1 . What are pillows really stuffed with? Not physically, but symbolically? The question occurred to me with the photos of the international pillow fight in the news and social media from the 50 cities around the world. Armed with nothing more than bring-our-own pillows, strangers struck heavily each other from Amsterdam to Atlanta, Warsaw to Washington DC. But why? Is there anything more to this delightful celebration?
Actually, since at least the 16th century, the soft pillow has been given symbolic meanings. The Chinese playwright, Tang Xianzu, told a famous story in his work, Handan Notes. It was about a wise man who met a depressed young scholar at an inn and offered him a magic pillow. The scholar had a sweet afternoon nap on this pillow, dreaming that he had a more fulfilling life. When the young man awakened to discover that all was just a dream. The magic pillow’s power shifts from wonder to terror. What’s more, the 19th-century English novelist, Charlotte Bronte, poetically observed “a ruffled mind makes a restless pillow”. Perhaps Bronte learned this from the philosopher, Montaigne, who once insisted that “lack of thoughts in mind is the softest pillow on which a man can have a good rest”. On Montaigne’s thinking, intelligence and happiness compete against each other forever in a pillow fight that only one can win.
With the above information, we can perhaps more easily measure the attraction of the global pillow fight. Just like a ceremony 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 restless mind.
1. How did the writer lead into the topic of the passage?| A．By giving reasons. | B．By telling stories. |
| C．By using sayings. | D．By raising questions. |
| A．To state how pillows help people take a good rest. |
| B．To explain why pillows connect with people’s minds. |
| C．To claim that pillows can symbolically convey the meaning. |
| D．To describe that pillows always symbolize the good dreams. |
| A．A mind without any thoughts. | B．A mind with messy thoughts. |
| C．A mind that is peaceful. | D．A mind that is simple. |
| A．It mainly celebrates daily worries. |
| B．It contains a profound meaning of history. |
| C．People will feel relieved during the fight. |
| D．People will lose their inner peace during the fight. |
2 . How Sociologists Define Culture
Sociologists recognize that culture plays a crucial role in our social lives. It is important for shaping social relationships, maintaining social order, and in shaping our actions and experiences in society.
In brief, sociologists define the non-material aspects of culture as the values and beliefs, language and practices that are shared in common. Expanding on these categories, culture is made up of our knowledge, common sense, the norms and morals; the symbols we use to express meaning and ideas.
Sociologists see the two sides of culture — the material and non-material — as closely connected. Material culture emerges from the non-material aspects.
| A．Material culture is composed of the things that humans make and use. |
| B．This is why cultural products tend to follow patterns. |
| C．Without culture, we would not have relationships or society. |
| D．Culture is also what we do and how we behave and perform. |
| E．In other words, what we value and believe influences the things that we make. |
| F．Culture is distinct from social structure and economic aspects of society. |
| G．It is composed of both non-material and material things. |
May 18 was made as the International Museum Day every year by the International Council of Museums
The center of the Day this year
The Shaanxi History Museum Qin-Han Hall was opened to the public on this day
China continues to see a museum craze with 6,833 registered museums across the country—increased by 267 over the past year, according to statistics
In the past year, more than 40 thousand exhibitions and 380 thousand
4 . MUSICAL HERITAGES FROM ANCIENT CHINA
Since remote antiquity, Chinese people have used music to record their lives and describe the ideals in their hearts. Catchy tunes are not only played on precious instruments, but also visualized in carvings, paintings, and buildings. Feel free to explore here!
Han Dynasty (202 BC — AD 220)
This period marked the significant development of the manufacturing of guqin and its music. The example unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha, Hunan province, proves that guqin had developed into the form known today during that period.
Northern Wei Dynasty (386 — 534)
Buddhism (佛教) and its musical culture spread extensively during this period. Buddhist temples provided places for musical activities, which were recorded in many of the-existing stone carvings. Located in Gongyi, Henan province, the Grotto Temple is famous for its reliefs (浮雕) representing musical events. They are precious historical materials reflecting the music characteristics of the dynasty.
Song Dynasty (960 — 1279)
With economic development, a variety of musical cultures emerged to meet the entertainment needs of different social classes. Part of the painting “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival” vividly reveals a storytelling performance. The painter adopted delicate techniques to truly record a street performer, whose superb skills are reflected by each listener’s show of appreciation.
Ming Dynasty (1368 — 1644)
At this time, traditional Chinese operas developed rapidly, promoting the formation of many singing styles. People began to enjoy operas and drama stages were built. Covering a construction area of more than 160 square meters, the Fancun village drama stage in Shanxi province provides rich materials for the study of the local folk culture.
1. Which heritage would a fan of classical instruments explore?| A．The Ming Dynasty drama stage. | B．The Song Dynasty painting. |
| C．The Northern Wei Dynasty temple. | D．The Han Dynasty tomb. |
| A．Religion. | B．Economy. | C．Politics. | D．Technology. |
| A．Ming Dynasty witnessed the boom of traditional Chinese operas. |
| B．Most of the drama stages were built during the Northern Wei Dynasty. |
| C．The musical culture of Buddhism was developed during the Han Dynasty. |
| D．Buddhist temples were the main places for music al activities in the Song Dynasty. |
5 . It may seem as if Mother’s Day was invented by a company named Hallmark, but people have been giving a shout-out to Mom for a long time. A more recent tradition was Mothering Sunday, which developed in the British Isles during the 16th century. On the fourth Sunday in April, young men and women who were living and working apart from their families were advised to return to their mothers’ houses.
Mother’s Day as it is observed in the United States started in the 1850s with Ann Jarvis, a West Virginia woman who held “Mothers’ Work Days” to promote health and hygiene at home and in the workplace. During the Civil War, Jarvis organized women to improve sanitary conditions for soldiers on both sides, and after the war she became a peacemaker, bringing together mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers and promoting a Mother’s Day holiday.
Jarvis’s work inspired another 19th-century woman, Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, Howe published her “Mother’s Day Proclamation”, which envisioned the day not as appreciation of mothers by their children but as an opportunity for women to exercise their collective power for peace. Howe started holding annual Mother’s Day celebrations in Boston, her hometown, but after about a decade the tradition faded away.
It was Jarvis’s daughter, Anna, who succeeded in getting Mother’s Day recognized as a national holiday. After her mother died in 1905, Anna started holding yearly ceremony on the anniversary. In 1912, West Virginia and a few other states adopted Mother’s Day. Two years later, Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution naming the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, making it an official US holiday.
It wasn’t long before whatever ideals the day was supposed to celebrate were buried under an amount of greeting cards and candy. By the 1920s, Anna Jarvis was campaigning against the holiday she had created. “I wanted it to be a day of emotionalism, not profit,” she said.
1. Who plays the most important role in creating Mother’s Day?| A．Ann Jarvis. | B．Julia Ward Howe. | C．Woodrow Wilson. | D．Anna Jarvis. |
| A．In 1914. | B．In 1912. | C．In 1905. | D．In 1870. |
| A．Because the festival was not profitable. |
| B．Because the festival made her feel emotional. |
| C．Because the celebrations went against the original spirit. |
| D．Because she had no passion on holding celebration activities. |
| A．The Objection to Mother’s Day |
| B．The Argument on Celebrating Mother’s Day |
| C．The Story Behind the Creation of Mother’s Day |
| D．Different Forms of Celebrations on Mother’s Day |
A stuffed toy named “Happy Loong” from Gansu Provincial Museum has recently differentiated
Modeled after a Ming Dynasty gold
Besides “Happy Loong”, the museum also
This
The success of these innovative (创新的) souvenirs lies in the ability to meet the demands of young people
Looking ahead, the museum souvenir market in China
In the hands of Chinese artisans, flour is made into some lovely models of people or animals. This art form is called dough figurine (面塑). And Beijing’s Dough Figurine Lang is
It was created by Lang Shao’an. His characters
Lang Jiaziyu, born in 1995, is the third-generation inheritor of Dough Figurine Lang. When he was fifteen, he
Like most of the other intangible cultural heritage in China, Dough Figurine Lang does not get so much attention from the public. Few young people are willing
Chinese screen, also known as pingfeng, is a unique and elegant piece of
Typically, it
With its roots in Chinese culture and ancient history, the screen is more than just
Today, Chinese screens are treasured and employed for their multiple
Solar terms, which
As far back as the Spring and Autumn period, there were four solar terms: mid-spring, mid-summer, mid-autumn
The Yellow River Basin in Northern China is believed to be the cradle of the solar terms system. China’s 24 solar terms are a knowledge system and
Solar terms are often called “the
10 . Things You May Not Know About Grain Buds (小满)
Grain Buds, the 8th solar term of a year in traditional Chinese lunar calendar, begins on May 21 this year and ends on June 4th. It means that the seeds from the grain are becoming full but are not ripe. In China, the 24 solar terms were created to guide agricultural production. But its culture is still useful today to guide people’s lives through many aspects.
A good time for eating seasonable food
Tips on health
High temperatures and humidity are common during the Grain Buds period. The increase in temperature over this season may also give rise to many kinds of skin diseases.
Key period for flower management
This time is a good period of the quick growth of flowers.
People in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces celebrate this season as the birthday of the silkworm deity (蚕神). Farmers also tend to the field by planting green Chinese onions in Shandong and harvesting vegetables in Zhangye, Gansu.
| A．A good time for eating fish |
| B．Because of increasing rainfall during the Grain Buds |
| C．It is also important to exercise during the hot summer days |
| D．It is also a season when plant diseases and pests are at an all-time high |
| E．Let’s see what we can do during the “Grain Buds” period |
| F．Different regions have different activities |
| G．A lot of water and extra care for wild flowers |
