1 . What are pillows really stuffed with? Not physically, but symbolically? The question occurred to me with the photos in the news and social media from the 50 cities around the world that staged public celebrations for International Pillow Fight Day. Armed with nothing more than bring-our-own sacrificial cushions, strangers struck heavily each other in playful feather from Amsterdam to Atlanta, Warsaw to Washington DC. But why? Is there anything more to this delightful celebration?
As a cultural sign, the pillow is deceptively soft. Since at least the 16th Century, the humble pillow has been given unexpected meanings. The Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu tells a famous story about a wise man who meets a depressed young scholar at an inn and offers him a magic pillow filled with the most vivid dreams of a seemingly more fulfilling life. When the young man awakens to discover that his happy 50-year dream has in fact come and gone in the short space of an afternoon’s nap, our impression of the pillow’s power shifts from wonder to terror.
Subsequent writers have likewise seized upon the pillow. When the 19th-Century English novelist Charlotte Bronte poetically observed “a ruffled (不平的) mind makes a restless pillow”, she didn’t just change the expected order of the adjectives and nouns, but instead she made unclear the boundaries between mind and matter — the thing resting and the thing rested upon.
It’s a trick perhaps Bronte learned from the Renaissance philosopher Montaigne, who once insisted that “ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head”. On Montaigne’s thinking, intelligence and happiness confront each other forever in a pillow fight that only one can win.
With the words of Tang. Bronte, and Montaigne, we can perhaps more easily measure the attraction of the global pillow fight. Like a ritual of release, the annual international pillow fight amounts to a kind of cleansing, a brushing off of daily worries: an emptying of the world’s collective mind. Rather than a launch-pad for weightless rest, the pillow is a symbol of heavy thought: an anchor that drags the world’s soul down — one that must be lightened.
1. The example of Tang Xianzu is used to illustrate that ________.| A．pillows give people satisfactory dreams |
| B．dreams are always wonderful while the real world is cruel |
| C．people’s impression of pillows changes from wonder to terror |
| D．pillows symbolically convey the meaning in contrast to their soft appearance |
| A．wrote poems about pillows |
| B．regarded pillows as reflections of our minds |
| C．shared the same viewpoint as Tang Xianzu on pillows |
| D．was likely to have been influenced by the thoughts of the Renaissance |
| A．pillows give us comfort |
| B．pillows make people more intelligent |
| C．people with too many thoughts have less inner peace |
| D．people can easily fall asleep when they know nothing |
| A．Because it is a ritual release. |
| B．Because it makes life delightful. |
| C．Because it comforts restless minds. |
| D．Because it contains a profound meaning of life. |
Food as Communication
We usually understand when someone speaks or writes to us, and many gestures (手势) and facial expressions have meaning, too. But have you ever considered what and how we eat as a form of communication? In many cultures, people sit together and share food at mealtimes, which is a common tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also play an important role in a family or culture’s celebrations. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between areas within one country.
In most cultures, bread represents delicious food. It is also one of the most commonly shared foods in the world. Sharing bread is a common symbol of companionship and togetherness. In fact, the word companion comes from the Latin roots com- (together) and panis (bread). Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with decorated cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition has its roots in the custom of sharing bread.
There are foods like bread in other cultures. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is baked into the cake, which stands for success in the New Year for the person who receives it. Most of the foods eaten during the Chinese New Year have significance. Sometimes this is based on their shape; for example, long noodles symbolize long life. The symbolism can also be based on the sound of the word in Chinese; for example, people give out oranges because the word for “orange” sounds like the word for “wealth”. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to symbolize family unity.
Food is essential for life, so it is not surprising that it is such an important part of different cultures around the world. The food people eat during celebrations may have a long history and can symbolize many things, but sharing food is one custom that almost all humans have in common.
1. Why does the author regard eating food as a form of communication?①
2. How do people celebrate birthdays and marriages in many cultures?
②
3. What does the author mainly talk about in Paragraph 3?
③
4. Many of the food traditions mentioned in the passage are very old. Why are they still important today?
④
1. 时间、地点、参加人员；
2. 主要活动安排；
3. 询问对方的意向。
注意：1. 词数不少于50；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
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Yours,
Li Hua
4 . Sometimes it’s hard to let go. For many British people, that can apply to institutions and objects that represent their country’s past-age-old castles, splendid homes… and red phone boxes.
Beaten first by the march of technology and lately by the terrible weather in junkyards (废品场), the phone boxes representative of an age are now making something of a comeback. Adapted in imaginative ways, many have reappeared on city streets and village greens housing tiny cafes, cellphone repair shops or even defibrillator machines (除颤器).
The original iron boxes with the round roofs first appeared in 1926. They were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of the Battersea Power Station in London. After becoming an important part of many British streets, the phone boxes began disappearing in the 1980s, with the rise of the mobile phone sending most of them away to the junkyards.
About that time, Tony Inglis’ engineering and transport company got the job to remove phone boxes from the streets and sell them out. But Inglis ended up buying hundreds of them himself, with the idea of repairing and selling them. He said that he had heard the calls to preserve the boxes and had seen how some of them were listed as historic buildings.
As Inglis and, later other businessmen, got to work, repurposed phone boxes began reappearing in cities and villages as people found new uses for them. Today, they are once again a familiar sight, playing roles that are often just as important for the community as their original purpose.
In rural areas, where ambulances can take a relatively long time to arrive, the phone boxes have taken on a lifesaving role. Local organizations can adopt them for l pound, and install defibrillators to help in emergencies.
Others also looked at the phone boxes and saw business opportunities. LoveFone, a company that advocates repairing cellphones rather than abandoning them, opened a mini workshop in a London phone box in 2016.
The tiny shops made economic sense, according to Robert Kerr, a founder of LoveFone. He said that one of the boxes generated around $13,500 in revenue a month and cost only about $400 to rent.
Inglis said phone boxes called to mind an age when things were built to last. “I like what they are to people, and I enjoy bringing things back,” he said.
1. The phone boxes are making a comeback ______.| A．to form a beautiful sight of the city |
| B．to improve telecommunications services |
| C．to remind people of a historical period |
| D．to meet the requirement of green economy |
| A．They were not well-designed. | B．They provided bad services. |
| C．They had too short a history. | D．They lost to new technologies. |
| A．their new appearance and lower prices | B．the push of the local organizations |
| C．their changed roles and functions | D．the big funding of the businessmen |
1.中国茶文化历史悠久、茶叶种类丰富;
2.茶在中国人生活中的重要性;
3.希望世界上有更多的人品尝中国茶,了解中国文化。
注意:1.词数100左右;
2.可适当发挥想象,增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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1.文化遗产的名称;
2.简要介绍;
3.你感到自豪的理由。
注意：1.词数100左右;
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
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注意：词数不少于60。
提示词：微信朋友圈 WeChat circle
LED展示屏LED display screen
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1. 介绍中国人起名字的习惯；
2. 给他起一个中文名字；
3. 说明起此名字的理由。
注意：
1. 开头和结尾已给出。
2. 注意合理分段。
Dear Jim,
It’s great to know that you are coming to Beijing. I’m more than happy to tell you something about our naming practice as well as find a nice Chinese name for you.
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Do feel free to let me know if you don’t like this name. I have loads of other Chinese names for you to choose. Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Yours,
Li Hua
9 . Geraniums of Love
As the fifth of seven children, I went to the same public school as my three elder sisters and brother. Every year, my mother went to the same ceremony and had parent-child interviews（亲子交流会）with the same teachers. The only thing different was the child. And every child
Geraniums school tradition—the annual plant sale（拍卖会）held in early May, just in time for
Third grade was the first time that I was allowed to take part in the plant sale. I wanted to surprise my mother.
When Mother's Day arrived, I was bursting with pride when I gave her that geranium. I remember how bright her eyes were, and how delighted she was with my
The year I was fifteen, my younger sister reached third grade. In early May, she came to me full of wonder and secrecy and told me that there was going to be a plant sale at school and she wanted to
I helped my little
| A．passed down | B．participated in | C．broke with | D．carried on |
| A．Women’s | B．Father’s | C．Children’s | D．Mother's |
| A．Besides | B．Moreover | C．However | D．Therefore |
| A．shared | B．discovered | C．guarded | D．unlocked |
| A．plan | B．preparation | C．present | D．selection |
| A．watering | B．growing | C．inspecting | D．protecting |
| A．showed | B．potted | C．packaged | D．hid |
| A．indeed | B．instead | C．properly | D．anyhow |
| A．performance | B．grades | C．gift | D．presence |
| A．inspire | B．surprise | C．satisfy | D．relax |
| A．youngest | B．eldest | C．cleverest | D．bravest |
| A．nervous | B．youthful | C．increasing | D．false |
| A．on | B．beside | C．behind | D．under |
| A．shortest | B．rarest | C．best | D．strongest |
| A．sister | B．brother | C．cousin | D．friend |
| A．confusion | B．anxiety | C．delight | D．astonishment |
| A．listening | B．watching | C．smelling | D．tasting |
| A．waved | B．smiled | C．signed | D．called |
| A．pretend | B．continue | C．appear | D．try |
| A．impressed | B．satisfied | C．associated | D．presented |
注意：词数不少于 60。
提示词：京剧 Beijing opera；脸谱 facial makeup
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