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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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 . I travel a lot, and I find out different styles(风格)of directing the way every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks (地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will answer the travellers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. You are seeing that the post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat. In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile. ”
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map；they measure (测量) distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask, “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea. ” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know”. People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get lost in Yucatan!
1. Where do people measure distance in time?| A．New York. | B．Los Angeles. | C．Kansas. | D．Iowa. |
| A．It’s important for travellers to understand cultural differences. |
| B．It’s useful for travellers to know how to ask the way properly. |
| C．People have similar understandings of politeness. |
| D．New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors. |
3 . I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles” of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office？”
Foreign tourists are often confused in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks（地标）in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office？” you ask. “Oh,” they answer “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it？” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan！
1. When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place, they usually ______.| A．describe the place carefully. | B．show him a map of the place. |
| C．tell him the names of the streets. | D．refer to recognizable buildings and places. |
| A．New York. | B．Los Angeles. | C．Kansas. | D．Iowa. |
| A．To show cultural differences in showing directions. |
| B．To show how to ask the way properly in different countries. |
| C．To explain why people have similar understanding of direction. |
| D．To share the experience of traveling around the world. |
4 . My guide Farah, a tall, slim woman in her late 30s, wears jeans and a simple manteau. In public, wearing this robe(长袍）,covering neck to knee is a must for women in Iran. Her long, straight black hair is hidden beneath her headscarf.
We're heading to Tajrish Bazaar in north Tehran, to explore ten different kinds of dried plums and other goodies. We choose the Metro- Farah for its convenience, and I, for a chance to go underground in the capital of Iran, because it provides a picture of the city most tourists never see.
Women and men sit separately on the train, but the rule is relaxed during busy times, like now. We, along with a few other women, clasp(握紧）our hands around a pole, standing next to men, young and old. Two stops later, and about 20 commuters（通勤者）fewer, segregation happens naturally-women at one and,men at the other, still within view,but separate.
A handful of fashionable girls admire their own reflections in the window. They wear tight leggings under their brightly colored robes, pushing back headscarves and boundaries. We find seats next to a group of conservative women dressed in black cloaks（斗篷）called chador. They are nothing like the other women I have met, most of them liberal.
＂We're a nation with one language," Farah says, “divided in two-traditional and modern."She tells me that it' all began, not with imports from the West, but with the 1979 revolution. A combination of education and a bad economy created a society where women now have independence, careers, and husbands feel obliged to help with household chores.
1. Why did the author choose to take the Metro?| A．Because it was accessible and convenient. |
| B．Because she would see a more realistic city. |
| C．Because she could sit separately on the train. |
| D．Because she would travel markets for goodies. |
| A．In rush hours. | B．At dawn. | C．At midday. | D．At midnight. |
| A．Conflict. | B．Isolation. | C．Combination. | D．Discrimination. |
| A．Iranian girls can dress as freely as they like. |
| B．Iran has strict rules for seating arrangements. |
| C．Iranian men never offer help with housework. |
| D．Wearing a robe is a daily routine of Iranian women. |
参考词汇:博饼 mooncake gambling
骰子:dice
注意事项:1. 词数120左右
2. 可以根据需要适当增加细节
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