1 . Dragon Head Raising Day: time for a haircut
China is a country with many colorful days and festivals. The Dragon Head Raising Day (Longtaitou) is one of them.
This special day is on the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar (阴历). It stands for (代表) the start of spring and farming. This year, the day fell on March 14.
The dragon is important in Chinese culture. We Chinese people call ourselves the “descendants (传人) of the dragon”. Therefore, people celebrate the Dragon Head Raising Day with many customs about dragons.
On the day in ancient times, people put ashes (灰) in the kitchen. This was to “lead the dragon into the house”. People believed that with the help of the dragon, they could have a good harvest (收成) in autumn.
Also, people eat special foods on that day. The foods are usually named after dragons. For example, people eat “dragon whisker (细须)” noodles and dumplings called “dragon teeth”.
Today, many customs have faded away (消退). But one that has remained is the cutting of hair. It was said that a haircut during the first lunar month may bring bad luck to the mother’s brothers. So many people have their hair cut on the Dragon Head Raising Day.
1. Which country celebrates the Dragon Head Raising Day?| A．Britain. | B．France. |
| C．The United States. | D．China. |
| A．March 14 | B．February 2 |
| C．March 4 | D．March 8 |
| A．Because the dragon liked the ashes. |
| B．Because the ashes led the dragon into the house. |
| C．Because the ashes stood for the harvest. |
| D．Because the ashes could bring good luck. |
| A．The dragon boating. | B．To eat zongzi. |
| C．The cutting of hair. | D．To eat mooncakes. |
2 . The remains of a gold mask were found at an archaeological site in China's Sichuan province in March 2021. Weighing about 280 grams and estimated to be made from 84% gold, the mask was one of over 500 items unearthed from six newly discovered sacrificial pits（坑）, according to the country's National Cultural Heritage Administration.
The finds were made at Sanxingdui, a 4.6-square-mile area outside the provincial capital of Chengdu. Some experts say the items may shine further light on the ancient Shu state, a kingdom that ruled in the western Sichuan basin until it was conquered in 316 BC.
In addition to the gold mask, archaeologists uncovered golds and artifacts（手工艺品）made from ivory and bone. The six pits, of which the largest has a footprint of 19 square meters, also yielded an as-yet-unopened wooden box.
More than 50,000 ancient artifacts have been found at Sanxingdui since the 1920s, when a local farmer accidentally came upon a number of relics at the site. A major breakthrough occurred in 1986, with the discovery of two pits containing over 1,000 items.
A third pit was then found in late 2019, which led to the discovery of a further five last year. Experts believe the pits were used for sacrificial purposes, explaining why many of the items contained were burned as they were dropped in and buried.
Sanxingdui is believed to have sat at the heart of the Shu state, which historians know relatively little about due to a shortage of written records. The site has revolutionized experts' understanding of how civilization developed in ancient China. In particular, evidence of a unique Shu culture suggests that the kingdom developed independently of neighboring societies in the Yellow River Valley, which was traditionally considered to be the cradle（摇篮）of Chinese civilization.
1. Why are the remains of a gold mask mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To lead in the topic of the text. |
| B．To stress the importance of gold. |
| C．To show the symbolic meaning of gold. |
| D．To praise the skills of ancient Shu state. |
| A．3. | B．8. |
| C．9. | D．14. |
| A．promoted | B．strengthened |
| C．weakened | D．updated |
| A．A Complete Gold Mask Unearthed in Sichuan |
| B．The History of China's Ancient Shu State |
| C．Another Great Discovery in Sanxingdui |
| D．Mystery of Sanxingdui Solved in 2021 |
If you visit a supermarket in the UK in March or April, you will notice a strange thing: Shelf after shelf is filled with large, brightly-colored eggs.
Look a little
Easter is a festival
For Christian people Easter is a religious festival. According
However, some people suggest that Easter has its origins in pre-Christian times. They say that the very earliest societies celebrated the end of winter and the beginning of spring — the time
Whatever its origins, Easter is big business. The UK’s biggest retailer (零售商) of Easter eggs sold more than 20 million units last year and some Easter eggs
There is a gigantic study that’s been done in 38 cultures.
Take a cartoon
5 . The Torch Festival (火把节) is a traditional festival which is celebrated among some ethnic groups in southwestern China, such as the Yi, Bai, Hani, Lisu, and Lahu, etc. It usually falls on the 24th or 25th of June, with three days of celebrations. The festival came from worship (崇拜) of fire by ancestors (祖先). For some ethnic groups, it’s a tradition in the festival for elders to share farming experience with young people and educate them about taking care of crops.
During the festival, big torches are made to stand in all villages, with small torches placed in front of the door of each house. When night falls, the torches are lit and the villages are bright. At the same time, people walk around the fields and houses, holding small torches and placing the torches in the field corners. Inside the villages, young people are singing and dancing around the big torches that keep burning throughout the night. Other activities like horse races are also held during the festival.
In a horse race of the Yi people in Yunnan, torches are used to form hurdles for riders to get through. The Hani people in Yunnan traditionally tie fruits to torches with strings. When the strings are broken after the torches are lit, people struggle for the fruits for good luck.
For the Lisu people in Sichuan, the festival is an occasion for holding torch parades. Big torches are carried by teams of people, which is like a fire dragon. If different teams meet, it’s a tradition to exchange the big torches with one another.
1. What can we know about the Torch Festival from the first paragraph?| A．It has nothing to do with farming. |
| B．Its celebrations usually last two days. |
| C．It is a traditional festival of all China. |
| D．It is a festival to show worship of fire. |
| A．ancestors. | B．young people. |
| C．elders. | D．ethnic groups. |
| A．Why the festival is enjoyed. | B．Where the festival is celebrated. |
| C．How the festival is celebrated. | D．What torches are used for the festival. |
| A．Holding torch parades. | B．Tying fruits to torches with strings. |
| C．Struggling for fruits for good luck. | D．Using torches as hurdles for a horse race. |
The kindly “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” wearing Han Chinese clothing and holding a fortune bag debuted (亮相) at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas. The final image of the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competition against “Santa Claus”, according to a report byGuangming Daily.
Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights, Christmas songs, Christmas trees, and the images of “Santa Claus”in recent days. As a matter of fact, foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people, particularly the youth. “Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings, ”said noted writer Feng Jicai. More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and Christmas. However, many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines (小糖人), and have never heard suona music. Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared. Under such circumstances, even the “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” is unlikely to defeat “Santa Claus”.
However, it is not a bad thing to some extent. It constantly reminds people to restore the “true face” of traditional festivals. China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays, which brings more paid leaves to the public, and helps to awake the public awareness of traditional festivals.
In modern society, festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largely depends on their understandings and usages by people. Compared with foreign festivals, traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior (次于) in cultural meanings, but lack of fashion sought by modern people. If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals, and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important, the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance (继承) of fine traditional culture will be cut off.
1. The second paragraph implies that ________.| A．traditional festivals should co-exist with foreign festivals |
| B．all the Chinese festivals are disappearing in the near future |
| C．western festivals are constantly impacting on our festivals |
| D．the Chinese people have the public awareness of traditional festivals |
| A．an image designed by the Chinese people will be displayed |
| B．the Chinese gift-giver was intended to symbolize traditional culture |
| C．many foreigners know nothing about Chinese festivals |
| D．the Chinese are beginning to exchange gifts on the Mid-Autumn Festival |
| A．traditional festivals are out of fashion now |
| B．the historical culture is more difficult to understand |
| C．western festivals contain more cultural meanings |
| D．the inheritance will cut off their contact with western festivals |
| A．Gone are Chinese Traditional Festivals |
| B．True Face of Chinese Traditional Culture |
| C．Foreign Festivals Popular with Chinese |
| D．Chinese Fortune Grandpa VS Santa Claus |
