1 . Cultural heritage sites are a nonrenewable resource. Today architectural heritage sites are being destroyed at an alarming rate. They’re threatened by rising seas, pollution, overtourism, conflicts and so on. Recently, Notre Dame Cathedral has attracted international attention.

Since its main construction from 1163 to 1350, Notre Dame Cathedral repeatedly has been damaged and repaired. On April 15, 2019, the landmark’s roof caught fire, causing the collapse of its spire (尖顶) and upper walls severely damaged. Work on the site began quickly. Through the work of photographer Tomas van Houtryve, writer Robert Kunzig, and artist Fernando Baptista, people will see restoring scenes where ruins are cleared and statues saved. Even the COVID-19 pandemic caused only a two-month delay. Architects have said the expensive project is on track to be completed in 2024.

And thorny questions arise. What duty do we owe the creations of our ancestors? What lesson can we draw from their presence?

Humankind has answered that differently. In Dresden, Germany, the Frauenkirche, an 18th-century baroque church, was famous for its bell-shaped dome (穹顶). In February 1945, one of the most destructive bombing attacks of World War II reduced the city to ruins. After German reunion, the church was reconstructed using many of its original stones, as a symbol of peace and harmony. Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church also fell to bombing but had a different story. Its spire has been left a ruin on purpose to be a “warning monument” against war and destruction.

Like the Frauenkirche, Notre Dame is being rebuilt as close as possible to how it was before, including using the original, toxic metal — lead (铅) — for the roof, causing the debate about how to restore and maintain historic buildings. Actually, no one claims to have the “right” answers on preservation; there may not even be right answers. What people could do is to continuously monitor the global care of cultural heritage sites, as a matter of significance to humanity’s past, present, and future.

1. What do we know about Notre Dame Cathedral?

A．It was once threatened by conflicts.

B．It collapsed totally during a fire decade ago.

C．It has undergone repeated repairs since 1163.

D．It was not influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. What does the underlined word “thorny” mean?

A．Simple.

B．Tough.

C．Accurate.

D．Attractive.

3. Why are the Frauenkirche and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church mentioned in para.4?

A．To remind people the value of peace and harmony.

B．To warn people the influence of war and destruction.

C．To demonstrate different solutions to heritage site preservation.

D．To introduce reconstruction methods such as using original materials.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Cultural heritage sites are nonrenewable so that they are worth protecting.

B．Notre Dame Cathedral has been the most attractive heritage site globally.

C．The reconstruction of cultural heritage sites seldom causes disagreements.

D．The reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral after fire has been completed.

2 . Resting her phone on a stand and making the light more suitable, 49-year-old Lyu Min started her livestreaming session — her daily job during the COVID-19 outbreak. Dressed in a qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, Lyu started the livestreaming session from her workshop at 10 in the morning, sharing the art of making Chinese knots with many handicraft (手工艺) lovers. Lyu, an inheritor (继承人) of the art of making Chinese knots, which is listed as an intangible (非物质) cultural heritage, became a livestreaming host.

“Though the sales of Chinese knots have dropped a lot, I’m still confident that I can get out of the trouble brought by the outbreak. I can make full use of this period to improve my skills and develop this traditional handicraft online,” she said. Lyu is quite new to the world of livestreaming, having bought all the necessary equipment (设备) after following her friends advice. She practises livestreaming every day and records a large number of educational videos. As face-to-face interaction is still impractical for many, even as the outbreak has been largely brought under control in China, she thinks livestreaming classes can meet more Chinese knot lovers’ needs to learn the handicraft.

She has integrated the anti-epidemic spirit into her works, expressing the determination (决心) and confidence of the Chinese people to win against the COVID-19. “I love Wuhan, where I showed my works in 2019. Chinese knots are popular among many local people, and I made lots of friends there,” Lyu said. She designed a special Chinese knot to express her thanks to the medics who were sent to support Wuhan several months ago.

She has more than 200 followers right now. There are more and more Chinese knot lovers on her online platform. She is using a length of colored string and determination to keep this traditional art of Chinese knots alive online and help more people understand the culture.

1. The underlined word “livestreaming” in Paragraph 1 is close to “_______”.

A．sending out while happening	B．equipment for recording videos
C．sending out after recording	D．equipment for making handicrafts

2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Lyu Min advised her friends to livestream traditional handicraft online.

B．Lyu Min’s friends provided the necessary equipment for her to livestream.

C．Chinese knots sell very well in Lyu Min’s workshop through the Internet.

D．More Chinese knot lovers want to learn the handicraft because of Lyu Min.

3. What does Lyu Min think of the future of Chinese knots?

A．Unexpected.

B．Hopeful.

C．Difficult

D．Doubtful.

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Having online classes during the outbreak	B．Introducing an intangible cultural heritage
C．Livestreaming the art of making Chinese knots	D．Expressing thanks to the doctors and nurses

3 . As Christmas Eve approached, I found myself in New York City, far from my family and friends in Taiwan. I was feeling homesick and lonely, but my Jewish friend, Rachel, who, like me, doesn’t get connected with Christmas due to any religious things, invited me to join her for a dinner in a Chinese restaurant. She explained that it was a tradition for many Jewish people to celebrate this holiday by eating Chinese food on Christmas Eve.

We went to Jing Fong, a fancy restaurant in Chinatown. The place was packed with people, and the atmosphere was lively and festive. We ordered a variety of dishes. Everything was delicious, and I felt grateful to be sharing this experience with Rachel. As we ate, we talked about our families and our cultures. We laughed and joked, and for a moment, I forgot about my homesickness.

A moment later, a group of carolers (唱圣诞歌的人) came into the restaurant, singing Christmas songs. At first, I was puzzled. Why were they singing in a Chinese restaurant? But then I realized that this was part of the magic of New York City. People from all different cultures and backgrounds could come together and celebrate the holidays in their own way. Rachel and I joined in the singing, and soon the whole restaurant was filled with music. It was a beautiful moment, and I felt blessed to be part of it.

What a night! I learned that even when you’re far from home, you can still find joy and connection with others. Rachel and I may come from different cultures, but we shared amazing food, joyful music, and most importantly heartfelt company. And that’s exactly what all the holidays are all about.

1. Why did Rachel invite the author to join her for dinner?

A．To show respect to God

B．To celebrate Christmas in the Jewish way

C．To share stories about their families

D．To forget about their homesickness

2. What was the author’s initial reaction to the carolers?

A．Fearful	B．Joyful
C．Disappointed	D．Confused

3. How did the author want people to approach Christmas?

A．By focusing on religious traditions

B．By celebrating with family and friends

C．By enjoying a variety of festive dishes

D．By embracing diverse ways of celebration

4. Where is the text most probably taken from?

A．A personal blog	B．A commercial promotion brochure
C．A travel guide of New York	D．An academic article

5 . Ugandan student’s study and adaptation of traditional Chinese craft helps build bridges through art. With its balanced, rounded pot and cups, the tea set seems like Chinese ceramic (陶瓷) at first glance. But closer inspection of its pattern reveals an ancient Ugandan design. “My projects always aim to join some aspects of Chinese and Ugandan culture together,” says the tea set’s creator, Ocen Robert.

In 2015, Robert arrived in China from the East African nation to pursue a higher education in ceramic arts at Jingdezhen Ceramic University in East China’s Jiangxi province. The Ugandan is also enrolled in a PhD program focusing on design, with his art pieces sold at national-level exhibitions in China.

He says, “I love it here not only because of its safety, but the raw materials and the production techniques for ceramics here are also among the best in the world.” During his time in China, Robert was given many opportunities to participate in ceramic production, exhibitions and even access to experts-all helping to grow the space where he could express his creativity.

To deepen his understanding and passion for traditional Chinese culture, Robert spends most of his free time in local museums’ culture and history sections. He also gets to know Chinese professionals inside and outside the ceramic world. “I would love to solidify my career as an artist here while helping to link Uganda and China,” Robert says.

“Ugandans are thankful, curious, and passionate about Chinese culture. I would love to introduce the artists back home to study and create ceramic artworks in China and promote them to the world.”

Robert says, “To be a modern artist in Chinese ceramics, one needs to comprehend the full flow of production, which requires years of practice and learning.” One of the most challenging areas of creating his pieces involves creating the “ideal shape and thickness”. He says “I fail at times, but I always practice and try again and again.” Robert has attained the essential spirit of Chinese ceramic arts——accepting and integrating the differences.

1. What is the goal of Robert’s art projects?

A．To promote traditional Chinese ceramics in Uganda.

B．To combine elements of Chinese and Ugandan culture.

C．To compete in the international exhibitions.

D．To restore and preserve ancient Ugandan arts.

2. Why did Robert choose to study ceramic arts in China?

A．He intended to earn money in China.

B．He desired to achieve a doctoral degree abroad.

C．China has the best ceramic materials and craft.

D．China is safer than any other country.

3. How does Robert deepen his understanding for traditional Chinese culture?

A．By visiting famous masters of Chinese history.

B．By comparing it with Ugandan traditions and customs.

C．By acquiring related knowledge from local museums.

D．By participating in art festivals and academic meetings.

4. What words can best describe Robert?

A．Creative and perseverant.	B．Kind and knowledgeable.
C．Humorous and passionate.	D．Courageous and intelligent.

6 . A series of books in Chinese and English covering eight classic works of Peking Opera recently released, with the aim of revealing details about the art form in a direct way.

The bilingual (双语的) books are from the Translation Series of a Hundred Jingju Classics, a project originated from 2011, which is part of the effort by the central government to promote Chinese culture overseas.

Peking Opera, with its complex and colorful costumes and make-up, as well as the unique performance combining singing, dialogue, acting and acrobatics (杂技), has become a symbol of traditional Chinese culture. Over the last 200 years, more than 1, 000 Peking Opera shows have been produced telling the most classic historical stories in China, as well as giving glimpses of society, according to Wang. The art form was listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (非物质文化遗产) by UNESCO in 2010. Famous performers such as Mei Lanfang and Cheng Yanqiu have also taken Peking Opera abroad. And though foreign fans are impressed by it, few understand the stories told on stage.

To help foreigners understand the art form better, Sun Ping, dean, School of Art, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and her team have edited the new books. Different from previous English translations of books that mostly covered the scripts (剧本) of Peking Opera plays, the new series introduces nearly all aspects of the art form, including the script, actors and actresses, performance skills, musical instruments and costumes, according to Sun, who is herself a highly regarded Peking Opera artist.

“It fills the blank in overseas promotions of Peking Opera,” says Liu Jian, a professor at the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts. “The inheritance and promotion of Peking Opera are very important. In a sense, promotion is even more important. The project sets a good example.”

Scott Ian Rainen, an expert from the United States, who works at China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, says he was happy to read the new books. Foreigners often don’t understand the plot in a Peking Opera play, but the books introduce the cultural and historical background, its character modeling, costumes and props, artistic theories and so on.

1. Why are the set of bilingual books released?

A．To stress the importance of Peking Opera.

B．To attract foreigners to learn Peking Opera.

C．To promote the diversity of Peking Opera.

D．To present Peking Opera more effectively.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The advantage of learning Peking Opera.

B．The brief introduction of Peking Opera.

C．The benefits of releasing these bilingual books.

D．The reason for people’s attachment to Peking Opera.

3. What’s special about these translations of books?

A．They cover stories about Peking Opera.

B．They share a more significant art value.

C．They are better in covering the scripts of Peking Opera.

D．They are overall in showing the features of Peking Opera.

4. What is Scott lan Rainen’s attitude towards the new project?

A．Subjective.

B．Sceptical.

C．Positive.

D．Tolerant.

7 . Minor Cold: A sugary feast to get through the freezing winter

Minor Cold, or “Xiaohan” in Chinese, is the 23rd of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunar calendar     1       We’ve outlined below how people deal with the Minor Cold and its significance in Chinese culture.

Why do people eat eight treasures rice pudding?

Eight treasures rice pudding or “babaofan” in Mandarin is a special sweet rice dish enjoyed during Minor Cold and Chinese New Year dinner. In Chinese, the number eight is pronounced as “ba”, which is similar to another Chinese word “fa”.     2    . Because of its pronunciation, this traditional Chinese dim sum is regarded as a symbol of wealth and health.

What else do people eat?

    3    . Different regions in China have different eating habits. People in Nanjing and Shanghai usually cook vegetable rice while in Guangzhou, it is a tradition to eat sticky rice on the morning of Minor Cold.

Nationwide: Preparing for the Spring Festival

For Chinese people, this time of year also sees preparation for the most important festival of the year: the Spring Festival.     4    . In the old days, Chinese families would usually start to purchase the necessities for the Spring Festival, write couplets and make paper cuts by themselves.

Forecasts from animals

The ancient Chinese noticed the slight changes in seasons by observing the movements of the birds. Wild geese would usually start to fly back to the north while the magpies (喜鹊) make their nests. These animals remind people of the beginning of the suitable farming and life for Minor Cold.     5    . Therefore, more attention should be paid to domestic animals’ warmth.

A．It means getting rich or booming in business.

B．However, “babaofan” is not the only traditional food for Minor Cold.

C．For most areas of China, Minor Cold is the beginning of the coldest period.

D．Even though temperatures drop suddenly at this time, spring is not far away.

E．The last lunar month, known as “Layue”, usually begins around Minor Cold.

F．Cabbage is easy to preserve in the winter and tastes better after being preserved.

G．With each solar term, there comes a set of customs that are related to the time of a year.

8 . Books are the most valuable cultural heritage. However, there are many ancient Chinese classics suffering from different degrees of damage due to various reasons.     1    

Bai Yuzhi,a post-90s restorer (修复师) at the Wuhan Library,graduated from Wuhan University in 2016 with a major in restoring ancient books. She is now the fourth generation of restorers at the Wuhan Library, Bai started practicing this technique during her after-class activities at college in 2014.     2     “I’m shy and not good at socializing, so this job suits me very well,” she said

    3     The restoration steps cannot be rushed. When restorers receive an ancient book, their first task is not to directly restore it but to observe it and record the book’s important details. After that, the restorers will open the book,remove every page, and repair it on the back side.     4     It may take one or two days to restore a single page. So it could take at least a month to complete the restoration of a whole book.

Bai has restored about 10,000 pages of ancient books in her over 10 years of work. The most difficult part of the restoration, according to her, is keeping everything under exact control over every stage.     5     If the paste (面糊) is too thin, the repaired pages may easily come off and become broken, which could affect the quality of the restoration. However, if the paste is too thick, the fixed pages will be tough, challenging to open.

With the advancement of science and digital technology, the methods for protecting ancient books have become more various.

A．The task of restoration is demanding.

B．Sometimes the book is badly damaged.

C．Bai works in reader service for ancient books.

D．This led to a new field—restoring ancient books.

E．She officially became a restorer in February 2019.

F．Recording the content of a book demands a restorer’s patience.

G．She gave an example of the challenges in preparing a suitable paste.

9 . When I first met Nao Junior, he was in his 40s and one of only nine members of his Indigenous(土著的) group, Great Andamanese, who still spoke the idiom of his ancestors. As a language specialist, I had researched more than 80 Indian languages. I was on the islands to document their Indigenous voices before they faded into whispers.

Words in this language consisted of two classes: free and bound. The free words were all nouns that referred to the environment and its inhabitants, such as ra for “pig”. They could occur alone. The bound words were nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs that always existed with markers indicating a relation to other objects, events or states. The markers came from seven zones of the body and were attached to a root word to describe concepts such as “inside”, “outside”, “upper” and “lower”. For example, the morpheme(词素) er-, which qualified most anything having to do with an outer body part, could be stuck to -cho to yield ercho, meaning “head”.

Just as a head, a bound word, could not conceptually exist on its own, the mode and effect of an action could not be divided from the verb describing the action. Great Andamanese had no words for agriculture but a great many for hunting and fishing, mainly with a bow and arrow. Thus, the root word shile, meaning “to aim”, had several versions: utshile, to aim from above; arashile, to aim from a distance; and eshile, aiming to make a hole with a sharp object.

The studies established that the language seems to be truly old in origin. In a multistage process of development, words describing diverse body parts had changed into morphemes referring to different zones and combined with content words to yield meaning. The structure alone provides an insight into an ancient worldview in which the macrocosm(宏观世界) reflects the microcosm, and everything that is or that happens inseparably connects to everything else.

1. What is the purpose of the author’s stay on the islands?

A．To meet with an old friend.	B．To teach Indigenous idioms.
C．To record an ancient language.	D．To trace her ancestors.

2. “Aim at a pig’s head from afar” in Great Andamanese may be ______.

A．Arashile raercho	B．Arashile ercho
C．Eshile ercho	D．Eshile raercho

3. What can we infer from the verbs in Great Andamanese?

A．A verb could describe more than one action.	B．Some of the verbs could be used on their own.
C．The locals probably live off seafood and meat.	D．The tools used in people’s daily life are diverse.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Great Andamanese is the origin of multiple languages.

B．Great Andamanese is a doorway to the ancient wisdom.

C．Great Andamanese tells the development of the community.

D．Human body shapes Great Andamanese’s unique worldview.

10 . Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an ancient system of health and wellness that’s been used in China for thousands of years. It has saved millions of lives around China’s vast territory by providing vital information on diagnosis (诊断), treating common medical problems and diseases, and emphasizing prevention. If you do not have previous experience with Chinese culture or medicine, be prepared for a cultural experience.     1    

Several thousand years ago, The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor put forward the principle that one should develop yang energy in spring and summer,     2     And in China’s long history, the principle has proven of great value for good health and longevity of life.

According to TCM theory, yang energy is the power for inner organs.     3     “Summer treatment” takes advantage of abundant yang energy in nature during summer, when yang energy is outward and upward. It is the right time to supplement (补充) yang energy by internal or external traditional Chinese medicine methods. This helps to adjust to the balance of yin and yang in the body, resulting in a more effective outcome.

    4     Therefore, it is the best time for the human body to supplement essence and store vital substances throughout the whole year. TCM holds that Gao Fang, the cream formula, is the best choice for tonification (滋补) in winter. By adjusting qi, blood, yin and yang of the body, it can achieve the effects of treatment, regulation, and nourishment.

“Sprouting in spring, growing in summer, harvesting in autumn and storing in winter” is the law of development in the nature.     5     It needs to be in agreement with timing and the seasons. With such direction, ancient Chinese people handed down to later generations medical texts for an orderly-arranged daily life.

A．while protecting yin energy in autumn and winter.

B．It’s necessary to the function of various body parts.

C．The same is true for the way of health preservation.

D．when the body engages in active digestive processes.

E．It will relieve your medical condition and enrich your life.

F．Winter is the season for storage of everything, including energy.

G．Summer is a good season to build up your bodies through exercise.