IELTS-materials.doc

Temple Fair in Beijing The temple fair (mio hu 庙会) is a kind of social activity in China. Legend has it that it originated in ancient times when people offered sacrifices to the village god, which later gradually evolved into a marketplace for people to exchange products and a place for cultural performance. Temple fair in old China had a unique status in ordinary peoples life. It is the time to worship gods, pray for the blessing. It is also a great time to have fun. All the traditional shows went on at the temple fairs, talk shows (xing sheng 相声), banner shows(w q 舞旗), kongfu shows (w sh 武术), lion shows (w sh 舞狮), etc. It became a paradise for the kids. Fortunately this century old tradition is still preserved today.The temple fair, usually on the open ground in or near a temple, is held on festive or specified days. Some are held only during the Spring Festival (chn ji 春节). Although different places hold their temple fair atvarious dates, the contents are similar. Farmers and merchants sell their farm produce, local specialties, and antiques (g wn 古玩), jade articles, flowers, birds and fish; craftsmen set up their stalls to show and sell their handicrafts (shu gng y pn 手工艺品) and specialty snacks (t s xio ch 特色小吃); folk artists establish a stage for singing, dance, and quyi (Chinese folk art forms q y 曲艺, including ballad singing (mn g 民歌), story-telling (png sh 评书),comic dialogues (xio pn 小品), clapper talk (kui bn 快板), cross talk (xing sheng 相声), etc.) performance. Ordinary people come to the temple fair to buy and sell goods, watch the performances, and sample snacks, giving the temple fair a bustling atmosphere.Beijings temple fair originated during the Liao Dynasty (lio di 辽代 916-1125) and continued through several dynasties including the Yuan (yun di 元代 1271-1368), the Ming (mng di 明代 1368-1644) and the Qing (qng di 清代 1644-1911). Because it begins around the temple, it is called the temple fair. There were always some small traders and peddlers who set up various stalls outside the temple to earn money from people who came to the temple to burn joss sticks and worship Buddha. Gradually the temple fair became a regular activity and is now a local folk custom in Beijing.The temple fairs in Beijing may roughly be divided into three kinds: One is the monthly temple fair, during the later period of the monthly temple fairs the rural fair develops with many businesses and entertainment. There is also a temporary temple fair opened according to convention whenever there are traditional festivals or something related to sacrificial offering activities for Buddhism (f jio 佛教) or Taoism (do jio 道教). The characteristic of this kind of temple fair is that they are often held primarily for religious activities; however, some commodities and toys will be available for purchase, and folk entertainers put on performances. The third kind of temple fair is for multi-professions. In the past, many professions had a common practice of sacrificing offerings to their founders, once a year. Generally they hold the fair on the birthday of the founder of their own profession.Now, Beijing holds temple fair every Spring Festival. Relatively famous temple fairs are those of the White Cloud Temple (bi yn gun 白云观), the Altar of Earth (d tn 地坛), Dragon Pool (lng tn h 龙潭湖) and the Temple of IntenseHappiness (lng f s 隆福寺). Temple fairs in Beijing have preserved many traditional customs, such as riding a monkey to stroll around the temple fair and throwing coins through the hole in the center of a copper coin in the White Cloud Temple. Many goods sold in the temple fair have typical northern features, such as toys like diabolo (kng zh 空竹), pinwheel (fng ch 风车), knife (do 刀), spear (qing 枪), sword (jin 剑) and halberd (j 戟); big sugarcoated haws on a stick and gruel of millet flour and sugar are widely popular among common people. Various artistic folk performances, rich tasty snacks of Beijing and the folk handicrafts are the most attractive points of this fair. The yangge (yng g 秧歌), stilts (ci go qio踩高跷), land boat (hu hn chuan 划旱船), lion dance (w sh 舞狮) all pass by in front of your eyes; playing the steel fork, tiger stick showing, gong and drum beating performing again and again for your enjoyment. You may also buy clay, bristled figurines (shu mo yng 刷毛俑), dough figurines (min rn 面人) and paper-cuts (jin zh 剪纸), which are characteristic of local culture and Beijing charm. If you are lucky you may also find genuine Chinese antiques of fine quality at reasonable prices.Mid-autumn Day is one of the important traditional festivals with beautiful tales in China. On that day, almost everyone gets together with his or her family, eating mooncakes, chatting and watching the moon. Everyone is very happy on the Mid-autumn night.When I was young, I could always have a cheerful Mid-autumn Day. However, as the things I should do were becoming more and more, I gradually（渐渐地） didnt have enough time to enjoy the festival. Every time, I just stand on the balcony and eat a mooncake, and that is all of the festival!Thanksgiving DayThanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the national holidays in the United States andis most closely connected with the earliest history of the country. In 1620, the settlers sailed to America on the May Flower, seeking a place where they could have freedom of worship. After a tempestuous(暴风雨的) two-month voyage they landed at in icy November, what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. During their first winter, over half of the settlers died of starvation or epidemics. Those who survived began sowing in the first spring. All summer long they waited for the harvests with great anxiety, knowing that their lives and the future existence depended on the coming harvest. Finally the fields produced a yield（产量） rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to the lord be fixed. Years later, president of the United States claimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until today. The pattern of the thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table, people will find apples, oranges, chestnuts, walnuts and grapes. There will be plum pudding, mince pie(碎饼), other varieties of food and cranberry juice and squash. The best and most attractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years. Thanksgiving today is, in every sense, a national annual holiday on which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year s bounty and reverently ask for continued blessings. Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year), and is a legal holiday in several countries. The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox（秋分）. Many refer to it simply as the Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon. This day was also considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates（石榴）, melons, oranges and pomelos（柚子） might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro（芋头）and water caltrope（菱角）, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates（枣子）, wrapped in a pastry（馅饼皮）. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a complete year, that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary（闰月的） moon.Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. It is also common to have barbecues outside under the moon, and to put pomelo rinds(外壳) on ones head. Brightly lit lanterns are often carried around by children. Together with the celebration, there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers, and fire dragon dances. Shops selling moon cakes, before the festival, often display pictures of Change, floating to the moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them. Step III: discussion Why do the two stories, which carry similar orgin have different ways to celebrate and have different influence to usStep VI. Finish the list about the similarities and difference between the two festivalStep V: Get the Ss to write an essay on the differences and similarities of the two festivals I think Mid-Autumn Day is an old traditional festival in China. Everybody likes it because its a family get-together. You see it is calledMid-Autumn Day，so it often comes in September or October. It is on the 15th of the 8th of the lunar month. Now， lets say something about this interesting festival. Firstly, Id like to say something about the moon. I like it very much because I want to be an astronaut in the future. That day the moon is round, big, just like a beautiful plate hanging on the blue cloth. When I see the moon, I will remember the ancient mythsthe godess Chang Er and her little rabbit are playing under the tree which Wu Gang grows. I will also think about Armstrongs first moonwalk. I will also miss the friends in Tai-wan island, in Macao and Chinese people who are abroad. I know they are missing us very much, too. Secondly, I11 say something about the tradition on Mid-Autumn Day. Look!Theres a big tree in a garden of a Chinese fami-ly. All the family members are sitting around a big table under the tree in the open air. They are eating the mooncakes and admiring the full moon in the sky. That is a family reunion dinner. The mooncakes and the moon represent the love from a family. I think this is one of the most valuable things in the world. Thirdly，it is a very good opportunity to make three wishes on Mid-Autumn Day. My wishes are: the first, I, an astronaut in the future, would like to go to the moon one day, and stay with the sky and stars; the second, I hope every person in the world will stay with family, share love from the family forever; the third, I hope everybodys dream will come true. That is the Mid-Autumn Day in my mind. I will always re-member: East or West, home is best.We students are the builders and masters of the country. It is important for us to know how to be a good student. A good student, I think, should be diligent in his studies. The more he studies, the more he will increase his knowledge. Without enough knowledge, we cannot make great contributions to the modernization of our country. To take care of ones own body is another important thing for good student to do. Anyone, who hasnt got a strong body, can do nothing for his country, even if he has much knowledge. There was a man, who, when he was student, studied hard but neglected his health. No sooner did he come to serve the country than he died of poor health. From this we may see that to have a strong body is really very important for a student. Lastly, to cultivate ones own virtue is most important. Virtue is the essence of a noble and good character. It will greatly help one to be useful and his country heart and soul. When learned people go astray, they do more harm than good to society. We should draw lessons from this.Teenager 写作任务：本周班会的主题是“你如何看待青少年上网现象？”假设你本人赞同青少年上网，请根据下表所列的上网益处及友情提示写一篇发言稿。词数：150左右。益处1. 获取新闻，搜索信息；2. 收发邮件；3. 上网校听课，下载学习资料；4. 听音乐、网上购物，节省时间，丰富课余生活；5. 为工作中所需的电脑技能打下基础。友情提示1. 不要迷恋网络游戏；2. 远离不良网站；3. 对陌生人要保持警惕。分析:1. 本写作任务要求根据图表写一篇发言稿,图表中给出的只是内容要点,而不是完整表意的句子。在完成此类作文时,首先要审清题目要求,包括文字说明和图表内列出的各项信息,要明确文章的主题和观点,即赞同青少年上网,同时还应该注意文章的体裁是发言稿,在写作过程中要注意发言稿的风格及用词的选择；其次,可根据图表中提供的要点选择适当的句式,注意论述时应该层次分明,有所侧重；随后,可用过渡句或连接词将这些句子组成一篇完整的文章；最后,检查文章的主题是否鲜明,语句衔接是否连贯,行文是否流畅,表达是否恰如其分。2. 根据以上分析,本文可由三部分组成:第一部分明确提出自己的观点,即赞同青少年上网；第二部分根据图表中给出的要点逐条阐述自己持赞同态度的原因(即上网的益处)；第三部分结合图表中的提示,说明上网过程中应该注意哪些事项,并对文章进行总结。初稿:As we all know, the Internet is playing an important role in our daily life. Students can get a lot of new information on-line. We can send e-mails to all parts of the world. We can attend the online schools and download study materials through the Internet. We can listen to music and shop online. We can build a good foundation for our future work by improving our ability to operate computers. Thats all. Thank you!教师点评:1. 这篇发言稿将图表中列出的关于上网益处的要点基本上都点出来了,语法和用词上都没有明显的纰漏。结束语也比较符合发言稿的风格。2. 文章存在的问题:作者仅对图表中的要点进行了罗列,平铺直叙,没有注意语句之间的衔接。作者开篇直接论述网络在人们生活中的重要作用,并没有明确提出自己对青少年上网所持的观点,因此,第一段第二句话就显得有些突兀。对于题目要求没有完全把握,文章仅仅介绍了上网的益处,没有在文章中把右边一栏的注意事项体现出来,内容上不够完整。题目要求字数150左右,而本文只有要求字数的一半左右,考试中会因此严重失分。成稿:As we all know, the Internet plays an important role in our lives and in my opinion, we teenagers can benefit a lot from it. We can read news from every part of the world and get useful information online. We can send e-mails to our family as well as to our friends no matter where they are. We can also study at home with a computer by attending an online school and downloading study materials. We can also listen to music and shop online, which can save us a lot of time and make our life more colorful. Finally, we can prepare for our future work well by improving our ability to operate computers.But we shouldnt play Internet games too much, we should keep away from harmful websites and be careful when talking with strangers online. Thats all. Thank you!Powerful sentences:1. Students can get a lot of new information online.2. As we all know, the Internet plays an important role in our daily lives.3. Finally, we can prepare for future work well by improving our ability to operate computers.4. We should keep away from harmful websites and be careful when talking with strangers online.巩固练习:校园里刮起了减肥风,有的同学拼命节食,有的同学疯狂锻炼,鉴于此,校报邀请同学们针对这一现象各抒己见,踊跃投稿,谈谈你认为减肥的最佳办法是什么。内容应包括:1. 健康饮食与合理锻炼应该结合起来；2. 过度节食会严重损害人体健康；3. 应注意合理安排锻炼时间。词数:120左右。_本期巩固练习参考范文:Nowadays, many students in our school are crazy about losing weight. Some of them eat very little while others exercise all day. In my opinion, the best way to lose weight is to keep a healthy diet and do regular exercise. Firstly, we should say goodbye to junk food and snacks and try to eat more fruit and vegetables. But remember not to eat too little, or youll get sick very soon. Secondly, we shouldnt spend too much time lying on our sofas or in beds. We should try to do more sports, such as swimming, skating, running and playing basketball. Last but not least, its wise to make a reasonable timetable for your exercise and study. In a word, having a good diet and exercising will surely make you fit and charming!The advantages of studying abroadNowadays, therere more and more people who choose to study away from their motherland to better themselves. However, every coin has two sides. Now, I will talk about the advantages of studying abroad.There are a number of benefits for widening our eyes in a different environment. Firstly, it is known to all that you grasp a new language by interacting native speakers everyday. Furthermore, you will find it can not only exercise the ability of communication but also immerse yourself totally in a new culture. Your special experience is what the domestic people never figure out. Secondly, studying overseas will be a opportunity to students to organize their lives. In particular, particular the students who was born from a only-child family. They will have to be more decisive and to be more self-reliant to handle every problem which appears in the life. In addition, frustrations and challenges will make them more strong and being more sophisticated to stimulate personal style of thinking and independence.The entire world is becoming smaller and changing quickly. It will become one community of human. Therefore, the large vision and diverse knowledge, experience and style of thinking will surely help you adapt well to the future lifeTemple Fair in Beijing The temple fair (mio hu 庙会) is a kind of social activity in China. Legend has it that it originated in ancient times when people offered sacrifices to the village god, which later gradually evolved into a marketplace for people to exchange products and a place for cultural performances. Temple fair in old China had a unique status in ordinary peoples life. It is the time to worship gods, pray for the blessing. It is also a great time to have fun. All the traditional shows went on at the temple fairs, talk shows (xing sheng 相声), banner shows(w q 舞旗), kongfu shows (w sh 武术), lion shows (w sh 舞狮), etc. It became a paradise for the kids. Fortunately this century old tradition is still preserved today.The temple fair, usually on the open ground in or near a temple, is held on festive or specified d