Question

Can you write down a Chinese word being read to you? Sometimes it can be difficult when you find the word is not included in most dictionaries.

Lu Jialei, 14, from Hangzhou Foreign Language School, won the CCTV Chinese Character (漢字) Spelling Contest on Oct 18th, 2013. About 160 people competed. The host read a word to the contestant, explained its meaning and gave sample sentences. The contestant was required to write down the word.

Winning the contest was a “surprise” to Lu. “I was not the smartest one,” she said. “But I paid attention to details.” To prepare for the contest, she and her teammates studied the Modern Chinese Dictionary for 10 days. There are more than 56,000 entries (詞條) including characters, words and phrases in it. She also had a secret weapon. She studied how Chinese characters were formed.

“When others paid attention to the plot of a story, she looked at how authors use words and sentences to express themselves,” said Su Yunsheng, Lu’s Chinese teacher. Su is happy to see students like Lu find the beauty of Chinese language.

“Besides using something Chinese and having Chinese traditional festivals, learning to write Chinese characters is also an important part of inheriting (傳承) Chinese culture,” said Su.

1.Lu Jialei was born in ________.

A. 1997 B. 1999 C. 2001 D. 2002

2.Lu Jialei studied the Modern Chinese Dictionary ________ for the contest.

A. for more than one week B. as long as one week

C. for more than half a month D. as long as half a month

3.The contestant was required to write down the word ________.

A. after the contestant read the word to the host

B. before the host read the word to the contestant

C. after the host explained its meaning and gave sample sentences

D. before the contestant explained its meaning and gave sample sentences

4.Lu Jialei’s secret weapon was that ________.

A. she paid attention to details

B. she was the smartest contestant

C. she found the beauty of Chinese language

D. she studied how Chinese characters were formed

5.From the passage we can infer ________ isn’t an important part of inheriting Chinese culture.

A. trying to write Chinese characters

B. using chopsticks when having meals

C. giving and receiving presents at Christmas

D. spending the Spring Festival with families

Answer 1