人教版英语第三模块第一单元9.docVIP

第九部分 Unit 1 Festivals around the world 九江一中：吴平 2010-2-6Reference materials: Some Chinese traditional festivals Spring Festival The most important festival in China is the Spring Festival. Since all the traditional festivals in China are based on the Chinese lunar calendar, the Spring Festival marks the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year. At this festival, people bring out their bounty from hunting, fishing and the field to thank the gods and ancestors for the blessings. The first meal in Spring Festival is rather important. Family members will have a reunion to eat together. According to historical records, people from both north and south ate dumplings on Chinese New Years Day. Dumpling means midnight or the end and the beginning of time. To pay a New Year visit is an important event during the Spring Festival. And from the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century, ordinary people began to exchange cards. The recreational activities during the Spring Festival are various and colorful. The traditional performances are Dragon Dance and Lion Dance. On New Years Eve firecrackers are ubiquitous. The Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Festival) The Lantern Festival is on the 15th of the first lunar month. That night there is a full moon, and every household is decorated with colorful lanterns and prepares yuanxiao, a kind of round dumpling made of glutinous rice flour with sweet of salted fillings, which is boiled or fried. When night falls, people go into the street, where exquisite lanterns of diverse designs are hung. Some are pasted with riddles for the passers-by to solve. Mid-Autumn Festival Chinese ancestors believed that the seventh, eighth, and ninth lunar months belong to autumn. So the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations date back more than 2,000 years. In feudal times, Chinese emperors prayed to Heaven for a prosperous year. There is a beautiful legend about the moon. A long time ago, a terrible drough