Started along the Huaihe River in eastern China, Flower Drum Lantern dance is well-known for its bright colors, different forms, and cheerful spirit.
As a traditional treasure in China, the dance has a very long history. It is said to have appeared during the Song Dynasty, developed through the Ming Dynasty, and finally widely welcomed during the Qing Dynasty. It is usually used to show the peaceful lives of people in the countryside.
In the dance, the women dancers each wears a red silk ball flower on their heads. In their hands, silk fans and scarves are used as props. And the props used by men are mainly umbrellas, short wooden sticks and drums. Before 1949, women were discouraged from performing in public, so women roles were mostly played by men. That is why all of the older famous artists still alive today are men.
The dance is usually performed in an open area such as the central square of a village and the side of a river. The audiences usually come around in a circle. Inside the circle are several long benches with the drum group on one side. The performers enter the circle with the women standing on the men’s shoulders, then the men lower the women to the benches and stand beside them. The show begins when the men with umbrellas enter the performance space. They bow and lead the performers into the centre to dance.
Flower Drum Lantern dance is still quite popular across the country, especially in places such as Fengyang in Anhui, Guangshan in Henan, and Haian in Jiangsu. Even today, village dance teams often compete with each other by performing the dances during the Spring Festival.
1. According to the passage, Flower Drum Lantern dance is showed ________.| A．with a single form | B．in poor areas |
| C．with a happy mood | D．in dark colors |
| A．stopped | B．taught | C．enjoyed | D．required |
| A．watch some dancers perform with umbrellas |
| B．stand in a square in the center of a village |
| C．see long benches with drums on both sides |
| D．find some women roles are played by men |
| A．the importance of a special dance art |
| B．an introduction of a traditional dance |
| C．some advice on protecting the traditional art |
| D．some information about learning the dance |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Do you know what punk rock music is? I love it very much. Now let me tell you something about punk rock music. Punk rock music started in the late 1960s in the UK and it’s a way to express the singer’s ideas about society (社会).
The first punk rock bands (乐队) Ramon’s and Black Flag came to the world in the early 1970s. Then more new punk rock bands came to the world such as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned and Iggy Pop.
Why did punk rock music go so fast? Because people at that time needed some ways to express themselves. There are lots of punk rock bands nowadays, such as Distillers, the Cure, and green day. The first different point between the old and new bands is their clothes. The old punk rock bands did not really care about at their clothes, but the new punk rock bands do care about their clothes when they are out for functions (盛大聚会；典礼).
1. What kind of music does punk rock music is?| A．民族音乐 | B．摇滚乐 | C．声典音乐 | D．爵士乐 |
| A．In the USA. | B．In Canada. | C．In England. | D．In Australia. |
| A．Punk rock music | B．Folk music | C．Jazz | D．Pop music |
| A．Ramon’s. | B．Black Flag. | C．Iggy Pop. | D．Both A and B. |
| A．skills | B．clothes | C．music | D．hair styles |
▼Feel the Beat  Written by Marilyn Singer | Pictures by Kristi Valiant People all over the world dance. Why not celebrate this popular form of art with some poems? Singer starts the celebration with an interesting poem: “All over the world / Dancing is joy” and “Joy is dancing / All over the world.” This is followed by 15 other poems. They cover many different styles of dancing. Each poem mimics (模仿) the beat of the dance. A CD of Singer reading her poems is included. At the end of the book, readers can find “Notes About the Dances.” They offer information about where and when the dances are performed (表演). |
| A．15. | B．16. | C．17. |
| A．On the front cover. | B．At the introduction part. | C．At the notes part. |
| A．Each poem has the same beat. |
| B．It’s especially for singers and dancers. |
| C．Readers can enjoy both poems and dances. |
【推荐3】Alice and John are in the Music Club at their school. Alice plays the violin and John plays the piano. There are two groups in the school Music Club: the training （训练）group and the concert group. Everyone starts in the training group. “When I first started to play the violin, it sounded bad!” Alice says. My family asked me to practice（练习）outside.
After a year’s practice, Alice and John play much better now. They are both in the concert group and they are learning more difficult music. “We’re learning the music from the film Pirates of the Caribbean（《加勒比海盗》）. It sounds fantastic!” John says. “Playing in the club with other children is a lot of fun.”
Playing an instrument（乐器）is not only fun. It also helps children learn to concentrate（集中注意力）. “I have to concentrate when I’m practicing,” Alice says. “And now, it’s easier for me to concentrate on my schoolwork.”
Playing an instrument can also help children become more confident. As John says, “I was afraid when I played in front of a lot of people for the first time. But now I really enjoy it.”
1. What did Alice’s family do when Alice first started to play the violin ?| A．They stopped her playing it | B．They asked her to practise outside |
| C．They felt strange and funny | D．They helped her find a music teacher again |
| A．in the concert group | B．playing in a film |
| C．in the training group | D．teaching in a music school |
| A．强壮的 | B．聪明的 | C．自信的 | D．勤奋的 |
| A．Alice and John play the same instrument. |
| B．It’s very easy to learn to play an instrument. |
| C．Alice was afraid of playing in front of other people at first. |
| D．The writer talks about three advantages of playing an instrument. |
| A．John and Alice are good students. | B．Playing an instrument is good for us. |
| C．We should learn from John and Alice. | D．How John and Alice learn playing an instrument. |
Besides their obvious value of monetary, they all carry their own cultural value as well.
You may have seen this kind of photo before: an old fisherman with a long white beard and a bamboo that can be seen standing with cormorants（鸬鹚）on a boat. He became famous among the most well-known features of the Lijiang River in Guilin. Many people believed the fisherman on the back of the 20-yuan renminbi banknote was based on his image.
For example, on the back of the 5-yuan banknote is Taishan Mountain in Shandong. For thousands of years, many emperors would go there and pray for the country’s prosperity（繁荣）. On the back of the 1-yuan banknote are the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon at the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Since ancient times, the location has been a great attraction for moon watchers during Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to the News, fisherman Huang’s life shows the true spirit of the Lijiang River in Guilin, Guangxi. He was a positive and kind man. In his 90s, Huang could still move his boat with great agility（敏捷）.
The image of the fisherman on the back of the 20-yuan banknote is not just about one man, but instead stands on its own as a unique cultural symbol of the Lijiang River. It is a symbol that makes the Guilin landscape what it is, commented Guangming Daily.
In fact, the different backsides of the fifth kinds of Renminbi banknotes show the most typical landscapes in the country.
The Renminbi pictures have helped make these classic Chinese landscapes even more popular among tourists. Many love to find out where the picture were originally taken. For example, Pan Jinyu from Chongqing went on a “banknote tour” of China, appreciating all the sights presented on Renminbi banknotes of the fifth kinds from 1 yuan to 100. “I want to finish ceremonial（有仪式感的）journey and feel the beauty of our country”.
1. What does the underlined word “they” stand for in the first paragraph?| A．the fishermen | B．pictures of money | C．the cormorants | D．the emperors |
| A．the value of the money itself | B．the landscape of the country |
| C．the cultural value of the picture | D．the location of the picture |
| A．To tell us it is a symbol of local culture. |
| B．To tell us he is a positive and kind man. |
| C．To tell us he is very famous in where he lives. |
| D．To tell us he could move his boat with great agility. |
| A．Twenty yuan is a large sum of money. |
| B．There are five kinds of money in total. |
| C．Different Renminbi pictures carry cultural meanings . |
| D．People should not waste too much money in daily life. |
The 36th Weifang International Kite Festival opened on April 20, 2019 in East China’s Shandong, receiving kite fans from all over the world.
The first Weifang International Kite Festival was celebrated in 1984. In 1983, chairman of the Seattle Kite Association David Checkley took part in a kite show in Shanghai and later he visited several kite manufacturers(制造商).
At the fifth festival, Weifang became known as the “kite capital of the world”. Today, Weifang is home to over 300 kite factories.
| A．Their products(产品) are sold to over 40 countries. |
| B．What outdoor activities do children like? |
| C．Shandong has a long history of kite making. |
| D．“As long as there are people who want to learn, I will not stop teaching,” she says. |
| E．They taste better there than anywhere else. |
| F．However, there are also some problems. |
| G．He found that kites made in Weifang were the best. |
【推荐3】A Dream of Red Mansions is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Its writer is Cao Xueqin (1715—1763) from the city of Nanjing. It tells us a sad story between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. Now people have made the book into an English opera. The opera was first played in the US in 2016. Now people in Beijing, Changsha and Wuhan can also watch the opera.
Stan Lai, the director (导演) of this opera, knows a lot about both Chinese and American cultures. But reading through this long novel in English is still difficult for many American people. Lai once asked his Chinese friends in America, “Is my attempt to make the opera mad(疯狂的)?” They answered,
“No, it’s an excellent idea!” His friends told him that a good way for Americans to understand China was to understand A Dream of Red Mansions.
The novel has hundreds of characters(角色). But Lai decided to cut the number of characters to just seven. And he tried to use clothes and stage settings to help Americans understand the story. The director and his team hope people from all over the world can better understand the traditional Chinese culture.
1. People can watch the opera in the following cities EXCEPT ________.| A．Tianjin | B．Beijing | C．Changsha | D．Wuhan |
| A．经验 | B．预测 | C．尝试 | D．调查 |
| A．There are seven characters in the opera. |
| B．Lai knows little about the Chinese culture. |
| C．Lai’s friends thought it was mad to make the opera. |
| D．It’s difficult for Lai to read through the novel in English. |
| A．more foreign people will travel to China |
| B．more Americans will start to learn Chinese |
| C．Americans will understand the novel more easily |
| D．foreigners will understand Chinese culture better |
| A．the story of A Dream of Red Mansions |
| B．the writer of A Dream of Red Mansions |
| C．the opera on A Dream of Red Mansions |
| D．the characters in A Dream of Red Mansions |
【推荐1】In a classroom at Kensington Wade Primary School（小学） in London, the UK, you won’t hear a word of English. The books are in Chinese. And you can see Chinese fans and lanterns all over the school.
This is a Chinese classroom. The school is the first English-Chinese primary school in Europe （欧洲）. Half of its lessons are in Chinese. These days, the school gets first 15 students.
This shows that learning Chinese is becoming more popular. About 30 million people around the world studied Chinese in 2004. In 2017, the number was more than 100 million （百万）. Many parents in the UK also think Chinese may be “the most useful language （语言） for the future”.
But at Kensington Wade Primary School, students aren’t just learning Chinese language. They’re also learning Chinese culture（文化）. For example, students can study martial arts（武术） and calligraphy（书法）.
The school says this will help students understand China better.
1. The purposes （目的） of Paragraphs 1 and 2 is to _______________.| A．tell us that the students in this school love Chinese fans |
| B．show us that Chinese people are popular there |
| C．show that Chinese is very useful |
| D．tell us that learning Chinese is becoming more popular |
| A．about 30 million | B．over 100 million | C．less than 100 million | D．about 15 million |
| A．a book about martial arts | B．a map of China | C．an English newspaper | D．a story book |
【推荐2】The idea of the family is important all over the world and many countries have special celebrations for it. Let’s look at a few.
Looking after animals—India
Pets are popular in many cultures around the world. Looking after animals helps children learn to do their duty for them. Every year in India there is a festival called Thai Pongal. During the festival, families feed cows and birds to give thanks for these animals. Children also learn that all living things share the world together.
First day at school—Germany
In Germany, the first day at school is a very important time for all children. There is a special event called Einschulung. Everyone in the family meets to give the child presents, like pens and books, for their new school life. For the first day of school, parents give their children a large paper cone. Inside there are things for school.
Writing poems—Netherlands
In Netherlands, people celebrate the winter holiday on the 5th December. This holiday is called Sinterklaas. People give each other presents, but they also have a very special tradition. Each member of the family writes their name on a piece of paper and puts it in a hat. Everyone then takes a name from the hat and writes a poem about this person. Everyone sits in a circle and reads out their poems.
1. What do Indian children do during the festival Thai pongal? ________| A．Share food with pets. | B．Show love to family. |
| C．Look after animals. | D．Learn different cultures. |
| A．A bike. | B．A dictionary. | C．A cake. | D．A hairclip. |
| A．To let others write poems about them. |
| B．To let others remember them easily. |
| C．To introduce themselves to others. |
| D．To give each other presents. |
No one can change the weather. Nobody can control the weather. But if we read correctly the signs around us, we can tell what the more important changes in the weather will be. This way of telling what the weather will be like on the following day or two is called weather forecasting.
For many centuries and in all countries, people have studied the weather and tried to make weather forecasting. Rings around the sun are a sign of coming rain. That many people feel their joints(关节) hurt is a sign of wet weather. Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, but they fly near the ground if rainy or stormy weather is on the way. If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, this is a sign that the weather will become clear and fine. Such rainbows come in the evening. If the stars twinkle clearly at night, then fine weather will continue. If a fog appears in the morning just above a river, then the day will be warm. If the sunset is mostly red in colour, then the following day will be fine. If a rainbow appears in the morning, rainy weather will probably come.
Most of the above sayings have been made by the people who have used their eyes and brains to make weather forecasting.
1. Which of the following can be used here to replace(取代) the underlined phrase “on the way”?| A．away | B．gone |
| C．disappearing | D．coming |
| A．warm | B．rainy |
| C．clear and fine | D．cold |
| A．A rainbow appears in the morning. |
| B．Some birds fly high. |
| C．The stars twinkle clearly at night. |
| D．Fogs appear in the morning just above a river. |
| A．Nobody can control the weather. |
| B．If the sunset is red in colour, then the next day will be fine. |
| C．If many people feel their joints hurt, it may be a sign of wet weather. |
| D．People only use their eyes and brains to make weather forecasting. |
| A．活到老，学到老。 | B．朝霞不出门，晚霞行千里。 |
| C．早起的鸟儿捉虫多. | D．一日之计在于晨。 |
