1 . Eating out in the United States is not much different than eating out in other parts of the worlds. There are still fast-food chains such as McDonalds and KFC for those hamburgers. However, what makes the restaurants in the US unique is that there is a cultural diversity of restaurants serving food from almost every part of the world. When you arrive in Irvine, and travel around the city, you will find many restaurants of many different cultures, ranging from European, to the Middle East and Asia. So, when you first arrive, there are always restaurants close by that offer the food you prefer.
Now how do you find those restaurants and know if they are good or not? The most common way is through the Internet. In the US, most restaurants can be found through a smartphone app called Yelp. It is a commonly used search engine for restaurants and it is very convenient to use! All you need is to enter the cuisine you want such as “Indian, Sichuan, Sushi, Vegetarian, etc.” In addition, each restaurant on there is also rated and reviewed by some of their past customers. At some restaurants, you can also sign up for the waiting list through the app to economize time!
If you don’t have time to go out and eat, there are food delivery services available. Traditionally, pizza is the most common food for delivery. Some delivery services you can try are DoorDash, UberEats, or Postmates. All you would need to do is just make free account, select the restaurants on their webpage, order from the menu, and enter your address to have the food delivered to your home. They usually have a delivery discount the first time you sign up for an account, so make sure to take advantage of that!
1. What sets restaurants in the United States apart from other parts of the world?| A．The presence of fast-food chains like McDonalds and KFC. |
| B．The availability of a wide range of cultural diversity in food options. |
| C．The use of Internet apps for ordering food. |
| D．The tradition of having food delivered to one’s home. |
| A．By asking locals for recommendations. |
| B．By exploring the city on foot. |
| C．By using the Yelp app and searching for specific cuisines. |
| D．By checking in at their hotel for a list of nearby restaurants. |
| A．Save. | B．Spend. | C．Kill. | D．Waste. |
| A．By offering a wide range of food options. |
| B．By providing free delivery for all orders. |
| C．By allowing customers to order through smartphone apps. |
| D．By offering delivery discounts to first-time account sign-ups. |
2 . The Tomatina Festival (西红柿节) is a festival that is held in a town named Bunol in Spain, on which people throw tomatoes for fun. It is held on the last Wednesday of August each year.
In 1945, during a parade (游行) in the town one day, young men who wanted to be in the parade started a fight in the town square. They used tomatoes as weapons (武器) .
At around 10: 00 a. m. on Wednesday, activities that are organized to celebrate the festival begin.
The Tomatina Festival has inspired other similar celebrations in other parts of the world, for example, in the city of Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China, a tomato fight is held on October 19th.
| A．The first one is climbing a pole with a ham on top. |
| B．There are also various competitions held during the festival. |
| C．The local government has made some rules for the safety of people. |
| D．This is the most popular story about how the Tomatina Festival started. |
| E．The whole square becomes red because there is tomato juice everywhere. |
| F．Hotels, parks, or convention centers are common places for large festivals. |
| G．The tomatoes there are less expensive and are grow n specially for the festival. |
3 . The Longtaitou Festival, which means “dragon raises head” in Chinese, is a traditional Chinese festival held on the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar. So, it’s also called Eryue’er Festival. In Chinese culture, the dragon is an auspicious (吉利的) animal that dominates clouds and rains. The 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month is thought to be the day when dragon awakes and raises its head according to the Chinese folk legend. So the day is called Dragon Heads-raising Day. After the day, spring is coming and there will be more and more rain. People think these credits (功劳) go to the dragon. So the day is also called Spring Dragon Festival. Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), Chinese people have had the custom of spending the Spring Dragon Festival.
The most popular custom on the Dragon Heads-raising Day is cutting hair. Dragon is highly honored for its dignity (尊贵) and power for good. It is thought to be auspicious to cut hair on the Dragon Heads-raising Day. Luck and opportunities will always knock you in the year. So, on that day, barbershops’(理发店的) businesses are growing and full of customers.
The most common foods for celebrating the festival are popcorns, pancakes, noodles, dumplings, fired so y beans and pig’s head. People in different areas have different traditions about the food on the day. In Beijing, people eat Lvdagunr (Glutinous Rice Rolls with Sweet Bean Flour) and spring pancakes on the day. In Shanxi, people like to eat fried dough twists (油条) and pancakes. In Shandong, fried so y beans, noodles and dumplings are the festival food. In Fuzhou, the salted porridge made of glutinous rice, celery, scallion, garlic, fry dried shrimps and shredded meat is eaten. These show people’s hope to be blessed (保佑) with favorable weather and plentiful grain harvest by the dragon.
1. Which of the following names is Not consistent with the the Longtaitou Festival?| A．The Eryue’er Festival. |
| B．Dragon Heads-raising Day. |
| C．The Spring Dragon Festival. |
| D．The Double Ninth Festival. |
| A．It’s a day for dragons to awake and raise head. |
| B．It’s a day to celebrate the return of warm spring. |
| C．It’s a day to happily welcome the precious rain. |
| D．It’s a day to deeply thank the auspicious animal. |
| A．People’s desire for dignity and power. |
| B．People’s wish for luck and opportunity. |
| C．People’s expectation to grow more hair. |
| D．People’s satisfaction to own good health. |
| A．Chinese always share the similar food on that day. |
| B．The spring pancakes are the most popular in Shanxi. |
| C．The foods show the hope for good weather conditions. |
| D．The fried soya beans are not popular in Shandong. |
4 . The item of traditional tea processing techniques and social practices in China was added to the intangible cultural heritage list of UNESCO in November, 2022.
China’s traditional tea processing techniques are mainly concentrated in four tea-growing areas, namely South and North of the Yangtze River, and Southwest and South China.
China is the hometown of tea, and the inclusion of the Chinese tea into the world cultural intangible heritage list will help build the cultural foundation for a community with a shared future for mankind.
| A．Tea-drinking is considered to be an important part of Chinese culture. |
| B．Promoted by tea culture, China’s tea industry is also developing rapidly. |
| C．It has become the 43rd Chinese item on the intangible cultural heritage list. |
| D．China is not only the largest producer of tea, but also the largest consumer. |
| E．The practice of making friends through tea-related activities is very common in China. |
| F．It will also help the world deepen its understanding of the fine traditional Chinese culture. |
| G．There are over 2,000 kinds of tea for people to drink in China, thus forming different customs. |
5 . Carved into the cliffs above the Dachuan River, the Mogao Caves, south-east of the Dunhuang oasis, Gansu province, contain the largest, richest, and longest used treasure house of Buddhist art in the world. It was first constructed in 366 AD and represents the great achievement of Buddhist art from the 4th to the 14th century. Four hundred and ninety-two caves are presently preserved, housing about 45,000 square meters of murals (壁画) and more than 2,000 painted sculptures. Cave 302 of the Sui Dynasty contains one of the oldest and most vivid scenes of cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, showing a camel pulling a cart typical of trade missions of that period.
As evidence of the evolution of Buddhist art in the northwest region of China, the Mogao Caves are of unmatched historical value. These works provide an abundance of vivid materials depicting various aspects of medieval (中世纪的) politics, economics, culture, arts, religion, ethnic relations, and daily dress in western China. Many of these masterpieces are creations of an unparalleled aesthetic (美学的) talent.
The discovery of the Library Cave at the Mogao Caves in 1990, together with the tens of thousands of manuscripts and relics it contained, has been acclaimed as the world’s greatest discovery of ancient Oriental (东方的) culture. This significant heritage provides invaluable reference for studying the complex history of ancient China and Central Asia.
The Mogao Caves were included on the World Heritage List in 1987. At the state level, China has put all World Heritage Sites under top-level protection. In 1961, the Mogao Caves were listed as one of the State Priority Protected Sites by the State Council and were put under the protection of national laws, including the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics. The Administrative Institution of the Mogao Caves has been cooperating with international counterparts (同行) to study conservation and site management and looks forward to continuing its work in preserving the heritage of the site.
1. What can we infer from Cave 302 of the Sui Dynasty?| A．It is important for the study of ancient craftsmanship. |
| B．It’s important for the research of the history of Central Asia. |
| C．It shows the evolution of Buddhist art in ancient China. |
| D．It has great value for the study of the history of the Silk Road. |
| A．Portray. | B．Observe. | C．Intend. | D．Process. |
| A．Proud. | B．Amazed. | C．Doubtful. | D．Bored. |
| A．To introduce the laws that protect the Mogao Caves. |
| B．To give advice on how to protect the Mogao Caves. |
| C．To tell us that the Mogao Caves are well protected. |
| D．To explain the measures taken to protect the Mogao Caves. |
6 . It’s a race against time, as generations of cultural heritage conservators at the Dunhuang Academy make a great effort to protect the artistic charm of the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, despite erosion (侵蚀) by sand and wind.
The team is dedicated to protecting the 45, 000 square meters of murals (壁画) and more than 2, 400 painted sculptures of the 735 caves of the site, the construction of which spans about a thousand years, from the 4th century to the 14th century. The cultural relics are the product of the cultural exchanges that took place over centuries on the ancient Silk Road. “Our work, repairing murals and painted sculptures, is to better preserve the caves, which promotes the great Dunhuang spirit of inclusiveness (包容) to the world and inspires modern people,” says Su Bomin, director of the Dunhuang Academy.
Commonly seen “diseases” affecting the murals include cracking and flaking (剥落), as well as erosion that is caused by changes in temperature and humidity of the caves, and the deposition of salts. To restore (修复) a mural requires an all-rounder. Restorers should know painting, master the skills of a mason (石匠) and have some knowledge of chemistry and physics, to be able to recognize the problems and their corresponding (相应的) causes and deliver a solution. They must also select proper materials and tools, and conduct experiments, before formally carrying out the restoration and evaluating the effect afterward.
The restoration (修复) should respect the original work and aim to maintain the status quo (现状) of the murals rather than repainting them. When the restorers find some parts of murals missing or fading away, they never repaint them to create a “perfect” appearance in restoration. “Cultural relics are witnesses of history,” explains Su. “When you pursue the so-called intact (完好无损的) look for artistic reasons, you will lose their key meaning.”
Cave conservation is about continuously solving problems. “It needs a long-term research to better preserve the caves, over a much wider time span that goes beyond our lifetimes,” Su says. But at least, they can keep the existing look of the murals for as long as possible.
1. What is the main purpose of paragraph 2?| A．To show the popularity of Dunhuang murals. |
| B．To explain the history of the ancient Silk Road. |
| C．To stress the significance of the restoration work. |
| D．To present the ways of protecting cultural heritage. |
| A．Creative. | B．Well-paid. | C．Interesting. | D．Demanding. |
| A．Spotting the faded murals in time. |
| B．Fixing the missing parts of murals. |
| C．Making preservation(保护) of the murals as they are. |
| D．Repainting to perfect the appearance of murals. |
| A．The Artistic Charm of Mural Paintings. |
| B．The Mural Restoration in the Mogao Caves. |
| C．The Successful Experiment on Cave Conservation. |
| D．The Role of the Dunhuang Spirit in Chinese Culture. |
7 . The Longtaitou Festivl, which means “dragon-raises head” in Chinese, is a traditional Chinese festival held on the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar. So, it’s also called Eryueer Festival. In Chinese culture, the dragon is an auspicious (吉利的) animal that dominates clouds and rains. The 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month is thought to be the day when dragon awakes and raises its head according to the Chinese folk legend. So the day is called Dragon Heads-raising Day. After the day, spring is coming and there will be more and more rain. People think these credits (功劳) go to the dragon. So the day is also called Spring Dragon Festival. Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), Chinese people have had the custom of spending the Spring Dragon Festival.
The most popular custom on the Dragon Heads-raising Day is cutting hair. Dragon is highly honored for its dignity (尊贵) and power for good. It is thought to be auspicious to cut hair on the Dragon Heads-raising Day. Luck and opportunities will always knock you in the year. So, on that day, barbershops’ (理发店的) businesses are growing and full of customers.
The most common foods for celebrating the festival are popcorns, pancakes, noodles, dumplings, fired soy beans and pig’s head. People in different areas have different traditions about the food on the day. In Beijing, people eat Lvdagunr (Glutinous Rice Rolls with Sweet Bean Flour) and spring pancakes on the day. In Shanxi, people like to eat fried dough twists (油条) and pancakes. In Shandong, fried soy beans, noodles and dumplings are the festival food. In Fuzhou, the salted porridge made of glutinous rice, celery, scallion, garlic, fry dried shrimps and shredded meat is eaten. These show people’s hope to be blessed (保佑) with favorable weather and plentiful grain harvest by the dragon.
1. Which of the following is true about the Longtaitou Festival?| A．It dates back to Song Dynasty. |
| B．It is celebrated for two days. |
| C．It attracts fewer people than other festivals. |
| D．It suggests the return of spring. |
| A．It is the most popular custom. |
| B．It is in honor of dragon’s dignity and power. |
| C．It is people’s wish for luck and opportunities. |
| D．It is a sign of barbershops’ prospering businesses. |
| A．People in China share the similar traditional foods on he day. |
| B．Foods for celebrating the festival usually bear people’s best wishes. |
| C．Salted foods are used to celebrate the festival throughout China. |
| D．Traditional foods on the day are prepared for the dragon to eat. |
| A．The Dragon Heads-raising Day. |
| B．The celebrations of the Longtaitou Festival. |
| C．The origin of the Longtaitou Festival. |
| D．The purpose of the Dragon Heads-raising Day. |
8 . Labor Day (劳动节) all started in the 19th century. Overworked and exhausted laborers were fed up and demanded better treatment. In Canada, laborers marched to their Prime Minister’s doorstep and asked for their right to form unions. The march was victorious. They celebrated better working. conditions with an annual parade.
Peter J McGuire, an American labor leader, was invited and thought to bring that spirit to America and what a success it was! In New York City, protesters assembled to fight against poor labor conditions. The movement quickly spread across America. Workers gathered for picnics, concerts and speeches, rallying for 8-hour workdays and a Labor holiday.
Oregon was the first state to officially recognize the holiday. But it wasn’t until 12,000 government forces were sent to quell a strike and two railway workers were tragically killed that pressure mounted from the American workforce, and Labor Day was put on the federal calendar.
More than 80 countries worldwide celebrate Labor Day or International Workers’ Day on May 1st. But the first Monday of September made sense for Americans because it falls between Independence Day and Thanksgiving. This gives working families a much-needed break.
Fast-forward about 100 years and the Labor Day holiday has become a kind of farewell to summer. In the USA, kids go back to school, football season starts and fashionistas (时装设计师) hang up that little white dress.
But let’s not forget that Labor Day is a celebration of the labor movement, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers all over the world. It’s evolved into an appreciation of life and well-deserved break from work. So, make sure to enjoy your Labor Day with family and friends.
1. When did the Labor Day begin according to the article?| A．In the 9th century. | B．In the 19th century. |
| C．In the 13th century. | D．In the 16th century. |
| A．In the UK. | B．In New York City. |
| C．In Oregon. | D．In Africa. |
| A．More than 80 countries worldwide celebrate Labor Day on May 1st. |
| B．In New York City, protesters assembled to fight against poor labor conditions. |
| C．Labor Day was put on the federal calendar. |
| D．Labor Day holiday has become a kind of farewell to spring. |
| A．a celebration of the labor movement | B．a family party |
| C．a successful event | D．a worldwide meeting |
9 . The Qingming Festival is usually celebrated with a three-day national holiday, whose name originates (起源) from the saying “Plants start to revive (复活) and prosper at Qingming in a clean and bright way.” Thus, the festival is called Qingming, which means “clean and bright”.
Traditional customs
Tomb sweeping.
Spring outings. The time around the Qingming Festival is one of the most suitable seasons for a spring outing, as plants are thriving and flowers are blooming. People can have a great time outdoors with their friends and family.
Traditional food
Qingtuan is a green rice ball tiny enough to fit into your hand.
| A．Each different look brings a good blessing. |
| B．The tradition of tomb sweeping originates from the Qin Dynasty. |
| C．The two main activities over the festival include tomb sweeping and going on a spring outing. |
| D．Family members gather together to celebrate and taste the food. |
| E．Playing football and flying kites are popular activities. |
| F．Many traditional customs are practiced to show respect for our ancestors. |
| G．It is popular in Jiangnan. |
10 . 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. |
