China-Chic Cultural Festival

Every previous year on Thanksgiving Day I’d woken up early, filled with excitement, unable to wait for the turkey, pumpkin pie with pecans, and my grandma’s famous cheesecake. But I would never forget the lesson that my mother taught me when I was 14 years old. That Thanksgiving, I couldn’t find the magic anymore. For some reason the holiday seemed fake (假的). I suddenly felt like Thanksgiving was a big lie. I saw no reason to celebrate.

As my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma started to arrive carrying plates of food, baskets of bread, and pitchers of egg nog, I grew more and more angry and frustrated. None of them were really thankful, I realized. The whole thing was a lie!

When my mom called for everyone to take their seats for dinner, I left. I ran into the guest room where no one would look, crying. I was defiant (反抗的) because I wanted to be an honest person but 1 was realizing that Thanksgiving was fake. It didn’t feel right to join in the tradition---say something beautiful one by one around the table.

My mom, worried that 1 was absent from the table, came to see what was wrong, “No one is really thankful!” I sobbed, “They just pretend for one day because that’s what you’re supposed to do!"

My mom sat down next to me and listened wisely. Then she nodded. “You’re right,” she told me, “it’s fake until you find the truth for yourself.” She said Thanksgiving was a time to reflect because we don’t always get a chance to see loved ones and eat a good meal. Then she left. I didn’t listen to her. I was convinced that I could never find joy celebrating again.

But I was also starving and I had to eat something.

At her words, I realized they wanted me to be a part of the tradition.

Living in a foreign country probably sounds exciting and romantic to you. Just imagine the noises from the local market or the smell of strange flowers when you leave the house in the morning. But this doesn't mean that life abroad is easy. When people set foot in a foreign land，they tend to keep to what is familiar. Becoming a part of the local culture can be the hardest part of life abroad．

However, in order to get the most of their life abroad, people need to break out of their comfortable routines and explore. The moment you let go of false ideas and stereotypes, you are ready to take your first major step. And more often than not, living in a foreign country can be a truly life-changing experience．

Even for experienced travellers, it is not as easy as it seems to get used to life abroad. Making the transition from living like a visiting holidaymaker to living like a local takes time. Culture shock is part of living abroad and hits everyone eventually. The key is not to let it get the better of you．You have to accept that things are not the same as they are at home and，until you get to that point, try to respectful, patient and humble．

Another problem is that the charm of a foreign life could wear off as time passes by. For most people, a foreign culture appears strange and exciting at first. After all, the main reason for moving broad is of ten the wish to explore foreign cultures. However, after living in a foreign country for a while, little things that you once thought were charming begin to annoy you. You remember how everything ran on schedule back home, how beautiful your hometown was and how much more relaxed and friendly everyone seemed to be.

So, you'd better understand issues with the local food, or problems with adjusting to the pace of life as you live abroad someday in the future.

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7 . It was 1939, and the Great Depression had made all our lives much harder. But we didn’t know how poor we were until our father sat my brother and me down on the couch in our living room to have a talk.

I will always remember the sad look in Father’s eyes as he stared down at his hands, rubbing them back and forth, while he searched for the words to tell us that our family wasn’t going to be celebrating Christmas this year.

A month later, on Christmas Eve, I lay awake in bed late into the night, trying to talk myself out of sneaking into our living room to see if Santa had come. I gathered my courage, then tiptoed down the hallway, hoping I would see the bright sparkling lights of our Christmas tree standing proudly in the corner of our living room, like it did every year.

Instead, I was greeted by my seventeen-year-old brother, Frank, who slept on our living room couch. “Hey, little one, what are you doing up?” he whispered.

I started to cry. “There’s no Christmas tree.”

There would be no presents, no singing, no Christmas dinner. It felt like we were the saddest family in the world. My disappointment overwhelmed me. I looked forward to Christmas each year. It wasn’t only the presents. It was that special feeling I got from seeing my family happy. We hadn’t been happy in such a long time.

On Christmas morning, the sun shone into our chilly bedroom, waking me up. “Maybe Santa came! Maybe he came!” I suddenly insisted. My eyes searched the living room, but there was no Christmas tree. I broke into uncontrollable tears.

I ran to Father in tears and threw my arms around him. “ We aren’t going to have Christmas this year.”

“Now, now, now, calm down. Go on in and see your mother. She will comfort you.” Dad slowly pushed the bedroom door open, leading me into the room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something different in the bedroom.

With my question answered, everything dawned on me.

8 . China Daily∣Updated:2016-12-26 07:44

THE COMPOUND surrounding Dayun Temple in Shangluo, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, has been encroached (侵犯) upon by the urban regeneration process. This has caused damage to several relics including an ancient mulberry tree and four houses built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 — 1644). Beijing News commented on Saturday.

The construction work endangering a cultural and historical site on the provincial cultural heritage protection list stopped when the Shangluo museum published an open letter calling for official involvement. However, damage had already been done to the temple, which has a history of more than 600 years. An old tree and a decorated archway were relocated and four houses torn down. There are also cracks in the walls and gates.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27(Xinhua) — Two key UN agencies and some countries on Sunday joined Interpol (国际刑警) to launch a major new program to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage targeted by terrorists and illegal sales against a background of a sharp rise of terrorist attacks and destruction of cultural heritage in armed conflict.

“Culture is on the frontline of conflict — we must place it at the heart of peace-building,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

For his part, the executive director of UNODC, Yury Fedotov, said it was important to address sales and the destruction of cultural property as “crimes that strike at the key of our civilization and heritage.”

[写作内容]

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(1)保护文化遗产的重要性（至少两点原因）；

(2)如何有效保护文化遗产（至少两点措施）。

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Have you heard an old saying “The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence”? It means other places often look better, more interesting than the place where you live. “Let’s go to KFC for dinner and then watch some Japanese cartoons!” We all know it: more and more Chinese kids love American and Japanese food and movies. Some people worry that young Chinese are beginning to feel that way. They see young Chinese ignoring（忽视）Chinese culture and, instead, buying Japanese cartoon books, watching Korean soap operas and even celebrating western holidays.

Foreign books and soap operas are good, but Chinese writers and actors are just as good. As for holidays, Christmas is nice, but it can never have the meaning for Chinese that Spring Festival has, and the West has nothing to compare with the Mid-Autumn Festival. China has lots of cool things in its culture: calligraphy, Beijing Opera, quick meals on the streets, and even Jay Chou! And let’s not forget the part of Chinese culture I like best: its friendliness. Not all countries are as warm as China.

It’s good to enjoy other cultures and learn from them, but they can never replace your own culture. It’s good to look on the other side of the fence, but make sure you take a good long look. You will find that the grass isn’t always greener.

Although some people become worried about that, I don’t think they should. Will we get more powerful without learning from other countries? Will Chinese people live more happily without American fast food? Besides, it’s fun to learn about different cultures. Chinese kids can learn about other cultures and have fun, but they also need to learn more about their own culture. Be proud of Chinese culture and of being Chinese!

Recently, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) issued a guidance to open cultural heritage buildings to the public, encouraging local governments, cultural heritage departments and organizations using or managing such buildings to better bring these buildings’ cultural and social value into play, on the precondition of full protection. The SACH is clear that, no matter what their current conditions are, heritage buildings should be opened as much as possible.

In the past, due to insufficient preserving technologies and lack of funds, repairing work was seen as a major hassle, and thus opening the buildings to the public was difficult. Even famous heritage places like the Palace Museum in Beijing were plagued by such difficulties.

Today, China has dramatically increased its input into cultural heritage protection, and archaeological protection technologies are improving. The time is ripe for heritage buildings to be opened up.