1 . Little New Year usually falls a week before the lunar New Year. It is also known as the Festival of the Kitchen God, the deity(神) who oversees the moral character of each household. Here are five things you should know about the Little New Year, another sign of the start of spring.

1.Offer sacrifices to Kitchen God

One of the most distinctive traditions of the Little New Year is the burning of a paper image of the Kitchen God, who will report on the family’s conduct over the past year. The offerings to the Kitchen God include pig’s head, fish, sweet bean paste, melons, fruit, boiled dumplings, barley sugar, and Guandong candy. Most of the offerings are sweets of various varieties. It is thought that this will seal the Kitchen God’s mouth and encourage him to only say good things about the family when he ascends to heaven to make his report.

2.House cleaning

According to Chinese folk beliefs, during the last month of the year ghosts and deities must choose either to return to Heaven or to stay on Earth. It is believed that in order to ensure the ghosts and deities’ timely departure people must thoroughly clean both their persons and their houses, down to every last drawer and cupboard.

3.Paste paper-cuts to windows

In the Little New Year, old couplets and paper-cuts from the previous Spring Festival are taken down, and new window decorations, New Year’s posters, and auspicious(吉利的) decorations are pasted up.

4.Bath and hair-cut

As the old Chinese saying goes, whether they’re rich or poor, people often have a haircut before the Spring Festival. The activity of taking bath and haircut is often taken on the Little New Year.

5.Preparations for the Spring Festival

People start to stock up necessary provisions for the Spring Festival since the Little New Year. Everything needed to make offerings to the ancestors, entertain guests, and feed the family over the long holiday must be purchased in advance.

1. What is the Kitchen God’s duty in the man’s world?

A．Collecting the information of the man’s world.

B．Protecting the character of each home.

C．Gathering sacrifices for other Gods in heaven.

D．Watching out for the moral people in the world.

2. Why are most of the offerings sweets?

A．Because the Kitchen God loves sweet foods.

B．As it is the traditional customs.

C．As people hope the God says good for them.

D．Because sweets are the best sacrifices.

3. What do we know from the passage?

A．Little New Year always falls in February.

B．House cleaning is to welcome the New Year.

C．In the Little New Year only paper-cuts are pasted up.

D．People will make full preparations for the coming New Year.

4. What is the most unusual tradition in the Little New Year?

A．Offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God.

B．Burning paper image of the Kitchen God.

C．Preparing the necessity for the New Year.

D．Cleaning house and people themselves.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白出填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Chinese jump rope, also known as tiaopijin, is a children’s game resembling hopscotch (跳房子). One reason     1     its popularity is the fact that although the moves can be quite     2     (challenge), the game itself is very simple. There’s no need for players     3     (buy) expensive equipment since what they need is only a rope.

The game     4     (begin) in 7th-century China. In the 1960s, children in the West World adopted the game. The game is     5     (typical) played in a group of at least 3 players with a rope about 16 feet in     6     (long) tied into a circle. Two players face each other standing 9 feet apart, and position the rope around     7     (they) ankles so that it is tightly stretched. The third player stands between the two sides of the rope and tries to perform a series of moves without making     8     error or pausing.

There are many jump patterns, most of     9     are accompanied by a song. This is sometimes called the “first level”. The jumper tries to complete the chosen pattern. If the moves     10     (complete) successfully, then the rope is moved farther up and the series is repeated.

3 . In the long history of about 5,000 years, numerous Chinese traditional festivals were celebrated in memory of gods or some significant days, some of which are passed down from generation to generation and people always practice special traditional activities in each festival.

Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival is on the 15th day after Spring Equinox, round April 4 or April 5 every year.     1     They remove the weeds growing on the ancestors’ tombs to make them clean, so this festival is also called Tomb-sweeping Festival. In some areas, people are forbidden to use fire to cook food, so they only eat cool food.

Double Ninth Festival

    2    The Chinese character of September is the same as 9, so we get this special name. Chinese people, especially the north Chinese, climb the mountains to the peak to enjoy the wonderful scenery, and admire the beauty of chrysanthemum.

Winter Solstice(冬至)

Winter Solstice is on around December 22 or 23 of solar calendar each year. From Winter Solstice on, the daytime will be longer and longer.     3     In the northern region, people eat dumplings and wonton(馄饨), while in the southern region rice balls.

    4    

In China, this festival is in late January or early February, the last day of the Lunar year. People celebrate it by having a family reunion dinner, setting off fireworks and staying up late. Breaking the dishes and bowls is a thing all the people scare, but if you did it, you have to say: “sui sui ping an”.     5    

A．New Year’s Eve

B．Spring Festival

C．People will go to worship their ancestors.

D．People always visit their friends and relatives.

E．That day people in different regions eat different food.

F．It is a pun(双关语), meaning you will be healthy every year.

G．It is celebrated on Sept. 9th of the Lunar Calendar, around October.

5 . 假定你是李华，你的美国留学生朋友Jack来信说他所在的学校要开办很多弘扬中国优秀传统文化的俱乐部，比如中国书法，武术，剪纸，厨艺，太极，中医等，他想征询你的意见。请你根据下面的要点提示，给他回复一封电子邮件:
1. 你所推荐的俱乐部；   2. 推荐理由；     3. 你的期待。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使得行文连贯。
Dear Jack,
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Yours,

Li Hua