Yanmen Pass, or Yanmenguan, located in Xinzhou, Shanxi province, is a famous pass along the Great Wall. It was set up on Yanmen Mountain during the Tang Dynasty and was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty.
In ancient times, Yanmen Pass was difficult to get through, so it was regarded as “the most important among the nine passes under heaven”. It could prevent northern nomads (游牧民族) from getting into central China. As an old saying goes, “The nation would be safe if Yanmen was under control and the nation would be endangered if it lost control of the pass.”
The pass is about 1 kilometer long and the height of the wall is about 4 meters. There are three gates in Yanmen Pass, with the central gate called Yanmen, which means “wild goose gate”. It was named after the wild geese that were often seen flying around the pass.
During the Qing Dynasty, there was often heavy traffic on the roads near Yanmen Pass, which often led to arguments between businessmen and the local people. In 1772, the local government set up a stone plaque (石碑) to manage the traffic. It is one of the country’s few ancient traffic signs that still exist (存在) today.
The pass was also a custom gate for Wang Zhaojun, one of the “four great beauties” of ancient China. To keep peace between the nomads and the Han people, she was sent to marry the leader of a group of nomads, leaving the well-known historical story “Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Great Wall”, which is still widespread today.
Yanmen Pass plays an important role in history and culture. Now it has become a valuable treasure to attract tourists from around the world.
Yanmen Pass in Shanxi province is a famous pass along the Great Wall. In ancient times, it Yanmen Pass has three gates, with the central gate called Yanmen. It was named so With its importance in history and culture, Yanmen Pass has become a valuable tourist attraction around the world. |
相似题推荐
| The Tiangong Space Station Widely known to the world, China’s space station is named Tiangong, which means “Heavenly Palace” in Chinese. It symbolizes(象征着) the fascinating place that the Chinese have long imagined in the sky. Actually, Tiangong is described in many traditional Chinese fairy tales like Journey to the West. The main character in the story used to shock the gods in Tiangong. His spirit has encouraged many young people and it’s clear that Chinese astronauts who keep fighting and never give up have the same spirit as he. |
Having completed the six-month task, the three astronauts of China’s Shenzhou XIII team, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, left China’s space station—the Tiangong space station and returned to the mother planet on the morning of April 16, 2022. The whole nation welcomed the heroes home.
After being carried out by ground workers, the three astronauts announced that they had successfully completed the Shenzhou XIII task. And they expressed thanks to the Chinese people for their support and encouragement. As the first Chinese woman to live in the Tiangong station, Wang Yaping, who has become an inspiration to lots of girls, also told her little daughter proudly that “mom has returned after reaching for the stars”.
During their time in space, the astronauts made many breakthroughs(突破) for China’s space program. They finished the nation’s longest stay in space. And they completed two spacewalks that totaled more than 12 hours. Wang took part in the first spacewalk on Nov 7 last year and became the first female Chinese spacewalker. She also took lots of photos of our motherland from the space. Some places of interest could be seen in some of the photos.
The team also carried out two science lectures for Chinese students. In those lectures, the astronauts showed how they lived and worked inside the space station and some amazing physical phenomena only possible in space.
In early February, the astronauts spent the Spring Festival inside the space station. They became the first Chinese people to celebrate the country’s most important traditional festival in outer space. They appeared in a live broadcast gala and sent their best wishes to Chinese people.
Several days before their return, Zhai Zhigang and his teammates recorded a video in which they answered questions from students across the United States who were interested in their life and work.
From all aspects, the Shenzhou XIII team has achieved success. It is connected with the Chinese astronauts’ difficult training, good teamwork and courage in the face of danger. Without doubt, all Chinese astronauts will continue to step forward and make new contributions(贡献) to China’s space exploration.
1. Please translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.2. The description of The Tiangong Space Station is mentioned to show us the
3. Why do you think Wang Yaping can become an inspiration to lots of girls?
4. According to Chart I, we can see ①
5. Please complete the fourth breakthrough made by the China’s Shenzhou XIII team in Chart II.
6. What have you learned from the members of the Shenzhou XIII team? How will you put what you have learned to good use in life?
Animals and people cannot live without green plants. They both eat plants. People and some animals also eat the meat of some animals and these animals eat plants.
| A plant makes its own food in its 56. |
| Water comes to the leaves through the roots. Air gets into the leaves through small 57. |
| The green color in the leaves uses the 58. |
| Animals and people cannot live without 59. |
| People and some animals also eat the 60. |
【推荐3】Some rays (光线) of sunlight are harmful to our eyes. Even on cloudy days, the sun’s rays can still damage (损害) our eyes. Besides, damage to our eyes comes from other things as well, such as reflection (反射), especially when we are around water, sand, or even snow.
This is the reason why people who often go out wear sunglasses for protection. It is advised that we wear sunglasses whenever we are outdoors during the day. Some people may wonder, though, how sunglasses protect our eyes.
The secret is that the coating (涂层) and the lenses(镜片) are used. Sunglasses are tinted (染色) with various colors; each color tint is used to prevent a certain type of light. With coating, UVB rays are unable to pass through the lenses. The coating and the special design of the lenses can help greatly to protect our eyes from harmful rays.
Moreover, sunglass lenses are designed with an anti-reflective coating to reduce reflection from water and snow. This reflection prevention is good to drivers and people who take part in water and snow sports.
On the market, there are lots of sunglasses that are not of good quality, which not only have no effect(作用) on protecting our eyes from harmful rays, but can also do more damage to our eyes. Therefore, when you buy sunglasses, you should ask the person who is selling them whether the sunglasses are of a good quality. If they say they do not know, you should go to another store until you can find a shopkeeper that can tell you which pair offers the best protection.
Title: How sunglasses
| Some harmful things to our eyes | Sunlight | Damaging our eyes even when it is |
| Refection | Damaging our eyes when we ate around water, sand or snow | |
| The secret of sunglasses | The coating | Preventing certain types of light |
| The lenses | ||
| The | Avoiding getting sunglasses of bad quality | |
| Going to shops whose keepers can give information on sunglasses | ||
Some students sometimes see history as a difficult subject in school. If you have the same feeling and happen to like cats, the online cartoon named If History Were a Group of Cats is perfect for you. It is based on（以……为基础）Fei Zhi’s comic books of the same name. Every simple story it tells can be found in the textbook.
As the name suggests, a group of cats is the main characters. 12 lovely cats play the roles of classic characters, with cute and straight-forward（直白的）language. In the story of Creation of Heaven and Earth by Pangu （盘古开天地）, Huang Di is an animal lover, while Yan Di is interested in farming. Chi You is a cat who enjoys fighting with other cats. Every cat has a different personality（个性）. They make lovely mews （猫叫声）when they fight with each other. Even serious historical events become interesting because of those cute cats.
This cartoon shows us a new way of learning history and helps more people find the charm（魅力）of history. It tells us that learning history can also be fun.
1. What kind of show is If History Were a Group of Cats?2. Where can we find it?
3. Who is the main characters?
4. How many characters are mentioned（提及）in the story of Creation of Heaven and Earth by Pangu?
5. According to the passage, is learning history fun or boring after watching If History Were a Group of Cats?
A 108-year-old Message in a Bottle
On November 30, 1906, George Bidder dropped a bottle from a boat into the North Sea. The weighted glass bottle sank almost to the sea floor, and then it moved slowly for 108 years and 138 days.
Its journey ended when Marianne Winkler found the bottle in 2015. Winkler was then on vacation on Amrum Island. She picked up the bottle when it was washed up onto the beach. She saw a piece of paper inside, but didn’t break it open. She could tell that the bottle was old, so she didn’t want to damage it. Finally she got the piece of paper out of the bottle. She found that the paper was actually a post-card. On the back of the card there was this message: The Marine Biological Association (海洋生物学会协会) would pay a shilling (先令) for the bottle. A shilling was a unit of money that was used in Great Britain before the early 1970s.
Winkler filled out the card and posted it. The association was surprised to get a postcard addressed to George Bidder, the president of the association from 1939 to 1945. The workers of the association searched on the Internet to find a shilling. They found one and sent it to Winkler as a reward.
The message in the bottle was the oldest ever re-discovered. For this reason Marianne Winkler got a place in “Guinness World Records” (吉尼斯世界纪录). She broke the record for the oldest message in a bottle.
Winkler’s bottle was not the only one Bidder sent to sea. Between 1904 and 1906, he sent away more than one thousand bottles. He placed postcards inside them. The bottles were part of a research project to map currents (洋流) in the North Sea. This was the best method at that time. But whether the association could get the bottles back depended on the people who found them. The association reported that about 55 percent of the bottles were returned. They added that the experiment was a success as it showed the east-to-west flow of the North Sea’s currents.
1. How long did the weighted glass bottle move in the sea?__________________________________________________________________
2. When did Marianne Winkler find the bottle?
__________________________________________________________________
3. What was in the bottle?
__________________________________________________________________
4. Who was George Bidder?
__________________________________________________________________
5. Why did Bidder drop bottles into the sea?
__________________________________________________________________
General information about Zheng He and his voyages
| Year of birth | 1371 | |
| Place of birth | Yunnan | |
| Career | a trusted official of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty | |
| Order from the emperor | to visit and explore the lands outside China | |
| Tasks of his voyages | • to develop relations with foreign countries • to set up trade routes with foreign countries | |
| Facts about his voyages | period | from 1405 to 1433 |
| times | 7 | |
| the areas he visited | South-East Asia, the Middle East and the east coast of Africa | |
| the significance of the voyages | • They allowed China to trade valuable goods like gold, silver and silk. • They encouraged the exchange of cultures and technologies. • They helped the development of those countries and regions. | |
2. What was the order from the emperor?
3. How long did Zheng He’s voyages last?
4. Where did Zheng He and his ships travel during the seven voyages?
5. What valuable goods could China trade after Zheng He’s voyages?
Yan Wenjiao is a college graduate living in Manle village, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. Like Ma Liang with the Magic Brush, Yan changes his hometown into a famous place of interest. How does he make it? Yan’s story began in July 2015. When Yan returned to his hometown for summer vacation, he drew some paintings on the walls of his house. Passing villagers often stopped and watched. Some people found Yan’s wall paintings beautiful and asked him to paint for them. Yan gladly agreed. At the same time, he found that there were many old walls in the village. So he decided to draw more paintings on those walls. In June 2018, Yan decided to return home after graduating from an art school in Hubei Province. “Going to college was not to leave my hometown but to come back better prepared,” Yan said. Yan created beautiful wall paintings and ground paintings in every corner of the village, covering about 5,000 square meters. In 2020, Yan set up a team with other like-minded (志趣相投的) people. Starting from their villages, they have made wall paintings across Yunnan and even travelled to Beijing, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Chongqing, painting in more than 300 villages. |
1. What is Yan Wenjiao good at?
2. How did some villagers like Yan Wenjiao’s works?
3. Why did Yan Wenjiao return home instead of living in a big city?
4. Where can you see Yan Wenjiao’s works in his village?
5. Who has Yan Wenjiao worked with from 2020?
One day, an old man good at climbing trees was training five boys and it was the last day of their training. For their final test, the old man took them to a tall tree that was very difficult to climb.
The boys started climbing the tree. The old man said nothing while they were climbing up the tree. But when they were halfway down, he said, “Take it easy and slow down…Be careful.” As a result, all the boys climbed down the tree safely. Everyone was happy.
Then a boy went to the old man and asked, “Sir, you told us to be careful while we were climbing down the tree. Why not while climbing up the tree? It was more difficult.”
The old man said, “When climbing up the tree, you were already careful enough. But when you were climbing down, you began to feel that your work was about to be completed. Then your attention began to wander (走神) and you might have made some mistakes.”
In life this can often happen to us. Something can always go wrong at the last moment. So we must always be careful until everything is completed.
1. What did the old man say when the boys were climbing up the tree?（不超过5个词）2. How did the boys feel when they climbed down the tree safely? （不超过5个词）
3. What can we learn from the story? （不超过10个词）
Mr. and Mrs. Spencer both had very busy jobs and didn’t have much time to spend with their young children. They wanted to change this. Both of them were interested in boating, so they decided to sail (航行) around the world with their children.
It took them six years to prepare everything for the trip. First, they bought a new boat. Then, they had to take advanced (高级的) sailing lessons and learn all about the sea and the weather. Mr. Spencer also took several courses in preparing engines and Mrs. Spencer spent an hour in a restaurant to cut up fish.
In October, they had one year off from their jobs and sailed from England with their two children. The next year, in August, their trip ended in Australia.
The boat was not big, but they took a teacher for their children with them. Their trip was not boring because there were three computers, many CDs, a TV and a DVD player on the boat.
The family loved seeing the stars in the sky during the trip. But, most of all, Mr. and Mrs. Spencer enjoyed spending time with their children while they were still young.
1. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer liked boating, so they decided to2. It took Mr. and Mrs. Spencer
3. The next year, in August, they finished their trip
4. Their trip was
5. The family liked
Qinghai Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in China. And it is also China’s largest saltwater lake. The lake is very clean and blue, and it looks just like a big blue mirror. There are many interesting places to visit: Bird Island and rope flower(油菜花) seas.
Every April, lots of birds come to Bird Island to lay eggs(产卵). And before winter, they fly south. There are many different kinds of birds. May is the best month to see the birds here.
From July to September you can see the rape flower seas near Qinghai Lake. Walk in the yellow flower seas and you will feel very happy and forget all your worries.
But these years Qinghai Lake is getting smaller. People worry about it very much. We must do something to protect the beautiful lake.
1. Is Qinghai Lake the largest saltwater lake in China?2. Why do many birds go to Bird Island every April?
3. Which month is the best month to see the birds on Bird Island?
4. How long do the rape flower seas last?
5. What’s the matter with Qinghai Lake?
【推荐2】During the summer holiday, visiting museums became a new fashion. Tourists were seen queuing for long hours in front of museums and getting entrance tickets became more difficult.
According to media reports, the Henan Museum received more than 12,000 visitors this summer, nearly double that of the same period in 2019. The Hangzhou Museum recorded 12,800 visitors on 16th July, setting a new record.
According to Xinhua News Agency , the “museum fever” can be caused by different factors, including people’s increasing enthusiasm (热情) for traditional Chinese culture, the increasing market for youth educational (教育的) tours and summer camps, and the continuous development of museums. Lin Liugen, the director of the Institute of Archaeology at Zhejiang University, said the “museum craze” shows a deep connection between the public and traditional culture. More people want to have a deeper understanding of China’s rich culture and history.
Summer camps, family trips and educational tours have been the important forms of tourism, with museum visits becoming a must-do activity for travellers. Besides, new technologies (技术) have made cultural relics easier to reach. For example, 3-D projection technology makes the relics come alive before visitors’ eyes. AR glasses offer a special experience. Liu Yanchang, the curator (馆长) of the Shandong Museum, said, “In the future, more and more people will take visiting museums as a kind of habit and lifestyle.”
注意：每小题答案不超过6个单词。1. How many visitors did the Henan Museum receive in summer in 2019?
2. According to Xinhua News Agency, what market is increasing?
3. According to Lin Liugen, what do more people want to deeper understand?
4. What can AR glasses offer to museum visitors?
5. What is the text mainly about?
【推荐3】Visitors to Beijing are likely to tour the Forbidden City, Tian’anmen Square, the Summer Palace and city gates. But for those who want to know about the past and present lifestyle of locals, the Qianmen area is the perfect place to go.
Qianmen Street is the main street in the Qianmen area. The street was called Zhengyangmen Street in past history, but in 1965, it got the name Qianmen Street Walking along the street, you can find some time-honored brands (老字号) such as Quanjude and Duyichu.
Along Qianmen Street, there are many hutongs. And Dashilanr is one of the must-visit hutongs. The name “Dashilanr” means “big fence (围栏)”. The hutong got this name because in the past, there were big fences in the hutong for safety reasons. Dashilanr has many time-honored stores and one of the oldest cinemas in China—the Da Guan Lou cinema. The cinema screened China’s first film Dingjun Mountain in 1905. So, many people think of it as the birthplace of Chinese film.
Not far away from Dashilanr, there is a hutong called Yangmeizhu Xieje. The hutong is only 496 meters long, but it played an important role in the development of China’s publishing industry (出版业). The hutong was home to several famous publishing houses many years ago. And some famous people like Shen Congwen and Lu Xun once lived in or liked to visit the hutong.
There is a lot to see in the Qianmen area. If you take a trip to Beijing, don’t miss the area.
1. For whom is the Qianmen area a perfect place to go?2. When did Qianmen Street get its second name?
3. What does the name “Dashilanr” mean?
4. Why do many people think of the Da Guan Lou cinema as the birthplace of Chinese film?
5. Which hutong in the Qianmen area played an important role in China’s publishing industry?
