The Water Festival in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province usually takes place in mid-April and lasts three to seven days. It is not only important for the Dai people, but also attracts many tourists. It is believed that the more water splashed (泼洒) on you, the luckier your life will be.
The festival is recognized as the new year for the Dai people. They organize various activities, including splashing water, flying Kongming lanterns and dragon boat races. During the festival, flight bookings to Xisbuangbann a increase and most of the bookings come from Chengdu, Chongqing, and Guangzhou. Room bookings also increase by nearly 50 percent.
To make sure of travelers’ safety and hoppiness, Xishuangbanna has strengthened market supervision (监督). The government will make use of folk cultures and the good environment to develop different types of tourism, hoping to increase tourism-related income (收入).
1. The water festival in Xishuangbanna usually lasts two weeks.2. The person who gets more water will get less luck the next year.
3. You can fly Kongming lanterns and watch dragon boat races in the festival.
4. Chengdu is the only city has many flight bookings to Xishuangbanna during the festival.
5. With the development of tourism, Xishuangbanna will be better and better.
2 . Ghaffar Pourazar, a British man, has learned the necessary skills to perform Beijing Opera and he has become popular with his lively performance of the Monkey King, a traditional character from the Chinese classic story Journey to the West.
In 1993, he happened to watch Beijing Opera performed in London by professionals from Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. Ghaffar fell in love with the beautiful voices, colorful costumes, excellent shows and so on. So after a year, he arrived in China alone and became a student of Beijing Opera.
At the age of 32, he had to learn with teenage students every day, starting from the most basic training of the legs and waist (腰). At that time, he was mostly troubled by the dialogue in Beijing Opera. To him, it was the biggest problem. But he tried his best to practice it. 4 years later, he began to learn to perform the Monkey King. He usually arrived at the workroom on hour earlier than the other performers and he also bought books and CDs to understand the character better. Finally, He once won a top international prize for performing the Monkey King.
To help more people enjoy Beijing Opera, Ghaffar often teaches the traditional art form in schools in the United States, Britain and other countries. Ghaffar led a group of actors to perform 66 times in a month and a half in the United States. He also led a 48-member team to perform in Malaysia. In the past 10 years, he has performed in more than 400 shows.
1. Why did Ghaffar start learning Beijing Opera?| A．Because he thought it was a necessary skill. |
| B．Because Journey to the West is his favorite. |
| C．Because he loved Beijing Opera after watching one. |
| D．Because he wanted to be an actor and made lots of money. |
| A．30. | B．32. | C．34. | D．36. |
| A．Careless. | B．Creative. | C．Hard-working. | D．Warm-hearted. |
a. He got basic training with teenage students.
b. He watched a Beijing Opera performance in London.
c. He bought books and CDs about the Monkey King.
d. He won an international prize for performing the Monkey King.
| A．b-c-a-d | B．b-d-a-c | C．b-a-c-d | D．b-a-d-c |
| A．He performed Beijing Opera by himself. |
| B．He likes to teach his children to speak Chinese. |
| C．He led a 66-member team to perform in Malaysia. |
| D．He did a lot to spread Beijing Opera to other countries. |
When visiting Yunnan, you’ll find the 18 oddities in Yunnan (云南十八怪). For example, “girls wear flowers in all seasons” and “three mosquitoes (蚊子) make up a dish”. Maybe you’ve never heard of these expressions (表达) before. Now more and more people fall in love with the delicious flower dishes in Yunnan.
The people in Yunnan have been eating flowers for a long time. After the Spring Festival, March is always the best time to eat the flowers. One popular kind of flower is Tangli Flowers (棠梨花), which can be picked in the mountains. The flower sellers say it is very hard to pick two kilos of these flowers each time. They have to climb up to the tall trees and pick up the flowers carefully. Have you ever tried Tangli Flowers? They taste a little sweet!
The other kind is Jinque Flowers (金雀花). This kind of flower is also used as helpful medicine when people don’t want to eat anything! My grandma can cook Jinque Flowers very well. She says it’s a traditional way to cook Jinque Flowers with eggs. How delicious and healthy!
1. Two kinds of popular flowers are mentioned in this passage.2. In Yunnan, it is the best time to eat the flowers during the Spring Festival.
3. It’s not easy to pick Tangli Flowers because they are in the mountains.
4. If you don’t feel like eating any food, Jinque Flowers can help you.
5. The passage is mainly about the delicious flower dishes in Yunnan.
Spring is here, and it is time to enjoy West Lake Longjing tea. Usually, we think of workers picking tea leaves by hand. But now, some Longjing tea is being picked by smart tea-picking robots!
In a Hangzhou tea garden, a smart tea-picking robot developed by Zhejiang SciTech University begin to work for the first time. “We took thousands of pictures of new tea buds (芽) and put them into the robot for it to learn. The robot uses an AI model to recognize (识别) the buds it needs to pick,”said Professor Chen Jianneng, Party branch secretary (党支部书记) of the research team. This lets the robot find the right tea buds about 90% of the time.
The robot’s arm pulls and sucks (吸) up the tea buds. These buds are quickly moved into a special box. After the robot collects all the buds from the area it’s working at, it moves the buds from the box to a main box.
The robot was made because there are not enough people to pick tea leaves. In Zhejiang, about 400,000 more pickers are needed now. “Picking is the biggest challenge for the development of the tea industry,” said Professor Wu Chuanyu, who leads the research team.
“Tea-picking robots are a trend (趋势) of the future,” said Wu. About five years from now, the robots will do the job of picking West Lake Longjing tea instead of people, Wu added.
1. Spring is a time to enjoy West Lake Longjing tea.2. In a Lincang tea garden, some Longjing tea is being picked by robots.
3. The robot uses an AI model to find out the right tea buds it needs to pick.
4. In Zhejiang province, about 40,000 more pickers are needed now.
5. The text mainly talks about robots are created to help pick tea leaves.
Tree-planting Day is the day when some countries widely advertise (宣传) the helpful effects of forests, and encourage people to plant trees. In this way, people can be inspired to plant and love forests, and the environment will be improved. Many countries in the world have set their Tree-planting Day based on their own real situations.
Tree-planting Day is on March 12 every year in China. There are two reasons for it. One is the sunshine, because spring is very warm and good for trees to grow. The other is to memorize SunYat-sen, who is considered the “Father of Modern China” for his role in the events that led to the end of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen passed away on March 12, 1925. When he was alive, he paid much attention to forests. China takes the death day of Sun Yat-sen as Chinese Tree-planting Day to memorize him. March 12, 2024 is China’s 46th Tree planting Day.
In America, Tree-planting Day is a state festival, so there is no nationwide date, but America will organize tree-planting activities in April or May every year, and even take a day off in some states. The first Tree-planting Day was held on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. People planted over one million trees on that day.
Every year, Cambodia celebrates Tree-planting Day (also called Arbor Day) in each of the twenty-five provinces of the country on July 9, with a tree-planting ceremony attended by the king of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
1. The first paragraph tells of the advantages of forests.2. March 12 is the date when Sun Yat-sen passed away.
3. Americans planted more than one million trees in April every year.
4. The king of the Kingdom of Cambodia takes Arbor Day seriously.
5. The passage is mainly about Tree-planting Day in different countries.
You might see a fat wolf on the side of the road in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve in Qinghai province. It wags (摇晃) its tail in front of the passing cars. It hopes to get a meal.
However, the wolf was skin and bone a few months ago. It’s said that the old hungry wolf was forced to leave the wolf group because it was not good at hunting. But that changed after a passing driver gave it two pies and posted a video of it online. The video made the wolf very popular, and a lot of people came to the area to provide it with food.
Since then, the wolf has given up its hunting instinct (本能) and turned to passers-by for snacks. The snacks are high in oil, sugar and salt. Later, more wolves have joined this behavior. The wolf’s change makes it look like a pet dog. But the change means that it is losing its ability to live in nature, and that may cause the wild animal to die. In fact, it is common for wild animals like wolves and bears to be fed near the roads in the province. People care about wild animals, but their feeding sometimes can cause harm to both animals and themselves. If a wild animal needs help, people are suggested to report it to the government for professional handling (专业处理).
1. The wolf in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve is fat all the time.2. The wolf in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve is alone after it lost its way.
3. The wolf in the Hoh Xil Nature pushed more wolves to follow its example.
4. After losing the ability to hunt, a wolf will certainly die.
5. The text mainly warns us to help wild animals in a right way.
In a faraway place in the mountain s of Yunnan, China, a new kind of village is appearing—a smart village. Imagine living where every home can go online through fast 4G and 5G networks, not just cables (电缆). This is not a story; it is really happening now.
Yunnan is known for its beautiful natural environment. In the past, a few homes often shared one internet connection. But things have changed thanks to hard work by people at China Telecom. Now every household can go online. This is part of a bigger plan to use technology to modernize farming and improve rural (农村的) life.
In these smart villages, farmers have some cool little tools to help them. For example, cows can eat a special capsule (胶囊). This capsule collects information about the cow’s health and sends it to a computer. This allows farmers to know exactly what cows need to stay healthy and produce good milk and meat.
But it’s not just about animals. In places like Dali and Lijiang, technology also watches crops like rice and mangoes. Cameras and sensors (传感器) can tell farmers the weather, soil conditions, and even if insects are harming crops right away. This means farmers can better take care of plants to ensure we have delicious, healthy food.
These villages also use technology for safety, better tourism management, and community services. Over 11, 000 village platforms have been built so far, making the dream of a modern, connected countryside come true.
1. Yunnan’s smart villages didn’t have an internet connection before 5G networks.2. Every household can go online in smart villages thanks to China Telecom’s efforts.
3. A special capsule is used by farmers to check crops’ health in smart villages.
4. Both cow health and crop conditions are watched using technology.
5. This article is likely from a technology magazine.
Many scientists find that colors can change people’s feelings. It’s very interesting. Some colors can make people feel relaxed, and some colors can make people feel nervous.
Now, this kind of knowledge (知识) is being used in many places. For example, school walls are always painted green because green makes students feel relaxed. It is also good for the students’ eyes. Some books are also green or light blue for the same reason. Restaurant owners not only have to know how to make food, but also have to know how to make money. Here are some things they’ve learned from scientific (科学的) studies. The colour red makes people hungry. Many fast food restaurants have red furniture or walls. Soft colors like pink and light blue make people feel relaxed, so they spend more time eating. Loud music may be nice at first, but it soon makes people want to leave. Hard seats also make customers want to eat quickly and leave. Many restaurants, especially fast food restaurants, use this knowledge to make customers eat faster.
1. Few scientist find that colors can change people’s feelings.2. The colour green is good for the students’ eyes.
3. The colour red makes most people feel worried.
4. Loud music is nice because it always makes people want to stay.
5. The passage is mainly about using colors to change feelings.
A slow train in Southwest China with its own study room has drawn much attention. The train No. 5609/5610 runs between Chongqing and Xiushan county.
It is a public-welfare (公益的) “slow train”. In some carriages (车厢), some desks and chairs next to the windows take the place of seats in order to turn the carriage into a “study carriage” for passengers in need.
The train No. 5609/5610 is not the only one of this kind. Other “slow trains” have become “study carriages”, too, including No. 5619/5620 and 5633/5634. They run along the Chengdu-Kunming Railway. Students from nearby schools often take the trains between school and home. The trains are their “school buses” and they often use their travel time to finish homework. Many passengers also use their travel time to complete work.
On the train No. Z150, running between Guiyang and Beijing, a “book bar” carriage has been popular with college students. There are nearly 400 universities and colleges in the cities along the line, making the train the top choice for most students from those schools. Since 2015, the train’s dining car has been open for free at night. It provides students with a lending library, free tea and other services. It’s a relaxing place for the students to continue their studies.
1. The main passengers of the “slow train” are those who are busy with work.2. The seats on No. 5609/5610 are changed into desks and chairs to provide space for learning.
3. No. 5619/5620 connects Chengdu with Chongqing.
4. Students need to pay to study in the dining car of No. Z150 at night.
5. The text mainly talks about special “study trains”.
The China-Laos Railway is a big hit for travelers, making trips between China and Laos fun and easy. This year, over 5.19 million people rode on this train, and more than 60,000 of them went across the border. People love it because it’s quick and lets them see new places. Imagine having breakfast in Kunming, China, and then enjoying coffee in Vientiane, Laos, by evening!
This train line is special because it brings different cultures together. It helps people explore and connect with new places in a cool way. In Yunnan, China, this train has made traveling easier and more exciting. It connects Kunming to many places quickly, helping more people travel inside China and to Laos.
Lots of people are choosing to travel to beautiful spots in Yunnan like Xishuangbanna, Shangri-La, Dali, and Lijiang. To make traveling even better, there are new trains and trips designed for fun experiences. One of these is the “Elephant Towards Number” train, which goes around the province and is a big hit with tourists.
The train service is also thinking about older travelers by offering special trips to big cities. This makes traveling nicer for them. Plus, there are cool trains for sightseeing, like the Jianshui Ancient City mini train and the Shipping tourist train, which lots of visitors enjoy.
The China-Laos Railway is making travel cooler and helping people see more of China and Laos in fun and easy ways.
1. Over 5 million people have used the China-Laos Railway this year.2. The China-Laos Railway reduces travel time between Kunming and Laos to less than a day.
3. The “Elephant Towards Number” train offers tours within Yunnan Province.
4. Special train trips are available for younger travellers to explore major cities.
5. The article is likely from a travel magazine or website.
