III Reading Comprehension
A
Du Fu wrote about various social conditions, his love for his country, and the difficulties he encountered in his life and work.
B
1. Because there were ten suns in the sky and it was too hot.
2. She drank her husband's magic potion.
3. They enjoy the moon and eat moon-cakes, and sometimes they tell the story of Chang E's flight to the moon.
C
1. He felt it was disrespectful, and he didn't like the way it rhymed with "dian3 deng1".
2. "Dian3 deng1," which means "to light a lantern."
3. This is actually pretty hard to understand. "Fang4 huo3" means "to set a fire," as in "the arsonist set fire to the house." The "san1 ri4" doesn't really mean anything -- maybe the festival was kept for three days, and people lit lanterns on each day. The thrust of the official's order was that people were supposed to use the word "fang4huo3" as a substitute for "dian3 deng1."
4. This is also difficult, because it doesn't follow exactly from the story. The literal meaning of the title (which is a proverb) is, "Only the officials are allowed to [do anything they want, even] set fires, while the common people aren't allowed to [do anything even so insignificant as] light a lantern." The story, of course, has nothing to do with the official setting fires, and the people WERE in fact allowed to light lanterns -- they just couldn't use the word. So it's very confusing. The proverb is used to describe a situation where those in power have too much privilege and restrict the rights of those beneath them.