The Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on lunar May 5th. For thousands of years, the festival has been marked by eating zongzi and racing dragon boats. In order to remember Qu Yuan, one of the greatest poets in China, people hold the dragon boat races every year. That is the origins(起源) of this festival.
Qu Yuan was born in Zigui of Hubei Province over 2,200 years ago. Qu Yuan was an honest official(官员) of the state of Chu, during the Warring States Period (战国时期) (475-221 BC). He was upright(正直的) and wise. He wanted to bring his country peace and make the state stronger, but the country was in the hands of bad officials. So he failed. At last, he was very disappointed. He ended his life by throwing himself into the Miluo River. It was said that people jumped from boats into the river and tried to save him. But it was too late. Also, they were very sad. They threw rice into the water to feed the dragons in the river. They hoped that the dragons would eat zongzi instead of the poet’s body.
Now we often read his poem Li Sao which is filled with deep love for his country. We can see the dragon boat races and have a kind of Chinese food named zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival.
任务一：按要求回答问题。
1. Why did people throw rice into the water after Qu Yuan died? (限16个词以内)
2. What was Qu Yuan like? (限7个词以内)
3. Why did Qu Yuan kill himself? (限20个词以内)
任务二：翻译句子。
4. 把画线的句子翻译成汉语。
任务三：回答问题。
5. What’s the main idea of this passage? (限15个词以内)
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The Chinese Language Day was celebrated both online and offline at Superior School of Public Administration from April 25th to 29th in Colombia.
The celebration saw Chinese cultural performances that included a dragon and lion dance and Chinese calligraphy (书法). During the event, the Utadeo Confucius Institute (孔子学院) introduced its scholarship (奖学金) to Colombian university students.
Chinese ambassador (大使) Lan Hu gave a speech at the opening ceremony. He said that as one of the official languages at the United Nations, the Chinese language is becoming more and more attractive.Through the study they got to know the hard-working, friendly and the spirit of the Chinese culture and nation. The Chinese Language Day offers a platform (平台) to improve the cultural exchanges between China and Colombia.
Former president of Colombia, Ernesto Samper Pizano, greeted the Chinese Language Day. “We must understand that language is not just a way of speaking, but also a cultural expression.” he said.
Colombian Minister of Culture, Angelica Mayolo, congratulated the Chinese Language International Day. She said she hopes the young Colombians can improve their Chinese language skills. Then they can become bridges of cultural exchange between the two countries.
Rios, a local student attended the event. “We listen to Spanish every day and it is common a language. But the Chinese language is interesting and different from ours. I am a Public Administration student, if I go to China to study the language, surely, I will perform better.” she said.
1. Who gave a speech at the opening ceremony? (No more than 4 words)2. What Chinese cultural performances were included in the celebration? (No more than 13 words)
3. What does Rios think of Chinese? (No more than 9 words)
4. 将文中划线的句子翻译成汉语。
5. 请给短文拟一个恰当的标题。
【推荐2】Types of traditional Chinese clothes
Each country in the world has its own traditional clothes. From these traditional clothes, people are able to tell one country from another. Let’s have a look at four types of well-known traditional Chinese clothes.
Hanfu is the oldest Chinese traditional clothes and it can date back to over 4000 years ago. It has many kinds, for example, Ruqun. Women often wear Ruqun. Ru is one kind of short clothes, and Qun is one kind of skirt.
Tang suit often refers to a type of Chinese jacket. This name came from the overseas Chinese as Tang Dynasty was famous for being rich and powerful at that time. Its most common colors are red and blue. Chinese people often make Tang suit with silk, cotton and other materials.
The name “Cheongsam” or “Qipao” means “long dress”. It is traditional clothing for Chinese women which developed from Manchu women’s “changpao” of Qing Dynasty. Its neck is high. Its sleeves（袖子）may be either short, medium or full length.
Zhongshan suit is typical clothes for men. It got the name because of Sun Zhongshan. Later on, Chairman Mao often wore it, so it had another name, “Mao suit”.
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How do you stay warm during the cold winter? People in northern parts of China have public heating systems（供暖系统）. People in the south turn on air conditioners（空调）. But how did people stay warm in the past?
Northern people had the kang, a type of bed. It was made of bricks（砖）. There was a stove（炉子）connected to the bed. When you lit the stove, the bed became hot. Was there anything better than hot bedding in the cold winter?
Different from the north, people in the south had blanket warmers. The tangpozi was a round pot. It was made of copper（铜）. Parents usually filled it with hot water and put it inside a quilt. When children went to bed, they could feel the warmth of the pot.
The honglong was another warmer in different places in the south. It was a small round pot with charcoal（木炭）inside. There was a bamboo basket that held the pot. You could take it anywhere. The best part of it was that you could bake some nuts inside. What a great time to talk with friends when enjoying delicious food!
| How people warm themselves in winter | ||
| Now | In the past | |
| In | Public heating systems | Kang: •It was made of bricks. •The |
| In southern China | Tangpozi: •It was a round pot made of copper. •People | |
| Honglong: •It had charcoal inside. | ||
George was seventy years old. He was always tired and his face was always red, but he didn’t want to see the doctor. His wife (妻子) said to him, “George, go and see the doctor.” “No.” said George.
Last week, he was worse and he had to see the doctor alone. Doctor Brown looked him over and then said to him, “You are drinking too much. Stop drinking whisky (威士忌) and begin to drink milk.”
George liked whiskey but he didn’t like milk. “I’m not a baby,” he always said to his wife.
Now, he looked at the doctor and said, “But drinking milk is dangerous to me, doctor.”
The doctor smiled and said, “Dangerous? Why?”
“Well, doctor,” George said, “it killed (杀死) one of my best friends last year.”
The doctor smiled again. George said, “The cow fell down on him when he milked it.”
1. George was an old man of2. Last week George was ill and he should go to the
3. Doctor Brown asked George not to drink whisky. He asked him to drink
4. George thought it was
5. George’s friend was killed by a cow when he
Do you want to feel happy and know how great you are? Here are five ways to make you feel good about yourself.
·Encourage yourself. Look in the mirror and say to yourself, “I am a special person and there’s no one in the world like me. I can do anything.” It may not sound so good, but it really works!
·Help others. Do something nice for someone who always makes you feel good.
·Smile! Be friendly to people you meet. No one can refuse(拒绝) a big smile. Look for the good things in your friends and family.
· Learn something new! New things may be great challenges(挑战), but when you fall in love with them or get some progress, you’ll be very happy.
·Stay with your family. We all need our family time. Talk with your mom and dad or maybe even your cousin. This can make you feel warm and give you confidence to get on well with others.
| Encourage yourself | “I’m |
| Help others | Do something nice for someone who is always |
| Try to be friendly to people when meeting them. | |
| Learn some new | Maybe new things are great challenges. |
| Stay with your family | |
The Smiths live at 87 King Street. In the morning, Mr. Smith goes to work and the children go to school. Their father takes them to school every day. Mrs. Smith stays at home every day. She does the housework. She always eats her lunch at noon. In the afternoon, she usually sees her friends. They often drink tea together. In the evening, the children come home from school. They arrive home early. Mr. Smith comes home from work. He arrives home late. At night, the children always do their homework. Then they go to bed. Mr. Smith usually reads his newspaper, but sometimes he and his wife (妻子) watch TV.
1. Where do the Smiths live?2. What does Mrs. Smith do every day?
3. Who does Mrs. Smith see in the afternoon?
4. Do the children arrive home early?
5. What do the children often do at night?
John Grisham is an American writer. He has sold more than sixty million books in twenty-nine languages. Publisher’s Weekly magazine named him as one of the best-selling authors. Six of his books have been made into movies.
Most of his books are exciting stories about lawyers(律师) and their work. That is because John Grisham was a lawyer before.
He was born in the southern state of America in 1955. He worked as a lawyer for nearly ten years in Southaven, Mississippi.
One day Mr Grisham heard a 12-year-old gird tell the court how she had been attacked. This made him write a book exploring what would have happened if the girl’s father had killed the attackers. He called the book A Time to Kill. Many publishers rejected it before it was bought by a small company and published in 1988.
John Grisham immediately began writing another book named The Firm. It became the best-selling novel of 1991.
John Grisham writes one book a year after that. All of them have been best-sellers. He no longer works as a lawyer. Today he lives with his wife and two children in Mississippi.
1. Sixty million books of John Grisham have been made into movies, haven’t they?2. Was John Grisham born in America in 1955?
3. What job did John Grisham use to do?
4. When was John Grisham’s first book published?
5. How many books does John Grisham write a year after 1991?
6. What do you think of John Grisham?
“Du Fu, China’s Greatest Poet” is a documentary made recently by the BBC. In order to shoot this documentary, producer Wood went to many places in China, such as Gongyi, the birthplace of Du Fu; Chang’an, the capital of the Tang dynasty(now Xi’an); and the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu.
At the same time, Wood learned many stories about this poet through communication with local people along the way. Most of his poems show the pains of the people in war and hunger.
American sinologist（汉学家）Stephen Owen believes that Du Fu’s poems not only describe his life experience, but also become a part of Chinese culture. He believes that Du Fu is the China’s Shakespeare in his and many Chinese minds. Owen spent eight years translating 1400 poems by Du Fu into English.
1. How long did it take Owen to translate Du Fu’s poems into English?2. How did Wood make the documentary?
3. Apart from（除了）Du Fu, which Chinese poet do you like best? Why?
Jack London is a famous American writer. He was born on 12th January, 1876, in San Francisco, California. His family was very poor, and Jack had to leave school to make money. He worked hard in many different jobs. Later, Jack returned to school, but he didn’t stay there. In 1897, he went to Alaska to find gold. He didn’t find any gold. Instead, he found ideas for his books and stories. He returned home and started to write. His writings were succesful, and he became rich and famous in his twenties.
Jack London was not a happy man. In poor health, he took his own life in 1916. He was only 40 years old.
1. Why did Jack London leave school when he was still a boy?2. How old was Jack London when he went to Alaska?
3. What did Jack London find in Alaska?
4. What was Jack London famous for?
5. What does “he took his own life” mean?
In most countries, people usually eat traditional food on special holidays. A special day in China is Spring Festival. Spring Festival is coming! It’s a time to wish your family. Spring Festival is a traditional holiday in China. The celebration usually starts on Xiaonian and lasts（持续）for fifteen days.
On Spring Festival, Chinese people wish their family members and friends good health and luck for the whole year. They see Spring Festival as a time to get together and usually celebrate it with a big family meal on Spring Festival Eve.
The Origin（由来）of Spring Festival It is said that a long time ago, a monster called Nian ate people on Spring Festival Eve（除夕）. But Nian was afraid of loud noises and the color red. So people set off fireworks（烟火）and put up red couplets（春联）to scare（吓走）Nian. Even today, people also have this kind of tradition. |
Of this meal, the dumpling is necessary.
What you need: wrappers（饺子皮）, vegetables, beef, salt and oil（食用油）.
How to make dumplings: Put beef in a bowl. Cut the vegetables into small pieces with a knife. Add the vegetables to the beef. Then add a little oil and salt and mix with chopsticks. When it is ready, put a spoon of filling（馅）in a wrapper and fold the wrapper around it.
2. What do Chinese people wish on Spring Festival?
3. What was the monster Nian afraid of?
4. What do we need to make dumplings?
5. Please finish the fourth step in the chart.
6. What do you often do on Spring Festival?
The Spring Festival (春节) is usually in January or February. There is a name for each Chinese year. We can call them the year of the dog, the year of the pig, the year of the horse and so on. 2023 is the year of the rabbit, and the next is the year of the dragon (龙). Before (在……之前) the lunar New Year, people like shopping and cleaning houses. On the evening before the lunar New Year, people have a big dinner with their family. After dinner, all the family wait (等待) to welcome the lunar New Year. On the first day of the lunar New Year, people put on their new clothes and visit their relatives (亲戚). Many people buy red things because red is the symbol of good luck (好运的象征).
The Spring Festival
| Time | In January or |
| Name | 2024 is the year of the |
| Activities | Shop and |
| Have a big dinner on the evening before the lunar New Year. | |
| Put on their | |
| Lucky (幸运的) | Red. It is the symbol of good luck. |
Tomb-sweeping(扫墓) Day is also called the Qingming Festival. It’s a traditional Chinese festival on around April 5th.
It could go back to Hanshi Day(Cold Food Day) to remember the man named Jie Zitui. But people truly started to celebrate it in the year 732. So it has a long history of over 1,000 years. On that day, Chinese people celebrate—to remember and honor their ancestors(祭奠祖先). Young and old sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, joss paper(钱纸)and other things to their ancestors.
When we talk about the Qingming Festival, a very famous Chinese painting may come up to our minds. Yes. Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival(《清明上河图》) is a painting created by Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan. Zhang was born in 1085 and died in 1145.
The painting shows the everyday life of people. It also shows the beautiful looks of the Bianjing City. We call the city Kaifeng now. A number of people, buildings and boats make the long painting interesting and fantastic. Vendors(小商贩) sell things all along the Rainbow Bridge. Lots of people cross the river on the great bridge.
Over the centuries, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival was kept among different owners. It was re-bought in 1945 and kept in the Forbidden City, today’s Palace Museum. The fantastic painting is seen as national treasure(国宝) and is on show only for special time every few years.
1. When is the Tomb-sweeping Day?2. How long is the history of Qingming Festival according to the passage?
3. Who painted Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival?
4. Where do the vendors sell things in the painting?
5. Is the painting on show every year?
