Meet two or three friends, walk around the city, take a look at old buildings, or taste authentic (正宗的) local snacks...Recently, Citywalk has become a new favorite among young people. It’s a new, relaxing way of traveling.
People can take a Citywalk by exploring (探索) the streets on their own or by following a tour guide. They generally don’t go to famous shopping centers. Instead, they go to small shops or restaurants and know about the history and culture of the city.
Many Citywalkers love to share their carefully planned routes (路线) online, including how long the walk will take and what beautiful places they will see along the way. It is helpful to those who want to take a Citywalk.
Nan Xi, a girl from Shanghai, moved to Xi’an not long ago. One day, when she went online to find something interesting to do on weekends, she got to know about Citywalk. “I think Xi’an is a perfect city for Citywalk. There are big trees along the streets and shops selling different things, which is great for friends to walk together and take photos,” she said. She decided to give it a try. She signed up for a two-and-a-half-hour Citywalk tour and listened to the guide talk about the history of the buildings and streets along the way. “I enjoyed the views and visited some small shops excitedly that day. Besides, this tour gave me a better understanding of how Western and local cultures mix together in Xi’an,” she said.
Take a Citywalk! Feel the beauty of your city in a new way!
1. By whom is Citywalk preferred recently?Recently Citywalk is preferred by
2. What can people know through Citywalk?
People can know about the
3. Where did Nan Xi know about Ctiywalk first?
Nan Xi got to know about Citywalk
4. Why is Xi’an the perfect city for Citywalk?
Because there are nice streets for people to walk together and
5. What title can you make for this passage in no more than eight words using “Citywalk, way, traveling”?
Baozi is one of the common Chinese food for breakfast. But this simple meal became an important character in a film, and even won an Oscar.
On February 24, 2019, the short film Bao won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. In the film, a small baozi becomes the “son” of a lonely Chinese woman in Canada.
Domee Shi got the idea from her own experience. When Shi grew up, she wasn’t free and spent little time with her mother.
Bao shows the life of an empty-nest (空巢的) Chinese-Canadian mother. It also tells us that the Chinese woman loves her “son”. She makes delicious food and cleans up the house for her son. These things really show the strong love of Chinese parents for their children.
“Traditionally, Chinese parents don’t say ‘I love you’ to their kids. I didn’t use conversation in the film because I wanted it to be a story that spoke to everyone around the world,” said Shi at an interview.
Moreover, this film can also help parents and children better understand each other and learn how to express (表达) love.
1. When did the short film Bao win the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film?It won this award
2. Where did Domee Shi get the idea about the film?
She got the idea from
3. What does the mother do for her son in the film?
She makes delicious food and
4. How does the film help parents and children?
It helps them better understand each other and
5. What do you think of this film?
I think it’s
3 . 
One of the most exciting and interesting forms of Chinese opera is Sichuan opera. The dancers often throw their bodies around in ways you can hardly believe, and the actors can be very funny. They can also make the people who are watching afraid by blowing fire from their mouths. But one thing is very special to Sichuan opera—face-changing, or bianlian.
The actors wear specially painted masks (面具) on their faces in many different colors. This is common in Chinese opera. But what surprises you in Sichuan opera is that the actor’s face can suddenly change completely and you cannot see how this has happened! A face that was red suddenly becomes blue. A mask that was smiling suddenly becomes sad.
Some actors can change face times in twenty seconds, and yet you never see their fingers touch their face. How do they do it?
The masks are made from very thin silk in bright colors. If the actor turns his back to you, you think he is changing his mask while you cannot see him doing it. But when he turns again to face you, it’s the same mask. Then he shakes his head suddenly... and that mask has changed, like magic, into another one! You cannot believe your eyes, and yet it has happened!
The exact method used by the actors is a closely guarded secret that is only passed on from father to son or master to apprentice (学徒). Girls weren’t allowed to learn the art. However, times—like Sichuan masks—are changing, and there are women face-changers in China and even abroad.
1. What does the writer think of Sichuan opera?He thinks it is
2. What does the underlined word “this” refer to in the passage?
It refers to the fact that
3. What are the masks made from according to the fourth paragraph?
They are made from
4. How was face-changing passed on in the past?
It was passed on
5. Why did the writer write the passage?
Because the writer wanted to
A crested ibis (朱鹮) is a white bird with a red head. East Asia is its only home. People thought they had already died out in China in the 1970s.
At the same time crested ibises, which are regarded as the national bird in Japan, were also on their way to dying out. Their population was going down sharply. So Japan set up the first ibis protection centre in Asia in 1967. Still the last Japanese crested ibis died in 2003.
In 1982 some farmers in Yangxian, Shaanxi reported to the local government they had seen a few white birds with red head. Bird experts (专家) hurried to Yangxian. They carefully compared the birds with the pictures they brought from Beijing Zoo. To their excitement, these big white birds were really crested ibises.
This news brought excitement to the world. Japan first sent a group of bird experts to help China study and protect the endangered (濒危的) birds. After careful study, they believed there were altogether seven crested ibises in China in the early 1980s.
China set up its ibis protection area in 1983. This has played the key role in increasing the population of ibises. In the late 1980s, ibises largely stayed away from dying out. Later, China began to give crested ibises to Japan and Korea as national gifts. Now there are all together more than 2000 crested ibises in China and its wild population has reached 1500.
1. How does a crested ibis look like?It’s a white bird with
2. What were crested ibises regarded as in Japan?
They were regarded as a
3. Who found crested ibises in Yangxian in 1982?
4. Why did Japan send a group of bird experts to China?
Japan sent a group of experts to help China
5. How many crested ibises are there in the wild at present?
There are
5 . It’s Li Ming’s turn to make the Blackboard Newspaper for his class this week. Here is his work. Let’s have a look together.
My Favorite Chinese Ancient Poems| Poet: Yue Fei | Poet: Su Shi | Poet: Du Fu |
| Poem: Full River Red | Poem: Hunting at Mizhou | Poem: Spring View |
Yue Fei was a great hero! He led his army to recovery much of the lost land of the country. The poem expressed him deep love for his country. His spirit of serving his country with total loyalty (忠诚) has a great influence on all the Chinese people. ———Zhou Kefan | Loving the country was a important part of Su Shi’s life. He showed his love and care for the country and people in his poems. This poem tells us his strong hope to protect the country and the wish for victory. Su is my idol and his attitude towards life influences me a lot. ———Xu Hui | Du Fu experienced the great changes of Tang dynasty from its rise to fall. So most of his poems wrote about his care and love for the country. This poem describes his deeply sadness at the broken country. I love reading Du Fu’s poems, which help me have a deeper understanding of the history of Tang dynasty. ———He Wen |
1. Which poem does Zhou Kefan like best?
Zhou Kefan likes the poem
2. Who has a great influence on Xu Hui?
3. Why does He Wen love reading Du Fu’s poems?
Because he thinks Du Fu’s poems can help him
4. What do the three poems mentioned in the text have in common?
They all describe
5. There are some mistakes in the text. Please correct one of them.
Are you healthy? Many students have health problems. The students from Guangming Middle School have a project for the English class—How can we keep healthy. Let’s have a look.
◆Do a survey (做调查).
| I think health comes first. We must have good eating habits. I only eat healthy food. I like fruit and vegetables. I like apples best and I have an apple every day after dinner. Eating well is helpful for our health. |
| I like doing sports and watching them on TV. I always play ping-pong with my friends. It is my favorite sport because it’s interesting and easy for me. Fan Zhendong is my favorite ping-pong star. |
◆Give a report.
From Liu Jie and Li Yuan, we know that students should have good eating habits and do sports to keep healthy. And we can also have a trip with family, listen to music and read interesting hooks to relax. These are all beneficial to our health.
◆Make a poster (海报).
It is “
2. What’s Liu Jie’s favorite fruit?
3. Why does Li Yuan like ping-pong?
Because it’s
4. Which English word means “项目” in the passage?
It is “
5. Are you healthy? What can you do to keep healthy?
Most clay warriors and horses are found broken into pieces. How do people who repair them bring them back to life?
First, piecing
People try to put all the pieces in the right places. If some important pieces are missing, they can go back and look for them. It’s like doing a “jigsaw”. Each piece is given a number. People take photos of them.
Second, repairing
People send the pieces to the “hospital”. There, “doctors” use X-ray and 3D image to give them a checkup. The pieces are covered by mud. The “doctors” clean them with small brushes. For the colorful pieces, the “doctors” use some chemical materials to protect their colors.
Third, sticking
When sticking the pieces of a warrior together, people start from the feet and finish with the head. When doing a horse, they start with its body. During the sticking, people may make mistakes and have to take the pieces apart.
Finally, drawing
People draw some pictures of the warriors and horses. The pictures show how the warriors and horses are repaired. So, people can better study and protect them.
1. How many steps are mentioned to repair warriors and horses in the text?There are
2. Which English word in the text means “拼图”?
It is “
3. How do people protect their colors when repairing colorful pieces?
They
4. Why do people draw pictures of the warriors and horses?
Because people can
5. What title can you make for this text in no more than eight words using “the warriors and horses, repair”?
The title can be “
As we all know, doing housework is helpful for teenagers development. Do teenagers in small villages do housework at home? How about the teenagers in big cities? We made a survey (调查) last month. We asked 4,000 teenagers in China. Half of them come from big cities. The others are from small villages. Let’s look at the result.
We can find out that teenagers in small villages do more housework than those in big cities. Maybe it is because teenagers in small villages live a harder life or their parents are too busy to look after them. As a result, teenagers in small villages are more independent than those in big cities. We will give our advice to parents in big cities. We think parents should give their children some housework to do because it’s a good chance (机会) for teenagers to learn how to take care of themselves. Besides, they should give their children more free time so that they can do what they love to do.
1. Who does the underlined word “them” refer to (指代的是)?It refers to
2. In the survey, how many more teenagers in villages fold the clothes than those in cities?
There are
3. Why do teenagers in small villages do more housework than those in big cities?
Perhaps because teenagers in small villages
4. According to the passage, what can teenagers learn by doing housework?
They can learn
5. What do you usually do to help your parents at home?
I usually
A Report on Growing Potato Plants
What I prepared (准备):
●A potato with sprouts (芽).
●A flower pot with soil.
●A camera.
What I recorded;
Day 1: The colour of the soil looks darker because I just watered it. In the centre of the pot, I see a little sprout. I call it Buddy. Buddy is green and yellow. I wonder how fast it will grow.
Day 6: Without much change in the past five days, I finally see that Buddy grows taller today. It’s exciting to see new life like this.
Day 11: Buddy is getting larger! Three more new sprouts grow around Buddy! I guess I need to be a bit more patient.
Day 13: Buddy grows taller. The leaves on the new sprouts grow a bit.
Day 15: Finally, the leaves on the other sprouts are 3 cm tall. They’re so green. I hope they will soon grow into new potatoes.
What I learned:
I think it’s really interesting to grow potatoes by myself. During these fifteen days, I learn that growing potato plants needs plenty of water. If the soil is dry, the potato will fail to grow. I also learn that the temperature needs to be right. If it is too cold, it won’t grow.
I feel that growing plants is just like trying to succeed (成功) with anything in life — it takes time, lots of hard work and patience.
1. How many kinds of things did the writer prepare before growing potatoes?He prepared
2. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?
It refers to “
3. When does Buddy grow taller?
Buddy grows taller
4. How does the writer like growing potatoes by himself?
He thinks it is really
5. Which English word in the text is the noun form of “patient”?
It is “
Over the past few years, technology has played an very important role in culture protection in China. One of the beneficiaries (受益者) of this trend is the Xi’an City Wall, China’s largest and best-preserved (保存最完好的) ancient city wall.
Located at the heart of Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, the city wall was built as a military defense (军事防御) system over 600 years ago. The wall is up to 14 meters wide at the top.
Bearing witness to history, the city wall is also the part of modern city life. A lot of tourists go on top of it, while streams of cars and buses pass through the city gates daily.
However, the city wall has experienced some damage over the years. This produced the challenge of protecting the ancient treasure without influencing its modern functions. Some experts tried to deal with this challenge by using high technologies.
Last year, Muon Imaging Technology (μ介子成像技术) was used in the wall. This technology was developed by a research team of Lanzhou University. It can scan the inside of the thick body of the wall to discover damage, without any harm to the wall itself. With such technology, the preservation of the city wall has changed from repairing to damage checking and prevention.
“In recent years, China has made a national cultural digitization strategy to encourage the cultural industries. The Xi’an City Wall will develop in line with this strategy to make culture preservation and cultural tourism stronger,” said Zhao Bin, director of the Xi’an City Wall Digital Industry Innovation Center.
1. How long is the history of the Xi’an City Wall?It has a history of
2. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
It refers to “
3. How has the preservation of the city wall changed from repairing to damage checking and prevention?
The preservation of the city wall has changed from repairing to damage checking and prevention with the use of
4. Which English word in the passage means “损坏”?
It is “
5. What does this passage mainly talk about?
It mainly talks about
