1 . Handwritten Chinese characters (文字) can be beautiful. I still remember looking at Chinese and not understanding anything it said and yet feeling a strong attraction. In fact, some students start learning Chinese because of the characters. After having studied Chinese for a while, I realized that handwriting in Chinese takes a very long time to learn.
Living as we do in a digital era (数字时代) with smartphones and computers, most students sooner or later ask themselves this question: Is it really necessary to learn how to write by hand in Chinese? When using smartphones or computers, we can use phonetic input (语音输入) systems, which choose the characters we want for us as long as we can remember how they are pronounced. Since we enter different characters, we seldom need to be able to recognize the difference between characters in detail; the computer makes the right choices for us. Do we really need to write Chinese by hand at all?
I think most people agree that you should learn to write at least some characters at some point as a student of Chinese, although not necessarily straight away and not necessarily all the characters that you can say. But unless you don’t care about written language at all, you should learn the basics of handwriting. Without it, it will be very hard to understand characters. You don’t need to be a calligraphy master (书法大师), but you do need basic handwriting skills to do this. Simply looking at things is, as usual, a bad way of learning.
I think learning the most common 500 characters or so is a good idea for all students. If you actually want to write by hand, increase that to 1, 000. Then learn to handwrite characters outside of the 1, 000 most common on a need-to-know basis.
1. What does the author think of Chinese characters?| A．They are less communicative than English words. |
| B．They attract some foreigners to learn Chinese. |
| C．They show the greatness of Chinese culture. |
| D．They are not really that difficult. |
| A．Characters are very difficult for foreigners to learn. |
| B．People believe learning to write characters is important. |
| C．People doubt the necessity of learning to write characters. |
| D．Characters may disappear with the development of society. |
| A．Understanding characters. |
| B．Being a calligraphy master. |
| C．Keeping a good learning habit. |
| D．Learning basic handwriting skills. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Worried. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Surprised. |
2 . Ellis Island is located in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is open daily year-round from 9:30am to 5:00pm, with extended hours during summer. It is closed on December 25. There is no admission charge to Ellis Island; donations are gratefully accepted.
At Your Fingertips
Park information (212) 363- 7620
Emergencies (212 ) 363- 3260
Ferryboat information (212) 269- 5755
Lost and found (212) 344- 7620
Dining, gifts, & audio tour (212) 344- 0996
Transportation
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferry: Boats leave from Battery Park, Manhattan, and from Liberty State Park, New Jersey. They run about every 30 to 45 minutes beginning at 9: 15 am(ferry schedule subject to change).
Hours: May vary; call the number below
Closed: December 25
Ferry fees (Includes Liberty and Ellis Islands): adults, $ 7; senior citizens, $6; children(age 3 to 17), $ 3. (lower group rates are available for 25 or more adults)
Ticket & schedule information: (212) 269- 5755
1. In summer, visitors will have ___________ to visit Ellis Island.| A．no enough money | B．a longer time | C．a shorter time | D．a wonderful time |
| A．(212) 344- 0996 | B．(212) 363- 7620 | C．(212 ) 363- 3260 | D．(212) 269- 5755 |
| A．People can visit Ellis Island free of charge. |
| B．The boats departure time from Battery Park is at 9:15 a.m. all the year round. |
| C．Ferry fees for children are cheaper than for adults. |
| D．Ferry fees for group visitors can be reduced. |
| A．visitors prefer to go to Ellis Island by boat | B．there are more visitors in winter |
| C．Ellis Island is open every day | D．Boat is the only transportation to Ellis Island |
