Comic：Ching Ming Festival
【明報專訊】Ching Ming Festival is on the fourth of April this year, the same day as Children's Day. Let's see what Smarties and Eason are doing on that day.
“ Eason: Hey, Smarties! Get me a present! ”
“ MoMo: Why? ”
“ Eason: I've always known that you aren't that smart. You don't even know it's the Children's Day today. Just hand me the latest handheld game console. ”
“ Dr Panda: We have no time. We're going to the hillside graveyard. ”
“ Pat: Can't you see that these are paper offerings for ancestors? ”
“ Bill: Well, we've always known that you aren't that smart. You don't even know it's Ching Ming Festival today. ”
■English highway﹕Negative question
A negative question begins with a negative auxiliary verb. It is used to ask for confirmation or to express surprise.
e.g. Didn't you see him yesterday?
Are you not coming with us?
■Know more
The Ching Ming Festival is a Chinese festival for the family to gather to pay their respects to their ancestors. It usually falls on the first week of April. People go to the graveyards to remove weeds and dirt from the graves of their ancestors. After that, they make offerings of food such as roast pork, chicken and fruits. They lay flowers and pour wine there. They light incense and bow in front of the headstones too. They also burn paper offerings such as houses, mobile phones, handbags, clothes and joss paper to their ancestors.
■Glossary
handheld game console (n) 手提遊戲機
offering (n) 祭品
weed (n) 雜草
incense (n) 香
[Smarties' Power English 第275期]
