1 . Chinese people love food made of flour. In the hands of skilled artisans (手艺人), flour is made into lovely models of people or animals to be enjoyed and played with, which brings a unique kind of pleasure. This art form is called dough figurine (面塑). Among the various art styles of dough figurines, Beijing’s Dough Figurine Lang is a unique folk art, which is filled with the rich history and customs of the capital city. In 2008, it was included in the list of national intangible (非物质的) cultural heritage.
It was created by Lang Shao’an. Most of the dough figurines are animals and characters from legends, historical stories, and local operas. The finished product is either put at the end of a thin stick or on a table for display. Some are mostly for children to eat or play with, with simple forms and vivid decorations, while some are fine pieces of artwork for display only. For this reason, during the making process they are often mixed with additives (添加剂) to better preserve the finished products.
Lang Jiaziyu, born in 1995, is the third-generation inheritor (继承人) of Dough Figurine Lang. When he was 15, he created Beijing Olympic Mascot (吉祥物) shaped dough figurines which were highly praised. He looks a bit more fashionable than other folk artisans. In his skilled hands, pop culture icons (偶像) are popular with young people.
Like most of the other intangible cultural heritage handicrafts in China, Dough Figurine Lang does not get as much attention from the public. Few young people are willing to take the time to master a skill that does not make money, which has led to a decline in the number of those who are devoted to the handicraft. Good handicrafts need the devotion of artisans from one generation to another.
1. What is special about Dough Figurine Lang?| A．It reflects Beijing’s culture. |
| B．It is created by many famous artists. |
| C．It shows people’s lifestyles and beliefs. |
| D．It is popular with both tourists and the locals. |
| A．To make dough figurines taste good |
| B．To keep colors brighter and lasting longer |
| C．To help shape dough into various forms. |
| D．To better preserve the finished products |
| A．Suggestions for other folk artisans. |
| B．Different art styles of dough figurines. |
| C．Lang Jiaziyu’s accomplishments as an artisan |
| D．The popularity of modern dough figurines |
| A．To call on people to master a skill. |
| B．To appeal to people to value this folk art. |
| C．To teach people ways to appreciate the handicraft. |
| D．To persuade people to protect national cultural heritage. |
2 . CULTURE AND CUISINE
The French author Jean Anthelme BrillatSavarin once wrote, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” Put more simply, this means “You are what you eat.” Most people today relate this saying to healthy eating. However, BrillatSavarin was actually referring to our personality, character, and culture.
Certainly, in many ways this seems to be true. Chinese cuisine is a case in point. Prior to coming to China, my only experience with Chinese cooking was in America, with Chinese food that had been changed to suit American tastes. For example, America’s most popular Chinese dish is General Tso’s chicken, which consists of fried chicken covered in a sweet sauce, flavoured with hot red peppers. This is probably not an authentic Chinese recipe, however, so it cannot tell us much about the Chinese. On the other hand, it does tell us a lot about Americans. It tells us, for example, that Americans love bold, simple flavours. And, since the dish was also invented recently, it tells us that Americans are not afraid to try new foods.
Later, I had a chance to experience authentic Chinese food by coming to China. When my family and I had just arrived in China, we went looking for a good place to eat in Beijing. A Sichuan restaurant had been recommended to us by a friend, and finally, we found it. Tired, hungry, and not knowing a word of Chinese, we had no idea how to order, so the chef just began filling our table with the best food we had ever eaten. With this, we had the pleasure of experiencing an entirely new taste: Sichuan peppercorns. The food was wonderful and different, but what was even more important was the friendship offered us．
We soon moved to Shandong Province in the eastern part of North China. My favourite dish there was boiled dumplings served with vinegar. I observed that family is important to the people there. It has become a favourite traditional dish of the people in North China, where making dumplings has always been a family affair with everyone — from the youngest to the oldest — joining in to help. Later, I learnt that the most famous food in Shandong is pancake rolls stuffed with sliced Chinese green onions.
Then we moved to northern Xinjiang. Some of our friends were Kazak and Inner Mongolian. These groups traditionally wandered the open range on horses. As a result, their traditional foods are what you can cook over an open fire — usually boiled or roasted meat, such as lamb kebab．
Our travels then took us to South China, and then on to central China. In each place we went, we experienced wonderful local dishes, from Guangdong’s elegant dim sum — small servings of food in bamboo steamers — to the exceptional stewed noodles in Henan. Everywhere, the food was as varied as the people However, one thing is always true: Through food, Chinese people everywhere show friendship and kindness.
At a minimum, the kinds of food local people consume tell us what they grow in their region, what kinds of lives they lead, and what they like and do not like. Could we also say, for example, that those who like bold flavours are bold themselves? Or, that those who like spicy food tend to have a hot temper? Maybe. Maybe not. What we can say, however, is that culture and cuisine go hand in hand, and if you do not experience one, you can never really know the other.
1. What’s the main idea of the text?| A．What people eat is related to their culture. | B．Chinese foods are delicious. |
| C．Americans are bold to try new foods. | D．What you eat reflects your health state. |
| A．Chinese. | B．French. | C．Japanese. | D．Americans. |
| A．Beijing. | B．Ji’nan. | C．Chengdu. | D．Urumqi. |
| A．an ocean beach | B．a vast grassland | C．a mountainous village | D．Zhujiang Delta |
| A．Cuisine is never seperated from culture. | B．Cuisine is always healthy no matter where it comes. |
| C．Cuisine always determines a man’s character. | D．Cuisine in China is kind of the same. |
3 . Today’s workplaces are more multicultural than ever, and it’s normal to work with people from many different places and backgrounds. This has opened up many new opportunities — but it also creates some challenges.
Cultural differences aren’t just about nationality, race or belief. Many of us work in multi-generational organizations, alongside younger or older colleagues who have cultural references, assumption and attitudes that are very different from our own. All of this means that we need to be better at understanding and operating in a wide variety of cultures. That’s where Cultural Intelligence, or also CQ, the ability to adapt to new cultural settings, comes in.
People with high CQ aren’t experts in every kind of culture. Instead, they have the skills to go into new environments with confidence, and to make informed judgments based on observations and evidence.
These people are good at understanding unfamiliar or ambiguous behaviour. They recognize shared influences among particular groups, and this allows them to identify the impact of a particular culture.
However, they also know that cultural influences are complex and interconnected. And they’re aware that while culture is significant, factors such as business roles and individual personalities can have a powerful effect on behaviour, too.
For example, let’s say you have a meeting with an Italian stockbroker (证券经纪人). Does this person behave the way people do because they’re Italian, because they’re stockbrokers, or because they’re Italian stockbrokers? Or is it because they’re millennials, or introverts? It’s likely a combination of all of these elements (要素), so aim to avoid making assumptions or generalizations based on any single aspect.
Cultural knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to know every detail of a culture. It’s about knowing how that culture in general shapes people’s behaviours, values, and beliefs. When you understand that, individual “rules” of behaviour make much more sense.
1. Why do we need to have CQ?| A．Because the earth has become a global village. |
| B．Because we work in multi-national organizations. |
| C．Because we trade with people from all over the world. |
| D．Because we work with people from different places and backgrounds. |
| A．People with high CQ specialize in every kind of culture. |
| B．People with high CQ can understand unfamiliar or uncertain behaviour. |
| C．People with high CQ have an ability of dealing with different customers. |
| D．People with high CQ think it is easy for them to adapt to new cultural settings. |
| A．To show a special Italian man. |
| B．To stress the importance of learning stocks. |
| C．To prove complex cultural influences. |
| D．To demonstrate the need of understanding others. |
| A．How to find the individual “rules” of behaviour. |
| B．How to know every detail of an unfamiliar culture. |
| C．How to work in a multicultural workplace. |
| D．How to understand others in multicultural workplace. |
4 . It’s been nearly two decades since the traditional clothing style Hanfu first started to reemerge in China. Since then it has gone from a small cultural movement celebrating an ancient fashion to a trend that is booming on social media, having been adopted by China’s Generation Z as a means of connecting with their past. Instead of following other cultures blindly, Generation Z now have different opinions about what trend is by promoting local culture while having an objective view of exotic cultural products.
The new tastes of Generation Z—young people born after 1995—are well represented on Bilibili. In the recent New Year’s Eve gala presented by Bilibili, it attracted more than 100 million views within 48 hours with a colourful set of programmes ranging from Peking Opera to classical Chinese cartoons. The same is also true of movie industry. Last year, for the first time, the top 10 most viewed films in China were all domestic films, while the ticket sales for imported films have dropped to only 16.28 percent.
”Generation Z grew up with the rapid development of China and under good economic conditions. With the development of the Chinese Internet industry, they have more access to diverse international information and culture, which bring them a much broader vision and makes them more open and confident in analyzing foreign culture. Apart from taking pride in China’s rapid development, this generation also pursues individuality and values devotion to the country,“ Professor Zhang Yiwu said.
He also noted that the popular rock and punk culture pursued by the 70s and 80s generation is more of a challenge against real life and local culture. Some people who were born in the 1970s and 1980s did not grow up in the Internet age—they experienced the transformation of China going from poor to rich first-hand. This kind of longing and admiration of the West came from a lack of confidence.
However, Generation Z now have the confidence to look at Western culture with equal status. This kind of cultural confidence will result in China being more active and creative in its development on the international stage in the future.
1. What does the underlined word ”exotic“ in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Foreign. | B．Fashionable. | C．Traditional. | D．Elegant. |
| A．To confirm the rise of new media. |
| B．To promote Chinese Internet industry. |
| C．To highlight the popularity of domestic art. |
| D．To show the popularity of New Year’s Eve gala. |
| A．They have a stronger cultural identity. |
| B．They are longing for cultural diversity. |
| C．They have made China develop rapidly. |
| D．They are more fond of foreign culture. |
| A．Confident China, Better Future |
| B．China’s Progress Results in Cultural Confidence |
| C．China’s New Generation Redefine Local Culture as Trendy |
| D．Hanfu Style, Connector of Ancient Fashion and Modern Trend |
5 . The Mogao Grottoes were a center of Buddhist life and some of the world’s great cultures for hundreds of years. However, by the late Qing Dynasty they had been abandoned and nearly forgotten and many of the caves had become damaged by the elements. Around 1900, with the discovery of a library of thousands of ancient documents, the caves received new interest from Chinese and foreign researchers. Unfortunately, this resulted in tens of thousands of items from the caves being taken to foreign museums
In the 1940s, many researchers and artists visited the area to study traditional Chinese art. Copies of some of the artwork painted by respected artists such as Zhang Daqian and GuanShanyue helped people all over the country learn about Dunhuang. These artists were also inspired by the artwork they saw in the caves and it began to influence their painting styles. Others staved in the desert for much longer, Chang Shuhong stayed for the rest of his life — struggling to record the cultural treasures and protect them from the weather. As a result of their efforts the Dunhuang Academy was formed to protect and study the Mogao Grottoes.
In 1987, the Mogao Grottoes were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the caves are open to the public, access is now limited in order to protect the artwork. However, the caves can be seen online in digital form so that people around the world can study and enjoy them.
Despite its remoteness, the Mogao Grottoes continue to draw visitors. And just as the sand and desert have survived largely unchanged through the centuries, this small art gallery in the desert has also survived largely unchanged providing an amazing look at a world long ago past.
1. When did the Mogao Grottoes regain the world’s attention?| A．Hundreds of years ago. |
| B．In the late Qing Dynasty. |
| C．In the late eighties of the 20th century. |
| D．Around the beginning of the 20th century. |
| A．To learn about their works. |
| B．To show how hard they worked. |
| C．To compare their different styles. |
| D．To appreciate their contributions. |
| A．they can do researches online |
| B．they can enjoy the digital versions |
| C．they can watch copies in art galleries |
| D．they can study them in foreign museums |
| A．The Mogao Grottoes — Center of Buddhist Life |
| B．The Mogao Grottoes — Art Gallery in the Desert |
| C．Respected artists — Protectors of the Mogao Grottoes |
| D．An Amazing Tourist Attraction — The Mogao Grottoes |
6 . Many of China’s ancient architectural treasures crumbled into dust before Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng began documenting them in the 1930s. The husband and wife team were among the first preservationists to operate in China, and by far the best known. Their efforts have since inspired generations of people to speak out for architecture threatened by the rapid development.
Becoming China’s best architectural historians was no easy accomplishment. The buildings they wanted to save were centuries old, often located in distant parts of the country. In many cases, they had to journey through dangerous conditions in the Chinese countryside to reach them. Exploring China’s remote areas during the 1930s meant traveling muddy, poorly maintained (养护) roads by mule (骡子), or on foot. Inns (客栈) were often dirty, food could be polluted, and there was always risk of violence from rebels, soldiers and robbers.
Their greatest discovery was the Temple of Buddha’s Light, in Wutai County, Shanxi Province. The breathtaking wooden temple was rebuilt in 857 A.D., making it the oldest building known in China at the time.
Liang and Lin crawled into the temple’s most forbidding, forgotten areas to determine its age, including one hideaway inhabited by thousands of bats and millions of bedbugs, covered in dust and littered with dead bats. “In complete darkness and among awful smell, hardly breathing, with thick masks covering our noses and mouths, we measured, drew, and photographed with flashlights for several hours. When at last we came out to take a breath of fresh air, we found hundreds of bedbugs in our bag. We ourselves had been badly bitten. Yet the importance and unexpectedness of our find made those the happiest hours of my years hunting for ancient architecture.” Liang wrote of the experience in an account included in the book “Liang and Lin: Partners in Exploring China’s Architectural Past”.
1. What does the underlined word “crumbled” mean in Paragraph 1?| A．Were stolen. | B．Fell down. |
| C．Looked old. | D．Closed up. |
| A．Transport and accommodations. |
| B．Personal safety and weather. |
| C．Communication with locals and food. |
| D．Road conditions and funds. |
| A．They considered their work was the most important. |
| B．They were well-equipped before entering the temple. |
| C．They found some surprising things in the temple. |
| D．The conditions inside the temple were common to them. |
| A．Tough Conditions in China’s Remote Areas |
| B．Partners in Documenting China’s Architectural Treasures |
| C．The Reason for Liang and Lin’s Exploration |
| D．The Difficulties China’s Architectural Historians Are Facing |
7 . Using Google’s unique digital technology, the stories of some English Heritage Sites around the country — from Tintagel Castle in Cornwall to Chesters Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall — are brought to life and shared by way of the Google Arts & Culture platform.
 Stonehenge Skyscape | The English Heritage’s Stonehenge Skyscape enables people around the world to experience the skies above the stone circle, and learn about movements of the sun, moon and planets. Experience live and special sunrise over Stonehenge, see the journey of the stars and the moon from within the stone circle and learn more about the design of Stonehenge and how its builders may have understood their place in the universe. |
 Osborne House, the Isle of Wight | Take a 360⁃degree video tour of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s palatial (富丽堂皇的) holiday home on the Isle of Wight in the company of English Heritage director Michael Hunter, including the Italian terraces (露台) with views over the Solent, which reminded Prince Albert of the Bay of Naples, and the Indian-inspired Durbar Room, designed to show Queen Victoria’s position as Empress of India. |
 Audley End House and Gardens, Essex | Explore the story of one of the greatest houses of early 17th-century England deep in the heart of the Essex countryside, and fly over the great formal gardens designed by Capability Brown. |
 Tintagel Castle, Cornwall | Explore this medieval (中世纪的) castle set high on Cornwall’s north coast. Linked with the legend of King Arthur, for centuries this impressive castle has inspired the imaginations of writers and artists. Discover the early medieval history of a distant outpost (偏远村镇) trading objects from Spain, North Africa and Turkey. |
| A．Stonehenge Skyscape. |
| B．Osborne House, the Isle of Wight. |
| C．Audley End House and Gardens, Essex. |
| D．Tintagel Castle, Cornwall. |
| A．Both were built for their kings. |
| B．Both were built in the same age. |
| C．Both are related to previous rulers. |
| D．Both were palatial holiday homes for the rulers. |
| A．Language. | B．Education. | C．Geography. | D．Culture. |
8 . Famous world film festivals and awards
Venice International Film Festival, Venice, Italy
Held yearly from 1932, it’s the world’s oldest film festival. The awards are lion trophies (奖杯) including the Golden Lion and Silver Lion. Chinese director Zhang Yimou has won the Golden Lion twice.
Festival de Cannes, Cannes, France
It’s held yearly from 1946. Held in May in the beautiful French seaside town of Cannes, it celebrates and awards artistic achievement in film. The highest prize is the Golden Palm trophy (金棕榈奖). Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige won the prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
Oscar Awards, Hollywood, USA
The first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor the outstanding film achievements of the 1927/1928 film season.
Winners had been announced three months earlier. However, that was changed in the second ceremony of the Academy Awards in 1930. Since then and during the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11 p.m. on the night of the awards. This method was used until the Los Angeles Times announced the winners before the ceremony began. As a result, the Academy has used a sealed envelope to tell the name of the winners since 1941.
The Golden Globe Awards, Los Angeles, USA
It was first held in January, 1944 at the 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles, where the winners in five categories received scrolls. The actual Golden Globe award started in 1946, when the statuette of a “golden globe” was introduced. The list of award categories has grown and changed over the times.
1. Which of the following is held in France?| A．Venice International Film Festival. | B．Festival de Cannes. |
| C．Oscar Awards. | D．The Golden Globe Awards. |
| A．He won the Golden Lion twice. | B．He won the Oscar Awards twice. |
| C．He won the Golden Palm trophy once. | D．He won the Golden Globe awards once. |
| A．Chen Kaige won the Golden Palm trophy. | B．The first Oscar awards ceremony was held. |
| C．The world’s oldest film festival was held. | D．The 20th Century Fox studios launched. |
| A．In 1929. | B．In 1930. | C．In 1944. | D．In 1946. |
9 . You might think of it as a scene from martial arts movies when you see people performing graceful moves down the river, all standing on a bamboo strip, but actually it is a form of intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产): bamboo drifting.
Over 2,000 years ago, the high-quality wood, nanmu, in Guizhou was in great demand by the royal court more than 2,000 kilometers to the north. With no better transportation, people had to stand on one log to drift down the river. Later, local people began to compete along the way and the game of wood drifting was born. In the Qing Dynasty, wood drifting became bamboo drifting because of bamboo’s lower price. Due to the great strength and balance it takes for one to master this act, bamboo drifting was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2021.
Yang Liu, a 25-year-old inheritor of bamboo drifting, learned it at seven. “Usually, the bamboo under your feet is about 9 meters long, and the bamboo in your hands is about 5 meters. If the length or diameter of the bamboo is not long enough, it will not be buoyant (有浮力的) enough to float. Keeping our feet firmly positioned on the narrow bamboo pole is the key, so we should fight against the current by constantly changing the angle. I lost my balance and fell in the water many times while practicing. Once I fell, I gave it another try until I knew how to handle the most difficult part,” she said.
The love for the ancient skill keeps Yang going. In the past 18 years, she has drifted all year round, in cold winter and hot summer. As hanfu culture has been on the rise, Yang started wearing hanfu while performing, creating a more beautiful scene. In 2020, Yang began to post her videos on social media. “I’m extremely proud to get responses from viewers that bamboo drifting makes the line between what is possible and impossible unclear. It’s my mission to keep it alive and known to more people,” Yang Liu says.
1. What can be learned from the first two paragraphs?| A．Bamboo drifting involves lots of skills. |
| B．Nanmu was delivered to the north by land. |
| C．Bamboo was costly in Guizhou 2,000 years ago. |
| D．The martial arts movie is a form of cultural heritage. |
| A．Keeping balance. | B．Maintaining a fixed angle. |
| C．Finding the proper bamboo. | D．Holding the bamboo firmly in hands. |
| A．Impossible. | B．Confusing. | C．Unbelievable. | D．Complicated. |
| A．Balancing with Grace | B．Yang Liu: a Creative Performer |
| C．Transporting Bamboo down the River | D．Intangible Cultural Heritage in Guizhou |
10 . This year over twenty-three hundred teenagers (young people aged from 13-19) from all over the world will spend about ten months in US homes. They will attend US schools, meet US teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.
Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.
Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’ study the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected—much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that were usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.
Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car. “Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”
At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea.“I suppose I should criticise American schools,” he said. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much.In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”
1. What’s Mike’s attitude towards American education?| A．Praise. | B．Regret. |
| C．Ignore. | D．Accuse. |
| A．To help teenagers in other countries know the real America. |
| B．To send students in America to travel in Germany. |
| C．To let students learn something about other countries. |
| D．To have teenagers learn new languages. |
| A．There is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings. |
| B．There are a lot of outside activities. |
| C．Students usually take 14 subjects in all. |
| D．Students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car. |
| A．A better education should include something good from both America and Germany. |
| B．German schools trained students to be better citizens. |
| C．American schools were not as good as German schools. |
| D．The easy life in American schools was more helpful to students. |
