As we all know, sugar painting has a very long history. It always plays a necessary role in our childhood which is a traditional Chinese form of folk art, and it used hot, liquid sugar to create figures. This delicious snack was the most popular among the children in the past.
In and around the southwestern part of China, one can often find folk artists producing sugar paintings with liquid sugar along the streets, in the parks and around the schools.
The artists sit before a table on which there is a board in the middle. On the side of the table is another board painted with different kinds of pictures in a circle such as a dragon, bird, dog and so on.
After paying about 5 jiao, or 1 to 2 yuan, the customers, usually kids, can choose one from the pictures for the sugar painting artist to make with sugar.
Before painting, the painter cooks white sugar to get liquid sugar for sugar painting. Then, the liquid sugar falls down from a big spoon as a thin line onto the board and after a short while an “animal” appears. At last the painter puts a wooden stick on the painting and gives it to the customer. Most kids would be excited to see the sweet art shining in gold under the sun.
As a special art for producing pictures of sugar, sugar painting is very different from common painting. First, since the hot liquid sugar could be hard if it cools, the painter has to produce his/her work very quickly. So the painter has to draw a continuous line into a picture of an animal. To learn the whole thing, the painter has to do some practice of common painting in the first place.
1. The underlined word “liquid” in Paragraph 1 means “________” in Chinese.| A．奶油的 | B．陈年的 | C．液体的 | D．固体的 |
| A．Teachers | B．Artists | C．Parents | D．Children |
| A．do practice of common painting | B．cook to get the liquid sugar |
| C．put a stick on the sugar painting | D．draw an animal on the board |
| A．A cultural introduction. | B．A weather report. |
| C．A travel guide. | D．A sugar advertisement. |
| A．A Sweet Art—Sugar Painting | B．How to Make Sugar Paintings |
| C．Customers’ Favorite Paintings | D．An Art in the Southwest of China |
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【推荐1】Beijing Opera is also called Peking Opera. It started after 1790 when the famous four Anhui opera groups came to Beijing. Its music and singing come from Xipi and Erhuang in Anhui and Hubei. Its clothes are all beautiful. It’s full of famous stories, beautiful facial paintings and wonderful gestures (姿势) and fighting. This kind of opera is very popular with Chinese people.
There are four main roles in Beijing Opera: Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. Sheng is the leading man actor. For example, a Wusheng is a soldier or fighter. A Xiaosheng is a young man. A Laosheng is an old man. Dan is the young woman role. Jing, mostly man, is the face-painted role and Chou is the comedy actor or clown (小丑) .
Stories in Beijing Opera are very interesting. Some of them are from the history book, but most of them are from the literature (文学) . The people in the story usually have some disagreements. They become angry and unhappy. They are sad and lonely (孤独的). Sometimes they are nervous (紧张的) and worried. But the stories usually end with happiness and laughter.
1. Beijing Opera’s singing and music are from ________.| A．history books | B．popular stories | C．Beijing and Anhui | D．Anhui and Hubei |
| A．roles | B．pictures | C．stories | D．history |
| A．A soldier. | B．An old man. | C．A young woman. | D．A clown. |
| A．Peking Opera is full of great gestures. | B．Peking Opera is very popular with Chinese people. |
| C．The stories in Beijing Opera usually end with happiness and laughter. | D．There are only four roles in Beijing Opera. |
| A．the history of Beijing Opera | B．some information about Beijing Opera |
| C．the reason why Beijing Opera is so popular | D．some stories in Beijing Opera |
【推荐2】A British man has learned the skills needed to perform Beijing Opera, making the audience enjoy his lively performance of the Monkey King.
Ghaffar Pourazar, born in Iran, has been a big fan of Bruce Lee since he was a child and is full of interest about China. In 1993, he happened to watch Beijing Opera performed in London by professionals from Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. Ghaffar said he fell in love with the beautiful voices, colorful costurmes, excellent shows and so on. So after one year, he arrived in China alone and became a student of Beijing Opera at a Beijing school.
At the age of 32, he had to learn with teenage students every day, starting from the most basic training of the legs and waist. At the time, he was mostly troubled by the dialogue in Beijing Opera. To him, it was the biggest obstacle. However, he never gave up.
Four years later, he began to learn to perform the Monkey King, a traditional character from the Chinese classic story Journey to the West. He said he arrived in the workroom an hour earlier than other performers and also bought books and CDs to better understand the character.
Ghaffar today is not only good at speaking Beijing dialect (方言) but has also built a fame for Beijing Opera. He once got a top international prize for performing the Monkey King.
To help more people enjoy Beijing Opera, Ghaffar often teaches the traditional art form in schools in the United States, Britain and other countries. When he found that the language was difficult to understand, he started to translate (翻译) Beijing Opera song lyrics. Ghaffar led a group of actors to perform 66 times in a month and a half in the United States. He also led a 48-member team to perform in Malaysia. In the past 10 years, he has performed in more than 400 shows.
1. When did Ghaffar begin to learn Beijing Opera in Beijing?| A．In 1993. | B．In 1994. | C．In 1998. | D．In 1962. |
| A．chance | B．trouble | C．topic | D．advantage |
| A．is successful in performing Beijing Opera | B．has written some books about Beijing Opera |
| C．got a prize for translating Journey to the West | D．doesn’t need any more members in his team |
| A．He is good at speaking Chinese. | B．He has strong desire to become a teacher. |
| C．He shows great interest in visiting other countries. | D．He is a hard-working foreigner. |
| Mike, Canada I spent three months with my host family in China. It was a lifetime experience. I was able to experience Chinese living and culture, from basic Tai Chi to Beijing Opera. I even visited a famous traditional Chinese medicine hospital. Now I have a better understanding of Chinese culture. | Joanna. Australia I stayed with my host family for five months. My host mother is a Chinese teacher and she is really warm-hearted. With her help, my Chinese has improved a lot. And I have got used to a new culture. My favorite part of the experience was sharing my feelings in China with her. |
| Cindy, Germany Recently I took part in a program to study Chinese. I lived with a host family in China for six months. As a student, my host sister studied really hard. It was amazing to see how she made progress in English. And a close relationship has developed between us. | |
1. Who visited a traditional Chinese medicine hospital?
| A．Mike. | B．Joanna. | C．Cindy. |
| A．For about 100 days. | B．For about 150 days | C．For about 180 days. |
| A．a wonderful cook | B．a responsible doctor | C．a hard-working student |
| A．Mike spent four months with his host family in China |
| B．Joanna’s host mother is a really warm-hearted woman and she is a Chinese teacher |
| C．Cindy can’t get on well with her host sister |
| A．Different cultures. | B．Chinese family. | C．Experiencing China. |
—Harry Smith, 12, from the USA
I take the special（特别的）bus called—Smart Bus to school. Parents are notified（被通知） ten minutes before the bus gets to their home, when their children get on the bus and when their children get to school. Parents don′t need to worry about（担心）their children too much.
—Diana Lin, 13, from Singapore
I get to school by myself（独自地）. A train station isn′t far from my home. I take the train to school. It takes me half an hour to get to school. Lots of students are on the train, too. On it, I like to play chess with my best friend Eric. Eric is really good at chess. He often helps me with my chess.
—Carl Yukio, 14, from Japan
1. What does Sally do?
| A．A teacher. | B．A doctor. | C．A driver. | D．A student. |
| A．Useful. | B．Funny. | C．Worrying. | D．Boring. |
| A．Carl′s home is near a train station. |
| B．Harry’s classes start at 8: 30 in the morning. |
| C．Diana takes the yellow school bus to school. |
| D．Eric can′t play chess very well, but Carl can. |
| A．When I leave for school. | B．How I get to school. |
| C．Why I get to school by bus. | D．What I do on the way to school. |
Every year there is the Spring Festival in China. Usually it is in January or February. It’s the most important festival in China. So before it comes, everyone has to prepare things. They buy beef, pork (猪肉), chicken, fruit and many other things. And they often make a special kind of food called “dumplings”. It means “come together” in Chinese. On the day before the festival, parents buy new clothes for their children and children also buy presents (礼物) for their parents. On the festival eve, all the family members come back to their home. This is a happy time. They sing, dance and play cards. When they enjoy the meal, they give each other the best wishes for the coming year. They all have a good time.
1. People usually have their Spring Festival in January or February in China.2. People buy beef, pork, chicken, fruit and many other things for the Spring Festival in China.
3. The food “dumplings” means “be delicious” in Chinese.
4. On the day before the festival, parents buy new clothes for themselves.
【推荐3】Greeting people can be confusing (令人困惑的) during cross cultural (跨文化) communications.
Will a simple handshake do? Should you give a hug or offer a kiss on the cheek (脸颊)? People in different countries have their own greetings.
The COVID 19 (2019冠状病毒病) has challenged traditional greetings such as shaking hands, kissing and hugging. After all, close physical contact will increase the chance of spreading the virus (病毒). People have realized the risk and stopped using some traditional greetings.
Shaking hands is a common greeting. Now in the US, the elbow bump (碰肘) is the new handshake. US Surgeon General Jerome Adams introduced the elbow bump, which has been used by political (政治的) leaders, health officials and professional athletes (运动员). Brad Hazzard, a health minister in New South Wales, Australia, advised people to pat (拍) each other on the back in place of a handshake.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran has advised the public not to kiss on the cheek. Italian authorities (官方) have made the same suggestion. French lifestyle expert Philippe Lichtfus said simply looking into a person’s eyes is enough.
In the face of such changes, how should you go about changing the way you greet people? Australian etiquette expert (礼仪专家) Susan Wilson has suggested simply greeting people by looking them in the eye, smiling and saying hello.
Choose the best choice from A, B or C according to the passage.
1. Why did people stop using traditional greetings during the outbreak (疫情爆发) ?| A．Because it can be safer for each other. |
| B．Because different countries have different customs. |
| C．Because new greetings can increase the risk of spreading the virus. |
| A．The people all over the world. |
| B．Jerome Adams and Brad Hazzard. |
| C．Political leaders, health officials and professional athletes. |
| A．碰撞 | B．接触 | C．隔离 |
| A．France and Australia. | B．France and Italy. | C．Italy and Australia. |
| A．Safer ways to greet. | B．Changing the tradition. | C．Smiling and saying hello. |
