1 . Five of the Most Interesting Customs in the World
Switzerland- -Honesty shopping
There are little shops in the middle of the Swiss Alps that allow you to buy your fresh cheese, milk, bread, honey,and butter without anyone to watch you. In fact, no one watches these shops because they are owned by farmers who are out taking care of the animals.
South Korea—NOT tipping
Tipping is in the blood for someone who is raised in the United States along with many other European countries. But in South Korea, employees in the food service industry are given fair wages and take pride in their work,and it is disrespectful to attempt to tip them.
Iceland—Christmas Eve books giving
People puzzle over the question of Christmas gifts. Iceland has solved this problem with the Christmas Eve tradition of giving a book. After everyone unwraps the books, they spend the evening reading together.
Japan—Pushers on the subway
Japan’s subway is crowded during rush hours. But instead of settling for the inefficiency that personal space demands,Japan has“pushers" . They are exactly what they sound like- -employees whose only job during rush hour is to push more people onto the train.
Russia—Offering vodka
It is the custom to welcome new friends with shots of vodka. What better way to break the ice than with some stomach-warming shots of this Russian tradition? That’s something we can all toast to, or, as they say in Russia, “Na zdorovye!”
1. In which of the countries is it a tradition to give books as a Christmas gift?| A．Japan. | B．South Korea. | C．Iceland. | D．Russia. |
| A．Tipping is in the blood for people in South Korea. |
| B．“Pushers” in Japan help you get off the train faster. |
| C．It is common to welcome guests with vodka in Japan. |
| D．No one watches you shop in some Swiss little shops. |
| A．Those who want to learn Russian. |
| B．Those who are fond of natural scenery. |
| C．Those who are interested in global customs. |
| D．Those who intend to travel in their home country. |
2 . On the night of 14th June 1904, New York’s Chinatown was in a deep gloom (低迷). For the past 20 years, the restaurants were filled with those crazy about a taste of real Chinese cooking “chop suey”. But suddenly, all that seemed at risk. A few days earlier, a chef named Lem Sen had arrived, saying he had invented it a decade before while working at a restaurant in San Francisco. His recipe had been stolen by an American diner to make money. Through his lawyer, he demanded restaurants pay him for using his recipe.
Chop suey was first mentioned by Chinese-American journalist Wang Chin Foo in a list of common dishes he thought most attractive to Western tastes. As he explained, “each Chinese cook has his own recipe. The main parts are pork, bacon, chicken, mushroom, bamboo shoots, onion, and pepper, while accidental ones are duck, beef, salted black beans etc. Yet it is often considered by Westerners that this is a ‘national dish of China’ more than any other dish they’ve known.”
Although a hyperbolic way to introduce this dish, it clearly showed that chop suey was indeed of Chinese origin. Where exactly its roots lay has been debated; but it was probably first cooked in Taishan, Guangdong, where most early immigrants to America had grown up. In 1866, the journalist Allan Forman noticed it as a delicious dish despite its “mysterious nature”, and nine years later, the first recipe appeared in magazines, with some un-Chinese ingredients thrown in.
It was not long before a myth making began. In 1896, Li Hongzhang visited New York, and newspapers mistakenly reported that while refusing Western dishes at a banquet (宴会), he had enthusiastically accepted a plate of chop suey. This caused a great hit, and many who never heard of it before simply assumed that it was introduced to the US by Li Hongzhang, which accidentally promoted the dish’s popularity.
1. What is the purpose of a chef’s story in paragraph 1?| A．To describe food history. | B．To bring out chop suey. |
| C．To show risky business world. | D．To introduce a law case. |
| A．Fixed ingredients. | B．Its popularity overseas. |
| C．Un-Chinese nature. | D．Mixed national identities. |
| A．remarked beyond reality | B．explained in greater details |
| C．praised in something common | D．commented based on the origin |
| A．Li Hongzhang promoted this dish. | B．Its popularity was based on facts. |
| C．Mass media belonged to the root cause. | D．Public opinions voiced acceptance. |
Chinese traditional painting dates back to the Neolithic Age about 6,000 years ago. Chinese painting, commonly
Chinese painting enjoys a time-honored history.
Deeply rooted in the
When foreigners come to China, they may be
It is believed that seals came out as early as 8,000 years ago
When the first dynasty
Then the local governments also needed seals for,
5 . Culture can affect not just language and customs, but also how people experience the world on surprisingly basic levels.
Researchers, with the help of brain scans, have uncovered shocking differences in perception(感知) between Westerners and Asians, what they see when they look at a city street, for example, or even how they perceive a simple line in a square, according to findings published in a leading science journal
In western countries, culture makes people think of themselves as highly independent entities(实体) .When looking at scenes, Westerners tend to focus more on central objects than on their surroundings. East Asian cultures, however emphasize inter-dependence. When Easterners look at a scene, they tend to focus on surroundings as well as the object.
Using an experiment involving two tasks, Dr Hedden asked subjects to look at a line simply to estimate its length, a task that is played to American strengths. In another, they estimated the line's length relative to the size of a square, an easier task for the Asians.
The level of brain activity, by tracking blood flow, was then measured by Brain Scanners. The experiment found that although there was no difference in performance, and the tasks were very easy, the levels of activity in the subjects’ brains were different. For the Americans, areas linked to attention lit up more, when they worked on the task they tended to find more difficult--estimating the line's size relative to the square. For the Asians, the attention areas lit up more during the harder task also--estimating the line's length without comparing it to the square. The findings are a reflection of more than ten years of previous experimental research into east-west differences
In one study, for instance, researchers offered people a choice among five pens, four red and one green. Easterners were more likely to choose a red pen while Westerners were more likely to choose the green one.
Culture is not affecting how you see the world, but how you choose to understand and internalize(使内化) it. But such habits can be changed. Some psychological studies suggest that when an Easterner goes to the West or vice versa, habits of thought and perception also begin to change. Such research gives us clues on how our brain works and is hopeful for us to develop programs to improve our memory, memory techniques and enhance and accelerate our learning skills.
1. According to the passage, Chinese people are most likely to_________.| A．emphasize independent thinking more |
| B．always focus more on their surroundings |
| C．focus on the context as well as object |
| D．think of Westerners as highly independent entities |
_________.| A．the task is much easier |
| B．the blood flow is tracked |
| C．people begin to choose colors |
| D．the task is more difficult |
| A．They indicate that culture has a great impact on the way people talk and behave. |
| B．They show that Easterners and Westerners have great differences in perceiving the world |
| C．They suggest that people's habits of thought and perception can be changed in different cultures. |
| D．They make it clear that Easterners and Westerners lay emphasis on different things |
| A．Easterners prefer collectivism to individualism |
| B．East Asian cultures lay more emphasis on independence |
| C．It took over ten years to find out how to improve our brainpower |
| D．Americans will change their habits of perception when they're in Britain |
1. 节日的时间和由来。
2. 节日的传统活动。
3. 节日的意义。
注意：
1. 词数100左右。
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：the Dragon Boat Festival，dragon boat racing (龙舟赛)
Dear Peter,
I’m glad to hear that you are interested in Chinese traditional festivals.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
In China, it’s quite common to see a big family have many generations (代) living together
The idea is very simple. Each video begins with a young child
People found this scene
Later the videos
Respecting the elder is a tradition of Chinese people. It is in line with
Time flies,but the tracks of time remain in
On April 15, 2019, Notre Dame cathedral, one of the greatest treasures of the Western world went up in flames, making it a sad day for
The cathedral became truly famous worldwide after the book “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,”
