Calligraphy(书法), in English, means the art of producing beautiful hand-writing using special pens or brushes. Chinese calligraphy is a traditional form of writing characters with a long history. It has existed(存在) for more than 2, 000 years.
There are five main kinds of traditional Chinese calligraphy. They are zhuanshu, lishu, kaishu, xingshu and caoshu. Through centuries of practice, Chinese calligraphy can be seen on the walls of offices, shops, hotels, and houses. Calligraphy isn’t only popular among the Chinese. Picasso, the world-famous master of art, once expressed, “If I once lived in China, I must have become a calligrapher rather than a painter.”
Practicing Chinese calligraphy needs basic instruments. They are brush, inkstick, paper, and inkstone(砚台). We call them the “Four Treasures of the Study”. It’s impossible for everyone to become a master of Chinese calligraphy. But practicing it more often is really useful and helpful. First, you can learn hand-writing to improve your understanding of Chinese characters. Next, it is believed that calligraphers enjoy a long life because the practice is a good form of physical training. Besides, you have to get concentrated(全神贯注的) and have a peaceful mind when practicing it. This way, you will get improved and your worries will be gone.
Some primary schools offer lessons to teach students Chinese calligraphy. There are also clubs of Chinese calligraphy started by calligraphy lovers. Chinese calligraphy is an important part of our traditional culture. We should pass it on.
1. How long has Chinese calligraphy existed? (No more than 5 words)2. Where can we see Chinese calligraphy? (No more than 13 words)
3. What are brush, inkstick, paper, and inkstone called? (No more than 9 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。
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Last year, I went to Italy as an exchange student. Before leaving, I asked my mother what gifts I should take to the teachers and the students there. Mom said that the Chinese fan was a good choice, for China is praised as “the Fan Kingdom”. I couldn’t agree ① ________, because it is more than a tool for cooling. It’s also an important part of Chinese culture.
I went shopping and bought three kinds of Chinese fans. The first kind was the feather (羽毛) fan for the teachers, which was made of bird feathers. It was the symbol of Zhuge Liang, a very smart man in ancient China. The fans I bought for the girls were silk fans. They were also called “round silk fans”. Fans of this kind were made of silk with paintings of beautiful women, birds or flowers. They were very popular with women. As for the boys, I picked the folding fans from Rongchang, a place in the west of Chongqing. The folding fans were made of paper and bamboo and there were great paintings and calligraphy (书法) on them.
At the ②________ party in Italy, my new teachers and classmates were all excited to get the wonderful fans. And they were even more excited after learning about the stories and culture behind them.
任务一：请根据短文内容，分别写出①、②处所缺词语(每空一词）。
1. ①
任务二：阅读短文，从短文中找出与下面句子意思相近的句子。
2. I bought some silk fans for the girls.
任务三：请把上文中画线的句子翻译成汉语。
3.
任务四：请根据短文内容回答下列问题。
4. How many kinds of fans did the writer buy?
5. Why did the writer choose fans as the gifts?
In China, writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones are called the Four Treasures of the Study. Among the high-quality treasures, the writing brush produced in Huzhou, the ink stick produced in Huizhou, the Xuan paper made in Xuancheng and the inkstone made in Duanxi are the best-known.
The writing brushes are mainly made of the hair of animals. Those made of wool are called yanghao and those made of the weasel’s 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: Xi Chao and his son produced a kind of high-quality ink stick. As a result, Emperor Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty agreed to give them the family name “Li”. 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, （now Xuancheng, Anhui）, where the Xuan paper is produced, it’s said that Cai Lun’s pupil Kong Dan happened to see the ebony （黑檀） in a river. It was wet with the water and turned white. Then he used the bark（树皮） to produce the world-famous Xuan paper.
The inkstone was already, very popular in the Han Dynasty. The Ming and Qing dynasties saw the appearance of the Four Famous Inkstones-Duan Inkstone, She Inkstone, Tao Inkstone and Chengni Inkstone. They can be used not only in writing and painting but also for admiration.
The title: | |
Writing brushes | The writing brushes |
| The ink stick is the pigment used in writing and painting. The high-quality ink stick was produced in Huizhou. | |
Paper | Paper is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. The Xuan paper is produced in Xuanzhou,（now Xuancheng, Anhui）, Kong Dan happened to see the ebony in the river and then the bark |
Inkstones | Duan Inkstone, She Inkstone, Tao Inkstone and Chengni Inkstone are the Four Famous Inkstones. They appeared |
Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world（after water）was invented by accident? Many people believe that tea was first drunk about 5,000 years ago. It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was the first to discover tea as a drink. One day Shen Nong was boiling drinking water over an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and remained there for some time. It produced a nice smell so he tasted the brown water. It was quite delicious, and so, one of the world’s favorite drinks was invented.
A few thousand years later, Lu Yu, “the saint of tea”, mentioned Shen Nong in his book Cha Jing. The book describes how tea plants were grown and used to make tea. It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.
It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th centuries. In England, tea didn’t appear until around 1660, but in less than 100 years, it had become the national drink. The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. This helped to spread the popularity of tea and the tea plant to more places around the world. Even though many people now know about tea culture, the Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.
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Hello, my name is Jack and I am 12. David is my brother, and he is 10. This is a picture of our bedroom. You can see it’s not big. I am tidy but I think David is not.
In the picture, you can see the table is in the middle of the room. I have a white model plane. It is on the table and the family photo is on the table, too. Where are my books? They are in the bookcase. My balls are in the bag. But David’s jacket is on the floor and his books are not in the bookcase. They are everywhere. Where are his keys? Are they on the table? Oh, no, his keys are under the bed. His pencil box is on the sofa, but his eraser is on the floor and his schoolbag is on the floor, too. David always asks, “Where are my keys?” “Where’s my English book?” or “Where is my eraser?”
| Jack and David are |
China is a very big country. So there are many different kinds of weather.
In some places the winter can be freezing. Shenyang is near the Great Wall. Sometimes the temperature can fall to -40℃ there. In other places, in the middle of China, it is often very hot. Nanjing is sometimes 40℃.
In Beijing, winter lasts from December to March. It is usually dry and there is heavy snow. But the sun often shines. Summer is different. It is often very rainy and very hot. Spring and autumn are the best seasons. It is sometimes quite hot in the day but the evenings are cool.
In Guangzhou, the weather is often very hot in summer. The winters are short and cool. It sometimes rains.
In the middle of China, summers are long and hot and wet. In Wuhan, it is often hot from April to October. The winters are different: cold, wet and not very long.
Urumqi becomes very hot and dry in summer. Turpan is sometimes 47℃. The winters are different. Urumqi is usually about -10℃ in January, but the temperature can sometimes fall to -40℃.
1. How many cities are there in the passage?2. Which city is near the Great Wall?
3. How long does Beijing’s winter last?
4. What is the feature(特征) of Wuhan’s winters?
5. What is the feature of Urumqi’s summers?
【推荐3】Be careful with a storm
Watch the sky. Look for darkening (变黑的) skies or the winds. Rain often follows suddenly. So don’t wait for it to begin. If you hear the thunder (雷), go to a safe place at once. A building or a car is the best place to go, but make sure the windows of the car are closed. If there is no good place around you, stay away from trees. Crouch(蹲伏) down in the open area, put your feet together and put your hands over your ears. If you’re with a group of people, stay about 5 metres from one another. Stay out of the water. Also, stay away from clotheslines, and drop your bags because they often have metal on them. If you’re playing an outdoor activity, stop it quickly.
Keep away from water. Do not take a shower, wash your hands, do the dishes or do other things with water. Do not use a mobile phone. Do not use computers or TV sets during a storm. Stay away from windows and doors.
根据短文内容，完成下面的表格。
| What you can do | What you can’t do |
| Look for darkening skies or the | Don’t stay in the water. |
| If you hear the thunder, go to a | Don’t go on doing an |
| Crouch down in the open area, put your feet together and put your hands | Don’t stay under |
| If you’re with some people, stay about 5 metres from | Don’t do anything with |
| Stay away from the clotheslines and | Don’t stay |
