The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms (节气). Start of Summer (立夏), the 7th term of the year, begins on May 6 and ends on May 21 this year. Start of Summer signals the change of seasons. On this day, the sun’s rays reach an angle of 45 degrees to the earth. The temperature will rise quickly during this period.
Here are four traditions to learn about the Start of Summer.
Greeting Start of Summer
The term Start of Summer was originated at the end of the Warring States Period (239BC). Since it is a key time for the harvest of summer crops, ancient Chinese emperors in different dynasties attached great importance to the Start of Summer. They encouraged people to seize the key time to do farm work. It’s said that most of the decorations were arranged in the color red in order to show respect for the god of summer and pray for a good harvest.
Checking one’s weight
The custom of weighing people at the Start of Summer originated from the Three Kingdoms Period (220-180) and is still popular in South China today. It was believed this practice would bring health and good luck to the people weighted.
After lunch on this day, people would hang a basket from a beam (房梁). The young and old took turns to get weighed while the person calculating the weight would offer good wishes. It is said that those who were weighed would stay healthy in the hot summer and those who weren’t would suffer illness.
Eating eggs
In ancient China, people believed a round egg symbolized a happy life and eating eggs on the day of Start of Summer was a prayer for good health. They put leftover tea into boiled water together with eggs and the original “tea egg” was created. Later people improved cooking methods and added spices (香料) to the eggs to make them taste delicious. Today tea egg has become a traditional snack in China.
Egg Competitions
As an old Chinese saying goes “hanging an egg on children’s chest can prevent them from getting summer diseases”, parents will prepare boiled eggs and put them in a bag before hanging them on their child’s chest. When at school, children gather together to play egg competitions by hitting each other’s eggs in pairs and the one whose egg is not broken wins.
1.People believe that if one is weighed on Start of Summer, he or she will ________.
A.have a good harvest B.have respect for god
C.be fortunate D.suffer illness
2.Which tradition is particularly designed for children?
A.Greeting Start of Summer B.Checking one’s weight
C.Eating eggs D.Egg Competitions
3.What is the difference between the tradition “Greeting Start of Summer” and the other three?
A.It is very old. B.It has nothing to do with health.
C.It was only popular in Zhou Dynasty. D.It is organized by the emperor.
What is the largest animal that lives on land？You most likely say，“The elephant．”You are correct．（In the animal kingdom，only the whale is larger．）There are two kinds of elephants．The first is the African elephant．The second is the Asian or Indian elephant．They are related．But they look different．The African elephant is bigger．Its ears are about four feet wide．Its tusks are about six to eight feet long．1.
An African male elephant is about 11.5 feet at the shoulder．It weighs from 12,000 to 14,000 pounds．The largest ever measured stood 13 feet 2 inches tall．
The elephant has thick skin．It’s about one inch thick．It’s heavy．2. Yet it is tender．The bite of a horsefly will draw blood．Elephants like to cover themselves with mud clay（泥土）．This protects their skin from bites by flies．
3. It weighs about 300 pounds．The elephant uses the trunk in many ways．It smells，drinks，and feeds itself with its trunk．
4. Only two thirds of each tusk sticks out．The rest is in the skull．Tusks are used to dig for food．They are also used to fight．When trained，elephants can lift as much as one ton with their tusks．The molars are about one foot long．Elephants have four molars．Each weighs eight to nine pounds．
The mother elephant gives birth after 20 to 22 months．5. It is already about three feet tall．It drinks its mother’s milk until it is three or four years old．
A．The skin alone weighs about one ton．
B．There are many land animals in Africa．
C．Our interest is with the African elephant．
D．The elephant's trunk is about six feet long．
E．The tusks（about six feet long）are really teeth．
F．Many baby elephants miss their elephant families．
G．At birth，the baby elephant weighs about two hundred pounds．
In the tenth grade，I began working for free at a vet’s that was run by a friend of my parents．I wanted to get experience for what I thought would be my future job．However，on one particular Saturday morning I learnt something perhaps more important．
The hospital was in the middle of one of the poorer sections of the city and some people could only pay for the most basic treatments．On this Saturday，a man and his young son，who was probably about 7 years old，walked in with a small cat in a cardboard box．There was something wrong with the cat’s left eye．But the man could not afford to pay for the cost of the medicine．He kept quiet for a while，and then he asked where the nearest animal shelter was．Hearing this，his son cried and started to argue with him．All of a sudden，an older woman who was sitting in the waiting room stood up，walked up to the counter，and told the man that she would pay for the cost．The man thanked her and the son got to keep a healthy cat．
I always thought it was the right thing to help out a needy person，but I only saw people do acts of kindness on TV or in the movies．What the woman did made me believe that these things do happen in real life，and quite often．
Now，when I can’t decide whether to help someone who is in need，I think of this woman，and then I have the courage to step up to the plate sometimes other people follow．
1.We can infer that a vet’s is most probably a hospital for ．
A.kids B.the poor
C.animals D.women
2.For what purpose did the writer work at the vet’s？
A.To help his parents’ friend with his work．
B.To make some pocket money．
C.To learn more about society．
D.To gain some work experience．
3.What would the man probably do with the cat if the woman didn’t help him？
A.Give it up．
B.Take it home without treatment．
C.Give it to the woman．
D.Give it to someone on the street．
Do you know how to plant a tree？Once you’ve chosen a tree，you’ll need to prepare your place for planting．
Planting the Tree
Dig a hole a foot deeper than and twice as wide as the root ball of the new tree．loosen the soil at the bottom and sides of the hole，so roots will be able to easily enter the soil．
Gently remove the tree from the container and guide the tree into the hole．Build soil up and around the roots if necessary，so the tree is at the same soil level as it was originally grown．
Straighten the tree in the hole．Before you begin filling，have someone view the tree from several directions to confirm that the tree is straight．You should fill the hole with existing soil that has been mixed with rich materials．At this time you can also add bone meal and then water the tree．
Caring for the Tree
Caring for the tree once it is planted is an important step so you should provide regular watering．Always feel the soil before watering，as over-watering can also harm the tree．When soil is dry below the surface of the covering，it’s time to water．You will probably need to water at least once a week．Continue until mid-fall，when lower temperatures call for less-frequent watering．
When to Plant a Tree
Now that you know how to plant a tree，the next step is deciding when to plant．Spring and fall are generally the best times to plant a tree．This gives the tree time to adjust（调整）before summer heat or winter cold arrives．In areas without cold winters，trees may be planted during the winter．
1.Which of the following is one of the suggestions for planting a tree？
A.Making the tree straight in the hole．
B.Watering the tree as much as possible．
C.Filling the hole with soil without anything．
D.Planting the tree in winter．
2.What can we learn from“Caring for the Tree”？
A.It is necessary to keep the soil in the hole from getting dry．
B.It isn’t very important to care for it after the tree is planted．
C.It is very important to make sure that the soil in the hole is dry．
D.It is necessary to water the tree frequently in lower temperatures．
3.Why are spring and fall the best times to plant trees？
A.Both seasons don’t have much rain．
B.It is easy to dig holes in both seasons．
C.Trees can grow fast and well in both seasons．
D.Trees have time to prepare to pass the following hard times．
根据语境及汉语或首字母提示正确拼写单词
1.Of all the __________（大规模的）migrations，that of the North American monarch butterflies is one of the most wonderful．
2.__________（不知怎么地）they manage to travel around 4,000 kilometres south and find their way to places where they will spend the winter．
3.Every autumn，millions of these beautiful insects with __________（精致的）black and orange wings begin a long and difficult journey．
4.It then uses its eyes to measure the __________（位置）of the sun．
5.These two pieces of information allow the butterfly to d__________ which way it needs to go and change its direction when necessary．
6.__________（最终），it manages to reach California or Mexico．
7.In many of the places where monarchs can be found，people are d__________ the natural environment by cutting down trees and using __________（化学品）that kill the plants that monarch caterpillars eat．
8.__________（志愿者）have been working together to record their migration and make sure that there are enough plants for them to feed on．
9.They finished __________（测量）that piece of land last week．
10.The tests will help the doctors __________（确定）what treatment they should use．
11.It puzzles scientists how these creatures can s__________ in such cold conditions．
12.Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been d_________．
13.The news that the plane had __________（坠毁）made us sad．
How to Help Children Learn From Their Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. 1. As parents, it’s our duty to help our children learn from their mistakes. Turning a mistake into a learning experience will help your child grow. Here are some tips for helping children learn from their mistakes.
Explain exactly what the mistake is. It’s important to make your child accept the fact that he made a mistake. Talk with your child and help him exactly understand what he did is not right.2. Never imagine he knows; always talk over the problem early.
Ask your child to make an apology if his mistakes hurt others. This step takes a mistake that is connected with another person even further.3. By making your child go to see and talk with the person who was hurt, he will more fully understand the results of the mistake and learn from what bad experience.
Offer suggestion in different ways to lead your child to avoid making the same mistakes again. You can choose to share your personal examples if you had the same problem before.4. He may not want to do exactly the same thing, but it will get him to start in the right direction.
5. Having your child try to work through the problem and know how to deal with it only by himself will help develop his reasoning skills, which is good for his self - development. In this way, he will know what he should do if a similar situation appears in the future.
A. Tell your child how you deal with the problem.
B. Children need to learn the results of their mistakes.
C. Praise him if he fully understands the mistake he made.
D. Now it’s time to help him properly correct mistakes
E. Encourage your child to find a way to deal with the problem alone.
F. Learning from mistakes is what makes us become better people.
G. Sometimes a child fails to know why the things he did are wrong.
