Why do Chinese people think getting a haircut in the first lunar month will harm their uncles?

In Chinese tradition, it is said that getting a haircut during the first lunar month would cause one’s mother’s brother to die. Although this is not true, some people still choose to avoid cutting their hair during this time. They wait until Dragon Head-Raising (龙抬头), the second day of the second lunar month, to line up outside barber shops (理发店).

Nobody knows why haircuts have anything to do with one’s uncles. One popular theory (理论) says the tradition might have started during the early years of the Qing Dynasty (清朝). At the time, as new rulers, the Manchu people forced the Han people to cut their hair in the Manchu style. Many Han people refused to do it. They decided not to cut their hair during the first lunar month, saying it was to “commemorate the former dynasty”, or in Chinese, “思旧”. Since “思旧” sounds very similar to “dead uncle”, there may have been a misunderstanding and thus the “no haircut” tradition.

Ancient Chinese people thought that the human body, including one’s skin and hair, was something that was naturally given by one’s parents and should not be changed. Therefore, they cherished their hair very much and considered cutting hair to be a great insult (侮辱) to one’s parents.

But this doesn’t mean they never took care of their hair. They would wash, comb and trim (修整) their hair regularly.

The fastest driverless train is running on the first smart high-speed railway in the world. It     1    (call)Fuxing, running on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway. It connects Beijing and Zhangjiakou—the two host     2    (city)of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The new high-speed railway was built along an old historic railway, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway. It was known     3    the first railway designed and built by Chinese people alone. It was completed in 1909 and was designed by Zhang Tianyou, the “Father of China’s Railway”.

The train on the railway is the first of its kind that is covered by China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System(北斗卫星导航系统). The train runs between stations all by     4    (it). It starts and stops, opens and closes doors, as well as deals with what happens     5    (sudden). What’s more, the train can be repaired by robots. All the stations along the railway have different robots to work for passengers(乘客), like     6    (carry)luggage and giving directions.

There are 10 stations along the 174-kilometer railway. The train can run     7    (quick) , and the travel time between the two cities is cut down     8    over 3 hours to 47 minutes.

Now China has     9    (excellent)high-speed railway system in the world. From 35 to 350 kilometers per hour, the both old and young railway is a witness(见证者)to the rapid     10    (develop)of China’s railway.

3 . It was a sunny day yesterday. After a whole day’s work in my office, I walked home. On the busy street, I saw a young man ___________ some small toys around the corner. Usually, I would hurry past such sellers and never buy anything. But when I noticed he was ___________, I decided to stand there for some time. I wanted to see how he sold his toys.

Soon, a little girl came with her mother and wanted a toy that could ___________ a noise. Kids liked such toys because the noise sounded really funny.

The toy was 18 yuan. The mother ___________ out a 20-yuan note. She told the young man how much she was giving him and wanted the change(找零)___________. I was wondering what he was going to do next. He told the mother to put the money in his bag and get the change ___________. Then she did so.

What the young man did shocked me. He chose to trust people even if he couldn’t see. He let me know believing in people is a ___________ thing. It brings us warmth and love. I was so touched that I made a decision to buy a toy although I didn’t need it at all. He said it ___________ 18 yuan and I told him that I had only one 20-yuan note. Again he told me to do the same thing as the mother. I put my 20 yuan in his bag, but I didn’t take any change.

As I walked down the street, I saw another little girl with her father and gave her the toy I bought. She looked at me in surprise and then thanked me ___________ I was happy to see the smile on her face.

The young man was a good example to us all. On my way home, I kept thinking the world would be a better place if we all could learn to trust people more, just like the young blind   ____________.

4 . In today’s world, sleep experts say that for a better night’s rest, Americans should turn off their smartphones or iPad before sleeping. Such electronic products make the brain more active, and then influence their sleep. But according to a latest survey, more than 90% of Americans regularly use a computer or some other kinds of electronic products in the hour before bed.

Researchers are finding that man-made light from some electronic products at night may reduce the brain chemicals(化学物质) that help sleep. The researchers showed that sitting in the light from computer tablets clearly lowered levels of the chemical which manages our body clocks and plays a role in the sleep cycle.

In the study, the researchers let volunteers read, play games and watch movies on a tablet for different time while measuring(测量) how much light their eyes received. They found that two hours of sitting before a bright tablet screen at night reduced the sleep chemical levels by about 22%.

Studies of students using computers at night have got the similar results. And researchers say that may not only cause sleeplessness, but also raise the risk of obesity(肥胖症), diabetes(糖尿病) and other diseases.

To be on the safe side, the researchers advise us to use computers less before bed, or at the very least turning down your screen as much as possible.

College can be very expensive in America.     1     (depend)on their families, financial situations, students may receive financial aid in the form of loans or grants. Loans must be paid back to the lender, but grants(助学金)are usually free aid from either the government     2     the schools themselves to pay for     3     (education) expenses. Another form of financial help is scholarship. Like grants, they are financial assistance that doesn't need to    4     (repay).

    5           (general) speaking, scholarships are often given by private organizations or individuals. There are     6     (various) of scholarships, and students often do not know what financial aid can be available     7     them. In order to help with the processes of searching and applying, some websites such as Fastweb. com assist students in finding scholarships     8     match their abilities and interests. On the website, there is a form     9     (fill) out. This provides information like education level, interests, and experience. Another popular feature of the website is the college search function. Students can look up colleges according to location major, or a     10     (combine)of these.

10 . On September 25, 2019, the Daxing International Airport, Beijing's new airport, opened to the public. It is said to be the world's largest terminal（航站楼）in a single building, and is expected to receive nearly 72 million passengers by 2025.

The airport is accessible in all directions. lt is about 46 kilometers south of Tian'amnen Square, 26 kilometers west of Langfang City, 55 kilometers northeast of Xiongan New Area, and 67 kilometers away from the old Beijing Capital International Airport. Passengers can take the Daxing airport subway line from the centre of Beijing to get to the airport in just 19 minutes.

The idea of the Beijing Capital's second international airport could date back to the yea of 2006. Two years later in 2008, a team for the new airport was set up. In 2011, the project of Daxing Airport was kicked off. In December, 2016, Daxing Airports main terminal building was finished. The airport terminal, with an area of more than 1, 000, 000 m², was completed on June 30, 2019.

Daxing International Airport has also adopted various new technologies to make it smarter and more efficient. Now technologies including facial recognition are used in the airport, allowing passengers to use their faces to check in, which is 40% faster than traditional airports. The new airport is sure to help with the development of the local areas.