Picture Description — 第三冊

🔊Picture 1 It is Double Ten Day in Taiwan. Hundreds of people are gathered at the presidential building for the celebration. The beginning of the festival includes raising the national flag, while everyone sings the national anthem of the ROC. Lots of people wave flags, hold banners, shout and cheer excitedly.

🔊Picture 2 Double Ten Day commemorates a revolution. This revolution caused the fall of the Qing Dynasty. It also began a new era for the ROC. This is why the military and the police used to have parades on Double Ten Day. They would march in step down the street and past the spectators. They wore formal uniforms and some of the soldiers would even carry their weapons. The female soldiers wore matching hats, purses, skirts and jackets.

🔊Picture 3 Another activity you may see at 10-10 day is folk dancing. Children can get involved, too. Sometimes they beat small drums that hang at their sides and dance happily. The singing, dancing, and music make the event even more special.

🔊Picture 4 The finale of the event is the fireworks display. Flashing, exploding and screaming fireworks light up the night sky behind the presidential building. The colorful, loud display excites everyone. It is definitely a great ending to a great event.

🔊Picture 1 It is almost Mother’s Day. Little Peter is making a card for his mother. He has some colored markers, paper flowers and heavy paper on the table. He starts by drawing a few hearts with a red marker. Next he draws a picture of his mother and colors it with the markers. He then writes a poem on the card to tell his mother how much he loves her. He finishes by pasting a paper carnation to the outside of the card.

🔊Picture 2 On Mother’s Day, Peter gets up very early. He can’t wait to give his mom the card. When he gives her the card, she is very pleased. She almost starts to cry. She can’t believe that her little boy is so thoughtful. Peter, too, is very happy and gives his mother a big, long hug. He really appreciates his mom.

🔊Picture 3 Later that day, Peter and his parents sit down to have some Mother’s Day cake. The cake is beautifully decorated and Peter’s mother is very grateful for the treat. She thanks Peter and her husband for making the day so special. They thank her for being such a wonderful mom. When their little party is over, Peter quickly runs off to his room to play video games. His father heads for the office to do some reading. Poor mom is left behind to clean up the mess that was left behind by her caring husband and loving son. At least she got most of the day off. Happy Mother’s Day!

🔊Every February or March in Taiwan, lantern festivals are held across the country to usher in the new year. Smaller traditional lantern festivals have been going on for centuries, but in 1990 the Tourism Bureau got involved and took the festival to epic proportions. Since then the government has commissioned the building of a giant lantern each year in a different county.

🔊This year’s main attraction was a two metric ton lantern shaped like a Taiwanese mountain boar. The boar was used because this is the year of the pig, according to the Chinese zodiac. The lantern built always coincides with the Chinese zodiac symbol for that particular year.

🔊The massive boar sits on top of a 20-ton metal frame. In the daylight, it looks impressive enough, but once the lights are out, it looks extremely magical; the boar seems to come alive in the darkness. Lit by hundreds of tiny lights, the boar is a beacon in the night and can be seen for miles.

🔊Pasting spring couplets around the door can be a lot of fun. It can also be a great way for families to spend time together and bond. By doing this we are also carrying on a tradition that has been a part of Chinese culture for a long, long time.

🔊These boys are having a great time pasting up the couplets. The boy at the table is applying paste with a paintbrush to the back of a couplet. The paste is what sticks the couplet to the wall. His brother is standing on a stool so that he can reach the top of the door. He hangs a couplet next to the door and then firmly presses it into place to make sure the paste holds.

🔊Picture 1 On the eve of the Chinese New Year, families usually get together for a big feast. All sorts of dishes are served, often including a gigantic hotpot. Many toasts are given on this auspicious occasion. It is a great way for families to bond. Sometimes, you get to see relatives that you haven’t seen in a very long time. Students enjoy this time a lot because it is also winter vacation and they can stay up late. A lot of adults get a break from work, too.

🔊Picture 2 After dinner, the adults give red envelopes filled with money to the children. The young boy, pictured here, looks very excited to be receiving one of the gift envelopes from his grandfather. The girl standing by the window is very thankful and wants to give her grandmother a big hug. Their father, standing next to the TV, is very happy for his children.

🔊Picture 3 Now, it is time for fireworks. Fireworks are an inseparable part of Chinese New Year. Legend has it that they were originally used to scare away a mythical monster called Nien. Nowadays, they are used just for fun and to add to the excitement of the occasion. Little sister has her eyes closed and ears plugged in anticipation of the firecracker going off. Her brother is covering one ear with his free hand, while the other hand is lighting the firecracker fuse. He lights it with a stick of burning incense.

🔊Firecrackers go off all hours of the night during this time of year. They produce dazzling displays of color and flashing light across the sky. And the bangs and pops can be heard for miles, awakening all but the soundest of sleepers.

🔊Picture 1 Tomb Sweeping Day is for families to come out and clean up the tombs of their ancestors. Today this man is sweeping his mother’s tomb. He sweeps around the tomb and pulls any weeds that may grow around the tombs. Behind him is a pile of dead weeds that he has just pulled out. He will burn the pile of weeds later. When he is finished, the tomb will look much better. Right behind this tomb you can see another that is overgrown. Maybe someone will look after it later.

🔊Picture 2 The old man’s son is placing colorful paper on the top of the grave. He puts tiny rocks on the pieces of paper to keep them from blowing away. There is a lot of ghost money stacked in front of the tombstone. It is burned so that the deceased may have money in the afterlife.

🔊Picture 3 This is a small statue of the graveyard keeper. The lesser deity watches over everyone here keeping them safe in the afterlife. In front of the statue, there is some incense standing in a small incense burner.

🔊Picture 4 The man and his son are now paying homage to the keeper of the cemetery. To do this, they light the incense and bow respectfully. This shows their gratitude. The incense is then placed into the burner.

🔊Picture 5 Here the ghost money is being burned. It is an offering to the spirit world. Many people believe the money will go to their ancestors in the next life. The flame burns quickly and turns the paper money into ashes. The ashes then blow away in the wind.

🔊Picture 6 Now they are paying their respects to their ancestors. They all hold incense and bow in remembrance. When people do this, most of them also ask their ancestors to watch over and bless their children.

🔊Picture 1

🔊These students are having fun making rice balls in their classroom. It’s a custom in Taiwan to celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival by making and eating rice balls. They are called tangyuan in Chinese.

🔊The class is divided into four groups. Then the students put their desks together for this activity. Each group has a tray covered with tinfoil. There are lots of little pink and white balls on the trays.

🔊The rice balls are made of sticky rice flour mixed with water. The students roll the mixture into balls. They use the palms of their hands to do this. The boy in the navy hooded jacket is really enjoying the activity. He has a big smile on his face.

🔊Once the rice balls are made, they are put into a big pot to cook. They are cooked in water with some sugar. This makes a sweet soup that all children love.

🔊Picture 2

🔊The girl in the Mickey Mouse shirt is filling her bowl. She uses a ladle to scoop out the rice balls and soup. Then she pours it into her bowl. The other girls are waiting for their turn. They quietly stand in line with their bowls and spoons. They look excited. They can hardly wait to get some of the delicious rice balls.

🔊Picture 3

🔊These girls are now enjoying the rice balls at their desks. It must taste good because they look very happy. The girl with the pink jacket is laughing. The other girl is smirking at her classmate. They are probably giggling about getting “one year older.” This is because children are told that they are one year older after they eat tangyuan.

🔊The boy behind the girl with the pink jacket looks very hungry. He doesn’t care if he is a year older. He only cares about how many rice balls he can eat. His face is almost in the bowl. Spoonful after spoonful of rice ball soup disappears into his mouth. When it is gone, he will probably have seconds.

🔊Picture 1 During the Ghost Festival, food is offered to deceased relatives or wandering spirits. The food is usually placed on a table outside of someone’s home or place of business. The offerings are thought to appease the spirits so that they won’t haunt anyone. In this picture all of the family members hold incense in front of them and then bow to show respect to the ghosts.

🔊Picture 2 Here they insert the incense into the food to hold it up while it burns. Some of the things offered here are a case of noodles, a case of soda, different fruits and vegetables. Sometimes dishes are prepared and offered as well, but store bought goods usually make up the most of the offerings.

🔊Picture 3 The lady, shown here, puts ghost money into the barrel to be burned as another offering to the ghosts. All the burning incense and ghost money creates a lot of smoke and when everyone in town burns the offerings at the same time, the air quality drops dramatically! The basin and towel in front of the table are for the ghost to wash up before and after eating; even ghosts don’t like to eat with dirty hands.

🔊Suzie’s mom does Suzie’s hair every day before school. Today she is putting her daughter’s hair into pigtails. First she combs her hair to take out any knots and to make sure it is neat. Then she parts it in the middle using the end of a comb. Next, she takes all the hair on one side and bunches it together. Then she wraps it with an elastic hair band to hold it in place. The pigtails are finished and the cute little Suzie smiles happily. She now looks so much prettier and is ready for school.

🔊Rubber bands are made from rubber—in case you didn’t already know. Sometimes they are called elastic bands or simply elastics. They can be used for many different things, such as keeping papers together or shooting at your friends. As well, they are commonly used to hold vegetables in bunches, like green onions and broccoli.

🔊Children sometimes use them as toys. Because of their elasticity, they can be stretched into all kinds of weird shapes with your fingers. Be careful when playing with elastics, though, as they can get wrapped tightly around your finger and cut off circulation. This can cause serious damage.

🔊Some kids like to use elastics for shooting people or as slingshots for firing wads of paper at their friends. The further you stretch the rubber band out, the faster it will fly through the air. Firmer, thicker elastics tend to fly more quickly and hurt more on impact. Again, be careful; rubber bands can have enough velocity to hurt someone’s eye. Although rare, there are reported cases of children being hit in the open mouth. The result of such an incident can be death due to suffocation.