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Children's Games in Ancient China

Unlike the children nowadays, the children during ancient times didn't have smart phone, iPad or computer to entertain(娱乐) themselves. 1. Let's take a look.

Flying kites

Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite. 2. For example, the swallow-shaped kite is a well-known Beijing style.

Playing hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. Even nowadays, many children like playing it. There are two ways to play. One way is covering a child's eyes while other kids run around to tease(戏弄) him. 3.

4.

The closest thing to watching a film or television for entertainment during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists manipulate puppets behind the screen, narrating stories and accompanied by music.

Setting off firecrackers(鞭炮)

Firecrackers have a history of more than 2,000 years. It is said that there was a beast (野兽)named Nian in ancient China. 5. After gunpowder was invented, it gradually replaced the bamboo joint cracker. Crackers are still set off during Spring Festival to symbolize auspiciousness(吉利).

A.Watching shadow plays

B.Each of them has special features.

C.Different materials are used to make the kite.

D.Shadow plays were the popular entertaining form in ancient times.

E.And to scare off the beast, people burnt bamboo joints to make it blast.

F.More commonly, participants hide and one child must try to find them.

G.Instead, they came up with(想出) interesting games to play in their childhood.

    Do your children love to play in the virtual (虚拟的) online worlds? If so, don’t worry. Instead, you should be happy to know that.

A research report says that virtual worlds can be important places where children practice what they will do in real life. They are also a powerful and attractive alternative to more passive adventures like watching TV. The research was done with children using the BBC’s Adventure Rock virtual world, aimed at those aged 6-12. It surveyed and interviewed children who were the first to test the game.

The online world is a theme island built for the BBC’s children channel by Belgian game maker Larian. Children explore the world alone but they use message boards to share what they find and what they do in the different creative studios they find around the virtual space.

At times children were explorers and at others they were social climbers eager to connect with other players. Some were power users looking for more information about how the virtual space really worked. The children could try all kinds of things without having to be afraid of the consequences that would follow if they tried them in the real world. They learned many useful social skills and played around with their identity in ways that would be much more difficult in real life.

According to the study what children liked about virtual worlds was the chance to create content such as music, cartoons and videos.

The publishers of the report urges creators of virtual spaces for children to get young people involved very early on because they really do have good ideas to add and they are very good critical friends.

1.What’s the function of the first paragraph?

A.To introduce the topic of the passage.

B.To make a conclusion on virtual worlds.

C.To give comfort to parents for children’s misbehavior.

D.To arouse parents to pay more attention to their children.

2.Compared with watching TV, doing things in the virtual worlds ________.

A.appears to be more passive B.distracts one’s attention

C.does good to one’s real life D.has potential dangers to one’s mind

3.While playing the game, children ________.

A.need to share their findings B.may improve their creativity

C.work alone without any help D.bear in mind real-life consequences

4.What does this text focus on?

A.Children’s mental development. B.Parents’ worry on virtual games.

C.Young people’s designing virtual games. D.The advantage of playing virtual games.

    One day, I was in class, when all of a sudden my heart started racing. I broke out into a sweat, feeling hot and cold all over. My chest hurt, I was dizzy, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I jerked up from my desk and ran from the room, terrified. I didn’t care what the teacher thought, or that the eyes of the entire class were on me. I just had to get out of there.

I ran to the water fountain and drank some water. For several minutes, I just stood there holding on to the fountain. What was happening? Was I having a heart attack? Slowly, the lightheadedness went away. My heart stopped racing. I still had no idea what had happened.

And then, an hour later, once again it did the pounding heart, the dizziness, the feeling that I was dying. I burst into tears and ran for the hallway again. My teacher ran after me asking what was wrong. Panicking, I managed to choke out, “I need an ambulance, please.”

To my surprise, my teacher didn’t grab her phone for help. Instead, she put her hand on my arm and told me to slow down. “Breathe,” she said. “You’re going to be okay. You just need to calm down.”

Finally, my teacher explained that she was pretty sure I was having a panic attack. (They are also called anxiety attacks.) She knew, she said, because the same thing had happened to her when she was my age. She told me how she’d felt, and it was almost exactly how I was feeling now. She also explained that panic attacks are caused by anxiety.

My teacher talked to my parents, and they found me a counselor to deal with my anxiety. I’d been going through a tough time that year. My best friend had moved to a new school, and I wasn’t sure how to fit in with the girls in my class. I’d never told anyone, though—I just kept it to myself. My counselor helped me understand that not dealing with my feelings can lead to panic attacks, and that I need to talk to someone when my life is stressful. They all helped me sort things out.

By sharing my story, I want other girls my age to know that you’re not as alone as you feel, and that talking about it really does help.

1.What’s wrong with the author at the beginning of the story?

A.She caught a cold. B.She couldn’t breathe.

C.She had a heart attack. D.She suffered from a terrible anxiety.

2.What may cause a panic attack?

A.Writing to a friend to tell him you are worried about the exam.

B.Calling your mom and tell her you are in a bad mood.

C.Keeping the quarrel between you and your classmate to yourself.

D.Visiting your teacher to tell her you could not catch her in class.

3.The author shared her story to ________.

A.inform people of an anxiety attack

B.give advice on how to overcome an anxiety disorder

C.describe her feelings when suffering from a panic attack

D.help other girls who are going through what she went through

4.In which section can we find the text in a magazine?

A.Chicken soup. B.Teen Life.

C.Read for Fun. D.Literary World.

    You may probably meet most of the powerful graduation speakers, here who are well-known people in their fields. I think the schools couldn’t have picked better speakers than them, because they set good examples, deeply inspiring us in our daily life.

Steve Jobs, Stanford University:

“Remembering you’re going to die, and the best way I know is to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice...”

Oprah Winfrey, Stanford University:

“I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school... And the secret I’ve learned to get ahead is being open to the lessons from the grandest universe of all. Don’t react against a bad situation. And the solution will arise from the challenge. So don’t give up easily, acting with responsibility... ”

Bono, University of Pennsylvania:

“For four years you’ve been buying, trading, and selling everything you’ve got in this marketplace of ideas. Your pockets are full, even if your parents’ are empty, and now you’ve got to figure out what to spend it on... The world is more flexible than you think and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape...”

Michael Dell, University of Texas at Austin:F

“Now it’s time for you to move on to what’s next and obtain your desire. But you must not let anything prevent you from taking those first steps. Don’t spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, or sometimes you’ll miss the right opportunity. Recognize that there will be failures and obstacles(障碍).But you will learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. ”

1.Which of the following can best describe what Steve Jobs says?

A.Never give up. B.Don’t live your life in regret.

C.To go all out to achieve our goals. D.True knowledge comes from practice.

2.Who is more in favor of lifelong learning according to the speech？

A.Michael Dell. B.Bono.

C.Steve Jobs. D.Oprah Winfrey.

3.The underlined word “flexible” in paragraph 4 probably means “    ”.

A.acceptable B.reasonable

C.changeable D.suitable

4.What can we learn from these speeches?

A.Some social skills. B.Some life lessons.

C.Some well-known people. D.Some effective solutions.

    The Ebola virus, which has killed more than 670 people in West Africa, is a “threat” to the UK, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has told the BBC.

A woman is being treated for ‘ Ebola-like’ symptoms at the Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital in Hong Kong after recently returning from a strip to Africa.

The woman has been given the all-clear after testing negative for Ebola, according to South China Morning Post.

The 39-year-old woman was kept in isolation while undergoing tests, but a hospital source said she did not have the virus and was in a stable condition.

Ebola virus first emerged in 1976 in outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Zaire and Sudan. Ebola that broke out in Zaire has one of the highest case fatality rates (病死率) of any human virus, roughly 90%.

Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea, fever, weakness, headache and sore throat. Those struck down can also suffer internal and external bleeding. The virus is spread through human contact. There is no cure.

1.Which city in the text has the highest death rate by Ebola?

A.Hong Kong. B.London.

C.Sudan. D.Zaire.

2.What could we infer from the text?

A.The woman was tested positive for Ebola. B.People suffering Ebola virus will not bleed.

C.Ebola virus can be got from person to person. D.Scientists have found the solution to the virus.

3.The text is taken from ________.

A.a news report B.a story

C.a notice D.an advertisement