1 . 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 |
2 . In Canada you can find dogs, cats, horses and so on, in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and have them as their good friends. Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections so that they won’t have diseases. They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. When you visit people’s houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in the garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished. If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad about it.
People in Canada have many reasons to like pets. One of them might be: their family ties are not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life. Then the old will feel lonely. And pets can solve this problem. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.
1. People give their pets injections before keeping them at their houses because __________.| A．the pets are sick | B．the pets are not friendly |
| C．they want them to be different | D．they want to stop them from having diseases |
| A．their parents’ houses are too small |
| B．they don’t love their parents any more |
| C．they can only find jobs far from their parents |
| D．they wouldn’t depend on their parents any more |
| A．Pets in Canada. | B．Life of the old in Canada. |
| C．How to take good care of pets. | D．How to keep diseases away from pets. |
3 . On the evening of April 8, Dunhuang Academy and Huawei jointly launched a brand-new technology-driven tour experience at the Mogao Grottoes. Using Huawei's newly-released Hetu artificial intelligence platform, coupled with the output of the Digital Dunhuang project, visitors to the Mogao Grottoes can enjoy a fantasy experience prior to entering the attraction.
Zhao Shengliang, director of the Dunhuang Academy, said that it has been cooperating with Huawei since March 2019. Using Huawei's latest Hetu technology, visitors are able to see the detailed contents of the Dunhuang Art Murals(壁画) outside the caves, through their Huawei mobile phones. This will reduce the time tourists spend inside the cave, aiding the protection of the cultural relics, while at the same time helping to increase the amount of information visitors can obtain. It is also considered to be a new way of promoting Dunhuang Art.
The Dunhuang Academy has used digital technology to preserve the research and exploration of Dunhuang Grottoes since the early 1990s. It has collected a wealth of data and has realized the goal of sharing of digital Dunhuang globally. It has played an important role in the protection and research of cultural site, as well as promoting the development and progress of related work.
The Huawei Hetu platform unites Dunhuang's study findings, high—resolution images of the site's murals and virtual, three-dimensional models with the real Mogao Grottoes. It has not only re-created the real tour of the scenic spot, but also developed a new way of digitally experiencing the grottoes. When people visit the site, they not only have the experience of seeing the real grottoes, but they can appreciate the admirable artworks more clearly and in greater detail.
In the future, Dunhuang Academy will continue to cooperate with Huawei to create more colorful virtual content to enrich the experience of Mogao Art on the platform, helping people around the world get to know Dunhuang Art better.
1. Which is NOT the advantage of the Hetu technology?| A．Decrease the cost of the visitors. | B．Reduce the time visitors spend inside the cave. |
| C．Help to protect the cultural relics. | D．Provide more information for tourists. |
| A．About a year. | B．90 years. | C．Nearly 30 years. | D．10 years. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Opposed. | C．Indifferent. | D．Hopeful. |
| A．Dunhuang Academy Preserves Grottoes Well | B．AI Tech Helps Tourists Enjoy Dunhuang's Art |
| C．Huawei Newly Released Hetu AI | D．Dunhuang Grottoes Attract Tourists |
4 . A student's life is never easy.
●Knowing the country.
You shouldn't bother researching the country's hottest tourist spots or historical places. You won't go there as a tourist, but as a student. It'll be helpful to read the most important points in their history and to read up on their culture.
●Studying their language.
Don't expect that you can graduate abroad without knowing even the basics of the language. Before leaving your home country, take online lessons to at least master some of their words and sentences.
●
Check the conversion（兑换）of your money to their local currency, set up your bank account so you can use it there, get an insurance, and find an apartment. The Internet or your intended school will be very helpful in finding an apartment and helping you understand local currency.
Remember, you're not only carrying your own reputation but your country's reputation as well. If you act foolishly, people there might think that all of your country men are foolish as well.
| A．Packing your clothes. |
| B．Preparing for other needs. |
| C．Most importantly, read about their laws. |
| D．This will be useful in living and studying there. |
| E．That would surely be a very bad start for your study abroad program. |
| F．Going with their trends will keep it from being too obvious that you're a foreigner. |
| G．And it is even more difficult if you will have to complete your study in a foreign land. |
5 . Crosstalk, a traditional form of comic storytelling, is making a comeback in China's tea houses and theaters.
Audiences can laugh the night away every Saturday at the Qianxiangyi Teahouse in Tianjin, entertained by the students of Hou Baolin, Ma Sanli or Yin Shoushan—all leading crosstalk artists of years past-for only 20 yuan. The success in Tianjin has also caused the comeback of crosstalk in Beijing and other places.
Although the art form began in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty (1644﹣1911), Tianjin became a place where rising stars formed their styles and new pieces were tried out. The city was well﹣known nationwide for the quality of its crosstalk performances.
Known in Chinese as xiangsheng (literally, “face and voice”), crosstalk was the chief form of comedy throughout most of the 20th century. In the old days in Tianjin and elsewhere, temple fairs and markets were the main places for crosstalkers to perform, although they occasionally also appeared in teahouses or theaters.
The Crosstalk piecesdraw onevery aspect of Chinese culture, from history and folk tales to social issues of the time. Although there're hundreds of traditional pieces, they're constantly rewritten to suit the times and the audience, while new works are written as well. It's one of the characters that have made crosstalk a public art form throughout its history.
“Crosstalk was in the doldrums (萎靡不振) with competition from other art forms, especially TV,” said Wang Xiaochun, headmaster of the Northern Storytelling Arts School of China (NSAS). “But it has regained its popularity with crosstalk fans, especially young people, realizing its rare qualities.”
“More and more students are coming to NSAS to study crosstalk, including some girl students,” said Wang. “They're sure that crosstalk will have a strong market.”
1. What does the underline phrase "draw on" mean in paragraph 6?| A．keep away from | B．make use of | C．think little of | D．turn their back to |
| A．Crosstalk first arose in Tianjin. |
| B．Crosstalk was mainly performed at teahouses in the past. |
| C．Crosstalk was the most popular art form in the 20th century. |
| D．Crosstalk didn't appear until the Qing Dynasty. |
| A．it is a popular traditional art after all |
| B．the pieces contain some famous folk tales |
| C．the crosstalkers make it return to teahouses |
| D．the pieces are made to suit the times and the audience |
| A．setting up more storytelling art schools | B．beating TV and other arts |
| C．young people's understanding of its value | D．a strong market |
6 . America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while—then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily, but truly can’t manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes,
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for pure business matters. So accept their hospitality at home !
1. Where are we expected to call our American friends if we go there by plane?| A．On the bus. | B．At the airport. |
| C．Near their home. | D．At our own hotel. |
| A．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| B．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| C．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
| D．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| A．Treating friends at home. | B．Sharing everything they have. |
| C．Taking days off to be with friends. | D．Meeting friends at the airport at midnight. |
| A．Culture. | B．News. |
| C．Story. | D．Travel. |
7 . It warmed my heart today to walk into the Thirsty Camel downtown in the Thanksgiving Day, for a quick lunch before a haircut and library trip. Ilan, a food shop owner, said that he was refusing to take money today because it was Buy Nothing Day. To increase awareness(意识) of the stranger’s over-spending nature of our society, Ilan suggested a trade（交易）for food today. He simply asked that you offer something of equal personal value for the meal you received.
At first I was really uncomfortable, wondering if it would be fair(公平的) to exchange a yet to be determined “I Owe You” (IOU) for food? What could I give him of equal value? After all, his food is the best in the town!
We ended up writing our IOU’s with promises in a lot of ways if he needs it, such as a book, some paintings and the offer of work. I think the idea isn’t that the trade is “equal” so much as the importance of the kind of transaction. We put thought into our offer and we had an even greater understanding for the meals we ate.
We don’t buy a lot, especially at this upcoming time of year. We don’t give gifts at all in fact. The holiday time is spent enjoying each other’s company and doing things together with family and friends. This is what seems most sensible（明智的）.
Ilan is a good person. We are all lucky to have someone like this in our community.
1. Ilan did not take any money that day in order to______.| A．to increase awareness of people’s over spending |
| B．have a quick lunch before a haircut and library trip |
| C．trade for something for nothing |
| D．buy nothing that day to save some money |
| A．some promises | B．a book |
| C．some paintings | D．work in different ways |
| A．transport | B．trade | C．meal | D．giving |
| A．Disagreeable | B．Meaningless. | C．Doubtful. | D．Supportive. |
8 . When you go to a foreign country, you often enter a new culture. The differences between cultures may make you feel stressed and you often find it difficult to adjust to the new surroundings, which is usually called “culture shock”.
The psychological and physical symptoms of culture shock may appear depending on the individuals. Some often feel anxious while adjusting to a new culture—even more so when the cultural distances are wide.
A local club provides the perfect environment to get to know people who have a similar focus, so join one so that you can meet some locals and develop new friendships.
| A．They may lose appetite and have sleep problems. |
| B．Still, the most important change is communication. |
| C．They make a lot of effort to get used to the new surroundings. |
| D．The more of it is understood, the more of the new culture can be understood. |
| E．Learning about your future destination is a great way to get over culture shock. |
| F．Plus, remember that you aren’t alone in your struggle to adjust in a new country. |
| G．Actually, staying in a foreign country helps you to know more of the new culture. |
9 . Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
Where: Becket, Massachusetts
When: Jun.15---Aug.24
Each summer, this influential dance center presents a number of classes and performances by more than 50 companies from around the world. Highlights (最精彩的部分) in this season include the Dance Theater of Harlem's production of Alvin Ailey's ''The Lark Ascending'', which opens the festival.
Many events are free. Ticketed performances start at $22. Jacobspillow.org.
Moab Music Festival
Where: Moab, Utah
When: Aug.29---Sept.9
This area is better known for mountain biking than for music. But since 1992, it has hosted a private festival that brings classical, jazz, Latin and other types of music to the land. This year there will be 16 concerts, including three ''Grotto Concerts'', where guests take a 45-minute boat ride down the Colorado River to performances.
Events start at $25. moabmusicfest.org.
Cheyenne Frontier Days
Where: Cheyenne, Wyoming
When: July19---28
There is something for everyone at this 117-year-old festival, from an ''Indian village and Old West museum'' to country concerts. But the competition is still the main attraction, with cowboys and cowgirls competing for major money in the world's largest outdoor stage.
Competition tickets start at $18, and concert tickets at $23. cfdrodeo.com.
The Glimmerglass Festival
Where: Cooperstown, New York
When: July6---Aug.24
Each summer, opera lovers from around the country travel to upstate New York to watch productions that include stars like Nathan Gunn and Ginger Costa-Jackson. This year's performances include Wagner's ''The Flying Dutchman'' and Verdi's ''King for a Day'', in honor of the 200th birthdays of both composers(作曲家).
Tickets start at $26. glimmerglass.org.
1. If you are interested in dance performance, which date suits you best?| A．June 6. | B．June 28. | C．August 29. | D．September 9. |
| A．Becket, Massachusetts. | B．Moab, Utah. |
| C．Cheyenne, Wyoming. | D．Cooperstown, New York. |
| A．Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival | B．The Glimmerglass Festival |
| C．Cheyenne Frontier Days | D．Moab Music Festival |
10 . Imagine a small group of people with a shared passion for the same craft. They all have different skills and approaches, but they come together to share skills, share stories, and share in the joy of making something.
Modern maker culture is filling headlines and lab spaces all over the world. The way makers communicate with each other has changed over time. In the past, skills mainly came from personal sit-downs with members of the group. But sometimes a teacher wasn’t available, or the one available didn' t know how to do the skill others wanted to learn.
Today a teacher doesn' t even have to be in the same country or occupy the same decade as the students. Thanks to the work of people who take the time to break down and share the details of their craft, an interested individual can learn anything. Guides may range from videos to diagrams and text. Regardless of the media, maker resources are meant to be shared.
One of the features of the maker movement is the crossover between different interests. Perhaps a passion for cars and for leathercraft can result in a truly custom interior （定制的内饰）. Perhaps a love of knitting （编织）and robotics will result in a tiny ——but very mobile ——robotic furry cat.
And once you have started your creation, finding a community to share with is no longer limited to the people nearby. Modern makers have been sharing videos of their progress online for years, contributing greatly to the rapid spread of the maker movement. As different as the participants might be, they share enthusiasm, support, and a willingness to try.
Imagine making a ping-pong table together with your makers' team. One group builds the basic frame. Another group takes on the responsibility of painting. You knit the net. There is joy in just giving it a try. It will remind you of childhood creations. Whether you are an experienced programmer or just picking up a hammer for the first time, it is never a bad time to come up with an idea, try something, and share the results.
1. How did makers communicate with each other in the past?| A．By meeting face to face. |
| B．By asking personal questions. |
| C．By visiting a teacher together. |
| D．By sitting together in a classroom. |
| A．Exchange. | B．Difference. |
| C．Combination. | D．Independence. |
| A．The sharing of videos on the Internet. |
| B．The development of education. |
| C．The increasing willingness to share. |
| D．The increasing number of participants. |
| A．To advise us to start small. |
| B．To inspire some creative ideas. |
| C．To stress the importance of childhood creations. |
| D．To encourage us to join in the maker movement. |
