1Which festival is your favorite? Why?
2Do you have any impressive experience during a festival to share with your classmates?
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WITH the moon getting rounder and brighter day by day and beautiful moon cakes hitting the shops, the Mid-Autumn Festival is announcing its arrival.
The festival, the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar (阴历), falls on September 11 this year.
The custom of celebrating the moon can be followed back as far as the Xia and Shang dynasties. In ancient China, the day was considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been collected from the fields. It was a day for relaxation and celebration. The moon and moon cakes also show that it is a time for family reunion.
On the day, food offerings were traditionally placed at altars (供桌) set up in old yards. Moon cakes were special festival food.
When it got dark, people would look up at the full moon and drink wine to celebrate their happy lives or remember friends and relatives who were far from home.
“Though miles apart, could men but live forever dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!” (但愿人长久，千里共婵娟) wrote Song Dynasty poet Su Shi in his well-known poem.
But nowadays, people don’t care as much about the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is less common to sit and enjoy the bright silver moon, particularly in some big cities where pollution is so bad, people might not even be able to see the moon!
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is too focused on making money. The moon cakes are unreasonably expensive,” said Wang Lu, a Senior 3 student in Beijing. Wang said she had no plans to celebrate the festival with her family since she had to do her homework.
Many middle school students don’t even see moon cakes as important. “They are too sweet,” Wang added.
Even without big celebrations, sending best wishes to family and friends is still important. But this also shows the modern age. More and more young people prefer to send their best wishes by text messages (短信). “It’s very convenient and cheap,” said Wang.
Vocabulary
hit 到达（某地）
e.g.: When will the new film hit the cinema? 个新片什么时候在影院上映？
fall 发生，适逢（一个日期）
e.g.: Her birthday fell on a Saturday. 她的生日刚好是一周六。
custom 习俗 （区别habit: 习惯）
e.g.: It is difficult to get used to another country’s customs. 适应另一国家的风俗习惯是很困难的。 4
as far as 远至
e.g.: I’ll walk with you as far as the post office. 我陪你走到邮局。
relaxation 放松（动词形式：relax: 放松，使变得轻松）
reunion 重逢 动词形式：reunite.
e.g.: Parents were united with their lost children. 父母与失散的孩子们团圆了。
traditionally 传统上地（名词形式：tradition 形容词：traditional）
e.g.: In England, turkey is traditionally eaten on Christmas Day. 英格兰，圣诞节时按传统要吃火鸡。
particularly 尤其 （especially），特别地
e.g.: I like all her novels, but her latest is particularly good. 她的小说我都喜欢，最新的一部尤其好。
unreasonably 不合理地 （形容词：unreasonable: 不合理的）
