The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Grain Rain (谷雨), the last term in spring, generally starts on April 20 and ends on May 5.
Grain Rain comes from an old saying, “Rain raises hundreds of grains”, which shows that rainfall is very important for the growth of crops (庄稼). Here’s something that you may not know about Grain Rain.
History of Grain Rain
It’s said that the Festival is celebrated by fishing villages in northern China. Grain Rain marks the start of the fishermen’s first voyage (航行) of the year. The custom dates back to more than 2,000 years ago.
Sandstorms Happens
Grain Rain falls between the end of spring and the beginning of summer, and the temperature rises much higher than it does in March. With dry soil and strong winds, sandstorms may happen more often.
Drinking Tea
There is an old custom in southern China that people drink tea on the day of Grain Rain. Spring tea during Grain Rain is good for eyes. It is also said that drinking tea on this day would keep away from bad luck.
Eating Toona Sinensis (香椿芽)
People in northern China have the tradition to eat toona sinensis during Grain Rain. An old Chinese saying goes “Toona sinensis before the rain is just like silk (嫩如丝).” It is good for the body.
Something about Grain Rain |
| ◇Grain Rain shows that ◇On Grain Rain, fishing villages in northern China start ◇The people in southern China ◇The reason why people eat “toona sinensis” during Grain Rain is that it is |
Many of us want to keep thin and healthy. But do you really know how? Here are some new studies. They show that sleeping may help lose weight （体重）, but eating less may not!
Less sleep, fatter legs and arms
People without enough sleep are fatter, according to a new study from Nutrients. Scientists divided （分类） sleep time into three types: short sleep（less than 7 hours a day）, normal sleep（7 to 9 hours）, and long sleep（over 9 hours）. Then they studied 9, 413 people from the US. Results show that, compared with （对比） normal sleepers, short sleepers have more fat on their legs and arms!
Dinner is important
Many people don’t eat dinner to lose weight. But scientists at Osaka University, Japan, said this might not be the answer. They did a study with 20, 000 university students. Then they found that if people don’t eat dinner, it’s easier for them to put on weight. One reason （原因）, scientists said, might be that people without dinner are hungrier, so they eat more during the day.
Mukbang makes you eat more
If you want to lose weight, stop watching mukbang （吃播）! In a new study, scientists asked people to watch a cooking or nature television show. They found that those who watched the cooking program ate more chocolate, compared to the nature program.
Scientists said that by looking at delicious food, people will get more ghrelin （胃饥饿素） in their blood（血液）. This gives people a stronger appetite （胃口）and they will then eat more.
| Here are some studies that may help you | |
 | People Short sleepers have more fat on their legs and arms than normal sleepers. |
 | If people don’t eat dinner, it’s easier for them to |
 | People who watch the cooking program ate more chocolate than that watch the nature program. People will get more ghrelin in their blood by looking at |
Plants are amazing because they make their own food using three simple things. How do they make it? Let’s see an experiment （实验）.
There’s a green plant in a glass box with some soil （土壤）. It’s in the box for a reason. We can learn about the things it needs to live which are water, CO2 and the light to make its own food.
In this experiment, light is like the sun. If we turn down the light for some time, and then the plant can’t grow. At other times if we cut down the CO2, it won’t live either. Lastly, if the plant doesn’t have enough water for a long time, it will die soon. So it shows plants must have these three things to grow.
You may wonder how they make their own food using the three things. First, plants take in the water and CO2. Then their leaves absorb （吸收） sunlight. Finally, the plants make the sugar as its own food and make O2 that humans need. It truly improves our environment, because plants cut down the CO2 in the air and give us more O2. Besides, scientists have also asked us to go outside and look at green plants more to improve our eyesight.
| How do plants make their own food | |
| The experiment | Put a green plant into a |
| The things plants need | The plants has water, CO2 and |
| The | First, plants take in water and CO2. Then their leaves absorb sunlight. Finally, they make the sugar as its own food. |
| The importance of plants | They Watching plants may help to improve our eyesight. |
4 . With a little bit of milk and white vinegar （醋）, you can create a material similar to plastic in minutes. The experiment is completely safe and you can make whatever you would like out of the plastic.
Heat（加热）a cup（240 ml） of milk. Pour the milk into a pot. Heat the milk until it is just under boiling. Keep stɪrɪng（搅拌）the milk.
Add 4 spoons（60 ml）of white vinegar to the milk and stir. While the milk is still hot, add all of the vinegar to the pot and stir slowly. As you stir, you could see that clumps（团块）will start to form. If no clumps form, the milk is not hot enough. Try again with hotter milk.
Pour the warm “milk” through the strainer（过滤器）. Simply place the strainer on the top of the bowl.Let the “milk”cool for a bit and then pour it over the strainer. Then you will see the clumps remaining on the top of the strainer. Put the clumps on a piece of paper.
Squeeze（捏）all of your clumps together. Work it with your hands for a few minutes until it is easy to shape. You can use models to form a shape and set it aside to dry. Wait at least 2 days for the “plastic” to dry.
| How to make “plastic” out of milk | |
 | First, pour |
 | Second, add four spoons of white vinegar to the pot and stir until |
 | Third, |
 | Fourth, squeeze all the clumps together, form a shape with models and |
Is the whale the world’s largest fish? No. It looks like a fish but it’s not a fish. Then what’s the world’s largest fish? It’s the whale shark.
A whale shark is sometimes called a “gentle giant”. The biggest whale shark weighs more than 12 tons and is nearly 66 feet long. This makes it heavier and longer than a school bus.
Inside its huge mouth are lots of very small teeth. To count all of them you’ll need to do arithmetic(计算). The whale sharks teeth are in rows. There are between eleven and thirteen rows on each jaw and around three hundred teeth in each row.
However, the whale shark hardly uses its teeth. It does not chew or bite its food.
1. What’s the world’s largest fish?2. How long is the biggest whale shark?
3. What is inside the whale shark’s huge mouth?
4. Why does the whale shark hardly use its teeth?
Do you know what’s inside your down jacket (羽绒服)? It’s usually duck down or goose down.
“Down” is the soft, fluffy (蓬松的) undercoat of a bird. Just as a sponge (海绵) taps (锁住) water, down can trap hot air inside. Ducks and geese are often in the water and have to face cold weather, so they grow a thin layer of down under their feathers (羽毛) to keep out the cold.
Down is much better at keeping us warm than other man-made materials (材料). So we use it to make jackets for winter. Although people raise many chickens, they don’t have much down. Chicken feathers are rough (粗糙的) and heavy. But scientists are now trying to find ways to turn chickens’ feathers into a better material. Maybe in the future there will be “chicken down jackets”.
1. What is “down”?2. What do ducks and geese grow under their feathers?
3. Why do we use “down” to make jackes for winter?
4. 请将划线句子翻译成中文。
New York, London, Paris and other big cities are exciting places to live in. There are many interesting things to see and do. You can go to different kinds of museums, plays and movies. And it’s easy to get to these places by bus, taxi and subway. ①You can also buy things from all over the world.
But there are serious (严重的) problems in big cities too. It’s expensive to live there. A kilo of potatoes may cost 2—3 euros (about 20—30 RMB) in France. With that money, we can have a good meal in a nice restaurant in China. And there are many people in big cities, too. Every year many people move to the cities to find jobs, to study at good schools and get good medical care (医学救护). So you have to wait in line when you go to many places. Living in these big cities, sometimes you may find it difficult to get a job or find a good apartment to live in. Also it is hard to keep the cities safe and clean.
1. It’s exciting to live in London because2. 请将①处翻译成中文：
3. What does the word expensive mean in Chinese?
4. Why do many people move to the big cities every year?
5. Is it easy to get a job or find a good apartment in big cities?
Plants, animals and people are living things. Living things are alive. Living things can grow and change. When they grow up, living things can have young living things. Many living things can move.
Most living things need air, water and food to live. Most living things need space to grow. Many living things need shelter (庇护处).
Nonliving (无生命的) things were never alive. They don’t grow on their own. They don’t change. They don’t have needs.
Some nonliving things come from nature. Water is a nonliving thing from nature.
Some nonliving things are made by people. People make toys. Some toys look and move like living things. But these toys are nonliving things.
Then what do plants and animals need to live?
Plants need sunlight, water. Plants also need nutrients (营养). Nutrients help plants grow and make food. Plant need places to grow.
Many animals need air to live. And they all need clean water and food. They need shelter, too. A shelter is a safe place to live in.
1. Living things can grow, change and2. Nonliving things don’t change, they don’t have needs and they don’t grow by
3. Some nonliving things come from nature, and some are
4. According to the passage we can tell planes are
5. It’s
Camels are amazing animals. They aren’t the most beautiful animals in the world. But they are certainly the most useful animals in hot areas such as North Africa and the Middle East. They usually help people carry things. Now I’d like to tell you something about them.
Do you know that Arabian camels are not the same as Asian camels? If you take a close look at them, you will find that Arabian camels are dromedaries. That is to say you can only find one hump(驼峰) on its back. But Asian camels are bactrians—they have two humps. They are the two main kinds in the world. Isn’t that interesting?
An adult camel is about 2 meters tall and the weight of each is about 500 kilograms. Its legs are long. And its feet are big and soft.
Most of the camels can live for about 40 years, but usually they don’t have to work when they are about 25.
Camels mainly eat grass, leaves and bushes. They can walk for more than 600 kilometers even if they are not given water. They only need to drink water every seven days. But when there is water, they can drink as much as 90 liters. Camels walk slowly. They don’t like running because it’s too hot. But if they need, they can run at 20 kilometers an hour.
So, next time, when you travel in a desert, if a man says, “Look, here comes a ship. Do you want to take a ride?” Can you understand him?
Camels-ships of the desert | |
| Kinds | ● Some live in Arab and others are in Asia. ● Arabian camels have one hump but Asian camels have two humps. |
| Looks | ● An adult camel is about ● It has long legs and big and soft feet. |
Age | ●They can live up to 40 years old. ●They usually stop |
| Lifestyles | ●They live on grass leaves and bushes. ●They can walk long without drinking water. ●They need to drink once a ● They can drink at most 90 liters at a time. ● They walk slowly but they can run up to 20km/h. |
| They are not the most beautiful animals but the | |
With a little bit of milk and white vinegar（醋）, you can create a material similar to plastic in minutes. The experiment is completely safe and you can make whatever you would like out of the plastic.
Heat（加热）a cup（240 ml）of milk. Pour the milk into a pot（锅）. Heat the milk until it is just under boiling. Keep stirring（搅拌）the milk.
Add 4 spoons（60 ml）of white vinegar to the milk and stir. While the milk is still hot, add all of the vinegar to the pot and stir slowly. As you stir, you could see that clumps（团块）will start to form. If no clumps form, the milk is not hot enough. Try again with hotter milk.
Pour the warm “milk” through the strainer（过滤器）. Simply place the strainer on the top of the bowl. Let the “milk” cool for a bit and then pour it over the strainer. Then you will see the clumps remaining on the top of the strainer. Put the clumps on a piece of paper.
Squeeze（捏）all of your clumps together. Work it with your hands for a few minutes until it is easy to shape. You can use models to from a shape and set it aside to dry. Wait at least 2 days for the “plastic” to dry.
How to make “plastic” out f milk |
First, pour |
Second, add four spoons of white vinegar to the pot and |
Third, cool the “milk” and |
Fourth, squeeze all the clumps together, form a shape with models and |
