1 . 24 Solar Terms — Frost’s Descent

The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Frost’s Descent (霜降), the 18th solar term of the year, begins this year on October 24, 2023 this year and ends on November 7.     1    . Here are the five things you should know about Frost’s Descent.

Frosty autumn. Frost consists of white ice crystals of frozen water vapour near the ground. During Frost’s Descent, frost begins to appear. But in the lower reaches of the Yellow River region, frost first appears in late October or early November. As Frost’s Descent comes,    2     .

    3     during Frost’s Descent, it can help people resist the cold and protect their bones. In the countryside, people believe that their lips will crack if they don’t eat persimmons (柿子) during this period.

Eating apples. The apple is one kind of recommended fruit during Frost’s Descent. There are many sayings about apples’ benefits in China, such as “Eat an apple after meals, even old men can be as strong as young men,” just as the Western proverb goes, “    4    ”. Apples can moisten the lungs, relieve one’s thirst and help one’s digestion.

Eating duck. It’s a custom to eat duck on the first day of Frost’s Descent in south Fujian province and Taiwan. There is a saying in Fujian which goes, “Even nourishing all year is not as good as nourishing the human body on the first day of Frost’s Descent.” Eating duck is a way for people there to gain weight.

Eating dates. The date is one of the fruits on the market during Frost’s Descent. Nutritious with a great number of vitamins, dates (大枣) can nourish the blood, decrease blood pressure, and improve one’s immunity.     5    .

People in areas such as Daxin county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region often celebrate the first day of Frost’s Descent. In the Frostvs Descent Festival, the Zhuang people offer sacrifices, dance and sing folk songs. With a history of more than 360 years, the festival is to commemorate Cen Yuyin, a heroine in battles against foreign aggression. Frost’s Descent is a big day for all of the Chinese.

A．An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

B．Eating chestnuts during Frost’s Descent is beneficial for one’s health and good for nourishing the spleen and stomach, invigorating the circulation of blood, relieving coughs and reducing sputum.

C．Frost’s Descent is the last solar term of autumn, when the weather becomes colder and frost appears.

D．The pear is another recommended fruit during Frost’s Descent, which can promote the secret ion of body liquids, clear away heat and reduce sputum.

E．the world is filled with the atmosphere of late autumn.

F．Eating persimmons.

G．But eating too many could be harmful and cause headaches, dizziness or even deaths.

3 . 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。

Book Restorers Touch History

—Keeping ancient manuscripts in tip-top condition requires expertise and passion—

Whenever Song Jing visits a museum, she makes a point of checking out the section on ancient books. In addition to appreciating the wisdom     1     (hide) in those historical volumes, she focuses on how they are bound and presented.

Song works in the restoration division for ancient books at the National Library of China which is home to about 3 million ancient manuscripts, many of which require restoration before they can see     2     light of day again. Some books have suffered great loss. Take, for example, a 16th-century copy of Yongle Dadian. Only 3.5 percent of the total publication are known to exist.

The process of     3     (repair) ancient books is complex. Day after day, Song and her colleagues are fully immersed in the duty of handling and healing the old books. Thanks     4     cutting-edge technology, restorers can create paper     5     (incredible) similar to the original version. However, the old-fashioned techniques still come in handy sometimes.     6     (fear) the chemicals in commercially produced paste might harm the books, restorers have to make the glues by themselves. The paste needs to be mixed right before the repair,       7     it will go bad because of sitting for too long.

The valuable cultural heritage that restorers have preserved     8     (serve) as the best evidence of Chinese civilization. Recently, the library has sent     9     (it) specialists like Song to deliver speeches in colleges and on TV. “I’m glad to see such     10     (arrange) and I hope to inspire people to find their passion in the preservation of our traditional culture,” Song says.

4 . 假设你是李华，正在美国一所高中交换学习。近日联合国通过决议，将农历新年列为联合国假日。因此，你所在的学校邀请你为校报写一篇关于春节的主题短文。内容包括：
1.春节的时间；
2.春节的习俗；
3.春节的意义。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Festive China: The Spring Festival

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6 . 假定你是李华，你校将举行一次讲座，主题为：《中国山水画Chinese Landscape Painting》，请你写一封英文电子邮件邀请你的外教David一同参加。
内容包括：1. 讲座的内容、意义；    2. 讲座的时间、地点。
注意：写作词数应为80词左右。
Dear David,
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

7 . 假如你是李华，你校外教Mr. Johnson打算在中国过春节。请你用英文给他写一封电 子邮件，内容包括：
1.邀请他与你共度佳节；
2.介绍春节文化；
3.表达期待和祝愿。
注意：1.词数：100左右；对联：couplet 爆竹：firecracker

2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Mr. Johnson,

I'm glad to hear that you will spend the Spring Festival in China this year.

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Yours,

Li Hua

8 . Traditional Chinese culture is    1    (begin) to capture the attention of the world,this is also true even if popular culture    2    has traditionally been considered Western begins to spread throughout China.

China Kung Fu,especially,has had a great impact    3    millions of people in the world    4    it has been so fascinating in the eyes of westerners.Apart from that,they may come to China and learn about other aspects of this culture,such as traditional operas like the Beijing and Sichuan ones.Asian nations have long known about the    5     (great) of ancient Chinese culture.Their own cultures are a mix of native ones and those Chinese characteristics.

Actually,Korea and Japan long ago    6    (adopt) ideas such as Confucianism as something that continues today even as it is challenged by Pop Culture.This strength comes from the ideas    7    (give) in the Four Books（四书）of Confucianism (The Great Learning,The Doctrine of the Mean,The Analects of Confucius,and The Book of Mencius). These books built upon the ideas of    8    even more ancient period codified in the Five Classics（五经）.From them, the West learns such things as Fengshui and other concepts that are    9    (unique) Chinese.

In recent years,China has taken steps to further this spread of culture by    10    (establish) Chinese Cultural Centers in foreign counties,the United States and Europe,in particular.