Quanzhou is a city with a special custom: wearing zanhua, beautiful flowers in the hair. It has a     1     history and is a part of Quanzhou’s rich culture. Zanhua has been around for many years. In the past, only rich people could wear them,     2     now everyone in Quanzhou can enjoy this custom. It has been passed down from one generation to the next, and it’s     3     very popular today. There are many different     4     of zanhua. Each one is produced     5     skilled people. Some are     6     of silk and look very delicate (易碎的). So women there always     7     put zanhua on their heads. In Quanzhou, people often wear zanhua     8     festivals and special time. For example, when the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival comes, women put zanhua in their hair to     9     and get more joyful. Weddings and birthdays are also time to wear zanbua. The custom of wearing zanhua in Quanzhou is not just about looking     10    . It’s also a way to show the city’s culture and traditions. It adds beauty and joy to many special moments in people’s lives.

3 . 假如你是李华，你校交流生Tom将去中国朋友家做客，发邮件向你询问有关礼仪。请你回复邮件，内容包括：

How are you doing? Learning_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

Fan Liyun is a Chinese teacher. She works at the Confucius Institute (孔子学院) at     1     university in Hungary. This spring term, more students are taking the institute’s courses. Fan was not very much     2     (surprise) by this.

Last year, she offered a course on Chinese tea culture. It     3     (receive) by students quickly.

Fan and her students got together     4     (one) a week for the class. They made and tasted different     5     (type) of Chinese tea. Fan taught the students     6     to perform the tea ceremony (茶道). She also shared tea-related stories     7     them. “It was a great experience,” said Flora, one of Fan’s students. “    8     (drink) tea helped me calm my mind!”

In the future, Fan hopes     9     (set) up a tea culture experience centre at the institute. She wants to help more locals understand Chinese tea culture. “The more experience we share, the     10     (good) cultural exchange we can achieve,” she said. “One good example is having a cup of tea together!”

6 . Do you know the Changxin Palace Lamp? It’s known as the first lamp of China. This lamp is a bronze vessel (青铜器) that was made more than 2,000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty. It was once used by Dou Wan, wife of King Jing.

The whole lamp is designed in the shape of a kneeling maid (侍女) holding a lantern. The unsmiling maid looks quite peaceful and calm. Its round lamp bottom can rotate (旋转), which allows the directions of its light to change. Sixty-five Chinese characters can be found on the lamp.

The whole lamp can be divided into several parts. This design means that it is easy to clean the soot (烟灰) on the lamp. Even better, after the lantern is lit, its smoke directly flows into the empty body of the maid through her right arm so as to keep the indoor air clean. The lamp holder can also store water so as to make the soot of the smoke disappear.

This special design of the Changxin Palace Lamp has been found new value in modern society. Its special design was also used in the flame lantern (火种灯) during the Beijing Winter Olympics. In a word, the Changxin Palace Lamp is a special and valuable artwork in Chinese history. Its special design makes it a wonderful piece of artwork that has stood the test of time.

Little New Year is an important festival in Chinese culture. It usually falls around one week before the Spring Festival. It is also known as the Festival of the Kitchen God. It is believed that people in     1     (north) China celebrate it on the twenty-third day of the     2     (twelve) lunar month, while people in southern China celebrate it on the twenty-fourth. Chinese     3     (family) believe that the Kitchen God will go back to Heaven before the Spring Festival, to tell Yu Huang about different activities of every family. So they gather     4     the kitchen, where the kitchen God’s picture is     5     (put) up, and offer him food and drinks. Then the picture is removed and burned,     6     (mark) the Kitchen God’s journey to heaven to report on the family’s behavior. (Yu Huang will reward (奖励) or punish the family according to the Kitchen God’s report.)

Little New Year is     7     a time for family to get together. People travel long distances to be with their loved ones     8     enjoy a special meal together. This meal often includes     9     (tradition) dishes like niangao and sweet rice balls, which are the symbol of wealth, unity (团结), and     10     (happy).

Little New Year expresses Chinese working people’s longing (渴望) for a better life.