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Traditional Chinese culture is catching the world’s eyes. The good traditional Chinese culture is our great treasure. President Xi Jinping says we should have a high of culture confidence. There are so many great works in the course of Chinese history such as Di Zi Gui,Lun Yu,Meng Zi and so on. Xi Jinping and other leaders often borrow some wonderful sentences from them. Dao De Jing is also one of them.
It is widely believed that Lao zi, a famous Chinese philosopher and the founder of Taoism, was the writer of Dao De Jing. There are only 5000 characters in the book, but it is considered as one of the oldest and most important philosophy books of ancient China .It includes two parts, Dao and De.
Dao means "the Way". It doesn’t tell us how to choose the right way, but it really shows that one should act through naturalness and non-action.
Naturalness refers to a natural state of being, an attitude of following the way of nature. Lao Zi thought that everything in the world has its own way of being and developing. Birds fly in the sky; Tigers live in the forest; Fish swim in the water; Flowers bloom and flowers fall. He gave advice to the people who have strong feelings to control the world. He said they should give up the desires （欲望）.
Non-action （无为） does not mean that one should do nothing but passively wait for something to be achieved. What he meant is that human should follow the way of nature and try not to break the rule of nature.
De means“Virtue（德行）”. Lao zi thought the great virtue is like water. And he thinks nothing in the world is weaker than water, yet nothing is stronger than water when it comes. It can nearly destroy everything strong. In ancient China, there is also a saying, water can hold the boat, it can also make the boat turn upside down. Water is a typical （典型的） example of the weak beating the strong.
Of course, there are many other wonderful things we can learn from the book. Today, Dao de Jing still plays a role in the development of Chinese thoughts. It is becoming more and more popular with people around the world.
1.According to Dao De Jing, which picture shows an attitude of breaking the way of nature?
A.
B.
C.
D.
2.Why did Lao zi think the great virtue is like water?
A.Because water is a typical example of the strong beating the weak.
B.Because Lao zi thought nothing in the world is weaker than water.
C.Because water is a typical example of the weak beating the strong.
D.Because water can hold the boat.
3.What does Dao De Jing tell us?
A.We should act by following the way of nature and have the great virtue.
B.We should choose the right way to success.
C.We should do nothing but passively wait for something to be achieved.
D.We should become strong and try our best to satisfy our desires.
4.What is the feeling that the writer wants to express in the passage?
A.Serious. B.Proud. C.Upset. D.Sad.
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Planting “trees” on your screen
Do you want to help China become a more beautiful country? Now, you can do this on your mobile phone.
Ant Financial(蚂蚁金服) is an Internet financial service company. In August 2016, it started an interesting project “Ant Forest”. According to Ant Financial, “Ant Forest” can help people improve the environment.
But how does the project actually work? And what effects(效果) has it had? In “Ant Forest”, people start by planting a virtual(虚拟的) tree. The project then gives people “green energy” if they do low-carbon activities. The activities include walking, buying tickets online, taking public transportation and so on. With “green energy”, the virtual tree will slowly grow up. When there is enough “green energy”, Ant Financial will plant a real tree.
The Ant Financial company has been working with lots of green charities(慈善机构). Together, they help farmers in desert places in China plant trees.
“Ant Forest” has been very popular. More than 250 million people have planted virtual trees on their phones. And Ant Financial has planted more than ten million real trees.
Bai Xue is a member of Ant Financial. She says the company believes everyone wants to improve the environment, She and her workmates are happy that they can help people realize their wishes. According to Bai, Ant Financial will do more in the future so that we can make China a greener country together.
1.Which of the following sentences is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Ant Financial has helped all farmers in China to plant trees.
B.If you buy tickets online, you can get “green energy” from the project.
C.Because of the project, charities become more and more popular.
D.More than ten million people have planted real trees.
2.What is the correct order according to the passage?
a. Ant Financial plants a real tree. b. You receive “green energy”.
c. The virtual tree grows up. d. You do low-carbon activities.
e. You plant a virtual tree.
A.d-c-b-a-e B.c-b-c-d-a C.d-a-b-c-e D.e-d-b-c-a
3.What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
A.Ant Financial believes that all the people can realize their wishes.
B.The company will become greener.
C.Ant Financial will do more in the future to make our country greener.
D.Bai Xue and her workmates want to plant trees.
4.We can learn from the passage that _________.
A.Ant Financial can help people realize their wishes of improving the environment
B.Ant Financial is a charity
C.Farmers in desert places in China often plant trees
D.The members of Ant Financial like walking, buying tickets online and taking public transportation
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I remember a time I went shopping on my first visit to Hongkong. Coming from cold and cloudy England, I prepared for the sun and dressed in a T-shirt and a short skirt. Not having many chances to enjoy the sun in the UK, my legs were very white. In the UK, this is not a fashionable look at all. Most women spend every sunny day out in the sun trying to get darker skin. The darker the skin is, the better the look is. I have tried to get darker but nothing works for me!
As I walked around one shop, two shop girls didn’t take their eyes off me the whole time, talking quietly to each other in Chinese. I began to feel uncomfortable and asked my friend if we could leave. After we left the shop, she asked me what was wrong. I complained（抱怨） about the shop girls being very rude and always looking at my legs. I was embarrassed that they were talking about my white skin. My friend laughed, “they weren’t laughing at you. They were saying how nice your legs are. Many Chinese women want to have white skin like yours. In fact, there are many beauty products in the shops to make skin white and a lot of money is spent on them."
It just goes to show that we are never happy with what we have. The grass is always greener on other side. If the woman of the west and east thought the same way, western women wouldn’t spend so much money on cream that makes skin darker and women from the east wouldn’t need to use cream that makes skin whiter.
1.The writer had white legs because __________.
A.She spent so much money on her legs
B.She lived in a cold and cloudy country
C.She wanted them to be white
D.She didn’t like dark skin
2.What does the underlined （划线的） word in the first paragraph mean in Chinese?
A.时尚的 B.和谐的 C.好玩的 D.有气质的
3.How do you understand the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
A.People are always happy with what they have.
B.The grass on both sides is green.
C.People in the west have the best skin.
D.People are always unhappy with what they have.
