1 . To Their Own Beat

When Los Lobos perform in concert today, audiences in the thousands cheer them on. It’s hard to believe that the group started out as just another garage band playing popular rock-and-roll tunes from the radio, In 1974 four high school friends from East Los Angeles formed Los Lobos ( Spanish for “The Wolves” ) .

Like many garage bands, these friends might have simply gone their separate ways after high school. But the members of Los Lobos wanted to keep making music together. They decided to change their musical style and began focusing on traditional Mexican music that showed their tradition.

“We pulled out all those records we used to beg our parents not to play around our friends and found an incredible wealth of music,” says Perez. “These guys (on the records) were doing amazing things with their instruments, and we started trying to pick up on it. ”

The group put aside its electric guitars for the acoustic ones used in traditional Mexican music. For several years Los Lobos played at weddings or parties—any event that needed live music. They also landed a regular engagement (合同)   at a Mexican restaurant.

By 1978 Los Lobos had made enough money to record their first album   (唱片) , and they sold copies of it wherever they performed. They also returned to their electric guitars to get closer to a Tex-Mex sound, which is a mixture of traditional Mexican music, rock and roll, country music, and the blues. This new, louder sound produced one unexpected result: the group was fired from the restaurant.

But it didn’t matter that Los Lobos had lost their one steady job, because they had found a position that no other group took up. They had combined electric and acoustic instruments and blended (混合) musical styles in their own way. Steve Berlin joined the band in 1983 as the saxophone and keyboard player, adding to the band’s unusual sound.

“We didn’t so much want to recycle the music we’d grown up with as much as find the common links between it and all the other styles and sounds that were all around us,” Perez explains.   “It became a mission ...   bringing music together to bring people together. ”

In the 1980s Los Lobos gained the attention of several record companies. They were hired to perform on the soundtrack to the film La Bamba, which earned them a Golden Eagle Award. They have since earned many awards, including two Grammys and an MTV Video Music Award. Their many records have been very successful, and they have toured the world.

Even after 30 years of making music together, Los Lobos continues to experiment with their sound. They never moved far away from their Mexican roots, however.   They still include traditional music in their live performances, sharing their history—and their culture—with their fans.

1. Los Lobos recorded their first album after they_______.

A．lost their job at a restaurant

B．began playing acoustic guitars

C．won an award for a film soundtrack

D．added saxophone and keyboards to their sound

2. Which paragraph writes about the great success of the band?

A．Paragraph 1.

B．Paragraph 4.

C．Paragraph 6.

D．Paragraph 8.

3. What makes Los Lobos special and successful?

A．The way they recorded their first album.

B．Their blending of different types of music.

C．Their decision to play traditional Mexican music.

D．The fact that they performed and toured the world.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Music is best when played with traditional instruments.

B．Music must be recorded to be passed down.

C．Music should remain the same over time.

D．Music can show many cultures.

3 . Released on Aug 30, a three-episode web series titled Escape From the British Museum has gone viral online for its touching and innovative narrative (叙事). The series follows the journey home of a Chinese jade teapot that has come to life as a girl. She runs away from the British Museum and comes across a Chinese journalist who helps the artifact return to China. The series, created by two Chinese vloggers, aims to raise broader awareness of Chinese artifacts that were stolen or looted (掠夺) from China and are displayed or stored in the British Museum.

The video series echoes the Chinese people’s call for the British Museum to return these Chinese artifacts. However, some UK media outlets said that the video series promotes nationalism (民族主义). In fact, every country whose artifacts are displayed or stored in the British Museum wants them back. These countries, such as Greece, Nigeria and Sudan, have already issued their demands for the return of artifacts. It’s fair enough to say these demands are shared. They can correct centuries-old wrongs by having the UK return artifacts to their rightful homes.

An opinion in the UK newspaper The Telegraph said that if the British Museum gives back its collection of artifacts, then nationalism will win over humanity’s common heritage. It also said that the artifacts were “lawfully acquired (合法取得)” by the UK. By “lawfully acquired”, does the writer mean the artifacts were acquired with the “help” of machine guns and warships? Or does he mean that the cultural artifacts of African, Asian and American countries should be kept in the hands of looters, rather than in their land of origin?

1. What is the video series Escape from the British Museum mainly about?

A．Cultural artifacts looted by the UK.

B．Hidden dangers in the British Museum.

C．The arguments about the British museum.

D．The journey of a Chinese artifact coming home.

2. What does the video series aim to highlight?

A．Protests against UK’s nationalism.

B．The beauty of Chinese cultural artifacts.

C．The desire of stolen artifacts to be returned.

D．Efforts made by Chinese activists to get artifacts back.

3. What’s the author’s purpose in mentioning countries like Greece, Nigeria and Sudan?

A．To show the UK did something wrong in the past.

B．To stress China’s demands are shared by many countries.

C．To emphasize former colonized countries have grown stronger.

D．To highlight diverse artifacts are housed in the British Museum.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward the opinion in The Telegraph?

A．It’s totally unacceptable.	B．It’s a little bit reasonable.
C．It lacks enough evidence.	D．It shows the writer’s ignorance.

4 . 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.

5 . 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.

6 . 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.

7 . The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Major Snow, the 21st solar term of the year, begins this year on Dec 7 and ends on Dec 21.     1    Here are several things you should know about Major Snow.

Snowy winter

The sow in North China may last a whole day, breaking tree branches and blocking the. Snowflakes fall and the world turns white.     2    That is why an old saying goes like this, “A timely snow promises a good harvest”.

Appreciating plum blossoms

Plum blossoms usually flower in mid-to-late December in some southern cities of China, and sometimes bloom even earlier.     3    Along with the pine (松木) and bamboo, the plum blossom is considered one of the Three Friends of Winter.

Eating lamb

Lamb is a favorite food for Chinese people during Major Snow. It’s excellent for nourishing (滋养) the body and providing protection against the cold. People in Chongqing like to have potted lamb soup with their families and friends.     4    Though cooked in different ways, lamb remains the main dish on this day.

    5    

During Major Snow, Chinese people watch for outbreaks of illness, which can be prevented by wearing a scarf to protect the neck and properly drinking water. When it is getting drier and colder, people should drink more water; but do not drink too much at once or drink cold water after exercise.

A．Drinking water.

B．Preventing illness.

C．It is valued in Chinese culture for its character during cold winters.

D．As the snow covers the ground, the low winter temperature kills pests

E．During the period, the snow becomes heavy and the temperature drops significantly.

F．In addition, eastern residents would prepare it with vegetables to make it more nutritious.

G．But even today, Chinese people are likely to refer to the solar terms when guidance is needed.

8 . Cultural traditions shape who you are. Lear n more about your traditions and how you can preserve them by means of the followings.

Share your culture art.

Each culture is carried by different forms of art. Museums often house items like clothing, music instruments, and visual artworks. However, beyond these exhibits, there exist tools crafted by ancestors, which present the traditions through generations’ wisdom.     1    

Attend or organize major events.

Your country, religious organizations, or immigrant ethnic groups almost certainly celebrate major holidays or cultural festivals.     2     If there aren’t any of those in your area, you can arrange your own events.

Cook family recipes.

Find some recipes from your grandmother’s cookbook.     3     As you knead dough (揉面) or follow the right amount of spices, you might remember meals from your childhood or holidays. Cooking your family recipes can help you inherit the family tradition and make it possibly passed down.

Promote your dialects (方言).

Language shapes culture to some degree. Therefore, promoting a dialect contributes to the protection of a certain culture.     4     So if you know one of them, help to spread it. With more and more people speaking, these dialects could be successfully preserved before they go extinct.

Spend time with other members of the community.

The best way to preserve your culture is to keep it alive.     5     Many aspects of culture are difficult to learn in books and museums, including body language, and humor. But you can get to the core (核心) of the cultural experience through daily communication.

A．Participate to get a broader view of your culture.

B．Culture helps people adapt to the world around them.

C．Smell and taste have powerful connections to memory.

D．Record your family tree with the help of family members.

E．Unfortunately, thousands of dialects are at risk of extinction.

F．Gather as a group not just for holidays, but for ordinary meals or just conversation.

G．The skills involved in shaping a stone tool represent one of the earliest cultural practices.

9 . Culture shock is the experience that often accompanies moving to an unfamiliar place. It could be marked by feeling lost, anxious or hesitant.     1     You’ll become accustomed to the same things that initially “shocked” you! Read on for tips for overcoming culture shock in a short time.

When deciding to visit an entirely new place, don’t expect the traditions and cultures followed by your current home to be followed by the new land.     2     So keep your expectations low.

Even though it is an unfamiliar environment hosting different cultures and traditions from the one you’re used to, it’s vital to broaden your mind and be willing to try new things. Don’t be quick to form discriminatory judgments just because it is “odd”. Have a go at something different, like a food or clothing — different isn’t necessarily bad.     3    

Social psychologists claim that lack of information is the biggest contributor to prejudices. Talk to the local population and ask them about how their culture works instead of assuming the worst.     4     Plus, you’ll make some friends who can ease your transformation.

Keep yourself open-minded, await new experiences and familiarize yourself with the conduct of the people.     5     Go out there and have fun!

A．Integrity breaks down barriers.

B．You can gain insight into your surroundings.

C．Culture shock will eventually disappear, though.

D．Every city or country has its own values and beliefs.

E．Never do you know where you might find an interest.

F．Consequently, such memories are what you should treasure.

G．As long as you stick to that, you’ll soon adjust to the new culture.

10 . The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms (节气). Start of Autumn, the 13th solar term of the year, begins this year on Aug 8 and ends on Aug. 22. Start of Autumn means the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.     1    . The following are four things you should know about Start of Autumn.

Gathering crops

    2    . It is time to gather crops. There is a saying: “If it rains on the day of the Start of Autumn, a good harvest is expected.”

Eating peaches

In Hangzhou, people eat peaches and pray health on the Start of Autumn day. The peach stones are kept until New Year’s Eve and thrown into the stove, burned into ash. People believed that in this way,     3    .

Eating dumplings

In Shandong province, people make dumplings during the Start of Autumn, and they call it “Eating the Autumn”. On the day of Start of Autumn, senior members of the family will stand in the middle of the hall, they worship (敬奉；信奉) a bowl of cereal, and     4    . Most of the families will eat dumplings together after Start of Autumn day and have the thirst for more crops.

Eating gourds (瓜)

Although Start of Autumn indicates the beginning of autumn, hot weather will not come to an end. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), people would put gourds outside for a day before the Start of Autumn, and     5    . Today people in Tianjin believe that eating melons such as towel gourd, white gourd and bitter gourd can prevent diarrhea (腹泻) in autumn and the coming winter and spring.

A．they pray for the harvest in autumn

B．The fruitful season is coming

C．they eat them on Start of Autumn day to drive off the summer heat

D．Start of Autumn is a big solar term for farmers

E．they sincerely pray for god

F．plagues (瘟疫) could be prevented for the whole year

G．they will get away from ghosts