As an old Chinese saying goes, Spring Festival comes right after the Laba Festival, so get ready for a bowl of porridge while looking forward to the long-awaited family get-together.
Today, people across China are celebrating the Laba Festival. It is a traditional Chinese festival. It’s on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. What does this festival mean to Chinese people? OK, It just tells people to prepare for celebrating the coming New Year’s Day and for wanderers to return home to get together with their family.
Long long ago, Laba Festival was a day of thanks for a good harvest. On this day, people usually eat Laba porridge, a porridge with eight kinds of mixed grains（谷物）. Many temples today have the tradition of giving out Laba porridge to the public. The sweet, red porridge is believed to bring luck and joy.
The festival is also the day for people to put garlic in vinegar（醋）. The garlic turns green, and this Laba garlic will be eaten with dumplings on Chinese New Year’s Day. While in the past, It was used to let people remember to pay back the money they had borrowed, as Laba is near the end of the year and ‘garlic’ (suàn, 蒜 in Chinese) sounds the same as ‘calculate’(suàn, 算).
Customs are quite different across the country. People in Qianxian, east China’s Anhui Province, will eat the Laba tofu a few days before. In Xining City, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, people will eat porridge with beef and mutton.
1.The Laba Festival is on _________.
A. The eighth day of December
B. The eighth day of January
C. The eighth day of the twelfth month
D. The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month
2.The underlined word “wanderers” probably means _________.
A. 奇迹 B. 怀疑者 C. 流浪者 D. 离家者
3.The writer does NOT tell us that _________ about Laba Festival.
A. Laba Festival is the start for people to prepare for the coming New Year
B. Laba Festival means it’s time to think about returning home
C. the festival was a day of thanks for a good harvest in the old days
D. customs about Laba Festival are almost the same across the country
4.What can we learn from Paragraph 4 according to this passage?
A. The garlic will turn green and be eaten with noodles.
B. Laba garlic will be eaten before Laba Festival.
C. People usually put garlic in vinegar on New Year’s Day.
D. ‘garlic’ sounds the same as ‘calculate’ in Chinese.
5.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. The Laba Festival.
B. The beginning of Laba Festival.
C. The customs of Laba Festival.
D. Laba Festival is different in different parts of China.
World Book Day is coming. What’s your favorite book? Here are the answers of four students in Sunshine Middle School.
My favorite book is A Friend like Henry. It’s about how a family dog helps a boy deal with his autism(自闭症). When I felt sad, my best friend gave me this book. It cheered me up. —David |
Reading in the holiday is an interesting thing. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is my favorite book. It’s about a captain’s travels under the sea. The story is very interesting and the pictures are fantastic. This book can make you relaxed. —Tony |
I like reading the Four Great Classical Novels of China although I’m a foreigner from Sydney. I can’t wait to tell the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms(《三国演义》). I learned a lot about the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu. If you are interested in history, don’t miss it. —Bob |
In my opinion, The Little Prince is the best one. In this book, a young prince falls to the Earth from a small planet and experiences a lot. It’s not just a fiction, and it also tells us about the correct values. —Mary |
1.Why does David think A Friend like Henry is his favorite book?
A. Because it can cheer him up. B. Because it is fiction.
C. Because it is a gift from his father. D. Because it is about travels under the sea.
2.If Sarah likes books with fantastic pictures, which book should she choose?
A. A Friend like Henry. B. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
C. Romance of the Three Kingdoms. D. The Little Prince.
3.As for the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which of the following is NOT TRUE?
A. It can make people feel relaxed.
B. It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China.
C. It talks a lot about the three kingdoms in China.
D. It will be loved by the people who are interested in history.
4.We can learn about ________ from The Little Prince.
A. Chinese history B. correct values
C. making friends D. keeping dogs
5.What do you think the passage probably is?
A. A letter. B. A notice.
C. A story. D. A report.
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出一个能填入文中相应空白处的最佳答案。
Young Chinese would like to wear sweaters with messages. They expect to stop family members from nagging(唠叨) in the_______ traditional Chinese Spring Festival period, beginning on Feb, 16.
One such sweater features(特载)messages such as “Please don’t ask me the grades in final examinations”, “Your child is really great” ,“No _______ salary, “I am on a diet, I can’t eat too much” and so on.
Sweaters with these messages become_______because they provide answers to nagging questions from some youths’ parents or relatives.
During the Spring Festival, family members gather together and some of the elder ones always ask the_______members of the family questions which they feel unhappy to answer. For example, “How many points did you get in final examinations?” or “When will you be_______?”.
Many internet users_______the logo sweaters are lovely, and help them not need to answer questions if they wear the clothes during the holiday.
_______, some Internet users are not that optimistic (乐观) about the sweaters.
There are also many_______ methods to keep people from family nagging during the Spring Festival holidays. For example, some netizens(网民) suggest we can please our parents or other elder relatives by_______their words and doing what they want us to do.
Other Internet users hoped they could share with their family members a song________What I Do is for Your Own Good, with the lyrics “My dear family members, I have my own life.”
1.A. seven days B. seven day C. seven-day D. seven-days
2.A. talking about B. to talk about C. talk about D. talked about
3.A. safe B. polite C. important D. popular
4.A. taller B. happier C. younger D. stronger
5.A. married B. marrying C. to marry D. marry
6.A. know B. agree C. wonder D. decide
7.A. But B. So C. However D. Though
8.A. another B. others C. the other D. other
9.A. listening to B. hearing of C. saying to D. looking at
10.A. calling B. to call C. call D. called
—Many people talk about “Didi”. I really wonder _______.[
—Just call to order a taxi through it on your mobile phone.
A. how I can use it B. who uses it most
C. why people use it D. what it is used for
— Would you mind my using your camera?
— Sorry, there’s _______ with it.
A. wrong something B. wrong anything
C. anything wrong D. something wrong
—Wechat is an invention _______ can help people talk to friends, share photos, ideas and feelings freely.
—I think it’s very useful in our life.
A. which B. whom C. where D. whose
