Jia Sixie, author of China's first agricultural encyclopedia, was one of the leading agronomists (农学家) in Chinese history. In the late years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, he wrote Qimin Yaoshu, the
Jia Sixie was born in Yidu County in Shandong Province. During his childhood, Jia's family wasn't wealthy, but had
The book, which has 92 chapters in 10 volumes and nearly 120,000 characters,
Qimin Yaoshu was first distributed mainly among common people. In the late Tang Dynasty, the book was introduced to Japan. So far, the book
In Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, food is usually eaten with
Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also
Five thousand years ago, Chinese people probably cooked their food in large pots,
Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, who lived
Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, most people traditionally eat
Ball games are a big source of modern amusement. But they're nothing new. For instance, consider a 4,500-year-old ball
So far, researchers
＂We are quite sure they were used in some sort of bat-and-ball game."Patrick Wertmann is an expert at the University of Zurich
As for how this ancient ball-and-stick game
Since we don't have any textural evidence and we don't have any sticks from the same period, we don't really know
4 . Whether you admit it or not, people's love for Christmas Jumper（毛衣）around Christmas has increased over recent years. And while you may be less willing to get involved in the Christmas jumper trend, Christmas Jumper Day now enables you to do more with your jumper than build up sweat in an incredibly warm office.
The origin of the Christmas jumper can date back to the late 19th century in the USA. Americans in the 1930s knitted（编织）for Christmas to create an item of clothing to keep them “warm” during the Great Depression（大萧条）when people led a poor and miserable life. They copied the jumpers they saw their favorite stars wearing on the big screen. From the 1950s, it was common to see American families wearing festive jumpers as they sat down to eat their Christmas dinner.
Now, alongside wearing a festive jumper for the fun of it, there are other positive outcomes. Christmas Jumper Day has been set up to stimulate people to make the world better and raise funds for save the Children by wearing a Christmas jumper and making a minimum donation of £1. Ladbrokes, a company in the UK, is running a competition in which all you have to do is to take a selfie（自拍）outside of one of their shops while wearing a jumper—the winner will win a good prize and for every submission（提交作品）, Ladbrokes will donate £5 to St. Luke's Hospice charity. For you, it's a win-win situation.
If you're still unconvinced that it's about time you bought yourself a Christmas jumper, then maybe the fact that Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Snoop Dogg have all been spotted wearing Christmas jumpers will raise your enthusiasm. Retailer（零售商）such as Topshop, Burberry and H&M have also become devoted to Christmas Jumper Day and have their very own types of Christmas jumpers.
1. Which statement is true according to paragraph 1?| A．Wearing Christmas jumpers in the office has been a trend. |
| B．Wearing Christmas jumpers can make you incredibly warm. |
| C．Christmas jumpers have gained huge popularity. |
| D．Christmas jumpers serve many functions. |
| A．To protect them from cold weather. | B．To lift their spirits. |
| C．To follow the stars. | D．To form a tradition. |
| A．demand | B．advise | C．encourage | D．persuade |
