1 . Avi Bendahan and Shijia Jiang are unlikely collaborators (合作者).

Jiang is a classically trained performer of Peking Opera, or Jingju. Bendahan is a local actor, dancer in Canada. He and Jiang together are the core (核心) of Jingju Canada, a theater company that adapts the ancient Chinese art in Montreal and across Canada.

“I really want people in the West to know Peking Opera,” says Jiang. The two are, in a sense, building an audience for the art form in and outside of the city’s Chinese community.

“Peking Opera is very strict, and hard to understand. They don’t speak Standard Chinese. No, they speak the Peking Opera dialect (方言),” Meng Rong, the leader of the Confucius Institute in Quebec says of the language used, which is comparable to Shakespearean speech. “You need to have special skills to understand.” As a result, the popularity of Peking Opera is fading (逐渐消失).

One of Jingju Canada’s approaches to that problem is to translate.

Their first show was 2011’s Crossroads.

“It was the first time Jingju Canada translated a Chinese opera show into English,” says Bendahan. “And it was the first time we created newish characters.”

Bendahan handles the translations. “The language is very hard for me,” says Jiang, referring to English. Jiang’ strong point in performance is combat — she trained in China as a wudan, a fighting woman.

But change, of course, presents challenges.

“They don’t want to lose the core things from Peking Opera,” says Rong. That's where Jiang’s other speciality (专长), besides combat, comes in. She was among the first in China to study the new‑for‑Jingju program of directing. “We learned new ways of directing,” she says. “We used music, dance, movies, and then put them together with Peking Opera.”

“Crossroads was very successful,” says Rong. “The audiences really loved it. And I think for every culture, if the nice part can be shown to the public, and everybody understands and everybody enjoys it, why don’t we do it?”

1. What is Jiang’s reason for working with Bendahan on Jingju Canada?

A．To help Bendahan study Chinese.

B．To develop her friendship with Bendahan.

C．To help foreigners know more about Peking Opera.

D．To perform Peking Opera in more Chinese communities.

2. What makes Peking Opera less popular according to Rong?

A．Its boring settings.

B．Its outdated music.

C．Its unique language.

D．Its special characters.

3. What did Jiang do when preparing for Crossroads?

A．She used a new method of directing.

B．She gave up her directing program.

C．She trained other performers.

D．She translated the text.

4. How does Rong feel about Jiang and Bendahan’s work?

A．He's shocked.

B．He's satisfied.

C．He's doubtful.

D．He's thankful.

4 . The Double-Seventh Day refers to the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

In ancient times, the Double-Seventh Day was a festival especially for young women. Girls, whether from rich or poor families, would put on their holiday best to celebrate the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Parents would place an incense burner (香炉) in the courtyard and lay out some fruit as offerings. Then all the girls in the family would kowtow to Niu Lang and Zhi Nu and pray for ingenuity (灵巧).

In the Tang Dynasty about 1,000 years ago, rich families in the capital city of Chang’an would set up a decorated tower in the courtyard and name it the “Tower of Praying for Ingenuity”. They prayed for various types of ingenuity. Most girls would pray for outstanding sewing or cooking skills. Girls and women would gather together in a square and look into the star-filled night sky. They would put their hands behind their backs, holding a needle and thread. At the word “start”, they would try to thread the needle. Zhi Nu, the Weaver Girl, would bless the one who succeeded first. The ladies would also show off their fried cookies made in many different shapes. They would invite the Weaver Girl to judge who was the best. In the past these were important virtues for a woman.

1. The Double-Seventh Day is usually celebrated on ________.

A．July the seventh

B．New Year’s Day

C．the 7th day of the 7th month on the Chinese lunar calendar

D．the meeting day of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl stars

2. The underlined word “best” can be replaced by “________”.

A．best food

B．best skills

C．best clothes

D．best ingenuity

3. In the Tang Dynasty most girls would pray to Niu Lang and Zhi Nu for ________.

A．a good marriage	B．meeting the Cowherd or the Girl Weaver
C．high officials	D．outstanding sewing and cooking skills

4. Zhi Nu, the Weaver Girl, would bless the one ________.

A．who was the winner in the compition of threading the needle

B．whose family had a tower to pray in

C．who kowtowed to Niu Lang and Zhi Nu for ingenuity

D．whose family lay out most fruit as offerings

7 . Learning the word for fish in Chinese can be a highly useful skill. Knowing how to say “fish” in Chinese is both practical and helpful in understanding cultural values.

The Chinese Character for Fish

The Chinese character for “fish”, written in the traditional form, is 魚 .       1     No matter what form it is written in, the word for fish in Chinese is pronounced like “yu”.

Cultural Importance of Fish in China

The pronunciation of fish in Chinese, “yú” is a homophone (同音字) for “abundance (充裕).”     2     As such, fish are a common symbol in Chinese art and literature, and they are very important in Chinese mythology (神话).

    3    The characters for this fish are 鲤鱼, pronounced “lǐ yú”. Pictures of this fish are also a common decoration for the Chinese New Year.

Fish in Chinese Mythology

One of the most interesting Chinese myths about fish is the idea that a carp (鲤鱼) that climbs the waterfall on the Yellow River (known as the Dragon Gate) changed into a dragon.    4    In reality, each spring, carp come together in great numbers in the pool at the base of the waterfall.     5       It has become a common saying in China that a student facing examinations is like a carp trying to jump the Dragon Gate.

A．The simplified form is 鱼.

B．But very few make the climb.

C．Surprisingly, a lot of them are not related to fish at all.

D．This addition suggests that fish is most useful to humans.

E．The dragon is another important symbol in Chinese culture.

F．For example, Asian carp are the subject of many Chinese stories.

G．This similarity has led to fish becoming a symbol of abundance in Chinese culture.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

There is a special festival in Thailand that people and animals celebrate together. It’s a festival for Thailand’s elephants—the Surin Elephant Round-up and Elephant Show,     1    takes place in the third week of November. People in Surin are good at training elephants. The festival aims     2     (show) the importance of elephants to Thailand and people’s good relationship    3    them.　

    4    attracts tourists most is the elephant parade. People     5     (dress) in traditional Thai clothes and they decorate their elephants colourfully. After the parade, the elephants gather at a place to enjoy breakfast. They will eat up all the fruit     6     (serve) to them within minutes.   

There are many other interesting activities at the festival, too. For example, soccer     7     (match) and dancing are held among elephants to show their     8     (strong) and skills.   

Elephants have always played     9    important role in Thailand’s history and culture. People used to use them in wars and they are now important for the logging industry and tourism. An elephant can carry about 500 kg logs. They are     10     (environment) friendly compared to machines.

10 . Vidal first experienced Brazil’s carnival celebrations as a baby living in Salvador, the capital of Bahia State. Before he was even one year old, his mother took him to his first carnival event.

The cultural traditions of Salvador have stuck with him. And, Vidal, a trained musician, now performs the typical music of Bahia in the U.S. He often plays in the Washington area.

February is the carnival season in Brazil and other countries around the world. Even the Washington area celebrates the season. Last week,Vidal and other musicians performed here for a carnival celebration. Performing in Washington and other U.S. cities has helped Vidal stay close to his Brazilian roots(根).

“Living in the U.S. now and not being able to enjoy carnival as I used to in Brazil with my friends and family is really heartbreaking. And that was the reason why I decided to start making my own events—carnival parties—just to get connected to my roots, to my happiness.”

It may come as a surprise, but Washington is said to have one of the largest followings for Brazilian culture in the U.S. This year alone, there are more than twelve carnival celebrations in the Washington area. Here, the season isn’t celebrated on city streets as in Brazil, where it is warm summer. February is one of Washington’s coldest months. So, the events take place at theatres, restaurants and other places.

Carnival is one of the world’s biggest celebrations. In many countries, activities take place for a few weeks each year and include huge parades(游行) and street parties with live music. Carnival goers wear colourful, themed clothing and masks(面具).

1. What do we know about Vidal from the passage?

A．He didn’t enjoy carnival at first.

B．His mother trained him to be a singer.

C．He encouraged Americans to celebrate carnival.

D．Brazil’s traditional cultures influenced him greatly.

2. How did Vidal feel during the carnival season in the U.S.?

A．Excited.

B．Sad.

C．Proud.

D．Anxious.

3. Why are the carnival celebrations in Washington held indoors?

A．Because weather conditions are not good.

B．Because American carnivals fall in hot summers.

C．Because they want to make carnivals different.

D．Because few people celebrate carnivals in Washington.