【推荐3】Shadow puppetry, also known as shadow play, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment in China. ___①___ Shadow puppets were first made of paper later from the leather of donkeys or oxen. That’s why its Chinese name is piying, which means shadow of leather.

___②___ It became popular in the Tang dynasty and prevalent in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The following story recorded in The History of the Han Dynasty is believed to be the origin of shadow puppetry.

___③___ More than 2,000 years ago, a beloved concubine of Emperor Wu of Han died of illness. The emperor missed her so much that he lost his desire to reign. One day, a minister happened to see children playing with dolls whose shadows on the floor were vivid. Inspired by this scene, the minister came across an idea. He made a cotton puppet of the concubine and painted it. As night fell, he invited the emperor to watch a puppet show behind a curtain. The emperor was delighted and began to watch it regularly from then on.

___④___ Shadow puppetry wins the heart of an audience by its lingering music, delicate sculpture, natural color and lively performance. Shadow plays from Hua County of Shaanxi Province are the best known. Nicknamed the “Business of the Five” by local people, the drama involves five performers. One is responsible for singing the different roles of a play; one operates the movements of the puppets; one is in charge of percussion instruments such as gongs and bowls; one plays a suona horn, and one plays Banhu fiddle. These five artists keep busy doing their particular work offstage to put on the performance.

In the 13^th century, Chinese shadow puppetry was introduced into West Asia, and by the 18^th century it had spread to other parts of the world. Famed German writer Geothe spoke highly of it, and the great comedian Charlie Chaplin drew inspiration from it for his legendary silent films. In 2011, Chinese shadow puppetry was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

1. According to the passage, shadow puppetry got its Chinese name from ______.

A．historical records	B．puppetry material
C．The History of the Han Dynasty	D．the legends of shadow

2. Where should the sentence “Shadow puppetry was born in the Western Han Dynasty.” be put in the passage?

A．①

B．②

C．③

D．④

3. What is crucial to the success of shadow puppetry?

A．The performer responsible for singing.

B．The familiarity of its lingering music and color.

C．The combination of sounds, colors, design and presentation.

D．Increasing awareness of traditional culture.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Shadow puppetry was well received in West Asia.

B．Shadow puppetry has spread to all parts of the world.

C．Shadow puppetry was the inspiration for Goethe’s works.

D．Shadow puppetry made a difference to Charlie Chaplin’s silent film.

【推荐1】

For more than 60 years, English speakers usedbecauseas aconjunction meaning “for reason that,” dutifully following with a fall clause of explanation (or at least the word of). Then, a few years ago, this old word suddenly began bursting with new life, as people started using it in a manner that disobeyed all grammatical rules: How do you know climate change is real? “Because science.” “Why are you sleepy?” “Because wine”. Academics went nervously excited, debating whether because had evolved into a preposition and which types of nouns fit this new construction. But there was little disagreement on the driving force behind the change.

The title of Gretchen McCulloch's new book,Because Internet:Understanding the New Rules of Language, is in honor of this kind of linguistic change evolution made possible by the dominance of the web and the never-before explosion of informal writing that has come with it. Her aim is to explain how the Internet has shaped language.

McCulloch is an Internet linguist, and her book about Internet language is, fittingly, a mixture drawn from academic and Internet culture. In some measure, Because Internet offers a history of the web, an introduction to linguistic and a survey of the most fascinating research from her field, including , a study that took advantage of geotags on social media slow how new words spread from place to place. Her work is also a well-researched retort to grammarian who think technology is the cause why kid are making lazy, senseless tala. On the contrary, she argues, it's making us more creative in our writing than ever before.

The formal, unemotional writing we were all taught in the classroom simply won’t do in places designed for virtual communications, McCulloch explains. And she breaks down the many ways we've managed to use keyboard to restore the dynamism of face-to-face interaction. For a start: We tap all caps when we feel LIKE SHOUTING. We use the abbreviation lol not just to mean “laughing out loud” but also to get out of awkward situations or to offer empathy. And we lengthen words to show just how much we feel.

1. According to the passage, which of the following examples best reflects how people use the word because nowadays when answering the question “why are you late for school this morning?”

A．Because traffic.

B．Because of the traffic.

C．Because I met traffic jam.

D．Because the traffic was bad when I came here.

2. The bookBecause Internetintroduces the readers________.

A．how to organize meaningful sentences in English

B．how to make effective communications online

C．how to keep pace with the evolving languages

D．bow to use new words and signals on social media

3. Gretchen McColloch believe the way we talk has been changed because________.

A．we have developed abbreviation to replace quite some words

B．virtual communication is very different from face-to-face talk

C．no longer signal our identify trough the language we use

D．today’s kids are not taught how to make communications at school

【推荐3】It’s known that reading is good for a child’s vocabulary and literacy skills, teaching them math or science concepts and helping them learn history. Apart from those, reading has another benefit. Have you read a story and felt tears well up because of a character’s suffering? If so, that is because you have empathy (共鸣) for the character — and empathy can be learned through various fictions. “It’s a magic eye that sees into other people’s hearts,” explains author Cressida Cowell.

Research shows that human brains react differently to stories and facts. “Many more areas of your brain light up when you’re enjoying a story,” explains Miranda McKearney from EmpathyLab, an organization that builds empathy through reading. “Your brain thinks you are in the story… This means you experience the characters’ thoughts as if they are real.”

Empathy helps you to read people’s emotions and work out the best way to respond. This skill, called emotional intelligence, can make it easier to communicate and connect with people. Research has shown that building empathy can lead to greater kindness and tolerance. One study found that children who read the Harry Potter novels — which tell stories about humans fighting against the evil — were less likely to behave unfairly towards powerless groups including refugees (难民).

This theory has been put into practice by St Michael’s Primary School. After reading The Boy at the Back of the Class — a story about a boy who is a refugee escaping from the war — students in that school were inspired to do a 10-mile walk for the non-profit organization Refugee Action. Their empathy also spurred them to raise £1,000 for people who were forced to leave their homes because of war.

Reading encourages children to empathise with others, which could potentially lead to several beneficial learning outcomes, new research suggests. For society to develop, creative, communicative and empathetic individuals really matter.

1. Why do readers cry about a character’s experience?

A．They have magic eyes.	B．They want to show empathy.
C．They understand his feelings	D．They have the same experience.

2. What does the author show by referring to the Harry Potter novels?

A．The process of building empathy.

B．The benefits of developing empathy.

C．The definition of emotional intelligence.

D．The results of the school’s activity.

3. What does the underlined word “spurred” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Reminded.

B．Permitted.

C．Persuaded.

D．Encouraged.

4. What might the author advise children to do?

A．Read to learn empathy.

B．Become empathetic to others.

C．Put themselves in others’ shoes.

D．Read as many books as possible.