第二单元
A Beijing Opera is also called Peking Opera. It came into being after 1790 when the famous four Anhui opera ) came to Beijing.
Its music and singing came from Xipi and Er-huang in Anhui and Hubei. Itstroupes(戏班
costumes are all fascinating and artist ic. It is the highest expression of the Chinese culture. It' s full of f
stories, beautiful facial paintings, and wonderful gestures and fighting. This kind of opera is very popular with Chinese people.
There are four main roles in Beijing Opera: Sheng ,Dan, Jing and
Chou. Sheng is the leading male actorFor 。
example, a Wusheng is a soldier or fighter .A Xiaosheng is a young man. A Laosheng is an old man. Dan is
the female role. Jing , mostly male , is the face-painted role and Chou is the comedy actor or clown.
Stories in Beijing Opera are very interesting. Some of them are from the history book, but most of them are
from the literature, especially famous novels. The people in the story usually have some disagreements. They
become angry and unhappy. They are sad and lonely. Sometimes they are nervous and worried. Then they find
a way to make peace. The stories usually end with happiness and
laughter and people are all happy in the end.
1.
Beijing Opera' s singing is from _______.
A. the literature and novelsB. Beijing and Anhui C. the history bookD. Anhui and Hubei
2. The second paragraph (段落 ) of the reading is about the ______of Beijing Opera.
A. rolesB. storiesC. gesturesD. Paintings
3. From the reading, we know the Chou most probably has a(n) _____feature.
A. honestB. dullC. funnyD. serious
4. Which of the following statements is TURE?
A. There are only four roles in Beijing Opera. B. Peking Opera is full of different gestures.
C. Beijing Opera is the most popular in the world.
D. The people in the story usually are in agreement. B
As more and more people speak the global languages of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages
are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000-7,000 languages spoken around the world today will likely die
out by the next century, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
and NationalIn an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations- UNESCO
Geographic among them –have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.
Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Center, Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral
traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmi
with an Ethnolinguistic Introduction to the Speakers and Their Culture , grows out of his experience living, looking and raising a family in a village in Nepal.
Documenting the Tangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other
languages and oral traditions across the Himalayans reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not
content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials- including photographs, films,
tap recordings, and field notes- which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection.
Himalaya Project and the World OralNow, through the two organizations that he has founded-the Digital