The FIFA World Cup came to an end in December 2022. But the love for soccer is still very much alive and well in Zibo, Shandong province. Zibo is called “the home of soccer ball”. It’s the birthplace of the ancient Chinese sport of cuju. In 2004, cuju won the recognition(认可) of FIFA — soccer’s governing body — as the earliest form of soccer.

The Chinese character cu means to kick. Ju means an ancient type of leather ball. It has feathers(羽毛) or grain chaff(谷糠) inside. The ancient Chinese historical text Zhan Guo Ce says cuju was a form of entertainment(娱乐) among common people. But during the Han Dynasty, soldiers played cuju for army training. During the Tang Dynasty, women played cuju at the royal court(朝廷) for the entertainment of the emperors. It entered the golden age in the Song Dynasty when it became popular among every class. Yet, the 2,000-year-old game slowly got out of people’s lives during the Ming Dynasty.

Li Weipeng, 34, from Linzi district of Zibo city, is a seventh-generation inheritor(传承人) of cuju. He has been practicing cuju skills for 18 years. Mastering different cuju skills is not easy. “At the beginning, I spent eight hours a day practicing juggling(颠) a ball. It was tiring,” Li told China Daily. He now can juggle a ball with his foot over 10,000 times in a row.

Teaching students cuju moves is a part of Li’s job. The traditional Chinese sport cuju is now popular at primary and middle schools in Linzi. “Students show great interest in playing cuju. It encourages me to promote(推广) the ancient sport,” Li said.

People used sundials (日晷) to tell the time in ancient times. It was very (A) difficult to calculate time before the invention of clocks

The Chinese invented the first mechanical clock (机械钟) in 1088. One hundred and ninety-five years later, the British invented the first clock in Europe. The Germans invented the alarm clock 67 years later.

The Italians invented the first pocket watch in 1462. Early watches were different from today’s in two ways. First, they only had an hour hand. (B) ________, you had to keep them in your pocket. People called them “pocket clocks”. (C) But they were not as big as usual clocks.

The first wrist watches came from Switzerland, 328 years after the first pocket clock was invented. (D) ________ they did not become popular until a hundred years later

Digital(数码) clocks and watches came from the US. Shops (E) began to sell them in 1971. At that time, they were the newest invention in timekeeping.

(F)现在有很多种类的表. Some are very cheap, some are very expensive, and some can even speak and tell you the time! Clocks and watches have come a long way.

Sleep plays an important role in our life. A lack of sleep can influence our ability to work and study.

    1    

Normal people need 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. But for teenagers, a healthy amount(数量) is about 8 to 10 hours. Sadly, only 1/3 of people manage that.

    2    

Tiredness usually reaches its highest twice a day, at 2 a.m. and 2 p.m. That explains whys students easily fall asleep in afternoon classes. So sleeping at noon for a while helps us work better in the rest of the day.

    3    

People can make mistakes if they don't get enough sleep. Students cannot pay attention in class or do well in sports. Drivers who have fallen asleep while driving have caused 1%—10% of the traffic accidents in our life. And we can imagine what will happen if a doctor feels sleepy at the operating-table!

    4    

There are several ways that can help us sleep better, such as avoiding drinks that make us excited late in the day, going to sleep at the same time each night, and sleeping in a comfortable place that is dark, quiet and warm.

【推荐2】Popcorn, the Perfect Snack

Pop! Pop-pop! Fresh popcorn is one of the most popular foods when people are watching a movie or a ball game. It is delicious, cheap and easy to make. Popcorn may just be the perfect snack.

Not all com pops. There is a tiny amount of water in corn kernels (玉米粒). When the corn kernel is heated, the water in it turns to steam (水蒸气). In some corn the steam goes out through the outside cover. In popcorn the steam can’t get out. Pressure builds up until... pop!

Popcorn has been around for thousands of years. Back then, people made popcorn by putting corn kernels on red-hot stones near a fire. Popcorn was not always eaten whole as it is now. Instead, people made the popcorn into a type of flour (面粉) and then added water to make bread.

The first poppers (爆米花机) were invented in the 1880s. These machines heated the corn with steam. Later these popcorn poppers were put into small wagons (车) and pulled to different places. Popcorn was sold at carnivals (狂欢节), parks and state fairs. People could not get enough of it!

Soon movie theaters began selling popcorn too. It started the tradition of eating popcorn at the movies. At this time popcorn became more popular than ever. For a short time though, people began eating less popcorn. In the 1950s, television was still very new. Many people stayed at home to watch television instead of going to movies. Few people owned popcorn poppers. Then microwave ovens (微波炉) were invented. It became easy to make popcorn at home. Americans started to eat more popcorn again—more than one billion pounds each year!

Could you imagine being in a car driven by a computer, not a human? Recently, China has made a big step toward self-driving technology. Since August, driverless taxis have run on roads in big cities like Shenzhen and Wuhan. Why do we develop self-driving cars?

Self-driving cars give us many benefit (好处). They use computers to feel the things around them and make better use of space. This means fewer traffic jams and better parking of cars. For disabled or blind people, self-driving cars can also help them get around more easily.

Every year, many road accidents happen around the world. The main cause of them is human error. With self-driving cars, road accidents can reduce by 90 percent. Because self-driving cars use computers to make good decisions, they won’t lose focus like humans do.

But self-driving cars aren’t perfect. If something unexpected on the road happens, self-driving cars can’t react as fast as a human driver can. Also, during weather events like heavy snow, self-driving cars will struggle to see the lines on the road. It might lead to an accident.

It’s clear that there is a lot of work to do to make self-driving cars a common and safe sight on our roads.

Luckily, China is taking the lead in making this happen.

I am Bob. I have two questions to ask you. Do you think English is difficult? Does it give people a headache?

Some people can’t learn English well. But English is very easy for me. I am happy to tell you something about how to study English.

First, I think an interest in English is very important. When I was in Grade One, we had a new subject—English. It was fresh for me. I was interested in it. So I worked hard at it. Soon we had an English exam and I got a very good mark. How happy I was! After that, I learned English harder and harder. Our English teacher often teaches us English songs. The songs sound nice. I often think how interesting English is!

Second, I think English is a foreign language. I should learn it well in the following ways: listen to the teacher carefully, speak bravely, read aloud and have a good vocabulary. Then practice again and again, never be tired. And I also have a good habit: Asking whenever I have a question, I must make it clear by asking our English teacher. How happy I am when I understand!

Third, I often read English stories, jokes and easy novels. From these I know English is not only interesting, but also useful. They help me understand a lot of things. So to do more reading is an important way to learn English well.

At last, I also do some exercises from our class magazines. English has become a close friend of mine.

Now I have learned English for more than two years. I always keep the first position in our school. I hope every student can learn English well.

Every year some birds fly south when days turn cold and leaves from trees start to fall. ①They travel a very long way to find a warmer winter. This travel is called migration（迁徙）.

Birds do that because in winter most of the plants die and some insects（昆虫）hide. ②fly, to, They, away, food, enough, find. The next year, when there is ③much food for them to eat, they will come back.

Birds fly in some ways. For example, they fly in groups like the letter V or in a row. The trip is often hard and it may be dangerous. ④But they never gets lost because they look at the sun, the moon and stars.