The First Lady’s Travel Journal: Touring the Forbidden City
March 21, 2014
After visiting the Beijing Normal School, Madame Peng took Sasha and Malia, my mother, and me to the Forbidden City, which is right in the heart of Beijing.
For more than 2,000 years (up until 1912), China was ruled by emperors who descended (传递)from many different dynasties, or families, who passed ruling positions on from generation to generation — and for nearly 500 years, the Forbidden City used as the emperor’s home.
Like the name suggests, the Forbidden City is large enough to be a city of its own — it includes nearly 1,000 buildings and nearly 10,000 rooms.
In 1925, the new Chinese government turned the Forbidden City into a museum so that visitors like us from all over the world can stroll (闲逛) through many of the beautiful rooms and outdoor spaces.
The Forbidden City is too large to fully experience in a single visit, but highlights include the following: The Hall of Union and Peace has almost 14,000 ornamental dragons. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is where the emperor(皇帝) watched birthday celebrations and coronation (加冕) ceremonies from his Dragon Throne. And then there are the Imperial Gardens, where you can walk along the paths and pavilions, admiring the beautiful rock arrangements, flowers and cypress (柏树) trees.
While we loved our visit to the Forbidden City, we only wish we had more time to see everything. But then again, I’m not sure there could ever be enough time to fully enjoy all of the art and history in this wonderful place. The writer visited The Forbidden City with _______.
| A．her daughters |
| B．her husband |
| C．her mother |
| D．her mother and two daughters |
The Forbidden City is a _______.
| A．city | B．palace | C．village | D．garden |
The Forbidden City was used as _______ for nearly 500 years until 1912.
| A．a museum |
| B．the emperor’s short-lived home |
| C．a place of interest for public |
| D．the emperor’s home |
What does the word “highlights” mean in the passage?
| A．景观亮点 | B．聚光灯 | C．光亮 | D．最大的部分 |
According to the passage, we can infer(推断) that _______.
| A．They had enough time to visit every room |
| B．The Forbidden City was used as a museum till 1925 |
| C．The first lady enjoyed all of the art and history in this wonderful place |
| D．There are more than 1,000 buildings and less than 10,000 rooms |
Tom and Fred are talking about the year 2020. “What will our world be like in the year 2020?”
“I don’t know,” says Fred, “What do you think?” “Well, no one knows, but it’s interesting to guess.” “In the year 2020 everyone will carry a pocket computer. The computer will give people the answers to all their problems. We shall all have telephones in our pockets, too, and we’ll be able to talk to our friends all over the world. Perhaps we’ll be able to see them at the same time. ” “A lot of people will live and work under the sea. Perhaps there will be big towns, factories and farms under the sea, too.” “Machines will do most of the work, and so people will have more holidays, perhaps they’ll work only two or three days a week. They’ll be able to fly to the moon by spaceship and spend their holidays there.” “I’m looking forward (期待) to the year 2020. I hope to go to the moon!” “And I hope I’ll be able to live under the sea.” says Fred, “Won’t that be very interesting? Just like a fish!”Tom and Fred talked about ______.
| A．their school life |
| B．some interesting news |
| C．their life in the past |
| D．their life in the future |
Machines will ______.
| A．do most of the work instead of people |
| B．do some of the work instead of people |
| C．do as much work as people |
| D．do as little work as people |
From their talk, we know that ______.
| A．only Fred hopes to fly to the moon |
| B．both of them hope to fly to the moon |
| C．one of them hopes to fly to the moon |
| D．neither of them hopes to fly to the moon |
Fred said ______.
| A．he liked fish very much |
| B．he would like to live under the sea like a fish |
| C．he would go fishing under the sea |
| D．he would spend a few days on the moon |
Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned?
| A．People will be able to fly to the moon in a spaceship. |
| B．People will have more holidays. |
| C．Many people will live and work under the sea. |
| D．All the factories and farms will be built under the sea. |
| What’s on? |
| Medusa Disco The best dance music in the town! Every night Tickets: $10 |
| Concerts Mason Park Stadium Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. Tickets: $ 25~ $ 50 |
| Basketball Games Saturday and Sunday Games start at 1:00 p.m. Ticket: $ 20 |
| Italian Restaurant Perfect pasta and pizza Live music Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00a.m.~ 11:00 p.m. |
| Hudson Theater Shakespeare’s Macbeth Hudson Theater and Dance School Thursday to Friday, 8:00 p.m. Ticket:$ 3(Students); $7.5 (Adults) |
If you go to dance at Medusa Disco, you should pay ________ .
| A．$ 2 | B．$ 3 |
| C．$ 10 | D．$ 25 |
When can you see basketball games?
| A．On Tuesday and Sunday |
| B．On Thursday and Friday |
| C．On Friday and Saturday |
| D．On Saturday and Sunday |
Where can you enjoy the live music on Tuesday?
| A．At Italian Restaurant |
| B．At Medusa Disco |
| C．At Hudson Theater. |
| D．At Dance School |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．We can enjoy the best dance music every night. |
| B．We need to pay $25~$50 for the concerts. |
| C．The basketball games start at 2:00 p.m. |
| D．If you are a student, you need to pay $ 3 for Shakespeare’s Macbeth. |
The passage is probably _________ .
| A．a menu of a restaurant |
| B．a news report |
| C．a basketball poster |
| D．an advertisement |
Being outgoing is good for your life. Those who are more outgoing like to meet lots of people and
have more fun in life. In fact, being outgoing is not as hard as you think. Even shy people can be outgoing. You can start becoming outgoing with your best friend or a group of friends. But the real challenge（挑战）comes when you meet strange people or new friends. Smile more, and usually they will return your smile. In this way, you may have some talks.
Start a talk. Just a smile “Hello” or “How is it going” is a good start. If you want to make interesting talks, you should read news in newspapers and prepare(准备) your views, or surf the Internet for new information and then keep that in mind.
The easier way to become more outgoing is to go out. This is also the most important step(步). Go to a park, beach, club, party or any other place that you think can be fun, and you may make new friends there.You should start to be outgoing with ________.
| A．your parents |
| B．your teachers |
| C．your best friend |
| D．your new friends |
When you start a talk with a stranger, you should say “_________”
| A．What’s the matter? |
| B．What’s your name? |
| C．How’s it going? |
| D．Are you healthy? |
The easiest way to be outgoing is _______.
| A．talking | B．smiling |
| C．playing | D．going out |
Making new friends can make us ________.
| A．more outgoing | B．healthier |
| C．more athletic | D．wilder |
Which is NOT the writer’s view?
| A．Being outgoing is really difficult. |
| B．Being outgoing is good for our life. |
| C．Being outgoing helps people have more fun. |
| D．Being outgoing with strangers is not easy. |
There is nobody in the world the same as you. You are unique (唯一的)! Everybody is from everyone else. That is ! So it makes the world an interesting .
There are people taller you, and shorter than you. Maybe your hair is as same as your friend’s, but maybe it is longer than . Another difference is your hair may be straight(直的) , hers may be curly(卷曲)
I am sure you have some friends who are smarter than you. And you have some friends, they are as good sports as you. there are also people around you who are not good at some things.
does your best friend look like? Do you both want to finish your homework at school? Do you want to wear the same clothes every day? I think in some ways you are the same, but in many other ways you are different.
So say loudly to the world, “I am who I am –I’m unique!”
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I have twin brothers, Tim and Tom. They look the same. They both have brown hair and blue eyes. They always wear the same jeans and T-shirts. So many people can’t tell them from each other.
They not only wear the same clothes but also do the same things. For example, they both like listening to pop music, watching soccer matches and playing computer games. They go to watch soccer matches every weekend. They like to play computer games every night, but our mother doesn’t allow(允许) them to because they have a lot of homework to do.
They are twins, but they are also different in some ways. For example, Tim works hard at school, and he always gets good grades. But Tom is much less hard—working than Tim is. Tom likes talent shows because he thinks they are relaxing, but Tim likes news, he wants to find out what’s going on around the world.
Our mother is often away from home because she travels a lot for her job, so I have to take care of （照顾）my twin brothers at home. But I think it is fun to have twin brothers.
Information Card
| What the twins’ names are |
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| What kind of clothes the twins always wear |
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| When the twins watch soccer matches |
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| What Tom thinks of talent shows |
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| Why the writer has to take care of the twins |