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【语篇来自二十一世纪学生英文报·试题原创】

Celebrate beauty of Lantern Festival

庆祝元宵节

Many traditional Chinese festivals remind us of the aromas of special foods. As zongzi are to Dragon Boat Festival and mooncakes are to Mid-Autumn Festival, yuanxiao—sweet dumplings made of sticky rice flour—are special to Lantern Festival.

Lantern Festival falls on the 15th of the first lunar month, marking the end of the Spring Festival celebrations. This year, it falls on March 2.

Apart from the round-shaped yuanxiao, another beloved part of the celebration is the lanterns, which come in almost every possible size and shape. In old times, riddles were pasted onto them so that people could try to solve them while looking at the beauty of the lanterns. However, both tradition and handicraft have become less popular among young people.

Lantern Festival was at its height in the Tang and Song dynasties. It was a day of great fun back then. In the evening, people went into the streets with all kinds of lanterns, watching lion or dragon dances, eating yuanxiao and setting off firecrackers.

The festival also provided a chance for unmarried young girls to go out freely in search of their true love, since they weren’t normally allowed to do so. The famous Song Dynasty poet Ouyang Xiu recorded this romantic tradition with the well-known line: “Atop the willow tree hangs the moon; my date comes in the evening soon.”

1．Besides eating yuanxiao, what other tradition is popular during Lantern Festival?

A．Setting off fireworks.	B．Solving riddles on lanterns.
C．Watching movies.	D．Eating mooncakes.

2．During which dynasties was the Lantern Festival most popular?

A．Tang and Song.

B．Ming and Qing.

C．Qin and Han.

D．Sui and Tang.

3．What did lanterns with riddles on them provide people with during the lantern festival?

A．Fun and beauty.

B．Romance and poetry.

C．Explanation and education.

D．Food and drink.

4．Why did unmarried young girls go out during the festival in ancient times?

A．To admire their stars.

B．To become a poet.

C．To search for true love.

D．To enjoy nice food.

5．How do you translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A．月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后。	B．床前明月光，疑是地上霜。
C．海上生明月，天涯共此时。	D．明月几时有，把酒问青天。