2 . Many traditional Chinese festivals remind us of the aromas of special foods. As zongzi are to Dragon Boat Festival and mooncakes are to Mid-Autumn Festival, yuanxiao—sweet dumplings made of sticky rice flour—are special to Lantern Festival.

Lantern Festival falls on the 15th of the first lunar month, marking the end of the Spring Festival celebrations. This year, it falls on March 2.

Apart from the round-shaped yuanxiao, another beloved part of the celebration is the lanterns, which come in almost every possible size and shape. In old times, riddles were pasted onto them so that people could try to solve them while looking at the beauty of the lanterns. However, both tradition and handicraft have become less popular among young people.

Lantern Festival was at its height in the Tang and Song dynasties. It was a day of great fun back then. In the evening, people went into the streets with all kinds of lanterns, watching lion or dragon dances, eating yuanxiao and setting off firecrackers.

The festival also provided a chance for unmarried young girls to go out freely in search of their true love, since they weren’t normally allowed to do so. The famous Song Dynasty poet Ouyang Xiu recorded this romantic tradition with the well-known line: “Atop the willow tree hangs the moon: my date comes in the evening soon.”

1. Besides eating yuanxiao, what other tradition is popular during Lantern Festival?

A．Setting off fireworks.	B．Solving riddles on lanterns.
C．Watching movies.	D．Eating mooncakes.

2. During which dynasties was the Lantern Festival most popular?

A．Tang and Song.

B．Ming and Qing.

C．Qin and Han.

D．Sui and Tang.

3. How do you translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A．月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后。	B．床前明月光，疑是地上霜。
C．海上生明月，天涯共此时。	D．明月几时有，把酒问青天。

3 . Lion dancing is very popular among Chinese all over the world. It often happens during the new year days. The lions dance to the beat of a drum. They are not ______ lions. They are dancers in lion clothes.

The lions are part of the ______ for centuries. It started in China. It means bringing good ______ in the coming year. In many Asian countries, it’s usually ______ in January or February.

Usually, a lion is made up of two dancers. One dancer controls the head, the other controls the body and ______.

“I think of it ______ a sport,” says William Huang aged 16. He is a member of the New York Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club. William ______ as the lion’s head. It can weigh 20 pounds. Lion dancing is important to William. “This tradition really attracts (吸引) all the Chinese people around the world,” he says.

In the past, lion dancing was performed mostly by men. ______ it has changed nowadays. LionDance Me is a lion dancing group. ______ is in San Francisco, California. There are boys and girls in the group. They dance together.

Betty Chen is 17. She says anyone can ______ lion dancing. “You have to have confidence that you can do it,” she says.

1.

A．big

B．real

C．smart

D．strong

2.

A．story

B．skill

C．tradition

D．history

3.

A．way

B．luck

C．time

D．habit

4.

A．counted

B．changed

C．collected

D．celebrated

5.

A．tail

B．head

C．legs

D．arms

6.

A．as

B．by

C．for

D．with

7.

A．sings

B．watches

C．acts

D．teaches

8.

A．If

B．And

C．But

D．Because

9.

A．He

B．It

C．One

D．She

10.

A．take off

B．take down

C．take away

D．take up

4 . Baduanjin Exercise for Children (《少儿八段锦》) is a new book for children to do exercise. It is the very first of its ______. The book introduces one of the most popular ______ Chinese fitness exercises. Ba means “eight”, duan means “pieces” and jin means something beautiful like ______. There are eight movements in total. People are like beautiful silk ______ they’re doing the sport.

Baduanjin can date back to the Song Dynasty. It is easy to learn, and doesn’t ______ much space or time. Through deep and slow breathing, our muscles will relax and our minds will be calm. It’s a ______ sport for both men and women, young and old. It makes thin people strong and fat people lose weight.

To meet the needs and tastes of young learners, the writer of the book have made some ______ to the ancient exercise. The book is ______ of simple words. Besides the introduction to each movement, it also tells the basic health knowledge about doing exercise. And there are also the ______ backgrounds and interesting stories about the sport in the book.

By scanning QR codes (二维码) in the pages, readers can watch videos and ______ them to learn every movement of the traditional fitness exercise.

Now the book has been translated into English and Russian. It becomes popular in many countries.

1.

A．kind

B．invention

C．value

D．form

2.

A．personal

B．natural

C．traditional

D．national

3.

A．cotton

B．wood

C．wool

D．silk

4.

A．until

B．while

C．as

D．since

5.

A．spend

B．take

C．cost

D．pay

6.

A．boring

B．exciting

C．healthy

D．surprising

7.

A．cards

B．mistakes

C．changes

D．laws

8.

A．busy

B．full

C．filled

D．careful

9.

A．local

B．classical

C．musical

D．historical

10.

A．remember

B．study

C．instruct

D．follow

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据其内容填空和回答问题。(1至4题每题答案不超过3个单词，5题须用完整句子回答。)

As one of the operas that started in Beijing, Beijing Opera has a history of over 200 years. In the beginning, there was no Beijing Opera. Kun Opera (昆曲) was the most popular, but Emperor Qianlong gradually became bored with this style. Plenty of local operas were brought to Beijing to please the emperor. Then new Beijing Opera formed and became Qianlong’s favorite. Later, it became popular among the public. Beijing Opera gradually became the most influential style of opera in China and was named the “national treasure” of China.

It’s not easy to become a Beijing Opera actor. They have to train from early childhood as they need to master almost all the performing arts, like singing, dancing and acting. Lulu, an 8-year-old girl who was learning the skills in a group, had to get up at 5:00 a. m. in the early morning to practice. The biggest problem Lulu had was learning the way of singing. “In the beginning, my throat was painful because I was using my voice in the wrong way.” she said. Then she asked the teachers for help. With the help of the teachers, she improved a lot.

It’s time to think about Beijing Opera’s development. The young generation (一代) doesn’t grow up in the environment of watching Beijing Opera. Besides, it’s not easy for them to understand the dialogue. Also, the music doesn’t fit young people’s taste. So we still have to rethink the development of its unpopularity among young people so that it can be passed down from generation to generation and become a shining star that never falls through human art history.

1. Before Beijing Opera formed, people liked _______ best.
2. To become a Beijing Opera actor, they have to ______________ from childhood.
3. Lulu’s teachers helped her to ______________ correctly.
4. Beijing Opera is not _______ among young people now.
5. If a Beijing Opera actor is invited to your school, what do you want to ask him/her about Beijing Opera? Why?
____________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . 阅读下面短文，从框内6个选项中选出能分别填入5个小题空白处的最佳选项。

A. by     B. also     C. because     D. sky     E. growing     F. of

Many popular legends and poems are about the moon. They all show how Chinese people admire the moon.

The most famous legend is about the lady Chang’e. Long ago, people said there were ten suns in the     1    . Her husband Hou Yi shot down nine of them. The Empress of Heaven gave him a magic pill (仙丹) as a reward. This pill would make him live forever. However, Chang’e took the pill     2     accident. Then she flew to the moon and lived there forever.

Another legend tells the story of a woodcutter (伐木工) named Wu Gang. He had to cut down the tree     3     he once made the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) angry. But the magical   tree kept     4     back. So he had to work endlessly.

The moon     5     inspires (激发灵感) people to write poems. For example, Su Shi of the Song Dynasty wrote his famous The Mid-Autumn Festival Tune: Prelude to Water Melody (《水调歌头·明月几时有》) during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

7 . 阅读下面的短文，然后根据短文内客回答问题，并将答案填写在答题卡上对应题号的横线上。

Do you often see someone make coffee art? But do you know people can do the same thing with tea? People make tea art in cups, or dian cha in Chinese. It was a ritual (仪式) during the Song Dynasty.

Chinese tea culture started to become popular during the Tang Dynasty. Different from the way of brewing tea (泡茶) during the Tang Dynasty, in the Song Dynasty the popular way of having tea was through dian cha. It begins like this. First people pour to water over fine powered tea to make a paste (糊状物). Then they pour more hot water slowly. At the same time, people need to whisk (搅动) the tea. This action of pouring hot water is called dian, so it’s called dian cha.

Now many people are interested in this special way of drinking tea. They think dian cha makes drinking tea fun.

1. When was Dian cha a ritual?
________________________________________________________________
2. Did Chinese tea become popular during the Tang Dynasty?
________________________________________________________________
3. How did most people drink tea in Tang Dynasty?
________________________________________________________________
4. How many steps are there to make Dian cha?
________________________________________________________________
5. What do you think of Dian cha?
________________________________________________________________

8 .

You may think you cannot live through summer without air conditioners (空调). But in ancient China, hand fans were almost the only help for people to drive the heat away.

Chinese people started to use hand fans over 2,000 years ago. The fans came in different shapes, such as round and square. They were also made from all kinds of materials (材料). Palm leaf (棕榈叶) fans were cheap and easy to make. Feather fans showed the owner’s high status (地位). Sandalwood fans could send out a sweet smell.

Later, hand fans became far more than just something that could cool you down. They developed into artworks, in which tuanshan and zheshan were the most common.

In the shape of a full moon, tuanshan was usually made of silk. They had beautiful embroidery(刺绣) of birds and flowers on them. Women liked to use them very much. Poets in ancient China often compared a woman’s life to tuanshan, Nalan Xingde wrote during the Qing Dynasty, “If only life were as beautiful as when we first met, why should the autumn wind bother to pity deserted painted fans? ”

However, men, especially the literati (文人), used zheshan. The literati liked them because zheshan were usually made of paper and they could paint and write something on them. It was a way for them to show off their talents in literature (文学), painting and calligraphy (书法). In fact, almost anything can be painted on zheshan.

Today, Chinese people still use these fans. So the next time you use a fan, you may think of the stories behind it.

1. When did Chinese people begin to use hand fans?

A．Over 2000 years ago.

B．During the Qing Dynasty.

C．During the Tang Dynasty.

2. Which is the better lines for the underlined sentence in Chinese?

A．裁作合欢扇，团圆似明月

B．银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤

C．人生若只如初见，何事秋风悲画扇

3. The fourth paragraph tells us ________.

A．tuanshan was important to women

B．tuanshan was usually made of silk

C．tuanshan was popular among the literati

4. What do we know about zheshan?
a. Zheshan were made only for the literati.             b. Most zheshan were made of paper.
c. People could write and paint on them.             d. The literati could paint nothing on them.

A．ab

B．cd

C．bc

5. What can we know according to the passage?

A．Hand fans can help people to drive the heat away.

B．All the hand fans were cheap and easy to make.

C．Hand fans were seen as a symbol of rich people.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Many foreigners move to China because of a strong interest in its culture. One man has turned his interest     1     love and this love made him write many books about China. He is William, an American who has lived in China     2     35 years, his Chinese name is Pan Weilian. His Chinese friends call him “Lao Pan”.

In 1988, Lao Pan first came to China and worked as a teacher at     3     university. But Lao Pan did not understand China     4     he and his family took a 3-month journey around the county. These experiences in China gave him ideas for his books. Since then, he     5     (write) thirteen books about China already. These books give the world a much     6     (good) understanding of China than before and Lao Pan is proud (自豪) of what he is doing.

Lao Pan’s new book     7     (include) his forty-seven letters to his family back in America. The letters show China’s     8     (develop) in different times. Lao Pan often says he loves China and     9     (it) people so much. He thinks it is his life-long job     10     (let) more westerns know what China is like. He will continue telling the China’s stories to the world.