1 . If you look around your city, you might spot girls wearing hanfu in subways or people wearing T-shirts with Chinese characters on the streets, A new trend has taken hold in China-guochao, or “China-chic”

According to a report, searches related to guochao on Dianping, a lifestyle information platform, have risen by 170 percent from the same period in 2021,and reviews have risen by nearly 40 percent. China-chic has happened, but what is it?

The term characterizes the rise of China’s native fashion trends, It has expanded the concept of “Made in China”, which has been recognized as the representation of Chinese culture and aesthetics offered by homegrown Chinese brands, according to CGTN.

China-chic came into the spotlight in 2018. Before that, big name foreign companies dominated the world market. To win market share, many Chinese brands followed in the footsteps of these Western brands. But that year, Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning changed things up. During the 2018 New York Fashion Week, Li-Ning introduced its Taoism-inspired Wu Dao collection. The collection not only had a trendy look, but also included elements of traditional Chinese culture. It immediately grabbed attention at home and abroad.

The trend to embrace domestic brands has since spread rapidly to various sectors and products, from food and drinks to clothing, mobile phones and electric vehicles. For example, White Rabbit, whose sweet candy brings back childhood memories for many, launched its perfume and lip balm. “We want White Rabbit to be a brand that young people want to share,” Shen Qinfeng, the company’s marketing manager, told People’s Daily.

Now, the guochao trend is “moving to the next stage, where its success will rely, first and foremost, on gaining cultural confidence rather than Western validation”, according to Kerra Zhou, founder of brand strategy consultancy Kerrisma.

No matter how the guochao trend evolves, there’s one thing that won’t change: Behind the craze is people’s positive attitude toward the country’s development and their recognition of and growing confidence in national culture, said Yao Linqing, a professor in the School of Economics and Management at Communication University of China.

1. What makes Li-Ning so fashionable?

A．Its successful market strategy similar to Western brands.

B．Its trendy look similar to Western brands.

C．Its elements of traditional Chinese culture.

D．Chic and unique clothes styles.

2. Why did the author mention “White Rabbit” in paragraph 5?

A．Because White Rabbit reminded the author of his or her childhood.

B．Because the author helped White Rabbit promote new products.

C．Because White Rabbit was a good example for showing the guochao trend.

D．Because this traditional brand was on the decline.

3. What does the secret to the success of the guochao?

A．Increasing confidence in Chinese culture.	B．Excellent design skills.
C．Clothes of great quality.	D．Styles catering to people abroad.

4. What is the author’s attitude to the future of the guochao trend?

A．Doubtful.

B．Positive.

C．Disapproving.

D．Cautious.

2 . The Forbidden City, widely regarded as one of the most popular destinations at home and abroad, houses amazing Chinese cultural and historical relics, for which the Forbidden City is always well-known. But Masters in the Forbidden City does not just focus on the stories of the past.

Instead, the documentary movie, which came out in Chinese cinemas on Dec. 16, focuses on ordinary people—the restorers of relics and antiquities.

The stories are told at a slow and relaxed pace, reflecting the restorers’ work. Restoration of cultural relics and antiques can be time-consuming, and sometimes boring. Yet these restorers’ patience and peace of mind are especially precious in a society where everything is changing so fast.

“If you choose this job, you have to put up with hours of work sitting on a chair. You need to be quiet and get used to being quiet,” says Wang Jin, an ancient clock repair expert.

A touching part of the documentary is the spirit of craftsmanship (工艺)in the restorers. “Years of humdrum work requires not only skill, but also faith and spirit,” China Daily commented, “Looking for preciseness and perfection, devoting yourself to work, patience, endurance, loneliness... All these qualities come from the craftsman spirit.”

But unlike the popular idea of serious experts who sit around being serious, the documentary shows off the enthusiasm of the restorers. They play their guitars and make jokes about each other after a long day of restoration work.

One scene that has been very popular with Internet users features a young female restorer riding a bicycle through the empty Forbidden City on a Monday. While she is doing this, a narrator says, “The last person to do this was Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.”

Masters in the Forbidden City has proved wrong many people’s ideas about antique restorers, allowing them to realize that they are not old, dull professors, but people in their 40s, 30s and even 20s who can be quite pleasing to the eye.

1. According to the text, what’s the main purpose of the documentary Masters in the Forbidden City?

A．To draw attention to Chinese antique restorers lives.

B．To display relics seldom seen by ordinary people.

C．To show people how antiques are restored.

D．To praise the craftsmanship of Chinese antique restorers.

2. Which of the following statements is true?

A．Masters in the Forbidden focuses on the story of the past.

B．The inspiration of the documentary came out on Dec. 16.

C．Masters in the Forbidden shows the passion of the restorers.

D．Masters in the Forbidden involves the story of serious experts.

3. According to Wang Jin, we can learn that ________.

A．he often gets tired with his work

B．antique restorers need to be patient and peaceful

C．there is no need to do restoration work fast

D．it takes years of hard work to adapt to antique restoration

4. The bicycle-riding scene in the documentary is used to ________.

A．remind the audience of the last Qing emperor

B．show the strange hobbies of young antique restorers

C．encourage the young to consider a career in antique restoration in the future

D．show that the documentary breaks from the old, dull image of antique restorers

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

A traditional Chinese dance performed underwater    1    (become) famous on social media recently. The show led to renewed     2    (excite) of traditional Chinese art and culture among audiences. The dance featured a character from the famous ancient Chinese painting Ode to Goddess Luo (洛神水赋), the daughter of Fu Xi in Chinese mythology (神话) who drowned and became a goddess, according     3     the legend. The moves     4    (film) underwater at 4.5 meters from the ground. The short dance,    5    lasted less than two minutes, was seen as     6    creative combination of contemporary art and traditional Chinese culture. “The water made the costume even     7    (beautiful) and the moves more graceful!” said one observer online. “I’m just     8     proud of our traditional culture that I couldn’t help    9    (cry) a little bit at the end of the show,” said one netizen. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson also posted the video on Sunday    10     (display) the dance, saying that it was “unbelievably beautiful and the actress danced gracefully like a swan and flexibly like a Chinese dragon”.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Lion dance is a form of     1    (tradition) dance in China,     2     can often be seen in important festivals and great events. China is home     3     the dragon dance and lion dance. Both the two performances have been welcomed by people from various ethnic     4    (group) for generations.

It is said that the lion dance in China originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties with     5     history of more than one thousand years. The lions stand for joy and     6     (happy). Therefore, during festivals and grand ceremonies, people would perform lion dance     7     (create) a happy and exciting atmosphere. Many young people know that the dragon dance and lion dance     8    (perform) during festivals such as the Spring Festival and celebrations but they don’t know that after several thousand years, the two activities have accumulated thick historical cultures and are     9     (true) valuable cultural heritages     10    (pass) down from Chinese people’s ancestors.

8 . The exhibit, Digital Dunhuang — Tales of Heaven and Earth, which was held at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, brought to Hong Kong more than 100 exhibits including the visual murals and other related programs that could allow visitors to learn about the art and history of the Mogao Caves in a fun way.

“Dunhuang was an international city, a place where East met West, on the old Silk Road. So the Mogao Caves, which were completed in a period of over 1,000 years, record the ways of life and beliefs of the different peoples that crossed paths there,” explained Fion Lin of Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

Visitors can now get up close and personal with these faraway treasures without having to step into the caves, thanks to the digitization project of the Dunhuang Academy, a pioneer that has made great progress in the digitization and 3D scanning of the Dunhuang treasures.

“Studies have shown that in a cave, both temperature and CO₂ concentration level can rise with 15 tourists inside for ten minutes. As a result, the wall paintings are going to eventually fade. Digital technology has helped to strike a balance between sharing the treasures and protecting them,” said Lin.

However, digitization of the caves faces many challenges such as poor lighting and rough wall surfaces. On average, 40,000 pictures have to be taken to cover 300 m². Great amount of efforts have been made to piece the pictures together. What the exhibition presented is the result of years of hard work.

During the exhibition period, a mini display on Dunhuang music culture was also being held at the Museum for public participation.

1. What could visitors see at the Digital Dunhuang exhibit?

A．The Mogao Caves.	B．About 40,000 Dunhuang pictures.
C．Digital Dunhuang wall paintings.	D．Ancient records of Dunhuang.

2. What is the significance of the digitization project of the Dunhuang Academy?

A．It helps Dunhuang become an international city.

B．It lets people better appreciate the Dunhuang art.

C．It is effective in cutting the CO₂ level in the caves.

D．It attracts more tourists from East and West to Hong Kong.

3. What do we know about the Dunhuang wall paintings?

A．They are brightly lit.	B．They are very rough.
C．It is very hard to protect them.	D．It is impossible for the tourists to see them.

4. Where can you find the evidence that supports “digitization of the caves isn’t easy”?

A．In paragraph 2.	B．In paragraph 3.
C．In paragraph 4.	D．In paragraph 5.

9 . People from East Asia tend to have more difficulties than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.

Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly (均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.

“We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said. “Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and overlook the mouth.”

According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.

The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.

It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did. “The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said. “Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion. Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less.”

In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.

1. What does the discovery show about Westerners?

A．They pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth.

B．They consider facial expressions universally reliable.

C．They observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways.

D．They have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions.

2. What were the people asked to do in the study?

A．To get their faces impressive.	B．To make a face at each other.
C．To classify some face pictures.	D．To observe the researchers’ faces.

3. In companion with Westerners, what are Easterners likely to do?

A．They do translation more successfully.	B．They study the mouth more frequently.
C．They examine the eyes more attentively.	D．They read facial expressions more correctly.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Eye as the Window to the Soul	B．Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions
C．Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills	D．How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding