The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This festival is a holiday of great
The boat races during the The Dragon Boat Festival
The celebration is also a time for protection from evil and disease for the rest of the year. Children born in this month
2 . Vast deserts, magic carpets, and the legend of Aladdin’s lamp. For most Chinese people, Saudi Arabia is a faraway land that exists only in bedtime stories.
However, connections between the two countries date back to ancient times. The economic and cultural ties between the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and the Arabian empire reached their height in the 9th century. Paper-making workshops did thrive in what is now Saudi Arabia while Arabian knowledge of math, astronomy and spread to the Middle Kingdom.
These exchanges, recorded by Arabian merchants sailing along the ancient Maritime Silk Road, became materials for folk stories, such as the One thousand and One Nights stories.
Fast forward a millennium (千年), the relationship between a modern Saudi Arabia and a progressive China has entered a new era, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries that responded positively to the Belt and Road Initiative,” Saudi Ambassador to China Gurki Mohanmed told Xinhua.
“In terms of strategic location, Saudi Arabia serves as the central place connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, making it an important part of the initiative,” he added.
In fact, since they built diplomatic ties in 1990, the two countries have seen a sound development of partnerships. In 2015, China became Saudi Arabia’s largest trade partner while Saudi Arabia has been China’s biggest crude oil supplier next to Russia and largest trade partner in West Asia and Africa for years.
Xu Mengmeng is now completing his graduation project on marine science at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. On weekdays, he works on his research project on sharks. When free, he tours the city to experience the local culture.
Now China has become a favorite choice of Saudi Arabian students expecting to study overseas. Momudouh from Saudi Arabia came to Xi’an to study marketing in 2010. He told Xi’an Daily that he was attracted by the fast trade opportunities between the two counties. He desired to bring back the so-called new four inventions back to his home country—high-speed rail, Alipay, bicycle sharing and online shopping.
1. What does the underlined word “thrive” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Fail. |
| B．Boom. |
| C．Fade. |
| D．Close. |
| A．The Arabians acquired advanced medicine from China. |
| B．The economic and cultural exchanges started in the 9th century. |
| C．Saudi Arabia is the biggest crude oil exporting country to China. |
| D．One thousand and One Nights is based on the ties between Chinese and Arabians. |
| A．more and more students prefer to study abroad |
| B．young people should experience some foreign cultures |
| C．the two countries have benefited a lot from the exchanges |
| D．China’s high-speed rail and Alipay are, attracting Arabian students |
| A．The Belt and Road Initiative |
| B．The Chinese-Arabian Connection |
| C．The Advantages of Exchange in China |
| D．The Bond of Cultural and Economic Ties |
3 . Chinese writer Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize for Literature might ignite an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say.
“Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated,” says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. “Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years.”
Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo’s win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary writer. “We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available,” Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history.
As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, “It’s mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture .”
University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, “The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit between China and its international counterparts — in particular,China knows incomparably more about Europe and America than the other way round— and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap.”
1. The underlined word “ignite” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________”.| A．start out | B．burn up |
| C．set off | D．appeal to |
| A．Chinese writers have been writing more and more books in English |
| B．the Chinese language has become the most wide used language in the world |
| C．the Chinese government attaches great importance to literature |
| D．the cultural communication between China and western countries has developed |
| A．Chinese literature has spread with the development of China. |
| B．The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years. |
| C．In the past, no Chinese writers were accepted outside China. |
| D．Foreigners know about China mainly by reading Mo Yan’s works. |
| A．China knows more about Europe and America than before. |
| B．China knows more about Europe and America than they know about China. |
| C．China, Europe and America know one another more than before. |
| D．Compared with America, China knows more about Europe. |
