1 . Occurring on October 31, November 1, and November 2, the Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday held to honor those who have died, brings people from all walks of life to Mexico. But cities across the United States are also joining in on the fun. Here is where you can find this year’s best Day of the Dead celebrations without traveling south of the border.
The Historic Olvera Street in Los Angeles
For over three decades, the businessmen of Olvera Street have annually transformed the busy outdoor marketplace into a top destination for visitors. Starting on October 25 and coming to a close on November 2, this year’s event will include a collection of live performances, face painting, and a traditional Mayan procession.
The East Village in Manhattan
Want to get a taste of the Day of the Dead while taking a bite out of the Big Apple? Come to East Yard of St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery, a church in Manhattan. Besides watching performances, you can purchase all kinds of traditional Mexican snacks.
San Francisco’s Mission District
San Francisco has celebrated the Day of the Dead for half a century. Every November 2, people flood to the Mission District - a colorful neighborhood rich in Mexican culture. At this popular event, visitors are invited to dress up in traditional Day of the Dead clothes, and go through the neighborhood all by the candlelight.
Downtown San Antonio
This year, the Day of the Dead will arrive early in San Antonio, Texas. On October 26 and 27, people can visit Hemisfair, the city’s popular outdoor cultural center, with craft workshops, musical performances, and live poetry.
1. Where can visitors enjoy traditional Mexican food?| A．The Historic Olvera Street in Los Angeles. |
| B．San Francisco’s Mission District. |
| C．The East Village in Manhattan. |
| D．Downtown San Antonio. |
| A．For 31 years. | B．For 50 years. |
| C．For 26 years. | D．For 27 years. |
| A．You can light your candle. |
| B．You can make your face painted. |
| C．You can wear traditional clothes. |
| D．You can hear some great poems. |
2 . Fourteen dancers wearing jumpsuits filled with sponge and with special cotton in their mouths recreate the plump figures of Tang Dynasty females. They line on stage with amusing facial expressions and humorous motions. Besides, crescent-shaped makeup and costumes resembling Tang tri-colored pottery make audiences feel like travelling to the Tang Dynasty 1,300 years ago. It is a combination of virtual scene with real stage, along with nifty dance moves of actresses and demonstration of national treasures, which have all made the show impressive.
The magic-like dance program, namely Tang Gong Ye Yan(Night Banquet in Tang Dynasty Palace), was released in the Spring Festival gala of 2021 by Henan TV. The video has been watched 48.62 million times on Sina Weibo, and the view counts of related topics have passed 200 million on Tiktok by Feb 19. It has enlightened people’s passion toward the beauty of traditional culture, and consequently also spread overseas, appreciated by culture lovers around the world.
The dance has become a representation of Guochao, which expresses the rise of China’s native fashion trends. A group of young artists have begun to try to demonstrate traditional Chinese culture in different ways. One of the pioneers is Chen Lei, director of the gala. In his opinion, the dance, in which modern technologies such as 3D and AR are used, is a combination of rich treasures of China’s traditional culture and modern technologies, fashions and aesthetic(美学).
Chen told the Global Times that with the development of China, Chinese young people feel more confident to promote Chinese trends to the international stage. He believes traditions shouldn’t be sealed in glass boxes at museums or merely taught in the classroom, but combined with the digital world. Otherwise, the inheritance of traditions would be artificial and empty.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To give the background information. |
| C．To make the article interesting. |
| D．To illustrate one of the key characters. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By listing research results. |
| C．By making comments. | D．By providing related data. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Critical. | D．Optimistic. |
| A．Why was Tang Gong Ye Yan so popular? |
| B．Tang Gong Ye Yan spurted into popularity |
| C．Promote Chinese trends to the international stage |
| D．How to combine traditional culture with the digital technology |
3 . The remains of German World War II steamer Karlsruhe, found in the seabed off the coast of Poland by Baltictech divers in late September 2020, may house more than the typical Nazi artifacts. It could contain Russia's legendary Amber Room. Often called the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the treasure was last seen in Königsberg, Germany — present-day Kaliningrad, Russia — before it disappeared into thin air in 1945.
“We have been looking for the wreckage (残骸) since last year when we realized there could be the most interesting, undiscovered story lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea,” Baltictech diver Tomasz Stachura said in a statement.
The Karlsruhe sailed from Königsberg on April 11, 1945, carrying 1,083 passengers and hundreds of tons of goods. The massive vessel was part of Operation Hannibal, one of the largest sea evacuations (撤离) in history. It was organized to rescue Nazi troops and civilians in Prussia and Poland from the Soviet military and ship them to Germany and Nazi-occupied Denmark. While many of the rescue ships made it safely to their destination, the Karlsruhe was not among them. Just two days after its departure, the ship was bombed by Soviet airplanes a few miles away from the shores of Poland, where it lay undisturbed until its recent discovery.
While exploring the wreckage, the divers found well-preserved artifacts, including WWII German military vehicles, porcelain, and, most interesting of all — sealed boxes. The Baltictech team speculates the wooden chests may be housing the long-lost Amber Room!
“We don’t want to get excited, but if the Germans were to take the Amber Room across the Baltic Sea, then Karlsruhe Steamer was their last chance,” the Baltictech team expressed on Facebook.
While the thrilling theory certainly sounds true, the mystery of the missing Amber Room will remain unsolved — at least for now. That's because there are currently no plans to explore the chests. But that may change soon!
1. What does the author want to tell us in paragraph 1?| A．What was steamer Karlsruhe. |
| B．Who are Baltictech divers. |
| C．The Amber Room might be found. |
| D．The chamber disappeared suddenly. |
| A．To withdraw Germans. |
| B．To send troops to fronts. |
| C．To fight with Soviet forces. |
| D．To avoid being attacked. |
| A．Proves. | B．Infers. | C．Worries. | D．Inspects. |
| A．The Germans dislike the Amber Room. |
| B．The Amber Room will return to Germany. |
| C．The Baltictech divers kept calm after the discovery. |
| D．The Amber Room is most likely on Karlsruhe Steamer. |
4 . Edinburgh is the world’s festival city. There are 12 festivals throughout the year, half of which are celebrated during the months of July and August.
Thousands of people visit the Scottish capital during the summer. Here are some of the events they can enjoy:
The Edinburgh International Festival
This is the original Edinburgh festival, which began in 1947. Actors, musicians, dancers and opera singers from all over the world perform to huge audiences. You need tickets for most events which take place in theatres around the city.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (艺穗节)
This is the largest arts festival in the world with thousands of shows taking place across the city. More than 20,000 artists take part, as the festival is open to anyone. Visitors can choose from a huge variety of acts.
Join thousands of visitors and locals at the Royal Mile, Edinburgh’s main street, to watch all kinds of performers and shows.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival
The largest book festival in the world began in 1983 and takes place every year in Charlotte Square Gardens, in the centre of Edinburgh. There are more than 700 events for children and adults who love books. You can meet many authors, talk to them, ask them to sign a book or listen to them talk about their stories. Children can listen to stories and watch illustrators (插画家) draw pictures.
The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival
Music lovers come to this festival to enjoy music shows around the city. One of the highlights (精彩部分) of this musical event is the street carnival which is free to all. Artists perform street theatre, dance and circus shows in amazing costumes, and everyone can join in the dancing.
1. What can people do at The Edinburgh International Festival?| A．Watch all sorts of performers and shows. |
| B．Experience the street carnival. |
| C．Buy tickets to watch performances. |
| D．Meet many authors, talk to them. |
| A．The Edinburgh International Festival. |
| B．The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. |
| C．The Edinburgh International Book Festival. |
| D．The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. |
| A．To advertise a few Edinburgh’s events. |
| B．To tell readers about Edinburgh. |
| C．To share good feelings with readers. |
| D．To show us how to celebrate important festivals. |
5 . 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Subjective. | B．Sceptical. | C．Positive. | D．Tolerant. |
6 . A music festival is a community event focusing on live performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme. On the list are the music festivals for fans around the world. Find your favorite now!
Field Day
January 1, 2023, Sydney
Field Day means New Year’s Day for young people in Sydney. Seen as the city’s original multi-stage party, it’s a gathering of friends coming together for a great fun-filled first day of the year. There’s an air of hope and positive energy on a perfect summer’s day.
The Envision Festival
February 27—March 6, 2023, Uvita
The Envision Festival is an annual gathering in Costa Rica that aims to provide an opportunity for different cultures to work with one another to create a better community. The festival encourages people to practice art, music, dance performances, and education. Meanwhile, our connection with nature is expected to be strengthened.
The McDowell Mountain Music Festival
March 2—4, 2023, Phoenix
The McDowell Mountain Music Festival is Phoenix’s musical celebration of community culture. Since its foundation in 2004, it has been the only 100% non-profit music festival designed to support, entertain and educate the community. The festival attracts thousands of visitors each year from around the country, and it is an opportunity to experience true culture.
The Old Settler’s Music Festival
April 20—23, 2023, Dale
The Old Settler’s Music Festival is a nationally known music festival for American music. The festival is held in the country of Texas at the height of the wild flower season. The Old Settler’s Music Festival offers great music and activities for the whole family.
1. In which city can people enjoy a fun New Year’s Day?| A．Phoenix. | B．Uvita. | C．Sydney. | D．Dale. |
| A．It encourages people to receive education. | B．It is not aimed at making money. |
| C．It provides an opportunity for friend gathering. | D．It focuses on cultural exchanges. |
| A．Field Day and the Envision Festival. |
| B．The Envision Festival and the McDowell Mountain Music Festival. |
| C．The Old Settler’s Music Festival and the McDowell Mountain Music Festival. |
| D．The Envision Festival and the Old Settler’s Music Festival. |
7 . 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 |
8 . If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage of Dunhuang Mogao Caves in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.
Born in Beijing and raised in Shanghai, Fan has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. The 1,653-year-old Dunhuang Mogao Caves are a huge collection of Buddhist art—more than 2,000 buddha figures and 45,000 square metres of paintings spread among 735 caves. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. While in Dunhuang, a remote village in the desert then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare to go out to the toilet at night. To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity in the caves. They also controlled the number of visitors.
In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao Caves, but found Fan firmly in_their_way. “The heritage would have been destroyed if it had been listed，” she said.
Dunhuang Academy has now photographed and cataloged online all the sculptures and paintings. “Despite our efforts to minimise damage, we can’t completely stop them from being eroded. But the digital database will last.”
Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up seldom with her accompany. “I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I’m full of guilt，” she said. Fan, 81, retired four years ago as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as a national political adviser.
1. When was Fan separated from her husband?| A．In 1963. | B．In 1967. |
| C．In 1986. | D．In the late 1990s. |
| A．Go to a place. |
| B．Be in favour of something. |
| C．Reject something. |
| D．Give in to something. |
| A．The history of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| B．The attractions of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| C．Fan’s devotion to preserving Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| D．The appeal for the protection of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Kind. |
| C．Humorous. | D．Devoted. |
9 . Vanuatu is one of the few places left on earth where you can still experience an ancient Pacific culture that is still very much alive today. The annual Vanuatu festivals, rituals and dances they celebrate are not only spectacular to watch but also give you a chance to participate in feasts，learn weaving, canoes…
Every three years, Tanna’s Nekowiar celebrations light up the island. It’s a three-day festival of music, dancing and eating to mark the arranging of marriages by village elders. Best of all, many of the festivals, cultural events and activities are off the beaten track on islands and in areas where there is amazing wild scenery and stunning photo opportunities, so your journey there is almost as much of an adventure as the actual festival itself.
At this year’s festival, hundreds of women and girls started the event by singing and dancing a traditional Napen from nightfall to sunrise. They only took breaks when they were too tired to continue. The movements were so powerful and impressive accompanied with special music. Most of the dancers painted their faces in bright colourful designs that held special importance to their tribes.
In the early hours of the third day, the men, teenagers and even young boys had their turn in a dance called Toka. Jimmy Kawiel performed the dance for the first time this year, “You need more energy for Toka,” Mr. Kawiel said, “We’ve been practising for five to six months. It is a very big thing for us, especially when things are developing so fast and we are in danger of losing our culture.”
1. What is Nekowiar?| A．An ancient Pacific island. | B．An annual traditional celebration. |
| C．Tanna’s three-day festival. | D．A wedding ceremony of village elders. |
| A．Remote from the popular spot. | B．Away from the broken road. |
| C．Far from the dangerous place. | D．Near the well-built road. |
| A．Toka has recovered its popularity. |
| B．Toka should be valued and passed down. |
| C．Toka is better designed and takes more strength than girls’ dance. |
| D．Toka is developing so fast that they need more practice to perform well. |
| A．A travel journal. | B．A news report. |
| C．A short story. | D．A history record. |
10 . Nathan Paulin is a French highliner. He was born in 1994 and lives in the village of Le Reposoir in Haute-Savoie.
Passionate about mountain sports since he was a child, Nathan started slacklining (走索) in 2011. He finds true inner peace in this activity, which combines intense concentration and body control. This well-being during the practice makes him very quickly addicted, and his progress is fast. He is one of the best in the world in this discipline from 2013. Nathan has held about ten world records so far.
With just a rope, barefoot and a considerable amount of balance, Nathan Paulin walked across the Seine River between the Eiffel Tower and the Chaillot theatre in Paris. Thousands watched as Paulin completed a 2,198-foot slackline walk on 18 September, 2021. Paulin started at the first floor of the Eiffel Tower and finished at Theatre National de Chaillot.
While hanging about 200 feet above ground, Paulin stopped to lie or sit on the slackline, as he made history performing the longest high-line crossing in a city. He performed on France’s annual Heritage Day, which is when the public is encouraged to explore the country’s monuments and sights.
“It’s like you’re climbing the gallows (绞刑架),” a theme park visitor feared.
“It wasn’t easy walking 670 metres, concentrating, with everything around, the pressure…but it was still beautiful,” Paulin told The Guardian. He admitted he felt “stress” as he walked in front of thousands of Parisians in the city.
So why did he perform? “Mainly to do something beautiful and to share it and also to bring a new perspective on heritage. It is to make heritage come alive,” Paulin said.
1. How does Paulin usually feel when he does the slacklining?| A．Frightened. | B．Excited. | C．Proud. | D．Peaceful. |
| A．Try adventurous travel. | B．Experience a slackline walk. |
| C．Explore France's monuments. | D．Do something to protect heritage. |
| A．To break a world record. | B．To let heritage come to life. |
| C．To prove his extraordinary ability. | D．To call on people to protect heritage. |
| A．Calm and shy. | B．Brave and gifted. |
| C．Ambitious and kind. | D．Confident and thoughtful. |
