Chinese clothes, and tried writing Chinese calligraphy (书法) and Spring Festival couplets, a pair of poetry lines pasted (粘贴)on both sides of a front door and a four-character horizontal scroll (横幅)pasted above, to express happiness and wishes for a better life in the coming year.
Some learned to make Chinese dumplings, a traditional Spring Festival food.
Nilab Oppal from Uzbekistan said she loved Chinese calligraphy as a way of learning Chinese and relaxing. She had learned calligraphy for six months, but had little time to practice because of her busy study schedule. “I’m glad to have the chance to write calligraphy here today,” she said.
Zain ul Abdin from Pakistan spent almost the whole afternoon writing calligraphy and finished his first Spring Festival couplets. He said he would like to paste them on the door his dorm (宿舍)room to add some Spring Festival atmosphere.
In the evening, teachers had dinner with them and gave them hongbao, the red envelopes with money that families give to children and old people on Chinese New Year’s Eve.
“It’s my first time to get a hongbao.” said Nurriia Sulaiman Kvzy, a Kvreyzstan student majoring in teaching Chinese as a second language. “It’s only 10 yuan, but I’m very glad to experience Chinese culture. It will be helpful for me to teach Chinese language and culture to my students in the future.”
She said it was the fourth year she had spent the winter vacation and celebrated the festival at the university, in Shanghai.
“The Chinese New Year is very interesting; everything is in red and people all go back home to celebrate it together. I’m looking forward to a chance to spend some days in a Chinese family to see how they celebrate the festival,” she said.
1. What was included in the activity?| A．Trying on traditional Chinese clothes. |
| B．Making traditional Spring Festival food. |
| C．Learning Chinese calligraphy from teachers. |
| D．Pasting Spring Festival couplets on the school building. |
| A．He comes from the same country, as Nilab Oppal. |
| B．He learnt Chinese calligraphy with Nilab Oppal. |
| C．He is good at writing Spring Festival couplets. |
| D．He enjoyed Spring Festival celebrations. |
| A．She had no idea why she was given a hongbao. |
| B．It was her first time to celebrate Spring Festival. |
| C．She had spent four winter holidays at the university. |
| D．It was her first time to spend a day with a Chinese family, |
| A．Traditional customs of Spring Festival. |
| B．A new way to celebrate Spring Festival. |
| C．A Spring Festival celebration at a university. |
| D．Foreign students’ schedules for Spring Festival. |
【推荐2】As a type of dwelling (住宅) in China, cave dwellings (yaodong in Chinese) still can be found in many places of China. According to official statistics, there are still 40 million people living in such dwellings in China.
As early as the New Stone Age, using a wooden framework, grass and soil, families living in the middle reaches of the Yellow River built simple shallow caves in natural earth holes in the mountains. Over 4, 000 years ago, the real caves started to be constructed, which could be related to the natural surroundings. In the areas that were popular with such dwellings, there was very thick loess (黄土). People made full use of the loess layers to create the original cave dwellings.
A cave is usually 6-8 meters long, around 3 meters wide and around 3 meters high. From the outside, it comes in the shape of an arc (拱形), which presents the ancient opinion of “Heaven is round and Ground is square”. Furniture in these caves is very simple, such as a wooden table, wooden chairs and an earth sleeping platform (kang in Chinese).
The most important and unique characteristic of a cave dwelling is that the inside of it is cool in summer and warm in winter. The natural architectural features protect the cave dwellers from being affected by the changes of the environment or weather. Besides, its creation does not damage the environment or occupy farmland. Another feature is that you will feel quite quiet inside.
In Yan’an in northern Shaanxi, a family usually has 3 to 5 caves. The middle one is the chief house, in which the grandparents or parents live. At the bottom right of each dwelling, people usually leave a small pass for their pets, such as cats or dogs, to go through. When constructing the gate for the whole yard, there is a traditional taboo that none of the caves should be in line with the gate. Otherwise, bad luck may fall upon this family.
1. What can we know about cave dwellings?| A．They were built using wood, grass, and bamboo. |
| B．They are a very popular kind of house in the world. |
| C．They have been around for about 2, 000 years. |
| D．They are usually found in areas with thick loess. |
| A．Arc-shaped. | B．Square-shaped. | C．Round-shaped. | D．Rectangular-shaped. |
| A．It is quiet inside. | B．It does not occupy farmland. |
| C．It is environmentally friendly. | D．It is warm in winter and cool in summer. |
| A．To describe the process of building traditional cave dwellings. |
| B．To introduce the unique architecture of cave dwellings to readers. |
| C．To discuss the historical and cultural significance of cave dwellings. |
| D．To explore the living conditions and lifestyles of people in cave dwellings. |
【推荐3】24 Solar Terms — Frost’s Descent
The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Frost’s Descent (霜降), the 18th solar term of the year, begins this year on October 24, 2023 this year and ends on November 7.
Frosty autumn. Frost consists of white ice crystals of frozen water vapour near the ground. During Frost’s Descent, frost begins to appear. But in the lower reaches of the Yellow River region, frost first appears in late October or early November. As Frost’s Descent comes,
Eating apples. The apple is one kind of recommended fruit during Frost’s Descent. There are many sayings about apples’ benefits in China, such as “Eat an apple after meals, even old men can be as strong as young men,” just as the Western proverb goes, “
Eating duck. It’s a custom to eat duck on the first day of Frost’s Descent in south Fujian province and Taiwan. There is a saying in Fujian which goes, “Even nourishing all year is not as good as nourishing the human body on the first day of Frost’s Descent.” Eating duck is a way for people there to gain weight.
Eating dates. The date is one of the fruits on the market during Frost’s Descent. Nutritious with a great number of vitamins, dates (大枣) can nourish the blood, decrease blood pressure, and improve one’s immunity.
People in areas such as Daxin county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region often celebrate the first day of Frost’s Descent. In the Frostvs Descent Festival, the Zhuang people offer sacrifices, dance and sing folk songs. With a history of more than 360 years, the festival is to commemorate Cen Yuyin, a heroine in battles against foreign aggression. Frost’s Descent is a big day for all of the Chinese.
| A．An apple a day keeps the doctor away. |
| B．Eating chestnuts during Frost’s Descent is beneficial for one’s health and good for nourishing the spleen and stomach, invigorating the circulation of blood, relieving coughs and reducing sputum. |
| C．Frost’s Descent is the last solar term of autumn, when the weather becomes colder and frost appears. |
| D．The pear is another recommended fruit during Frost’s Descent, which can promote the secret ion of body liquids, clear away heat and reduce sputum. |
| E．the world is filled with the atmosphere of late autumn. |
| F．Eating persimmons. |
| G．But eating too many could be harmful and cause headaches, dizziness or even deaths. |
【推荐1】New rules and behavior standards (行为规范) for middle school students came out in March. Middle Schools are going to use a new way to decide who the top students are. The following are some of the new rules.
Tell the truth. If you have played computer games for two hours in your room, don’t tell your parents you have done homework. That’s not something an honest student should do.
Do more at school. Good students love animals and care for other people. April is Bird-loving month in China. Is your school doing anything to celebrate? You should join! That way, you can learn more about animals and how to protect them.
Be open to new ideas. Don’t look down on (轻视) new ideas. Everyone’s ideas are important. You should welcome them, because new ideas may make life better.
Protect yourself. Safety is important. If you have to go home late, you should let your parents know.
Use the Internet carefully. The Internet can be very useful for your study, but not all the things on the Internet are suitable for students. So try to look through websites that are good for you.
1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned (提到) in the passage?| A．Take care of yourself. |
| B．Tell the truth. |
| C．Protect the environment. |
| D．Use the Internet properly. |
| A．be a waste of time | B．make life easier |
| C．do housework for them | D．help them with their studies |
| A．decide top students | B．do more at school |
| C．care for others | D．use the Internet |
【推荐2】City farms are gaining popularity in cities and towns around the United States.
Eco City Farm in Edmonston, Maryland, is located near shopping centers, car repair shops and homes. The neighborhood is a working-class community. People do not have very much money, and they have limited access to fresh food in markets. Over the past two years, the farm has attracted volunteers from the community like Marcy Clark. She schools her four children at home. On a recent day she brought them to Eco City Farm for a lesson. Alston Clark thinks his experience very valuable. “I like coming out here.” he says, “You know, you connect with the Earth, where your food comes from. You appreciate the food a little bit more.”
Margaret Morgan Hubbard started Eco City Farm. She thinks of it as a place where people can learn to live healthier lives. “Growing food in a community and showing that you can have farms even in the city is helpful to strengthen the relationship in that community and brings people together,” she says. “Every piece of what we do here is a demonstration to show people everything about how to have a sustainable community.” From the Eco City Farm people come to know that they are not only growing food and raising chickens and bees, but improving the soil with compost made from food waste. Sixteen wooden bins are filled with worms. Their job is to eat the food waste and help make it into compost.
Eco City Farm is an experimental operation. The farm gets its power not from the local electricity networks but from the sun with solar panels. In winter, the greenhouses are heated using a geothermal system. Vegetables can be grown all year. So once a week, all winter long, neighbors like Chris Moss and her three children bicycle to the farm to pick up a share of the harvest.
1. Where is Eco City Farm in Edmonston located?| A．It is close to the community. | B．It is far in the countryside. |
| C．It lies inside the neighborhood. | D．It is opposite to shopping centers. |
| A．Working-class people. | B．School-aged children. |
| C．People with high pay. | D．People without a job. |
| A．It demonstrates how to use green power in the city life. |
| B．It teaches children to value the food made by themselves. |
| C．It improves the relationship between people in a community. |
| D．It enables people to live in a safe and harmonious community. |
| A．The history of city farms. | B．The popularity of city farms. |
| C．City farms are an experiment. | D．City farms save a lot of energy. |
【推荐3】If you’re aiming to cut back on meat and you want to build muscle strength, you’re not alone. Now, a new study finds that swapping red and processed meat for plant protein a few times a week leads to better health and lowers carbon emission.
“We found that there was an increase in life expectancy of approximately nine months linked to 50% reduction of red meat consumption,” says Olivia Auclair. “When it comes to diet changes to improve health and climate, we don’t need to go to major extremes or completely wipe out foods from our diet.”
But sudden changes can be jarring. For a long time Kyle Backlund had been in the habit of eating meat at many meals, and when he cut back, he felt a drop in his energy level and experienced some tiredness and weakness. When he realized he needed to increase his protein intake, his wife Stephany Marreel — who does most of the cooking and also eats a plant-based diet — found a solution by adding tofu, vegetables, and grains. Kyle says he is now feeling good on his plant-focused diet.
People can get all the protein and nutrients they need from a plant-based diet as long as they do a little planning, says Dr. Christopher Gardner, a food scientist. “If someone is consuming a reasonable variety, meeting protein needs from plant sources is no problem,” Gardner says.
There’s an environmental argument for shifting diet as well, Gardner says. Livestock (家畜) require lots of land and water. Beef production requires 20 times more land and produces 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions, per gram of protein, compared to beans. If people in the U.S. swapped beef for beans, this one switch alone could get the U.S. about halfway to its greenhouse gas reduction goals.
1. What should you do to improve health and climate according to Olivia Auclair?| A．Change your meat-based diet a little. | B．Give up red meat in your meals. |
| C．Become a devoted plant-protein lover. | D．Take up proper ways of cooking. |
| A．Admirable. | B．Upsetting. | C．Meaningful. | D．Rewarding. |
| A．By exercising more. | B．By consuming less red meat. |
| C．By eating various foods. | D．By having whole grain. |
| A．Cattle are the main source of greenhouse gases. |
| B．Americans are reducing greenhouse gas emission. |
| C．Shifting diet can be beneficial to the planet. |
| D．Bean production requires lots of land and water. |
