中國傳統節日

激活·素養解讀

實踐·讀寫整合

Xiazhi： The longest day

夏至：最長的一天

廣東 張燕

In many countries of the world， there is a day that is celebrated， without prior agree?ment， considered special by people who observe the movement of the sun. Chinese peopleattach equal importance to this day， namely the Summer Solstice， or Xiazhi in Chinese，which falls on Wednesday this year， is the tenth of the traditional Twenty?four Solar Terms.

In the Northern Hemisphere（北半球）， the Summer Solstice occurs when the sun isdirectly over the Tropic of Cancer（北回歸線）. It is the longest day of the year in terms ofdaylight. After the solstice， the subsolar point begins its migration south， and daytime grad?ually shrinks.

In Dengfeng city， central Chinas Henan Province， one ancient structure tells the storyof the observation of the sun by ancient Chinese. According to historical documents， Ji?Dan， the Duke of Zhou， a famous politician of the Western Zhou Dynasty， established a sun?dial platform（日晷臺）in Dengfeng， which at the time was considered to be the center ofthe earth， to observe the movement of the sun.

The platform is a guibiao， an ancient Chinese sundial with a gui， a horizontal scale onthe ground extending to the north， and a biao， a perpendicular（垂直的）bar standing up?right. As the sun moves， the shadow of the biao is cast on the gui， and the length of theshadow at different times helps to trace variations of the suns movement.

“It is said that the ancient Chinese found a day when the shortest shadow cast wasabout 50 centimeters， and that was the start of the hottest period of summer. That is how theSummer Solstice was discovered，”says Lyu， who is also director of the office of Dengfengchronicles.

Due to such history， people in Dengfeng highlight the Summer Solstice and celebrateits arrival with a festival featuring various activities， including paying tribute to Ji， watchingthe shadow cast by the sun on the guibiao， and art performances. Since the Summer Sol?stice is often a time when people harvest wheat， its a tradition to eat noodles. The SummerSolstice Festival in Dengfeng also includes an activity whereby nearly a thousand peopleeat noodles together.

Activity A Reading for understanding

Ⅰ. Text?centered chunks

attach equal importance to 同等重視

in terms of 依據；在……方面

be considered to be 被認為是

extend to 延伸至；擴至

be cast on 被投射在……

pay tribute to 稱贊；歌頌

Ⅱ. Text?centered sentences

1. that引導定語從句

In many countries of the world， there is a day that is celebrated， without prior agree?ment， considered special by people who observe the movement of the sun. 在世界上的許多國家，人們在沒有事先商定的情況下慶祝一下節日，觀察太陽運動的人視這個節日為特殊的日子。

【點石成金】本句中，that is celebrated為定語從句，其中關系代詞that在從句中作主語，指代先行詞a day。

【運用遷移】曾經只生長在中國的許多花卉如今能在世界各處看到。

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2. when引導定語從句

Since the Summer Solstice is often a time when people harvest wheat， its a tradition toeat noodles. 因為夏至通常是人們收獲小麥的時候，所以吃面條是一種傳統。

【點石成金】本句中，when people harvest wheat意為“當人們收獲小麥的時候”，是由when引導的定語從句，其中when在定語從句中作狀語。

【運用遷移】作為家里最小的孩子，亞歷克斯總是渴望他能夠獨立的時候。

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3. it用作形式主語

It is said that the ancient Chinese found a day when the shortest shadow cast wasabout 50 centimeters， and that was the start of the hottest period of summer. 據說，古代中國人發現有一天的影子最短約為50厘米，而那就是夏天最熱時期的開始。

【點石成金】本句中，It is said that是形式主語結構，其中It為形式主語，真正的主語是第一個that 引導的從句。It放在句首可以避免頭重腳輕，保持句子平衡。

【運用遷移】那時大家都相信中國將會步入世界強國之列。

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Activity B Reading for writing

假定你是李華，你的網友Jack來信詢問有關中國二十四節氣的內容，請根據以下提示，給他回一封電子郵件。

1. 你喜歡的一個節氣；

2. 節氣的具體介紹。

注意：

1.詞數80左右；

2. 可以適當增加細節，以使行文連貫；

3. 至少需要使用定語從句或it作形式主語的結構；

4. 注意段落內的邏輯關系。

Dear Jack，

I'm glad that you are interested in the traditional Chinese Twenty?four Solar Terms.__________________

Yours，

Li Hua

寫作導引

本次的寫作任務是寫一封關于中國傳統節氣的介紹信，要求學生向外國朋友介紹二十四節氣中自己喜歡的一個節氣，讓朋友了解該節氣的時間、起源、活動以及意義等，并且需要使用定語從句或者it作形式主語的結構。