Name _______________________________________Date _________________

The Chinese ZodiacThe Chinese calendar has a 12-year cycle. Each year has a specific animal that

represents the sign of the zodiac.

Answer the following questions (using the above chart as a guide):This year is the year of the ____________________________________________. I was born in the year ___________, which is the year of the ________________. Last year was the year of the __________________________________________. The next year of the pig is the year _____________________________________.My father is a ______________________. My mother is a __________________.

Rat: 1912, 1924,1936, 1948, 1960,1972, 1984, 1996

Ox: 1913, 1925,1937, 1949, 1961,1973, 1985. 1997

Tiger: 1914, 1926,1938, 1950, 1962,1974, 1986, 1998

Dragon: 1916,1928, 1940, 1952,1964, 1976, 1988,2000

Snake: 1917, 1929,1941, 1953, 1965,1977, 1989, 2001

Horse: 1918, 1930,1942, 1954, 1966,1978, 1990, 2002

Monkey: 1920, 1932,1944, 1956, 1968, 1980,1992, 2004

Rabbit: 1915, 1927,1939, 1951, 1963,1975, 1987, 1999

Rooster: 1921, 1933,1945, 1957, 1969,1981, 1993, 2005

Sheep (Ram): 1919,1931, 1943, 1955,1967, 1979, 1991,

2003

Dog: 1922, 1934,1958, 1970, 1982,1994

Pig: 1923, 1935,1947, 1959, 1971,1983, 1995, 2007

Rat

years: 1984, 1996, 2008

Honest, freedom, hard working, charming. Can be selfish, ruthless, controlling,

scheming.

Ox

years: 1985, 1997, 2009

Smart, calm, patient, inspiring, modest. Can be stubborn, narrow-minded, demanding,

rigid.

Tiger

years: 1986, 1998, 2010

Aggressive, rebellious, strong, daring, generous. Can be restless, clumsy, hot-temper,

impatient.

Rabbit

years: 1987, 1999, 2011

Kind, sensitive, elegant, artistic, cautious. Can be moody, shy, lazy, opportunistic.

Dragon

years: 1988, 2000, 2012

Strong, proud, direct, eccentric, show off. Can be arrogant, violent, brash, controlling.

Snake

years: 1989, 2001, 2013

Wise, graceful, calm, mystic, shrewd. Can be a loner, bad communicator, possessive,

distrustful.

Horse

years: 1990, 2002, 2014

Cheerful, popular, talkative, witty, earthly. Can be fickle, rude, gullible, stubborn.

Goat

years: 1991, 2003, 2015

Righteous, honest, shy, artistic, understanding. Can be moody, a worrier, a

complainer, and or too soft.

Monkey

years: 1992, 2004, 2016

Witty, curious, flexible, sociable, smart. Can be vain, clumsy, trickster, snobbish.

Rooster

years: 1993, 2005, 2017

Neat, organized, alert, scientific, responsible. Can be critical, egotistical,

rough, opinionated.

Dog

years: 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018

Honest, smart, loyal, sense of justice, affectionate. Can be lazy, cold,

stubborn, quarrelsome.

Pig

years: 1995, 2007, 2019

Simple, hard working, strong, peace-loving, trusting. Can

be naive, gullible, materialistic, clingy

Bamboo

Lantern

Firecrackers

Panda

China

Rat

Rabbit

Snake

Horse

Dragon

Monkey

Rooster

Dog

Pig

Goat

Tiger

Gifts

Candles

Moon

Ox

Name_____________________ Date_____________________

Chinese Zodiac Word Scramble

1. tra _______________ 2. xo _______________ 3. riegt _______________ 4. biarbt _______________ 5. gnodar _______________ 6. kesna _______________

7. ersho _______________ 8. otag _______________ 9. kemyno _______________ 10. erosotr _______________ 11. odg _______________ 12. gpi _______________

Complete the sentence with the zodiac signs

1. A _______________ has no legs.2. The _______________ is a like a striped lion.3. The _______________ is a male chicken.4. The _______________ loves bananas.5. The _______________ has long ears and soft fur.6. People can ride a _______________.7. The _______________ is man’s best friend.8. The _______________is a flying snake that brings good luck.9. The _______________loves cheese.10. A kid is a baby _______________.11. The _______________makes bacon and ham.12. The _______________ works on farms and pulls carts.

Bonus Words

1. trenlan _______________ 2. peainpelp _______________3. opvenele _______________4. ginetrane _______________5. ceikraec _______________

http://www.giraffe.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/50-unbelievable-facts-about-chinese-new-year.jpg

Long a go in China there was an Emperor called

Jade. On his birthday the Emperor had the

idea of creating a calendar which would

measure time; he would call it a Zodiac

calendar. The special Emperor told all of the

animals in the world that there would be an

amazing race. The first twelve animals to

cross the finish line would each be awarded

one year in the calendar.

1.

The news spread quickly and excitement grew

everywhere. No-one was more excited than

the Cat and the Rat; they were the best of

friends and did everything together. They

loved to play games with each other, share

stories and jokes and enjoyed sleepovers at

the end of their busy days. When Cat had

heard about the great news, he had

immediately run and told Rat who excitedly

jumped to his feet and agreed they should

both enter the race. But after a few days all

Rat could think of was that HE wanted to win

the race, he didn’t want to come second or

third and definitely didn’t want to come last

but he didn’t tell Cat, all Cat could think about

was happily chasing butterflies not winning a

race.

2.

Finally, the day of the race arrived. All the

animals gathered at the starting line and when

the Emperor waved his flag the race began.

With fantastic speed, Rat and Cat grabbed

the lead, scurrying through prickly bushes and

running over grassy meadows until they came

upon a big river. The river was moving so fast

that they couldn’t swim across. Both stopped

and were thinking of how to cross the river

when the big Ox came along, huffing and

puffing from running so fast. As Rat was full

of good ideas he said to the Ox, "Ox, I think

we can help each other, if you let us ride on

your back we will show you the safest place to

cross.’ The Ox agreed and soon the strong

Ox was swimming across the river.

3.

As they got closer to the other side, Rat let

out an excited shriek. "Look, look! There is the

Emperor's palace!" Sure enough, bright red

festive lanterns were shining all around the

magical kingdom. Now, even though Rat and

Cat were the best friends, Rat wanted to be

first more than ANYTHING in the whole

world. So without even a whisper, Rat pushed

Cat off Ox into the fast moving river.

"Meowwwwww", yelped Cat.

"What was that?" Ox asked.

"Oh...oh nothing...must have been the wind.

Quick! Quick! We're almost there!" shrieked

Rat. As they reached the shore, Rat leapt off

Ox's back to the finish line, dancing and

cheering.

The Emperor rewarded the cunning Rat with

first place in the Calendar and the very tired

Ox got second place.

4.

Shortly after, the strong and powerful Tiger

roared to the finish to claim third place. Next

to arrive was the rabbit, which hadn't swum

across the river at all; he had hopped across

on some stepping stones and then found a

floating log which carried him to the shore.

'I shall be very happy to call the fourth year

after you,' said the surprised Jade Emperor.

5.

From the sky flew the friendly Dragon. The

Dragon landed next to the Emperor and

apologised for being so late as he had lost his

way. The Emperor awarded the Dragon with

fifth place. He was followed by the snake

that slithered in to take sixth place. The wet

and tired Horse next galloped in to take his

well earned seventh place. Not long

afterwards a raft arrived carrying the Sheep,

the Monkey and the Rooster. They explained

to the Emperor how they had shared a raft

that the Rooster had found. The Sheep and

Monkey had cleared the weeds and pushed the

raft to the shore. The Emperor was very

pleased that the animals had worked together.

He said the Sheep would be the Eighth animal,

the Monkey the ninth and the Rooster the

tenth.

6.

The next animal to finish was the Dog. 'Why are

you so late when you are one of the best

swimmers?' asked Emperor Jade.

'The water in the river was so clean that I had to

have a bath on the way,' explained the Dog.

His reward was to have the eleventh year named

after him.

Now there was one place left and the Emperor

wondered when the last winner would come. He had

nearly given up when he heard a grunt from the

pig.

'You took a long time to cross the river,' said the

Emperor.

’I was hungry and stopped to eat,' explained the

pig. 'After the meal I felt so tired that I fell

asleep.'

'You have still done well,' said the Emperor. 'The

last year of the calendar will be named after you.'

7.

As for the cat that had been pushed into the

water by the rat, he finally crawled out of the

water but was too late to have a year named after

him. He felt very cross with the rat and since then

cats have never been friends with rats.

From that day to this the Chinese calendar has

followed this cycle of years named after these

special twelve animals.

8.