1 . Traditional tea processing techniques and social practices in China were added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List (非物质文化遗产名录) on November 29. China now ranks first in the world with 43 items on the list.
In China, there are 44 registered items of national intangible cultural heritage related to tea. More than 40 vocational (职业的) colleges and 80 universities in China offer majors in tea science or tea culture.
Tea is everywhere in Chinese people’s daily life. You can find it at home, work, tea houses, restaurants, temples and even at social events like weddings or ceremonies.
Tea has delighted and fascinated the world for many thousands of years. It is a shared cultural treasure of mankind.
| A．It’s a big part of Chinese culture. |
| B．The techniques are related to many ways. |
| C．Tea was eventually spread to the west and beyond. |
| D．Most tea grows between 18°—37° N and 94°—122°. |
| E．E. Tea- related customs reflect Chinese people’s values. |
| F．Experts explored the long history of this universal drink. |
| G．Every year over 3,000 graduates enter tea production and art. |
2 . The Double Ninth Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. According to tradition, we should celebrate the festival by going mountain climbing. How many people today still keep this tradition?
Finally, traditional festivals area source of national pride and help shape (塑造) our national identity. For example, we celebrate the Hanshi Festival and the Lab a Festival with unique customs, and these shared experiences bring us together as a people.
Traditional festivals have been passed down to us from previous generations. It is the duty of every one of us to protect them for generations to come.
| A．Many young people celebrate western festivals. |
| B．Traditional festivals can help develop our economy. |
| C．Traditional festivals teach us a lot about our nation’s history. |
| D．People will come back home even if they live very far away. |
| E．Traditional festivals tell us who we are and fill us with pride in being Chinese. |
| F．In modern society, many traditional Chinese festivals are becoming less and less popular. |
| G．If we don’t pay much attention to these traditional festivals, some customs may fade away. |
3 . What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of wheat straw? Most people would probably just see it as a pile of waste in a farmer’s field. However, Wu Cui, an intangible cultural inheritor, can turn the straw left over from harvested wheat into beautiful and eye-catching functional artworks.
The earliest straw-weaving (草编的) products were discovered at Hemudu Cultural Ruins, a Neolithic cultural site located in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. The Book of Rites, one of the classical works of Confucianism, also records that there were already mats made of cattail grass and professional straw-weaving craftsmen during the Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-256 BC).
Straw weaving is a method of manufacturing daily items or artworks. It was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.
Wu explains the process of straw weaving: selection of materials is the first step of a complicated, time-consuming and labor-intensive process that can take weeks, or even months, to complete. You need to sketch (素描) the piece on paper, which requires drawing skills. Next comes weaving, shaping and preserving of the work. Even by finishing that process, it does not mean that you will always create a good piece of work, and the hardest part is to make it vivid.
In the past, woven straw items could be found almost in every household in the countryside, such as straw hats and straw shoes, because they were practical in everyday life. But due to the impact of industrialization, manufactured goods have replaced such products, which produce low profits, and there are only about 100 individuals engaging in the work across the country. “The world has changed, and craftsmen need to transcend practicality and seek the beauty and artistry of straw culture to help the craft survive and develop,” Wu says.
As far as she is concerned, straw weaving should respond to people’s needs and preferences, while still drawing inspiration from traditional culture. “Craftspeople should make a great effort to grasp the trends and opportunities of the times to create new and relevant products,” she says. When asked about her plans, Wu says she wants to dig deeper into local traditional culture and create cultural creative products by developing the straw-weaving technique.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about straw-weaving products?| A．Their major uses. | B．Their cultural value. |
| C．Their historic origins. | D．Their manufacturing process. |
| A．Making the artworks lifelike. | B．Drawing sketches on paper. |
| C．Selecting suitable materials. | D．Preserving finished products. |
| A．Rely on. | B．Turn to. | C．Throw away. | D．Go beyond. |
| A．Straw-weaving products are out of favor with customers. |
| B．Seeking fashion should be the first task for craftspeople. |
| C．Local people benefit a lot from the straw-weaving techniques. |
| D．Craftsmen should create the craft based on traditional culture. |
4 . There is more of a connection between food and culture than you may think. On an individual level, we grow up eating the food of our culture. It becomes a part of who we are. Many associate food from our childhood with warm feelings and good memories and it ties us to our families, holding a special and personal value for us. Food from our families often becomes the comfort food we seek as adults in times of frustration and stress.
On a large scale, traditional food is an important part of culture. It also operates as an expression of cultural identity. Immigrants bring it wherever they go, and it is a symbol of pride in their culture and means of coping with homesickness.
Many immigrants open their own restaurants and serve traditional dishes. However, the food does not remain exactly the same. Some materials needed to make traditional dishes may not be readily available, so the taste and flavour can be different from what they would prepare in their home countries. Additionally, immigrants do not only sell dishes to people from the same countries as them, but to people from different countries. Therefore, they have to make small changes in the original dishes to cater to a wider range of customers. Those changes can create new flavours that still keep the cultural significance of the dishes.
We should not only embrace our heritage (传统) through our culture’s food, but also become more informed about other cultures by trying their food. It is important to remember that each dish has a special place in the culture to which it belongs, and is special to those who prepare it. Food is a window on culture, and it should be treated as such.
1. What’s the function of food mentioned in the text?| A．To help motivate homesickness. |
| B．To show cultural identity. |
| C．To reflect a country’s history. |
| D．To show a community’s superiority. |
| A．The specific traditional food. |
| B．The national culture. |
| C．A traditional expression of food. |
| D．The old-fashioned taste. |
| A．To attach cultural importance to their dishes. |
| B．To announce the beginning of their life on foreign soil. |
| C．To make the dishes popular among customers. |
| D．To present their own food culture in a new way. |
| A．Negative. |
| B．Balanced. |
| C．Unfair. |
| D．Unchangeable. |
5 . During the five-day International Labor Day holiday that began on April 30, tourist attractions that offered ancient Chinese, or guofeng, experiences attracted large crowds, some members of whom wore traditional clothing and makeup to enhance the authenticity (真实性) of their experiences.
Qujiang New District in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, charmed tourists with a new attraction on the theme of a TV serial The Longest Day in Chang’an. It offered visitors a chance to “travel back in time” and experience a day in the life of people living in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Xi’an, known as Chang’an back then, was the capital.
The World Rural Tourism Town in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, held a cultural festival with a silk and Song Dynasty (960-1279) theme. During the first three days of the holiday, the place received nearly 30,000 visits, putting it into an online list of the 10 most popular Huzhou attractions.
The Jizhou Kiln scenic area in Jiangxi province held a tourism festival with a Song Dynasty theme. Tourists, wearing period costumes and makeup, tried their hand at the ancient Chinese game of touhu — throwing arrows into a distant pot — and tasted yonghe tofu, one of the top 10 Jiangxi dishes.
COVID-19 has accelerated changes in the needs of consumers, who are increasingly pursuing comfortable and safe tourism products that benefit both the environment and people’s health. For tourism businesses, it’s important to highlight the cultural elements of tourism products by drawing inspiration from China’s traditional culture.
Hotels also took advantage of the guofeng craze to feed the growing passion for traditional Chinese culture. A guofeng hotel provided replica (仿制品) costumes from online games based on the Chinese classic Journey to the West, which the guests could try on for photos.
1. What does the underlined word “enhance” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Increase. | B．Explore. |
| C．Seek. | D．Examine. |
| A．Its delicious food. |
| B．Its beautiful scenery. |
| C．Its themed tourist attraction. |
| D．Its geographical location. |
| A．They featured local snacks. |
| B．They were popular online. |
| C．They offered traditional costumes. |
| D．They shared the Song Dynasty theme. |
| A．Guofeng Varies from Place to Place |
| B．The Traditional Culture Brings Changes |
| C．COVID-19 Affects China’s Tourism |
| D．The Ancient Culture Adds to Holiday Attraction |
6 . Have you ever had this kind of childhood memory: a family sits together casually, drinking and tasting tea after lunch or dinner?
After being spread to different parts of the world,
Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China consist of the knowledge, skills and practices concerning the management of tea plantations (茶园) as well as the picking of tea leaves, manual processing, drinking, and sharing of tea, noted UNESCO.
Weilu zhucha is a replacement in the cold seasons for the camping craze. Sitting around a stove, boiling some tea, people chat, admire the scenery and immerse themselves in traditional Chinese culture by boiling tea together in person. “
| A．Take tea making for example. |
| B．This can be fully shown by weilu zhucha. |
| C．tea is common in Chinese people’s daily lives. |
| D．It’s good to feel the warm atmosphere when boiling tea. |
| E．China now has 43 items on the intangible cultural heritage list. |
| F．tea has delighted and fascinated the world for a thousand years. |
| G．This has been a daily activity for Chinese people throughout their history. |
7 . International tourism is becoming interestingly popular, and large numbers of people from all over the world come to visit famous places such as the Great Wall of China and the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
As for the damage, there are many different causes. For example, the paintings in the Sistine Chapel are being damaged by people breathing onto them when they visit.
In short, it is necessary to control tourism at famous places.
| A．For example, special paths can be built. |
| B．What can we do to deal with these problems? |
| C．The Great Wall was built over 2,000 years ago. |
| D．However, these visitors have caused many problems. |
| E．Traveling is the best way for us to get to know the world. |
| F．If we do not do this, these places will disappear from our planet. |
| G．Their breath contains very small drops of water that are present in the air. |
8 . In India, one of the most significant festivals is Diwali, which falls between October and November. It’s a five-day celebration that includes good food, fireworks, colored sand, and special candles and lamps.
In honor of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, people make special prayers on the first day to obtain blessings for welfare, success, and well-being. People welcome the goddess into their homes by decorating entrances with colorful lanterns and traditional designs. In addition, many people treat themselves to fine jewellery, praying for good fortune. Those who cannot afford so much, seek out cheaper items such as clothes or household goods.
The second day of the festival is called Kali Chaudas. For some, the day provides an opportunity to drive away misfortune from homes and businesses. They decorate their homes with clay lamps and create design patterns called Rangoli on the floor using colored powder or sand.
The third day is when the biggest celebrations occur, which begin early in the morning with a visit to a temple to seek the blessing of the goddess. As the sun sets, festival observers light up their homes with small lamps and enjoy delicious traditional foods with their loved ones.
The festival’s fourth day is celebrated in many different ways. Friends and relatives visit with gifts, sweets and best wishes for the season.
And the final day of the festival is called Bhai Dooj. It honors the close bond between brothers and sisters and is observed with traditional ceremonies and more delicious foods.
For children in India, Diwali is similar to Christmas. They get an entire week off from school and are treated to gifts, new clothes, amazing food, and, in the past at least, a large number of fireworks. It is no wonder that the festival ranks high among the country’s favorite celebrations.
1. People celebrate the first day of Diwali mainly for _________.| A．good fortune |
| B．colorful lanterns |
| C．expensive jewellery |
| D．traditional designs |
| A．To design traditional patterns. |
| B．To produce colored powder or sand. |
| C．To help get rid of bad luck. |
| D．To produce an opportunity in business. |
| A．Exchange gifts and best wishes with his loved ones. |
| B．Be busy decorating his home during the day. |
| C．Get together with his sisters and brothers. |
| D．Light up his home with small lamps. |
| A．Having a week off. |
| B．Getting Christmas gifts. |
| C．Enjoying amazing food. |
| D．Setting off fireworks. |
9 . No matter how many times you go, Dubai always has something new in store for its natives and tourists. Let’s take a look at a few must-dos for your first time in this impressive city in the United Arab Emirates!
●Hit the famous Dubai Mall.
Any shopaholic (购物狂) worth their salt knows about the Dubai Mall, one of the most famous and the most expensive shopping centres in the world.
●Mind your manners.
While you’re searching for the next adventure, make sure you follow some basic rules of conduct that the local law prescribes. For example, if you’re travelling with your significant other, public displays of affection are strictly forbidden.
●
Although you’ll find many tourists wearing clothes considered not entirely polite by the locals, there are certain rules that are strictly implemented in restaurants, malls, and entertainment centres. So, if you put on something considered inappropriate or revealing, you risk being asked to leave a place.
●Save some time for Jumeirah Beach.
Situated conveniently close to Burj al Arab, this spectacular stretch of the coast is a perfect way to spend some time sunbathing and enjoying the warm waters of the Persian Gulf.
●Prepare your palate for Emirati cuisine.
Have you ever had a chance to sample Al Machboos, camel meat, or Manousheh? Arabic cuisine has some of the most extraordinary delicacies you could possibly imagine, few of which are prepared in the same manner outside of their native lands.
| A．Jumeirah Beach is about 10 kilometres long. |
| B．Pay attention to your dressing requirements. |
| C．If you’re travelling with kids, you’ll find the beach perfect. |
| D．Try the authentic Arabic coffee for a flavourful taste of the East. |
| E．Dubai is indeed a destination packed with adventure and culture. |
| F．Getting drunk or using offensive hand gestures are all illegal activities. |
| G．Home to around 1,300 stores, it is a wonderful shopping place. |
10 . Top 4 Traditional Festivals in China
The Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, falls on the first day of the first lunar month. Chinese New Year is the most important festival in China. It is an important family reunion time for Chinese people around the world.
2022 Date: February 1 (Tuesday)
2023 Date: January 22 (Sunday)
The Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival, also known as Yuanxiao Jie or Shangyuan Festival, falls on the15th day of the first lunar month, it traditionally marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration.
Tangyuan, also called yuanxiao, is a must-eat food for the Lantern Festival. Shaped like a round ball, tangyuan symbolizes people’s desires for happiness and family reunions. Besides eating tangyuan, Chinese people would also light colourful lanterns and guess lantern riddles to celebrate this festival.
2022 Date: February 15 (Tuesday)
2023 Date: February 5 (Sunday)
The Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duan Wu Jie in Chinese, falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Chinese people celebrate this festival by racing dragon boats, eating zongzi, drinking realgar wine, and hanging Chinese Mugwort to honour Qu Yuan.
2022 Date: June 3 (Friday)
2023 Date: June 22 (Thursday)
The Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Like the Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also an important time for family reunions. Chinese people would eat moon cakes, admire the full moon, and hang up colourful lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
2022 Date: September 10 (Saturday)
2023 Date: September 29 (Friday)
1. Which do people traditionally have on the 15th day of the first lunar month?| A．Realgar wine. | B．Yuanxiao. | C．Zongzi. | D．Moon cakes. |
| A．On January 22. | B．On February 5. | C．On June 3. | D．On June 22. |
| A．They’re a great time for reunion. | B．They’re only celebrated in China. |
| C．They’re in memory of a great man. | D．They’re known for colourful lanterns. |
