Dos and Don’ts of gift-giving in Chinese culture
Finding the right gift for someone is not easy. In Chinese culture, there are many unspoken rules that go into giving the right gift. Here are some of them.
Do—Buy something from your hometown
If you are looking for a gift for your friends in China, think about bringing them something from your hometown, like blueberry jam (蓝莓果酱) from Maine, or chicory coffee from Louisiana. Local specialty products (当地特产) are popular gifts in China.
Do—Use both hands
Don’t—Give gifts in sets of four
Because the word for “four” sounds like sǐ (death) in Chinese, it’s a serious mistake to give gifts in fours.
Don’t—Open a gift right away
In Chinese culture, the person who takes a gift should wait until the giver has left before opening a gift.
| A．When giving a gift, you should give it with both hands. |
| B．If someone refuses your gift, you should try giving it again. |
| C．Eight is a good number because it sounds like fā (to become rich). |
| D．On the other hand, gifts given in pairs or eights are thought to be luckier. |
| E．That way, the giver won’t feel down if the taker is not happy with the gift. |
| F．That is because they can be hard to get outside of the place where they are made. |
相似题推荐
Electricity plays an important part in our daily lives. When power stations burn fossil fuels (化石燃料) to produce electricity, it pollutes the environment. So everyone needs to work together to reduce pollution.
Start a student energy club at school. Students who are interested in energy saving can take part in.
Don’t use the air conditioner if the weather is not so hot. It can help save a lot of electricity.
| A．Saving electricity is not difficult. |
| B．Make them learn how to use electricity. |
| C．Schools often waste a large amount of energy. |
| D．There is a meeting every week for all members. |
| E．Give each student an electricity saving task (任务). |
【推荐2】What did the teacher say about your English subject? Here are some ways and they may help you to master the English subject.
Speak without fear.
The biggest problem in learning a new language is fear. They worry they can’t say things correctly or that they will look fool, so they don’t talk at all. The fastest way to learn is to do it again and again until you get it right.
Use all of your resources.
Even if you study English at a language school, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn outside of class. Using as many different sources, methods and tools as possible will allow you to learn faster. There are many different ways you can improve your English, so don’t limit yourself to only one or two.
Surround yourself with English.
The best way to learn English is to surround yourself with it. Take notes in English, put English books around your room, listen to English language radios, and watch English news, movies and television. Speak English with your friends whenever you can. The more English material you have around you, the faster you will learn.
Listen to English music.
Listening to music can be a very effective method of learning English. In fact, it is often used as a way of improving comprehension. In this way, you can understand what you want. The way to learn is to get the lyrics（歌词）to the songs you are listening to and try to read them as the singers. If you don’t know the meaning look it up in the dictionary. This way you can practice your listening and reading at the same time.
1. What does the underlined word “comprehension” mean in this passage?| A．模仿 | B．理解 | C．造句 | D．记忆 |
| A．using many different sources | B．singing many English songs |
| C．limiting yourself to one or two ways | D．using a Chinese-English dictionary |
| A．Follow Your Teachers | B．Using English Can Learn Best |
| C．Importance of Learning English | D．Methods of English Learning |
When we get to his house he asks me to come in to meet his family. When we walk to the front door, he stops at a small tree and touches the branches (树枝) with both hands. When he is opening the door, he has a quite different look. He smiles and hugs his two small children and gives his wife a kiss.
Later, he walks me to the car. When we pass the tree, I ask him about what he does at the little tree.
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he says.
“I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but those troubles aren’t for the house or for my wife and the children. So I put them down to the tree every night when I come home. Then, in the morning, I pick them up again.”
“Funny thing is,” he smiles, “when I come out in the morning to pick up those problems, there aren’t as many as I remember putting down the night before.”
1. The writer drives the man home because ___________.
| A．the man can not drive a truck at all |
| B．the man asks the writer to his house |
| C．there is something wrong with the man’s truck |
| D．the man works hard on the writer’s farmhouse |
| A．Troubles. | B．Branches. | C．Children. | D．Trees. |
| A．He plants a a small tree. |
| B．He puts his bag under the branches. |
| C．He touches the small tree’s branches. |
| D．He speaks to a small tree |
| A．takes some branches from the tree |
| B．feels better than the night before |
| C．starts to feel bad about his work |
| D．talks to the tree for a while |
| A．Small trees help you with big problems. |
| B．Don’t be unhappy when you’re in trouble. |
| C．There aren’t any real problems in life. |
| D．Don’t bring work trouble home to your family. |
【推荐1】As a country powerful in math, China has many folk games full of math wisdom (智慧). You may play many of them before. Let’s take a look at three of them.
Chinese nine linked rings puzzle It’s believed that the nine linked rings puzzle was created in the Western Han Dynasty. And it is usually made up of nine rings connected to a handle (手柄). Players have to remove (移除) all the rings from the handle to win the game. This is not a simple game. The solution takes 341 moves, so lots of patience is required. But if you learn to solve it, it’s hard to forget. |
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Tangram First popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the tangram is a puzzle made up of seven pieces of different shapes. For each puzzle, players need to use all the pieces to make a shape. To do it, they have to know about geometry (几何学). In the 18th century, the tangram was brought to the West and soon became popular there. |
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Luban lock The Luban lock was first created by Lu Ban 2,000 years ago. The lock has a lot to do with solid geometry (立体几何). It’s hard to separate the six pieces. However, it is usually easier to unlock a Luban lock than to put it back together. Now, there are Luban locks made up of nine or more pieces. |
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1. Which of the following subjects do the three folk games have to do with?
| A．English. | B．Music. | C．Math. | D．Chemistry. |
| A．Tangram | B．Luban lock |
| C．Chinese nine linked rings puzzle | D．Nine-square Grid |
| A．there are Luban locks made up of only six pieces now |
| B．the tangram was brought to the West in the 19th century |
| C．it is usually more difficult to unlock a Luban lock than to put it back together |
| D．players have to remove nine rings from the handle to win the nine linked rings puzzle |
| A．In a story book. | B．In a science book. |
| C．In a travel magazine. | D．In a sports magazine. |
| A．explain the ways to learn math |
| B．share his skills of playing folk games |
| C．tell us the importance of learning math well |
| D．introduce folk games with math wisdom in China |
Celebrating Chinese New Year with Chinese friends can be great, but, because of the cultural gap (文化差异), it can be really easy to give the wrong gift for Chinese New Year. Here are five things you should not give as a Chinese New Year gift.
Wallet—Loss of fortune
In traditional Chinese culture, giving a wallet as a gift means giving away all your money and you might lose all your finances and luck. However, it is no problem to give a wallet to your family member who already shares your money.
Handkerchiefs—Saying goodbye forever
Handkerchiefs are a symbol of saying goodbye forever. Giving someone a gift like this means you are saying goodbye forever.
Umbrellas—Break up
Umbrellas are a bad idea to give as gifts, because the Chinese word for “umbrella” sounds like the word for “breaking up”. Giving somebody an umbrella may mean that you feel your relationship has broken.
Sharp objects—Cut off relationship
Giving anything sharp, such as a knife or scissors, is also a bad idea, because it means cutting off the relationship. A common Chinese saying “one cut and it is in two parts” means the end of a relationship between people.
Shoes—Evil
Shoes are a bad idea as a present for Chinese New Year because the Chinese word for “shoes” sounds exactly like a word for bad luck or “evil”.
1. Which is the wrong gift for Chinese New year?| A．A book. | B．A wallet. | C．A bike. |
| A．财源 | B．良心 | C．人品 |
| A．Happy. | B．Sad. | C．Excited. |
| A．Because shoes are hard to match with a person’s feet. |
| B．Because people don’t like wearing new shoes. |
| C．Because “giving shoes” means giving bad luck in Chinese culture. |
| A．Rome was not built in a day. |
| B．No man is wise at all times. |
| C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do. |
Paper cutting is one of the most popular Chinese traditional arts. The history of paper cutting can date back to the 6th century. Its art works are often used to decorate (装饰) doors and windows. But it can also come in special ways. Recently, a group of students from the Naoma Primary School in Shanxi province gave a Hanfu show with paper cutting skills.
The clothes in the show were created (创造) by Wu Wenxiu and her students. Around four years ago, Wu watched a TV show.In it a group of girls wore paper Qipao on stage. Then she got an exciting idea—to make paper cutting Hanfu with her students. By now, they have created more than 40 pieces of paper clothing, and 10 of them were shown to public.
Wu has shown great interest in paper cutting since her childhood. She loves it because she can turn her ideas into a kind of art. But it wasn’t easy when she first started. Wu said, “It was very boring at the beginning. I needed to practise the simple skills every day for 3 to 4 years. There are always many tries before successes.”
In her spare time, Wu enjoys teaching other people paper cutting skills.“I will continue to make more modern paper cutting works. I hope our creative works can make more people get interested in this traditional art,” said Wu.
1. What do we know about paper cutting from paragraph one?| A．It has a history of about 600 years. |
| B．It was used in a Hanfu show lately. |
| C．It is one of the oldest Chinese arts. |
| D．It used to be only put on windows. |
| A．Holding a paper Qipao show. | B．Taking part in a clothing meeting. |
| C．Making Hanfu with paper cuttings. | D．Showing students groups of Hanfu. |
| A．Bored. | B．Excited. | C．Interested. | D．Surprised. |
| A．To teach students more paper cutting skills. |
| B．To attract more people to love paper cutting. |
| C．To hold more paper cutting shows in schools. |
| D．To call on more people to protect paper cutting. |
| A．Nature. | B．Culture. | C．History. | D．Science. |
【推荐1】①There are 56 ethnic (民族的) groups in China. Different ethnic groups have their own special cultures. Let’s enjoy some of them.
②The Bai people use a very old way, tie-dye (扎染), to dye clothes. Tie-dye has a history of nearly 1,500 years. During the Tang and Song dynasties, people chose tie-dyed clothes as gifts.
③The Mongolian people live in the Mongolian yurts (蒙古包). These yurts are large round tents and their tops look like umbrellas. They are the traditional homes of the Mongolian people. The yurts are usually white because they’re made of sheep’s wool. And white is a symbol of happiness.
④The Zhuang people like singing even more than talking. On the third day of the third Chinese lunar (阴历的) month, they hold a big singing festival. It is thrilling and wonderful. Men and women singers sing in pairs. The winners are the “king” and “queen” of singing.
⑤The Miao people have a special festival, Manghao Festival. It’s in the first Chinese lunar month every year. The Miao people regard Manghao as a hero who helped to protect their homes. At the festival, young men dress up like Manghao and touch others to send good wishes.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。1. Who uses tie-dye to dye clothes most?
| A．The Bai people. | B．The Zhuang people. |
| C．The Miao people. | D．The Mongolian people. |
| A．A big festival. | B．A special song. | C．A good wish. | D．A large tent. |
| A．Quick. | B．Busy. | C．Exciting. | D．Easy. |
| A．By singing in pairs. | B．By building houses. |
| C．By choosing tie-dyed clothes as gifts. | D．By dressing up and touching others. |
①=Paragraph 1 ②=Paragraph 2…
A． | B． | C． | D． |
【推荐2】China is a nation of etiquette (礼仪). Chinese people are among the most hospitable people in the world. If foreigners visit a Chinese family, they would be surprised at the warmth that they would receive as guests.
When you visit a Chinese family, the host usually makes tea for you. Then he will serve you snacks like biscuits or candy. Someone in the family will also chat with you, never letting you feel lonely.
At the same time, other family members will prepare a meal for you. Chinese people treat their guests with a big meal. They always serve more food than the guest can eat. On the table, the guests must be the first to eat. To their surprise, the Chinese host likes to pick food for visitors, which won’t happen at western tables. The Chinese family always try their best to make you comfortable at their home. As you finish eating, the host usually says “It seems that you didn’t eat much. Please have more.” Although you tell them you are full, they still put more food in your bowl.
Being warm and hospitable is an important part of Chinese culture and tradition. As Confucius (孔子) said thousands of years ago: To meet friends from afar, how happy we are!
根据短文内容选择最佳答案1. What does the underline word “hospitable” mean in this passage?
| A．friendly | B．hard-working | C．honest |
| A．coffee and snacks | B．juice and snacks | C．tea and snacks |
| A．Because he thinks it’s not polite. |
| B．Because he thinks it’s not friendly. |
| C．Because it won’t happen in western countries. |
| A．To make them comfortable at their home. |
| B．To show their wealth (财富). |
| C．To make them come here again. |
| A．学而时习之，不亦说乎？ |
| B．有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？ |
| C．人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？ |
【推荐3】Carnival
Carnival is the last big festival in summer in Brazil, which may begin 40 days before Easter every year. During the festival, to celebrate their traditions, Brazilians sing and dance in dance halls and clubs, on the streets and beaches or anywhere else in Brazil.
Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most popular traditional festivals celebrated in China, falling on the fifth of the fifth lunar（阴历的）month. The most famous and greatest tradition is holding Dragon Boat races. In addition, during the festival, people make and eat Zongzi. Hanging（悬挂）herbs（草药）on the front door is also popular, which is meant to protect people from evil（邪恶）and illness.
Solnal
Koreans celebrate Solnal, the lunar New Year, with other East Asian countries. Solnal is a time for Koreans to celebrate the traditions with their family. On New Year’s Day, people put on traditional clothes and put food on a special table for the dead members of their family. Family enjoy activities such as kite flying and dancing.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays in the US and it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year. On the day, Americans say “Thank you” to their family, friends and people that help them. On Thanksgiving, people usually have a big turkey dinner and a special party with their family.
1. Why do people hang herbs on Dragon Boat Festival?| A．To put family under protection. | B．To prepare a big dinner for family. |
| C．To have a special party with family. | D．To offer food to dead family members. |
| A．Boat races. | B．Kite flying. | C．Turkey cooking. | D．Front door cleaning. |
| A．About 40 days before Easter. | B．On the last day of lunar year. |
| C．On the fifth of the fifth lunar month. | D．On the fourth Thursday of November. |
| A．They are celebrated on the same day. |
| B．They are both celebrated in East Asian countries. |
| C．People wear the same clothes during the two festivals. |
| D．People dance to celebrate their traditions during the two festivals. |
