【推荐1】Chinese Opera cartoon festival kicks off Thursday

2021-02-02 chinadaily.com.cn

An art festival that calls attention to Chinese opera cartoons will kick off in Beijing on Thursday, Feb 11 and run until Feb 26.

The festival is prepared by the Chaoyang Cultural Center and the Culture and Travel Office of Chaoyang, Beijing. The staff members are hoping the festival will get more foreigners and young people to learn more about traditional Chinese culture.

Classical Chinese operas, chosen from 360 kinds of operas in China, are made into cartoons, and will be shown to the public. The cartoon characters look lively and cute, which can quickly be loved by public. Activities will also be held during the festival, such as showing the primary posters and writings, and opera costurne.

Since the festival is mainly held online, people can take part in the activities by watching videos on this online short video platforms or Douyin and Huoshan Video, known as Tik Tok and Vigo Video outside China.

People also can enjoy a 360-degree wide view of the activities online. By using a mouse of a computer or using a mobile phone, people can choose wherever they like to view the activities at home.

1. The art festival will last for ________.

A．11 days

B．16 days

C．26 days

D．37 days

2. People can enjoy ________ during the festival.

A．some Chinese operas played by real people	B．all classical Chinese operas
C．some Chinese operas made into cartoons	D．360 types of Chinese operas

3. People can watch the festival at home because it is ________.

A．mainly held online

B．shown on TV

C．shown to the public

D．held for free

4. This passage is most probably from _________.

A．a magazine

B．a cartoon series

C．a comic book

D．a website

【推荐2】








1. How many countries do the writers come from?

A．One

B．Two

C．Three

D．Four

2. If you have ten yuan only, you can buy _____.

A．Mary Queen of Scots and Under the Moon

B．The Monkey’s Paw and Under the Moon

C．The Coldest Place on Earth and Under the Moon

D．The Coldest Place on Earth and Mary Queen of Scots

3. Which is the following is NOT TRUE?

A．You could read Mary Queen of Scots in 1998.

B．The Coldest Place on Earth and Mary Queen of Scots are from the same writer.

C．The Monkey’s Paw is the story of a monkey.

D．The story of Under the Moon happens in 2222.

【推荐3】

Cool driverless bus A bus door opens and you get on. Wait, where is the driver? Here is a new kind of driverless bus called Apolong. It can seat 14 people and doesn’t need a driver. The bus follows traffic rules. It stops every time it sees a stop light.	Your close friend Hi, everyone. I’m Xiaoice, a chatbot (聊天机器人). I speak like a 17-year-old girl. If you feel lonely, you can talk with me. I’m good at singing, writing poems and telling stories. I want to be your friend!
World’s first AI anchor Hey, look! The famous Chinese anchor (主播) Qiu Hao is reporting the news for Hao? But, is “he” really Qiu Hao? The answer is “no”. This is the world’s first AI anchor. It looks and speaks just like a real person. It speaks both Chinese and English. It can work 24 hours without any mistakes. The AI anchor joins Xinhua’s reporting team. You might see it on TV soon.	Popular AI artist This beautiful painting was at an auction (拍卖) in 2018. It sold for about 3,000,000 yuan! But it is not a work by a famous painter, such as Vincent van Gogh. It was painted by an AI artist. Three Frenchmen created the AI. The AI artist studied over 15,000 paintings. In this way, it learned to paint. Now it is among the most popular artists in the world.

1. The fact about Apolong is that ________.

A．there is a driver in it

B．the door is opened by the passenger

C．there are 24 seats in it

D．it stops every time it sees a stop light

2. Xiaoice CAN’T________.

A．go out to play with you

B．talk with you if you feel lonely

C．be your friend

D．sing, write poems or tell stories

3. The painting is________.

A．a work painted by Vincent van Gogh

B．worth about 3,000,000 yuan at an auction

C．studied by three French artists over 15,000 times

D．among the most beautiful paintings in the world

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Xiaoice is a 17-year-old girl.

B．The AI anchor can only speak English.

C．The AI anchor can work 24 hours without mistakes.

D．The AI artist is one of the most popular artists in China.

5. We can probably see the passage in________.

A．a guidebook	B．a notice
C．a novel	D．a newspaper

【推荐1】Mobile Phone Madness

How much do you love your mobile phone? A Chinese student had to call 110 for help this week after he got his arm stuck in a toilet when trying to rescue his mobile phone. After dropping his phone in the toilet, he decided to wrap his arm in newspapers in the hopes of keeping clean.

But the newspapers expanded in the water, and then even his roommates couldn’t help him pull his arm out. So policemen were called and they spent an hour unsticking the stuck student.

Crazy Pet Lovers

How much do you love your pets? Many people in China are famous for how much they love their pets. They dress them up in fashionable clothing and buy them high quality food. But would they spend 7,000 English pounds (68,000 yuan) on a wedding for their pets? And that’s what a couple in Brazil spent on a fancy wedding for their pet Yorkshire terriers(a kind of dog).

Oh, Rats!

When something goes wrong, you can often hear Westerners cry “Oh, rats”. But when it comes to Southern China, “Oh, rats!” can mean it’s what you want for dinner. According to a report in China Daily, some restaurants in Guangzhou serve rat meat. But, actually, most of those rats are field mice. What would Mickey Mouse say?

Liar, Liar

Here’s some news that most women already know. Men tell more lies than women. The London Daily Mail cites（引用）a new study that says men tell about three lies a day, while women tell only two lies a day. Men are also less likely to feel guilty about lying, according to this week’s survey of 3,000 people by a research organization called One Poll. According to the Poll, lying to our mothers is very popular. But then, so is lying at work. And both men and women will lie when it comes to how much they’ve drunk. So how easy is it to tell when someone is lying?

1. A Chinese student called policemen for help as he ________.

A．lost a mobile phone in the classroom	B．dropped his mobile phone in the toilet
C．failed to pass a test	D．argued with his roommates

2. The underlined word “expanded” in Passage 1 probably means ________.

A．smelt awful

B．moved quickly

C．were offered

D．became larger in size

3. The writer calls the Brazilian couple “crazy pet lovers” because they ________.

A．dress their pets up in fashionable clothing	B．buy their pets high quality food
C．spent ￥68,000 on a wedding for their pets	D．spent £7,000 in buying a pet

4. If you say “oh, rats” in Guangzhou, it can mean that ________.

A．something goes wrong	B．you see some field mice
C．you are a Mickey Mouse lover	D．you’d like to have rat meat for dinner

5. Neither men nor women will tell the truth ________ according to the Poll.

A．about how much they’ve drunk	B．when they feel guilty about lying
C．when women tell less lies than men	D．when they talk to their fathers

6. Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A．It is difficult to unstick the stuck student.

B．The couple’s pets are Yorkshire terriers.

C．People in China enjoy eating rat meat.

D．3,000 people took part in the survey made by One Poll.

【推荐2】Tomatoes taste great. With a lot of vitamins, they are good for you, too! People around the world enjoy this amazing fruit.

Not all tomatoes are red. They can be yellow, orange, pink or white. All tomatoes are green before they are ready to be picked. Then the tomatoes turn their true color. That’s when they are ready to eat!

Tomatoes first grew in the Americas. The Incas (印加人) grew them over 1,000 years ago. They were introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the early 16th centuy. The Spanish and Italians seem to have been the first Europeans to accept them as food. In France, people grew tomatoes in the garden just to enjoy their beauty. Many people there thought tomatoes would make them sick. It was years before some of them would eat tomatoes.

Tomatoes are fruits. They grow from seeds. They won’t grow in cold weather. But with water, sunlight and warmth, tomatoes grow fast. They can grow in pots or in the ground. As the plant grows taller, people may tie it to a stick. Next is the blooming stage. Flowers appear. The flowers turn into fruit. Some kinds of tomatoes can be picked in about six more weeks. Some tomatoes are large. One kind of tomato can weigh as much as two pounds.

You can eat raw tomatoes. First, wash them. Then, cut them up for salads or sandwiches. Tomatoes can be cooked, too. They can be grilled, boiled, or even fried. Do you use ketchup (番茄酱)? It is made from tomatoes. Tomatoes don’t have a smell. But they taste great in foods around the world. Many dishes from India use tomatoes. Italians use them to make spaghetti sauce and pizza, too.

1. What can we know from the passage?

A．Tomatoes come in different colors.	B．Tomatoes grew in Europe first.
C．Tomatoes can grow in all weathers.	D．Tomatoes have a special smell.

2. What color are tomatoes before they are ready to be picked?

A．Yellow.

B．Orange.

C．Pink.

D．Green.

3. What does the underlined word “stage” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Time.

B．Board.

C．Set.

D．Flower.

4. Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

5. What’s the theme (主题) of the passage?

A．Family.

B．Food.

C．Science.

D．Health.

【推荐3】Many people like to drink soda pop（苏打汽水）but they may not know that soda pop has an interesting story.

The story began with mineral water（矿泉水）.In many places，people thought washing with mineral water was good for their health.Some said drinking mineral water was also good for people.Some mineral water had bubbles（气泡）in it，so people learned to make bubbly water.They put CO₂ into water to make the water bubbly.They called the bubbly water“soda water”.

Later people put juice or some other things to make soda water taste good.Some people drank soda water for their health.Many people liked it for its good taste.Some people went to buy soda water every day.Many medicine stores or ice-cream shops sold soda water.Now people can buy soda pop water in every food store.Some people call it"pop"，some say"soda”and other people call it“soda pop”.

At first people made soda pop because they thought it was good for their health，but in fact it's bad for us.For example，drinking too much soda pop may make us fat.Well，maybe we shouldn't drink this kind of good-tasting water for our health.

1. People in many places drink mineral water because __________.

A．they thought it was good for their health

B．it tasted good.

C．they thought it was cleaner

D．it was cheap

2. People made water bubbly by putting __________ into it.

A．air	B．CO2
C．juice	D．ice-cream

3. People could buy soda pop at __________ in the past.

A．food stores	B．restaurants
C．ice-cream shops	D．supermarkets

4. Which of the following is TRUE about soda pop?

A．It's bad for people's health.

B．It's only sold in medicine stores now.

C．It doesn't have any bubbles now.

D．It tastes worse than mineral water.

5. The passage mainly tells us that __________.

A．soda pop is an old drink

B．soda pop has different name

C．soda pop has an interesting story

D．soda pop is popular with many people

【推荐1】配对阅读。左栏是五个人的旅行喜好，右栏是七则旅行目的地的信息。请将旅行喜好和目的地信息进行匹配。

1     Elina enjoys seeing the wild animals and expects to feed them.     2     Grandpa Lee loves old stories of those famous cities. He prefers to take a boat to have a short trip.     3     Linda loves shopping and buying things along the way when travelling.     4     Mabel will take her family out for a trip. She hopes her two children will enjoy it together.     5     John is good at acting. He plans to study art and hopes to watch plays in English.

A. Welcome to the Ocean Park. There you can enjoy different kinds of activities. There is also a free concert for children. B. The National Dinosaur Museum recently shows the public Stegodon(剑齿象), standing at 4 metres tall and over 7 metres long. The exhibition shows the lives of the dinosaurs. C. Have you ever wanted to feed animals? Now you can! And in some cages, you can even hug your favourite animals at Beijing Zoo. D. Find great souvenirs ( 纪念品 ) from soft toys to wonderful clothing at Rico’s Gift Shop. There are beautiful old products and nice handmade things. E. Go to the great garden at Old Parliament House. This peaceful place provides about 5,000 roses for you to take beautiful pictures. F. Welcome to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre! Every Sunday, famous artists around the country arrive here to give great English plays to people. G. Come to experience Paris and go sailing across the River Seine. On the short boat trip, you will hear some history stories about Paris.

【推荐2】YOUNG INVENTOR COMPETITION!

            What you need to do is simple. Come up with an idea for a futuristic (想象未来情况的) invention that will help people in their everyday lives, and draw a picture of it. It could be anything from a robot who cleans the house to a machine that does your homework for you.

       Think big and get creative! The aim (目标) is to design (设计) something that is fun as well as helpful. Think about what the future might look like and what would make life easier and more enjoyable. Why not give your invention a name too?

Who can enter? Anyone aged between 9 and 16 can join in our competition. If you enter as a team, your team should include 3 members at most.

How to enter? Send a picture of your invention to prize@nosycrow.com between October 11 and November 1, 2023.

WIN! You could win a book card worth $500 and your very own robot friend, a Wonder Workshop Dash Robot, worth £147!

Got a question?

1. The competition requires competitors to ______.

A．design a home robot	B．name a special machine
C．describe the future world in a story	D．show a futuristic invention with a picture

2. Which team can enter the competition?

A．Mike, aged 9; Toby, aged 8.

B．Linda, aged 17; Susan, aged 10.

C．Dave, aged 12; John, aged 13; Lucy, aged 14.

D．Jenny, aged 10; Kate, aged 10; Alan, aged 16; Bill, aged 16.

3. The material is probably from a ______.

A．website

B．storybook

C．travel guide

D．science report