Do you know crosstalk? It’s also known for its Chinese name Xiangsheng. It is a famous Chinese show in the form of a dialog usually between two people. It came into being in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty. It began as a form of the street show, and it also borrowed from other arts, like Beijing Opera. No matter what the form is, crosstalk just wants to make people laugh. Although crosstalk was from Beijing, Tianjin has become a place where rising stars form their styles. Tianjin is well known for the quality of its crosstalk performances.
Crosstalk is one of China’s most important and popular performing arts. Modern crosstalk usually has four skills: speaking, imitating(模仿), teasing (逗笑) and singing. Some stories come from everyday life, popular ideas and hot news. Some come from history stories. During the show, sometimes one actor is angry with the other because of their different ideas. Crosstalk is full of fun with singing, different sounds, musical instruments, and even crying. So if something makes you unhappy, you can enjoy a crosstalk show.
Nowadays, you can watch crosstalk in tea houses and theaters. Of course, you can also listen to it on the radio while taking a walk or driving a car. And you can watch it on TV with your family.
1.Did crosstalk come into being in Tianjin?
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2.What’s the purpose of crosstalk?
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3.Where do stories in crosstalk come from?
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4.Why is one actor angry with the other during the crosstalk show?
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5.According to the passage, how can people enjoy crosstalk?
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Benefits of Reading Every Day
Reading printed books every day can make you a smarter, kinder and more relaxed person. And the positive effects can be felt at any age.
Reading can make you smarter. 1. That was the finding of a study published in 2014. Because reading ability is something that’s learned, some experts suggest that more effort should be put in teaching reading skills to young children.
2. Great literature (文学作品) forces readers to step outside themselves to understand the characters they’re reading about. According to a study published in 2013, people who love fiction have an easier time sensing and understanding other people’s feelings.
Reading can lower stress. Feel stressed at the end of a long day? 3. A 2009 study found that reading for just 30 minutes has similar stress-reducing effects to doing 30 minutes of yoga.
Reading helps you sleep well. 4. Research has shown that using smartphones at night makes it harder for people to fall asleep and leads to poor sleep quality, but reading books, on the other hand, can have relaxing effects, making it the ideal bedtime activity.
Reading brings a family closer. Reading doesn’t have to be a solitary (单独的) activity. When parents read out loud to their children, they can pass on the benefits of reading and encourage meaningful interactions (互动). A recent study found that printed books can make the connections between caretakers and children stronger.
A.Reading makes you a kinder person.
B.Reading helps you get more information about the characters.
C.Reading a nice book is a good way to wind down.
D.People who show strong reading skills early in life grow up to be cleverer.
E.If you’re too busy to read during the day, consider doing it at your bedtime.
Singer Han Hong took action to help Wuhan, the city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak (新冠病毒爆发). Han Hong had planned to hold the first concert of her 2020 national tour in Wuhan on February 29. But she called off the show and called on people to donate (捐赠) to the city. Soon over 2 billion yuan was donated through Han Hong Love Charity Foundation which she founded in 2012.
“When you’re going through a situation like this, you want to do anything you can to help. There are so many kind people out there,” wrote a fan, who donated through Han’s foundation. “It’s good to know that there are trucks with medical things going straight to the hospital. They are badly needed.”
In 2008, Han held a charity performance for Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, after an earthquake. That inspired her to found her foundation. Over the years, she had donated to people in different disasters, including an earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai Province, in 2010, a huge mudslide (泥石流) in Gansu Province and an earthquake in Yunnan Province in 2013.
“I almost spent all my savings. That’s what I want to do and what I can do.” Han said in an interview on the online show, Opinion, in 2015. “Many people don’t trust charity organizations to use their donations properly. Charities are held at a higher standard and need to win people’s trust.” The show also reported that Han had helped over 200 orphans (孤儿) since 1999.
1.What can we learn about Han Hong from Paragraph 1?
A.She held a concert in Wuhan before the coronavirus outbreak.
B.She founded a charity foundation ten years ago.
C.She has a great influence on the public.
2.Which of the following is NOT TRUE?
A.The medical things are send to the hospitals by truck straightly.
B.In order to help people in Yushun earthquake, Han held a charity performance.
C.Because of the coronavirus outbreak, Han canceled her concert in Wuhan.
3.When did Han Hong get the ideas of founding the foundation?
A.After a mudslide happened in Gansu Province.
B.After an earthquake happened in Yunnan Province.
C.After an earthquake happened in Sichuan Province.
4.In Han’s opinion, what do charities need to do?
A.To provide a new standard.
B.To make good use of donations.
C.To pay more attention to orphans.
5.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Han’s foundation.
B.The donations to Wuhan.
C.Han’s efforts to help people.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in the news a lot lately. And according to a recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute, about half of today’s work activities could be automated(自动化的) by 2055. Could “teaching” be on that list?
The teacher in the classroom is a human model. When a human teacher is able to show the advantages of learning, learners are more likely to be inspired to work harder and make progress. Even AI with advance technology can’t do this.
So, the chances are that your job is safe for the near future. But it is going to change, and robots will join us quite soon, as teaching assistants.
Recently, a Georgia Tech professor has used an AI teaching assistant in his classroom, which allows him to more effectively manage over 400 students. His AI teaching assistant helps him answer more routine questions, freeing him to deal with some complex problems which are difficult to solve from students.
AI is also being used in South Korea and Japan to help with language learning. Students can go through any variety of conversational practices, and AI can correct mistakes in usage and pronunciation. In fact, research shows that these programs can help solve problems like shyness and frustration(挫败) that can appear when children practice repetitively with a teacher. After all, a robot will not get tired or annoyed no matter how many mistakes a child makes.
This will be the future of AI in the classroom. Should you start packing up your desk? Absolutely not. The bottom line is that these technologies work best when paired with an active human teacher. But it certainly could make your job easier and more efficient.
1.What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A.The present teaching conditions.
B.The advantage of human teachers.
C.The purpose of using an AI teaching technology.
2.What does underlined word “complex” means in Chinese?
A.复杂的 B.普遍的 C.完整的
3.In what way is a robot better than a human teacher?
A.It is more patient. B.It is more creative. C.It is more convenient.
4.Who is the passage probably written for?
A.Students. B.Teachers. C.Parents.
5.Which can be the best title for the passage?
A.What will teachers be like in the future?
B.The benefit of using teaching assistants.
C.Could AI take the place of human teachers?
Plants on mountains
Mountains are more than 500 meters tall and it’s not easy for plants to live on them. The wind is strong. The soil is thin and rocky. Which plants can live there? Come and see some of them.
| They look like a small cushion(垫子). They grow together and they are less than 30 cm tall. But they can be 3 meters wide. People also call the plants “ecosystem engineers”. That’s because many other plants live under them. Cushion plants keep the cold away. They make the soil inside soft and wet. In this way, cushion plants help other plants survive(生存). |
| The snow lotus lives at elevations ranging from 2,400 to 4,000 meters. The climate there is cold. It always snows and the air is thin. Most plants will die. But the snow lotus grows well. A snow lotus can be 15 to 35 cm tall. People use it in medicine. |
| The evergreen saxifrage has star-shaped flowers. Most saxifrages are very small — less than 12 cm tall. They grow very slowly in cold environments. Saxifrages can live both in the mountains and in your garden, yet they are not resistant (耐受的) to high temperatures. |
1.According to the passage, which are the smallest plants?
A.Cushion plants B.Snow lotuses C.Saxifrages
2.What do we know about cushion plants?
A.They can grow up to 3 meters tall.
B.They can protect the plants under them from the cold.
C.They need to live in soft and wet soil.
3.Which plants can be used in medicine?
A.Cushion plants B.Snow lotuses C.Saxifrages
COVID-19 has had a bad influence on people’s life. To help people in need, Jack and his friends decided to hold a sale and make some money.
They were divided into four groups. Each group bad a leader and they sold different things.
Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
Recycling bags | Books and pens | Toy cars | Homemade |
Leader: Peter | Leader: Tina | Leader: Jack | Leader: Lucy |
The money made by each group:
Money(yuan)
1.Why did Jack and friends hold a sale?
A.To make money and help people in need.
B.To help with the recycling project.
C.To help students in poor areas.
2.Which is the following is TRUE?
A.There are five leaders in total.
B.Lucy is the leader of the second group.
C.Peter’s group made the most money.
