On the day before the festival, my grandmother puts a small bowl of rice and a peach on the table by the window. Nobody in the family eats it. (11) She says it is for those who are far from home, somewhere out in the wide universe, and cannot come back. When I was a kid I thought this was simply a waste, (12) I never said so aloud. Last year my uncle could not fly home from abroad. My grandmother set the bowl as always, and my mother cried at the table. (13) I understood that the empty seat was the point. The custom does not feed anybody, (14) it keeps a door open for a year.
Every year, just before the end of the holiday, somebody says that a festival has lost its meaning. The food is bought, not made; the words are said without thought. (15) A custom does not work because everyone believes in it. It works because it puts the same people in the same room on the same day. A family that never plans to meet will not meet, (16) a family with one fixed date each year will. (17), the old words matter less than the date they carry. This may sound cold, (18) it is why a tradition can live on after the belief that started it is gone.
May: We are buying one present together for Mrs. Lin. Here is what people said online.
CLASS GIFT · Mrs. Lin
Idea 1: a book of poems 350
Idea 2: a nice-looking plant, good for her desk 420
Idea 3: a paper card by every student 0
Money so far: 380
Ken: We do not have enough for Idea 2. Can we ask for ten dollars more each?
May: Some students cannot pay more. Let us do Idea 1 and Idea 3 together.
Ken: Good. Then everyone takes part, and we still have thirty dollars left.
全文中譯
梅：我們要一起買一份禮物給林老師。這是大家在網路上的意見。
全班禮物 · 林老師
方案一：詩集 350
方案二：好看的桌上植物 420
方案三：每位學生一張紙卡 0
目前金額：380
肯：方案二的錢不夠。可以請每個人再出十元嗎？
梅：有些同學沒辦法多付。我們把方案一和方案三一起做吧。
肯：好。這樣每個人都能參與，而且還剩三十元。
Questions 19–21
19Why does May say no to Ken's idea?
AShe does not like plants
BThe plant is too big
CThere is no time left
DSome students cannot pay more
✔ 正確答案：(D) Some students cannot pay more
中譯梅為什麼不同意肯的提議？
解析Some students cannot pay more，考量的是同學的負擔。
20How much money will be left?
AThree hundred fifty
BThirty dollars
CSeventy dollars
DFour hundred twenty
✔ 正確答案：(B) Thirty dollars
中譯會剩下多少錢？
解析380 減掉方案一的 350，剩 30 元；方案三不用錢。肯最後也說 we still have thirty dollars left。
21What does the list NOT tell us?
AWhat Idea 3 is
BThe cost of each idea
CHow many students are in the class
DHow much money they have
✔ 正確答案：(C) How many students are in the class
中譯清單上沒有告訴我們什麼？
解析清單有三個方案的價格、目前金額與方案內容，但沒有班上人數。
NOTICE
Moon Festival Evening at Sun Hill
Friday · 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. · On the school field
6:00 Each class cooks at its own table
7:30 Songs, and a short play about an old belief and a long adventure
8:30 Everyone helps clean the field
Students may bring one family member. Please write the name at the office before Thursday so that we know how much food to buy. Younger brothers and sisters are welcome, but a kid under six must stay with a parent all evening.
Do not bring a fire of your own. Each table already has one. If it rains, we will move into the hall, and the cooking part will be dropped. We will tell you by message before four o'clock that day.
✔ 正確答案：(D) So the school knows how much food to buy
中譯學生為什麼必須到辦公室寫名字？
解析so that we know how much food to buy。
23What will NOT happen if it rains?
AThe cooking
BThe short play
CThe cleaning
DThe songs
✔ 正確答案：(A) The cooking
中譯如果下雨，什麼不會進行？
解析the cooking part will be dropped，只有烹煮取消，其他照常。
24What is the rule about a child of five?
AThe child cannot come
BThe child must stay with a parent
CThe child may cook at the table
DThe child must bring food
✔ 正確答案：(B) The child must stay with a parent
中譯關於五歲的孩子有什麼規定？
解析a kid under six must stay with a parent all evening，五歲未滿六歲，適用此規定。
EMAIL
A Letter to a Cousin Abroad
Dear Wei,
Congratulations on your new job! Mother read your message aloud in Mandarin at breakfast and everyone clapped.
You asked what we did for the festival. Almost nothing changed. Grandmother made the same three dishes, including my favorite one, Father put the same red paper on the gate, and your little nephew broke a bowl, as you did at his age.
We did do one new thing. Because you could not come, we put your chair at the table anyway and sent you a photo of it. Grandmother said that as long as the chair is there, nobody has really left. I am not sure I believe that, but I liked it.
Come home when you can. The address has not changed.
DTo tell Wei about the festival and welcome him home
✔ 正確答案：(D) To tell Wei about the festival and welcome him home
中譯這封信的目的是什麼？
解析信中先道賀、再描述節慶情形，最後請他有空回家，目的是分享近況並歡迎他回來。
26What was new this year?
AThey set a chair for Wei and sent a photo
BThey stopped hanging red paper
CGrandmother made new dishes
DThey moved to a new house
✔ 正確答案：(A) They set a chair for Wei and sent a photo
中譯今年有什麼是新的？
解析we put your chair at the table anyway and sent you a photo of it。其他事情都和往年一樣。
27How does Ann feel about Grandmother's words?
AShe believes every word
BShe thinks they are foolish
CShe did not understand them
DShe is not sure but likes them
✔ 正確答案：(D) She is not sure but likes them
中譯安對奶奶那句話有什麼感覺？
解析I am not sure I believe that, but I liked it。
ARTICLE
The Day That Holds a Year Together
Every country keeps a few days that stop ordinary time: Thanksgiving in one land, the Moon Festival in another. People travel for hours, far beyond their own town, cook food they do not cook the rest of the year, and say words they would feel shy to say on a Tuesday.
Some say this is only habit. But a year without such days is hard to hold in the mind. Without them, weeks run together, and we lose the marks that let us say when something happened. A festival is a mark tied on a long rope.
This is also why a new festival is so hard to make. A day becomes real only after people have kept it through a wedding, a death, and a year when nobody wanted to celebrate. Time, not planning, is what turns a date into a tradition.