1 . Food festivals are a common occurrence in the UK and take place in all sorts of places and at all sorts of times. Whatever your taste, there’s a food festival to match — no matter how specialized.
1. Meatopia
This three-day, London-based festival takes place at the end of August and is a meat lover’s paradise. In addition to a range of legally sourced meat products, from juicy burgers to tender steaks, attendees can listen to live music, watch butchery demonstrations, and attend informal meat-based workshops.
2. The National Honey Show
If you have a sweet tooth, then it could be that the National Honey Show, which started in 1921 and is the largest event of its kind, is the place for you to be. This three-day event attracts many local entries who showcase their sweet golden honey, some of which is sold globally.
3. The Orange Sauce Festival
Have you heard about a festival that is devoted only to orange sauce? Held in Cumbria, this sweet, fragrant festival has been running for 3 years. What attracts people most is a competition to find the best homemade orange sauce. There are thousands of participants from over 30 different countries across the globe, bringing their local snacks to share here.
4. The Ginger and Spice Festival
If you’d prefer something with a little more kick to it, then you could attend The Ginger (姜) and Spice Festival held in Market Drayton. Unlike other food festivals, it celebrates its town’s historic connection to Robert Clive, who returned from India with ginger. Because of this, they specialize in baking gingerbread, but also sell a range of traditional spices from mild to hot.
1. What do Meatopia and the National Honey Show have in common?| A．Both of them last for three days. | B．Both of them hold workshops. |
| C．Both of them originated from London. | D．Both of them have a long history. |
| A．The Meatopia. | B．The Ginger and Spice Festival. |
| C．The National Honey Show. | D．The Orange Sauce Festival. |
| A．It has something to do with a historic figure. |
| B．The ginger used in the festival is from India. |
| C．It sells spicy food. |
| D．The food is cooked by Robert Clive. |
2 . Children’s Games in Ancient China
Unlike the children nowadays, the children during ancient times didn’t have smartphones or computers to entertain themselves.
Kicking stone balls
During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in the winter to keep warm. Stones were carved into small balls and kicked along with feet.
Flying kites
Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite.
Playing hide-and-seek
Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. Even nowadays, many children like playing it. There are two ways to play. One way is covering a child’s eyes while other kids run around to tease him.
The closest thing to watching a film or television for entertainment during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists manipulate puppets behind the screen, narrating stories and accompanied by music.
Setting off firecrackers
Firecrackers have a history of more than 2, 000 years. It is said that there was a beast named “Nian” in ancient China.
| A．Watching shadow plays |
| B．Making a film |
| C．Each of them has distinctive features |
| D．Different materials are used to make the kite |
| E．And to scare off the beast, people burnt bamboo joints to make them blast |
| F．More commonly, participants hide and one child must try to find them |
| G．Instead, they came up with interesting games to play in their childhood |
With less people
Li worked as a miner for more than ten years. After
Since there was no sugar painting craftsman in his village, he studied by
内容包括:
1.甲骨文特点；
2.发现的意义；
3.邀请参观甲骨文博物馆。
注意:1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯:
参考词汇:甲骨文 oracle bone inscriptions (OBIs)
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Most Americans take pride in inviting guests with open arms. What should you do if an American friend has invited you to visit his family? You've never been to an American home before, and you're not sure what to do. Should you take a gift? What time should you arrive or leave? How long should you stay? Take it easy. I’ll tell you all about it.
The question of whether or not to bring a gift often worries guests. Giving your host a gift is not just a social custom in some cultures—it's expected. But in American culture, a guest does not have to bring a gift. Of course, some people do bring a small gift for their host. Proper gifts might usually be flowers, candy or—if the family has small children—toys. If you choose not to bring a gift, don't worry. No one will even notice.
Plan to arrive on time, or call to tell your host that you will be late. When you've finished the meal, the host may invite everyone to move to the living room for dessert with tea or coffee. After an hour or so, it's about time to head for the door.
Americans usually like to invite guests ahead of time. Only very close friends visit the host unexpectedly without being invited. This is especially true if the guests want to stay for a few days. Here's one golden rule for house guests: short stays are best. Even relatives don’t usually stay for several weeks at a time. Your host family will appreciate our consideration (体贴), and they may even invite you back!
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6 . Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast(盛宴). The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies(殖民地) began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed(宣布) the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October.
1. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated .| A．in spring | B．summer |
| C．in autumn | D．in winter |
| A．some people from England | B．the American Indians |
| C．Sarah Josepha Hale | D．Governor Bradford |
| A．in the U. S. A. | B．in Great Britain |
| C．in Canada | D．on some island off the Atlantic |
| A．Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest. |
| B．Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations. |
| C．Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God. |
| D．There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. |
| A．how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A. |
| B．how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated |
| C．that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday |
| D．how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places |
注意: 1. 词数100左右（开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数）；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Jim,
Knowing that
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Best wishes!
Yours,
Li Hua
8 . BEIJING — Eating at a Beijing restaurant is usually an adventure for foreigners, and particularly when they get the chance to order “chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head”.
Sometimes excited but mostly confused, embarrassed or even terrified, many foreigners have long complained about mistranslations of Chinese dishes. And their complaints are often valid, but such an experience at Beijing’s restaurants will apparently soon be history.
Foreign visitors will no longer, hopefully, be confused by oddly worded restaurant menus in the capital if the government’s plan to correctly translate 3,000 Chinese dishes is a success and the translations are generally adopted.
The government office of foreign affairs has published a book to introduce English translations of Chinese dishes, which aims to help restaurants avoid confusing translations. “It provides the names of main dishes of famous Chinese cuisines in plain English,” an official with the city’s Foreign Affairs office said. Restaurants are encouraged to use the proposed translations, but it will not be compulsory. It’s the city’s latest effort to bridge the culture gap for foreign travelers in China.
Coming up with precise translations is a daunting task, as some Chinese culinary (烹饪的)
techniques are untranslatable and many Chinese dishes have no English-language equivalent (对应词). The translators, after conducting a study of Chinese restaurants in English-speaking countries, divided the dish names into four categories: ingredients, cooking method, taste and name of a person or a place. For some traditional dishes, pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system, is used, such as mapo tofu (previously often literally translated as “bean curd made by woman with freckles”), baozi (steamed stuffed bun) and jiaozi (dumplings) to “reflect the Chinese cuisine culture,” according to the book.
“The book is a benefit to tourist guides like me. Having it, I don’t have to rack my brains trying to explain Chinese dishes to foreign travelers,” said Zheng Xiaodong, a 31- year – old employee with a Beijing-based travel agency.
It is not clear if the book will be introduced to other parts of China. But on Tuesday, this was the most discussed topic on weibo.com, China’s most popular micro blogging site.
1. “chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head” are mentioned in the beginning of the passage to show some Chinese dishes are .| A．mistranslated. | B．hard to translate. |
| C．not well received. | D．not acceptable. |
| A．Introducing a book on Chinese dishes |
| B．Publishing a book on China’s dietary habits |
| C．Providing the names of main Chinese dishes |
| D．Suggesting using accurate translation for Chinese dishes |
| A．disappointing | B．discouraging |
| C．inspiring | D．amazing |
| A．unconcerned | B．negative |
| C．divided | D．favorable |
9 . Easter Island’s large and mysterious stone statues（雕像） have made it world famous. These statues, whose likenesses look like humans with huge stone cylinders(柱状物) balancing on their heads like hats, have tourists coming from all over the world. The tourists come to see these works of ancient art carved by the early inhabitants of the island. They come to see the mystery that has puzzled historians for decades.
Easter Island is located in a remote part of the South Pacific Ocean about 2,300 miles west of Chile. Easter Island covers just 45 square miles and its Polynesian name is Rapa Nui.
On Easter Sunday 1722, a Dutch explorer named Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to see Easter Island. The early Polynesians carved the statues within the holes of the volcano using only stone tools. Then they moved these huge statues to various destinations throughout the island. These 600 statues range in height from 10 to 40 feet. Some of them weigh as much as 50 tons. How could the early Polynesians lift hundreds of heavy statues out of the volcano? How did they move them across the island to their various locations? All of these questions, as well as many others, remain unanswered.
The early islanders probably worshiped(崇拜) these eyeless giants until sometime around 1670. In 1680, a war broke out between two groups of islanders. The victors of the war and ancestors of the present inhabitants, broke down many of the statues. In most cases, they broke the necks of the statues.
Now 15 of the statues on Easter Island have been repaired to their original positions on their stone platforms. Even today, using modern tools and machinery, putting up such large statues and balancing cylinders on top of their heads presents a challenging task.
1. What do we know about Easter Island?| A．It is a big island of Chile. |
| B．It is located in North Pacific Ocean |
| C．It was named after a Dutch explorer |
| D．Its early inhabitants were Polynesians |
| A．why people built the statues |
| B．where people made the statues |
| C．how people transported the statues |
| D．how many statues there are on the island |
| A．Many statues were damaged |
| B．Another 15 statues were put up |
| C．People began to worship the statues |
| D．The islanders started a war against outsiders |
| A．entertain | B．advertise |
| C．inform | D．persuade |
10 . The tradition of birthday parties started in Europe a long time ago. It was feared that evil(邪恶的) spirits were particularly attracted to people on their birthdays. To protect them from harm, friends and family members would come to stay with the birthday person and bring good thoughts and wishes. Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to keep away from the evil spirits. This is how birthday parties began.
The following are some countries’ birthday traditions:
Canada--Putting butter on the nose. In Atlantic Canada, the birthday child’s nose is put butter on for good luck.
China--Noodles for lunch. The birthday child pays respect to his / her parents and receives a gift of money. Friends and relatives are invited to lunch and noodles are served to wish the birthday child a long life.
England--Money cakes. Certain symbolic(象征性的) objects are mixed into the birthday cake as it is being prepared. If your piece of cake has a coin in it, you will be rich.
Ireland--Birthday bump(碰撞). The birthday child is lifted upside down and “ bumped” on the floor for good luck.
Italy--Pulling ears. The child’s ears are pulled as many times as how old he / she is turning.
Japan--New clothes. The birthday child wears new clothes to mark the occasion.
New Zealand--Birthday claps. After the candles are hit, the happy birthday song is sung loudly and often out of tune and then the birthday person receives a clap for each year he / she has been alive and then one for good luck.
The United States--Cake, candles and the birthday song. A cake is made, and candles are put on top based on how old the person is.
1. The first paragraph mainly talks about .| A．why there are so many birthday traditions |
| B．how birthday parties started |
| C．how to keep away from evil spirits |
| D．why gifts must be given to the birthday person |
| A．China. | B．England. |
| C．Ireland. | D．Japan. |
| A．In New Zealand, an eight-year-old birthday child receives eight claps in all. |
| B．In Ireland, bumping the birthday child means good luck to him/her. |
| C．In England, coins are the only things that can be made into a birthday cake. |
| D．In Italy, the birthday child’s ears are pulled when he/she is lifted upside down. |
| A．birthday cake | B．birthday candles |
| C．birthday claps | D．birthday song |
| A．Tech&Science. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Careers&Jobs. | D．Culture. |
