Many years ago, a dance between clay and fire gave rise to a piece of art: porcelain, an artwork
Flames in kilns (窑) around China have been burning since the Xia and Shang dynasties. Along the way, porcelain
Porcelain is ceramic made by heating raw materials, often a mix of china stone and kaolin clay, in a kiln at a temperature as high as 1,200 degrees Celsius. Temperature is key to
Celadon produced in Longquan, Zhejiang Province, with a technique passed down for more than 1,600 years, is a typical example of craftsmen’s pursuit of the perfect green glint. It takes 72 steps
Porcelain began as a practical utensil (器具) and
1. 推荐游玩地点；
2. 说明理由；
3. 表达祝愿。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Mr Smith,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
3 . Four Things About the Spring Equinox (春分)
The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The Spring Equinox is the fourth term of the year. This term signals the equal length of the day and the night time. Many people hold various activities to celebrate the festival. Here are several things you may not know about it.
Kite Flying
In ancient times, people did not have good medical resources. So they wrote their health problems on paper kites. When a paper kite was in the air, people would cut off the string to let it fly away, meaning the disease would go away. Later flying kites developed into a popular game in spring.
Three Hous
The ancient Chinese people divided the fifteen days of the Spring Equinox into three hous or five day parts. As the old saying goes, “Swallows fly back to the North in the first hou; thunder cracks the sky in the second hou; lightning occurs frequently in the third hou, which shows the climate feature during the term.”
Spring Vegetables
It is a commonly practised custom to eat spring vegetables in many regions of China Spring vegetables refer to the seasonal vegetables that differ from place to place. The ancient teachings in a Chinese classic suggest people eat the seasonal food, especially vegetables, to help preserve health and bring good luck.
Egg-standing Games
Standing an egg upright (直立的) is a popular game across the country during the Spring Equinox. It is an old custom that can date back to thousands of years ago. People practise this tradition to celebrate the coming of spring. It is said that if someone can make the egg stand he will have good luck in the future.
1. Why did the ancient Chinese people let paper kites fly away in the Spring Equinox?| A．To celebrate freedom. |
| B．To celebrate good luck. |
| C．To wish for good health. |
| D．To win the kite-flying game. |
| A．Natural phenomena. |
| B．Celebration activities. |
| C．The environmental protection. |
| D．The features of Chinese culture. |
| A．It is the first day of spring. |
| B．It is the first term of the year. |
| C．It is the best time to stand eggs upright |
| D．It is the right time to eat spring vegetables. |
4 . If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage (遗产) at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.
Fan has spent more than half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are a huge collection of Buddhist art — more than 2,000 Buddha figures and 45,000 square meters of paintings spread among 735 caves. It is one of China’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. While in Dunhuang, a remote village in the desert then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare to go out to the toilet at night. To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity (湿度) in the caves. They also controlled the number of visitors.
In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, but found Fan firmly in their way. “The heritage would have been destroyed if it had been listed,” she said.
Dunhuang Academy has now photographed and catalogued online all the sculptures and paintings. “Despite our efforts to minimize damage, we can’t completely stop them from being eroded (腐蚀). But the digital database will last.”
Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up in Shanghai with their aunt. “I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I’m full of guilt,” she said. Fan, 81, retired four years ago as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as an honorary president of Dunhuang Academy.
1. Which of the following measures didn’t Fan Jinshi take to protect Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes?| A．Opening Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes to the public extensively. |
| B．Planting trees and stopping Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes being eroded. |
| C．Picturing and classifying all the sculptures and paintings online. |
| D．Putting doors on the caves and monitoring temperature and humidity. |
| A．In 1963. | B．In 1967. | C．In 1986. | D．In the late 1990s. |
| A．Considerate and easy-going. | B．Kind and intelligent. |
| C．Humorous and sweet-tempered. | D．Committed and persistent. |
