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  3. Chinese are no longer strangers to Western Festivals. Many Chinese people now celebrate the Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Hallowee

Chinese are no longer strangers to Western Festivals. Many Chinese people now celebrate the Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Hallowee

admin2021-05-24  52
问题         Chinese are no longer strangers to Western Festivals. Many Chinese people now celebrate the Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Halloween and even Thanksgiving Day. Some people think it is absurd for Chinese to observe these Western Festivals. The following are excerpts about this issue. Read them carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly both excerpts, and then
        2. give your comment on whether we should discourage Chinese to celebrate Western Festivals.
Excerpt 1
        Citizens, schools and even whole towns in China are attempting to curb Christmas celebrations amid a backlash against what is seen as the increasing influence of Western culture.
        Schools in the city of Wenzhou in China’s Zhejiang province have been forbidden from holding any Christmas-related events, after authorities issued an official ban.
        An education official in the city, which is home to one million Chinese Christians, told the paper. "We are not suppressing western festivals, but we hope schools can be more balanced on this. Students can learn about western festivals but they should not be over-enthusiastic about it."
        In addition, Modern College of Northwest University, located in Xi’an, has banned Christmas celebrations, according to reports, choosing instead to have students attend screenings of what were described as propaganda films about Confucius on Christmas Eve.
        In another protest, college students in Hunan took to the streets to protest against Christmas celebrations.
        Xinhua news agency noted that celebrating Christmas has become trendy among young Chinese, who see the festival as a time to shop, party and dine with friends, but that proponents of traditional Chinese culture have warned against cultural invasion.
        Ironically, despite the authorities’ hostility to Christmas in China, the country manufactures 60 percent of the world’s Christmas decorations, according to The Guardian.
Excerpt 2
        Many Westerners may be surprised at the way Chinese people have made Christmas a festival of their own.
        Today’s youths are under great pressure—either from work or studies—and don’t get enough time to spend with their families or friends. And western festivals like Christmas provide them a good opportunity to make up for that loss. The popularity of western holidays in China shows that an increasing number of Chinese people are pursuing individuality and are ready to spend money to buy more quality leisure time.
        The increasing popularity of western festivals, however, has drawn the anger of nationalists. A few years ago, 10 scholars from prestigious Chinese universities wrote an open letter asking Chinese people to boycott Christmas celebrations and resist the invasion of foreign soft power.
        In a recent online survey on what netizens think of Chinese-style Christmas, 39.2 percent of the respondents said they merely use Christmas as an opportunity to celebrate an occasion.
        But there is no denying that many of the Chinese people, especially the youth, who celebrate western festivals don’t know why they are celebrated or observed. In contrast, most Chinese know full well the origins and importance of Chinese festivals. This is the power and unconscious influence of traditional culture and that cannot be erased by the influence of western festivals.
        The seeming "invasion" of foreign culture, to a certain extent, poses a threat to traditional Chinese culture. But Chinese culture, rooted as it is in thousands of years of history, can ward off the evil influence of foreign cultures and absorb the merits of exotic cultures to become even richer.
选项
答案 On Celebrating Western Festivals As our life is increasingly globalized, it is not uncommon to see Chinese celebrate some of the western festivals. However, people do not always see eye to eye on this. As mentioned in the excerpts, owing to the concerns for the invasion of foreign culture, there were both protests and boycotts against celebration of western festivals, typically Christmas. Although youths may see western festivals only as a chance to maintain relationships with their families and friends or enjoy themselves, some scholars see a potential threat to Chinese traditional culture. However, with its thousands of years of history, Chinese culture is able to continue its prosperity by warding off the evil influence of foreign cultures and absorbing their merits. As I see it, despite the legitimate skepticism of celebrating foreign holidays, we should not discourage Chinese to do so. To begin with, Chinese, by observing western holidays, are looking for more reasons to do something special. For instance, people send out "thank-you" messages via social network on Thanksgiving Day to express their gratitude. Those who present a bouquet of red roses to their girlfriends on Valentine’s Day are seizing another chance to assert their love and commitment I am sure on Qixi Festival, or better known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day, lovers will be no less committed and romantic to their partners. Furthermore, western festivals are another occasion to boost sales and promote consumption. As China is restructuring its economy, domestic consumption is yet to be spurred. In this context, western festivals are a good reason for people to spend money since various promotion campaigns during such occasions can attract the customer traffic and drive business. If western festivals are discouraged, the consumption industry will lose some of the catalysts to stimulate people to consume. To conclude, we should not discourage Chinese to celebrate western festivals. Instead, we should provide people more chances to have a festive mood and to contribute to the domestic consumption. To some extent, observing western festivals could be a step forward to a tolerant nation, which embraces cultural diversities.
解析         材料给出的两段选文主要介绍了国人对西方节日的抵制情绪，其中第一段选文暗含对此种抵制情绪的嘲讽，第二段选文则明确提到无需惧怕外国文化的入侵，因为中国文化能取其精华去其糟粕，进一步丰富自身。
        具体说来，选文一提到，中国的一些学校、民众乃至地方政府对圣诞节持抵制态度（curb Christmas celebrations），因为他们认为圣诞节代表着西方文化影响越演越烈（increasing influence of Western culture）。选文二指出，西方节日是年轻人一个释放压力、和亲友团聚（spend time with their families or friends）的机会，但是有些学者认为这是外国软实力的入侵（invasion of foreign soft power）。事实上，很多年轻人并不清楚为什么要庆祝西方节日，但大多数中国人很清楚中国传统节日的缘由和重要性（origins and importance of Chinese festivals）。虽然外国文化的入侵可能对中国传统文化造成威胁，但中国文化可以取其精华去其糟粕（ward off the evil influence of foreign cultures and absorb the merits of exotic cultures），变得更加丰富多彩。
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