Zhong Yuan Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month. It is also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival. In fact people called it the Ghost Festival because they wanted to honor the deceased ancestors.
In many folk customs there is a traditional virtue of filial piety (孝道). In Chinese teaching, filial piety is the most important of all virtues. Filial piety embodies kindness, conscience and caring whether to the alive or the deceased. Filial piety is the driving force behind the Zhong Yuan Festival.
On the Zhong Yuan Festival there are customs such as Zhong Yuan ceremonies, worshiping three gods, releasing lanterns on water, lighting Lotus lanterns, sending sheep made out of flour and worshiping ancestors.
It is popular for uncles to give sheep to their nephews in the rural areas of North China on the Zhong Yuan Festival. It is said that this custom is related to the legend of Chen Xiang who broke the mountain and rescued his mother. Chen Xiang wanted to hunt down his uncle who had abused his mother after he rescued his mother. In order to rebuild the relationships with his sister and his nephew, the god Erlang would send Chen Xiang a pair of sheep on the 15th of the seventh month every year. It is said “yang” (sheep) here is a phonetic pun (语音双关) that refers to the family name of the god Erlang and Chen Xiang’s mother. From then on the custom of sending sheep passed down on. And then it turned into sending flour sheep.
In a document called Imperial Age Ji Sheng in the Qing Dynasty it said the Zhong Yuan is more valuable than Qing Ming in terms of tombs sweeping. People are delighted to see the sights of lush shadows of the trees, the crops growing and the cicadas (蝉) chirping. Common people are like this but the emperor is even more than that.
The inscription (碑文) called Yu Ling magic holiness inscription in East Qing Tombs said Qianlong emperor had been treating his mother Sheng Xian with filial respect for 42 years. He greeted and served his mother every morning and night, holding her arm and arranging her carriage with deep respect and he served her like this all her life.
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1.What does the underlined word “deceased” mean?
A Injured.
B Dead.
C Angry.
D Unfriendly.
解析：选B。B词义猜测题。根据第二段划线单词前文的“whether to the alive”可知deceased和alive对应，意为“已故的”。故选B。
2.Which of the following is not a custom during Zhong Yuan Festival?
A Floating river lanterns.
B Holding ceremonies.
C Eating lotus cakes.
D Worshiping ancestors.
解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据第三段中的“such as Zhong Yuan ceremonies, worshiping three gods, releasing lanterns on water, lighting Lotus lanterns, sending sheep made out of flour and worshiping ancestors.”可知，中元节有举行中元法会、拜三官、放河灯、点莲花灯、送面羊和祭祖等习俗。故选C。
3.How did the custom of sending flour sheep come from?
A It came from an ancient story.
B It was a tradition of Ming Dynasty.
C It originated from an ancient book.
D It was passed over from the overseas.
解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据倒数第三段中的“It is said that this custom is related to the legend of ...”可知，送面羊的习俗据说来自于一个古老的传说故事——沉香救母。故选A。
4.How did the author end the passage?
A By presenting facts.
B By comparing opinions.
C By stating examples.
D By listing evidence.
解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据最后一段可知，作者例举了乾隆皇帝孝顺母亲的例子来结束全文，再次说明中元节其实是关于孝道的一个节日。故选C。
