“Four Tigers” Ceremony of the Tu Minority

Heigouding Village, Ledu County in the west of Qinghai province is a place where many people of the Tu minority have lived for centuries. As the little village is comparatively closed to the outside world, a custom called “Four Tigers” was created 200 years ago to protect its inhabitants(棲息地) from sickness and bad luck.

Every year the ceremony is held on the eve of January 15th according to the Chinese lunar calendar to frighten off ghosts and evil souls, and to pray for peace.

Normally four local villagers are selected to be the “tigers” in the ceremony. At first, they gathered with village elders at the mountain-god temple to offer sacrifices of wine, food and incense, and to ask the god to help the tigers. Then the tigers were adorned with herbs, candles and two batches of incense to serve as the tiger’s ears. Two red ribbons held in their mouths represented the tiger’s tongue. The “Tigers” drank wine, knelt and kowtowed to the mountain god before they received Hada, a kind of white silk scarf representing respects and good luck, from the village head with firecrackers crackling.

As night fell, the candles on the tigers’ bodies were lit and the tigers began their visits to one household after another. Villagers followed, shouting “Tigers are coming!” The elder from each household welcomed the tigers at the gate, while the rest of the family knelt down in the courtyard. Firecrackers were set off, a toast made and candies, meat and wine were presented to the villagers following the tigers. After twirling (快速轉動)in three circles in the courtyard while those present kowtowed and prayed, the tigers went through every corner of every room to drive away any hiding ghosts. If there was a sick person in the house, the tigers jumped around him or her, scratched their body and said lucky words to drive away diseases and ghosts. After the ceremony, the family would present wine and food to the tigers. Then, shouting “The tigers are leaving!” the whole family saw them off.

After visiting all 30 or 40 households, the herbs were removed from the tigers and burned, to indicate that all the ghosts had been conquered. Then the villagers knelt and kowtowed with the sound of firecrackers, marking the end of the ceremony.

The tiger image exists in other minority groups, also. In ancient times, people entrusted their happiness to gods. The “four tigers” ceremony is vividly held in memory of ancient times and a living fossil for academics studying the lives of ancient people. As it is not popular nowadays, this cultural heritage is on the edge of extinction and needs to be rescued.

71. Procedure/Course/Steps  72. drive/frighten  73. pray  74. avoid/prevent  

75. chosen/selected  76. tigers  77.burned/burnt  78.kneel  79. vivid  80.study

練習冊系列答案
相關習題

科目：高中英語 來源：必修二設計英語譯林 譯林版 題型：050

閱讀理解

　　On a grassy plain in South Africa, thousands of miles from home, two pairs of zoo-bred South China tiger cubs－one-year-old Hope and Cathay and six-month-old Tiger Woods and Madonna－are learning to hunt in the wild．The hope is that they will one day pass on their skills to their young, allowing the next generation to get back to wildlife reserves(保護區(qū))in China．

　　A survey shows that the tigers are in more danger of dying out than China’s most famous animal, the giant panda．Forty years ago, about 4000 South China tigers lived in the wild．Today there are only about 30．An additional 64 live in 19 zoos in China, which are all descendants(后代)of six wild animals seized in 1956．

　　The cubs were born in zoos in China and removed from their mothers when they were three months old．Their first home in South Africa was a one-acre camp where they stayed for a month．Their next home was a ten-acre area, where they lived for three months to help them gradually get used to life outside a cage．

　　When the cubs first arrived in South Africa, they didn’t even want to leave their cages．It took weeks to get them to eat chicken, used as they were to being fed beef at the zoo in China where they were born．It took months of practice to hunt a live animal and then make the link between the kill and food．Now just a few months on, and living in a 150-acre camp, they have become remarkably skilled hunters．

　　All four animals will finally return to zoos in China while the pioneering pairs’ cubs will grow up completely wild．The aim is for the first rehabilitated tigers to go to reserves developed in China by 2008, when the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing．

(1)

The tigers are sent to South Africa so that ________．

[　　]

A．

their young can live in the wild

B．

their young can have a better environment

C．

they can get used to wildlife reserves

D．

they can live a free life in the wild

(2)

What does the fourth paragraph mainly talk about?

[　　]

A．

The food the tigers ate．

B．

The process(過程)to train the tigers．

C．

The time it took to train the tigers．

D．

The place where the tigers were trained．

(3)

The underlined part “the first rehabilitated tigers” refers to ________．

[　　]

A．

the tigers sent to South Africa

B．

the pioneering pairs

C．

the tigers’ next generation

D．

the zoo-bred tigers

(4)

Which of the following is TRUE?

[　　]

A．

There are about 100 South China tigers at the zoos in China．

B．

South China tigers at the zoos in China usually eat chicken．

C．

The four tigers will appear in the Olympic Games．

D．

At one time the cubs didn’t eat what they hunted．

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

第四部分 任務型閱讀 (共10小題；每小題1分, 滿分10分)

    請認真閱讀下列短文, 并根據(jù)所讀內(nèi)容在文章后表格的空格處里填人最恰當?shù)膯卧~。注意：每個空格填1個單詞。

“Four Tigers” Ceremony of the Tu Minority

Heigouding Village, Ledu County in the west of Qinghai province is a place where many people of the Tu minority have lived for centuries. As the little village is comparatively closed to the outside world, a custom called “Four Tigers” was created 200 years ago to protect its inhabitants(棲息地) from sickness and bad luck.

Every year the ceremony is held on the eve of January 15th according to the Chinese lunar calendar to frighten off ghosts and evil souls, and to pray for peace.

Normally four local villagers are selected to be the “tigers” in the ceremony. At first, they gathered with village elders at the mountain-god temple to offer sacrifices of wine, food and incense, and to ask the god to help the tigers. Then the tigers were adorned with herbs, candles and two batches of incense to serve as the tiger’s ears. Two red ribbons held in their mouths represented the tiger’s tongue. The “Tigers” drank wine, knelt and kowtowed to the mountain god before they received Hada, a kind of white silk scarf representing respects and good luck, from the village head with firecrackers crackling.

As night fell, the candles on the tigers’ bodies were lit and the tigers began their visits to one household after another. Villagers followed, shouting “Tigers are coming!” The elder from each household welcomed the tigers at the gate, while the rest of the family knelt down in the courtyard. Firecrackers were set off, a toast made and candies, meat and wine were presented to the villagers following the tigers. After twirling (快速轉動)in three circles in the courtyard while those present kowtowed and prayed, the tigers went through every corner of every room to drive away any hiding ghosts. If there was a sick person in the house, the tigers jumped around him or her, scratched their body and said lucky words to drive away diseases and ghosts. After the ceremony, the family would present wine and food to the tigers. Then, shouting “The tigers are leaving!” the whole family saw them off.

After visiting all 30 or 40 households, the herbs were removed from the tigers and burned, to indicate that all the ghosts had been conquered. Then the villagers knelt and kowtowed with the sound of firecrackers, marking the end of the ceremony.

The tiger image exists in other minority groups, also. In ancient times, people entrusted their happiness to gods. The “four tigers” ceremony is vividly held in memory of ancient times and a living fossil for academics studying the lives of ancient people. As it is not popular nowadays, this cultural heritage is on the edge of extinction and needs to be rescued.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

第四部分：任務型閱讀（共10小題；每小題1分，滿分10分）

請認真閱讀下列短文，并根據(jù)所讀內(nèi)容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一個最恰當?shù)膯卧~。注意：每個空格只填1個單詞。請將答案寫在答題卡上相應題號的橫線上。

            “Four Tigers” Ceremony of the Tu Minority

Heigouding Village, Ledu County in the west of Qinghai province is a place where many people of the Tu minority have lived for centuries. As the little village is comparatively closed to the outside world, a custom called “Four Tigers” was created 200 years ago to protect its inhabitants(棲息地) from sickness and bad luck.

Every year the ceremony is held on the eve of January 15th according to the Chinese lunar calendar to frighten off ghosts and evil souls, and to pray for peace.

Normally four local villagers are selected to be the “tigers” in the ceremony. At first, they gathered with village elders at the mountain-god temple to offer sacrifices of wine, food and incense, and to ask the god to help the tigers. Then the tigers were adorned with herbs, candles and two batches of incense to serve as the tiger’s ears. Two red ribbons held in their mouths represented the tiger’s tongue. The “Tigers” drank wine, knelt and kowtowed to the mountain god before they received Hada, a kind of white silk scarf representing respects and good luck, from the village head with firecrackers crackling.

As night fell, the candles on the tigers’ bodies were lit and the tigers began their visits to one household after another. Villagers followed, shouting “Tigers are coming!” The elder from each household welcomed the tigers at the gate, while the rest of the family knelt down in the courtyard. Firecrackers were set off, a toast made and candies, meat and wine were presented to the villagers following the tigers. After twirling (快速轉動)in three circles in the courtyard while those present kowtowed and prayed, the tigers went through every corner of every room to drive away any hiding ghosts. If there was a sick person in the house, the tigers jumped around him or her, scratched their body and said lucky words to drive away diseases and ghosts. After the ceremony, the family would present wine and food to the tigers. Then, shouting “The tigers are leaving!” the whole family saw them off.

After visiting all 30 or 40 households, the herbs were removed from the tigers and burned, to indicate that all the ghosts had been conquered. Then the villagers knelt and kowtowed with the sound of firecrackers, marking the end of the ceremony.

The tiger image exists in other minority groups, also. In ancient times, people entrusted their happiness to gods. The “four tigers” ceremony is vividly held in memory of ancient times and a living fossil for academics studying the lives of ancient people. As it is not popular nowadays, this cultural heritage is on the edge of extinction and needs to be rescued.

 


查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

On a grassy plain in South Africa，thousands of miles from home，two pairs of Zoo―bred South China tiger cubs----one-year-o1d Hope and Cathay and six-month-old Tiger Woods and Madonna--are learning to hunt in the wild．The hope is that they will one day pass on their skills to their young，allowing the next generation to get back to wildlife reserves in China．

A survey shows that the tigers are in more danger of dying out than China’s most famous animal，the giant panda．Forty years ago，about 4，000 South China tigers lived in the wild．Today there are only about 30．An additional 64 live in 19 zoos in China,，which are all descendants of six wild animals seized in 1956．

The cubs were born in zoos in China and removed from their mothers when they were three months old．Their first home in South Africa was a one-acre camp where they stayed for a month．Their next home was a ten acre area，where they lived for three months to help them gradually get used to life outside a cage．

When the cubs first arrived in South Africa，they didn’t even want to leave their cages．It took weeks to get them to eat chicken，used as they were to being fed beef at the Zoo in China where they were born．It took months of practice to hunt a live animal and then make the link between the kill and food．Now just a few months on，and living in a 150-acre camp，they have become remarkably skilled hunters．

All four animals will finally return to Zoos in China while the pioneering pairs’ cubs will grow up completely wild．The aim is for the first rehabilitated tigers to go to reserves developed in China by 2008，when the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing．

 

72．The tigers are sent to South Africa so that        .

A．their young can live in the wild

B．their young can have a better environment

C．they can get used to wildlife reserves

D．they can live a free life in the wild

73．What does the fourth paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The food the tigers ate．        B．The place where the tigers were trained．

C．The process to train the tigers．   D．The time it took to train the tigers．

74．The underlined part “the first rehabilitated tigers” refers to      

A．the tigers sent to South Africa              B．the pioneering pairs

C．the tigers’ next generation                 D．the zoo-bred tigers

75．Which of the following is true?

A．There are about 100 South China tigers at the Zoos in China．

B．South China tigers at the Zoos in China usually eat chicken．

C．In the hunting practice cubs didn’t eat what they hunted at first．

D．The four tigers will appear in the Olympic Games．

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習冊答案