“Without music, life would be a mistake, ” famous German philosopher(哲学家) Friendrich Nietzsche said over a century ago. Music is a big part of our lives. But in recent years, some US schools have cut music classes to control budgets.

For example, Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired over 1, 000 teachers. Among them, 10 percent of the teachers taught art or music, according to The Washington Times. In fact, this is not just a problem in the US. In other countries, such as China and the UK, music classes are not thought to be as important as ones like science, math and history. That's partly because music is not seen as a very important life skill, and it isn't tested. Many students are busy with schoolwork, so parents and students choose to focus on subjects that are tested more often.

However, learning music is beneficial in many ways.

When playing music, you need different abilities to work together. It is not as simple as it looks, according to Kenneth Guilmartin of Music Together, an early childhood music development program. For example, when playing the piano, people see music notes and decode them in their brains. They also use their fingers to make sounds. You need to deal with all these things at the same time.

Music has a special connection with science as well. You can see that many scientists are good at playing music: Einstein played the violin, and German physicist Max Planck was talented in playing the piano.

1.In Paragraph 2, what does the underlined word “them” refer to?

A.Public schools. B.Fired teachers.

C.Parents in Chicago. D.Students in Chicago.

2.What's the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A.Different abilities are needed to work together while we are playing music.

B.Playing the piano needs people to use fingers to make sounds.

C.Decoding music notes is needed while we are playing music.

D.Playing the piano needs people to see music notes.

3.How many scientists who are good at playing music are mentioned in this passage?

A.One. B.Two. C.Three. D.Four.

4.What's the writer's opinion according to this passage?

A.Music is as simple as it looks. B.Music is a big part of our lives.

C.Music classes should be cut in some schools. D.Music isn't a very important life skill for us.

The Spring Festival is coming soon! Will you try making some paper cuttings(剪纸)? Paper cutting is one of the traditional folk arts(民间艺术) in China. It has a long history of more than 1500 years. People always use paper, scissors and knives to make paper cuttings.

It's difficult to tell when it started. People found paper cuts of animals in tombs(墓) in the Northern and Southern Dynasty(南北朝). By the Southern Song Dynasty, paper cutting had become an important part of everyday life. At that time, a young man would look at a young woman's paper-cutting skills before marrying her.

Paper cuttings are mostly used for decoration(装饰). In China, it is common to see paper cuttings on walls, windows, doors and mirrors during holidays. People make them to show their joy or their wishes for good luck and health. People also use paper cuttings as design patterns on clothing. They make the clothes look special and different. What’s more, paper cuttings are made to be great gifts for friends and love ones.

It is easy to learn paper cutting but very difficult to make it perfect. We need to learn how to use the scissors and the engraving knife. Moreover, we need a lot of practice to learn paper-cutting skills.

A funny thing is that, in many parts of China nowadays, paper-cuttings skills are still a must for women because people think they are a symbol of a clever mind.

1.What tools(工具) do we need to make paper cuttings?

2.When had paper cutting become an important part of everyday life?

3.Why do people make paper cuttings on holidays in China?

4.Is it easy to learn paper cutting and make it perfect?

5.What do people think of women who are good at making paper cuttings?

Since the NCP (新冠肺炎) outbreak began in December, Japan has given away a lot of medical supplies (物资) to China. On the boxes of these supplies, poems are often written. Taken from ancient Chinese and Japanese poems, these powerful and inspiring lines show heartfelt wishes for Chinese people. And they let people know that ancient stars still shine in modern times. Let’s take a look at some of them.

山川异域,风月同天。

Lands apart, sky shared.

This line comes from a Buddhist hymn (佛诗) by the Japanese Prince Nagaya (长屋亲王). This hymn reminds us of the cultural exchanges between both countries in history. At that time, the prince wrote the hymn as an invitation for Chinese Buddhist monks(僧侣) to visit Japan. Inspired by the hymn, Jianzhen, a well-known monk of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), started his travel to Japan soon after.

岂曰无衣?与子同裳。

Fear not the want of armor(盔甲), for mine is also yours to wear.

This line is from a battle song of the Qin state, Wuyi (《无衣》), in the Book of Songs (《诗经》). The song refers to (指的是) soldiers sharing their armor, encouraging each other to win the war. The Chinese phrase “同裳” has the same meaning as “同袍” and “袍泽” which also come from this song. They all mean those who have fought together in armies.

青山一道同云雨,明月何曾是两乡。

Though separated by a mountain, we’ll share the same clouds and rain/The bright moon belongs not to a single town.

This sentence is from Tang poet Wang Changling’s Seeing Off Imperial Censor Chai (《送柴侍御》). This poem was written after the poet was demoted (贬官) and sent to a faraway place. He wanted to show that even though he had to separate with his friend, their friendship would continue.

1.“Lands apart, sky shared” is written by ________.

A.Prince Nagaya B.Jianzhen C.Wang Changling D.a Chinese monk

2.In the poems, people in different places can share the same things EXCEPT ________.

A.clothes B.the sky C.clouds and rain D.the bright moon

3.The theme of the poems written on the boxes is ________.

A.hometown feelings B.beauty of nature C.love for family D.friendship

4.We can know from the passage that ________.

A.all the sentences are taken from Chinese poems B.actions are always better than words

C.ancient poems can be used in modern times D.Japanese understand Chinese poems the best

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