In the sci-fi film, The Wandering Earth (《流浪地球》), humans save Earth without leaving it. In many—even most—space-themed films, whenever Earth faces a disaster (灾难), the solution is always running away from the planet in spaceships.

But the Chinese sci-fi movie, The Wandering Earth, offers a different and more ambitious idea. In the film, based on a short story by Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin, Earth is in danger of being destroyed by the dying sun. In reply, humans around the world work ________ to build a huge engine system that will push Earth away from the dying sun. ________ giving up Earth—again—this time we’re taking it with us.

This “ambition” didn’t come from nowhere. For thousands of years, “homeland” has had a soft point in ________of Chinese people. One old idiom is “luoyeguigen”, which means returning to one’s homeland at the old age, like ________ leaves return to the roots of their trees. Or there is an ancient poem “The season called the White Dew begins tonight; Nowhere as in our native place is the moon so bright.” These ________ show the tight link that Chinese people have had with their homeland.

This special cultural background is probably the key ________ separates The Wandering Earth from Hollywood-style space films.

“What is Chinese sci-fi?” Guo Fan, the film’s director, said in an interview. “A movie that can really ________ our cultural and spiritual view can be called Chinese sci-fi. Or, we’re just copying others and telling the same American stories.”

And the makers of The Wandering Earth may have chosen the best time to tell its Chinese sci-fi story. The film was released on Feb. 5th, 2019, the first day of Chinese New Year. It was a time when many people had just made the ________ journey back to their hometowns.

So to them, there is only one possible way to tell the story. Earth goes wherever humans go, because it’s our home forever.

A

Here are some books about space travel. Take a trip to the Moon and beyond with these encouraging reads.

Balloon to the Moon Long before anyone had designed a rocket, the Montgolfier brothers were making hot air balloons. In October 1783, they became the first people to experience controlled flight. Balloon to the Moon starts there and leads to Neil Armstrong's "small step" and beyond. Learn about all the progress of the space travel, then get ready for an unknown but exciting future.	The Extraordinary Life of Neil Armstrong Neil Armstrong made history in 1969 when he became the first person to set foot on the Moon. From his childhood playing with model planes to becoming one of the most famous astronauts of all time, discover the wonderful story of Neil Armstrong's life in this book. It has lots of facts and pictures, and shows the key events in his life.
To Space& Back Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983. In this book, Sally shares her personal experience of traveling into space. From discussing the experience of living and working in space to explaining how astronauts train and adapt (适应) to their new environment, she talks about her journey through space.	Counting on Katherine This encouraging book tells the story of Katherine Johnson who has a gift for math. She helped make the historic Apollo 11 moon landing possible and made sure that Apollo 13 returned home safely when the mission (任务) was in danger.

Bookshops are second homes for readers. Although many people can now buy books online, many readers still like the feeling in bookshops. They can touch the books and smell the print.

In China, there are many special bookshops. Sanlian Taofen Bookshop became the first 24-hour bookshop in Beijing at the beginning of April. Popular Holdings in Shanghai is a film-themed bookshop. It has film books and posters. Eslite Bookshop in Taiwan often has activities like talks with famous writers.

At the same time, bookshops outside China can be very colourful, too. Scarthin Books is a small bookshop in the UK. It sells new and second-hand books. There are more than 100,000 books lying on the shelves of the shop’s 12 rooms. Bart’s Books in the US is a good place to enjoy the sunshine while reading books. It’s an outdoor bookshop. Bookshelves are on the street. When the shop is closed, people can still buy books. They just put money into the door’s coin box. Where can you find a cafe bar and bookshop in just one place? The answer is probably EI Pendulo in Mexico. Books line the walls of the shop. On the second floor, visitors can order everyday meals in the cafe and drinks from the bar. In order to keep cool, there are green plants and trees inside. Does it look like a park?

Is It Better to Read Books or Listen to Them?

We often think how fast we learn something depends on how smart we are. If your brain is taking in material quickly, you’re clever; if not, well, that doesn’t say great things about your IQ. But science shows context (上下文) and technique (技术) actually play a big role in how fast we learn, and even small changes – like the way you use to read – can make a big difference.

Audio (音频的) books have plenty of advantages: you can enjoy them anywhere, even in the car, and not printing books saves trees. Poor readers also often find them more interesting. But according to the latest research, if your goal isn’t to pass the time in traffic, but instead to learn something difficult, you should choose a physical book.

In a recent opinion piece in the New York Times, psychology (心理学) professor Daniel T.Willingham mentioned a 2010 study where 48 students either read or listened to an article about child psychology. Although the students spent the same amount of time with their material and did about the same number of distracting (分散注意力) activities while they absorbed the information, they scored very differently on a 10-item quiz later. Generally, the readers scored 81 percent but while the listeners scored 59 percent. Why does listening vs reading material have such a great effect on learning?

Willingham explains that first, most of us read more slowly than we listen (especially when pausing and rereading), and when you’re trying to absorb new information, slower seems to be better. “About 10 to 15 percent of eye movements during reading are actually regressive – meaning the eyes are going back and re-checking,” he explains to TIME. “This happens very quickly…”

Second, books offer visual cues (可视线索) that help our brains organize and understand new information. Things like chapter breaks, subheadings, and lists help us in making sense of the material and understanding how it fits together. You lose all that when you go the audio way.

The bottom line is simple: Don’t feel shame about passing your time in traffic with an audio book. However, be aware of audio’s limitations when it comes to studying, and seriously consider choosing good old-fashioned reading instead.

Doctor Seuss was born in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children’s book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

In 1954, Life magazine published a report on school children who could not read. The report said many children’s books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used rhyming words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books.

In 1957, Doctor Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old child should be able to read it. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of the stories they like best. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book is called Green Eggs and Ham.

In 1984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize (普利策奖). He was honoured for the education and enjoyment his books provided American children and their parents with.

He died at the age of 87, but his influence remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, “I do not write for children. I write for people.”

How can you help young children become interested in reading? The following are some important tips.

The first way is to read out loud to them. Even if it’s just 15 minutes a day, as long as the children listen every day, they can become interested in reading later.

Cooking with young children can be also helpful. By reading the menu and cooking ingredients(原料) with them, you can help them learn more words and expressions.

When young children are reading, tell them to mark(做记号) the words that they don’t know and then to look them up in a dictionary. Also, tell them to ask questions about what they’re reading. For older children, try to make them pay more attention to the theme(主题) of the passage or ask them to write a summary(概要). Finally, make sure there are enough reading materials for young children. If you don’t have enough, go to the local library. Help young children find out which writers they like and what kind of books they like. Help them to choose the right books to read. But be sure to allow them to choose what they like by themselves.

假如你是李华, 你们学校将要组织一次读经典英文作品, 交流心得感受的活动, 你打算邀请你们班交换生Peter参加。请用英语写一封电子邮件,   告诉他活动的时间和地点, 活动的内容, 以及需要为此做什么准备。

Reading plays an important role in our life.