A farmer had four lambs (羊羔). One was black, and the other three were white. The black lamb was friendly to the others. But the white lambs often laughed at (嘲笑) him. They thought he was ugly (丑陋的). Also, the farmer did not like him. He gave (给) bad food to the black lamb.
One winter morning, the four lambs went out to eat grass. They went far away from home. In the afternoon, it began to snow. It was such a heavy snow that the ground (地面) became white soon. They couldn’t find their way home.
When the farmer found that the lambs were not at home, he went out to look for them. There was snow everywhere (到处). So it was difficult for him to find his lambs. Suddenly, he saw something black. He went to it. Oh, it was his black lamb! And the white lambs were there, too. The farmer was very excited. He said happily, “Thanks to the black lamb, I can find you!”
1. Did the farmer like the black lamb?2. What was the weather like that afternoon?
3. Why was it difficult for the farmer to find his lambs?
4. Imagine (想象) what happened (发生了) to the black lamb after that? (限30词内)
Imagine you are looking at Wang Ximeng’s famous painting from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains (《千里江山图》). Suddenly, its blue rivers ripple (起伏), and its green mountains move. Music draws you into the painting as it comes to life and shares with you its history. This is what happens in Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》), a dance drama based on (基于) the beautiful piece of art.
The show is now showing across China. In the show, one man from the present interacts (互动) with the painter of the past, through his experiences with the painting. Actually, over in the West, dance is used in similar ways to tell cultural stories from history and reinvent (重新创造) them in the modern world.
China’s dance drama tells its story through the power of movement and often stillness (静止). In the show, the dancers arch (拱起) their backs and wave (挥舞) their flowing clothes to move like rivers. In one scene the dancers become huge still rocks. The creativity behind the moves speaks to us in a poetic (诗意的) way. There is a closeness too with a live performance, a shared link between the dancers and the audience (观众).
1. What is the key word of Paragraph 1, painting, music or dance?2. In the dance show, who does the man from the present interact with?
3. In the Chinese dance drama, how do the dancers act like a moving river?
4. What do you think of the show?
There once lived a great warrior. He was quite old, but still famous for his bravery, so many students came to study under him.
One day, a young man who was known for his strength went to the warrior’s village. He thought the warrior was old and could not be unbeatable forever, so he decided to fight the old warrior. To everyone’s surprise, the old man gladly accepted the young man’s challenge. The young man insulted (辱骂) the old man and attacked him, while the old man just stood there and defended himself. After several rounds, the young warrior exhausted himself and finally lost the fight. He felt upset.
After that, the young man started to study under the old warrior, but he still wanted to know the old man’s secret to success. He went to question the old warrior with a group of students. “Don’t you feel angry when you hear my insults? How can you still stay calm and defend yourself?”
The warrior didn’t answer the questions but asked, “If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not accept it, to whom does the gift belong?”
The young and the other students were confused. After a period of silence, the old warrior said, “It belongs to the one who tried to give it. The same goes for envy (嫉妒), anger and insults.”
1. Did the young man beat the old warrior?2. Why did the young man insult the old man?
3. What kind of gift is it according to the paragraph 4?
4. What can you learn from the story?
A student stuck a note on his classmate’s back while they were in the classroom at noon one day. The note said “I’m Stupid”. He asked the rest of his classmates not to tell the boy. The other students started laughing at the boy, but wouldn’t say why.
Soon, it was time for their afternoon math class. Their teacher wrote a difficult problem on the blackboard. No one was able to solve it except the boy with the note on his back.
Ignoring the laughter, he walked toward the blackboard and solved the problem. The teacher asked the class to clap (鼓掌) for him and took the note off his back. She told him, “It seems that you didn’t know about the note your classmate put on your back, but you didn’t seem to care anyway.”
Then the teacher looked at the rest of the class and said, “Before I punish you all, let me tell you two things. First, all of you will be labeled (贴标签) at one point or another by other people who don’t want you to succeed. All you have to do is ignore these labels. You have to take every chance you have to learn, grow and improve.”
“And it seems that none of you are friends with this boy, since none of you were kind enough to tell him about the note. If that’s true, then you’d better hope that you have some good friends yourself. Otherwise (否则), you might be the one with a note stuck on your back someday with no one to tell you.”
1. Did the boy know the note on his back?2. Why did the teacher ask the boy to go to the blackboard?
3. What does the underlined phrase “at one point or another” mean?
4. What will you do if you were the boy or one of the students in the classroom?（Within 30 words）
There was once a lonely girl who longed for love. One day, she was walking in the woods and found two hungry birds. She took them home and put them in a small cage. She cared for them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning, they provided her with a wonderful song. The girl felt great love for the birds.
One day the girl left the door to the cage open. One bird flew from the cage. The girl was so afraid that he would fly away. As he flew close, she grasped him wildly. She was very happy to catch him.
Suddenly she felt the bird unable to move. She opened her hand and looked in horror at the dead bird. Her love had killed him.
She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom. She lifted him from the cage and let him fly into the air. She wanted the bird to be happy.
The bird circled once, twice, three times. Finally, he flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. He sang the sweetest music that she had ever head.
1. Did the girl love the birds?2. Where did the girl find the two birds?
3. What killed one of the birds?
4. What can you learn from the story? (Within 30 words)
I’m Jack. I’m in China now. David is my good friend. His parents and he are in England. His mother is from China and his father is from France (法国), so he can speak (说) three languages (语言)—English, Chinese and French. He thinks languages are very interesting and useful. But his favorite subject at school isn’t language. It’s P.E. David loves sports. He thinks P.E. is very interesting. He likes soccer and basketball. He likes playing soccer and basketball, because he thinks they are good for his health. He has three soccer balls and four basketballs, but he doesn’t have much time to play them. He doesn’t like ping-pong. It’s difficult for him. He thinks Chinese like playing ping-pong and play well. He goes to the library on Saturday. On Sunday, he can play sports and watch TV. He thinks Saturday and Sunday are great.
1. Are David’s family in China?2. What languages can David speak?
3. Why does David like playing soccer?
4. Where does David go on Saturday?
