Some festivals are held to honor (纪念) the dead. For the Japanese festival Obon, people should go to clean graves (坟墓). In Mexico, people celebrate the Day of the dead in early November. On this important day, people eat food in the shape of bones. They take food, flowers and gifts to the dead.
Festivals can also be held to honor (纪念) famous people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honors the famous poet, Qu Yuan. Eating “zongzi” is a tradition. Dragon Boat Race is exciting. India has a national festival on October 2 to honor Mohandas Gandhi. He helped to get India’s freedom from Britain.
Harvest festivals can be very happy events. People are thankful because their food is enough for the winter. The Mid-Autumn Festival in China is to enjoy mooncake. The round and sweet cake has been eaten during the festival since the Tang Dynasty. In European countries,people usually use flowers and fruit to make their home more beautiful. People get together to have a big meal.
Some | |
| Festivals of the dead | People should go to clean graves for the Japanese festival Obon. The Day of the dead in Mexico is of great shape of bones. |
| Festivals to honor people | People In India, a national festival is held to honor Mohandas Gandhi. |
| Harvest festivals | Harvest festivals always bring The Mid-Autumn Festival has a long In European countries, People will get together to have a big meal. |
Tails come in different shapes, sizes, and colors among different animals and have different uses. Let’s explore some most common uses for animals’ tails!
Balance
Some animals, such as cats and kangaroos, use their tails for balance. These animals need to use the weight of their tails to help them stay upright (直立的). They are especially useful when these animals run over bumpy (高低不平的) land or jump from place to place.
Protection
Many animals use their tails to protect themselves in dangerous situations. For example, some snakes’ tails can create a sound that helps them frighten other animals away. A gecko (壁虎) uses its tail in a different way. If another animal bites its tail, it will break the tail off and escape!
Movement
Tails can also be used by animals to help them move. Most fish use their tails to swim in the water. Monkeys use their tails for movement too. Besides their arms and feet, they also use their tails to swing from tree to tree in the forest.
Warmth
Some animals actually use their tails to keep warm in cold weather. Foxes and coyotes are two examples. On cold nights, these animals put their tails around their bodies, kind of like how humans use blankets (毯子).
Communication
Many animals use their tails for communication. Dogs wag their tails to tell us something about how they’re feeling. Beavers hit their tails against the water, creating a loud warning sound for other beavers.
| Five most common | |
| Balance | Animals |
| Protection | ● The sound created by some snakes’ tails is ● A gecko will break its tail off and escape when its tail is bitten by another animal. |
| Movement | ● Most fish use their tails for ● When monkeys swing from tree to tree, they use arms, feet, as well as their tails. |
| Warmth | Foxes and coyotes put their tails around their bodies against the cold. |
| Communication | ● Dogs wag their tails to communicate with people. ● Beavers hit their tails against the water in order to |
Do you use emojis (符号表情) on your phone? Some emojis have different meanings now.
Let’s see the smiling face. At first, it was just a normal, friendly smile. But later, it can mean that someone is looking down on (轻视) you or even laughing at you. Though the emoji is smiling, its eyes are looking down.
What about the smiling face with a waving (摇摆) hand? It looks friendly enough. But in fact, some people use this emoji to show that they don’t want to talk to someone—the hand is waving “goodbye”, as if “never talk to me again”.
My favorite emoji is the “cry-laugh”. At first, it meant “rolling on the floor laughing (笑到滚地)”. But over the years, the meaning has changed. Now it shows something is so interesting that you can’t help laughing to cheer yourself up.
| Emoji | Past meaning | New meaning |
| A | It can mean that someone looks down on you or |
| A friendly one. | It shows that people |
| Rolling on the floor | Something is interesting enough for you to laugh to |
Once there was a king. He liked to write stories very much. He always thought that his stories were good, so he liked to show them to people. Because people were afraid of him, they all said his stories were very good and they wanted him to write more for them to read. The king was so happy that he wrote much more stories.
One day, the king showed some of his best stories to a famous writer. He wanted the writer to praise (赞美) his stories. But after reading them, the writer said these stories were so bad that there was no need to spend time reading them and the king should throw them into the fire. The king got very unhappy and sent the writer to prison (监狱).
After some time, the king set the writer free (释放) and ordered him to come to his palace. Again the king showed some of his new stories to the writer and asked what he thought of them. After reading them, the writer at once turned to the servants (仆人) and said, “Take me back to the prison.”
1. What did the king like doing?2. Did people say the king’s stories were bad or good?
3. How did the writer like the king’s stories?
4. What did the writer ask for in the end?
5. What’s the best title for the passage?
5 . Lingling, a 15-year-old Chinese girl, likes eating snacks very much. She prefers cream biscuits, hamburgers and fried chicken. Sometimes she eats two pieces of cake a day. As a result, she has become overweight.
Today in China, there are many children like Lingling. They like snacks. They don’t eat enough healthy food like fruit and vegetables. It’s very bad for their health. Poor eating habits are a serious problem.
Health experts say that children should have healthy eating habits. First, they must eat meals regularly and begin with a healthy breakfast. Second, they should have different kinds of foods such as fruit, vegetables, grain, eggs, milk and meat. Third, children shouldn’t eat too much junk food. They are delicious, but eating them often is bad for children’s health.
If children do as the experts say, they won’t become overweight. They will be healthier. Students won’t become tired at school and they will have enough energy to study well.
根据短文内容，请用完整句子回答下列问题。1. Why has Lingling become overweight?
2. How many pieces of advice do the health experts give?
3. What kinds of food are good for our health?
4. What will be the result if they do as the experts say?
5. What does the writer think of junk food?
6 . When it comes to Xizang, many people first think of its blue sky, white clouds, and snow-covered mountains. But for Luo Hao, there is a more colorful and amazing world in Xizang. It is made up of wild plants and animals.
Luo is a photographer (摄影师). He is in his late 50s and grew up in Xizang. He loves the wildlife there and wants to share it with others. So in 2010, he brought together a team of experts, photographers and volunteers to travel around Xizang to take photos of its amazing plants and animals and show them to others.
At the same time, the terrible natural conditions in Xizang make it hard for many plants and animals to live. Luo thinks that if we unluckily cannot stop those plants and animals from dying out over time, taking photos of them will be helpful for future research. And future generations (后代) will also be able to see that those beautiful plants and animals once lived in Xizang.
When traveling around and taking photos, Luo and his team have faced many difficulties and dangers from terrible natural conditions to dangerous animals. But they never give up. So far, they have taken hundreds of thousands of photos of Xizang’s natural world and published 11 books. Through their photos and books, more and more people are getting to know the wildlife in Xizang.
1. When did Luo Hao build his team to take photos of the wildlife in Xizang?2. Why do Luo Hao and his team take photos of the wildlife in Xizang?
3. What do you think of Luo Hao and his team?
In 223 BC Meng Tian (蒙恬) led the army in a war against the Chu Kingdom. In those days, people wrote on silk with a kind of stick pen. The stick pen was very hard and made writing very slow. Meng Tian had to often write a great number of reports about battlefield situation to the Qin ruler. He was frustrated (沮丧的) with the difficulty of writing, so he decided to make improvements.
Between battles, Meng enjoyed hunting. One day, Meng hunted a wild rabbit. It was fat and heavy and its tail left a trail (痕迹) on the ground. Meng suddenly had an idea. He immediately tied the rabbit’s tail to a stick and tried writing with it. But the rabbit’s hair was too oily (多油的) to hold the ink. Meng felt very sad and threw his “rabbit hair brush pen” away into a hole in the rocks.
However, Meng Tian couldn’t accept the failure and continued to spend time wondering how to improve the brush pen. A few days later, he was having a walk outside for some fresh air. By chance, he found again the rabbit hair brush pen that he had thrown away. He picked it up and found that it had changed and was now soft and wet—holding water. Meng Tian got inspiration at once. He put the rabbit hair brush pen back in the ink and found it worked beautifully on silk.
1. What did people write with in 223 BC?2. What was Meng Tian’s hobby between battles?
3. How did Meng Tian feel when he failed to write with the rabbit’s hair?
4. Did Meng Tian succeed in making the brush pen at last?
5. What do you think of Meng Tian? Why do you think so?
Perhaps you are looking for an after school hobby, or something to do on the weekends. Gardening with children can be a great way.
Most children love to get dirty. Gardening is a good reason to let them touch the soft earth and enjoy sunshine outside. It can make them stronger.
Gardening can make children learn about their favorite plants at an early age. It helps them know where their food comes from. Children can also understand why it’s important not to waste food.
Don’t mind if it takes your children some time to take care of the plants. Be sure to encourage them to keep watering and feeding their plants as needed until the end of the growing season. Gardening is a great way to teach your children about responsibility.
Children always have questions. Gardening can help them develop their curiosity (好奇心). A few minutes in a garden, kids will start asking questions. Feel free to let them guide the conversation. Make sure to take the chance to learn together about anything you can’t answer.
Start with small projects that children can follow and enjoy, and get them to choose what they want to plant.
| Gardening with children | What | Why |
| Let them touch the soft earth and enjoy sunshine | To make them stronger. | |
| Help them learn about where food comes from. | To let them understand the | |
| Encourage them to take care of the plants. | To teach them to have a | |
| Feel free to let them | To develop their curiosity. | |
| Get started with your | ||
There was once a cat. She was hungry, so she went looking for food. She saw a tree. When she got to the top, she found a nest (巢). A bird just finished building it, so it was empty. She said, “That’s OK. I’ll wait. Summer just started.”
A week later, the cat went back to the nest. When she looked inside, she saw five eggs. The cat was a patient (耐心的) cat. She said, “I’ll wait. Eggs are good, but young birds are better.”
After another week, she climbed up to the nest. This time, she saw five sleeping baby birds. However, she thought, “I’ll wait a few days to let them grow fat.”
As the cat waited, she watched the father bird. He brought lots of worms (虫子) to the nest. The cat thought, “The young birds are going to be fat. Soon, they’ll be the right size to eat.”
In the end, she didn’t wait another minute. She went straight to the nest. To the cat’s surprise, it was empty. She said, “Those birds are the worst! They didn’t thank me before they left! Meow!”
1. Why did the cat go looking for food?2. Where did the cat find a nest?
3. Who brought lots of worms to the nest?
4. How many times did the cat go to the nest?
5. Why was the cat surprised in the end?
Kelly is good at cycling. She is a young biker. Five years ago, her elder brother, Tommy found she could ride very fast and well.
Tommy thought she was really a born rider. He taught her some riding skills. Kelly felt excited and relaxed when riding. She wanted to join the bicycle training center. She asked her parents to buy her a bike. But her parents didn’t agree with her. They thought it was dangerous for her.
Kelly asked again and again. At last her parents bought her a bicycle and invited a woman teacher to train on the mountain. Every weekend Kelly had two days’ practice from eight o’clock in the morning to four o’clock in the afternoon. Now she is a good rider. Her family are proud of her.
| Name | Kelly |
| People | |
| Feeling | |
| Join | A bicycle training |
| Place | Trained on the |
| Time | Practiced |
