Many people think of cities and nature as two unrelated (不相关的) things. If you want to see wildlife, you need to get out of the city. But does it have to be this way? Some cities around the world are taking action to bring nature into cities.
In order to make better use of city gardens, places like Los Angeles in the US have made community gardens. This brings people from all walks of life (各行各业) and encourages healthy lifestyle. In their traditional gardens, people can rent a part to grow their own food. In educational gardens, people are taught about gardening and eating healthily. People also grow vegetables on city farms to sell at the market with the money going to people in need.
To help keep animals’ living places connected (相连), some wildlife bridges and passages have been built in Edmonton, Canada. The bridges serve as corridors (长廊) for animals. Trees on the bridge act as a shelter (防护) for animals as they cross. In China, along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, there are also special bridges for Tibetan antelopes and other animals to cross.
Just as a sponge (海绵) can take in water, a “Sponge city” can deal with heavy rain. Wuhan is one of China’s first cities to start the project. People created rain gardens — low grasslands to collect and take in water. Man-made wetlands were built, too. When it rains heavily, rainwater can be held. So there will be less flooding.
Some | |||
Goals | Action | ||
| To make better use of city gardens. | Make community gardens. | In traditional gardens | ● People can rent a part to grow their own food. |
| In educational gardens | ● People can | ||
| To keep animals | Build wildlife bridges and passages. | ● The bridges serve as corridors for animals. ● Trees on the bridge act as a shelter for animals as they | |
| To deal with heavy rain in a city. | Build rain gardens and man-made wetlands. | ● Low grasslands and man-made wetlands can | |
Two strong earthquakes (地震) took place in Turkey and Syria on Feb 6th. A survey reported that the biggest earthquake had a magnitude (震级) of 7.8. It was the strongest earthquake in that area in over 80 years. To protect ourselves better, what should we do before, during and after the shaking? Here are some earthquake safety tips.
Before* Plan with your family.
Make sure everyone knows what to do during an earthquake. Talk about where to go and what to do to stay safe if one happens.
* Find “safe places”.Pick “safe places” in each room of your home and your school. A safe place could be under a piece of furniture, such as a strong table or desk. Or stay against a wall away from windows, bookcases, or tall furniture that could fall on you.
During* Stay calm
If you’re indoors, stay inside. If you’re outdoors, stay outside.
* IndoorsStay away from windows and lamps.
* OutdoorsStay away from buildings, walls and power poles (电线杆). If you are in a crowded place, use your arms to protect your head or take cover (躲避) under seats and tables.
After* Turn off water, electricity and gas.
* Use the stairs instead of elevators (电梯) .
* If you are trapped (困住) , cover your mouth and nose. Don’t shout, and just hit with an object to show your position.
* Don’t move seriously injured people unless they are in danger of being harmed.
Earthquake | |
| Before | * Make a *Find “safe places”. A safe place could be under a strong table or desk. Or stay |
| During | * If you are indoors, stay away from windows and lamps. When you are |
| After | * Turn off water, electricity and gas. * * If you are trapped, cover your mouth and nose. Hit with an object instead of * Don’t move badly injured people |
Do you feel sad during the winter months? If so, you might have seasonal affective disorder (SAD) (季节性情绪失调).
SAD usually starts in autumn or winter and ends in spring or early summer. As the weather gets colder, you feel more tired, sleepy and even hopeless. When spring returns, you may become well again.
However, we still don’t know the exact reason of SAD. Some scientists think that hormone changes can cause that. During winter, it stays dark outside for much of the day. That causes the brain to make more melatonin (褪黑素). The melatonin makes you feel sleepy and less excited.
Getting more sunlight (日光) is the best way to deal with SAD. Doctors say people should spend at least some time outside every day during the winter. But if you feel deeply unhappy, you should go to a doctor.
1. When does SAD usually start? (no more than 4 words)2. Do we know the exact reason of SAD? (no more than 3 words)
3. How does melatonin make you feel? (no more than 4 words)
4. What is the best way to deal with SAD? (no more than 3 words)
5. What should you do if you feel deeply unhappy? (no more than 6 words)
I’m Jane, from America. I can not sleep well and I always wake up several times during the night. Yesterday, I asked my doctor for advice. And here is his advice.
Have regular (规律的) sleep habits.
Go to bed at the same time every night. Try not to break this habit on weekends. Wake up at the same time every day. If you’re getting enough sleep, you should wake up naturally without an alarm.
Turn off your smart phone.
Don’t play on the smart phone for half an hour before you decide to sleep. Studies show that it is bad for the quality of your sleep. Read a book or listen to some light music to prepare your body for sleeping.
Have a nice bedroom.
A clean environment helps people to be happy and relaxed. Make sure that you have turned off all lights that might come into your room, and that the temperature is comfortable.
Exercise often.
Exercising will help you to fall asleep more easily. So walk out for 45 minutes every day and you will sleep better at night. But don’t do it just before you go to bed because you won’t be able to sleep.
Eat properly.
Don’t eat too much for dinner. A full stomach may make it much harder for you to sleep.
| Have regular sleep habits. | Go to bed and wake up at the |
| Turn off your smart phone. | Don’t play on the smart phone before sleeping. |
| Have a nice bedroom. | A nice environment will make you happy and |
| Going out for a walk every day will make you sleep better at night. | |
| Eat properly. | It’s much |
Traditional (传统的) Chinese festivals are a special part of the country’s history. Lantern Festival is one of them.
Chinese people celebrate Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar (阴历) month. And it celebrates the first full moon of the year. It also shows the end of the Spring Festival vacation.
Making and watching lanterns are special things to do on the festival. It was popular to make lanterns in the Tang Dynasty (618 — 907). Later, in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 — 1279), people colored lanterns red, yellow, orange, …In the Qing Dynasty (1644 — 1911), people took different kinds of lanterns and went to the streets.
The lanterns come in many sizes and colors now. Rabbit lanterns are really fun for children. Why rabbits? Some people say rabbits are lucky animals. Others say that some old Chinese stories are about a jade rabbit (玉兔) living on the moon. Lantern Festival comes on the first full moon of the year, so rabbits are a big part of the festival.
| Lantern Festival is | ||
| Time *It’s on the 15th day of the first lunar month. *It’s the day when the moon looks *It’s the time the Spring Festival vacation | History *Tang Dynasty: It was popular to make lanterns. *Southern Song Dynasty: Lanterns had different *Qing Dynasty: People went to the streets with lanterns. | Rabbit lanterns *Children think the rabbit lanterns are interesting. *Some think rabbits can bring *Some stories are about a jade rabbit. |
| A page from Sally’s diary entries June 16th Friday We went to the sports gyms (体育馆). They were very big and clean and I learnt a lot about the high﹣tech equipment (高科技设备). Then, we saw the beautiful lake and took a lot of photos. Some of my friends also went fishing. That was so fun! At last, we had a big dinner and went back home. All in all, it was a tiring but exciting trip. | A page from Nick’s diary entries June 16th Friday I got up so early to meet my teachers and classmates at 7:30 a.m. at school. The park is really far from school. I couldn’t relax on the school bus because my classmates were too noisy. When we got there, we had to walk for about 2 hours in the big sports gyms. It made me really tired. There was nothing exciting to do near the lake, either. So I didn’t take any photos or have fun. In the end, when I got home, it was already 7:30 p.m. |
| Time to school: 7:30 a.m. Place to go: Dong’an Lake Park Weather: Transportation: by | Sally: tired but excited Nick: tired and not interested |
| Activities along the way: Sally was so excited that she sang and talked with her classmates. Nick couldn’t relax on the bus because it was noisy. Sally learnt a lot about the gyms and had a good time. Nick had nothing to do. | |
7 . If you play Douyin, some family videos called “four-generation challenge”must have caught your eye. These videos started on Chinese short-video platform Douyin and have spread to social media in other countries. People from all over the world are interested in the videos and even made their own.
In these videos, a young child calls out to their mother or father; the parent enters the room smiling, turns around and calls out to their own parent; the grandparent then enters smiling and calls out to their parent—the great-grandparent.
These videos show the structure of a Chinese family. In many Chinese families, several generations live together. This is called an extended family (大家庭). Usually it is “four-two-one”—four grandparents, two parents, one child. And in most East Asian cultures, it is common for many generations of a single family to live together under one roof.
Also, the videos show how much Chinese people love their family. “They make me miss my grandma.” A Facebook user from England wrote. In fact, the “four-generation” videos have not only touched many foreigners in Western countries, but also given them a deeper look into Chinese family values.
In most Western countries, most families are nuclear families (小家庭), or families that are made up of just children and their parents.
In Western culture, privacy and independence are highly valued. Kids usually move out of the house after they turn 18. Many of them work part-time jobs in order to pay for college and rent. If they choose to continue living with their parents after becoming adult, people will think they are immature (不成熟的) or unsuccessful.
Although family structures in the East and West may be different, the love and bonds between family members are common. That might be why the “four-generation” videos have won so many hearts around the world.
1. Have the videos spread to social media in other countries? (No more than 3 words)2. What does “four-two-one” mean when we talk about Chinese extended family? (No more than 10 words)
3. What do Western people pay much attention to in Western culture according to this passage? (No more than 3 words)
4. What do people think of those who live with their parents after 18 in Western countries? (No more than 8 words)
5. What might be the reason why the “four-generation” videos are popular all over the world? (No more than 21 words)
8 . A teenage boy couldn’t stand his parents’ family rules, so he left home. He wanted to be famous, but he had a poor education. He couldn’t find a job and had to beg for food on the street.
Years later, his mother died. Though his father was old, he was still looking for his son. He looked in every corner of the city. Wherever he went, he put up a big photo of himself on the wall. On the lower part of the photo, he wrote, “I still love you, my dearest son. Please come back home!”
One day, the son saw one of the photos on the wall. The face on the photo was familiar to him. “Is that my father?” He moved closer and read the words, “I still love you.” Tears ran down his face. He made up his mind to go back and see his dad.
It was early morning when he got home. He knocked on the door. Nobody answered, although the door did open. He rushed into his father’s bedroom. His father was sleeping. The boy woke his father up. “It’s me! Your son is back home!” The father and the son held each other with tears in their eyes. The son asked, “Why is the door unlocked? A thief could get in.” The father answered in a soft voice, “The door has never been locked since you left.”
1. Why did the teenage boy leave home? (No more than 8 words)2. After leaving home, did the boy become famous? (No more than 3 words)
3. What did the boy’s father do wherever he went? (No more than 11 words)
4. When did the boy get home? (No more than 4 words)
5. Who opened the door for the boy when he went back home? (No more than 1 word)
One of the greatest sportsmen in China is the ping-pong player Rong Guotuan. He was the first one to win the World Table Tennis Championship for China and is considered as the most important one in starting the golden era of Chinese table tennis. He was born on August 10th, 1937, into a fisherman family in Guangdong.
Rong showed great interest and talent in table tennis from a young age. At 15, he was chosen into the national team, where his skills were improved. His backhand loop shot became his signature (标志性的) move.
Rong won the first prize of the men’s singles at the 25th World Table Tennis Championships in 1959. It marked China’s first world champion in a new era.
Rong showed outstanding sports spirit, never giving up even in the face of great difficulties. His love for the game and his high-level skills have deeply moved the Chinese. The wonderful life story and spirit of Rong Guotuan continue to live on in the Chinese table tennis teams and all the other Chinese sports.
Rong’s ways of training and practical skills have been passed down from the old ping-pong players to the young, leading China to lots of honors and glory in table tennis. His success also brought China popularity in table tennis. He has always been the idol (偶像) of Chinese sportsmen.
Rong Guotuan: The | |
| Early Life | He was chosen into the national team at 15. There he |
| He won the men’s singles at the 25th World Table Tennis Championships in 1959. | |
| Sports Spirit | When he faced great difficulties, he never |
| Influences | He was once the key to the development of Chinese table tennis. His success also made table tennis |
Humans have long tried to predict (预测) the weather. From the hunters of ancient times to today’s pilots, predicting rain or shine can shape people’s life and make a difference.
In 650 BC, the Babylonians tried to predict the weather based on the appearance of clouds. Around 340 BC, Aristotle, a famous Greek thinker and scientist, wrote Meteorologica. It introduced the types of weather, such as rain, cloud and lightning. Aristotle believed that there was water, air and fire around the Earth. It was almost 2,000 years before his ideas were replaced by new ones.
By 300 BC in China, a calendar divided the year into 24 festivals gradually, each festival related to a type of weather, like the Rain Water (the start of the spring rains), the Waking of Insects (the spring thunder awakens sleeping insects) and so on. That was useful for farmers to plan when to plant and harvest (收获).
People used lots of ways to predict the weather over the centuries. You might have heard the expressions like “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight”, which suggests a red sky in the evening is followed by good weather. This has a basis in science, as does telling wind direction through smoke from the fire. On the other hand, some thought that if sheep crowded together, it meant rain. But there isn’t any science behind it.
The science of weather prediction really took off in the 1830s with the invention of the telegraph. It sent messages over hundreds of thousands of miles, so weather maps were drawn up and storm systems were studied. The next big step came in the 1920s with the invention of the “radiosonde”, a balloon carrying weather instruments high above the ground to collect information. Experts took the information and built a picture of the weather over the following few days.
Today, supercomputers are used to take data (数据) from the world and process it very fast to work out the weather. For example, they once helped predict where Hurricane Lee, which hit the US and Canada, would land nine days in advance (提前).
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