Celebrating Chinese New Year with Chinese friends can be great, but because of the culture gap, it can be really easy to give the wrong gift for Chinese New Year. Here are five things you should not give as a Chinese New Year gift.

Wallet—Loss of fortune

In traditional Chinese culture, giving a wallet as a gift means giving away all your money and you might lose all your finances (财源) and luck. However, it is no problem to give a wallet to your family member who already share your financial accounts and money.

Handkerchiefs—Saying goodbye forever

People generally give handkerchiefs at the end of a funeral (葬礼). Handkerchiefs are a symbol of saying goodbye forever. Giving someone a gift like this may suggest that you are saying goodbye forever.

Umbrellas—Break up

Umbrellas are a bad idea to give as gifts, because the Chinese word for “umbrella” sounds like the word for “breaking up”. Giving somebody an umbrella can mean that you feel your friendship has fallen apart.

Sharp objects—Cut off relationship

Giving anything sharp, such as a knife or scissors, is also a bad idea, as it’s thought to cut off the relationship. A common Chinese saying “one cut and it is in two parts” means the end of a relationship between people.

Shoes—Evil

Shoes are a bad idea as a present for Chinese New Year because the Chinese word for “shoes” sounds exactly the word for bad luck or “evil”. On top of that, shoes are something that you step on, and they are considered as derogatory (贬义的) gifts.

【小题1】Why can’t you give a wallet as a gift during the Spring Festival in China?

A．Because it is too expensive to buy a wallet.

B．Because it is a symbol of saying goodbye forever.

C．Because your family members won’t let you do that.

D．Because it means that you may give away all your money and luck.

【小题2】The meaning of the underlined word “suggest” is close to ________.

A．give advice to others	B．find
C．make people think	D．decide

【小题3】Giving an umbrella as a Chinese New Year gift is impolite because it means ________.

A．you will break up with him/her

B．you are saying goodbye forever to him/her

C．you will develop a relationship with him/her

D．you don’t want to share something with him/her

【小题4】Why can’t shoes be given as a Chinese New Year gift?
①Because shoes are hard to match with a person’s feet.
②Because shoes are often seen as derogatory gifts in Chinese culture.
③Because “giving shoes” stands for giving bad luck in Chinese culture.
④Because the sound of “shoes” in Chinese is similar to the sound of “evil”.

A．①②③

B．②③④

C．③④①

D．④②①

【小题5】What can we infer from the passage?

A．Rome was not built in a day.

B．No man is wise at all times.

C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

D．Respect yourself, or no one else will respect you.