1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. confusion   B. delivered     C. reflection        D. offer   E. context    F. set       G. signaled       H. fluent     I. torn       J. culture     K. genuine

This is a story about how a foreigner got confused about a Mexican word even though she could speak     1     Spanish. It happened when she     2     foot on Mexican soil for the first time. She asked an ice-cream seller for an ice-cream, and he said “ahorita.” She thought it would be     3     immediately because the word can be directly translated to “right now.” But she waited for half an hour and still no ice-cream came. When she asked the seller about it, he said “ahorita” again, with his face showing     4    . She felt     5     between waiting and walking away. Finally, she had to go home, so she     6     to the seller that she could not wait any longer. Years later back in Mexico, she came to realise that the meaning of “ahorita” changes according to its     7    . It could mean “tomorrow,” “within five years,” “never,” or even “no, thanks” when one wants to refuse an     8    . “Ahorita Time” is a     9     of different cultural understandings of time. That is, understanding “ahorita” takes not a fluency in the language, but a fluency in the    10    .

2 . After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. harmony   B. refer   C. accompanied   D. respect   E. formal   F. select G. symbolic   H. youth   I. divided   J. left   K. entire

24 Solar Terms

The 24 Solar Terms are part of the traditional Chinese calendar. It is known as the “fifth great invention” of China, coming after paper-making, printing, gunpowder and compass.

In the ancient days, they were important instructions for the agricultural production as well as people's daily lives. Starting with the “Start of Spring” and ending with “Major Cold”, each season was    1     into six solar terms, each with a time span of 15 days.

The “Start of Spring”, “Start of Summer”, "Start of Autumn" and “Start of Winter” divided a year into four seasons. The “Vernal Equinox” and “Autumn Equinox”    2     to the time when the days and nights are of equal length, while the “Summer Solstice” sees the longest day and the shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the contrary on the day of the “Winter Solstice”. There are also some other solar terms which marks things like temperature, growth of the crops, and weather conditions.

From generation to generation, the experience in farming and daily life has been passed. Many farmers still rely on the solar terms now to decide what should do in the fields. The influences of the ancient way of dividing time have in fact gone beyond farming into the    3     lives of the Chinese people, even their mindset.

Most of the solar terms bear rich    4    , social and cultural connotations（含义）, such as traditional celebrations, rituals and even festivals. For instance, the “Pure Brightness” is also marked as the tomb-sweeping day, when people pay    5     to the lost ones.

Even today, people still eat dumplings during the “Start of Winter” and porridge when autumn starts. Besides, some rituals were also marked in different areas of China. The Zhuang people in south China hold    6     banquets to celebrate Frost Festival during the “Start of Spring”.

Every time a new term begins in China, the Chinese social media would see a wave of ceremonial posts from the    7    . The ancient calendar has never been    8     behind by the development of information technology.

    9     by the photos, paintings and essays, it is not hard to imagine that the ancient concept of respect for nature, as well as the philosophy of    10     between man and nature would have even longer life and stronger vitality, together with the Chinese history.

4 . 阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从方框中选出能填入文中空白处的最合适的单词。注意，其中有两个多余选项。

A. internet     B. careers     C. popularize     D. invited       E. national       F. introducing G. titles        H. cultural     I. understand     J. attracting     K. platform     L. practising

Zhang Hanliang, a martial arts teacher at Tianshui Normal University in Gansu province, has produced many traditional Chinese martial arts videos in the past years,     1     sixteen million viewers at home and abroad on the online     2     Bilibili.

Zhang, now 35 years old, has been     3     martial arts since she was seven. Thanks to her hard work, Zhang won her first sword (剑) championship in Gansu province at 13. She then got sword and spear titles at a     4     level when she was 17, and at 20, she won a series of championship titles in various categories. In 2007, Zhang began to work as a martial arts teacher at Tianshui Normal University, getting new     5     such as first-class national athlete and first-class national judge of martial arts.

In addition to her daily teaching tasks, Zhang has been     6     to France, Russia, Malaysia and other countries many times to teach martial arts. “Martial arts can be a bridge for     7     exchanges between China and other countries,” said Zhang, adding that she wanted to     8     martial arts to the audience through the     9    . And she hoped more and more foreigners could     10     and love martial arts.

5 . 短文填空。从下面方框中选出10个单词，将其正确形式填入短文，使短文意思正确通顺（每词限用一次）。

When naming a child, the culture is not the same in different places.

In many European countries, children are named after the names of relatives within their families. For example, in Italy, children are     1    named after their grandparents. Naturally, the parents     2    use the father’s family names, then they will use the mother’s family names,     3    in big family.

In China, some names are connected with the     4    of the date and the time of the children. It is thought that a name can     5    a child. If a boy is given the first name “坤”, maybe, he is short of earth according to his birth. The Chinese character “坤” is made up of two parts. The     6    part means earth in English. Parents believe that the boy with a name of earth will not be short of earth any longer in his life.

In an African country called Ghana’s Akan, the time when they were born     7    his or her name. But there are some     8    between boys and girls. For example, a boy born on Friday is named Kofi,     9    a girl born on the same day is named Afua.

No matter where the name comes from, a name is the first gift to a child in life. For that reason, all names are     10    .