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 six 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. Eat Guandong candy
Guandong candy, a sticky treat made out of glutinous millet and sprouted wheat, is a traditional snack that Chinese people eat on the Festival of the Kitchen God.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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 most unusual tradition in the Little New Year?| A．Offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God. |
| B．Burning a paper image of the Kitchen God. |
| C．Preparing the necessities for the New Year. |
| D．Cleaning houses and people themselves. |
| 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．Because it is the traditional custom. |
| C．Because 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. |
2 . The winter solstice(冬至)is an important solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar, and means the coming of winter. It generally occurs between December 21st and 23rd. According to the traditional Chinese calendar, one year is divided into twenty-four solar terms. On this day, in the northern hemisphere the period of daytime is the shortest of the year and the period of night is the longest.
In northern China there is a custom of eating dumplings during the winter solstice. The tradition of eating dumplings during the winter solstice has its origin in early times. It is said that dumplings were invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a well-known doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
One winter, he noticed that many people's ears were frostbitten, which made him sad. In order to prevent and cure the freezing injury caused by cold, he asked his followers to boil mutton, chilies and other ingredients with medicinal properties in a pot for fending off cold. After these were boiled, they ladled(舀)the mutton and other ingredients out of the pot, cut them into pieces, and then wrapped them in dough skins in the shape of ears. Afterwards, they put these into the pot to boil again.
On the day of the winter solstice, people whose ears were frostbitten were sent to eat the dumplings. People who ate dumplings felt warm from head to toe and had their cold injury healed. Thereafter, people ate dumplings every winter solstice. Then it became a custom that if you eat dumplings during the winter solstice, your ears won't get frostbite.
Afterwards, Zhang Zhongjing died on the day of the winter solstice. In order to honour him, every year on the day of the winter solstice every household makes dumplings.
1. Which of the following should be the best title for the passage?| A．The Custom of Eating Dumplings |
| B．The Inventor of Dumplings |
| C．The Importance of Eating Dumplings |
| D．The Origin of the Winter Solstice |
| A．The winter solstice is the most important among twenty-four solar terms. |
| B．Australia in the southern hemisphere has the longest period of daytime on the winter solstice. |
| C．If people don't eat dumplings, they will have their ears frostbitten. |
| D．China has the longest period of daytime on the winter solstice. |
| A．they want to honour Zhang Zhongjing, who invented dumplings to cure people's freezing injury |
| B．they want to celebrate the important solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar |
| C．dumplings boiled with mutton, chilies and other ingredients with medicinal properties taste delicious |
| D．they can feel warm from head to toe and have their freezing injury healed |
3 . While telling others your zodiac sign (星座), you are being evaluated (评估). Evaluations are being made about your luck, your personality, future development and how you will do in a given year. So what is the Chinese zodiac, exactly? It’s a 12-year cycle labeled (标记) with animals, starting with a Rat and ending with a Pig. For example, if you were born in 2004, you are a Monkey.
The Chinese believe some animals are luckier than the others, such as the Dragon. Unlike in Western tradition, the Chinese Dragon stands for power, strength and wealth. It’s everyone’s dream to have a Dragon baby. Ma Yun’s parents must have been very proud. And they are not the only ones. In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, the birthrate in China increased by about 5%. That means another one million more babies. With a traditional preference for baby boys, the boy-girl ratio that year was 120 to 100. When those Dragon boys grow up, they will face much more serious competition in love and job markets.
According to the BBC and Chinese government reports, January 2015 saw a peak of cesarean sections (剖腹产术高峰). Why? That was the last month for the Year of the Horse. It’s not because they like horses so much, it’s because they try to avoid having unlucky Goat babies.
Tiger is another unwelcome animal, because of its dangerous and unstable (不稳定的) personality. Many Chinese places saw a considerable decline of birthrate during those years.
Perhaps one should consider zodiac in a different way, as those Tiger and Goat babies will face much less competition. Maybe they are the lucky ones. I went through the Forbes top 300 richest people in the world, and it’s interesting to see the most unwelcome two animals, the Goat and Tiger, are at the top of the list, even higher than the Dragon. So maybe we should consider that it’s much better to have less competition.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?| A．Dragon boys are much more competitive when growing up. |
| B．There were about one million dragon babies in 2012. |
| C．There were 20% more boys than girls born in 2012. |
| D．Ma Yun is proud that he is a Dragon. |
| A．People wanted to have Horse babies very much. |
| B．People considered Goat babies to be unlucky. |
| C．It’s the first month of the year. |
| D．People tried to avoid dangers. |
| A．Drop. | B．Need. |
| C．Increase. | D．Change. |
| A．They have fewer competitors. |
| B．They are difficult to get along with. |
| C．They will be more popular in job markets. |
| D．They will become richer than Dragon babies. |
4 . India is an ancient civilization with its rich cultural heritage,and its cultural heritage has something to do with all major religions of the world. Here we take a look at some of the top heritage destinations in India.
Sun Temple,Konark
As the name suggests this temple is all about the power of the sun God. A huge chariot (二轮战车) drawn by seven horses and twelve pairs of wheels reflects the importance which ancient people placed on the power of the sun. The pictures of animals and humans give this place a special look.
Churches Goa
Goa is the only Indian state which was controlled by the Portuguese,so the scene in Goa is dotted with Portuguese style churches.Some of the famous churches include the Church of Saint Catherine,Church of Saint Augustine and Church of Saint Francis of Assisi.These churches show beautiful paintings and flower designs which make them a must-visit.
Ajanta and Ellora Caves
These caves contain well-designed paintings which are widely regarded as the most outstanding works of Buddhist religious art.
Taj Mahal,Agra
Built on the bank of the Yamuna River,it is an excellent building.The writing and paintings on the outside structure provide the finest examples of the outstanding style of buildings.
Sanchi
Sanchi is a UNESCO world heritage site with numerous Buddhist temples dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.
On your visit to India,be sure to visit some of these heritage destinations.An Indian journey is not wonderful without experiencing the beauty of these heritage destinations.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．Ellora Caves only have statues of animals. |
| B．Indian cultural heritage has something to do with religions. |
| C．The Portuguese controlled the whole India two centuries ago. |
| D．The Church of Saint Catherine is the earliest one in the world. |
| A．Animals and food. | B．Ancient civilization. |
| C．Ancient temples. | D．The sun’s power. |
| A．Introducing several top heritage destinations in India. |
| B．The great effect that Indian religions have on culture. |
| C．India has its rich cultural heritages in the world. |
| D．India is famous for its cultural heritage. |
| A．Sun Temple,Konark. | B．Churches Goa. |
| C．Ajanta and Ellora Caves. | D．Sanchi. |
A small village in Yunnan Province is
One of the best papermakers is Yan, who was already interested in Dai paper at an early age.
Unlike ordinary papermaking where trees need to be cut down, Dai paper is environmentally friendly. This is
Although Dai paper carries the culture and
6 . Living in a different country can be a culture shock for many people, so make sure you know about the food, customs and culture of the place you are planning on moving to.
The first thing that I did when I got out of the airport was to cross the road, but I looked the wrong way! In the UK the cars drive on the lefthand side of the road whereas in Spain they drive on the right. I almost got run over because I was still thinking I was in Spain. You have to be very careful when you move to another place.
Drink water
Time is different
If we are going for a proper night out at the weekend in Spain we might not meet until 10 or 11 pm at night or even later sometimes. This means we might not actually get home until 5 or 6 o’clock the following morning.
Greet everyone with a kiss
In the UK most men use a handshake to greet other men.
| A．Be careful on the road |
| B．Drive on the left side of the road |
| C．In the UK that is already past the bedtime |
| D．Different places have different cultures and rules |
| E．In Spain, most people buy large bottles of water to drink |
| F．In Spain, the days are warmer, the sun shines brightly and everyone is relaxed |
| G．If they are good friends they may give each other a quick hug but that is about it |
Chinese Spring Festival Going Global
Nowadays, more and more countries around the world are holding celebrations for Chinese Spring Festival. What’s more, not only are these attended and enjoyed by Chinese citizens living abroad, but by many other nationalities, too.
With colourful decorations of lanterns and lamps, shopping centres have been organising events and activities to celebrate Chinese Spring Festival for years, while concerts and other performances are also proving a big success. Tickets for the 2017 Grand Chinese New Year Concert in St Petersburg sold out, with 90% of the audience local Russians. People are also discovering the fun of interacting with the celebrations, rather than simply watching as part of an audience. To celebrate the 2017 festival, over 1,000 Ghanaian junior high school students got up on stage to perform Chinese songs and dances. Students in New York City, meanwhile, have since 2016 been able to enjoy an official day’s holiday for Chinese Spring Festival.
It seems that Chinese Spring Festival is becoming a global celebration of joy and love. What do you think of this phenomenon? Write to us to share your opinion!
1. Which countries are mentioned and how do they celebrate Chinese Spring Festival?2. Which event would you most like to attend? Why?
3. Why do you think Chinese Spring Festival is “going global”?
Traditional crafts have long been disappearing from countries across the world. With many crafts having been, or about to be, lost forever, people are beginning to grasp the importance of preserving those that remain. In fact, after a long period of decline, traditional crafts have recently undergone a renaissance. There is greater public interest in old stories and traditions, as well as a desire for high-quality products. Such objects are produced through a combination of skill, respect for materials, devotion to tradition, and focus on the task. Craftsmanship speaks to the human need for skilled and socially useful work; the sort of work that can be admired and valued by society.
1. What is currently happening to traditional crafts?2. Why are people starting to engage more with traditional crafts?
PROMOTING CULTURE THROUGH DIGITAL IMAGES
Lanzhou, 9 August 2017. A group of researchers and scientists from China and other countries are working together to help increase knowledge and appreciation of China’s ancient cultural heritage. They are recording and collecting digital images of cultural relics from the Mogao Caves, which were a key stop along the Silk Road throughout China’s ancient history. Nearly 500,000 high-quality digital photographs have been produced since the international project started in 1994.
The Mogao Caves have long been a meeting point for different cultures and are part of the history of many countries. Today, the caves are just as international as they were at the time when people travelled the Silk Road. Tourists from all over the world visit Dunhuang to see the caves, and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles has even reproduced a copy of the caves and paintings for people to admire in America.
By sharing so many digital photos over the Internet, the group hopes to promote even wider interest around the world in China’s ancient history, culture, and traditions. They also hope to further educate people about the importance of safeguarding historic and cultural relics for future generations to understand and appreciate. As one researcher who is working on the project explains, “Appreciating one’s own cultural heritage is very Important for understanding oneself. Appreciating the cultural heritage of other countries is very important for international communication and understanding.”
1. What are the researchers and scientists trying to do? What modern technology are they using?2. Why are so many people interested in the Mogao Caves?
3. What do you think of the researcher’s opinion in the last paragraph?
| development progress proposal preserve temple damage heritage establish prevent |
Cairo, 16 March, 1956
In a speech today, a scientist gave her view on the new
