Qixi Festival, the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day that fell yesterday, was not only a disappointment for forgotten lovers, but also for businessmen left with empty pockets.
The cold reception has prompted cultural experts to seriously worry that the lovers’ festival, marked for generations since the Han Dynasty(206 BC-AD 220),is dying out. Some have even called for legislation to make the festival a legal ―Chinese Lovers’ Day, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar year.
But the effectiveness of such a measure is in doubt, although efforts to preserve traditional festivals deserve highly praise.
A growing number of traditional Chinese festivals, such as the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn
Festival, share the same fate of the Qixi Festival.
Young people are showing less interest in traditional culture as symbolized by these festivals.Even if all traditional festivals are finally made legal, the risk of them becoming purely formalized celebrations with little meaning is not removed.If the younger generation fails to identify with the cultural significance of these holidays, there is little that can be done.
While complaining about traditional festivals’ fading appeal, decision-makers should reflect on cultural protection. Undeniably, our country has done a bad job of preserving culture and traditional festivals, compared to neighbouring Japan and the Republic of Korea(ROK).
The 2,500-year-old Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The traditional customs and ceremonies of the occasion, which originated in China, have been better preserved in the ROK.
Only a few years ago did China begin to realize the significance of preserving intangible(无形的)cultural heritage when the ROK planned to apply to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to list its version of the Dragon Boat Festival as an important example of intangible culture.
Concern about the traditional holidays also reminds people of the growing influence of foreign cultures as the country opens wider to the outside world. With traditional festivals becoming less important and imports such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day gaining widespread popularity, the public including cultural professionals have tended to measure traditional Chinese festivals in economic terms.
Business rather than culture has begun to play a dominant role. More and more people are preoccupied with how much money can be made during the holidays.
In fact what makes traditional festivals unique and what keeps them alive is their cultural elements. After all, it is unique culture that contributes to the world’s diversity with globalization.
1.What makes Chinese cultural experts worry that the lovers’ festival is dying out?
A. The disappointment for both businessmen and lovers.
B. The cold reacting of the public to Qixi Festival.
C. The failure to make traditional Chinese festivals legal.
D. The action to preserve culture and traditional festivals.
2. The public look at the effectiveness of the legalization of the Qixi Festival with a(n) _______ attitude.
A. indifferent B. positive C. doubtful D. hopeful
3. From Paragraph 5 we can learn that _______.
A. traditional festivals are thought more highly of by the young people
B. legal celebrations reduce the risk of disappearing of traditional culture
C. the significance of traditional festivals should be more identified with
D. young people value traditional culture more while they can do little
4. It is implied by the writer that traditional Chinese festivals should be measured _______.
A. by legal decision B. in economic ways
C. by professional rules D. in cultural terms
5.The writer’s purpose for writing this article is to _______.
A. remind us that the cultural elements make traditional festivals live on
B. complain that Japan and ROK do a better job in preserving culture
C. inform the public of the dying out of traditional Chinese festivals
D. warn people against business role in celebrating traditional festivals
“Wanted: Violin
Can’t pay much
Call … ”
Why did I notice that? I wondered, since I rarely looked at the classified ads. I laid the paper on my lap and closed my eyes, remembering what had during the Great Depression, when my family to make a living on our farm. I, too, had wanted a violin, but we didn‘t have the .
When my older twin sisters began showing an interest in music, Harriet Anne learned to play Grandma’s upright piano, Suzanne turned to Daddy‘s violin, simple tunes soon became melodies as the twins played more and more. in the rhythm of the music, my baby brother danced around while Daddy hummed(哼唱)and Mother whistled. I just .
When my arms grew enough, I tried to play Suzanne‘s violin, I loved the beautiful sound drawn across the strings. Oh, how I wanted one! But I knew it was the question.
One evening as the twins played in the school orchestra, I closed my eyes tight to capture the picture firmly in my . “Someday, I‘ll sit up there.” I vowed(发誓) .
Unfortunately, it was not a year. At harvest the crops did not bring as much as we had hoped. I, however, couldn‘t any longer to ask, “Daddy, may I have a violin of my own?”
“Can’t you use Suzanne’s?”
“I’d like to be in the orchestra, too, and we can’t use the same violin at the same time.”
Daddy’s face looked . That night, and many following nights, I heard him God in our family devotions: “… and Lord, Mary Lou wants her violin.”
One evening we all sat around the table. The twins and I studied. Mother sewed and Daddy wrote a letter to his friend, George Finkle, in Columbus. Mr.Finkle, Daddy said, was a fine violinist.
As he wrote, Daddy read of his letter out loud to Mother. Weeks later I he’d written one line he didn‘t read aloud: “Would you watch for a for my third daughter? I can’t 40 much, but she enjoys music. And we’d like her to have her own instrument.”
1.A. managed B. promised C. struggled D. forced
2.A. luck B. money C. choice D. hope
3.A. while B. since C. after D. before
4.A. soft B. fluent C. gentle D. lovely
5.A. Picked out B. Caught up C. Taken on D. Called for
6.A. shouted B. laughed C. listened D. cried
7.A. long B. tough C. old D. slim
8.A. far from B. next to C. out of D. along with
9.A. dream B. hand C. life D. mind
10.A. faithfully B. silently C. frequently D. patiently
11.A. hopeless B. stable C. good D. difficult
12.A. stand B. help C. wait D. risk
13.A. both B. ever C. either D. still
14.A. angry B. sad C. pale D. weak
15.A. demand B. inform C. commit D. remind
16.A. favourite B. private C. own D. individual
17.A. parts B. lines C. contents D. purposes
18.A. heard B. conveyed C. discovered D. observed
19.A. musician B. favor C. gift D. violin
20.A. owe B. order C. charge D. pay
—How do you find my purse?
—__________.
A. On the playground B. It’s modern and nice
C. Sorry, I didn’t D. From the police
Dozens of family members of the victim __________ at the gate of embassy requesting a report with concrete evidence of the accident.
A. collected B. removed
C. separated D. gathered
The shelter is expected to help the homeless live __________ the bitter winter.
A. across B. with C. through D. against
Many young ladies in the street have __________ their summer dresses in late spring.
A. put out B. brought out C. stood out D. picked out