1 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar(农历）divides the year into 24 solar terms(节气）．Start of Winter, the 19th solar term of the year,begins this year on Nov 7 and ends on Nov 21.

Start of Winter is the first solar term of winter,which means winter is coming and crops harvested in autumn should he stored up.

In ancient times, the Start of Winter was regarded as the beginning of winter, however,due to geographical factors, the actual winter time varies from place to place.

In fact,the Start of Winter is not the beginning of winter in terms of meteorology(气象学）。The weather every year is different, so the beginning of winter could be quite different.And as China is very large, it starts at different times in different areas.

The beginnings of the four seasons were important festivals in ancient times. Before the Start of Winter,the ancient emperor would take a shower and have no more meat.On that day,the emperor would lead his officials to the countryside and"welcome the winter".

People eat dumplings on the beginning of winter. Legend has it that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty,Zhang Zhongjing invented "Jiao Ear"(娇耳）to treat typhoid(伤寒） patients with ear frostbite(冻疮）.He cooked mutton,hot peppers and herbs to drive out the cold and warm up the body.He put these materials into a dough skin and made them into an ear shape.Since then,people have learned to make the food which became known as "dumpling" or jiaozi. Today there is still a saying that goes "Eat dumplings on Start of Winter Day, or your ears will be frostbitten.”

1. Which of the following is right about Start of Winter?

A．It is one of the solar terns in Chinese calendar.

B．People begin to harvest crops on this day.

C．Winter begins on November 7 this year.

D．It begins in different months in different places.

2. What does it in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．the Start of Winter

B．the change of weather

C．the important festival

D．the beginning of winter

3. What do the last two paragraphs mainly talk about?

A．Importance of Start of Winter.

B．Customs of Start of Winter.

C．Origin(起源）of Start of Winter.

D．Food eaten on Start of Winter.

4. Why do people eat dumplings on Start of Winter day?

A．Because dumplings can drive away typhoid.

B．Because they wish for good luck for themselves.

C．Because eating dumplings can warm up their ears.

D．Because they want to prevent the coming of winter.