1 . The 15-day Spring Festival is the biggest holiday of the year for many Chinese to leave from their jobs to travel home and see their loved ones. But along with gathering come a lot of traditions aimed at making sure the year ahead is lucky and happy.
Here are some key dos and don’ts that many Chinese follow before and after the Lunar New Year.
DOs
Set off fireworks
The more fireworks or firecrackers you set off, the better.
Not only do you light up the night sky with a symphony of color, but the loud banging sounds are thought to scare off evil spirits.
Eat dumplings
Eating dumplings is a popular tradition in northern China because dumplings not only taste good but also look like pieces of gold.
Clean your home
Sweep, mop, vacuum, steam-do anything and everything to make sure your home is clean before the midnight on Lunar New Year eve. The aim here is to free your home from any bad luck that’s accumulated over the past year.
DON’Ts
Wash or cut your hair
Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year.
The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word for prosperity(发达).
This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your fortune away.
Clean post-New Year
Cleaning of any kind on the first day is strictly forbidden.
You clean your home to avoid any bad luck before the New Year - now you want to be sure not to wipe, sweep or wash away any of the good luck that arrives after midnight.
Buy books
It’s bad luck to buy them during the 15-day Spring Festival.
The Chinese word for "book" (shū) sounds exactly the same as the word for "lose’"-so buying a book is considered an invitation to bad luck.
Also, avoid giving books as gifts to anyone, because it’d be like wishing bad luck upon them.
1. Why is the Spring Festival the best time for many Chinese people according to the text?| A．They can enjoy a lor of delicious dishes. |
| B．They can get together with their family members. |
| C．It’s time for them to say good-bye to the past year. |
| D．The festival will bring them good luck and happiness. |
| A．setting off fireworks | B．enjoying tasty dumplings |
| C．cleaning your home | D．leaving your books untouched |
| A．Advertisement. | B．Literature. |
| C．Culture. | D．Travel. |
2 . Share your poems, get feedback (反馈) for your poetry, and enter poetry contests (竞 赛). Choose from the following poetry contests that you can enter. Get feedback for every poem that you write including your contest entries.
How It Works
As a member, you will get feedback for everything you write. You can enter poetry contests with cash prizes. You will be ranked ( 分等级). Write and see how the feedback you receive influences your rank. Since the year 2000 we have been helping writers improve their writing skills.
Poetry Contests in May
Friendship across cultures
Write a story about a friend that opened your world to another culture.
Deadline: Today!
Technology wars
Write a story on the topic provided in the announcement.
Deadline: Today!
Lyrics make the song
Poetry Contests in June
Pen your newest, and best, song lyric masterpieces and enter them into this contest.
NO POETRY ALLOWED FOR THIS CONTEST!
Must be song lyrics only.
Deadline: June 1st
Unexpected romance
Write a story that brings two people together, two people who don't necessarily realize that they belong together but the audience is rooting for them. Write a story for a cash prize.
Deadline: June 15th
*Click the following link to get more information: https://www.poetrylovers.cn/
1. Which of the following statements about the contests in May is NOT true?| A．They are topic-based. |
| B．They offer feedback to every entry. |
| C．The contestants can write whatever they like. |
| D．Entries are due when this announcement comes out. |
| A．can’t hand in a poem |
| B．should sing a song |
| C．get an opportunity to win a cash prize |
| D．must enter your work before July 3rd |
| A．A writing guide book. | B．A poetry magazine. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A website. |
3 . No video games are allowed after 10 pm. It is not allowed to play games for more than 90 minutes on non-holidays. No more than 400 yuan per month is allowed to buy virtual weapons and costumes.
The Chinese government has issued new regulations aimed at controlling teenager’s addiction to video games. Some officials believe that this problem is the reason why more and more young people are suffering from myopia (近视) and poor learning. The rules forbid users under the age of 18 from playing between 10 pm and 8 am. The rules demand that they shouldn’t play more than 90 minutes on non-holidays and more than 3 hours on weekends and other holidays.
Officials have taken stronger measures to monitor large technology companies and promote them to help spread the advocated cultural values. The official media regarded some games as “poisons” and banned some violent games. In addition, minors (未成年人) must use real names and ID numbers when they log into the game. These regulations also limit the a-mount of money that teenagers can use to purchase virtual items such as weapons, clothing, and pets through the app.
Analysts said that these regulations have been largely predicted by the industry and are unlikely to affect its earnings. However, young gamers may also find ways to bypass (绕开) the rules, such as using the parent’s phone number and ID number. “There will always be something imperfect,” said Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at Niko Partners. However, he added that thanks to the regulations, China is now one of the most regulated video game markets in the world.
Yang Bingben is the owner of an industrial technology company. He noticed that his son often plays games that don’t require networking and is difficult to control. “We have something new to replace the games,” he said, “our thinking should be to build more stadiums, such as football stadiums and basketball courts.”
1. The new regulations will help Chinese teenagers with their ________.| A．intelligence | B．personalities |
| C．study and eyesight | D．constitutions and morals |
| A．They are adjustable. | B．They are effective. |
| C．They are creative. | D．They are worthless. |
| A．Teenagers are spending more time in the stadiums. |
| B．Football and basketball will be popular with teenagers. |
| C．Getting rid of the addiction to video games is impossible. |
| D．Doing sports helps prevent teenagers playing video games. |
| A．Literature. | B．Education. |
| C．Fashion. | D．Sport. |
4 . The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert (警觉的). Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus—until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns: she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?
Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly(随意地)on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise(同样地) when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.
1. The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby's ________.| A．sense of hearing | B．sense of sight |
| C．sense of touch | D．sense of smell |
| A．the size of cards | B．the colour of pictures |
| C．the shape of patterns | D．the number of objects |
| A．To reduce the difficulty of the experiment. |
| B．To see how babies recognize sounds. |
| C．To carry their experiment further. |
| D．To keep the babies' interest. |
| A．Science fiction. | B．Children’s literature. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．A science report. |
