PASSAGE 7: Dragon Boat Festival 端午节The Dragon Boat Festival/ is one of three major Chinese holidays,/ along with the Spring/ and Moon Festivals./ Of the three,/ it is possibly the oldest,/ dating back to the Warring States Period/ in 227 B.C./ The festival commemorates Qu Yuan,/ a minister/ in the service of the Chu Emperor.Despairing over corruption at court,/ Qu threw himself into a river./ Townspeople jumped into their boats/ and tried in vain to save him./ Then,/ hoping to distract hungry fish from his body,/ the people scattered rice on the water.Over the years,/ the story of Qu’s demise/ transformed into the traditions/ of racing dragon boats/ and eating zongzi–/ a kind of rice wrapped in bamboo leaves./ The races have certainly captured the imagination/ of people from all over the world. Every spring/ there are nearly 60 dragon boat races held outside of China/ in cities from Vancouver to Sydney./ Canada alone has nearly 50 dragon boat teams/ and Germany has nearly 30.So/ what is it about the Dragon Boat Festival/ that appeals to foreigners?/ “It’s an unusual sport,”/ says one racer from Germany./ “It’s not like everybody’s doing it./ That’s one of the reasons/ that there’s such great team spirit/ in a dragon boat team–/ everybody feels like we’re doing something special.”![]()
重点词汇短语总结：
The history of this castle dates back to the 12th century. 这座城堡的历史可以追溯到12世纪。along with（连同，和...一起）
She brought her dog along with her on the trip. 她旅行时带上了她的狗。over the years（多年来）
Over the years, he has become an expert in his field. 多年来，他已成为他所在领域的专家。distract from（使分心，转移...的注意力）
The noise outside the window distracted him from his work. 窗外的噪音使他无法专心工作。feel like（感觉像是）
On a hot day, I feel like having an ice cream. 在炎热的一天，我想吃个冰淇淋。team spirit（团队精神）
The team's success was due to their strong team spirit. 该队的成功归功于他们强大的团队精神。commemorate（纪念）
We commemorate the founding of our country every year. 我们每年都纪念国家的成立。despair over（对...绝望）
He despaired over his failing grades. 他为自己的不及格成绩感到绝望。in vain（徒劳无功）
All their efforts to save the project were in vain. 他们为挽救该项目所做的所有努力都白费了。scatter（撒，散布）
The children scattered flowers on the grave. 孩子们在坟墓上撒了花。transform into（变成）
The caterpillar will transform into a butterfly. 毛毛虫会变成蝴蝶。capture the imagination（吸引想象力）
The movie captured the imagination of audiences worldwide. 这部电影吸引了全球观众的想象力。appeal to（吸引）
The new fashion trend appeals to young people. 新的时尚潮流吸引了年轻人。加入我们，一起学习吧！
