A little girl lived in a small, shabby house on a hill. She enjoyed playing in her small 1 as she was growing up. She was able to see over the garden and across a valley (山谷) to a wonderful house high on a hill—a house that had golden 2.
Although she loved her own family, she dreamed all day about 3 wonderful and exciting it must be to live in that golden house.
She eventually (终于) 4 an age, where she could play outside of her garden. She asked her mother if she could go for a bike ride outside the gate of her home. Her mother finally 5 her to go. The little girl rode her bike until she got to the gate of the golden house.
As she leaned her 6 against the gatepost, she focused on the path that led to the house and then looked at the house itself. However, she felt a bit 7. All the windows were actually plain (普通的) and rather dirty.
She was so sad that she didn't try to go any further. Heartbroken, she got on her bike again. As she 8, she saw a sight that amazed her. She could see a small house on 9 side of the valley. Its windows glistened (闪耀) as the sun shone on her little home.
She realized that she had been living in her own 10 house all along. Everything she dreamed of was right there in front of her eyes!
More than 2,000 years ago, a favorite wife of Emperor (皇帝)Wu of the Han Dynasty died of illness. The emperor missed her so much that he didn't want to do anything. One day, a minister (大臣）saw children playing with dolls. The shadows on the floor were interesting. The smart minister had an idea. He made a puppet of the favorite wife and painted it. As night fell, he asked the emperor to watch a puppet show behind a curtain. The emperor was very happy and became interested in it. In this way, puppet shows began.
Shadow puppets were first made of paper, later from the hides of donkeys (驴皮). That's why their Chinese name is pi ying. Shadow puppet plays were very popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties in many parts of China.
Today, shadow puppet plays face extinction like other traditional art forms such as Nuo Drama. We should do something to protect them. Shadow puppet plays in Shaanxi are the most famous. The Academy Gate Cultural Street in Xi'an is a wonderful place for you to choose shadow puppets. Here you can choose from hundreds of figures (人物）in different sizes and poses (姿势).
Every morning my father buys a newspaper on his way to work. Every evening my mother looks through magazines at home. And every night, I look at the posters with photos of David Beckham and Yao Ming on my bedroom wall before I go to sleep.
Paper was first created about 2, 000 years ago, and has been made from silk, cotton, bamboo, and, since the 19th century, from wood. But in those days, books could only be produced one at a time by hand. As a result, they were expensive and rare. And because there weren't many books, few people learned to read.
When printing was developed greatly at the beginning of the 11th century, books could be produced more quickly and cheaply.
Today information can be received online, downloaded from the Internet rather than found in books, and information can be kept on CD-ROMs or machines such as MP3 players.
Computers are already used in classrooms, and newspapers and magazines can already be read online. No, I don't think the poster about Yao Ming on my bedroom wall will ever be replaced by a two-metre-high computer!
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A. People learned to write words on paper to make a book. B. So will books be replaced by computers one day? C. Can we imagine life without paper or print? D. Then printing was invented in China. E. As a result, more people learned to read. After that, knowledge and ideas spread quickly. |
