The Lunar Calendar（阴历）

    Modern Chinese use the solar calendar（阳历）as English people do . But at the same time, they use their own lunar calendar. Each lunar year is given the name of one of these animals : the rat , the ox , the tiger , the hare , the dragon , the snake , the horse , the goat , the monkey , the chicken , the dog and the pig . This list lasts for 12 years and then starts again.

    Each Chinese month starts on the day of the new moon. And the full moon comes on the 15th day of the month. The New Year always starts between January 21 and February 20. On the last day of the lunar year, there is a big family dinner. All members of the family except married daughters try to be present at this meal, even of they have to travel many miles to reach the home of their parents. Old quarrels are forgotten, and everybody is happy. After the dinner, the children keep awake to welcome the New Year.

    The New Year celebrations last for 15 days, from the new moon to the full moon. On the first day, children and unmarried people go to visit their elders .

1. If next year is the year of the dragon, what was the name of last year?

   A．It was the year of tiger.             B．It was the year of the hare.

   C．It was the year of snake.            D．It was the year of the ox.

2. Suppose that next Chinese New Year’s Day is on 15th February, when will people have their big family dinner?

A．On February 15                              B．On February 16 

C．On February 14                              D．On February 17

3. The family usually have their big family dinner at the home of ________.

   A．the married son                              B．the married daughter

   C．the unmarried son                        D．the parents

4. People celebrate the New Year ________.

A．for 15 days  

B．from the new moon to the full moon in the first month of the lunar year

C．from January 21 to February 20

D．both A and B

5. From this selection we know that each Chinese month is measured by ______.

  A．the sun’s revolutions（旋转）        B．the moon’s revolutions

  C．the earth’s revolutions               D．both the earth’s and moon’s revolutions

Modern Chinese use the solar calendar（阳历）as English people do．But at the same time，they use their own lunar calendar（阴历）．Each lunar year is given the name of one of these animals，the rat，the ox，the tiger，the hare，the dragon，the snake，the horse，the goat，the monkey，the chicken，the dog and the pig．This list lasts for twelve years and then starts again．

Each Chinese month starts on the day of the new moon．And the full moon comes on the 15th day of the month．The new year always starts between January 21 and February 20．On the last day of lunar year，there is a big family dinner．All members of the family except married daughters try to be present at this meal，they have to travel many miles to get home of their parents．Everybody is very happy．After the dinner，the children keep awake to welcome the New Year．

The New Year celebrations last for 15 days，from the new moon to the full moon．On the first day，children and unmarried people go to visit their elders．

1．If next year is the year of the monkey，what was the name of last year?

A．It was the year of the horse．                B．It was the year of the hare．

C．It was the year of the rat．                   D．It was the year of the ox．

2．Suppose that next Chinese New Year's Day is on 15th February，when will people have their big family dinner?

A．On February 15．                        B．On February 16．

C．On February 14．                        D．On February 13．

3．The family usually have their big family dinner at the home of_______

A．the married son                          B．the married daughter

C．the unmarried son                        D．the parents

4．People celebrate the New Year_____

A．for 15 days

B．from the new moon to the full moon in the first month of the lunar year

C．from January 21 to February 20

D．both A and B

5．From this passage we know that each Chinese month is measured by_____

A．the sun's revolution （旋转）

B．the moon's revolution

C．the earth's revolution

D．both the earth's and the moon's revolution