1 . From different TV dramas or books about the ancient time, we can often hear titles (称谓) like “taoli” and “kaimo”. In fact, they are so popular that people regard them as part of ancient Chinese history and culture. What do these Chinese titles refer to? Have you ever wondered what the stories behind these ideas are?

Modesty and respect

Chinese people in the past or even sometimes today call their sons quanzi (犬子). They believe that dogs are humble (卑微的) animals. When Chinese parents use quanzi to refer to their sons, they are being modest. Although most parents do want them to be successful, they don’t usually talk about this in front of others. Instead, they try to play it down. This is similar to how even rich Chinese people call their big houses hanshe (寒舍), which means “my humble home”.

Although people are modest about themselves, they respect others a lot. They call their own sons quanzi, but call others’sons linglang (令郎), a respectful way to say “your son”.

Trees of character

In Chinese, kaimo (楷模) means “role model”. Both of these Chinese characters have a “木”on their left side. People believe that kai and mo might are two kinds of trees in ancient China. It was said that there were many kai trees growing near Confucius’ tomb (孔子墓). These trees were so straight that they made people think of Confucius’ character—straight and honest. People believed that the mo trees grew near the tomb of the Duke of Zhou (周公). The color of the mo tree’s leaves made the tree a symbol of integrity.

Since the kai and mo trees grew near the tombs of two respected people, kaimo was then used to refer to role models.

3 . Have you ever wondered why we say maidongxi instead of mainanbei, and shangcesuo rather than xiacesuo? These directional words in Chinese are very interesting. They are not only about giving directions but also carry a wealth of history and culture.

East/west or south/north

One theory says that in the Tang Dynasty, when shopping, people in Chang’an usually went to the East Market first, and then the West Market and these markets became more and more popular as time went by. Gradually, people started to describe shopping as maidongxi.

Left or right

In Chinese, we say yijian xiangzuo when we have different opinions. Why is it not yijian xiangyou?

Up or down

We use shangcesuo to mean “go to the bathroom” and xiachufang to mean “go to the kitchen”. Why? In ancient times, houses were laid out in a certain way. The gate of the house would face south, with the bathroom in the northeast of the house and the kitchen in the southeastern part. On map, north is usually at the top while south is at the bottom. In Chinese, we talk about north as shang and the south as xia. Therefore, people would say they were going “up” to the bathroom and “down” to the kitchen.

These directional words help us find our way and get a glimpse into the interesting history and culture of ancient China as well. Next time you use them, maybe you can think about the special meanings behind them and make your conversations much more fun.

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6 . Many countries around the world have the most of something. A report shows the number of islands in some countries. Let’s see which country tops the list.

7 . How do you often get to school today? A recent survey by Weyview School Newspaper shows that Wayview students get to school by taking the bus, driving, riding a bike, walking and riding a scooter (滑板车).

The survey shows that 25% of Wayview students take the bus to school. Fourth grade student Wesley Gibson said, “The bus is the best way to get to school. I can relax and talk with my friends while the bus driver does all the work.” 25% of Wayview students get to school by car. Their parents drive them to school every day.

The other 50% of Wayview students ride their bikes, walk, or ride scooters. 20% of Wayview students walk to school each day. Fifth grade student Alexis Wang is one of them. She said, “Walking to school is better because you do more sports.” 20% of Wayview students ride their bikes. Chris Madsen said, “he likes riding his bike because it’s faster than walking.”

The last group of Wayview students gets to school by riding scooters. More people ride scooters to school now. Last year, only 5% of the students rode scooters and this year it’s 10%. Ellas Peterson said, “Riding a scooter is the most fun way to get to school. It’s cool.” But many students get hurt when riding scooters. Mr Smith, the headmaster of the school, advises that ________.

As you can see, Wayview students find all kinds of ways to get to school. It doesn’t really matter how you get here if you get here on time.

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9 . Electricity plays an important part in our daily life. Without electricity, people can’t work, cook, or watch TV. The traffic lights on the streets also stopped working.

Blackouts (停电) can happen at any time. So, it’s important to be prepared for a blackout. Here are a few tips for you.

◇Keep a flashlight and some batteries (电池) in every room of your home. Sure, your smartphone has a flashlight. However, if a blackout lasts for a few hours, you might want to save that phone charge for other use.

◇Keep some candles and matches, but be careful while using them. You can never be too careful with fire.

◇Keep some food that doesn’t need cooking and has a long shelf life (保质期). Canned food would work well here. Also, remember to keep some bottled water at home.

◇If your family has medicine that needs to be kept cold, make sure you have some ice packs ready. Put them along with the medicine in your fridge. When a blackout hits, only open your fridge when you need the medicine—the cold air inside escapes each time it’s opened.

◇Know your neighborhood well. During a blackout, your air conditioning (空调) will be out. Make sure you know the air-conditioned places (such as convenience stores). If it gets dangerously hot or cold, you can go there.

10 . “Flying Over Chongqing” is a game in Chongqing Rongchuang Cultural Tourism City (重庆融创文旅城). With a pair of glasses, you can visit many places of interest in Chongqing in a few minutes. This is VR—the most exciting technology (科技) nowadays. It can put you in a new but unreal world.

With VR, you can study in a classroom with students from all over the world. You can try on the clothes from different stores or taste delicious food from other places. Doctors can also use VR to help children who can’t put their attention into a thing. This technology makes our life more colorful.

VR technology is also widely used in the game. This year many famous companies (公司), like Apple Inc., Microsoft, Samsung, are trying to make full use of VR technology in the game. For example, ________. The VR technology in this game can make players more excited when playing.

VR technology is going to change our life. Some users will lose themselves and feel mad when playing games with it. Some enjoy themselves too much in the unreal world and don’t want to come back to be themselves in real life. Whether you’re interested in the unreal world or not, please come back to the real world and be yourself.