1.腊八节(the Laba Festival)在农历最后一个月的第八天庆祝，标志着春节庆祝 活动的开始。“腊”指“腊月(the 12th lunar month)”，是农历第十二个月，“八”指的 是数字8。腊八节通常在1月中旬。大多数汉族人遵循腊八节喝腊八粥(Laba rice porridge)的习俗。腊八粥最早在宋朝传入中国。据史料记载，一些大型寺庙会为穷人提供腊八粥来表达对佛祖(Buddha)的虔诚。明朝时，腊八粥成为皇帝在此节日赏赐群臣的神圣食物。英语四级词汇

翻译：Laba Festival is celebrated on the eighth day of the last lunar month, marking the beginning of celebrating the Chinese Spring Festival. La means the 12th lunar month and ba means the number eight. The date usually falls in mid-January. The majority of people from Han nationality has followed the tradition of eating Laba rice porridge on the Laba Festival. Laba rice porridge was first introduced to China in the Song Dynasty. According to historical records, some large temples would offer the poor Laba rice porridge to show their faith to Buddha. In the Ming Dynasty, it became a holy food that emperors would use to award their officials on the festival.

2.筷子(chopstick)起源于中国古代，一直是中国饮食文化重要的一部分。我们的祖先喜欢吃蒸煮食物，但用勺子很难舀(spoon out)到汤里的蔬菜，所以发明了筷子。从此，筷子成为他们生活中最为方便的餐具(tableware),标志着饮食文明的到来。如今，筷子除了具有餐具功能外，增添了很多新功能。熟练手艺人在筷子 上描绘美丽的风景，使之变成精美的艺术品。许多人热衷于收集筷子作为藏品。

翻译：Chopsticks originated in ancient China and have been an important part of Chinese food culture. Our ancestors liked to have steamed or boiled food，but it was difficult for them to spoon out vegetables from the soup, so they invented chopsticks. Thus chopsticks have become the most convenient tableware in their life and marked the coming of food civilization. Nowadays，chopsticks are added many new functions besides being used as one kind of tableware. Skillful craftsmen paint beautiful sceneries on them to make them look like fine artworks. Many people are keen to gather them as their collections.

3.长期以来，饮酒(white spirit)在中国人的生活中一直扮演着重要的角色，无论是帝王还是百姓。饮酒是中国文化的一部分。中国人的祖先在作诗、写散文时喜欢饮酒，在宴会上还会向亲戚朋友敬酒。但饮酒不仅属于文化人，也是普通人生活中不可缺少的一部分。人们在各种场合饮酒，如生日宴会、饯行宴会、婚礼宴会(wedding banquet)等。搬进新房或生意开业时，也会邀请人们来吃饭、饮酒。

翻译：Drinking white spirit has been taking an important role in Chinese people's life from emperors to ordinary people for a long time. Drinking white spirit is a part of Chinese culture. Chinese ancestors enjoyed drinking white spirit while writing poems or proses and they also toasted their relatives and friends at the feast.But drinking white spirit is not only for scholars，it is also an indispensable part of Chinese ordinary people's life. People drink white spirit on various occasions, such as the birthday party，farewell dinner，wedding banquet, etc. When someone moves into a new house or starts doing business，he/she will invite people for dinner and drinking white spirit.

4.为了促进教育公平，中国已经投入360亿元，用于改善农村地区教育设施和加强中西部地区农村义务教育。这些资金用于改善教学设施、购买书籍，使16万多所中小学收益。资金还用于购置音乐和绘画器材。现在农村和山区的儿童可以与沿海城市的儿童一样上音乐和绘画课。一些为接受更好教育而转往城市上学的学生如今又回到了本地农村学校就读。(2014年6月试题)

翻译：In order to promote equity in education, China has invested 36 billion yuan for the improvement of educational facilities in rural areas and strengthening of rural compulsory education Midwest. These funds were used to improve the teaching facilities, purchase of books, so that more than 160,000 primary and secondary income. Funds are also used to purchase music and painting equipment. Now children in rural and mountainous areas with children's coastal cities like music and painting lessons. Some receive a better education for the city school students now transferred back to the local rural schools now.

5.农历五月初五的端午节(the Dragon Boat Festival)是个盛大的节日。它的另一名称——“重五节”就来源于这个日期。这个节日根据一个广为流传的故事，演变为纪念战国时期(the Warring States Period)楚国伟大爱国诗人屈原的日子。如果事实果真如此，那么端午节已经有大约2500年的存史了。端午节最盛行的活动是赛龙舟和吃粽子(rice dumpling)。自2008年以来，端午节在中国巳不仅仅是一个传统节日,还是公共假期。

翻译：The Dragon Boat Festival is a grand festival celebrated on the 5th day of 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This is the source of the alternative name of Double Fifth Festival. According to a widely stated story, the festival developed to commemorate the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan of Chu State in Warring States Period. If that is true, Dragon Boat Festival has a history of about 2,500 years. The most popular activities of Dragon Boat festival are racing dragon boats and eating rice dumplings. Since 2008，Dragon Boat Festival has been celebrated not only as a festival but also a public holiday in China.