Yours，

Li Hua

Yu Rong, a Chinese artist, thinks of a new way to introduce     1     ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by     2     (combine) Chinese paper-cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi papercuts over western-style pencil sketches (素描)    3     (create) typical presentation of Chineseelements (要素), which turns out to be a     4     (success) and impressive breakthrough.

Hua Mulan,     5     story has been told by generations in China, was a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). As a devoted daughter, she dressed herself as a man to serve in the army     6     place of her father. Mulan’s character, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude towards fame and fortune, made     7     (she) one of the most respected historical Chinese heroines. Mulan’s story has been adapted     8     (frequent) in modern media. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which     9     (consider) a great success by critics and the public right after its release.

To better tell the story, Yu Rong takes inspiration from her several     10     (visit) to sites of ancient battles and Henan Province’s Yu Opera. After years of preparation she finally makes this extraordinary work.

3 . Craziest Food Festivals sounds like a joke topic, but once you start looking into it, you’ll realize they’re everywhere — the crazier, the better.

Bibimbap Festival

In a Korean town in Jeonju, their “mixed rice” dish is a hearty serve of rice topped with raw beef, a rainbow of vegetables, a raw egg and gochujang sauce (韩国的辣椒酱) so much. They take four days out of October to celebrate it.

Like any festival there’s music, entertainment and magic, but making it that little bit different is the bibimbap that’s whipped (搅拌) up in a big bowl by dozens of chefs and served to over 400 people.

Waikiki Spam Jam (怀基基午餐肉节)

Who knew this canned meat had so much love?   Well, it turns out that a can of Spam is the go-to item in Hawaii, along with a grass skirt and garland (花环). The people of Hawaii love Spam so much that they even spend a day in May serving out the best Spam, a type of cheap canned meat made mainly from pork.

Bessieres Easter Egg Festival

At Easter time, for those in the French town of Bessieres it’s all about an egg far less sweet.

Here they celebrate the holiday by getting dozens of chefs to make one large omelette (煎蛋卷) — 15, 000 eggs strong — for the townsfolk (市民).

Potato Days Festival

This festival actually takes place in Barnesville, Minnesota (明尼苏达州), the US. Over the last Friday and Saturday in August the town celebrates its potato-growing skills by hosting potato picking and peeling contests, as well as a Miss Tater Tot pageant (盛典) for five- and six-year-old girls.

4 . October 15th is Global Handwashing Day. Activities are planned in more than twenty countries to get millions of people in the developing world to wash their hands with soap.

Experts say people around the world wash their hands but very few use soap at so-called critical moments. These include after using the toilet, after cleaning a baby and before touching food.

Global Handwashing Day is the idea of the Public-Private Partnership for hand washing with soap. The goal, they say, is to create a culture of hand washing with soap. The organizers say all soap is equally effective at removing disease-causing germs (细菌). They say the correct way to wash is to wet your hands with a small amount of water and cover them with soap. Rub it into all areas, including under the fingernails. Then, wash well under running water. Finally, dry your hands with a clean cloth.

The Partnership says soap is important because it increases the time that people spend washing. Soap also helps to break up the dirt that holds most of the germs. And it usually leaves a pleasant smell, which increases the chances that people will wash again.

It also says that washing hands with soap before eating and after using the toilet could save more lives than any medicine. It could help reduce cases of diarrhea (痢疾), which is the second leading cause of child deaths, killing more than one and a half million children a year, by almost half.

7 . What is your favorite holiday? Here are some students’ opinions.

Sandy from Taiwan says:

My favorite holiday is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I always visit my grandfather and grandmother, and we always go to the same restaurant on the mountain to hold jubilation. At night, we always have a barbecue, and watch the moon together. I enjoy it a lot.

Zhenia from Ukraine says:

My favorite day is New Year’s Day. We celebrate the new year on the 31st of December. Father Frost comes with his granddaughter on that night. He puts his presents under the New Year Tree. We have a party and stay up until midnight to see the New Year in and the Old Year off. We cook delicious food for the party. People also celebrate Old New Year in our country. It is on the 14th of January.

Yagna from India says:

My favorite day is Deepavali (屠妖节), which is also called Festival of Lights. People do some cleaning at home and light their oil lamps to thank for the defeat of the bad king. To celebrate it, we also eat sweets and delicious food, wear new clothes, and give presents to our friends and relatives.

Pat from Thailand says:

My name is Pat. My favorite holiday is Songkran. It takes place from the 13th to 15th of April. On the holiday people pour water on each other. It is a lot of fun. People also buy new clothes and they have big parties.

The Mysteries of the Maya

Extending south from parts of what we now know as Mexico into Central America, Maya civilisation     1     (surround) by mystery since its rediscovery in the 19th century. The Maya built     2    (impress) palaces and temples.     3     is most extraordinary about these complex structures is how they were built without the use of wheels, metal tools or even animal power. They applied their understanding of mathematics and astronomy     4     the Maya calendar, which was accurate to within 30 seconds per year. On top of all this was an achievement unique in the Americas at that time: a true writing system. It was a writing system so complicated that, so far, no one has been able to interpret it     5     (complete).

The fact that Maya society was technologically primitive makes its achievements more incredible and mysterious. Meanwhile, the rise and fall of this civilisation must also leave us     6     (think) about our past, present and future. By 700 AD, Maya civilisation was at     7     (it) peak. Yet, within a couple of generations, it began to mysteriously decline. The cities were left     8     (take) back by the jungle.

Some research seems to indicate that the Maya people themselves may have played a part in their downfall. Research also suggests that those natural     9     (disaster) may have led to the decline of the Maya.     10     the reasons, Maya civilisation largely disappeared within the deep jungle.

In China, the history of people planting and using bamboo can date back as far as 7,000 years ago. As early as the Shang Dynasty, bamboo was being employed in ancient people’s daily lives. It was used for food, clothing, housing, transportation,     1     (music) instruments and even weapons. 

The     2     (apply) of bamboo in science and technology is thrilling. In 251 BC, Li Bing, in Sichuan,     3     (lead) the local people in building the Dujiang Weirs, the first irrigation network in the world, in which bamboo played     4     important role. The world’s oldest water pipe was also     5     (make) of bamboo. During the Han Dynasty, the people in Sichuan     6     (successful) sank a 1,600 metres deep well with thick bamboo ropes. This technology did not spread to Europe     7     the 19th century, and it was by using the technology     8     the Americans drilled the first oil well in Pennsylvania in 1859. 

In Chinese culture, bamboo is well-known as one of the “four gentlemen” in plants. To many distinguished men, bamboo is a symbol of goodness and     9    (honest). It is always closely related to people of positive spirits. Bamboo culture contributes to encouraging people to hold on when     10     (face) tough situations.

10 . Some people describe American society as a salad bowl while others think of it as a melting pot. In a bowl of salad, all the ingredients are mixed together.    1     Together, however, the ingredients make up a unity. All the ingredients of a salad contribute to the finished product. They may be covered with the same dressing (调味酱), but the green vegetables, tomatoes and cooked corn can all be seen for what they are.

From this point of view, America is very much like a salad bowl where individual ethnic groups mix together, yet maintain their cultural uniqueness. People may work together during the day at similar jobs and in the same companies, but at night they may return to their ethnic groups where their own individual culture directs their way of life.    2     Each ethnic group has its own special customs, language, food and traditions to protect and defend. This idea of the salad bowl is referred to as cultural diversity; that is, American society is a collection of various cultures living together in harmony within one country.

    3     Here, society is like one large pot of soup. All cultural aspects are mixed together, sacrificing their original identity and keeping a bit of what they were to become a new reality. The longer the soup is cooked, the better the taste and the more likely it will be for the mixture to dissolve. In this sense, America can surely be seen as a melting pot where people from all over the world come to live and work together forming one nation. There are dozens of shared symbols.     4     In such a culture, symbols like the flag and the nation’s official song serve to break down the walls which separate ethnic groups.

Whether a salad bowl or a melting pot, America can be best described as a mixture of both.    5