1 . Dads have Father’s Day. Moms have Mother’s Day. Kids have Children’s Day. However, do our grandparents have a special holiday? Yes, they do!

The Double Ninth Festival is a special day for elderly people in China. The festival is on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. As the Chinese word for nine has the same sound as the word for long, people take the Double Ninth Festival to show their wishes of long life for elderly people. This year it falls on Oct. 23.

There are many traditions for this festival. On that day, families get together and climb mountains for luck and in the hope that elderly people will live much longer. They also drink chrysanthemum wine (菊花酒) and wear a plant called zhuyu to celebrate it. Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are regarded as clean plants that can clean houses and cure diseases.

Respecting elderly people is shown not only on this special day but also in daily life. For example, when an older person enters a room, everyone stands up. When there are several guests at the table, the host usually introduces them from the oldest to the youngest. When a younger person is presenting something to an older person, two hands are used. On a crowded subway or bus, younger people always offer their seats to elderly people.

It is a traditional virtue (美德) in China to respect elderly people. That’s because the Chinese know that elderly people have knowledge and experience that young people can learn from. So, Chinese people are proud of being old. Besides, to respect the elderly people is to respect yourself tomorrow.

1. The Double Ninth Festival is a celebration for         .

A．fathers

B．mothers

C．children

D．elderly people

2. When do people usually have the Double Ninth Festival?

A．On the ninth day of September.

B．On the fourth day of October.

C．On the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar.

D．On the ninth day of the ninth month of the solar calendar.

3. What is Paragraph 4 about?

A．Why we should respect older people.

B．What young people usually do on this festival.

C．Examples of respecting older people in daily life.

D．Traditional ways of celebrating the festival.

4. Why are Chinese people proud of being old?

A．It means they don’t have to work for others.

B．It means they have knowledge and experience.

C．It means they have more virtues than others.

D．It means what they did in the past was meaningful.

5 . China has named the nation’s first Mars rover (火星车) Zhu Rong. For all of us, Zhu Rong is a well-suited name.

In an ancient Chinese story, Zhu Rong had the face of a man and the body of an animal. H rode on two dragons.

When he had a big fight with Gong Gong, the god of water, Zhu Rong won. But after the fight, the human world came into complete darkness. Then he brought fire from heaven to the world.

“Zhu Rong is regarded as the earliest god of fire in traditional Chinese culture,” a space official said. “The first Mars rover was named Zhu Rong. The name symbolizes light and hope for space exploration in our country, and means to guide humans to continue exploration.”

After leaving the earth last summer, Zhu Rong circled Mars for several months and landed on it in May. In recent years, our country has sent up the world’s first quantum satellite (量子卫星), and Chang’e-4 has made a soft landing on the moon. We have made great progress in space technology and will soon start building our own space station.

1. What Zhu Rong brought from heaven to the world was ________.

A．fire

B．wars

C．water

D．animals

2. For China’s space exploration, the name Zhu Rong symbolizes ________.

A．a big fight

B．complete darkness

C．light and hope

D．Chinese culture

3. The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.

A．the earth

B．Mars

C．the moon

D．the sun

4. According to the passage, we can infer that ________.

A．Zhu Rong is a bad person in an ancient Chinese story

B．China has made great progress in space technology

C．the writer is proud of China’s space technology

D．the official doesn’t like the name Zhu Rong

6 . To dye (染色) clothes by machines is very common now. But in ancient times, the whole process was completed by hands. This skill is called tie-dye (扎染). It is said that tie-dyed clothes appeared in the Qin Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, tie-dyed clothes became very popular and the most beautiful ones were sent to the emperors as gifts.

Yang Cheng, a 52-year-old man, was well-known for his tie-dye skills. He started learning tie-dye in the 1980s. Later, he went to other countries to learn different ways of tie-dye, such as Japan, India and France. He has been studying tie-dye for 35 years and he wants more people to know it. At present, he teaches tie-dye in schools, communities and companies. More than 100, 000 people have learned from him.

Tie-dye is one of Chinese intangible cultural heritages (非物质文化遗产). It has become very popular among people, even children can do it for fun. Liu Mei is a teacher at a kindergarten. She teaches kids to dye scarves. They tie a white scarf together at first, then they put the scarf into the dye. After they finish, there are some amazing pictures on it.

Tie-dye is interesting and fun. Do you want to have a try?

1. Tie-dyed clothes appeared in the __________ Dynasty.

A．Qin

B．Song

C．Tang

D．Ming

2. Yang Cheng didn’t study tie-dye in __________.

A．France

B．India

C．Japan

D．America

3. What does the underlined word “it” refer to（指的是）?

A．The gift.	B．The white scarf.
C．The skill of tie-dye.	D．The kindergarten.

4. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Liu Mei works in a kindergarten.

B．Yang Cheng learned tie-dye in the 1980s.

C．Tie-dye is one of Chinese intangible cultural heritages.

D．Tie-dyed clothes were sent to the emperors as gifts in the Ming Dynasty.

7 . 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。

Print is a medium for mass communication, which has enabled     1     (artist) to be known and familiar     2     a wider audience.

The Prints-A Riot of Colors, an exhibition     3     (feature) some 130 prints created by generations of Chinese artists, the oldest one of     4     dates back to the 1930s, opened on Monday at the Guardian Art Center in Beijing. An online auction (拍卖) of most of the showpieces held by China Guardian Auctions is running with the exhibition.

    5     (divide) into five sections, the long-running show is aimed     6     (offer) art collectors and the general public alike an opportunity to learn about China’s modern, contemporary print art and     7     (far) explore the market value of prints, according to Liu Zehui, the person in charge of the show.

In 1931, the famous writer and social activist Lu Xun     8     (support) the New Woodcut Movement in Shanghai. He promoted the modern woodcut, which was popular in the West but still     9     essential Chinese form whose techniques reached maturity during the Tang Dynasty, as the most     10     (access) and efficient vehicle for circulating new revolutionary thought among the masses.

8 . Stargazing Festivals in 2023

As more areas grow brighter with light pollution, national parks across the country have become dark-sky havens. Over the years, they are making a push to get certified as havens for sky-watching by the International Dark Sky Association, and they even host events like stargazing festivals to get travelers excited about astronomy.

·Bryce Canyon National Park—June 14-17

Situated in southern Utah, Bryce Canyon earned its dark-sky title in 2019. The 35,835-acre park is an ideal place to stay up late. This year, its annual astronomy festival includes guided stargazing sessions, lectures and “star stories” presentations, family-friendly activities, and even a performance by strings musicians in the northern Arizona-based Dark Sky Quartet.

·Shenandoah National Park—August 11-13

Conveniently located within a day’s drive from two-thirds of Americans, Shenandoah National Park’s night sky festival is a low-lift way to dabble in astronomy. The nearly 200,000-acre park will host ranger talks, public stargazing sessions, lectures, presentations, and activities for kids. Staffers are still working on this year’s full schedule, but past events have covered topics ranging from space weather to nocturnal(夜间的) creatures.

·Great Basin National Park—September 14-16

Great Basin is one of the least crowded national parks, making it the perfect place to quietly appreciate the mysteries of the cosmos. Its annual astronomy festival is scheduled for this fall and includes guest speakers, constellation talks, observatory tours, and a photography workshop. During the festival’s unique “Art in the Dark” program, participants will get to paint in low-light conditions and experiment with how their eyes perceive color.

·Joshua Tree National Park—October 13-14

Joshua Tree National Park, as the International Dark Sky Association notes, is the “nearest convenient place to go stargazing under a relatively dark sky” for the 18 million people who live in the Los Angeles area. It became an official dark sky park in 2017, and each year, it hosts a night sky festival in the fall. As luck would have it, this year’s dates overlap with an annular “ring of fire” solar eclipse. From Joshua Tree, the moon will appear to obscure between 70 and 80 percent of the sun.

1. What is the purpose of Stargazing Festivals?

A．To raise public interest in astronomy.

B．To call for action against light pollution.

C．To provide a platform to observe stars.

D．To collect money for more observatories.

2. Where should you go if you want to experience working in low-light conditions?

A．Bryce Canyon National Park.	B．Shenandoah National Park.
C．Great Basin National Park.	D．Joshua Tree National Park.

3. What might be a bonus to visitors to Joshua Tree National Park during the festivals?

A．An observatory tour.	B．A photography workshop.
C．A stargazing tour.	D．A solar eclipse.