Grand Chinese New Year Celebration Held in London

More than 700,000 people in London joined in a celebration on February 11 organized by the London Chinatown Chinese Association to welcome the Year of the Dragon.

The celebration was claimed by the organizers     1     (be) the largest Chinese New Year event outside Asia. It started at 10 am with a diverse parade featuring dragon dances and displays of traditional Chinese costumes. The parade started from the east of Trafalgar Square and concluded on Shaftesbury Avenue in Chinatown.

During the parade, significant attention     2     (capture) by the traditional Chinese Puning Yingge folk dance, a national intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) in China. The group of 16 dancers, originating from the Chaoshan region in South China’s Guangdong province,     3     the art form originated, offered a sensory cultural feast (盛宴) to the people of the United Kingdom.

At noon, the event reached its climax on the center stage in Trafalgar Square, with notable figures from China and Britain participating in the eye-dotting ceremony of two lions, symbolically     4     (awaken) them.     5     the lions were awakened, they performed a lively flying dance. Performers     6     (hide) under the costumes jumped up and down on 3-meter-high poles, drawing enthusiastic applause from the crowds.

Zheng Zeguang, China’s ambassador (大使) to the UK,     7     (address) the attendees at Trafalgar Square. He expressed gratitude to the organizers and artists for making     8     possible for the event to happen, and extended warm wishes of good fortune and advance for the Year of the Dragon.

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, spoke highly of the contributions of Londoners of Chinese origin. “One of the reasons why London is the greatest city in the world is     9     Londoners of Chinese origin have been making contributions to the city,” he said. The mayor also warned     10     trying to “discourage” friendships between China and the UK.

In addition to the lively parade and stage performances, there were cultural workshops, interactive games, and food stands set up around Trafalgar Square.

Tea Art

It’s common to see people in coffee bars create coffee art, but it’s a whole different ballgame doing the same thing with tea. Han Zheming has managed to perfect the skill, creating tea art in cups, or dian cha in Chinese,       1     used to be a ritual during the Song Dynasty.

Over the past six years, the 40-year-old Shanghai resident     2     (use) tea and spoons to create nearly 200 patterns based on ancient paintings. “It’s like     3     (add) bells and whistles to tea, giving people a stronger sense of occasion, so drinking tea is more fun,” Han says. It’s also his intention to bring the old ritual back to modern life and have more people     4     (appreciate) its charm. Dian cha enhances the taste of tea, Han says. “It is similar to the foam (泡沫) on top of a cup of coffee, except     5     it is made of tea rather than milk.”

Chinese tea culture started to enjoy popularity during the Tang Dynasty and boomed throughout the Song Dynasty,     6     tea became a necessity for almost everyone, from nobles and scholars to common people, just like other essential items, such as rice, oil and salt, as suggested by Song politician and thinker Wang Anshi.

Different from the method of making tea during the Tang period, in the Song Dynasty, the popular way of having tea was through dian cha. The process begins with hot water being poured over fine     7     (powder) tea creating a mixture. Then more hot water is added slowly     8     the tea is constantly beaten by hand with a bamboo stick. It is believed that this method later spread to other parts of East Asia, including Japan, where similarities     9     be seen in the way matcha (抹茶) is prepared today.

This action of pouring hot water is called dian; hence the name dian cha     10     (list) as an intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) of Runzhou district, Zhenjiang city, Jiangsu province, in 2019.

May Day in India

Each May 1, workers in India join others around the world to mark May Day, depending on local customs.

It’s quite appropriate that India celebrates with an official holiday in some of its 29 states and seven union territories. After all, the country has an     1     (estimate) 522 million workers, more than the entire population of the United States.

Here’s a Q&A on May Day in general:

You are correct — dancing is involved. That’s because “May Day” actually does double duty, celebrating two different things.

May Day originally started out as a celebration with roots in roman traditions. By the Middle Ages, May Day also     2     (involve) the maypole, which is made of wood and covered with decorations. Those are held by dancers     3     circle around the pole.

That     4     be the May Day you remember from your childhood, and that’s one of the two ways May Day is celebrated.

This is where May Day’s double duty comes in.

In May 1886, US activists organized a national strike     5     (seek) an eight-hour workday. In Chicago’s Haymarket Square, the protest turned violent with around 11 to 15 deaths     6     police and participants.

    7     (honor) the workers in the Haymarket disturbance, the International Socialist Conference declared May 1 would be a day labeled for labor, to be called International Workers’ Day. The holiday     8     (establish) at a meeting in 1889 and eventually spread to many parts of the world.

And that’s     9     maypoles, labor parades and protests are all part of May 1.

India’s first Labor Day was celebrated in 1923 in Madras, now called Chennai. Over time, the holiday spread to other parts of the country.

According to Hindu.com, organizations and trade unions arrange parades and “children enter contests     10     they can understand the importance of fairness for workers.”

A brief history of Chopsticks.

We’ve discussed the story of knife and fork, but there’s another set of utensils(器皿) used by billions of people around the world—and it has a truly ancient past. The Chinese have been wielding chopsticks since at least 1200 B.C., and by A.D. 500 chopsticks     1     (sweep) the Asian continent from Vietnam to Japan. From their humble beginnings     2     cooking utensils to paper-wrapped bamboo sets at the sushi counter, there's more to chopsticks than meets the eye.

Chopsticks     3     (develop) about 5000 years ago in China. The     4     (early) versions       were probably twigs used to get food from cooking pots. When resources became scare, around 400 B. C. ,crafty chefs figured out     5     to conserve fuel by chopping food into smaller pieces that required less cooking fuel, and besides, it could be cooked more quickly. This new method of cooking made it unnecessary to have knives at the dinner table—a practice that also matched the non-violent teachings of Confucius ( 孔 子 )，    6     expressed in one of his numerous quotations:“ the honorable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse(屠宰房) and the kitchen. And he allows no knives on his table.” As a vegetarian, he believed that knives’ sharp points evoked( 诱 发 ) violence     7     (kill) the happy, contented mood that should reign during meals. Thanks in part to his teachings, chopstick use quickly became widespread throughout Asia.

Different cultures adopted different chopstick styles. Perhaps in a nod to Confucius, Chinese chopsticks featured a blunt rather than pointed end. In Japan, chopsticks were 8 inches long for men and 7 inches long for women. In 1878 the Japanese became the first     8     (create) the now-ubiquitous disposable set, typically made of bamboo or wood. Wealthy diners could eat with ivory, jade, coral, brass or agate versions, while the most privileged used silver sets. It was believed that the silver would corrode and turn black     9     it came into contact with poisoned food.

Throughout history, chopsticks have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with another staple of Asian cuisine: rice. At first glance, you'd think that rice wouldn't make the cut, but in Asia most rice is of the short- or medium-grain variety. The starches(淀粉质食品) in these rices create a cooked product that is gummy and clumpy, unlike the fluffy and distinct grains of Western long- grain rice.     10     chopsticks come together to lift steaming bundles of sticky rice, it's a match made in heaven.

This weekend many families in America will celebrate Mother’s Day. The event dates back to   May 9, 1914,     1     America’s President Wilson   established the official     holiday. Some people had begun campaigning for the holiday a few years     2     (early).   Finally in 1914, the president made it official. He declared that each second Sunday in May     3     (dedicate) to thanking the nation’s mothers. He also ordered all government     buildings     4     (display) the national flag on that day. According to President Wilson, this was done “as a public expression of …love …for the mothers of our country.”

Before long, people in other   countries     5     (begin) asking for a similar   holiday to celebrate their mothers. Mexico celebrated its first official Mother’s Day on May 10, 1922. May 10th became their annual holiday because the country preferred a fixed date to     6     that changed.

Other countries are happy to share the day with the United States. Some on the list include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Japan and Turkey.

Oddly enough, the U.S. Congress rejected a Mother’s Day resolution at first. Today, though, Mother’s Day is a highly popular holiday. It’s also very successful commercially. Along with giving cards,   candy   and flowers,     7     (take) moms out for brunch is a very popular gesture. America’s National Restaurant Association says Mother’s Day is the year’s most popular day for eating out.

But why do we honor our mothers? Many moms lovingly dedicate their lives to their children. Moms sacrifice time, sleep and often their own dreams. Moms try to provide a strong foundation     8     children   can   build   their   lives. With     9     (love)   care,   mothers guide their children toward adulthood.

When we consider everything our mothers have done for us, how can we not honor them? There’s no need to wait for a national holiday, though. Every day is a great opportunity to tell our mothers     10     they mean to us.

In two days, it will be Christmas, children all over world     1     (look) forward to this day for weeks. People celebrate Christmas with food, decorations, music and more. But for many people, gift-giving is the most exciting part of the holiday.

I have found memories of Christmas shopping with my family as a child. I enjoyed the challenge of keeping my parents’ gifts a secret. It was hard to buy gifts right.     2     their noses without them seeing. Everyone placed     3     (wrap) gifts under the Christmas tree until Christmas morning,     4     we opened them.

Picking a great gift require     5     (know) the person you’re giving it to. You need to know the person’s tastes and find something the person doesn’t already have. This can be quite a big challenge. Often it’s wise to provide a receipt     6     the person needs to exchange the gift.

The best gifts are personal. Many Americans don’t feel money constitutes a good gift     7     it doesn’t require any thought. They prefer something chosen just for the person. If the gift is a high-quality homemade gift, that’s even better.

Gift-giving reflects the reason     8     people celebrate Christmas. Christians in particular remember the birth of Jesus. When he was born, wise men traveled many miles to visit him,     9     (bring) expensive gifts. But the greatest gift wasn’t from the wise man, but from God—the baby Jesus. God gave this gift because everyone needed it. We needed God to forgive our bad actions so that we     10     live forever with him. So on Christmas we give presents to imitate God’s action of giving the perfect gift.

Culture Shock

Each society has its own beliefs, attitudes, customs, behaviors, and social habits. These things give people a sense of who they are and how they     1    behave.

People become conscious of such rules when they meet people from different cultures. For example, the rules about     2    to eat vary from culture to culture. Many North Americans and

Europeans organize their timetables     3    three mealtimes a day. In other countries, however, it’s not the custom     4     (have) strict rules like this—people eat when they want to, and every family has its own timetable.

When people visit or live in a country for the first time, they are often surprised at the differences between this culture and the culture in their own country. Traveling abroad is the thing

    5     (enjoy) by most people; but there are also those who feel uncomfortable, frightened, and insecure because of cultural differences. This     6     (know) as “culture shock.”

When you're visiting a foreign country, it is important to understand and appreciate cultural differences. This can help you avoid misunderstandings, develop friendships more easily, and feel more comfortable when     7     (travel) abroad.

Here are several things to do     8    you want to avoid culture shock.

1. Avoid quick judgements; try to understand the point of view of the people in another culture.

2. Become aware of what     9     (go) on around you, and why.

3. Don’t think of your cultural habits as “right” and other people’s as “wrong.”

4. Be willing to try new things and to have new experiences.

5. Try to understand and appreciate other people’s values.

6. Think about your own culture and how it influences your attitudes and actions.

7. Avoid having negative stereotypes about foreigners and their cultures.

8. Show interest in things     10    are important to other people.

The biggest house of cards, the longest tongue, and of course, the tallest man: these are among the thousands of records logged in the famous Guinness Book of Records. Created in 1955 after a debate     1     (concern) Europe's fastest game bird,     2     began as a marketing tool sold to pub landlords     3     (promote) Guinness, an Irish drink, became the bestselling copyright title of all time (a category that excludes books such as the Bible and the Koran). In time, the book would sell 120 million copies in over 100 countries— quite a leap from its humble beginnings.

In its early years, the book set its sights on     4     (satisfy) man's inborn curiosity about the natural world around him. Its two principal fact finders, twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, moved wildly around the globe to collect facts. It was their task to find and document aspects of life that can be sensed or observed, things that can be quantified or measured. But not just any things. They were only interested in superlatives: the biggest and the best. It was during this period     5     some of the remarkable Guinness Records were documented, answering such questions as "What is the brightest star?" and "What is the biggest spider?"

Once aware of the public's thirst for such knowledge, the book's authors began to branch out to cover increasingly doubtful, little-known facts. They started documenting human achievements as well. A forerunner for reality television, the Guinness Book gave people     6     chance to become famous for accomplishing odd, often pointless tasks. Records were set in 1955 for consuming 24 raw eggs in 14 minutes and in 1981 for the fastest solving of a Rubik's Cube (which took a mere 38 seconds). In 1979 a man yodeled(用真假嗓音交替唱) non-stop for ten and a quarter hours.

In its latest appearance, the book has found a new home on the internet. No longer     7     (restrict) to the limits of physical paper, the Guinness World Records website contains seemingly innumerable facts concerning such topics as the most powerful combustion(燃烧) engine, or the world's longest train. What is striking, however, is that such facts are found sharing a page with the record of the heaviest train to be pulled     8     a beard.

Originating as a simple bar book, the Guinness Book of Records     9     (evolve) over decades to provide insight into the full range of modern life. And although one may be     10     (likely) now to learn about the widest human mouth than the highest number of casualties in a single battle of the Civil War, the Guinness World Records website offers a telling glimpse into the future of fact-finding and record-recording.