1 . On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died at the age of 58. The next day, a headline in The New York Times read: “Death of the Great Novelist...Mourned by the People of Two Continents.”    1     Even today, the British novelist is loved by readers all over the world. Dickens created some of the most unforgettable characters in English literature. You must have heard of or even read some of his novels: Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities.    2    Since 1897, there have been more than 300 film and television adaptations of Dickens’ works.  

Natalie McKnight is a professor of humanities who studies Dickens and his works. She explains why the novelist has remained so popular. One important reason, she says, is that Dickens wrote from his heart.    3    Some of his works were written to make every reader think about how they could make a difference to their society. People always enjoy works that make them laugh out loud, cry and think, as Dickens’ novels do. Many other novelists in the 19th century wrote entertaining works.    4    Dickens wrote about situations and emotions that still interest people today.    5    His works led to many important social changes.  

It’s meaningful to remember this great writer. Will you read(or reread)some of his famous works?

2 . Good news for all Wes Anderson fans — the US director is back with the film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar which hit Netflix, an online film provider, on Sept 27. It is a film adaptation of UK novelist Roald Dahl’s novel under the same name.

The film stars UK actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Adaptations are currently popular in the movie industry.     1     But what about book adaptations of films? Book adaptations of films aren’t that common, but it’s a medium that certainly takes skills to master.

The most well-known version of a film being adapted to books is via the novelization. Movie novelizations went through a boom period before the Internet era. Fans wanted to know more about the fictional worlds and experience the story again in a new way.     2     Thus, the novelization was a great solution.

Meanwhile, the screen to page process has also opened up the possibility of sequels (续篇). Perhaps there simply wasn’t financial investment to create a follow-up to a film. Maybe a sequel idea simply felt more appropriate for a novel.     3     In recent years, for example, the film Heat, released in 1995 has received its own novel. ET: The Book of the Green Planet continued the extra-terrestrial’s journey after the completion of the film’s narrative.

But what are the benefits of reading a novel instead of waiting for the big screen version? Well, a novel can take its reader deeper into the mind of the characters that the film had to represent in a more visual way.     4     Although a film might characterize a fantastic scene or a specific costume choice, it doesn’t always tell why those things are important. Novelizations and sequels can take that extra step and shine a light on some of those movie-making choices.

Book adaptations of films obviously won’t ever replace cinema, and there’s no need to choose one or the other.     5    

3 . There are many interesting stories about Chinese fans in historical records, novels, and legends.    1    He was a famous military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. And there are also stories about the plantain fan belonging to Princess Iron Fan, a fictional character in the classic novel Journey to the West.

    2     For example, men of letters preferred folding fans, military strategists preferred feather fans, girls of noble (贵族的) families liked circular fans while ordinary people usually used palm leaf fans.

The reason why fans evolved into artwork was largely related to men of letters, who liked to paint or write poetry on fans, and gave them to their friends as gifts.    3    That eventually led to fans becoming artwork.

It has been popular to draw fans or write poems about fans, and paint or write on paper fans. There is a story about Wang Xizhi, known for his Chinese calligraphy. Wang once saw an elderly lady selling fans. The business was not so good. She looked very upset, so Wang decided to help her.    4    On seeing Wang’s calligraphy on those fans, people all competed to buy them, which sold out very quickly.

It has been popular to paint on fans since Tang Dynasty. Artwork on fans is also a unique type of Chinese painting. As space is limited, the painters pay close attention to the composition on the half-circle fan.    5    

For thousands of years, Chinese people never stopped innovating fan design, and adopted different materials such as bamboo, paper, bones. They made fans of many shapes, such as circular and square shapes.

5 . Everyone complains. Even if you argue that you are the happiest person in the world, you still complain sometimes. Sometimes you complain without even realizing it, but rarely is it ever helpful.     1     Here are some tips to stop complaining and give up the negative thoughts.

    2    

When you find yourself thinking or saying a negative comment about something or someone, stop and force yourself to say something positive instead. Seek the help of a cheerful friend to change you when you complain and help you to see the positive in the situation.

Make a list of things you are grateful for.

You often complain about the things you don’t have without noticing those things you already have. Be grateful for what you have in your life because you are lucky simply for being yourselves.     3    

Learn to adapt to the changes.

There are many things you can’t change.     4     Always find the positive side of each situation, regardless of however difficult the situation is. With parents’ and friends’ support, you can survive any life changes.

Allow yourself to vent (发泄) your feelings every once in a while.

Constantly ignoring negative thoughts could add up. If you are really going through a rough time, don’t be afraid to share your feelings with a close friend or family member or see a therapist.

Find what makes you happy.

    5     Maybe it is time to make the hard decision to move on to another job or career. Uncover what your biggest complaints are about and see if you can change the situation to make you happy. Choose happiness, focus on the positive, and be kind always!

7 . It sounds like something from science fiction — a space journey into the vast expanse of space, heading towards Mars. While we’re not quite ready to put a person on the land, the question we ask today is:     1    

The space race saw the USA and USSR compete to achieve the first in spaceflight. The Soviet Union released Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite (人造卫星), before anyone else.     2     Now it appears that Mars is the heaven body of desire. While the reputation and bragging (吹嘘) rights to be the first nation to touch down is an obvious draw, there are other reasons we want to get there.

    3     You only have to look at the fossilized remains of the dinosaurs to see the benefit of finding another habitable planet. While Mars doesn’t have the right conditions to call it home just yet, there’s always the concept of terraforming (地球化) — changing the environment of a planet to meet our needs.

However, not everyone agrees.     4     He has said the concept of changing habitability of another planet because of the damage we have done to Earth makes no sense when we can simply terraform Earth.

It seems the main reason is the search for extraterrestrial (地球外的) life.     5     But now seemingly dead, the potential fossils could answer questions about our own evolution and that of our planet. One theory is that bacterial life on our planet didn’t start here, but was transferred via asteroid from Mars.

10 . Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones.     1     Some are shy in real life but are confident to communicate with others online; others find support from people of their own age on relationship issues, or problems at home.

Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can cause problems, such as bullying (恃强凌弱) or arguments.     2     But there are also a few people who use the Internet for illegal aims. Children must be made aware of both the good things and the dangers.

    3     Just as you decide which TV programs are suitable, you need to do the same for the websites and the chat rooms your children visit. Remind your children that online friends are still strangers. Reminding them of the risks will keep them alert (警惕的).

    4     So it’s likely that your children may know more than you do. We get left behind when it comes to the latest gadgets and the interactive areas of websites, like chat rooms and message boards.     5     Chatters love to use abbreviations (缩略语) such as: atb (all the best), bbfn (bye bye for now), Idk (I don’t know), xlnt (excellent).