set off, to a certain degree, in one's spare time, take off, get used to |
so that , give a speech, be different from, under the weather as well, |
Every child in the UK must receive a education until 16.
Parents can choose to send their children to a state school to a private school.
The school year generally three terms.
Primary school are students the age of 5 11.
If they do well in the exam, they can at university.
People （live） in different countries made different kinds of languages. Today there are about fifteen hundred in the world. Each contains many thousands of words. A very large dictionary, for example, contains four five hundred thousand words. But we do not need these. To read short stories you need to know only about two thousand words. you leave school, you will learn only one thousand or more.
The words you know are called your vocabulary. You should try to make your vocabulary （big）. Read as many books as we can. There are a lot of books （write） in easy English. You will enjoy them. When you meet new word, look it in your dictionary. Your dictionary is your （much） useful book.
Growing up is not always easy. When we face difficulties, a spirit of depending on 1 is more useful than crying for help. That's what Hong Zhanhui's story of growing from boy to man 2 family hardship tells us.
Hong was born in 1982 in a poor family in Xihua County(县), Henan Province. When he was only 11, his father became badly ill and one day he came back with an unwanted baby 3. A year later, Hong's mother 4 home. She no longer wanted to live such a poor life and face her sick husband. So everything hard fell onto the young boy's 5: to take care of his father and the younger sister Chenchen, and to go on to study.
Although his life was hard, Hong didn't go away from his father and sister. He took several part-time jobs to 6 his family. He climbed tall trees to get birds' eggs for his sister. He walked 2 hours at weekends to the market to 7 different things to sell around his school. A few years later, he studied at a college. To take care of Chenchen, he worked hard to 8 a room near his college for her, and sent her to school.
After Hong's story went 9, he became a hero in people's eyes. But Hong 10 offers from others. He said he felt encouraged by kind offers, but he could depend on his own work.
Through his hard life, he has grown up from boy to man.
China has the post-80s, post-90s and post-95s. While in the United States they're called the Generation （一代人）X(Gen-X), Gen-Y and Gen-Z. If you were born after 1995, you belong to Gen-Z.
What does this generation like to do or wear? What's cool, or not cool? From a fairly early age they know how to use a computer. You will find them on MySpace, YouTube and Facebook on the Internet. By their teenage years, cell phones and video games are very popular. They watch Hanna Montana on television. They wear clothes with brand names.
Most teens wear brand-name clothes to be in fashion and to fit in with their friends. However, not all Gen-Z youth like the style. Some prefer blue jeans and T-shirts. They don't feel any pressure from their friends. They just want to be themselves. They make their own statements by not fitting in with the crowd.
Though they don't care their clothes, the electronic age has influenced Gen-Z. Sales of games, cell phones and electronics have increased quickly in recent years.
Do you spend time on the Internet? Do you carry a cell phone or play video games? You and American teenagers are more alike than you have imagined.
It is 40 meters long and 6 meters wide. This must be the biggest bus you have ever seen. It can carry 1,200 to 1,400 people.
It is China's new Super Bus. It is going for a test run in Beijing at the end of this year. Some other cities are also interested in running the Super Bus. They hope it can solve traffic problems.
The Super Bus runs along fixed tracks (固定轨道). The bus sits on top of two 2.2-meter-tall legs. The legs have wheels at one end. Small cars can drive under the bus, so the Super Bus does not take up road space.
The bus runs on electricity and solar power. It can travel up to 60 km every hour. Its creator, Song Youzhou, says it can reduce a lot of traffic jams (堵塞).
The Super Bus can do the work of 40 buses. In that way, it can save 860 tons of fuel (燃料) every year, according to Song.
"To build a Super Bus and its track costs less than building subways. Subways are nearly ten times more expensive to build." Song said.
Some people worry that the Super Bus may not be safe. However, Song says there's no need for concern. The Super Bus has laser scanners (激光扫描仪) between its legs. The scanners make sure the cars keep a safe distance.
Last Friday, for our weekly event, we watched Peking Opera at the Qingdao Grand Theatre. As a young man from the United States, it was my first time to watch live Peking Opera, and it was special.
Peking Opera, also known as Beijing Opera, is called “京剧 (Jingju)” in Chinese. It is a traditional Chinese opera and has a history of over 200 years. It is an art form that combines music, vocal performance, dance and acrobatics(杂技). The works of Peking Opera are mainly based on Chinese history and traditional stories and customs.
The performance we watched that night was called Meeting the Queen and Hitting the Dragon Robe (长袍) The story is from a Chinese classic literature. Bao Zheng was one of the most well-known ancient Chinese government officials in Chinese history. One day, he met an old lady on his way back home. The old lady claimed herself as the mother of the emperor and had been set up by others. After checking that the old lady was the emperor's mother, Bao Zheng helped her to get back to the capital and she blamed the emperor for all the misery she had suffered. She ordered Bao Zheng to punish the emperor and Bao Zheng hit the dragon robe instead of hitting the emperor in order to save himself from being punished.
When the opera started, we were amazed by the unique sound made by the musical instruments. They were in perfect cooperation with the singing of the performers. Also, the costumes the performers wore were extremely beautiful and attractive as they have several colours and patterns on each one of them. The performers also "told" the story by their movement. For example, a walk around the stage would mean they took a long trip somewhere. Even though it was kind of hard for us to get used to the music and to follow the story, we were glad that we decided to join the event! We look forward to such an event again. It really helps us know more about Chinese culture.
