Words flow through Chinese poetry
A Russian student expresses her passion for China through poetry. It seems that Anastasia Podareva, born in Ryazan, Russia, the hometown of Russian poet Sergei Yesenin (谢尔盖·叶赛宁), was destined (注定的) to follow a similar career.
Podareva, 28, loved poetry in her youth as her father would introduce her to works by great Russian poets. Growing up, he wrote many poems in both Russian and English. But when she came to China to study in 2013, the world of Chinese poetry opened up before her.
“One thing that strikes me in reading and writing Chinese poetry is the power of the language — it’s melodious (动听的) and rhythmic (有节奏的),” said Podareva.
Podareva has had colorful experiences in China over the past decade. Her most unforgettable memory is of one of her poems being turned into a song.
The poem, titled If, was written in early 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I wanted to create something positive to help boost (振奋) people’s spirits in times of difficulty,” she said. As the poem goes, “I have come to love this land, growing up with its valiant (勇敢的) people … And with the profound (深深的) love of a maiden (女子) of the north, I’d let China take my burning heart,” Podareva wrote, showing her support for her adopted (寄宿的) home.
And her message was heard. The poem was published online and picked up by a music lover named Zhu Hai in Zhejiang province, who later put it to music.
“I believe that singing is the ultimate (最好的) way of expressing Chinese poetry, because Chinese is really a language that rises, falls and flows like music,” said Podareva.
1. What can we learn about Podareva from the text?| A．She sees Yeseni as her idol. |
| B．She can write poems in three languages. |
| C．Her father is a famous poet. |
| D．Most of her poems have been put to music. |
| A．Impresses. | B．Challenges. | C．Discourages. | D．Confuses. |
| A．Her love for both music and poetry. |
| B．Her admiration for Chinese people. |
| C．Her personal experiences of living in China. |
| D．Her desire to spread positivity during the pandemic. |
2 . Finding moon’s watery secrets
How much water is there on the moon? This is a question scientists have tried to answer for decades. Scientists from China and the UK have now discovered that the moon may have water “reservoirs (水库)”, according to a recent paper.
Over billions of years, space rocks have hit the surface of the moon, causing the soil to melt (融化) and be ejected (喷射) into space. It is then cooled down and falls back to the lunar surface, forming beads (珠子) of glass.
The Chang’e 5 probe, which returned to Earth on Dec 17, 2020, brought back a total of 1,731 grams of rocks and soil from the lunar surface, including glass beads, reported Xinhua.
The international research team looked into the 32 glass beads from the sample. They found that about one ton of glass beads may contain 0.5 kilograms of water. “This ‘water’ wasn’t a liquid but instead took the form of hydrogen (氢气) contained in the glass beads, which can easily be [turned] into the water we can use,” Hui Hejiu, one of the study authors, told Science and Technology Daily. Researchers estimated that the water contained in the glass beads could amount to as much as 270 trillion (万亿) kilograms.
The solar wind, which is streams of particles (粒子) released from the sun, could be the origin of the water in the beads, according to the study. The glass beads have lots of holes inside to catch hydrogen from the wind. If the water in the beads is easy to get, it will be a “really big deal” for space exploration, Phil Bland, an expert in Australia, told ABC News. Currently, water used by astronauts during their long stays in space stations is recycled, according to the China Manned Space website. The amount of urine (尿液) produced and water used by an astronaut per day is about 2 kilograms. The liquids are collected and purified (净化), and then provided to astronauts to drink. With this new finding, human settlements on the moon could have a stable (稳定的) water source in the future.
1. What did the scientists from China and the UK discover on the moon?| A．Billions of glass beads under the surface. |
| B．Glass beads that may contain water. |
| C．A liquid water reservoir ready to be used. |
| D．The location of space rocks that had landed over billions of years. |
| A．The solar wind. |
| B．The lunar atmosphere. |
| C．The melting of ice on the lunar surface. |
| D．The impacts of space rocks on the lunar surface. |
| A．By melting the ice from space rocks. |
| B．By taking water from solar wind. |
| C．By taking water out of the lunar soil. |
| D．By purifying urine and water used by astronauts. |
| A．It could help to find life on the moon. |
| B．It could be used to grow plants in space. |
| C．It could provide a stable water source for astronauts. |
| D．It could improve the efficiency of recycling water in space. |
Green School in Uruguay
Francesco Fassina(Ecologist and Volunteer)
Michael Reynolds (Architect)
Alicia Alvarez (School Director)
Danila Mendez (Mother of a student)
Narrator : A sunny winter’s day is great news for these Uruguayan children. As pupils of South America’s first sustainable school, they study in a building heated only using solar panels. On top of the normal school programme, they learn about recycling, energy saving,and growing their own food
Francesco Fassina: The school is an autonomous building in the sense that it isn’t connected to any energy infrastructure for water or anything. It’s sustainable in the way it functions; totally autonomous and it works thanks to its connection with nature—the sun and the rain.
Narrator : The building was funded by a local NGO and a detergent company, and designed by US architect Michael Reynolds, a self-professed “garbage warrior” who's devoted his career to building self-sufficient structures out of recyclable material.
Michael Reynolds: People called me an idiot, uh, building with garbage, what a fool, you’re a disgrace to the architectural community, uh, you know. I was trying to contain sewage and treat it and do all of these things that architects didn’ t do
Narrator : The 39 students, so me just starting pre-school and others in their final year before university learn it’s possible to live in a building that produces no waste. NGO volunteers organise regular workshops on sustainability for pupils and teachers too.
Alicia Alvarez: Little by little, we`re becoming qualified. In fact were being trained by them. We`re being trained to learn how the school works. How to maintain it so that the systems don’t deteriorate.
Narrator : Some of the children have even started educating their parents
Danila Mendez: Every day, we walk here, and he finds glass in the sand or plastic or something and he picks it up. He says. “T`m keeping this to throw it away.” He doesn’t leave it there. He picks it up and he throws it away in the right place.
Narrator : For these little garbage warriors, saving the planet has become an integral part of their homework.
1. What are the reasons for being called a green school?2. How did the school come to being?
3. What did the people do to keep the school on?
We need to get back to the natural, built-in mechanisms that we have for self- preservation and health. Laughter is one of them.
Laughter Yoga is a way for people to use laughter without telling jokes and being able to get the laughter to help them feel better. The interesting thing is that it helps ease pain, it can ease depression, it’s a way to move and get into your inner child and it’s a lot of fun. And adults don’t remember necessarily how to have fun
The bottom line of our research is that laughter not only makes us feel good but it has a direct effect on our blood vessels. And our blood vessels control the likelihood of us developing a heart attack or a stroke. So if we keep the blood vessels healthy, then we’re going to be healthy.You can burn up to 40 calories for 5-10 minutes of laughter. But equally important is that the blood vessel opening that we see is the same as going jogging or even taking one of our cholesterol medications. You get the same effect in terms of opening up your blood vessels as you do with a good, deep, belly laugh. Laughing on a regular basis is not only good for our soul, but also great for our heart.
Laughter is a way of communication and that’s why it’s contagious. Because when I’m laughing, you’re looking at me and you’re like “wow, this is a positive energy” and you’re more likely to join me in the laughter.
But laughter’s not present at birth. It appears about 3-4 months of age and it’s one of the most important early means of communication between babies and mothers. A mother will tickle the baby and the baby will smile and laugh. And the mother will do more of that. If the baby does not like it, the baby will fuss or cry and the mother stops. It’s a kind of instinctive language that exists before we learn to talk. Laughter, like speech, evolved to change the behavior of other individuals. Does it have to have other purposes? It probably does, but we’re just now starting to tease out what those differences are. Did the benefits of laughter come from the act of laughing or is it the social context, spending time with friends, family, and lovers? All of these are very difficult scientific issues that haven’t been teased out. But laughter clearly feels good when we do it. Isn’t that enough?
1. What are the functions of Laughter Yoga?2. How does laughter help us medically?
3. What role does laughter play in a person’s growth?
Food takeaway rider who finds respite from his daily work stress in writing poetry publishes his second collection in as many years, Chen Nan reports.
In 2019, Wang Jibing, a food delivery rider living and working in Kunshan, East China’s Jiangsu province, had an unpleasant experience due to the wrong address left by a customer. Wang searched three buildings and climbed 18 floors before he finally managed to deliver the food to the customer, who rudely scolded Wang for arriving late.
Wang was sad and frustrated. As a husband and father of three children, who shoulders the majority of the financial responsibility in his family, he had to swallow the insult.
“If I argued with him, he would give me negative feedback and the company would have imposed a fine on me. I had no choice but to apologize repeatedly,” recalls Wang, 54, who makes about 6,000 yuan ($823) a month by delivering food.
On his way home that day, Wang wrote a poem, Man in a Hurry, expressing his feelings.
“Wind is born from air in a hurry. A knife is forged from the wind in hurry… Man in a hurry has no four seasons. He only has one stop after another. His world is about the name of a place,” he wrote.
Since then, Wang has been writing poems inspired by his daily life, including a poem New Temple, which was conceived after he delivered food to construction workers repairing an old temple, and Forgive, based on his observation of a young couple fighting.
1. respite from his daily work stress2. shoulders the majority of the financial responsibility
3. swallow the insult
4. imposed a fine on
5. What does writing poetry mean to Wang Jibing?
6. What do you think Wang Jibing is like?
6 . The John Carew Swim School
Tel: (07) 3878 6388
E-mail: admin@carewswim.com.au
The John Carew Swim School has been a family-run business since the early 1960s. John Carew, who coached the Australian Swim Team at the Olympics on three separate occasions, founded his own swim school to pass on his knowledge. His wife and son now carry on his beliefs at the swim school.
We have two pools, which are heated to 31℃ all year round. Sufficient seating is provided around our swimming areas so you can watch your child in comfort.
Programs:
Babies and Toddlers
Classes are divided into three levels based on the child's ability and previous experiences. Your child will learn basic survival skills while improving their balance in the water.
Age: 6 months-3 years old
Duration (持续时间): 30 minutes
Class size: 8 pupils at most
Learn to Swim
After developing water safety skills, the journey of learning the four swimming strokes (游泳姿势) is started. We will take time to ensure the basic skills for each stroke are correct before progressing your child.
Age: 3 years +
Duration: 30 minutes
Class size: 4 pupils at most
Mini Squad (队)
Once your child is trained in all four strokes, they can become a part of our mini squad. We offer beginner and advanced levels in which your child will learn starts, turns and finishes along with basic training skills.
Age: Entry is based on the child's ability
Duration: 60 minutes
Club Night
We offer a family-friendly club night each term. The night is intended to provide feedback ( 反 馈 信 息 ) to parents and teachers in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
Cost: FREE
Fees (费用):
| Babies and Toddlers | Learn to Swim | Mini Squad | |
| Monthly (4 classes) | $68 | $80 | $90 |
| Term (10 classes) | $155 | $180 | $200 |
| A．It has warm pool water. |
| B．It has three swimming pools. |
| C．It has classes by John Carew. |
| D．It has a history of about 40 years. |
| A．Club Night. |
| B．Mini Squad. |
| C．Learn to Swim. |
| D．Babies and Toddlers. |
| A．$68. |
| B．$90. |
| C．$155. |
| D．$180. |
7 . Jagadish Chandra Bose was born in Bikrampur (now in present-day Bangladesh) on November 30, 1858. His father believed that it was important for him to get a good education in his native language, which is Bengali, before being sent to an English-medium school. Thus, Bose received his early education completely in Bengali. He then attended St. Xavier’s School and later college, at Calcutta, where his interest in science was developed. He graduated from University of Calcutta in 1879.
Bose wanted to take the Indian Civil Service (文官) exams but his father insisted that he should take up a more academic pursuit (学术追求). Thus he went to study medicine at the University of London, England but could not complete his studies because of his ill health. He went on to study Natural Science at Christ's College, Cambridge.
He returned to India in 1885 and began teaching physics at Presidency College. His salary (工资), however, was half of what English professors earned at the time so he refused to accept his salary for three years until the administration gave in and gave him his previous salary as well. Another way in which he was discriminated (歧视) against was being asked to do unnecessary, unimportant work and not being provided with proper research facilities and support such as equipment for conducting experiments. Bose often had to buy equipment with his own money and conducted experiments late into the night after he had finished his tough daily tasks.
Though in the face of those challenges, he made great contributions in the study of plant nervous systems. He successfully showed that plants and animals have similar responses to stimuli in London on May 10, 1901. His discovery was extremely significant but was laughed at by many of his colleagues at first. However, his contributions are now widely accepted throughout the world. Bose's another great achievement is research into wireless technology and short radio waves. IEEE named him one of the fathers of radio science.
Bose published various journals and books, and founded the Bose Institute in 1917 for research in various fields such as physics, chemistry and microbiology. He received numerous honors. He died on November 23, 1937.
1. What can we learn about Bose’s early schooling?| A．It was conducted in Bengali. |
| B．It went against his father’s will. |
| C．It turned out challenging for Bose. |
| D．It was started at St. Xavier’s School. |
| A．To find a job. |
| B．To see a doctor. |
| C．To learn English. |
| D．To continue his education. |
| A．Cultural shock. |
| B．Unfair treatment. |
| C．Poor mental health. |
| D．Lack of family support. |
| A．His approaches to teaching physics. |
| B．His fight against racial discrimination. |
| C．His contributions to Western medicine. |
| D．His research into plant nervous systems. |
8 . We take music for granted because it's everywhere. Although we don't realize it, music has the power to bring back old memories, change moods, etc.
Music brings people together.
Life without music is boring.
Music is an amazing tool and gift. It has done nothing but inspire me to be better, pick up my mood, and help me avoid boredom. So please, anyone that reads this article, send me your favorite song so that I can give it a listen!
| A．But we seldom realize the impact it has. |
| B．Music is not as distracting as TV shows. |
| C．Music is a powerful tool in our daily lives. |
| D．It has the ability to build relationships between people. |
| E．It has the ability to connect with people on an emotional level. |
| F．Music gives me the ability to face my problems in a healthy way. |
| G．Imagine going into a cafe to study and there was no background music. |
9 . At the end of a math lesson that Diane Moon taught virtually ( 虚拟地) earlier this month to her students, the middle school teacher in Illinois had star-shaped stickers covering her face.
It was all part of an effort by Moon and other teachers across the country to keep their students engaged ( 参 与) while virtual learning continues as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens in the United States.
“It's been really difficult,” Moon said of trying to teach her students through computer screens. “Sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to myself and it's just slower because I have to wait for students to respond.”
Moon said she had no hesitation to have a try when a colleague ( 同事) showed her a video in which a teacher put a sticker on her face each time a new student spoke out during class.
“I put some competition into it because I made it a battle between my three classes,” she said. “I told them that every time someone new takes part, I would put a new sticker on and we'll see which class has the most.”
Moon said she heard from students who had not spoken out all term, and saw her students come together and encourage each other to speak up, saying things like, “It's OK if the answer is wrong.”
Inspired by the success, Moon took a video of her face covered in stickers and shared it on the Internet, where it went viral (疯传).
In response to Moon's post, a fifth-grade teacher, Isa, later shared that she was using pipe cleaners in her hair to encourage students to turn on their cameras and speak up in class. She said, “The stickers started to irritate (刺激) our skin, so we moved on to pipe cleaners in our hair! Huge hit! We recommend it!”
“It shows that we're all doing all we can to engage students,” said Moon.
1. What made Moon put stickers on her face?| A．A teaching failure. |
| B．The competition for attention. |
| C．The desire to engage students. |
| D．A challenge from her colleagues. |
| A．They loved it. |
| B．They doubted it. |
| C．They were curious about it. |
| D．They showed little interest in it. |
| A．Her students disliked stickers. |
| B．She didn't have enough stickers. |
| C．It was cheaper to use pipe cleaners. |
| D．Stickers made her skin uncomfortable. |
| A．To support virtual learning. |
| B．To praise teachers' creativity. |
| C．To recommend a teaching aid. |
| D．To encourage students to learn. |
10 . Boredom has, surprisingly, become quite interesting to academics lately. In early May, London’s Boring Conference celebrated seven years of delighting in dullness. At this event, people flocked to talks about weather traffic jams, and vending-machine sounds, among other sleep-inducing topics.
What, exactly, is everyone studying? One widely accepted psychological definition of boredom is “the unpleasant experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activities.” But how can you measure a person’s boredom level and compare it with someone else’s?
In 1986, psychologists introduced the Boredom Proneness Scale, designed to measure an individual’s overall tendency to feel bored. By contrast, the Multidimensional State Boredom scale, developed in 2008, measures a person’s feelings of boredom in a given situation.
Boredom has been linked to behavior issues including inattentive driving mindless snacking excessive drinking, and addictive gambling. In fact, many of us would choose pain over boredom.
One team of psychologists discovered that two-thirds of men and a quarter of women would rather have electric shocks than sit alone with their thought for 15 minutes. Researching this phenomenon, another team asked volunteers to watch boring, sad, or neutral films, during which they could have electric shocks. The bored volunteers shocked themselves more and harder than the sad or neutral one did.
But boredom isn’t all bad. By encouraging self-reflection and daydreaming, it can encourage activity. An early study gave participants abundant time to complete problem-solving and word-association exercises. Once all the obvious answers were exhausted, participants gave more and more inventive answers to fight boredom. A British study took these findings one step further, asking subjects to complete a creative challenge (coming up with a list of alternative uses for a household item). One group of subjects did a boring activity first, while the others went straight to the creative task. Those whose boredom pumps had been prepared were more productive.
In our always-connected world, boredom may be a hard-to-define state, but it is a fertile one. Watch paint dry or water boil, or at least put away your smartphone for a while, and you might unlock your next big idea.
1. When are people likely to experience boredom, according to an accepted psychological definition?| A．When they can’t do what they want. |
| B．When they experience unpleasant things. |
| C．When they are engaged in some routines. |
| D．When they don’t enjoy what they are studying. |
| A．Great determination. | B．Mental health. |
| C．Huge pain. | D．Harmful conduct. |
| A．Volunteers prefer watching a boring movie to sitting alone deliberating. |
| B．Many volunteers are unable to resist boredom longer than fifteen minutes. |
| C．Male volunteers are more immune to the effects of boredom than females. |
| D．Mary volunteers choose to hurt themselves rather than endure boredom. |
| A．Unlock one’s smartphone. | B．Stop worrying and think big. |
| C．Spare some time to be bored. | D．Look around oneself for inspiration |
