When Wang Haiyan was young, her favorite toys weren’t Barbie dolls. Instead, she started learning to make shadow puppets from her father at 13. Now 43, Wang has spent thirty years practicing and spreading the art.
Shadow puppetry is a form of theater that uses puppets made from leather(皮) or paper, accompanied by music and singing. Invented during the Western Han Dynasty, it tells us about folk stories and historical stories, passing down culture and customs over thousands of years.
Shadow puppetry is all about creating the puppets and performing with them. Wang’s hometown of Hua County, Shanxi is known as the birthplace of the folk art.
Puppet-makers must follow 24 steps to make the puppets, including washing the leather, carving(雕刻) and painting, according to Wang. Carving is the most difficult part.
“We have a special carving technique(技巧)—moving the leather under the knife,”Wang said. You have to hold the knife still in your right hand and only move the leather in your left hand.
It took Wang three years to master this skill. She used a brick(砖块)to make her left hand strong while practicing. It takes about 3,000 carves to make a shadow puppet. “The complicated(复杂的) steps make it hard to hand down the folk art,” she said.
But Wang has used some new ways to do so. In 2016, she made shadow puppets based on some cartoon series and gave a livestreaming performance(直播). She used colors like blue and purple that are hardly seen in shadow puppetry and added more sticks to the puppets to make the performance livelier.
1. Translate the underlined words Shadow puppetry into Chinese.2. When and where was shadow puppetry invented?
3. How long did it take Wang to master the carving technique?
4. According to Wang, why is it difficult to hand down shadow puppetry?
5. What is the last paragraph about? (No more than ten words）
It’s about the new ways
相似题推荐
Are you interested in Mickey Mouse? He always brings people great fun.
In 1928，Mickey first came out (出现) in the Disney movie Steamboat Willie. The happy mouse had a sharp (尖的) nose and a thin face. He wore shorts and a tall hat. Soon he became very popular. And he changed (改变) people's ideas about mice. When Mickey came to China, Chinese people also loved him very much. Do you know the great writer Lu Xun? He also liked to watch Mickey Mouse movies with his family.
Now Mickey is very cool. He is still very popular. He has two round ears and a long nose. And he gets dressed like a young boy. He wears red shorts and yellow shoes. Mickey looks smart. He often helps his friends with their problems. Minnie Mouse is his girlfriend. They love each other very much. Donald Duck and Goofy are Mickey's best friends.
1. When did Mickey first come out in the Disney movie Steamboat Willie?Mickey first came out in the Disney movie Steamboat Willie
2. What does the underlined word "He" refer to?
It refers to "
3. What does Mickey look like now?
He has
4. Who are Mickey's best friends?
Mickey's best friends are
5. What do you think of Mickey?
I think he is
Making shadow play(皮影戏)on the wall is a great entertainment(娱乐方式). You need a light, your hands and your imagination for a good show. Shadow plays have been popular for hundreds of years.
People said shadow plays came from a story. The great Emperor of Wu of the Han Dynasty in China started his country in about 141 BCE(公元前). He was great and did a lot to his country, but then his favorite woman died. It made him very sad. He wanted her back. So he asked his officials to bring the woman back to life! Of course, this was impossible, but they had to find out something to help him feel better. The officials decided to make a model of the woman. They used donkey leather(驴皮)to make her shape. The model could move and it wore nice clothes. The officials then used an oil light to cast(投射)the shadow onto a screen. This moving model was the lost woman. The shadow play made the emperor happy. ①一个全新而有意义的娱乐方式诞生了。Nowadays shadow plays are very popular around the world, and shadow plays of Tang are the most famous. They are often invited to many countries to perform. ② We believe shadow plays will be more and more popular.
1. To make a good shadow play, you need a light, your hands and2. What did the officials decide to do after the woman died?
3. 请在文中找出和“Shadow plays of Tang are more famous than that of any other dynasty.”意思相近的句子。
4. 请将文中划线①处译为英文。
5. 请将文中划线②处译为中文。
Set in the Tang Dynasty, 1,300 years ago, the film Chang An tells the stories of the poets.
Li Bai is one of China’s greatest poets. In the film, the Tang general Gao Shi tells of his lifelong friendship with Li Bai. Forty-eight poems created by different poets of the period are cited (引用) in the film.
The poem, which many Chinese people know by heart, starts with this:
“Can you see the Yellow River decanting (倒入) from the sky and racing to the sea never to return?” The popularity of its writer, Li Bai, box office (票房) sales topped 700 million yuan.
In recent years, Chinese animation (动画片) filmmakers have connected animations with traditional Chinese culture. The film, Ne Zha, is about Ne Zha fighting with a dragon king. Now Chinese animation has also been more and more popular.
根据短文内容，完成下列小题。
1. What’s the relationship (关系) between Gao Shi and Li Bai?
2. How many poems are cited in the film?
3. Who is the main character in the film Ne Zha?
4. Chinese animation hasn’t been more and more popular, has it?
5. Do you like the film Chang An? Why? At least 20 words.
Tofu Culture in China
Tofu is a kind of Chinese food which is known around the world. It is made from soybean, water and a coagulant(凝结剂). People coagulate soybean milk, and then press the resulting mixture into pieces.
Tofu is said to originate in the Western Han dynasty. At the time, Liu An, a grandson of Emperor Liu Bang, was thirsty for learning the magical art of living forever, so he went deep into a mountain to make magic pills. He failed in his efforts to produce the pills. Instead, he created a white and soft material with a pleasant smell. The brave local people tried the product, and found it delicious. And it was named “tofu”. Liu An became an unexpected inventor of tofu, and his hometown, Shou County of Anhui Province, has been known as the “hometown of tofu”.
Simple in production and cheap in cost, tofu soon became people’s favorite food. After the Song dynasty, the culture of tofu spread even further. Many famous people also took part in spreading the culture. Su Dongpo, a great poet of the Northern Song dynasty, had a special liking for tofu and invented a tofu dish called Dongpo tofu. Poet Lu You of the Southern Song dynasty also recorded the preparation of tofu dishes in his work. More interesting is a record about tofu and Emperor Kangxi from the Qing dynasty. When in Suzhou on his tour to South China, Emperor Kangxi didn’t give gold to his high officials, but tofu dishes.
As tofu culture has spread far and wide, people in different areas have continuously developed the recipes of tofu dishes according to their own tastes, such as Mapo tofu, stinky tofu. Simple though tofu is, it can be made into a table of Chinese dishes complete with beautiful colors, sweet smells, and delicious tastes.
Today, tofu and its related products have become common foods for Chinese people. It is a necessary dish on the dinner table during the Chinese lunar New Year, because it sounds like “福”, the word for “good luck” in Chinese. Just as the saying goes, “Tofu, tofu, a mouthful of ‘Fu’”.
| *Su Dongpo invented a tofu dish called Dongpo tofu. *Lu You recorded the preparation of tofu dishes in his work. *Kangxi gave his high officials tofu 3 gold when in Suzhou on his tour to South China. *People in different areas have continuously developed the recipes of tofu dishes that are 4 their own tastes. *People can make a table of tofu dishes complete with beautiful colors, sweet smells, and delicious tastes. *Tofu is a necessary dish on the New Year’s dinner table because it has 5 as the word “fu” in Chinese. |
When Wang Haiyan was young, her favorite toy wasn’t Barbie dolls. Instead, she started learning to make shadow puppets (皮影戏偶) from her father at 13. Now 43, Wang has spent 30 years practicing and spreading the art Shadow puppetry is a form of theater that use puppets made from leather (皮) or paper, accompanied (伴奏) by music and singing. It was invented during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD24). It tells us about folk tales and historical stories, passing down culture and customs over thousands of years.
Shadow puppetry is all about creating the puppets and performing with them. Wang’s hometown of Hua county (县)，Shaanxi, is known as the birthplace of the folk art. Puppet- makers must follow 24 steps to make the puppets including washing the leather, carving (雕刻) and painting, according to Wang. Carving is the most difficult part.
“We have a special carving skill-moving the leather under the knife” Wang said. It took Wang three years to master this skill. She used a brick (砖) to make her left hand more powerful while practicing. It takes about 3, 000 carves to make a shadow puppet. “The complex (复杂的) steps make it hard to pass down the folk art,” she said.
But Wang has found ways to do so. In recent years, she has made shadow puppets about traditional cartoons and given live streaming (网络直播) peformances. “I hope more and more young people enjoy shadow puppetry and pass it down,” she said.
1. What does Shadow puppetry tell us? (No more than 9 words)2. Why is it so difficult for people to pass down shadow puppetry? (No more than 12 words)
3. How does Wang Haiyan pass down the folk art of shadow puppets? (No more than 12 words)
4. 请将文中画线的句子翻译成汉语。
5. 请给短文拟一个适当的英文标题。
In China, writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and ink stones are called the Four Treasures of Study. Among the high-quality（质量）treasures, the writing brush produced in Huzhou, the ink stick produced in Huizhou, the xuan paper made in Xuancheng and the ink stone made in Duanxi are the best-known.
The writing brushes can be used to draw the pictures on painted potteries（陶器）. They are mainly made of the hair of animals. Those made of wool are called yanghao and those made of the weasel’s（鼬） tail hair are called langhao. Their artistic effects（效果） in writing and painting cannot be copied by any other pens.
The ink stick is the pigment（颜料） used in writing and painting. The ink stick produced in Huizhou is of high quality. A story goes like this: Two famous skilled men Xi Chao and his son produced a kind of high-quality ink stick. As a result, the Emperor Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty agreed to give them the family name “Li”. From then on, the fame of the Li Ink Stick was widespread. In the Song Dynasty, its producing area was changed into Huizhou, and it was then called the Hui Ink Stick.
Paper is among the four great inventions in ancient China. The famous xuan paper appeared in the Sui and Tang dynasties. In Xuanzhou, Anhui Province where the xuan paper is produced, it's said that Cai Lun’s pupil Kong Dan took the job of producing paper but failed to make perfect white paper. Later he happened to see the ebony（檀木） in the rivers. It was wet with the water and turned white. Then he used the bark（树皮）to produce the world-famous xuan paper.
The ink stone was already very popular in the Han Dynasty. The Ming and Qing dynasties saw the appearance of the Four Famous Ink Stones —Duan Ink Stone, She Ink Stone, Tao Ink Stone and Chengni Ink Stone. They can not only be used in writing and painting but also for admiration.
1. What are the writing brushes mainly made of?2. Why did Xi Chao and his son get the family name from the Emperor Li Yu?
3. What does it in paragraph 3 refer to（指的是）?
4. How did Kong Dan find the way to make the famous xuan paper by accident?
5. What’s the title（标题）for the passage?
【推荐1】Is there a connection between music and language? According to recent studies, the answer is yes: Music boosts certain language abilities in the brain. Here are two examples.
Music and Hearing
A study from Northwestern University shows that playing a musical instrument can improve a person’s hearing ability. As a part of the study, two groups of people listened to a person talking in a noisy room. The people in the first group were musicians, while those in the second group had no musical training. The musicians were able to hear the talking person more clearly.
Musicians hear better, says study leader Nina Kraus, because they learn to pay attention to certain sounds. Think about violinists in an orchestra. When the violinists play with the group, they hear their own instrument and many others, too. But the violinists must listen closely to what they are playing, and pay no attention to the other sounds. In this way, musicians are able to focus on certain sounds, even in a room with lots of noise.
Music and Speech
Gottfried Schlaug, a doctor at Harvard Medical School, works with stroke patients (中风病人). Because of their illness, these people cannot say their names, addresses, or other information normally. However, they can still sing. Dr. Schlaug was surprised to find that singing words helped his patients to finally speak. Why does this work? Music seems to activate different parts of the brain, including the sick parts. This somehow helps patients use those parts of the brain again.
Music, therefore, is not only enjoyable; it’s also good for us in many ways.
1. Does a musical training help people hear more clearly?2. How does Gottfried Schlaug help stroke patients speak?
3. What can music do to people according to the passage?
4. Nowadays many students believe listening to music help them to focus on doing homework. Is that true to you? Give the reason.
【推荐2】请阅读一篇关于学习雷锋的短文，根据短文内容，回答问题。
March 5 is a special day for Chinese people because of the name Lei Feng. Lei Feng was an ordinary young soldier whose only goal was to serve the people. He was born in 1940 and died at the age of 22 because of an unfortunate accident while he was working. In 1963, Chairman Mao Zedong designated the day as “Learn From Lei Feng Day”.
Most people born in the 1960s or 1970s keep the strong admiration for the spirit of Lei Feng. What about young people today? Do they still believe in Lei Feng and follow his spirit? The following examples may answer the question.
In 2011, 27-year-old Zhang Liangliang and his friends made a movie where an ordinary guy tries to become a superhero by emulating Lei Feng. The movie named Lei Feng Xia has been seen by millions of people online.
“Some people these days are only interested in success, fame, and money, which means they’re not really well-grounded（脚踏实地）. They need to go back to a good starting point.” said Wang Wei, a young teacher from Zhuhai.
“We can see great things from what Lei Feng did, even though they were just small things. It’s just like the reflection of the sun in a drop of water. It’s our duty to learn from him.” said Li Huanyue, a student from Wen Yuan Middle School.
And with the development of society, learning from Lei Feng should be more realistic and modern than before. In order to do this, Guangdong government announced the new slogan “do each other a favor”. And in Changsha, Hunan, the hometown of Lei Feng, the slogan was also updated from “devote yourself to benefit others” to “do my duty”.
1. Where was Lei Feng born?2. When did Lei Feng die?
3. What was Lei Feng’s only goal?
4. How did people watch the movie “Lei Feng Xia”?
5. Why did Guangdong government announce the new slogan?
【推荐3】Stay cool in ancient China
With the coming of hot summer, it’s difficult to imagine our lives without air conditioners. So, without them, how did the ancient Chinese cool themselves in the summer heat?
Although the ancient Chinese were more conservative（保守的）, the summer heat could drive anyone mad. To keep cool, women would wear thin silk clothes. These clothes were not just for women; men wore them as well. For people living in the middle and lower reaches（下游） of the Yellow River, clothing made of bamboo was popular.
Without fridges, natural ice was the key to making cold drinks in ancient China. In summer, in addition to cold wine, people also enjoyed icy litchi juice and shaved ice.
It’s said that Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China, loved to drink milk and would add ice to the milk to make it last longer in the summer. He also added jam to his favorite icy drink, creating the world’s first ice-cream prototype（原型）.
So where did they keep ice to prevent it from melting in the summer heat?During the Warring States Period, ice was kept in a device called bingjian（冰鉴） to make cool drinks, which was made of metal.
For the emperors in ancient China, especially during the Qing Dynasty, the Mountain Resort（避暑山庄） and its Outlying Temples in Chengde, Hebei Province, were places where they spent their hot summer days.
Besides, the royal family could also stay cool in the Forbidden City. There were five ice cellars （冰客） for ice cellars for storing ice throughout the year. In winter, thick ice would be cut from rivers and placed inside the ice cellars. No light or heat from the outside could enter the cellars. As many as 5, 000 blocks of ice could be put in each one, and the doors wouldn’t be opened until the next hot summer.
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