1 . Traveling without a map in different countries. I find out about different ways of giving directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don’t have name signs. In Japan, people use landmarks (标志性建筑) to give directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the comer. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
People in Los Angeles, the US, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance by time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “It’s about five minutes from here.” You don’t understand completely. “Yes, but how many miles away is it, please?” To this question you won’t get an answer, because most probably they don’t know it themselves.
People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because tourists seldom understand the Greek language. Instead, a Greek will often say, “Follow me.” Then he’ll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office.
Sometimes a person doesn’t know the answer to your question. What happens in the situation? A New Yorker might say. “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People there believe that “I don’t” is impolite. They usually give an answer, but often a wrong one. So a tourist can get lost very easily in Yucatan! However, one thing will help you reach your destination everywhere in the world. It’s body language.
1. Which of the following is probably an example of Japanese directions?| A．“The post office is at Street Kamira.” |
| B．“Turn right at the hospital and go past a school.” |
| C．“The post office is about five minutes from here.” |
| D．“Go south two miles. Turn west and then go another mile.” |
| A．They prefer to lead you the way. |
| B．They prefer to use body language. |
| C．They use landmarks to give directions instead of distance. |
| D．They often have no idea of distance measured by miles. |
| A．Using street names. | B．Leading the way. |
| C．Using landmarks. | D．Giving people a wrong direction. |
| A．people in Mexico know street names well |
| B．body language makes you get lost in Yucatan |
| C．people in Mexico prefer to use body language |
| D．people in Yucatan sometimes give wrong directions |
2 . The kites in Weifang never disappoint. Every year the Weifang International Kite Festival amazes visitors and netizens (网民) with innovative kites, as “paper birds” of unimaginable designs keep appearing in the sky.
The origin of kites in China can be traced back to the Warring States Period when the great Chinese philosopher Mozi in the State of Lu (part of today’s Shandong Province) made the first “wooden kite”. Kites didn’t actually become popular until the Ming Dynasty. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, artists specialized in kite making began to appear in Weifang. In 1984, the first Weifang International Kite Festival was held.
Kites were used in China for military purposes at the very beginning. They were made to signal and measure distance, providing intelligence to aid moving large armies across difficult terrain (地形). For example, they can be used to calculate and record wind readings, similar to ship flags at sea. Over time, kites became associated with leisure activities, and were often flown during festivals and holidays.
Today, kite-flying is a popular leisure activity in China, and the Weifang International Kite Festival is one of the largest kite festivals in the world. In 2023, 622 kite artists from 59 countries and regions participated in the event. Compared with previous festivals, the 2023 event was highlighted by many innovations by both veteran (经验丰富的) and young kite makers. Zhang Xiaodong, 74, as a national intangible culture inheritor of Weifang kites, he has attended all 40 festivals. In the early days, he only brought traditional kites to take part in the competitions, but this time, he applied sound and light to make the fairy tale of Chang'e flying to the moon come “alive”.
The Weifang kite festival is not only a platform to share kite-making skills, but also a way to enhance friendship between people from different countries. The innovative kites presented in 2023 brought many pleasant surprises to kite lovers all over the world, and brought the people of China and other countries closer. As one netizen put it, “No matter how far away kite lovers go, there is always a ‘thread’ in their heart that can pull them together.”
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The history of kites in China. | B．The popularity of kites in Weifang. |
| C．The introduction to great kite artists. | D．The development of kite-making skills. |
| A．To serve as gifts at festivals. | B．To judge the height of mountains. |
| C．To measure wind speed for sailors at sea. | D．To provide important information for armies. |
| A．It involved more creative kite artworks. |
| B．It became the largest kite festival in the world. |
| C．It contained plenty of Chinese traditional elements. |
| D．It attracted many young kite artists’ wide attention. |
| A．It inspires artists to create a lot of surprises. |
| B．It is a good platform for kite makers to share skills. |
| C．It promotes the spread of traditional Chinese culture. |
| D．It strengthens the bond between kite lovers all over the world. |
3 . If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage of Dunhuang Mogao Caves in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.
Born in Beijing and raised in Shanghai, Fan has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. The 1,653-year-old Dunhuang Mogao Caves are a huge collection of Buddhist art—more than 2,000 buddha figures and 45,000 square metres of paintings spread among 735 caves. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. While in Dunhuang, a remote village in the desert then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare to go out to the toilet at night. To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity in the caves. They also controlled the number of visitors.
In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao Caves, but found Fan firmly in_their_way. “The heritage would have been destroyed if it had been listed，” she said.
Dunhuang Academy has now photographed and cataloged online all the sculptures and paintings. “Despite our efforts to minimise damage, we can’t completely stop them from being eroded. But the digital database will last.”
Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up seldom with her accompany. “I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I’m full of guilt，” she said. Fan, 81, retired four years ago as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as a national political adviser.
1. When was Fan separated from her husband?| A．In 1963. | B．In 1967. |
| C．In 1986. | D．In the late 1990s. |
| A．Go to a place. |
| B．Be in favour of something. |
| C．Reject something. |
| D．Give in to something. |
| A．The history of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| B．The attractions of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| C．Fan’s devotion to preserving Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| D．The appeal for the protection of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Kind. |
| C．Humorous. | D．Devoted. |
4 . There is more of a connection between food and culture than you may think. On an individual level, we grow up eating the food of our culture. It becomes a part of who we are. Many associate food from our childhood with warm feelings and good memories and it ties us to our families, holding a special and personal value for us. Food from our families often becomes the comfort food we seek as adults in times of frustration and stress.
On a large scale, traditional food is an important part of culture. It also operates as an expression of cultural identity. Immigrants bring it wherever they go, and it is a symbol of pride in their culture and means of coping with homesickness.
Many immigrants open their own restaurants and serve traditional dishes. However, the food does not remain exactly the same. Some materials needed to make traditional dishes may not be readily available, so the taste and flavour can be different from what they would prepare in their home countries. Additionally, immigrants do not only sell dishes to people from the same countries as them, but to people from different countries. Therefore, they have to make small changes in the original dishes to cater to a wider range of customers. Those changes can create new flavours that still keep the cultural significance of the dishes.
We should not only embrace our heritage (传统) through our culture’s food, but also become more informed about other cultures by trying their food. It is important to remember that each dish has a special place in the culture to which it belongs, and is special to those who prepare it. Food is a window on culture, and it should be treated as such.
1. What’s the function of food mentioned in the text?| A．To help motivate homesickness. |
| B．To show cultural identity. |
| C．To reflect a country’s history. |
| D．To show a community’s superiority. |
| A．The specific traditional food. |
| B．The national culture. |
| C．A traditional expression of food. |
| D．The old-fashioned taste. |
| A．To attach cultural importance to their dishes. |
| B．To announce the beginning of their life on foreign soil. |
| C．To make the dishes popular among customers. |
| D．To present their own food culture in a new way. |
| A．Negative. |
| B．Balanced. |
| C．Unfair. |
| D．Unchangeable. |
5 . Every life in Britain
The weather is the most common topic in Britain.
Men always shake hands when they meet.
British people are very superstitious(迷信). They believe in all sorts of signs they see. For them black cats are luck
| A．Shopping is another common topic in Britain |
| B．Another common thing in Britain is queue |
| C．Hundreds of years ago, soldiers began this custom. |
| D．In autumn if you catch falling leaves you are lucky |
| E．Why do the Britain talk about the weather so often |
| F．They also pay attention to tiny details like your birthday |
| G．Never walk under a ladder, and don't walk pass somebody on the stairs |
6 . Different cultures
The cultures of the East and the West really distinguish each other a lot.
The origin of the eastern cultures is mainly from two countries: China and India Both of the two cultures are developed by rivers-the Yellow River in China and the Hindu River in India.
The differences are everywhere.
| A．They are obvious and affect people's ways of thinking and their views of the world. |
| B．They helped the two cultures develop for centuries and form their own styles. |
| C．This is because the culture systems are two separate systems on the whole. |
| D．At the same time, some other differences add to the cultural differences. |
| E．And these two are well-known as the base of the European culture. |
| F．One important thing is to learn about other cultures. |
| G．Let us work together to keep a variety of culture. |
7 . If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He'd need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It's nothing personal. Most Americans don't even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But this doesn't mean that Americans don't care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and
philosophy(哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks(缺陷)of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.
So the old thinker's ideas are still alive and well.
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.
1. The opening paragraph is mainly intended to______________.| A．provide some key facts about Confucius |
| B．attract the readers' interest in the subject |
| C．show great respect for the ancient thinker |
| D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations |
| A．have a great interest in studying Chinese |
| B．take an active part in Chinese competitions |
| C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams |
| D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese |
| A．Forgotten Wisdom in America |
| B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language |
| C．Chinese Culture for Westerners |
| D．Old Thinker with a Big Future |
| A．a personal biography | B．a history paper |
| C．a cultural newspaper | D．a philosophy textbook |
My roommate’s family wants me to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with them in their home. I accepted the invitation, and I’m excited about going, but I’m a little nervous about it, too. The social customs in my country are different from those here, so I’m a little worried about making mistakes.
Should I bring a gift, such as candy or flowers? Should I arrive on time or a little late? At the dinner table, how can I know which fork or knife to use? How can I let the family know that I’m thankful for their kindness?
Yours,
Knowing Nothing
Dear Knowing Nothing,
It’s a good idea to bring a gift when you go to a dinner party. Flowers are always welcome, or you can bring a bottle of wine if you know the family drink it.
You should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late. Don’t get there early. If you are going to be more than fifteen minutes late, you should call and tell them.
Try to relax at the dinner table. If you don’t know how to use the right fork, knife or spoon, just watch the other guests, and follow them. If you still have no idea of what to do, don’t be shy about asking the person next to you; it’s better to ask them than to be silently uncomfortable and nervous.
If you like the food, say so. Of course, you’ll thank the host and hostess for the meal and for their kindness. It’s also a good idea to send a card to thank them the day after.
Yours,
Betty
1. When Knowing Nothing accepted the invitation of her classmate, what’s her feeling?| A．very sad | B．disappointed | C．a little nervous | D．a little upset |
| A．tell Betty some good news | B．ask for some advice |
| C．answer some questions | D．invite her to dinner |
| A．can only bring some flowers |
| B．can’t bring wine |
| C．should arrive on time or five to ten minutes late |
| D．should arrive twenty minutes late |
| A．It is not polite to ask the person next to you. |
| B．You must bring a bottle of wine when you go to a dinner party. |
| C．It is common to be more than fifteen minutes late. |
| D．It’s good to send a card to thank them the day after. |
9 . Halloween is a great time in the lives of both children and adults. However，even the best Halloween can be ruined by trees filled with toilet paper and egg residues(残渣) that won’t wash off. How can you keep your home safe on Halloween？There are some measures you can take.
Make it known that you’re at home. Pranksters are less likely to play a trick if they know someone is at home. You may want to close the glass on your screen door and open your front door so that you can see everyone moving around outside. This also allows pranksters to see that you’re at home.
Turn on the lights inside your home and outside. Having all the lights on lets pranksters know that you’re not only at home，but you’re awake. If a prankster knows you’re awake，he’ll be more likely to skip your house and head for another one. Even if you need to get in bed early，keep all the lights on except in your bedroom. Pranksters aren’t going to know which room is your bedroom.
Ask the police to patrol the area. It’s a policeman’s job to keep citizens safe，especially on Halloween. In some cities the crime rate can increase fast on October 31.A polite call to your local police station should get you the service you need. Above all，no pranksters are going to throw eggs at your house when the policemen are patrolling the area.
Set up a neighborhood watch. One of the best ways to keep your home safe on Halloween is to get the neighbors involved. No one wants his trees covered with toilet paper. Ask your neighbors to keep their eyes open and to follow the same steps you’ve taken to help keep your home safe. If the entire neighborhood is lit up，pranksters are less likely to stop by
1. The underlined word “Pranksters” in Paragraph 2 probably means those who.| A．like Halloween very much | B．play practical jokes on people |
| C．often commit a crime at night | D．enter one’s house by force |
| A．By moving around outside your house. | B．By closing your front door. |
| C．By turning on inside and outside lights. | D．By staying up and being awake. |
| A．a policeman’s main task is to patrol the area |
| B．the crime rate increases fast in some cities |
| C．you have to pay for a policeman to patrol your area |
| D．the policemen can help a lot with your home safety on Halloween |
| A．neighborhood teamwork | B．keeping homes safe |
| C．being on one’s guard | D．informing everyone of the danger |
10 . World Environment Day is celebrated annually on June 5th and was created to inspire people around the globe to take an active part in environmental protection and learn more about ways we can help to guarantee the future of our planet is safe.
The very first World Environment Day took place in 1974, established by the United Nations General Assembly on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment that took place in 1972.
Each year the United Nations pick a theme and a host city where anyone who is concerned about the environment can talk about environmental topics with others, followed by different kinds of exhibits to promote environmental awareness. Environmentalists, academics and scientists come together to bring new ideas on the table concerning the environment.
The 2018 World Environment Day is hosted by India, and the theme is Beat Plastic Pollution. It urges people to explore and choose supportable alternatives like paper or cloth bags to reduce the production and use of disposable plastic, which makes up 10% of all of the waste. Even though the United Nations pick a specific host city every year, people around the world still celebrate World Environment Day in their hometowns with parades(游行), concerts, cleaning up and tree planting and all kinds of green actions to work towards having a beautiful planet and battling pollution.
World Environment Day is not a public holiday, so you won't be getting the day off work or school, but if you want to celebrate, why not bring it to the attention of your parents, friends, colleagues or classmates? World Environment Day is all about working together to take action for the planet, so try to get everyone you know interested in helping do something. Things as small as making sure people have a way to recycle can make a difference. You could also try beautifying your neighborhood by planting gardens, learn about green foods, raise money for a local wildlife conservation group of simply learn about the effects of different products on the earth.
1. Why is World Environment Day set up?| A．To make people know more about nature. | B．To ask people to help to protect the globe. |
| C．To warn people of the danger of air pollution. | D．To encourage people to plan the earth's future. |
| A．Decide a host city. | B．Hold a theme party. |
| C．Discuss environmental ideas. | D．Show some plastic products. |
| A．High cost. | B．Poor- quality. | C．Secondhand. | D．Single use. |
| A．Every bit of effort counts/ matters Count | B．Doing is better than saying. |
| C．Many hands make light work. | D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
