Xu Yuanchong is a famous Chinese modern translator. Born in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province in 1921, he studied     26     Qian Zhongshu, Wu Mi and other Chinese masters at the National Southwest Associated University. He went to University of Paris for     27     study after graduating from Tsinghua University.

Over the course of a translation career（生涯）lasting more than seventy years, Xu has translated about 120 works,     28     The Book of Songs, The Songs of Chu and The Red and the Black, with a     29     focus on poetry. Xu is also the only person in China who has     30     translated poetry to and from Chinese, English and French, in a very precise（精确的） and beautiful way. His     31     are often chosen as textbooks for foreign language learners.

Xu pays much attention to the     32     of image, sound and form. He will leave something out and add something to make the translated works more beautiful. During his translation career, he has been at the center of many     33     debates（辩论） with other translators. But Xu said, “I am not afraid of     34     because the truth becomes clearer with each debate.”

To everyone, he sends a wish, “Good, better, best.” Never let it rest until your good is better, and your better is     35     .

Besides the required（必修）courses, do you have any idea of some optional（选修）courses for the coming term? We do a survey from students to decide which three of the events to be set up as their optional courses. Almost all students show great interest in doing sports. Their opinions are collected. Here is the graph（图表）of the results.

Magic is the performance of tricks. It is one of the art forms in the world. Magic shows usually include a disappearing act, card tricks, or pulling a rabbit out of a hat. But what could that have to do with health?

Alec Brown, an American magician, who made people have fun with magic as other magicians did in his early days. But later he paid more attention to using it to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

A car accident changed Alec Brown's idea towards magic performances. He was badly hurt in the accident and it took him almost a year to get the skills he'd lost. And this made him begin to think about using magic tricks as a tool for healing (治疗). Then Alec started giving classes to teach magic tricks to children and adults with disabilities.

Alec says magic therapy may seem non-traditional. But many skills are similar to the ones used in traditional forms of healing illness—thinking, understanding and social skills are all there. And the social connection with other people can also help people feel better and increase their confidence (自信心).

Amy Snow is an example. She has had a bad illness that makes it difficult for her to walk, understand complex (复杂的) feelings and connect with people. After learning some simple tricks, she could feel something different. "It made me feel happy and proud. It was great!" Amy said.

Alec Brown says seeing kids like Amy come alive has the meaning to him. And he plans to spend more time helping disabled people. He hopes more people can join him in helping the disabled.

These days, teens are heavily influenced by the media. Many of them have watched TV for thousands of hours. That's more time than they spend with teachers at school. And that doesn't include the hours they spend using the Internet or reading newspapers.

However, several studies have shown a serious problem: Today's teens have no media literacy (媒体素养). In other words, they have difficulty critically (批判性地) thinking about the information they see. One study has found that more than 80 percent of teens can't give a careful decision about how good or bad a piece of information is.

Professor Kevin John from Stanford University tries to help his students learn media literacy in his class. The professor gives an example that shows why media literacy is important. In the example, two news stations report a snowstorm. One cares about the terrible road conditions. The other pays attention to kids playing in the snow. "In a news story, news stations tell you about what they feel important, but the information largely depends on the opinions of the news director," said John. "A person who has media literacy would realize that each story is about one part of the event at that time."

Some people think school is the best place to teach media literacy. In fact, everyone—from parents to news reporters — should help teens learn it.

As for the best time to start learning media literacy, many experts suggest being at the age of 12. But others think it could be even earlier. "It's never too early to start learning media literacy," said John.

Welcome toWeather On The Go. We are going to find out what causes bushfires in Australia and how they influence local communities.

A bushfire is a large fire in the scrub(灌木) or forest that can quickly get out of control.    51    

The hot, dry weather and some plants make Australia become the areas that most easily catch fire in the world.    52    

However, in northern Australia, it’s during winter and spring.

Fire is a natural part of the Australian scene. Some plants like the Banksia bush actually get some help from bushfires because a bushfire helps their seed pods(种子荚) open so that new baby Banksia can grow.    53    Black Saturday is the name given to the day of the worst bushfire in modern Australian history. And the latest Australian bushfires in 2019 also shocked the whole world, which killed at least 33 people and more than 10 billion animals.

To warn people when bushfire conditions are bad, Government of Australia has the bushfire danger rating(评级) system.    54    If you live or travel in an area that’s at risk of bushfires, make sure you have a fire self-protection plan and discuss it with your family before the start of the fire season.    55    You can also get more information on what to do in a fire from your state fire station website.

Here are some tips on listening. We hope it can help you in one way or others.

① Before you start to listen to something, you need to relax. Don’t get nervous or excited. This will help you with your listening.

② The first sentence tells you a lot about the whole passage. For example, if at the very beginning, you hear “Many shops in many parts of China have decided to take away all kinds of Japanese goods off their shelves, but some people say it’s not a good idea. Our reporter says...”. You know you will hear a piece of news, not a children’s story or a science report.

③ When you are listening, try to do some thinking. For example, you can think of the following questions: What happened? When, where and how? What is the result and what does the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may understand the passage better.

④ It’s important for you to remember some important facts. For example, if the passage is a science report, you should try to remember its findings and how the scientists got their results.

⑤ You may hear some words that you don’t know, but don’t spend too much time on them. Very often, you’ll find out what they mean later when you go on with the listening. But you can remember some words or sentences that you think are important, and you can use them when you are answering the questions.

Five pieces of     61     on listening.

First, it’s better to be     62     before listening. Second, the first     63     in a passage is usually the topic. Third, you can understand better by doing some     64     . Fourth, it’s necessary to remember some important facts. At last, never     65     a long time in thinking about a word you don’t know.

Du Fu, one of the greatest poets in China, is well-known to most of us. However, Du Fu remains unknown to many Western people. Thanks to a recent documentary Du Fu: China’s Greatest Poet which was directed by Michael Wood, a British historian, they have a chance to know more about Du Fu. As the first English-language documentary about Du, it compares him to William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of the West.

In the BBC’s one-hour documentary, the British historian visited a number of places connected with Du Fu. Michael Wood first visited Henan Province, the poet’s birth place. The people there told many fascinating stories of Du Fu. He also visited Du Fu Thatched Cottage(杜甫草堂) in Chengdu, Sichuan, where people can know more about the poet. The documentary also includes works of Du that were read by a famous British actor Sir Ian McKellen. He is known for performing Shakespeare’s works.

The documentary explains why Du’s poems have been popular for centuries. It is because Du’s poems give us a closer look at history. Du lived during the Tang Dynasty and worked for the emperor called Tang Xuanzong. At first, the country was rich and peaceful. But the war happened later and it caused huge problems for the whole country. Du Fu felt sad about the rulers of the government. He also went through ups and downs in his own life, but the poet never stopped pouring out his care for his country and people in his poems. Du Fu is known as “the saint of poet” in China. He wrote about 1,400 poems that are still with us today. These poems have been translated into English, which is expected to help Du Fu’s works reach more readers.

Yunnan Rice Noodles

In Yunnan, many people eat rice noodles for breakfast, and even for lunch and dinner. To make this special food, you need to     71     rice noodles, chicken soup, chicken, lettuce and eggs. (Of course, you can also have other things like fish and different vegetables.) First,     72     the lettuce and cut it up. Next,     73     the chicken into pieces. Then, make the chicken soup very hot, over 100℃. Then,     74     the eggs, meat and lettuce in the pot of hot soup, one by one. Finally, put the rice noodles into the soup. Now, it’s time to     75     the delicious rice noodles!