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.
One day, an 11-year-old girl asked her dad, “What are you going to get me for my 15th birthday?” The father replied, “Don’t worry about that. We still have plenty of time.”
But on a day after her 14th birthday, she passed out (昏倒) and was rushed to the hospital. The family learned that the girl had a serious heart disease and that she might die. At night, she asked her dad, “Daddy, have they told you that I am going to die?” The father replied, “No, you will live as long as anyone else.” She wondered and asked, “How can you be sure?”
He smiled to her and said, “I just know it.”
After the girl turned 15, she had a heart transplant (心脏移植手术). After she came back from the hospital, she found a letter on her bed. It said, “My dearest daughter, one day you asked me what I would give you for your 15th birthday. I wasn’t sure then. But now you know that my present to you is my heart.” The father had given his heart to his daughter.
Parents are selfless (无私的). They even make great sacrifices to make their children grow up happily. Keep this in mind when you feel angry toward your parents. Always, they’re just doing what they think best for you.
1. The girl had a heart disease when she was 11 years old.2. The father said that the girl would live as long as anyone else because the girl’s disease was not serious.
3. The father gave nothing to his daughter for her 15th birthday.
4. The underlined word “sacrifices” means “牺牲” in Chinese.
5. We shouldn’t be angry toward parents because they’re just doing what they think best for us.
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.
Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings and senses, including love, happiness, sadness and wisdom (智慧) lived. One day they were told that the island would fall below the sea, so they all got on boats and left except love.
Love was the only one that stayed until the last possible moment. Finally, love decided to ask for help.
Wealth was passing by love in a beautiful boat. Love said, “Wealth, can you take me with you?”
Wealth answered, “No, I can’t. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no room for you.”
Love decided to ask pride, who was also passing by in a beautiful ship. “Pride, please help me.”
“I can’t help you, love. You are all wet and might damage (损坏) my boat,” pride answered.
Sadness was close by, so love asked, “Sadness, let me go with you.”
“Oh... love, I am so sad. How can I take someone else with me?”
Happiness passed by love, too. But she was so happy that she did not even hear when love called out to her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, “Come, love, I will take you.” It was an elder. Love was so excited that he forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at the river bank, the elder went his own way. Love was thankful to the elder, so he asked wisdom, another elder, “Who helped me?”
“It was time,” wisdom answered.
“Time?” asked love, “But why did time help me?”
Wisdom smiled and answered, “Only time can understand how valuable love is.”
1. According to the passage, there was an island with many people and many things.2. In the end, all feelings and senses left the island except love.
3. Wealth thought gold and silver were more important than love.
4. Happiness didn’t take love because she was so happy that she didn’t hear love.
5. The story wants to tell us that only time can help us deeply know the value of love.
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.
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.
The British Museum is the biggest one in the world. It was built nearly 300 years ago by a doctor, Sir Hans Sloane. The man liked to collect things such as books, drawings, clothes and so on. He also hoped that his children and grandchildren kept his things well and so people would visit them after his death. His wish came true, and the museum opened in 1759, six years after Sir Hans Sloane died. Later, more antiques (古董) arrived at the museum and more people wanted to visit it.
The museum had a famous round Reading Room. There was something unusual in the room. Cool air came up through small holes in the tables. Hot air flowing under the floor kept readers’ feet warm. Since its opening, many famous people wrote and studied there.
It is open every day of the year, except two holidays (New Year’s Day and Christmas). Entrance (入场) is free. There are lots of special exhibitions and every day there are different films and talks, some of them for children. Small machines tell you about the museum as you walk around it.
So if you are one of the British Museum’s two million tourists this year, don’t try to see it all too quickly. There is a lifetime of looking in the British Museum.
1. People built the British Museum to remember Sir Hans Sloane.2. The doctor Sir Hans Sloane died in the year of 1753.
3. Tourists can visit the museum on New Year’s Day and Christmas Day.
4. The British Museum is worth spending much time visiting.
5. The text mainly talks about the Reading Room in the British Museum.
I’m living in a busy city. There are too many people and too many cars. Too many people and too many cars cause too crowded traffics. At the same time, the cars give out much smog(烟雾), especially(尤其是) at rush hours(高峰期). The smog pollutes(污染) the city terribly. The problem is becoming more and more serious. We should do something to prevent(阻止) it. First, I think we should have more police officers at the busy crossings. They can stop the traffic jams(阻塞). Second, we should not make more parking lot(停车位) for cars. When people think that it’s easy to park in cities, more people will drive to work and it will make the traffic more crowded. Third, we should make it more expensive for drivers to drive cars to cities. Then more people will leave their cars for their bikes. Fourth, we should encourage people to take a bus to work. Fifth, we should build special ways for bikes so that more people will go to work by bike instead of by bus or in a car. Finally, we should spend more on the public transportation(公共交通). For example, we can build more subway lines. Of course, we can also do many other things to improve our traffic.
1. There are serious pollution problems in the writer’s city.2. We should make fewer parking garages.
3. Some people drive to work because they needn’t spend too much cost(费用) on it.
4. The traffic systems(交通系统) in the writer’s city are perfect.
5. The writer gives five suggestions in order to help solve the traffic problem.
Do you know why different animals or insects have their own special colors? Colors in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves.
Some birds like eating locusts (蝗虫), but birds cannot easily catch them. Why? It is because locusts change their colors together with the change of the colors of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But as the harvest time comes, locusts change to the same brown color as crops have. Some other insects with different colors from plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves during the day and appear only at night.
If you study the animal life, you’ll find the main use of color is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through forests. They cannot be easily seen by hunters. This is because they have the colors much like the trees.
Have you ever found an even more strange act? A kind of fish in the sea can release a kind of black liquid (液体) when it faces danger. While the liquid spreads over, its enemies can’t find it. And it immediately swims away. So it has lived up to now though it is not strong at all.
1. Locusts change their color to match the color of crops to avoid being eaten by birds.2. Insects that look different from plants are active both during the day and at night.
3. Animals that have colors different from trees would be more easily noticed by hunters.
4. Some fish release a black liquid to kill their enemies when they are in danger.
5. The text mainly discusses how animals and insects use colors to protect themselves.
