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(1356, 1, '2013-05-06 04:37:53', '2013-05-06 08:37:53', '[two_third]\r\nWell well well, lookie here. A guest post! Today we\'ll be reading Rebecca Chua\'s (Chinese name: 蔡幸彤) translation of an essay from her textbook. The post is about the rewards of honesty. I remember my own textbook being full of these types of essays, so thank you, Rebecca, for the traditional read. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img class=\"imgborder alignleft\" title=\"20130506-inline\" src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130506-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Learn Mandarin Chinese Characters: Practice Reading Simplified Chinese Character Essays\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" />Rebecca has this to say about the post: <em>This story talks about a school-going child\'s problems of getting his parents to sign his papers. It also talks about being honest, and that life\'s exam papers matter the most. This essay was from my tutoring centre\'s teaching materials. This was done with help. Thank you for those who helped me!</em>\r\n\r\n(And the same in Chinese:) 这个故事是讲述华文考试卷要签名所遇到的困难。这个故事教我们要诚实，也教我们，虽然考卷的真正分数低，但人生的考卷上有高分才是最重要的。\r\n\r\nOne of the interesting things about this post is the punctuation. In Chinese, they use a six-dot ellipses …… where we only use... three. (u c wat i did thar?). We also learn a little culture here: it\'s worth noting that in most Chinese highschools, parents actually have to sign your test results to prove you showed it to them. We also see that Rebecca\'s book spells \"A+\" as \"A*\".\r\n\r\nI\'m super loving this phrase - 从天堂降落到地狱 - though it might need a little breakdown:\r\n\r\n从 - From\r\n天堂 - Heaven\r\n降落 - descend\r\n到 - to\r\n地狱 - Hell\r\n\r\nThis phrase means to \"have a sinking heart\" or to \"fall from joy to misery\".\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n发下来 - [pinyin]fa1 xia4 lai5[/pinyin] - To pass out (papers), hand back (homework)\r\n考卷 - [pinyin]kao3 juan4[/pinyin] - Exam paper\r\n沉重 - [pinyin]chen2 zhong4[/pinyin] - Hard, serious\r\n羡慕 - [pinyin]xian4 mu4[/pinyin] - To envy\r\n竟然 - [pinyin]jing4 ran2[/pinyin] - Unexpectedly\r\n松了一口气 - [pinyin]song1 le yi1 kou3 qi4[/pinyin] - Let out a sigh (usually of relief) \r\n顿 - [pinyin]dun4[/pinyin] - Classifier for a period of time when a beating, scolding or critique takes place\r\n到底 - [pinyin]dao4 di3[/pinyin] - When all is said and done\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">我背着书包，手里拿着刚刚<strong>发下来</strong>的<strong>考卷</strong>，一边拖着<strong>沉重</strong>的脚步向家走着，一边紧张的思考怎样让爸爸在考卷上签名……前两天的考卷，今天老师发下来了。我拿了一个A*，考到了97分！同学们都很<strong>羡慕</strong>我，我也得到老师的肯定。在老师要我们做改正的时候，我就<strong>从天堂降落到地狱</strong>。天啊！我<strong>竟然</strong>忘了一整页试题，整整要被扣十分！但是老师却没发现，我还真不知该不该对她说。这时，我的头脑出现了两个“我”，一个说：“算了，不要告诉老师，我已经得了老师的肯定，同学们又那么羡慕我，如果我告诉老师，不就等于丢我的脸，还失去爸爸要給我的礼物。”另一个说：“不行，要做个诚实的人，一定要告诉老师。”于是，我对老师说：“我漏掉了这些题，应该是87 分！”老师帮我改分数的那一刻，我立刻<strong>松了一口气</strong>。\r\n\r\n在回家的路上，我真希望我没有对老师说这番话。现在，我不仅要丢掉爸爸的礼物，还得被他骂一<strong>顿</strong>。晚上，我把考卷交给爸爸，爸爸说：“你为什么那么不小心？为什么一整页的题目没做？为什么？” 如在平时，当他问我这些问题时，我会叫他一个“十万个为什么”的人。可现在，我不敢，应为他生气得好像要打我似的。突然，他看见97分改成87分，很奇怪地问我：\"<strong>到底</strong>怎么一回事？“我把情况如实地告诉了他。我低着头，准备继续挨训。\r\n\r\n爸爸沉默了一会儿，突然惊喜地看着我：“不，宝贝儿，虽然你考卷上的分数不尽人意，但是在人生考卷上你却得了高分。爸爸为你骄傲！你做得对......”说完他在考卷上签了名。\r\n\r\n第二天早上，我背起书包，手里拿着由爸爸签名的考卷，迈着轻快的脚步，迎着初升的朝阳，信心十足地向学校走去……\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nCarrying a heavy load on my back, holding the exam papers that were just handed back to us, I wondered how I could make my father sign this paper......\r\n\r\nThe exam, which was held just two days before, was handed back to us. I got an A+, a high score of 97 points! All the students in my class were envious of me, and I got the praise of my teacher. But when we were asked to do corrections, I found myself dropping all the way from heaven to hell. I actually forgot to do a whole page of questions, and had to be deducted of ten marks! But my teacher hadn\'t discovered yet, and I wasn\'t sure if I had to say it to her. I was in two minds. One said, \"Don\'t tell her, otherwise you would lose face and lose your father\'s present!\" The other said, \"No, you should be honest, just tell her!\" So, I said, \"I missed these questions, the actual points should be 87!\" When she helped me change my score, I heaved a sigh of relief.\r\n\r\nWhen I was going home, I wished I had not said all that. Now, not only was I going to lose my father\'s present, but I was also going to be scolded by him. At night, when I passed my paper to him, he said,\"Why were you so careless? Why did you miss out a whole page of questions?\" Usually, when he asks me all these questions, I call him a \"dad of ten-thousand questions\". But now, I daren\'t, because he seems so angry that he might hit me. Suddenly, when he saw that my 97 points became 87 points, he asked me,\"What happened?\" I told him the truth, and lowered my head, ready to continue being scolded.\r\n\r\nMy father silenced for a while. Then he suddenly said, \"No, darling, even though you results aren\'t satisfactory, in life\'s exam, you have gotten a high score. I am proud of you! You have done it right......\" after saying that he signed his name.\r\n\r\nThe next morning, carrying my schoolbag, with light steps, I was feeling happy. Welcoming the rising sun, I walked towards my school with confidence......\r\n[/hide-this-part]', 'Guest Post by Rebecca Chua: The difference between life\'s exam and exam papers', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1348-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-06 04:37:53', '2013-05-06 08:37:53', '', 1348, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/06/1348-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(1359, 1, '2013-05-13 05:30:57', '2013-05-13 09:30:57', '', '20130513-INLINE', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130513-inline', '', '', '2013-05-13 05:30:57', '2013-05-13 09:30:57', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130513-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(2464, 1, '2020-05-31 13:56:12', '2020-05-31 17:56:12', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n\r\nOkay, guys, time for a super duper challenge: this is the longest and most difficult read I\'ve ever posted. Long, because I wanted to put up the entire first chapter. Difficult, because... well, I explain below. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Shuo\">Wang Shuo (王朔)</a> is the bad boy of contemporary Chinese writers, a real controversial figure, and his work, which centers around the dark underbelly of Beijing in the 1970s and 80s, spawned its own genre of \"hooligan\" fiction. This isn\'t the organized, moneyed mob fiction of Hong Kong, this is the small-scale thievery that reflects urban life on the mainland right after the Cultural Revolution, when the country just started opening up to international trade and society was a mess. Wang Shuo\'s plots are so ugly, dark and brutal that he has been called a \"spiritual pollutant\" by the powers that be.  \r\n\r\nThis is the complete first chapter of his book <em>Hot and Cold, Measure for Measure</em>, or 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》. The book contains several short novellas, but the namesake work is only around 90 pages long in total. I\'m just about to finish reading it. The plot is horrendously depressing: the story of a thug who casually seduces a young high school girl with a bright future, breaks her down with his callousness until she becomes a prostitute and eventually kills herself, which sets off another chain of events. The extremely relatable realism with which Wang Shuo describes her destruction will have any woman who has ever been involved with a bad-news boyfriend cringing. \r\n\r\nThis chapter sets up the rest of the book in two scenes: One, we meet the protagonist as he is in the middle of a scam he often runs. I\'m going to explain the nature of the scam here because it\'s confusing unless you spent time in China twenty years ago. Basically, the protagonist works with a gang that includes a friend of his (named 方方) and a few prostitutes (mainly one lady named 亚红). During this time in China, it was very common for prostitutes to work in and around hotels, they would push their cards under the door of hotel rooms, or cold-call the room to ask if services were required. This was illegal, but it happened all the time; I can still remember having cards pushed under my hotel room doors in the early 2000s, sometimes five different cards a night. The protagonist and his friend wait until one of the prostitutes in the gang have landed a client. Then complicit hotel staff (named 卫宁) calls the gang, who burst into the room dressed like policemen and demand money as a \"fine\" from the hotel guest, and take the prostitute out as if they are arresting her. So this is where the book starts, with a phone call from a corrupt staff member at the hotel\'s front desk to the gangsters, telling them which rooms the prostitutes are in with their clients.\r\n\r\nIn the second half of the chapter, the protagonist goes about the next day of his life doing some errands, and eventually meets and has a conversation with this girl, Wudi (吴迪), whose life he will later ruin. She is spunky but naive, daring and precocious in the way that young people can be when they think they can handle themselves, but haven\'t yet encountered real danger or darkness in their lives. \r\n\r\nAs you have probably guessed by now, this read is <em>not appropriate for children</em>. There is swearing and sexual content - you have been warned. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nLinguistically speaking, this is one of the hardest Chinese books I\'ve ever read, because it\'s full, full, full of underworld slang, colloquialisms and swear words, and like a lot of great fiction, some of the things that happen aren\'t clearly spelled out, they\'re only suggested and you have to read between the lines. I read it very slowly, 5-10 pages in a sitting. I\'m going to explain some of the slang used here that isn\'t in the dictionary. \r\n\r\n野鸽 - 鸽 is slang for \"prostitute\". 野, as you probably know from the word 野生, means \"wild\" or \"untamed\". 野鸽 refers to a prostitute that is not working for the gang. In the first paragraph, 野 is used by itself, and it is referring to an unaffiliated prostitute.\r\n\r\n小子 - This is a derogatory way to refer to someone. It translates to something like, \"little shit\". \r\n\r\n他妈 - Usually 他妈的, the swear word \"fuck\" or \"fucking\" - but not referring to the sexual act itself, just used for emphasis in the middle of a sentence, same way it is in English, as in \"What the fuck are you doing here?\"\r\n\r\n没劲\r\n\r\n小毛头\r\n\r\n丫头\r\n \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《一半是火焰，一半是海水》第一章</h4>\r\n	\r\n“喂，两对都进房了。房间号927、1208，还有一只野的，进了1713.”\r\n\r\n“知道了。” \r\n\r\n我放下电话，马上穿上西服外套，提起书包，招呼正在看电视的方方，三步并作两步跑下楼。我那辆花四千元买来的旧“白茹”车停在街角便道上。我们坐进车里，把汽车迅速地开上马路，直驶远处灯火辉煌的“燕都”大饭店。在饭店旁边的一条林荫道上，我招手停在一溜轿车的后边，下了车“乒乓”关好门，快步加入一群刚从一辆大旅行车下来的日本游客中间，走进“燕都”饭店富丽堂皇的大厅。彬彬有礼地站在总服务台里的卫宁不易察觉地给我们使个眼声：一切正常。我和方方走进盥洗室，打开皮包，拿出两套警服换上，走出盥洗室，沿安全楼梯爬上去。爬到第九层，我们都是气喘吁吁，待呼吸均匀了，我们走向服务台，坐着的服务员抬头诧异地看我们。“我们是公安局的，请开927房间。”\r\n\r\n服务员顺从地拎起一串钥匙领着我们走向长廊尽头的一间客房。“里边有客人。”服务员看到门上挂的“请勿打扰”的小牌，回头对我说。“知道，打开锁。”我命令道。\r\n\r\n服务员钮开锁，站在一旁。\r\n\r\n“你回去吧。”方方粗鲁地挥手避开服务员。\r\n\r\n服务员消逝在走廊的另一端，我和方方立即开门冲了进去……我和方方带着亚红出来，皮包里塞着几千崭新的钞票，神情严肃地走服务台进了电梯间，方方和亚红忍不住笑起来。\r\n\r\n“你们笑什么，真<span class=\"textHighlight\">他妈没劲</span>。”我说着也忍不住笑了，对亚红说：“你在楼下酒吧等会儿，我们还得上去收拾12层那小子。”我们把电梯开到底层，让亚红出去，又开上12层。\r\n\r\n十五分钟后，我们换下警服带着另一个姑娘在酒吧找到亚红，一起喝了杯酒，亚红挽着方方先出去。我给总服务台的卫宁打了电话，告诉他事已办完，十七层那只野鸽让她舒舒服服睡一宿，早晨报警。我挽着另一个姑娘坦然走出饭店。方方已经把“白茹”发动了，我们一上车就开走了。\r\n\r\n早晨，我被电话铃吵醒，睡在我旁边的亚红接了电话，告诉我，卫宁说那两个受到我们讹诈的倒霉蛋已经结了房钱走了，那只野鸽也被在大门等着的警察塞上车抓走了。亚红翻身又睡了。我却睡不着，一支接一支地抽起烟。阳光从厚重的窗帘后倾泄出来，我轻轻走到窗前，从窗帘缝隙看了会儿外面车水马龙，阳光明媚的街道，把窗帘拉严。我不喜欢晴朗的早晨，看到成千上万的人兴冲冲地去上班、上学，我就感到形孤影单。白天我没有什么事可干，也没什么人等我，我的朋友们都在睡觉。我又抽了五支烟，看了看日历，然后穿衣服，洗脸刷牙，走出我住的这套公寓。我走过街角停放的“自茹”车，径直走向公共汽车站。尽管上班高峰已过，车内还是十分拥挤。一个坐着的中年男人下车，我刚要坐下，看到一个抱小孩的年轻妇女，便呼招她过来。\r\n\r\n“谢谢。”年轻妇女坐下后，又逗弄着小孩说：“谢谢叔叔。”\r\n\r\n“谢谢叔叔。”我冲小孩笑笑，小孩从衣兜里掏出一块彩纸包装的巧克力，剥开纸刚要往嘴里填，看我瞅着他，举起巧克力给我。\r\n\r\n“不要，叔叔不吃。”“吃吧，没事。”“真的不吃，叔叔要下车了。”\r\n\r\n我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。黄昏时我给家里打了个电话，方方接的。我们聊了会儿，他正在和卫宁下围棋，卫宁一早前来了，他们下了一天棋，他四胜三和五负，晚上准备凑人撞麻将。我告诉他我晚点回去，就挂了电话。\r\n\r\n暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。她一手棒书，一手从放在身旁的一个袋袋中抓瓜子磕，吐出的皮儿拢成一堆，嘴里哼着歌，间或翻一页书，悠闲自在，楚楚动人。我悄悄走到她身后，踮脚看那本使她入迷的书。是一本很深奥的文艺理论著作，我一目十行地看了一会儿，索然无味，正要转身走开，忽听女孩说：\r\n\r\n“看不懂吧。”她仰起脸，笑吟吟地望着我。\r\n\r\n我脸红了，感到不知所措，因为我还会脸红。片刻，我镇静下来，说：“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”“我在这儿坐了一下午了，你瞧，我看了多少。”\r\n\r\n她快速地把看过一页数捻了一遍，我捏捏那厚厚的一迭，联想到书的内容，怀疑地问：“你看这么快”\r\n\r\n“我也看不懂呗，就看得快。”\r\n\r\n　　我们都笑了。“不看了。”女孩把书撂到一旁。“你有事吗”她问我。“没有。”我说：“没人约我。”“聊聊？”“聊聊。”我在她旁边坐，她把瓜子袋推给我。我不大会磕瓜子，磕得皮瓤唾液一塌糊涂。\r\n\r\n　　“瞧我。”女孩示范性地磕了一个瓜子，洁白的贝齿一闪，我下意识地闭紧自己被烟熏得黑黄的牙齿。女孩倒没注意，晃悠着腿四处张望。“你是哪个学校的”我注意到她里面毛衣上别着一枚校徽。女孩龇齿咬着瓜子看着我笑起来。\r\n\r\n　　“这就叫‘套瓷’吧。”女孩说：“下边你该说自己是哪个学校的，我们两校挨得如何近，没准天天能碰见……”\r\n\r\n　　“你看我象学生吗”我说：“我是劳改释放犯，现在还靠敲诈勒索为生。”“我才不管你是什么呢。”女孩笑着瞅着自己的脚尖，似乎那儿有什么好玩可笑的，“你是什么我都无所谓。”\r\n\r\n　　我半天没说话，女孩也没说话，只是美滋滋地看着天边夕阳消逝后迅即黯淡下来，却又不失瑰丽的云彩：“那块云象马克思、那块象海盗，象吗，你说象吗”\r\n\r\n　　“你多大了”女孩转过头看我，仔仔细细打量了我一遍：“你，过去没怎么跟女孩接触过吧。”“没有。”我面不改声色心不跳地骗她。\r\n\r\n　　“我早看出来了，小男孩！刚才我看书时就看见你远远地，想过来搭讪又胆怯，怕我臊你一顿是不是”\r\n\r\n　　“我和一百多个女的睡过觉。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩放声笑起来，笑得那么肆无忌惮，那么开心。\r\n\r\n　　“你笑起来，”我说：“跟个傻丫头似的。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩一下不笑了，悻悻地白了我一眼：“我不说你，你也别说我了。实话告诉你，我已经谈了一年多恋爱了。”女孩又笑了，有几分得意。“是你的傻冒同学吧？”\r\n\r\n　　“他才不傻呢，是学生会干部。”\r\n\r\n　　“那还不傻傻得已经没法练了。”\r\n\r\n　　“哼，你这种只被爸爸妈妈吻过的<span class=\"highlightText\">小毛头</span>也<span class=\"highlightText\">配</span>说他。”\r\n\r\n　　“我要是他，就敢跟你睡觉。”我微笑地说：“他敢吗？”\r\n\r\n　　尽管天色已经很暗了，我也察觉得出女孩的脸排红了：“他很尊重我。”我哧笑：“嘁，尊重，别说了，咱甭说了。你也别装傻了。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩闷了半天没吭声。我吹起口哨，叼起一支烟，把烟盒递给她，她摇摇头。“”又完了不是“我取笑她，”敢在光天化日之下看书，不会抽烟，时髦半截。“”你别来劲。“女孩不服地说，”给我一支！“\r\n\r\n　　我把嘴上的烟给她，她抽了一口，“呼”地全吹了出去。我伸胳膊搭在她肩上，她哆嗦了一下，并没拒绝。我把她搂过来，她近在咫尺地看看我，拔拉掉我的胳膊，强笑着说：\r\n\r\n　　“我有点儿信你和一百多个女人睡过觉了。”\r\n\r\n　　“干吗有点信，就应该信。知道我外号叫什么吗？老枪！”\r\n\r\n　　我听到完完全全收拾书的声音，恶意地笑着说：“我叫你害怕了。”“才没有呢。”女孩站起来：“我只是该走了。”\r\n\r\n　　“敢告诉我你叫什么，住哪儿吗”\r\n\r\n　　女孩跳下石台，亮晶晶的眼睛在黑暗中闪烁，笑着说：“啊哈！我还以为你能始终不同凡响，闹了半天，也落了俗套。”\r\n\r\n　　“好，我俗。你走吧。哎，”我叫住她：“咱们要是再见了，就得算朋友了吧”“算朋友”女孩笑着走了。\r\n\r\n　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n\"Hey, both pairs just went into their rooms, the room numbers are 927, 1208, and there\'s one other [that isn\'t part of our gang], went into 1713.\" \r\n\r\n\"Got it.\" \r\n\r\nI put down the phone, immediately put on my suit jacket, picked up my book bag, and called to Fangfang who was watching TV, and we ran down the stairs two at a time. The “Peugeot” car I paid 4000 RMB for was parked on the corner of the street. We got in the car, and drove quickly onto the road, and drove directly towards the brilliant lights of the Yandu Hotel. On a shady street next to the hotel, I waved to stop behind a row of cars, our doors closed with a <em>ping pang</em>, and we quickly stepped in to intermingle with a group of Japanese tourists that had just gotten off a tour bus, walking [among them] into the Yandu Hotel\'s resplendent lobby. Courteously standing behind the main service counter, Weining surreptitiously shot us a look: everything was normal. Fangfang and I walked into the washroom, opened the leather bag, took out two police uniforms and changed into them, walked out of the washroom, and took the emergency exit stairs up. We climbed to the 9th floor, both of us huffing and puffing, and waiting until our breath came easier, then we walked towards the [floor\'s] service counter. The service personnel sitting there raised his head and looked at us astonished. \r\n\r\n\"We\'re the police, please open room 927.\" \r\n\r\nThe staff compliantly lifted out a chain of keys and lead us to a room at the end of the long hall. \r\n\r\n\"There\'s a guest inside.\" The staff saw the \"do not disturb\" sign hung on the door, and said looking back at us. \r\n\r\n\"We know, open the lock.\" I ordered. \r\n\r\nThe service staff twisted open the lock, and stood to one side.\r\n\r\n\"Get back,\" Fangfang roughly waved away the staffer. \r\n\r\nThe staff disappeared down another hallway, and Fangfang and I immediately opened the door and charged inside.... Fangfang and I walked out with Yahong, our leather bag stuffed full of a few thousand fresh bank notes, and with serious expressions entered the elevator next to the service desk, then Fangfang and Yahong could [no longer] suppress their laughter. \r\n\r\n\"What are you two laughing at, what the fuck is so funny [lit: it\'s really fucking uninteresting].\" But as I spoke I couldn\'t help laughing myself, and I said to Yahong, \"Wait in the bar downstairs for a bit, we\'ve still got to go grab up those little shits on the 12th floor.\" We took the elevator to the lower floor, let Yahong out, then went back up to 12.  　\r\n\r\nFifteen minutes later, we changed out of our police clothes and took the second girl to the bar to find Yahong, had some drinks together, and Yahong left on Fangfang\'s arm. I gave Weining at the main service desk a call, told him it was done, and to let the hooker on the 17th floor sleep soundly for the night, then call the [real] cops [on her] in the morning. With the other girl on my arm I walked casually out of the hotel. Fangfang had already started up the Peugeot, and he drove off as soon as we got in.\r\n\r\nIn the morning, I was woken up by a phone call, and Yahong who had been sleeping by my side answered it. She told me: Weining said that the two sorry suckers that we\'d scammed had already paid for the rooms and left, the other prostitute had been taken away by the cops that were waiting at the main entrance. Yahong rolled over and went back to sleep. I couldn\'t fall asleep again, [so I just] smoked one cigarette after another. Sunlight was spilling at an angle through the thick curtains, and I walked quietly to the window, looking out through the crack in the curtains onto the flow of people and traffic outside, the sun shining brightly on the street, and pulled the curtains firmly shut. I don\'t like the early morning, seeing people in their hundreds and thousands rush to work, to school, makes me feel like an isolated shadow. I don\'t have anything to do during the day, and no one\'s waiting for me, my friends are all asleep. I smoked another 我又抽了五支烟，看了看日历，然后穿衣服，洗脸刷牙，走出我住的这套公寓。我走过街角停放的“自茹”车，径直走向公共汽车站。尽管上班高峰已过，车内还是十分拥挤。一个坐着的中年男人下车，我刚要坐下，看到一个抱小孩的年轻妇女，便呼招她过来。\r\n\r\n　　“谢谢。”年轻妇女坐下后，又逗弄着小孩说：“谢谢叔叔。”\r\n\r\n　　“谢谢叔叔。”我冲小孩笑笑，小孩从衣兜里掏出一块彩纸包装的巧克力，剥开纸刚要往嘴里填，看我瞅着他，举起巧克力给我。\r\n\r\n\"No thanks, uncle doesn\'t want it.\" \r\n\r\n\"Have it, it\'s nothing.\" \r\n\r\n\"No, really, uncle\'s got to get off.\" \r\n\r\nI pushed my way off the bus, 　我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。黄昏时我给家里打了个电话，方方接的。我们聊了会儿，他正在和卫宁下围棋，卫宁一早前来了，他们下了一天棋，他四胜三和五负，晚上准备凑人撞麻将。我告诉他我晚点回去，就挂了电话。\r\n\r\n　　暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。她一手棒书，一手从放在身旁的一个袋袋中抓瓜子磕，吐出的皮儿拢成一堆，嘴里哼着歌，间或翻一页书，悠闲自在，楚楚动人。我悄悄走到她身后，踮脚看那本使她入迷的书。是一本很深奥的文艺理论著作，我一目十行地看了一会儿，索然无味，正要转身走开，忽听女孩说：\r\n\r\n\"You don\'t understand it, huh,\" she turned up her face, looking at me with a smile. \r\n\r\nMy face turned red, and I felt at a loss that I [was still capable of] getting embarrassed. After a moment, I settled down, and said: \"　\r\n我脸红了，感到不知所措，因为我还会脸红。片刻，我镇静下来，说：“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”\r\n\r\n\"I\'ve been sitting here all afternoon, look here you, at how much I\'ve read.\"\r\n\r\nShe quickly flipped through all the pages she\'d read, and I pinched that thick stack, and thinking back on the contents, asked doubtfully, \"You read that quickly?\" \r\n\r\n\"I don\'t understand it either, but I read it quickly.\" \r\n\r\nWe both smiled. \"I\'m done reading.\" The girl put the book to one side. \"You have somewhere to be?\" she asked me. \r\n\r\n\"No,\" I said. \"No appointments.\" \r\n\r\n\"[Shall we] chat [for a bit]?\"\r\n\r\n\"Let\'s chat.\" \r\n\r\nI sat down next to her, and she pushed the bag of sunflower seeds over to me. I didn\'t really know how to crack the sunflower seeds [with my teeth], and [when I tried] spittle went everywhere.\r\n\r\n\"Watch me.\" The girl demonstrated with a single sunflower seed, her pure white teeth flashing, and I subconsciously closed my mouth over my own tobacco smoke-yellowed teeth. But she didn\'t notice, swinging her legs in all directions. \"What school are you from?\" I noticed there was a school emblem on her inside sweater. Biting down on a sunflower seed, the girl looked at me and smiled. \r\n\r\n\"That\'s called \'cottoning up\',\" she said. \"Next you\'ll probably say whatever school you\'re from, and that our schools are so close to each other, maybe we can run into each other every day...\" \r\n\r\n\"You think I look like a student?\" I said. \"I\'m a criminal freed from the work camps, I extort people for a living.\"\r\n\r\n\"I don\'t care what you are,\" the girl said, smiling and looking at her toes, as if there was something amusing there. \"Whatever you are is nothing to me.\" \r\n\r\nI didn\'t speak for a while, and the girl didn\'t speak either, just looked on, pleased, as the evening light disappeared on the horizon and the sky quickly dimmed, but didn\'t lose its magnificent clouds: \"That cloud looks like Marx, that one looks like a pirate, doesn\'t it, don\'t you think so?\" \r\n\r\n\"How old are you?\" the girl turned her head to look at me, carefully looking me over. \"You, doesn\'t look like you\'ve been with that many women.\" \r\n\r\n\"Nope,\" I said, lying to her without a change in expression or a thump of the heart. \r\n\r\n\"I could tell right away, little boy! As I was reading my book just now, I saw you standing far away, wanting to talk to me but also timid, afraid I\'d curse you, huh?\"　\r\n\r\n\"[Actually,] I\'ve slept with over 100 women.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl let loose a laugh, an unbridled laugh, so amused. \r\n\r\n\"You laugh,\" I said, \"like a dumb chick.\"　　\r\n\r\nThe girl suddenly stopped laughing, angrily throwing me a scornful glance, \"I didn\'t criticize you, don\'t criticize me. Truthfully speaking, I\'ve already been with someone for a year.\" The girl smiled again, quite satisfied with herself. \r\n\r\n\"Is it one of your idiot classmates?\" 　\r\n\r\n\"He\'s not an idiot, he\'s a cadre in the student union.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Then he\'s stupid beyond measure.\"　\r\n\r\n\"Huh, a little baby like you who\'s only been kissed by his parents doesn\'t deserve to speak of him.\"　\r\n\r\n\"If I was him, I\'d already have had the courage to bed you,\" I said, smiling lightly. \"Has he dared?\"　　\r\n\r\nAlthough the sky was already gloomy, I perceived the girl\'s face reddening, \"He respects me.\" \r\n\r\nI tittered, \"Oh, respect, don\'t even, no need for us to talk about that. And no need for you to play dumb.\"  \r\n\r\nThe girl sat there vexed for a while saying nothing. I started whistling, started sucking on a cigarette, passed her the cigarette pack, she shook her head. “”又完了不是“我取笑她，”敢在光天化日之下看书，不会抽烟，时髦半截。“”你别来劲。“女孩不服地说，”给我一支！“\r\n\r\nI passed her the cigarette that was in my mouth, she took a puff, and <em>heng</em>, blew it all out. I stretched an arm around her shoulder, she trembled a second, but didn\'t refuse. I pulled her near to me, she looked at me from close up, pushed my arm off, and with a forced smile said: \r\n\r\n\"I might believe a little that you\'ve slept with over 100 women.\" \r\n\r\n\"What are you doing only \'believing a little\', you ought to just believe. You want to know what they call me? The Old Pistol.\"　\r\n\r\nI heard her grabbing up all of her books, and she said with a nasty smile, \"Well, <em>I</em> call you scared.\" \r\n\r\n\"Well, I\'m not.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl stood up: \"I should probably go.\"\r\n\r\n\"Do you dare tell me your name, or where you live?\"　\r\n\r\nThe girl jumped off the platform, her bright, crystal eyes flashed in the darkness, and she said smiling, \"Ah ha! I thought maybe you weren\'t like everyone else, [talking shit] half the day, but then sinking into mediocrity.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Fine, I\'m mediocre. Go. Hey,\" I called her to stop, \"If we meet again, let\'s consider ourselves friends.\"\r\n\r\n\"Sure, friends,\" she said, and smiling, left.　\r\n\r\nI 　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese gangster novel 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》by Wang Shuo', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2453-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-31 13:56:12', '2020-05-31 17:56:12', '', 2453, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/31/2453-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1401, 1, '2013-06-16 08:00:14', '2013-06-16 12:00:14', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nEeps - bad medicine! In this story, the mischievous Monkey - always a trickster figure in Chinese stories - pulls the wool over Little Bear\'s eyes. If Little Bear was American, he\'d sue the hospital for negligence and rake in millions of baskets of peaches. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThough the majority of this text is very basic reading, there are three phrases which jump out at me as being difficult, or words I couldn\'t find in basic dictionaries. \r\n\r\n理所应当 - [pinyin]li3 suo3 ying1 dang1[/pinyin] This phrase means to feel something is well-deserved, that something has been earned through hard work, usually when it actually hasn\'t. So I guess that roughly translates to \'taking a reward for granted\'? In this story, Monkey feels that his payment is well-earned or well-deserved. But as readers, we know Monkey doesn\'t deserve anything at all - he\'s taking that payment for granted when he didn\'t really earn it. Consider this phrase in another context:\r\n\r\n别人帮助你那是义气，你不能当作是理所应当的。 - \"When other people help you it\'s in the spirit of self-sacrifice, you shouldn\'t consider this something you deserve as a matter of course.\"  \r\n\r\n甜头 - Though this looks like two words, the first meaning \"sweet\" and the second meaning \"head\" or \"brain\", it\'s actually a colloquialism that just means \"sweet flavor\" or \"pleasant taste\".  \r\n\r\n贪念 - These two characters also seem separate, they don\'t appear together in my dictionary, but they\'re actually one word. According to <a href=\"http://baike.baidu.com/view/3187101.htm\">Baidu Bai Ke</a>, the Baidu dictionary (a Chinese-language resource for word meanings and derivations), 贪念 [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] just means \"greedy\" (I presume the \"念\" probably adds the meaning \"idea\" or \"thoughts\" here, so 贪念 could be read as \"greedy thoughts\"). \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/ertongwenxue/yuyangushi/2012-10-06/26930.html\">You can read the original here.</a> \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>医生与猴子</h4>\r\n猴子去医院<strong>玩耍</strong>,进了大夫的房间。正好大夫不在,衣服也落在了房间内。\r\n\r\n猴子觉得好玩,就穿上了大夫的衣服,也就是我们常见的那种<strong>白大褂子</strong>。这时候有一只小熊来医院<strong>看病</strong>。小熊是第一次上医院,并不了解医院的情况。它所知道的,就是大夫们都穿着白大褂子。\r\n\r\n小熊提着一篮桃子(这是它准备送给大夫的<strong>酬金</strong>)来到医院,正好走进猴子所在的房间。小熊不认识猴子,但是它认识那件白大褂子,于是就请猴子给它看病。\r\n\r\n猴子本来只是玩耍,并不会看病,但是它看到小熊的篮子后,就起了<strong>贪念</strong>。于是猴子便<strong>装模作样</strong>地给小熊看了病,并且<strong>理所应当地</strong>收下了那篮桃子。至于小熊的病是否给猴子看好了,这一点<strong>不得而知</strong>。\r\n\r\n但是猴子却尝到了甜头,以后常常<strong>潜入</strong>医院,趁大夫不在的时候,穿上大夫的衣服,给病人看病。到后来,猴子<strong>干脆</strong>给自己也做了一身那样的白大褂子。\r\n\r\n唉!我们不知道有多少人是在猴子那里看的病啊!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nMonkey went to the hospital on a lark, and entered the doctor\'s room. At that moment, the doctor wasn\'t in, and he\'d left his [doctor\'s] clothes in the room.\r\n\r\nMonkey thought this would be fun, so he put on the doctor\'s clothes, that white lab coat we see so often. Just then a little bear came to the hospital to see the doctor. This was the little bear\'s first time at the hospital, and he didn\'t know what hospitals were like [lit: didn\'t know the hospital situation]. All he knew was that doctors wear white lab coats. \r\n\r\nThe little bear had shown up at the hospital carrying a basket of peaches (this was the payment he had prepared to give to the doctor), and he happened to walk into the room where Monkey was. Little Bear didn\'t know Monkey, but he recognized the white lab coat, so he asked Monkey to examine him.\r\n\r\nMonkey originally just [intended to] have a bit of fun, but when he saw Little Bear\'s basket, he coveted it fiercely. So Monkey put on a big show of examining Little Bear, and accepted his well-earned basket of peaches. As to whether or not Monkey actually cured Little Bear, we will never know. \r\n\r\nHowever, after Monkey tasted that sweetness, he often stole into the hospital, taking advantage of the doctor\'s absence, and examined patients. Later, Monkey simply made himself one of those kind of white lab coats. \r\n\r\nAi! We don\'t know how many people were examined by Monkey!\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Children\'s Story: The Doctor and the Monkey', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'the-doctor-and-the-monkey', '', '', '2020-04-28 20:02:42', '2020-04-29 00:02:42', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1401', 0, 'post', '', 41),
(1741, 1, '2020-04-20 03:56:25', '2020-04-20 07:56:25', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nEeps - bad medicine! In this story, the mischievous Monkey - always a trickster figure in Chinese stories - pulls the wool over Little Bear\'s eyes. If Little Bear was American, he\'d sue the hospital for negligence and rake in millions of baskets of peaches. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThough the majority of this text is very basic reading, there are three phrases which jump out at me as being difficult, or words I couldn\'t find in basic dictionaries. \r\n\r\n理所应当 - [pinyin]li3 suo3 ying1 dang1[/pinyin] This phrase means to feel something is well-deserved, that something has been earned through hard work, usually when it actually hasn\'t. So I guess that roughly translates to \'taking a reward for granted\'? In this story, Monkey feels that his payment is well-earned or well-deserved. But as readers, we know Monkey doesn\'t deserve anything at all - he\'s taking that payment for granted when he didn\'t really earn it. Consider this phrase in another context:\r\n\r\n别人帮助你那是义气，你不能当作是理所应当的。 - \"When other people help you it\'s in the spirit of self-sacrifice, you shouldn\'t consider this something you deserve as a matter of course.\"  \r\n\r\n甜头 - Though this looks like two words, the first meaning \"sweet\" and the second meaning \"head\" or \"brain\", it\'s actually a colloquialism that just means \"sweet flavor\" or \"pleasant taste\".  \r\n\r\n贪念 - These two characters also seem separate, they don\'t appear together in my dictionary, but they\'re actually one word. According to <a href=\"http://baike.baidu.com/view/3187101.htm\">Baidu Bai Ke</a>, the Baidu dictionary (a Chinese-language resource for word meanings and derivations), 贪念 [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] just means \"greedy\" (I presume the \"念\" probably adds the meaning \"idea\" or \"thoughts\" here, so 贪念 could be read as \"greedy thoughts\"). \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/ertongwenxue/yuyangushi/2012-10-06/26930.html\">You can read the original here.</a> \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>医生与猴子</h4>\r\n猴子去医院<strong>玩耍</strong>,进了大夫的房间。正好大夫不在,衣服也落在了房间内。\r\n\r\n猴子觉得好玩,就穿上了大夫的衣服,也就是我们常见的那种<strong>白大褂子</strong>。这时候有一只小熊来医院<strong>看病</strong>。小熊是第一次上医院,并不了解医院的情况。它所知道的,就是大夫们都穿着白大褂子。\r\n\r\n小熊提着一篮桃子(这是它准备送给大夫的<strong>酬金</strong>)来到医院,正好走进猴子所在的房间。小熊不认识猴子,但是它认识那件白大褂子,于是就请猴子给它看病。\r\n\r\n猴子本来只是玩耍,并不会看病,但是它看到小熊的篮子后,就起了<strong>贪念</strong>。于是猴子便<strong>装模作样</strong>地给小熊看了病,并且<strong>理所应当地</strong>收下了那篮桃子。至于小熊的病是否给猴子看好了,这一点<strong>不得而知</strong>。\r\n\r\n但是猴子却尝到了甜头,以后常常<strong>潜入</strong>医院,趁大夫不在的时候,穿上大夫的衣服,给病人看病。到后来,猴子<strong>干脆</strong>给自己也做了一身那样的白大褂子。\r\n\r\n唉!我们不知道有多少人是在猴子那里看的病啊!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nMonkey went to the hospital on a lark, and entered the doctor\'s room. At that moment, the doctor wasn\'t in, and he\'d left his [doctor\'s] clothes in the room.\r\n\r\nMonkey thought this would be fun, so he put on the doctor\'s clothes, that white lab coat we see so often. Just then a little bear came to the hospital to see the doctor. This was the little bear\'s first time at the hospital, and he didn\'t know what hospitals were like [lit: didn\'t know the hospital situation]. All he knew was that doctors wear white lab coats. \r\n\r\nThe little bear had shown up at the hospital carrying a basket of peaches (this was the payment he had prepared to give to the doctor), and he happened to walk into the room where Monkey was. Little Bear didn\'t know Monkey, but he recognized the white lab coat, so he asked Monkey to examine him.\r\n\r\nMonkey originally just [intended to] have a bit of fun, but when he saw Little Bear\'s basket, he coveted it fiercely. So Monkey put on a big show of examining Little Bear, and accepted his well-earned basket of peaches. As to whether or not Monkey actually cured Little Bear, we will never know. \r\n\r\nHowever, after Monkey tasted that sweetness, he often stole into the hospital, taking advantage of the doctor\'s absence, and examined patients. Later, Monkey simply made himself one of those kind of white lab coats. \r\n\r\nAi! We don\'t know how many people were examined by Monkey!\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'The Doctor and the Monkey', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1401-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:56:25', '2020-04-20 07:56:25', '', 1401, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1401-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1364, 1, '2013-05-21 11:09:51', '2013-05-21 15:09:51', '', 'Reading in Simplified Chinese: Easy Exercises for Language Study', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130521-inline', '', '', '2013-05-21 11:09:51', '2013-05-21 15:09:51', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130521-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1365, 1, '2013-05-21 11:09:52', '2013-05-21 15:09:52', '', 'Reading in Simplified Chinese: Easy Exercises for Language Study', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130521', '', '', '2013-05-21 11:09:52', '2013-05-21 15:09:52', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130521.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
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(2467, 1, '2020-05-31 14:21:25', '2020-05-31 18:21:25', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n\r\nOkay, guys, time for a super duper challenge: this is the longest and most difficult read I\'ve ever posted. Long, because I wanted to put up the entire first chapter. Difficult, because... well, I explain below. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Shuo\">Wang Shuo (王朔)</a> is the bad boy of contemporary Chinese writers, a real controversial figure, and his work, which centers around the dark underbelly of Beijing in the 1970s and 80s, spawned its own genre of \"hooligan\" fiction. This isn\'t the organized, moneyed mob fiction of Hong Kong, this is the small-scale thievery that reflects urban life on the mainland right after the Cultural Revolution, when the country just started opening up to international trade and society was a mess. Wang Shuo\'s plots are so ugly, dark and brutal that he has been called a \"spiritual pollutant\" by the powers that be.  \r\n\r\nThis is the complete first chapter of his book <em>Hot and Cold, Measure for Measure</em>, or 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》. The book contains several short novellas, but the namesake work is only around 90 pages long in total. I\'m just about to finish reading it. The plot is horrendously depressing: the story of a thug who casually seduces a young high school girl with a bright future, breaks her down with his callousness until she becomes a prostitute and eventually kills herself, which sets off another chain of events. The extremely relatable realism with which Wang Shuo describes her destruction will have any woman who has ever been involved with a bad-news boyfriend cringing. \r\n\r\nThis chapter sets up the rest of the book in two scenes: One, we meet the protagonist as he is in the middle of a scam he often runs. I\'m going to explain the nature of the scam here because it\'s confusing unless you spent time in China twenty years ago. Basically, the protagonist works with a gang that includes a friend of his (named 方方) and a few prostitutes (mainly one lady named 亚红). During this time in China, it was very common for prostitutes to work in and around hotels, they would push their cards under the door of hotel rooms, or cold-call the room to ask if services were required. This was illegal, but it happened all the time; I can still remember having cards pushed under my hotel room doors in the early 2000s, sometimes five different cards a night. The protagonist and his friend wait until one of the prostitutes in the gang have landed a client. Then complicit hotel staff (named 卫宁) calls the gang, who burst into the room dressed like policemen and demand money as a \"fine\" from the hotel guest, and take the prostitute out as if they are arresting her. So this is where the book starts, with a phone call from a corrupt staff member at the hotel\'s front desk to the gangsters, telling them which rooms the prostitutes are in with their clients.\r\n\r\nIn the second half of the chapter, the protagonist goes about the next day of his life doing some errands, and eventually meets and has a conversation with this girl, Wudi (吴迪), whose life he will later ruin. She is spunky but naive, daring and precocious in the way that young people can be when they think they can handle themselves, but haven\'t yet encountered real danger or darkness in their lives. \r\n\r\nAs you have probably guessed by now, this read is <em>not appropriate for children</em>. There is swearing and sexual content - you have been warned. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nLinguistically speaking, this is one of the hardest Chinese books I\'ve ever read, because it\'s full, full, full of underworld slang, colloquialisms and swear words, and like a lot of great fiction, some of the things that happen aren\'t clearly spelled out, they\'re only suggested and you have to read between the lines. I read it very slowly, 5-10 pages in a sitting. I\'m going to explain some of the slang used here that isn\'t in the dictionary. \r\n\r\n野鸽 - 鸽 is slang for \"prostitute\". 野, as you probably know from the word 野生, means \"wild\" or \"untamed\". 野鸽 refers to a prostitute that is not working for the gang. In the first paragraph, 野 is used by itself, and it is referring to an unaffiliated prostitute.\r\n\r\n小子 - This is a derogatory way to refer to someone. It translates to something like, \"little shit\". \r\n\r\n他妈 - Usually 他妈的, the swear word \"fuck\" or \"fucking\" - but not referring to the sexual act itself, just used for emphasis in the middle of a sentence, same way it is in English, as in \"What the fuck are you doing here?\"\r\n\r\n没劲\r\n\r\n小毛头\r\n\r\n丫头\r\n\r\n四胜三和五负\r\n\r\n凑人\r\n\r\n来劲\r\n \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《一半是火焰，一半是海水》第一章</h4>\r\n	\r\n“喂，两对都进房了。房间号927、1208，还有一只野的，进了1713.”\r\n\r\n“知道了。” \r\n\r\n我放下电话，马上穿上西服外套，提起书包，招呼正在看电视的方方，三步并作两步跑下楼。我那辆花四千元买来的旧“白茹”车停在街角便道上。我们坐进车里，把汽车迅速地开上马路，直驶远处灯火辉煌的“燕都”大饭店。在饭店旁边的一条林荫道上，我招手停在一溜轿车的后边，下了车“乒乓”关好门，快步加入一群刚从一辆大旅行车下来的日本游客中间，走进“燕都”饭店富丽堂皇的大厅。彬彬有礼地站在总服务台里的卫宁不易察觉地给我们使个眼声：一切正常。我和方方走进盥洗室，打开皮包，拿出两套警服换上，走出盥洗室，沿安全楼梯爬上去。爬到第九层，我们都是气喘吁吁，待呼吸均匀了，我们走向服务台，坐着的服务员抬头诧异地看我们。“我们是公安局的，请开927房间。”\r\n\r\n服务员顺从地拎起一串钥匙领着我们走向长廊尽头的一间客房。“里边有客人。”服务员看到门上挂的“请勿打扰”的小牌，回头对我说。“知道，打开锁。”我命令道。\r\n\r\n服务员钮开锁，站在一旁。\r\n\r\n“你回去吧。”方方粗鲁地挥手避开服务员。\r\n\r\n服务员消逝在走廊的另一端，我和方方立即开门冲了进去……我和方方带着亚红出来，皮包里塞着几千崭新的钞票，神情严肃地走服务台进了电梯间，方方和亚红忍不住笑起来。\r\n\r\n“你们笑什么，真<span class=\"textHighlight\">他妈没劲</span>。”我说着也忍不住笑了，对亚红说：“你在楼下酒吧等会儿，我们还得上去收拾12层那小子。”我们把电梯开到底层，让亚红出去，又开上12层。\r\n\r\n十五分钟后，我们换下警服带着另一个姑娘在酒吧找到亚红，一起喝了杯酒，亚红挽着方方先出去。我给总服务台的卫宁打了电话，告诉他事已办完，十七层那只野鸽让她舒舒服服睡一宿，早晨报警。我挽着另一个姑娘坦然走出饭店。方方已经把“白茹”发动了，我们一上车就开走了。\r\n\r\n早晨，我被电话铃吵醒，睡在我旁边的亚红接了电话，告诉我，卫宁说那两个受到我们讹诈的倒霉蛋已经结了房钱走了，那只野鸽也被在大门等着的警察塞上车抓走了。亚红翻身又睡了。我却睡不着，一支接一支地抽起烟。阳光从厚重的窗帘后倾泄出来，我轻轻走到窗前，从窗帘缝隙看了会儿外面车水马龙，阳光明媚的街道，把窗帘拉严。我不喜欢晴朗的早晨，看到成千上万的人兴冲冲地去上班、上学，我就感到形孤影单。白天我没有什么事可干，也没什么人等我，我的朋友们都在睡觉。我又抽了五支烟，看了看日历，然后穿衣服，洗脸刷牙，走出我住的这套公寓。我走过街角停放的“自茹”车，径直走向公共汽车站。尽管上班高峰已过，车内还是十分拥挤。一个坐着的中年男人下车，我刚要坐下，看到一个抱小孩的年轻妇女，便呼招她过来。\r\n\r\n“谢谢。”年轻妇女坐下后，又逗弄着小孩说：“谢谢叔叔。”\r\n\r\n“谢谢叔叔。”我冲小孩笑笑，小孩从衣兜里掏出一块彩纸包装的巧克力，剥开纸刚要往嘴里填，看我瞅着他，举起巧克力给我。\r\n\r\n“不要，叔叔不吃。”“吃吧，没事。”“真的不吃，叔叔要下车了。”\r\n\r\n我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。黄昏时我给家里打了个电话，方方接的。我们聊了会儿，他正在和卫宁下围棋，卫宁一早前来了，他们下了一天棋，他四胜三和五负，晚上准备凑人撞麻将。我告诉他我晚点回去，就挂了电话。\r\n\r\n暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。她一手棒书，一手从放在身旁的一个袋袋中抓瓜子磕，吐出的皮儿拢成一堆，嘴里哼着歌，间或翻一页书，悠闲自在，楚楚动人。我悄悄走到她身后，踮脚看那本使她入迷的书。是一本很深奥的文艺理论著作，我一目十行地看了一会儿，索然无味，正要转身走开，忽听女孩说：\r\n\r\n“看不懂吧。”她仰起脸，笑吟吟地望着我。\r\n\r\n我脸红了，感到不知所措，因为我还会脸红。片刻，我镇静下来，说：“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”“我在这儿坐了一下午了，你瞧，我看了多少。”\r\n\r\n她快速地把看过一页数捻了一遍，我捏捏那厚厚的一迭，联想到书的内容，怀疑地问：“你看这么快”\r\n\r\n“我也看不懂呗，就看得快。”\r\n\r\n　　我们都笑了。“不看了。”女孩把书撂到一旁。“你有事吗”她问我。“没有。”我说：“没人约我。”“聊聊？”“聊聊。”我在她旁边坐，她把瓜子袋推给我。我不大会磕瓜子，磕得皮瓤唾液一塌糊涂。\r\n\r\n　　“瞧我。”女孩示范性地磕了一个瓜子，洁白的贝齿一闪，我下意识地闭紧自己被烟熏得黑黄的牙齿。女孩倒没注意，晃悠着腿四处张望。“你是哪个学校的”我注意到她里面毛衣上别着一枚校徽。女孩龇齿咬着瓜子看着我笑起来。\r\n\r\n　　“这就叫‘套瓷’吧。”女孩说：“下边你该说自己是哪个学校的，我们两校挨得如何近，没准天天能碰见……”\r\n\r\n　　“你看我象学生吗”我说：“我是劳改释放犯，现在还靠敲诈勒索为生。”“我才不管你是什么呢。”女孩笑着瞅着自己的脚尖，似乎那儿有什么好玩可笑的，“你是什么我都无所谓。”\r\n\r\n　　我半天没说话，女孩也没说话，只是美滋滋地看着天边夕阳消逝后迅即黯淡下来，却又不失瑰丽的云彩：“那块云象马克思、那块象海盗，象吗，你说象吗”\r\n\r\n　　“你多大了”女孩转过头看我，仔仔细细打量了我一遍：“你，过去没怎么跟女孩接触过吧。”“没有。”我面不改声色心不跳地骗她。\r\n\r\n　　“我早看出来了，小男孩！刚才我看书时就看见你远远地，想过来搭讪又胆怯，怕我臊你一顿是不是”\r\n\r\n　　“我和一百多个女的睡过觉。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩放声笑起来，笑得那么肆无忌惮，那么开心。\r\n\r\n　　“你笑起来，”我说：“跟个傻丫头似的。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩一下不笑了，悻悻地白了我一眼：“我不说你，你也别说我了。实话告诉你，我已经谈了一年多恋爱了。”女孩又笑了，有几分得意。“是你的傻冒同学吧？”\r\n\r\n　　“他才不傻呢，是学生会干部。”\r\n\r\n　　“那还不傻傻得已经没法练了。”\r\n\r\n　　“哼，你这种只被爸爸妈妈吻过的<span class=\"highlightText\">小毛头</span>也<span class=\"highlightText\">配</span>说他。”\r\n\r\n　　“我要是他，就敢跟你睡觉。”我微笑地说：“他敢吗？”\r\n\r\n　　尽管天色已经很暗了，我也察觉得出女孩的脸排红了：“他很尊重我。”我哧笑：“嘁，尊重，别说了，咱甭说了。你也别装傻了。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩闷了半天没吭声。我吹起口哨，叼起一支烟，把烟盒递给她，她摇摇头。“”又完了不是“我取笑她，”敢在光天化日之下看书，不会抽烟，时髦半截。“”你别来劲。“女孩不服地说，”给我一支！“\r\n\r\n　　我把嘴上的烟给她，她抽了一口，“呼”地全吹了出去。我伸胳膊搭在她肩上，她哆嗦了一下，并没拒绝。我把她搂过来，她近在咫尺地看看我，拔拉掉我的胳膊，强笑着说：\r\n\r\n　　“我有点儿信你和一百多个女人睡过觉了。”\r\n\r\n　　“干吗有点信，就应该信。知道我外号叫什么吗？老枪！”\r\n\r\n　　我听到完完全全收拾书的声音，恶意地笑着说：“我叫你害怕了。”“才没有呢。”女孩站起来：“我只是该走了。”\r\n\r\n　　“敢告诉我你叫什么，住哪儿吗”\r\n\r\n　　女孩跳下石台，亮晶晶的眼睛在黑暗中闪烁，笑着说：“啊哈！我还以为你能始终不同凡响，闹了半天，也落了俗套。”\r\n\r\n　　“好，我俗。你走吧。哎，”我叫住她：“咱们要是再见了，就得算朋友了吧”“算朋友”女孩笑着走了。\r\n\r\n　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n\"Hey, both pairs just went into their rooms, the room numbers are 927, 1208, and there\'s one other [that isn\'t part of our gang], went into 1713.\" \r\n\r\n\"Got it.\" \r\n\r\nI put down the phone, immediately put on my suit jacket, picked up my book bag, and called to Fangfang who was watching TV, and we ran down the stairs two at a time. The “Peugeot” car I paid 4000 RMB for was parked on the corner of the street. We got in the car, and drove quickly onto the road, and drove directly towards the brilliant lights of the Yandu Hotel. On a shady street next to the hotel, I waved to stop behind a row of cars, our doors closed with a <em>ping pang</em>, and we quickly stepped in to intermingle with a group of Japanese tourists that had just gotten off a tour bus, walking [among them] into the Yandu Hotel\'s resplendent lobby. Courteously standing behind the main service counter, Weining surreptitiously shot us a look: everything was normal. Fangfang and I walked into the washroom, opened the leather bag, took out two police uniforms and changed into them, walked out of the washroom, and took the emergency exit stairs up. We climbed to the 9th floor, both of us huffing and puffing, and waiting until our breath came easier, then we walked towards the [floor\'s] service counter. The service personnel sitting there raised his head and looked at us astonished. \r\n\r\n\"We\'re the police, please open room 927.\" \r\n\r\nThe staff compliantly lifted out a chain of keys and lead us to a room at the end of the long hall. \r\n\r\n\"There\'s a guest inside.\" The staff saw the \"do not disturb\" sign hung on the door, and said looking back at us. \r\n\r\n\"We know, open the lock.\" I ordered. \r\n\r\nThe service staff twisted open the lock, and stood to one side.\r\n\r\n\"Get back,\" Fangfang roughly waved away the staffer. \r\n\r\nThe staff disappeared down another hallway, and Fangfang and I immediately opened the door and charged inside.... Fangfang and I walked out with Yahong, our leather bag stuffed full of a few thousand fresh bank notes, and with serious expressions entered the elevator next to the service desk, then Fangfang and Yahong could [no longer] suppress their laughter. \r\n\r\n\"What are you two laughing at, what the fuck is so funny [lit: it\'s really fucking uninteresting].\" But as I spoke I couldn\'t help laughing myself, and I said to Yahong, \"Wait in the bar downstairs for a bit, we\'ve still got to go grab up those little shits on the 12th floor.\" We took the elevator to the lower floor, let Yahong out, then went back up to 12.  　\r\n\r\nFifteen minutes later, we changed out of our police clothes and took the second girl to the bar to find Yahong, had some drinks together, and Yahong left on Fangfang\'s arm. I gave Weining at the main service desk a call, told him it was done, and to let the hooker on the 17th floor sleep soundly for the night, then call the [real] cops [on her] in the morning. With the other girl on my arm I walked casually out of the hotel. Fangfang had already started up the Peugeot, and he drove off as soon as we got in.\r\n\r\nIn the morning, I was woken up by a phone call, and Yahong who had been sleeping by my side answered it. She told me: Weining said that the two sorry suckers that we\'d scammed had already paid for the rooms and left, the other prostitute had been taken away by the cops that were waiting at the main entrance. Yahong rolled over and went back to sleep. I couldn\'t fall asleep again, [so I just] smoked one cigarette after another. Sunlight was spilling at an angle through the thick curtains, and I walked quietly to the window, looking out through the crack in the curtains onto the flow of people and traffic outside, the sun shining brightly on the street, and pulled the curtains firmly shut. I don\'t like the early morning, seeing people in their hundreds and thousands rush to work, to school, makes me feel like an isolated shadow. I don\'t have anything to do during the day, and no one\'s waiting for me, my friends are all asleep. I smoked another five cigarettes, looked at the calendar, then put on my clothes, washed my face and brushed my teeth, and walked out of the apartment where I was staying. I walked past the Peugot parked at the corner, and walked straight to the bust stop. Even though rush hour was already over, the bus was still pretty packed. One guy who was sitting down got off the bus, and I was just about to sit [in his place], when I saw a young woman carrying a small child, and called her to sit.\r\n\r\n\"Thank you.\" After the young woman sat down, she cutely said to the kid: \"Thank the uncle.\"　\r\n\r\n\"Thank you uncle.\"\r\n\r\nI smiled at the kid, and he fished a piece of chocolate wrapped in colored paper out of his pocket, ripped open the packet and was about to stuff it into his mouth, saw me watching him, and held up the chocolate to me.\r\n\r\n\"No thanks, uncle doesn\'t want it.\" \r\n\r\n\"Have it, it\'s nothing.\" \r\n\r\n\"No, really, uncle\'s got to get off.\" \r\n\r\nI pushed my way off the bus, 　我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。This restaurant 这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。I called the house around dusk, Fangfang picked up. We talked for a while, he\'d just been playing Go with Weining, Weining had come over earlier, they\'d been playing Go all day，他四胜三和五负，tonight they were planning to get some people together for a Majiang game. I told him I\'d be back that night, and hung up the phone.\r\n\r\n　　暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。She was holding a book in one hand, and was picking sunflower seeds out of the bag at her side with the other, the shells she\'d spit out had amassed into a pile, she was humming a song, turning a page now and then, leisurely and unrestrained, delicate and lovely. I quietly walked up behind her, and stood on tiptoe to look at the book that had fascinated her so. It was a profound works of literary theory, I skimmed it for bit, [found it dull and insipid], and I was just about to turn around and leave, when I suddenly heard the girl say:\r\n\r\n\"You don\'t understand it, huh?\" she turned up her face, looking at me with a smile. \r\n\r\nMy face turned red, and I felt at a loss that I [was still capable of] getting embarrassed. After a moment, I settled down, and said: \"“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”\r\n\r\n\"I\'ve been sitting here all afternoon, look here you, see how much I\'ve read.\"\r\n\r\nShe quickly flipped through all the pages she\'d read, and I pinched that thick stack, and thinking back on the contents, asked doubtfully, \"You read that quickly?\" \r\n\r\n\"I don\'t understand it either, but I read it quickly.\" \r\n\r\nWe both smiled. \"I\'m done reading.\" The girl put the book to one side. \"You have somewhere to be?\" she asked me. \r\n\r\n\"No,\" I said. \"No appointments.\" \r\n\r\n\"[Shall we] chat [for a bit]?\"\r\n\r\n\"Let\'s chat.\" \r\n\r\nI sat down next to her, and she pushed the bag of sunflower seeds over to me. I didn\'t really know how to crack the sunflower seeds [with my teeth], and [when I tried] spittle went everywhere.\r\n\r\n\"Watch me.\" The girl demonstrated with a single sunflower seed, her pure white teeth flashing, and I subconsciously closed my mouth over my own tobacco smoke-yellowed teeth. But she didn\'t notice, swinging her legs in all directions. \"What school are you from?\" I noticed there was a school emblem on her inside sweater. Biting down on a sunflower seed, the girl looked at me and smiled. \r\n\r\n\"That\'s called \'cottoning up\',\" she said. \"Next you\'ll probably say whatever school you\'re from, and that our schools are so close to each other, maybe we can run into each other every day...\" \r\n\r\n\"You think I look like a student?\" I said. \"I\'m a criminal freed from the work camps, I extort people for a living.\"\r\n\r\n\"I don\'t care what you are,\" the girl said, smiling and looking at her toes, as if there was something amusing there. \"Whatever you are is nothing to me.\" \r\n\r\nI didn\'t speak for a while, and the girl didn\'t speak either, just looked on, pleased, as the evening light disappeared on the horizon and the sky quickly dimmed, but didn\'t lose its magnificent clouds: \"That cloud looks like Marx, that one looks like a pirate, doesn\'t it, don\'t you think so?\" \r\n\r\n\"How old are you?\" the girl turned her head to look at me, carefully looking me over. \"You, doesn\'t look like you\'ve been with that many women.\" \r\n\r\n\"Nope,\" I said, lying to her without a change in expression or a thump of the heart. \r\n\r\n\"I could tell right away, little boy! As I was reading my book just now, I saw you standing far away, wanting to talk to me but also timid, afraid I\'d curse you, huh?\"　\r\n\r\n\"[Actually,] I\'ve slept with over 100 women.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl let loose a laugh, unbridled and amused. \r\n\r\n\"You laugh,\" I said, \"like a dumb chick.\"　　\r\n\r\nShe suddenly stopped laughing, angrily throwing me a scornful glance, \"I didn\'t criticize you, don\'t criticize me. Truthfully speaking, I\'ve already been with someone for a year.\" The girl smiled again, quite satisfied with herself. \r\n\r\n\"Is it one of your idiot classmates?\" 　\r\n\r\n\"He\'s not an idiot, he\'s a cadre in the student union.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Then he\'s stupid beyond measure.\"　\r\n\r\n\"Huh, a little baby like you who\'s only been kissed by his parents doesn\'t deserve to speak of him.\"　\r\n\r\n\"If I was him, I\'d already have had the courage to bed you,\" I said, smiling lightly. \"Has he dared?\"　　\r\n\r\nAlthough the sky was already gloomy, I perceived the girl\'s face reddening, \"He respects me.\" \r\n\r\nI tittered, \"Oh, respect, don\'t even, no need for us to talk about that. And no need for you to play dumb.\"  \r\n\r\nThe girl sat there vexed for a while saying nothing. I started whistling, started sucking on a cigarette, passed her the cigarette pack, she shook her head. “”又完了不是“我取笑她，”\r\n\r\n\"Willing to read a book in broad daylight, but can\'t smoke cigarettes, [guess you\'re] only half-fashionable.\"\r\n\r\n\"Don\'t be obnoxious.\" Still, unwilling to be conquered, she said, \"Give me one!\"\r\n\r\nI passed her the cigarette that was in my mouth, she took a puff, and <em>heng</em>, blew it all out. I stretched an arm around her shoulder, she trembled a second, but didn\'t refuse. I pulled her near to me, she looked at me from close up, pushed my arm off, and with a forced smile said: \r\n\r\n\"I might believe a little that you\'ve slept with over 100 women.\" \r\n\r\n\"What are you doing only \'believing a little\', you ought to just believe. You want to know what they call me? The Old Pistol.\"　\r\n\r\nI heard her grabbing up all of her books, and she said with a nasty smile, \"Well, <em>I</em> call you scared.\" \r\n\r\n\"Well, I\'m not.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl stood up: \"I should probably go.\"\r\n\r\n\"Do you dare tell me your name, or where you live?\"　\r\n\r\nThe girl jumped off the platform, her bright, crystal eyes flashed in the darkness, and she said smiling, \"Ah ha! I thought maybe you weren\'t like everyone else, [talking shit] half the day, but then sinking into mediocrity.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Fine, I\'m mediocre. Go. Hey,\" I called her to stop, \"If we meet again, let\'s consider ourselves friends.\"\r\n\r\n\"Sure, friends,\" she said, and smiling, left.　\r\n\r\nI 　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese gangster novel 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》by Wang Shuo', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2453-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-31 14:21:25', '2020-05-31 18:21:25', '', 2453, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/31/2453-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2465, 1, '2020-05-31 14:01:30', '2020-05-31 18:01:30', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n\r\nOkay, guys, time for a super duper challenge: this is the longest and most difficult read I\'ve ever posted. Long, because I wanted to put up the entire first chapter. Difficult, because... well, I explain below. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Shuo\">Wang Shuo (王朔)</a> is the bad boy of contemporary Chinese writers, a real controversial figure, and his work, which centers around the dark underbelly of Beijing in the 1970s and 80s, spawned its own genre of \"hooligan\" fiction. This isn\'t the organized, moneyed mob fiction of Hong Kong, this is the small-scale thievery that reflects urban life on the mainland right after the Cultural Revolution, when the country just started opening up to international trade and society was a mess. Wang Shuo\'s plots are so ugly, dark and brutal that he has been called a \"spiritual pollutant\" by the powers that be.  \r\n\r\nThis is the complete first chapter of his book <em>Hot and Cold, Measure for Measure</em>, or 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》. The book contains several short novellas, but the namesake work is only around 90 pages long in total. I\'m just about to finish reading it. The plot is horrendously depressing: the story of a thug who casually seduces a young high school girl with a bright future, breaks her down with his callousness until she becomes a prostitute and eventually kills herself, which sets off another chain of events. The extremely relatable realism with which Wang Shuo describes her destruction will have any woman who has ever been involved with a bad-news boyfriend cringing. \r\n\r\nThis chapter sets up the rest of the book in two scenes: One, we meet the protagonist as he is in the middle of a scam he often runs. I\'m going to explain the nature of the scam here because it\'s confusing unless you spent time in China twenty years ago. Basically, the protagonist works with a gang that includes a friend of his (named 方方) and a few prostitutes (mainly one lady named 亚红). During this time in China, it was very common for prostitutes to work in and around hotels, they would push their cards under the door of hotel rooms, or cold-call the room to ask if services were required. This was illegal, but it happened all the time; I can still remember having cards pushed under my hotel room doors in the early 2000s, sometimes five different cards a night. The protagonist and his friend wait until one of the prostitutes in the gang have landed a client. Then complicit hotel staff (named 卫宁) calls the gang, who burst into the room dressed like policemen and demand money as a \"fine\" from the hotel guest, and take the prostitute out as if they are arresting her. So this is where the book starts, with a phone call from a corrupt staff member at the hotel\'s front desk to the gangsters, telling them which rooms the prostitutes are in with their clients.\r\n\r\nIn the second half of the chapter, the protagonist goes about the next day of his life doing some errands, and eventually meets and has a conversation with this girl, Wudi (吴迪), whose life he will later ruin. She is spunky but naive, daring and precocious in the way that young people can be when they think they can handle themselves, but haven\'t yet encountered real danger or darkness in their lives. \r\n\r\nAs you have probably guessed by now, this read is <em>not appropriate for children</em>. There is swearing and sexual content - you have been warned. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nLinguistically speaking, this is one of the hardest Chinese books I\'ve ever read, because it\'s full, full, full of underworld slang, colloquialisms and swear words, and like a lot of great fiction, some of the things that happen aren\'t clearly spelled out, they\'re only suggested and you have to read between the lines. I read it very slowly, 5-10 pages in a sitting. I\'m going to explain some of the slang used here that isn\'t in the dictionary. \r\n\r\n野鸽 - 鸽 is slang for \"prostitute\". 野, as you probably know from the word 野生, means \"wild\" or \"untamed\". 野鸽 refers to a prostitute that is not working for the gang. In the first paragraph, 野 is used by itself, and it is referring to an unaffiliated prostitute.\r\n\r\n小子 - This is a derogatory way to refer to someone. It translates to something like, \"little shit\". \r\n\r\n他妈 - Usually 他妈的, the swear word \"fuck\" or \"fucking\" - but not referring to the sexual act itself, just used for emphasis in the middle of a sentence, same way it is in English, as in \"What the fuck are you doing here?\"\r\n\r\n没劲\r\n\r\n小毛头\r\n\r\n丫头\r\n \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《一半是火焰，一半是海水》第一章</h4>\r\n	\r\n“喂，两对都进房了。房间号927、1208，还有一只野的，进了1713.”\r\n\r\n“知道了。” \r\n\r\n我放下电话，马上穿上西服外套，提起书包，招呼正在看电视的方方，三步并作两步跑下楼。我那辆花四千元买来的旧“白茹”车停在街角便道上。我们坐进车里，把汽车迅速地开上马路，直驶远处灯火辉煌的“燕都”大饭店。在饭店旁边的一条林荫道上，我招手停在一溜轿车的后边，下了车“乒乓”关好门，快步加入一群刚从一辆大旅行车下来的日本游客中间，走进“燕都”饭店富丽堂皇的大厅。彬彬有礼地站在总服务台里的卫宁不易察觉地给我们使个眼声：一切正常。我和方方走进盥洗室，打开皮包，拿出两套警服换上，走出盥洗室，沿安全楼梯爬上去。爬到第九层，我们都是气喘吁吁，待呼吸均匀了，我们走向服务台，坐着的服务员抬头诧异地看我们。“我们是公安局的，请开927房间。”\r\n\r\n服务员顺从地拎起一串钥匙领着我们走向长廊尽头的一间客房。“里边有客人。”服务员看到门上挂的“请勿打扰”的小牌，回头对我说。“知道，打开锁。”我命令道。\r\n\r\n服务员钮开锁，站在一旁。\r\n\r\n“你回去吧。”方方粗鲁地挥手避开服务员。\r\n\r\n服务员消逝在走廊的另一端，我和方方立即开门冲了进去……我和方方带着亚红出来，皮包里塞着几千崭新的钞票，神情严肃地走服务台进了电梯间，方方和亚红忍不住笑起来。\r\n\r\n“你们笑什么，真<span class=\"textHighlight\">他妈没劲</span>。”我说着也忍不住笑了，对亚红说：“你在楼下酒吧等会儿，我们还得上去收拾12层那小子。”我们把电梯开到底层，让亚红出去，又开上12层。\r\n\r\n十五分钟后，我们换下警服带着另一个姑娘在酒吧找到亚红，一起喝了杯酒，亚红挽着方方先出去。我给总服务台的卫宁打了电话，告诉他事已办完，十七层那只野鸽让她舒舒服服睡一宿，早晨报警。我挽着另一个姑娘坦然走出饭店。方方已经把“白茹”发动了，我们一上车就开走了。\r\n\r\n早晨，我被电话铃吵醒，睡在我旁边的亚红接了电话，告诉我，卫宁说那两个受到我们讹诈的倒霉蛋已经结了房钱走了，那只野鸽也被在大门等着的警察塞上车抓走了。亚红翻身又睡了。我却睡不着，一支接一支地抽起烟。阳光从厚重的窗帘后倾泄出来，我轻轻走到窗前，从窗帘缝隙看了会儿外面车水马龙，阳光明媚的街道，把窗帘拉严。我不喜欢晴朗的早晨，看到成千上万的人兴冲冲地去上班、上学，我就感到形孤影单。白天我没有什么事可干，也没什么人等我，我的朋友们都在睡觉。我又抽了五支烟，看了看日历，然后穿衣服，洗脸刷牙，走出我住的这套公寓。我走过街角停放的“自茹”车，径直走向公共汽车站。尽管上班高峰已过，车内还是十分拥挤。一个坐着的中年男人下车，我刚要坐下，看到一个抱小孩的年轻妇女，便呼招她过来。\r\n\r\n“谢谢。”年轻妇女坐下后，又逗弄着小孩说：“谢谢叔叔。”\r\n\r\n“谢谢叔叔。”我冲小孩笑笑，小孩从衣兜里掏出一块彩纸包装的巧克力，剥开纸刚要往嘴里填，看我瞅着他，举起巧克力给我。\r\n\r\n“不要，叔叔不吃。”“吃吧，没事。”“真的不吃，叔叔要下车了。”\r\n\r\n我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。黄昏时我给家里打了个电话，方方接的。我们聊了会儿，他正在和卫宁下围棋，卫宁一早前来了，他们下了一天棋，他四胜三和五负，晚上准备凑人撞麻将。我告诉他我晚点回去，就挂了电话。\r\n\r\n暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。她一手棒书，一手从放在身旁的一个袋袋中抓瓜子磕，吐出的皮儿拢成一堆，嘴里哼着歌，间或翻一页书，悠闲自在，楚楚动人。我悄悄走到她身后，踮脚看那本使她入迷的书。是一本很深奥的文艺理论著作，我一目十行地看了一会儿，索然无味，正要转身走开，忽听女孩说：\r\n\r\n“看不懂吧。”她仰起脸，笑吟吟地望着我。\r\n\r\n我脸红了，感到不知所措，因为我还会脸红。片刻，我镇静下来，说：“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”“我在这儿坐了一下午了，你瞧，我看了多少。”\r\n\r\n她快速地把看过一页数捻了一遍，我捏捏那厚厚的一迭，联想到书的内容，怀疑地问：“你看这么快”\r\n\r\n“我也看不懂呗，就看得快。”\r\n\r\n　　我们都笑了。“不看了。”女孩把书撂到一旁。“你有事吗”她问我。“没有。”我说：“没人约我。”“聊聊？”“聊聊。”我在她旁边坐，她把瓜子袋推给我。我不大会磕瓜子，磕得皮瓤唾液一塌糊涂。\r\n\r\n　　“瞧我。”女孩示范性地磕了一个瓜子，洁白的贝齿一闪，我下意识地闭紧自己被烟熏得黑黄的牙齿。女孩倒没注意，晃悠着腿四处张望。“你是哪个学校的”我注意到她里面毛衣上别着一枚校徽。女孩龇齿咬着瓜子看着我笑起来。\r\n\r\n　　“这就叫‘套瓷’吧。”女孩说：“下边你该说自己是哪个学校的，我们两校挨得如何近，没准天天能碰见……”\r\n\r\n　　“你看我象学生吗”我说：“我是劳改释放犯，现在还靠敲诈勒索为生。”“我才不管你是什么呢。”女孩笑着瞅着自己的脚尖，似乎那儿有什么好玩可笑的，“你是什么我都无所谓。”\r\n\r\n　　我半天没说话，女孩也没说话，只是美滋滋地看着天边夕阳消逝后迅即黯淡下来，却又不失瑰丽的云彩：“那块云象马克思、那块象海盗，象吗，你说象吗”\r\n\r\n　　“你多大了”女孩转过头看我，仔仔细细打量了我一遍：“你，过去没怎么跟女孩接触过吧。”“没有。”我面不改声色心不跳地骗她。\r\n\r\n　　“我早看出来了，小男孩！刚才我看书时就看见你远远地，想过来搭讪又胆怯，怕我臊你一顿是不是”\r\n\r\n　　“我和一百多个女的睡过觉。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩放声笑起来，笑得那么肆无忌惮，那么开心。\r\n\r\n　　“你笑起来，”我说：“跟个傻丫头似的。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩一下不笑了，悻悻地白了我一眼：“我不说你，你也别说我了。实话告诉你，我已经谈了一年多恋爱了。”女孩又笑了，有几分得意。“是你的傻冒同学吧？”\r\n\r\n　　“他才不傻呢，是学生会干部。”\r\n\r\n　　“那还不傻傻得已经没法练了。”\r\n\r\n　　“哼，你这种只被爸爸妈妈吻过的<span class=\"highlightText\">小毛头</span>也<span class=\"highlightText\">配</span>说他。”\r\n\r\n　　“我要是他，就敢跟你睡觉。”我微笑地说：“他敢吗？”\r\n\r\n　　尽管天色已经很暗了，我也察觉得出女孩的脸排红了：“他很尊重我。”我哧笑：“嘁，尊重，别说了，咱甭说了。你也别装傻了。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩闷了半天没吭声。我吹起口哨，叼起一支烟，把烟盒递给她，她摇摇头。“”又完了不是“我取笑她，”敢在光天化日之下看书，不会抽烟，时髦半截。“”你别来劲。“女孩不服地说，”给我一支！“\r\n\r\n　　我把嘴上的烟给她，她抽了一口，“呼”地全吹了出去。我伸胳膊搭在她肩上，她哆嗦了一下，并没拒绝。我把她搂过来，她近在咫尺地看看我，拔拉掉我的胳膊，强笑着说：\r\n\r\n　　“我有点儿信你和一百多个女人睡过觉了。”\r\n\r\n　　“干吗有点信，就应该信。知道我外号叫什么吗？老枪！”\r\n\r\n　　我听到完完全全收拾书的声音，恶意地笑着说：“我叫你害怕了。”“才没有呢。”女孩站起来：“我只是该走了。”\r\n\r\n　　“敢告诉我你叫什么，住哪儿吗”\r\n\r\n　　女孩跳下石台，亮晶晶的眼睛在黑暗中闪烁，笑着说：“啊哈！我还以为你能始终不同凡响，闹了半天，也落了俗套。”\r\n\r\n　　“好，我俗。你走吧。哎，”我叫住她：“咱们要是再见了，就得算朋友了吧”“算朋友”女孩笑着走了。\r\n\r\n　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n\"Hey, both pairs just went into their rooms, the room numbers are 927, 1208, and there\'s one other [that isn\'t part of our gang], went into 1713.\" \r\n\r\n\"Got it.\" \r\n\r\nI put down the phone, immediately put on my suit jacket, picked up my book bag, and called to Fangfang who was watching TV, and we ran down the stairs two at a time. The “Peugeot” car I paid 4000 RMB for was parked on the corner of the street. We got in the car, and drove quickly onto the road, and drove directly towards the brilliant lights of the Yandu Hotel. On a shady street next to the hotel, I waved to stop behind a row of cars, our doors closed with a <em>ping pang</em>, and we quickly stepped in to intermingle with a group of Japanese tourists that had just gotten off a tour bus, walking [among them] into the Yandu Hotel\'s resplendent lobby. Courteously standing behind the main service counter, Weining surreptitiously shot us a look: everything was normal. Fangfang and I walked into the washroom, opened the leather bag, took out two police uniforms and changed into them, walked out of the washroom, and took the emergency exit stairs up. We climbed to the 9th floor, both of us huffing and puffing, and waiting until our breath came easier, then we walked towards the [floor\'s] service counter. The service personnel sitting there raised his head and looked at us astonished. \r\n\r\n\"We\'re the police, please open room 927.\" \r\n\r\nThe staff compliantly lifted out a chain of keys and lead us to a room at the end of the long hall. \r\n\r\n\"There\'s a guest inside.\" The staff saw the \"do not disturb\" sign hung on the door, and said looking back at us. \r\n\r\n\"We know, open the lock.\" I ordered. \r\n\r\nThe service staff twisted open the lock, and stood to one side.\r\n\r\n\"Get back,\" Fangfang roughly waved away the staffer. \r\n\r\nThe staff disappeared down another hallway, and Fangfang and I immediately opened the door and charged inside.... Fangfang and I walked out with Yahong, our leather bag stuffed full of a few thousand fresh bank notes, and with serious expressions entered the elevator next to the service desk, then Fangfang and Yahong could [no longer] suppress their laughter. \r\n\r\n\"What are you two laughing at, what the fuck is so funny [lit: it\'s really fucking uninteresting].\" But as I spoke I couldn\'t help laughing myself, and I said to Yahong, \"Wait in the bar downstairs for a bit, we\'ve still got to go grab up those little shits on the 12th floor.\" We took the elevator to the lower floor, let Yahong out, then went back up to 12.  　\r\n\r\nFifteen minutes later, we changed out of our police clothes and took the second girl to the bar to find Yahong, had some drinks together, and Yahong left on Fangfang\'s arm. I gave Weining at the main service desk a call, told him it was done, and to let the hooker on the 17th floor sleep soundly for the night, then call the [real] cops [on her] in the morning. With the other girl on my arm I walked casually out of the hotel. Fangfang had already started up the Peugeot, and he drove off as soon as we got in.\r\n\r\nIn the morning, I was woken up by a phone call, and Yahong who had been sleeping by my side answered it. She told me: Weining said that the two sorry suckers that we\'d scammed had already paid for the rooms and left, the other prostitute had been taken away by the cops that were waiting at the main entrance. Yahong rolled over and went back to sleep. I couldn\'t fall asleep again, [so I just] smoked one cigarette after another. Sunlight was spilling at an angle through the thick curtains, and I walked quietly to the window, looking out through the crack in the curtains onto the flow of people and traffic outside, the sun shining brightly on the street, and pulled the curtains firmly shut. I don\'t like the early morning, seeing people in their hundreds and thousands rush to work, to school, makes me feel like an isolated shadow. I don\'t have anything to do during the day, and no one\'s waiting for me, my friends are all asleep. I smoked another five cigarettes, looked at the calendar, then put on my clothes, washed my face and brushed my teeth, and walked out of the apartment where I was staying. I walked past the Peugot parked at the corner, and walked straight to the bust stop. Even though rush hour was already over, the bus was still pretty packed. One guy who was sitting down got off the bus, and I was just about to sit [in his place], when I saw a young woman carrying a small child, and called her to sit.\r\n\r\n\"Thank you.\" After the young woman sat down, she cutely said to the kid: \"Thank the uncle.\"　\r\n\r\n\"Thank you uncle.\"\r\n\r\nI smiled at the kid, and he fished a piece of chocolate wrapped in colored plastic out of his pocket, ripped open the packet and was about to stuff it into his mouth, saw me watching him, and held up the chocolate to me.\r\n\r\n\"No thanks, uncle doesn\'t want it.\" \r\n\r\n\"Have it, it\'s nothing.\" \r\n\r\n\"No, really, uncle\'s got to get off.\" \r\n\r\nI pushed my way off the bus, 　我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。黄昏时我给家里打了个电话，方方接的。我们聊了会儿，他正在和卫宁下围棋，卫宁一早前来了，他们下了一天棋，他四胜三和五负，晚上准备凑人撞麻将。我告诉他我晚点回去，就挂了电话。\r\n\r\n　　暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。她一手棒书，一手从放在身旁的一个袋袋中抓瓜子磕，吐出的皮儿拢成一堆，嘴里哼着歌，间或翻一页书，悠闲自在，楚楚动人。我悄悄走到她身后，踮脚看那本使她入迷的书。是一本很深奥的文艺理论著作，我一目十行地看了一会儿，索然无味，正要转身走开，忽听女孩说：\r\n\r\n\"You don\'t understand it, huh,\" she turned up her face, looking at me with a smile. \r\n\r\nMy face turned red, and I felt at a loss that I [was still capable of] getting embarrassed. After a moment, I settled down, and said: \"　\r\n我脸红了，感到不知所措，因为我还会脸红。片刻，我镇静下来，说：“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”\r\n\r\n\"I\'ve been sitting here all afternoon, look here you, at how much I\'ve read.\"\r\n\r\nShe quickly flipped through all the pages she\'d read, and I pinched that thick stack, and thinking back on the contents, asked doubtfully, \"You read that quickly?\" \r\n\r\n\"I don\'t understand it either, but I read it quickly.\" \r\n\r\nWe both smiled. \"I\'m done reading.\" The girl put the book to one side. \"You have somewhere to be?\" she asked me. \r\n\r\n\"No,\" I said. \"No appointments.\" \r\n\r\n\"[Shall we] chat [for a bit]?\"\r\n\r\n\"Let\'s chat.\" \r\n\r\nI sat down next to her, and she pushed the bag of sunflower seeds over to me. I didn\'t really know how to crack the sunflower seeds [with my teeth], and [when I tried] spittle went everywhere.\r\n\r\n\"Watch me.\" The girl demonstrated with a single sunflower seed, her pure white teeth flashing, and I subconsciously closed my mouth over my own tobacco smoke-yellowed teeth. But she didn\'t notice, swinging her legs in all directions. \"What school are you from?\" I noticed there was a school emblem on her inside sweater. Biting down on a sunflower seed, the girl looked at me and smiled. \r\n\r\n\"That\'s called \'cottoning up\',\" she said. \"Next you\'ll probably say whatever school you\'re from, and that our schools are so close to each other, maybe we can run into each other every day...\" \r\n\r\n\"You think I look like a student?\" I said. \"I\'m a criminal freed from the work camps, I extort people for a living.\"\r\n\r\n\"I don\'t care what you are,\" the girl said, smiling and looking at her toes, as if there was something amusing there. \"Whatever you are is nothing to me.\" \r\n\r\nI didn\'t speak for a while, and the girl didn\'t speak either, just looked on, pleased, as the evening light disappeared on the horizon and the sky quickly dimmed, but didn\'t lose its magnificent clouds: \"That cloud looks like Marx, that one looks like a pirate, doesn\'t it, don\'t you think so?\" \r\n\r\n\"How old are you?\" the girl turned her head to look at me, carefully looking me over. \"You, doesn\'t look like you\'ve been with that many women.\" \r\n\r\n\"Nope,\" I said, lying to her without a change in expression or a thump of the heart. \r\n\r\n\"I could tell right away, little boy! As I was reading my book just now, I saw you standing far away, wanting to talk to me but also timid, afraid I\'d curse you, huh?\"　\r\n\r\n\"[Actually,] I\'ve slept with over 100 women.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl let loose a laugh, an unbridled laugh, so amused. \r\n\r\n\"You laugh,\" I said, \"like a dumb chick.\"　　\r\n\r\nThe girl suddenly stopped laughing, angrily throwing me a scornful glance, \"I didn\'t criticize you, don\'t criticize me. Truthfully speaking, I\'ve already been with someone for a year.\" The girl smiled again, quite satisfied with herself. \r\n\r\n\"Is it one of your idiot classmates?\" 　\r\n\r\n\"He\'s not an idiot, he\'s a cadre in the student union.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Then he\'s stupid beyond measure.\"　\r\n\r\n\"Huh, a little baby like you who\'s only been kissed by his parents doesn\'t deserve to speak of him.\"　\r\n\r\n\"If I was him, I\'d already have had the courage to bed you,\" I said, smiling lightly. \"Has he dared?\"　　\r\n\r\nAlthough the sky was already gloomy, I perceived the girl\'s face reddening, \"He respects me.\" \r\n\r\nI tittered, \"Oh, respect, don\'t even, no need for us to talk about that. And no need for you to play dumb.\"  \r\n\r\nThe girl sat there vexed for a while saying nothing. I started whistling, started sucking on a cigarette, passed her the cigarette pack, she shook her head. “”又完了不是“我取笑她，”敢在光天化日之下看书，不会抽烟，时髦半截。“”你别来劲。“女孩不服地说，”给我一支！“\r\n\r\nI passed her the cigarette that was in my mouth, she took a puff, and <em>heng</em>, blew it all out. I stretched an arm around her shoulder, she trembled a second, but didn\'t refuse. I pulled her near to me, she looked at me from close up, pushed my arm off, and with a forced smile said: \r\n\r\n\"I might believe a little that you\'ve slept with over 100 women.\" \r\n\r\n\"What are you doing only \'believing a little\', you ought to just believe. You want to know what they call me? The Old Pistol.\"　\r\n\r\nI heard her grabbing up all of her books, and she said with a nasty smile, \"Well, <em>I</em> call you scared.\" \r\n\r\n\"Well, I\'m not.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl stood up: \"I should probably go.\"\r\n\r\n\"Do you dare tell me your name, or where you live?\"　\r\n\r\nThe girl jumped off the platform, her bright, crystal eyes flashed in the darkness, and she said smiling, \"Ah ha! I thought maybe you weren\'t like everyone else, [talking shit] half the day, but then sinking into mediocrity.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Fine, I\'m mediocre. Go. Hey,\" I called her to stop, \"If we meet again, let\'s consider ourselves friends.\"\r\n\r\n\"Sure, friends,\" she said, and smiling, left.　\r\n\r\nI 　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese gangster novel 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》by Wang Shuo', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2453-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-31 14:01:30', '2020-05-31 18:01:30', '', 2453, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/31/2453-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1371, 1, '2013-05-27 13:35:33', '2013-05-27 17:35:33', '', 'Learn to Read Chinese: Art Vocabulary and Simplified Chinese Art Blogs', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130528', '', '', '2013-05-27 13:35:33', '2013-05-27 17:35:33', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130528.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1372, 1, '2013-05-27 13:35:35', '2013-05-27 17:35:35', '', 'Learn to Read Chinese: Art Vocabulary and Simplified Chinese Art Blogs', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130528-inline', '', '', '2013-05-27 13:35:35', '2013-05-27 17:35:35', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130528-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1374, 1, '2012-08-22 22:56:59', '2012-08-23 02:56:59', '<h3>The Basics</h3>\r\nMy name is: <strong>Kendra</strong>\r\nI live in: <strong>Beijing</strong>\r\nAge: <strong>29</strong> \r\nFirst year in China: <strong>2002</strong>\r\nWhat this site is for: This site doesn\'t exist to teach you Chinese from scratch - there are plenty of sites and programs that do that. But this collection might help you keep your skills fresh, practice recognizing sentence structure, or pick up the occasional new vocabulary word.\r\n\r\n<h3>The Story</h3>\r\nAfter spending a few years China studying Mandarin and working, I took a several-year hiatus and returned to my native country. It was alarming how quickly my language skills began disintegrating. I searched online for Chinese reading materials, and though I found plenty of dictionaries and flash card sources, I had a very difficult time finding something that was at an appropriate reading level, was different than the typical textbook-y stuff available online, was presented in a way that was easy to read, and that I was sure I could get through. I ended up spending more time looking for something that was suitable than actually doing any reading.\r\n\r\nAs someone who organizes her thoughts into a series of domain names, it was inevitable I\'d eventually start a website about it, and here you are. I post whenever I get a chance.\r\n\r\n<h4>About the Translations</h4>\r\nMost (but not all) of the translations on this site are done by me, and I don\'t post anything unless I\'ve checked it several times, but that doesn\'t mean I haven\'t missed something. Do feel free to comment if you see anything that ought to have a better translation - it won\'t be taken amiss. \r\n\r\nIt\'s often quite difficult to do a word-for-word translation, as Chinese words that fit well into a particular Chinese sentence read very awkwardly after they\'ve been translated - sometimes a direct translation just sounds off. This is more and more true the higher your reading level.  \r\n\r\nI\'ll often change the order of wording in a sentence so that it makes sense or reads well in English. You\'ll also notice that I often remove commas, split long Chinese sentences into two or more English sentences, or rearrange the order of clauses, which is necessary to accommodate Chinese grammar.  The translation is meant as a guidepost to help point you in the right direction and keep you grounded in the text when needed - it\'s up to you to dissect sentence structure.\r\n<h4>How I Classify Reading Levels</h4>\r\nUltimately, my classifications are pretty arbitrary, but I\'ll try to lay out some of my basic reasoning here.\r\n\r\n<strong>Beginner</strong> - Very very few of these texts are actually beginner tests; at least I haven\'t been able to find any real beginner stuff yet (I\'m still looking for good sources of real beginner texts that aren\'t boring dialogs - if you know of any, please write!). This is because for any story, article or essay to really take shape, it usually must involve some intermediate grammar or intermediate vocabulary. This is why most truly beginner textbooks stick to dialogs as opposed to actual articles. In order to do any real reading, you\'ve got to at least know the basics of sentence structure. I will classify something as beginner if at least a couple of the following criteria are met:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>The sentence structure is easy throughout</li>\r\n	<li>It contains mostly simpler words that are in the dictionary</li>\r\n	<li>There is no modern slang</li>\r\n	<li>The subject matter is basic / or for children</li>\r\n	<li>It\'s not too long</li>\r\n	<li>It contains few or no idioms</li>\r\n<li>It contains intermediate vocabulary but the story structure is very repetitive, so you can pick up the thread more easily as you go along.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n\r\n<strong>Intermediate</strong> - I classify something as intermediate if:\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>It\'s a longer piece that you have to hold a narrative thread through.</li>\r\n<li>The language is intermediate or upper-intermediate.</li>\r\n<li>There are some light idioms.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n\r\n<strong>Advanced</strong> - Most of what\'s out there online is advanced reading. That\'s why as of now, there are more advanced texts on here than anything else. I classify something as advanced if:\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>It contains many specialized or technical words (technology, health, beauty, geography, etc.)</li>\r\n<li>It contains high-level structures, like newspaper-y or literary writing styles.</li>\r\n<li>It contains any archaic words.</li>\r\n<li>The sentence structure is very complicated.</li>\r\n<li>It contains a lot of modern slang.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n\r\nEnjoy, and good luck with your studies.', 'About', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '2-revision-v1', '', '', '2012-08-22 22:56:59', '2012-08-23 02:56:59', '', 2, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/08/22/2-revision-23/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(2466, 1, '2020-05-31 14:14:51', '2020-05-31 18:14:51', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\n<p style=\"padding:25px; margin-bottom: 20px; font-style: italic; background-color:#ffeaee;\">In the <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/tag/novels/\">Novels</a> series, I get you started reading the first few paragraphs of classic Chinese fiction. If you like the beginning, you can <a href=“https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\">buy the book</a> and keep reading.</p> \r\n\r\nOkay, guys, time for a super duper challenge: this is the longest and most difficult read I\'ve ever posted. Long, because I wanted to put up the entire first chapter. Difficult, because... well, I explain below. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Shuo\">Wang Shuo (王朔)</a> is the bad boy of contemporary Chinese writers, a real controversial figure, and his work, which centers around the dark underbelly of Beijing in the 1970s and 80s, spawned its own genre of \"hooligan\" fiction. This isn\'t the organized, moneyed mob fiction of Hong Kong, this is the small-scale thievery that reflects urban life on the mainland right after the Cultural Revolution, when the country just started opening up to international trade and society was a mess. Wang Shuo\'s plots are so ugly, dark and brutal that he has been called a \"spiritual pollutant\" by the powers that be.  \r\n\r\nThis is the complete first chapter of his book <em>Hot and Cold, Measure for Measure</em>, or 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》. The book contains several short novellas, but the namesake work is only around 90 pages long in total. I\'m just about to finish reading it. The plot is horrendously depressing: the story of a thug who casually seduces a young high school girl with a bright future, breaks her down with his callousness until she becomes a prostitute and eventually kills herself, which sets off another chain of events. The extremely relatable realism with which Wang Shuo describes her destruction will have any woman who has ever been involved with a bad-news boyfriend cringing. \r\n\r\nThis chapter sets up the rest of the book in two scenes: One, we meet the protagonist as he is in the middle of a scam he often runs. I\'m going to explain the nature of the scam here because it\'s confusing unless you spent time in China twenty years ago. Basically, the protagonist works with a gang that includes a friend of his (named 方方) and a few prostitutes (mainly one lady named 亚红). During this time in China, it was very common for prostitutes to work in and around hotels, they would push their cards under the door of hotel rooms, or cold-call the room to ask if services were required. This was illegal, but it happened all the time; I can still remember having cards pushed under my hotel room doors in the early 2000s, sometimes five different cards a night. The protagonist and his friend wait until one of the prostitutes in the gang have landed a client. Then complicit hotel staff (named 卫宁) calls the gang, who burst into the room dressed like policemen and demand money as a \"fine\" from the hotel guest, and take the prostitute out as if they are arresting her. So this is where the book starts, with a phone call from a corrupt staff member at the hotel\'s front desk to the gangsters, telling them which rooms the prostitutes are in with their clients.\r\n\r\nIn the second half of the chapter, the protagonist goes about the next day of his life doing some errands, and eventually meets and has a conversation with this girl, Wudi (吴迪), whose life he will later ruin. She is spunky but naive, daring and precocious in the way that young people can be when they think they can handle themselves, but haven\'t yet encountered real danger or darkness in their lives. \r\n\r\nAs you have probably guessed by now, this read is <em>not appropriate for children</em>. There is swearing and sexual content - you have been warned. \r\n\r\n<h3>Some language stuff</h4>\r\nLinguistically speaking, this is one of the hardest Chinese books I\'ve ever read, because it\'s full, full, full of underworld slang, colloquialisms and swear words, and like a lot of great fiction, some of the things that happen aren\'t clearly spelled out, they\'re only suggested and you have to read between the lines. I read it very slowly, 5-10 pages in a sitting. I\'m going to explain some of the slang used here that isn\'t in the dictionary. \r\n\r\n野鸽 - 鸽 is slang for \"prostitute\". 野, as you probably know from the word 野生, means \"wild\" or \"untamed\". 野鸽 refers to a prostitute that is not working for the gang. In the first paragraph, 野 is used by itself, and it is referring to an unaffiliated prostitute.\r\n\r\n小子 - This is a derogatory way to refer to someone. It translates to something like, \"little shit\". \r\n\r\n他妈 - Usually 他妈的, the swear word \"fuck\" or \"fucking\" - but not referring to the sexual act itself, just used for emphasis in the middle of a sentence, same way it is in English, as in \"What the fuck are you doing here?\"\r\n\r\n没劲\r\n\r\n小毛头\r\n\r\n丫头\r\n\r\n四胜三和五负\r\n\r\n凑人\r\n \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《一半是火焰，一半是海水》第一章</h4>\r\n	\r\n“喂，两对都进房了。房间号927、1208，还有一只野的，进了1713.”\r\n\r\n“知道了。” \r\n\r\n我放下电话，马上穿上西服外套，提起书包，招呼正在看电视的方方，三步并作两步跑下楼。我那辆花四千元买来的旧“白茹”车停在街角便道上。我们坐进车里，把汽车迅速地开上马路，直驶远处灯火辉煌的“燕都”大饭店。在饭店旁边的一条林荫道上，我招手停在一溜轿车的后边，下了车“乒乓”关好门，快步加入一群刚从一辆大旅行车下来的日本游客中间，走进“燕都”饭店富丽堂皇的大厅。彬彬有礼地站在总服务台里的卫宁不易察觉地给我们使个眼声：一切正常。我和方方走进盥洗室，打开皮包，拿出两套警服换上，走出盥洗室，沿安全楼梯爬上去。爬到第九层，我们都是气喘吁吁，待呼吸均匀了，我们走向服务台，坐着的服务员抬头诧异地看我们。“我们是公安局的，请开927房间。”\r\n\r\n服务员顺从地拎起一串钥匙领着我们走向长廊尽头的一间客房。“里边有客人。”服务员看到门上挂的“请勿打扰”的小牌，回头对我说。“知道，打开锁。”我命令道。\r\n\r\n服务员钮开锁，站在一旁。\r\n\r\n“你回去吧。”方方粗鲁地挥手避开服务员。\r\n\r\n服务员消逝在走廊的另一端，我和方方立即开门冲了进去……我和方方带着亚红出来，皮包里塞着几千崭新的钞票，神情严肃地走服务台进了电梯间，方方和亚红忍不住笑起来。\r\n\r\n“你们笑什么，真<span class=\"textHighlight\">他妈没劲</span>。”我说着也忍不住笑了，对亚红说：“你在楼下酒吧等会儿，我们还得上去收拾12层那小子。”我们把电梯开到底层，让亚红出去，又开上12层。\r\n\r\n十五分钟后，我们换下警服带着另一个姑娘在酒吧找到亚红，一起喝了杯酒，亚红挽着方方先出去。我给总服务台的卫宁打了电话，告诉他事已办完，十七层那只野鸽让她舒舒服服睡一宿，早晨报警。我挽着另一个姑娘坦然走出饭店。方方已经把“白茹”发动了，我们一上车就开走了。\r\n\r\n早晨，我被电话铃吵醒，睡在我旁边的亚红接了电话，告诉我，卫宁说那两个受到我们讹诈的倒霉蛋已经结了房钱走了，那只野鸽也被在大门等着的警察塞上车抓走了。亚红翻身又睡了。我却睡不着，一支接一支地抽起烟。阳光从厚重的窗帘后倾泄出来，我轻轻走到窗前，从窗帘缝隙看了会儿外面车水马龙，阳光明媚的街道，把窗帘拉严。我不喜欢晴朗的早晨，看到成千上万的人兴冲冲地去上班、上学，我就感到形孤影单。白天我没有什么事可干，也没什么人等我，我的朋友们都在睡觉。我又抽了五支烟，看了看日历，然后穿衣服，洗脸刷牙，走出我住的这套公寓。我走过街角停放的“自茹”车，径直走向公共汽车站。尽管上班高峰已过，车内还是十分拥挤。一个坐着的中年男人下车，我刚要坐下，看到一个抱小孩的年轻妇女，便呼招她过来。\r\n\r\n“谢谢。”年轻妇女坐下后，又逗弄着小孩说：“谢谢叔叔。”\r\n\r\n“谢谢叔叔。”我冲小孩笑笑，小孩从衣兜里掏出一块彩纸包装的巧克力，剥开纸刚要往嘴里填，看我瞅着他，举起巧克力给我。\r\n\r\n“不要，叔叔不吃。”“吃吧，没事。”“真的不吃，叔叔要下车了。”\r\n\r\n我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。黄昏时我给家里打了个电话，方方接的。我们聊了会儿，他正在和卫宁下围棋，卫宁一早前来了，他们下了一天棋，他四胜三和五负，晚上准备凑人撞麻将。我告诉他我晚点回去，就挂了电话。\r\n\r\n暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。她一手棒书，一手从放在身旁的一个袋袋中抓瓜子磕，吐出的皮儿拢成一堆，嘴里哼着歌，间或翻一页书，悠闲自在，楚楚动人。我悄悄走到她身后，踮脚看那本使她入迷的书。是一本很深奥的文艺理论著作，我一目十行地看了一会儿，索然无味，正要转身走开，忽听女孩说：\r\n\r\n“看不懂吧。”她仰起脸，笑吟吟地望着我。\r\n\r\n我脸红了，感到不知所措，因为我还会脸红。片刻，我镇静下来，说：“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”“我在这儿坐了一下午了，你瞧，我看了多少。”\r\n\r\n她快速地把看过一页数捻了一遍，我捏捏那厚厚的一迭，联想到书的内容，怀疑地问：“你看这么快”\r\n\r\n“我也看不懂呗，就看得快。”\r\n\r\n　　我们都笑了。“不看了。”女孩把书撂到一旁。“你有事吗”她问我。“没有。”我说：“没人约我。”“聊聊？”“聊聊。”我在她旁边坐，她把瓜子袋推给我。我不大会磕瓜子，磕得皮瓤唾液一塌糊涂。\r\n\r\n　　“瞧我。”女孩示范性地磕了一个瓜子，洁白的贝齿一闪，我下意识地闭紧自己被烟熏得黑黄的牙齿。女孩倒没注意，晃悠着腿四处张望。“你是哪个学校的”我注意到她里面毛衣上别着一枚校徽。女孩龇齿咬着瓜子看着我笑起来。\r\n\r\n　　“这就叫‘套瓷’吧。”女孩说：“下边你该说自己是哪个学校的，我们两校挨得如何近，没准天天能碰见……”\r\n\r\n　　“你看我象学生吗”我说：“我是劳改释放犯，现在还靠敲诈勒索为生。”“我才不管你是什么呢。”女孩笑着瞅着自己的脚尖，似乎那儿有什么好玩可笑的，“你是什么我都无所谓。”\r\n\r\n　　我半天没说话，女孩也没说话，只是美滋滋地看着天边夕阳消逝后迅即黯淡下来，却又不失瑰丽的云彩：“那块云象马克思、那块象海盗，象吗，你说象吗”\r\n\r\n　　“你多大了”女孩转过头看我，仔仔细细打量了我一遍：“你，过去没怎么跟女孩接触过吧。”“没有。”我面不改声色心不跳地骗她。\r\n\r\n　　“我早看出来了，小男孩！刚才我看书时就看见你远远地，想过来搭讪又胆怯，怕我臊你一顿是不是”\r\n\r\n　　“我和一百多个女的睡过觉。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩放声笑起来，笑得那么肆无忌惮，那么开心。\r\n\r\n　　“你笑起来，”我说：“跟个傻丫头似的。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩一下不笑了，悻悻地白了我一眼：“我不说你，你也别说我了。实话告诉你，我已经谈了一年多恋爱了。”女孩又笑了，有几分得意。“是你的傻冒同学吧？”\r\n\r\n　　“他才不傻呢，是学生会干部。”\r\n\r\n　　“那还不傻傻得已经没法练了。”\r\n\r\n　　“哼，你这种只被爸爸妈妈吻过的<span class=\"highlightText\">小毛头</span>也<span class=\"highlightText\">配</span>说他。”\r\n\r\n　　“我要是他，就敢跟你睡觉。”我微笑地说：“他敢吗？”\r\n\r\n　　尽管天色已经很暗了，我也察觉得出女孩的脸排红了：“他很尊重我。”我哧笑：“嘁，尊重，别说了，咱甭说了。你也别装傻了。”\r\n\r\n　　女孩闷了半天没吭声。我吹起口哨，叼起一支烟，把烟盒递给她，她摇摇头。“”又完了不是“我取笑她，”敢在光天化日之下看书，不会抽烟，时髦半截。“”你别来劲。“女孩不服地说，”给我一支！“\r\n\r\n　　我把嘴上的烟给她，她抽了一口，“呼”地全吹了出去。我伸胳膊搭在她肩上，她哆嗦了一下，并没拒绝。我把她搂过来，她近在咫尺地看看我，拔拉掉我的胳膊，强笑着说：\r\n\r\n　　“我有点儿信你和一百多个女人睡过觉了。”\r\n\r\n　　“干吗有点信，就应该信。知道我外号叫什么吗？老枪！”\r\n\r\n　　我听到完完全全收拾书的声音，恶意地笑着说：“我叫你害怕了。”“才没有呢。”女孩站起来：“我只是该走了。”\r\n\r\n　　“敢告诉我你叫什么，住哪儿吗”\r\n\r\n　　女孩跳下石台，亮晶晶的眼睛在黑暗中闪烁，笑着说：“啊哈！我还以为你能始终不同凡响，闹了半天，也落了俗套。”\r\n\r\n　　“好，我俗。你走吧。哎，”我叫住她：“咱们要是再见了，就得算朋友了吧”“算朋友”女孩笑着走了。\r\n\r\n　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\nBy <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2zEEBIo\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">paperback</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2Z7Japj\">Kindle</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\n\"Hey, both pairs just went into their rooms, the room numbers are 927, 1208, and there\'s one other [that isn\'t part of our gang], went into 1713.\" \r\n\r\n\"Got it.\" \r\n\r\nI put down the phone, immediately put on my suit jacket, picked up my book bag, and called to Fangfang who was watching TV, and we ran down the stairs two at a time. The “Peugeot” car I paid 4000 RMB for was parked on the corner of the street. We got in the car, and drove quickly onto the road, and drove directly towards the brilliant lights of the Yandu Hotel. On a shady street next to the hotel, I waved to stop behind a row of cars, our doors closed with a <em>ping pang</em>, and we quickly stepped in to intermingle with a group of Japanese tourists that had just gotten off a tour bus, walking [among them] into the Yandu Hotel\'s resplendent lobby. Courteously standing behind the main service counter, Weining surreptitiously shot us a look: everything was normal. Fangfang and I walked into the washroom, opened the leather bag, took out two police uniforms and changed into them, walked out of the washroom, and took the emergency exit stairs up. We climbed to the 9th floor, both of us huffing and puffing, and waiting until our breath came easier, then we walked towards the [floor\'s] service counter. The service personnel sitting there raised his head and looked at us astonished. \r\n\r\n\"We\'re the police, please open room 927.\" \r\n\r\nThe staff compliantly lifted out a chain of keys and lead us to a room at the end of the long hall. \r\n\r\n\"There\'s a guest inside.\" The staff saw the \"do not disturb\" sign hung on the door, and said looking back at us. \r\n\r\n\"We know, open the lock.\" I ordered. \r\n\r\nThe service staff twisted open the lock, and stood to one side.\r\n\r\n\"Get back,\" Fangfang roughly waved away the staffer. \r\n\r\nThe staff disappeared down another hallway, and Fangfang and I immediately opened the door and charged inside.... Fangfang and I walked out with Yahong, our leather bag stuffed full of a few thousand fresh bank notes, and with serious expressions entered the elevator next to the service desk, then Fangfang and Yahong could [no longer] suppress their laughter. \r\n\r\n\"What are you two laughing at, what the fuck is so funny [lit: it\'s really fucking uninteresting].\" But as I spoke I couldn\'t help laughing myself, and I said to Yahong, \"Wait in the bar downstairs for a bit, we\'ve still got to go grab up those little shits on the 12th floor.\" We took the elevator to the lower floor, let Yahong out, then went back up to 12.  　\r\n\r\nFifteen minutes later, we changed out of our police clothes and took the second girl to the bar to find Yahong, had some drinks together, and Yahong left on Fangfang\'s arm. I gave Weining at the main service desk a call, told him it was done, and to let the hooker on the 17th floor sleep soundly for the night, then call the [real] cops [on her] in the morning. With the other girl on my arm I walked casually out of the hotel. Fangfang had already started up the Peugeot, and he drove off as soon as we got in.\r\n\r\nIn the morning, I was woken up by a phone call, and Yahong who had been sleeping by my side answered it. She told me: Weining said that the two sorry suckers that we\'d scammed had already paid for the rooms and left, the other prostitute had been taken away by the cops that were waiting at the main entrance. Yahong rolled over and went back to sleep. I couldn\'t fall asleep again, [so I just] smoked one cigarette after another. Sunlight was spilling at an angle through the thick curtains, and I walked quietly to the window, looking out through the crack in the curtains onto the flow of people and traffic outside, the sun shining brightly on the street, and pulled the curtains firmly shut. I don\'t like the early morning, seeing people in their hundreds and thousands rush to work, to school, makes me feel like an isolated shadow. I don\'t have anything to do during the day, and no one\'s waiting for me, my friends are all asleep. I smoked another five cigarettes, looked at the calendar, then put on my clothes, washed my face and brushed my teeth, and walked out of the apartment where I was staying. I walked past the Peugot parked at the corner, and walked straight to the bust stop. Even though rush hour was already over, the bus was still pretty packed. One guy who was sitting down got off the bus, and I was just about to sit [in his place], when I saw a young woman carrying a small child, and called her to sit.\r\n\r\n\"Thank you.\" After the young woman sat down, she cutely said to the kid: \"Thank the uncle.\"　\r\n\r\n\"Thank you uncle.\"\r\n\r\nI smiled at the kid, and he fished a piece of chocolate wrapped in colored paper out of his pocket, ripped open the packet and was about to stuff it into his mouth, saw me watching him, and held up the chocolate to me.\r\n\r\n\"No thanks, uncle doesn\'t want it.\" \r\n\r\n\"Have it, it\'s nothing.\" \r\n\r\n\"No, really, uncle\'s got to get off.\" \r\n\r\nI pushed my way off the bus, 　我挤下车，沿街走了一站，到单位医务室要了张“三联单”，打电话约了一肝不太好的朗友去医院替我抽了一管血。又在商业区的两个储蓄所把我昨晚挣的那笔钱分别用我去世父母的名字存了进去，然后去邮局给一个交钱即可注册入学，不须考试的函授大学汇了报名款和一年的学费。我报的专业是法律。办完这些事，我到一家人不太多的豪华餐厅吃午饭。This restaurant 这家餐厅菜做的十分讲究，我看着漂亮的图案喝了不少红酒，又吃了几个浇了巧克力汁的冰淇淋，下午才走出餐厅，在报亭买当天所有的日报和晚报，坐在电报局等长途电话的排椅上细细测览。I called the house around dusk, Fangfang picked up. We talked for a while, he\'d just been playing Go with Weining, Weining had come over earlier, they\'d been playing Go all day，他四胜三和五负，tonight they were planning to get some people together for a Majiang game. I told him I\'d be back that night, and hung up the phone.\r\n\r\n　　暮春时节，树木草地都绿遍了，花丛怒放。我走进一个举办晚间音乐会的公园，在音乐亭前等退票。一个老人送了我一张，我又转送给一对只有一张票的青年伴侣，坚决不要他们加倍的票款。在高大、油漆剥落的廊柱间，我看到一美丽少女坐以汉白玉石台上看书，悬在空中的两条长腿互相勾着脚，一翘一翘。She was holding a book in one hand, and was picking sunflower seeds out of the bag at her side with the other, the shells she\'d spit out had amassed into a pile, she was humming a song, turning a page now and then, leisurely and unrestrained, delicate and lovely. I quietly walked up behind her, and stood on tiptoe to look at the book that had fascinated her so. It was a profound works of literary theory, I skimmed it for bit, [found it dull and insipid], and I was just about to turn around and leave, when I suddenly heard the girl say:\r\n\r\n\"You don\'t understand it, huh?\" she turned up her face, looking at me with a smile. \r\n\r\nMy face turned red, and I felt at a loss that I [was still capable of] getting embarrassed. After a moment, I settled down, and said: \"　\r\n我脸红了，感到不知所措，因为我还会脸红。片刻，我镇静下来，说：“就是学生，这会儿在公司看书也有点装模作样。”\r\n\r\n\"I\'ve been sitting here all afternoon, look here you, at how much I\'ve read.\"\r\n\r\nShe quickly flipped through all the pages she\'d read, and I pinched that thick stack, and thinking back on the contents, asked doubtfully, \"You read that quickly?\" \r\n\r\n\"I don\'t understand it either, but I read it quickly.\" \r\n\r\nWe both smiled. \"I\'m done reading.\" The girl put the book to one side. \"You have somewhere to be?\" she asked me. \r\n\r\n\"No,\" I said. \"No appointments.\" \r\n\r\n\"[Shall we] chat [for a bit]?\"\r\n\r\n\"Let\'s chat.\" \r\n\r\nI sat down next to her, and she pushed the bag of sunflower seeds over to me. I didn\'t really know how to crack the sunflower seeds [with my teeth], and [when I tried] spittle went everywhere.\r\n\r\n\"Watch me.\" The girl demonstrated with a single sunflower seed, her pure white teeth flashing, and I subconsciously closed my mouth over my own tobacco smoke-yellowed teeth. But she didn\'t notice, swinging her legs in all directions. \"What school are you from?\" I noticed there was a school emblem on her inside sweater. Biting down on a sunflower seed, the girl looked at me and smiled. \r\n\r\n\"That\'s called \'cottoning up\',\" she said. \"Next you\'ll probably say whatever school you\'re from, and that our schools are so close to each other, maybe we can run into each other every day...\" \r\n\r\n\"You think I look like a student?\" I said. \"I\'m a criminal freed from the work camps, I extort people for a living.\"\r\n\r\n\"I don\'t care what you are,\" the girl said, smiling and looking at her toes, as if there was something amusing there. \"Whatever you are is nothing to me.\" \r\n\r\nI didn\'t speak for a while, and the girl didn\'t speak either, just looked on, pleased, as the evening light disappeared on the horizon and the sky quickly dimmed, but didn\'t lose its magnificent clouds: \"That cloud looks like Marx, that one looks like a pirate, doesn\'t it, don\'t you think so?\" \r\n\r\n\"How old are you?\" the girl turned her head to look at me, carefully looking me over. \"You, doesn\'t look like you\'ve been with that many women.\" \r\n\r\n\"Nope,\" I said, lying to her without a change in expression or a thump of the heart. \r\n\r\n\"I could tell right away, little boy! As I was reading my book just now, I saw you standing far away, wanting to talk to me but also timid, afraid I\'d curse you, huh?\"　\r\n\r\n\"[Actually,] I\'ve slept with over 100 women.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl let loose a laugh, unbridled and amused. \r\n\r\n\"You laugh,\" I said, \"like a dumb chick.\"　　\r\n\r\nShe suddenly stopped laughing, angrily throwing me a scornful glance, \"I didn\'t criticize you, don\'t criticize me. Truthfully speaking, I\'ve already been with someone for a year.\" The girl smiled again, quite satisfied with herself. \r\n\r\n\"Is it one of your idiot classmates?\" 　\r\n\r\n\"He\'s not an idiot, he\'s a cadre in the student union.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Then he\'s stupid beyond measure.\"　\r\n\r\n\"Huh, a little baby like you who\'s only been kissed by his parents doesn\'t deserve to speak of him.\"　\r\n\r\n\"If I was him, I\'d already have had the courage to bed you,\" I said, smiling lightly. \"Has he dared?\"　　\r\n\r\nAlthough the sky was already gloomy, I perceived the girl\'s face reddening, \"He respects me.\" \r\n\r\nI tittered, \"Oh, respect, don\'t even, no need for us to talk about that. And no need for you to play dumb.\"  \r\n\r\nThe girl sat there vexed for a while saying nothing. I started whistling, started sucking on a cigarette, passed her the cigarette pack, she shook her head. “”又完了不是“我取笑她，”敢在光天化日之下看书，不会抽烟，时髦半截。“”你别来劲。“女孩不服地说，”给我一支！“\r\n\r\nI passed her the cigarette that was in my mouth, she took a puff, and <em>heng</em>, blew it all out. I stretched an arm around her shoulder, she trembled a second, but didn\'t refuse. I pulled her near to me, she looked at me from close up, pushed my arm off, and with a forced smile said: \r\n\r\n\"I might believe a little that you\'ve slept with over 100 women.\" \r\n\r\n\"What are you doing only \'believing a little\', you ought to just believe. You want to know what they call me? The Old Pistol.\"　\r\n\r\nI heard her grabbing up all of her books, and she said with a nasty smile, \"Well, <em>I</em> call you scared.\" \r\n\r\n\"Well, I\'m not.\"\r\n\r\nThe girl stood up: \"I should probably go.\"\r\n\r\n\"Do you dare tell me your name, or where you live?\"　\r\n\r\nThe girl jumped off the platform, her bright, crystal eyes flashed in the darkness, and she said smiling, \"Ah ha! I thought maybe you weren\'t like everyone else, [talking shit] half the day, but then sinking into mediocrity.\"　　\r\n\r\n\"Fine, I\'m mediocre. Go. Hey,\" I called her to stop, \"If we meet again, let\'s consider ourselves friends.\"\r\n\r\n\"Sure, friends,\" she said, and smiling, left.　\r\n\r\nI 　　我笑眯眯地在石台上坐了一会儿，也跳下石台走了。\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Novels: Start reading Chinese gangster novel 《一半是火焰，一半是海水》by Wang Shuo', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '2453-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-05-31 14:14:51', '2020-05-31 18:14:51', '', 2453, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/31/2453-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1382, 1, '2013-05-27 14:21:51', '2013-05-27 18:21:51', '<h3>The Basics</h3>\r\nMy name is: <strong>Kendra</strong>\r\nI live in: <strong>Beijing</strong>\r\nAge: <strong>30</strong> \r\nFirst year in China: <strong>2002</strong>\r\nWhat this site is for: This site doesn\'t exist to teach you Chinese from scratch - there are plenty of sites and programs that do that. But this collection might help you keep your skills fresh, practice recognizing sentence structure, or pick up the occasional new vocabulary word.\r\n\r\n<h3>The Story</h3>\r\nAfter spending a few years China studying Mandarin and working, I took a several-year hiatus and returned to my native country. It was alarming how quickly my language skills began disintegrating. I searched online for Chinese reading materials, and though I found plenty of dictionaries and flash card sources, I had a very difficult time finding something that was at an appropriate reading level, was different than the typical textbook-y stuff available online, was presented in a way that was easy to read, and that I was sure I could get through. I ended up spending more time looking for something that was suitable than actually doing any reading.\r\n\r\nAs someone who organizes her thoughts into a series of domain names, it was inevitable I\'d eventually start a website about it, and here you are. I post whenever I get a chance.\r\n\r\n<h4>About the Translations</h4>\r\nMost (but not all) of the translations on this site are done by me, and I don\'t post anything unless I\'ve checked it several times, but that doesn\'t mean I haven\'t missed something. Do feel free to comment if you see anything that ought to have a better translation - it won\'t be taken amiss. \r\n\r\nIt\'s often quite difficult to do a word-for-word translation, as Chinese words that fit well into a particular Chinese sentence read very awkwardly after they\'ve been translated - sometimes a direct translation just sounds off. This is more and more true the higher your reading level.  \r\n\r\nI\'ll often change the order of wording in a sentence so that it makes sense or reads well in English. You\'ll also notice that I often remove commas, split long Chinese sentences into two or more English sentences, or rearrange the order of clauses, which is necessary to accommodate Chinese grammar.  The translation is meant as a guidepost to help point you in the right direction and keep you grounded in the text when needed - it\'s up to you to dissect sentence structure.\r\n<h4>How I Classify Reading Levels</h4>\r\nUltimately, my classifications are pretty arbitrary, but I\'ll try to lay out some of my basic reasoning here.\r\n\r\n<strong>Beginner</strong> - Very very few of these texts are actually beginner tests; at least I haven\'t been able to find any real beginner stuff yet (I\'m still looking for good sources of real beginner texts that aren\'t boring dialogs - if you know of any, please write!). This is because for any story, article or essay to really take shape, it usually must involve some intermediate grammar or intermediate vocabulary. This is why most truly beginner textbooks stick to dialogs as opposed to actual articles. In order to do any real reading, you\'ve got to at least know the basics of sentence structure. I will classify something as beginner if at least a couple of the following criteria are met:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>The sentence structure is easy throughout</li>\r\n	<li>It contains mostly simpler words that are in the dictionary</li>\r\n	<li>There is no modern slang</li>\r\n	<li>The subject matter is basic / or for children</li>\r\n	<li>It\'s not too long</li>\r\n	<li>It contains few or no idioms</li>\r\n<li>It contains intermediate vocabulary but the story structure is very repetitive, so you can pick up the thread more easily as you go along.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n\r\n<strong>Intermediate</strong> - I classify something as intermediate if:\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>It\'s a longer piece that you have to hold a narrative thread through.</li>\r\n<li>The language is intermediate or upper-intermediate.</li>\r\n<li>There are some light idioms.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n\r\n<strong>Advanced</strong> - Most of what\'s out there online is advanced reading. That\'s why as of now, there are more advanced texts on here than anything else. I classify something as advanced if:\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>It contains many specialized or technical words (technology, health, beauty, geography, etc.)</li>\r\n<li>It contains high-level structures, like newspaper-y or literary writing styles.</li>\r\n<li>It contains any archaic words.</li>\r\n<li>The sentence structure is very complicated.</li>\r\n<li>It contains a lot of modern slang.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n\r\nEnjoy, and good luck with your studies.', 'About', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '2-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-27 14:21:51', '2013-05-27 18:21:51', '', 2, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/27/2-revision-24/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1385, 1, '2013-06-03 10:54:13', '2013-06-03 14:54:13', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nCouple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \r\n\r\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (east and west / left and right / in all directions) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\r\n\r\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \r\n\r\nOriginal is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>爸爸请您别抽烟了</h4>\r\n爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。\r\n\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。\r\n\r\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。\r\n\r\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I see you you\'re surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \r\n\r\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Essay: Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke!', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'papa-please-dont-smoke', '', '', '2020-04-28 20:05:25', '2020-04-29 00:05:25', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1385', 0, 'post', '', 17),
(1746, 1, '2020-04-20 04:09:27', '2020-04-20 08:09:27', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nCouple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \r\n\r\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (east and west / left and right / in all directions) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\r\n\r\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \r\n\r\nOriginal is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>爸爸请您别抽烟了</h4>\r\n爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。\r\n\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。\r\n\r\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。\r\n\r\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I see you you\'re surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \r\n\r\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke!', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 04:09:27', '2020-04-20 08:09:27', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1385-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1386, 1, '2013-05-28 02:39:53', '2013-05-28 06:39:53', '[two_third]\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. \n\nCouple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \n\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (thing, stuff) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\n\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \n\nThe Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \n\n这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n荷兰 - [pinyin]he2 lan2[/pinyin] - Holland\n瓷器 - [pinyin]ci2 qi4[/pinyin] - Porcelain\n包装纸 - [pinyin]bao1 zhuang1 zhi3[/pinyin] - Wrapping paper\n肖像 - [pinyin]xiao4 xiang4[/pinyin] - Portrait\n姿态 - [pinyin]zi1 tai4[/pinyin] - Pose\n各异 - [pinyin]ge4 yi4[/pinyin] - All different\n版画 - [pinyin]ban3 hua4[/pinyin] - woodblock painting\n震撼 - [pinyin]zhen4 han4[/pinyin] - To shock, mind-blowing\n以至于 - [pinyin]yi3 zhi4 yu2[/pinyin] - To the extent that...\n色情 - [pinyin]se4 qing2[/pinyin] - Erotic\n梵高 - [pinyin]fan4 gao1[/pinyin] - Van Gogh\n印象派 - [pinyin]yin4 xiang4 pai4[/pinyin] - Impressionism\n\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我悄悄地把您的烟盒偷走，又偷偷地扔进垃圾桶里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还狠狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不理你。\n\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的肺已被尼古丁熏得千疮百孔。\n\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在吐痰。我担心您会离我们而去。那时丢下我们，那该怎么办呀。\n\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\n\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \n\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \n\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke! ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-28 02:39:53', '2013-05-28 06:39:53', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/28/1385-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1387, 1, '2013-05-28 03:43:20', '2013-05-28 07:43:20', '[two_third]\r\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. \r\n\r\nCouple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \r\n\r\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (thing, stuff) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\r\n\r\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \r\n\r\n这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n荷兰 - [pinyin]he2 lan2[/pinyin] - Holland\r\n瓷器 - [pinyin]ci2 qi4[/pinyin] - Porcelain\r\n包装纸 - [pinyin]bao1 zhuang1 zhi3[/pinyin] - Wrapping paper\r\n肖像 - [pinyin]xiao4 xiang4[/pinyin] - Portrait\r\n姿态 - [pinyin]zi1 tai4[/pinyin] - Pose\r\n各异 - [pinyin]ge4 yi4[/pinyin] - All different\r\n版画 - [pinyin]ban3 hua4[/pinyin] - woodblock painting\r\n震撼 - [pinyin]zhen4 han4[/pinyin] - To shock, mind-blowing\r\n以至于 - [pinyin]yi3 zhi4 yu2[/pinyin] - To the extent that...\r\n色情 - [pinyin]se4 qing2[/pinyin] - Erotic\r\n梵高 - [pinyin]fan4 gao1[/pinyin] - Van Gogh\r\n印象派 - [pinyin]yin4 xiang4 pai4[/pinyin] - Impressionism\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我悄悄地把您的烟盒偷走，又偷偷地扔进垃圾桶里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还狠狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不理你。\r\n\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的肺已被尼古丁熏得千疮百孔。\r\n\r\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在吐痰。我担心您会离我们而去。那时丢下我们，那该怎么办呀。\r\n\r\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \r\n\r\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke! ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-28 03:43:20', '2013-05-28 07:43:20', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/28/1385-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1388, 1, '2013-05-28 10:54:40', '2013-05-28 14:54:40', '', 'Learn to Read Mandarin Chinese: Simplified Character Reading Comprehension', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130603-inline', '', '', '2013-05-28 10:54:40', '2013-05-28 14:54:40', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1389, 1, '2013-05-28 10:54:42', '2013-05-28 14:54:42', '', 'Learn to Read Mandarin Chinese: Simplified Character Reading Comprehension', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130603', '', '', '2013-05-28 10:54:42', '2013-05-28 14:54:42', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
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(1390, 1, '2013-05-28 11:02:17', '2013-05-28 15:02:17', '[two_third]\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->\n\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Reading comprehension exercises: Essays and reading passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Couple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \n\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (thing, stuff) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\n\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \n\nThe Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \n\n这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n抽烟 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes\n悄悄 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly\n偷走 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can\n狠 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce\n莫大 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in \'a large amount\' rather than \'good\')\n理 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to\n肺 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs\n尼古丁 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine\n千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses\n吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a lookie\n丢下 - [pinyin]yin4 xiang4 pai4[/pinyin] - Impressionism\n\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。\n\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。\n\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。\n\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\n\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \n\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \n\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke! ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-28 11:02:17', '2013-05-28 15:02:17', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/28/1385-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1391, 1, '2013-05-28 11:02:42', '2013-05-28 15:02:42', '[two_third]\r\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Reading comprehension exercises: Essays and reading passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Couple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \r\n\r\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (thing, stuff) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\r\n\r\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \r\n\r\n这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n抽烟 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes\r\n悄悄 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly\r\n偷走 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)\r\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can\r\n狠 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce\r\n莫大 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in \'a large amount\' rather than \'good\')\r\n理 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to\r\n肺 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs\r\n尼古丁 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine\r\n千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses\r\n吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a loogie\r\n丢下 - [pinyin]diu1 xia4[/pinyin] - to abandon\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。\r\n\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。\r\n\r\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。\r\n\r\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \r\n\r\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke! ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-28 11:02:42', '2013-05-28 15:02:42', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/28/1385-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1393, 1, '2013-06-11 00:30:10', '2013-06-11 04:30:10', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThough the conclusion of this essay might fall a bit flat for all of us who are very used to having a telephone, this is an interesting glimpse into what a monumental rite of passage it is for children in rural areas to have one or use one for the first time. <!--more--> \r\n\r\nA confusing word (and an important and often-repeated one) in this text might be 安. We know this word most commonly means \"peace\". But the author keeps saying 安电话. This does not, contrary to appearances, mean \"peace phone\". In this case, 安 is the shorter version of 安装 [pinyin]an1 zhuang1[/pinyin], meaning \"to install\". So, 安电话 means \"to install a phone\".\r\n\r\nThere are also a few proper names in here, which we\'ll point out early: 燃燃 is the author\'s name, when the author is addressed by a loved one (typically who is older than them).  李燃 is the author\'s actual full name. You can see from this that family members and close friends will sometimes take a Chinese person\'s given name (which as we know, comes last, and in this case is 燃), and double it as a form of endearment. So 李燃 becomes 燃燃 to close friends and family. This isn\'t always the case but you\'ll see it a lot. It is inappropriate to address a Chinese person this way unless you know them very well, and you should never address an elder this way. It\'s considered very cutesy. Another proper name is 王钰涵 [pinyin]wang2 yu4 han2[/pinyin], the author\'s best friend mentioned in passing. \r\n\r\nIn several instances, the author also mentions the \"滋味\" of using a phone. 滋味 literally means \"flavor\" or \"taste\" (noun). In English, we\'d probably substitute the word \"feeling\". \r\n\r\nAnd a final grammar note on the phrase: 像是没见过电话似的. Pay attention to the 像 - it\'s attached to the 似的 at the end. Together, wrapped around a phrase, these characters mean \"as if...\" or \"like...\". This phrase means \"... as if I had never seen a phone before\". \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.51edu.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/yinianji/3302494.html\">Here\'s the original text of 第一次打电话</a>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>第一次打电话</h4>\r\n同学们，我的新家<strong>安</strong>电话的时侯还是几年前，可现在想起来可真是<strong>记忆犹新</strong>呀！不信？那我就讲给你听听，我可要出点丑了！\r\n\r\n“燃燃，你快点来呀，咱们家安电话了！”\r\n\r\n啊？什么？安了？其实，我家以前也安过电话，不过那个时侯安电话时，我还是个婴儿，根本不知道刚安电话后打电话的滋味，我早就想尝一尝啦！\r\n\r\n我<strong>迫不及待</strong>的向家门跑去。我进门时爸爸对我说：“燃燃，你不是说你想尝一尝刚安电话的时候打电话的滋味吗？快点来呀！”\r\n\r\n我拿起电话，像是没见过电话似的，盯着电话看了老半天，<strong>仔细</strong><strong>打量</strong>着这部电话来：绿色的<strong>机身</strong>，0——9的电话号码<strong>整齐</strong>的排列着……\r\n\r\n“还<strong>愣</strong>着干嘛？快打呀！”爸爸<strong>催</strong>我。\r\n\r\n我想：这第一次打该打给谁呢？打给我的好朋友王钰涵，让她分享我打电话的喜悦？打给亲朋好友让他们来我家玩？不，我要打给老师。“8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8”爸爸告诉我老师的电话。\r\n\r\n“8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5”通了。“老师，我是李燃，我家安了电话，我以后……”\r\n\r\n“小朋友，你打错了，我不是你老师。”\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nFellow students, [though] it was several years ago when our new home installed a telephone, but when I think of it now it\'s still fresh in my memory! Don\'t believe me? Then I\'ll give you a listen [to my story], and my shame will be apparent! \r\n\r\n\"Ranran, come quickly, we\'ve installed a telephone!\" \r\n\r\nOh? What? Installed one? Actually, we had a phone before, but when we had the phone installed, I was still an infant, and I didn\'t know the feeling of making a call after the phone had been installed, but I\'d always wanted to try! \r\n\r\nI impatiently ran back towards the door of the house. When I entered the door, dad said to me \"Ranran, didn\'t you say you wanted to try the experience [lit: flavor] of using the phone when it had been installed? Come quick!\" \r\n\r\nI picked up the phone, as if I\'d never seen a phone before, and stared at the phone for [what seemed like] half a day, carefully sizing it up: it had a green casing, and the numbers 0-9 were arrayed in neat rows. \r\n\r\n\"What are you doing just standing there? Quick, make a call!\" papa urged me. \r\n\r\nI thought: who should my first telephone call be to?  Should I call my good friend Wang Yu Han, and let her share the joy of a phone call? Call close friends and family and tell them to come over to my house and play? No, I want to call my teacher. \"8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8\", dad told me teachers phone number. [The call to] \"8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5\" went through. \r\n\r\n\"Teacher, this is Li Ran, we just installed a telephone, after this I...\" \r\n\r\n\"Kid, you dialed the wrong number, I\'m not your teacher.\" \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Essay: My First Telephone Call', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'essay-my-first-telephone-call', '', '', '2020-04-20 07:40:31', '2020-04-20 11:40:31', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1393', 0, 'post', '', 24),
(1745, 1, '2020-04-20 04:09:17', '2020-04-20 08:09:17', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThough the conclusion of this essay might fall a bit flat for all of us who are very used to having a telephone, this is an interesting glimpse into what a monumental rite of passage it is for children in rural areas to have one or use one for the first time. <!--more--> \r\n\r\nA confusing word (and an important and often-repeated one) in this text might be 安. We know this word most commonly means \"peace\". But the author keeps saying 安电话. This does not, contrary to appearances, mean \"peace phone\". In this case, 安 is the shorter version of 安装 [pinyin]an1 zhuang1[/pinyin], meaning \"to install\". So, 安电话 means \"to install a phone\".\r\n\r\nThere are also a few proper names in here, which we\'ll point out early: 燃燃 is the author\'s name, when the author is addressed by a loved one (typically who is older than them).  李燃 is the author\'s actual full name. You can see from this that family members and close friends will sometimes take a Chinese person\'s given name (which as we know, comes last, and in this case is 燃), and double it as a form of endearment. So 李燃 becomes 燃燃 to close friends and family. This isn\'t always the case but you\'ll see it a lot. It is inappropriate to address a Chinese person this way unless you know them very well, and you should never address an elder this way. It\'s considered very cutesy. Another proper name is 王钰涵 [pinyin]wang2 yu4 han2[/pinyin], the author\'s best friend mentioned in passing. \r\n\r\nIn several instances, the author also mentions the \"滋味\" of using a phone. 滋味 literally means \"flavor\" or \"taste\" (noun). In English, we\'d probably substitute the word \"feeling\". \r\n\r\nAnd a final grammar note on the phrase: 像是没见过电话似的. Pay attention to the 像 - it\'s attached to the 似的 at the end. Together, wrapped around a phrase, these characters mean \"as if...\" or \"like...\". This phrase means \"... as if I had never seen a phone before\". \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.51edu.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/yinianji/3302494.html\">Here\'s the original text of 第一次打电话</a>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>第一次打电话</h4>\r\n同学们，我的新家<strong>安</strong>电话的时侯还是几年前，可现在想起来可真是<strong>记忆犹新</strong>呀！不信？那我就讲给你听听，我可要出点丑了！\r\n\r\n“燃燃，你快点来呀，咱们家安电话了！”\r\n\r\n啊？什么？安了？其实，我家以前也安过电话，不过那个时侯安电话时，我还是个婴儿，根本不知道刚安电话后打电话的滋味，我早就想尝一尝啦！\r\n\r\n我<strong>迫不及待</strong>的向家门跑去。我进门时爸爸对我说：“燃燃，你不是说你想尝一尝刚安电话的时候打电话的滋味吗？快点来呀！”\r\n\r\n我拿起电话，像是没见过电话似的，盯着电话看了老半天，<strong>仔细</strong><strong>打量</strong>着这部电话来：绿色的<strong>机身</strong>，0——9的电话号码<strong>整齐</strong>的排列着……\r\n\r\n“还<strong>愣</strong>着干嘛？快打呀！”爸爸<strong>催</strong>我。\r\n\r\n我想：这第一次打该打给谁呢？打给我的好朋友王钰涵，让她分享我打电话的喜悦？打给亲朋好友让他们来我家玩？不，我要打给老师。“8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8”爸爸告诉我老师的电话。\r\n\r\n“8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5”通了。“老师，我是李燃，我家安了电话，我以后……”\r\n\r\n“小朋友，你打错了，我不是你老师。”\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nFellow students, [though] it was several years ago when our new home installed a telephone, but when I think of it now it\'s still fresh in my memory! Don\'t believe me? Then I\'ll give you a listen [to my story], and my shame will be apparent! \r\n\r\n\"Ranran, come quickly, we\'ve installed a telephone!\" \r\n\r\nOh? What? Installed one? Actually, we had a phone before, but when we had the phone installed, I was still an infant, and I didn\'t know the feeling of making a call after the phone had been installed, but I\'d always wanted to try! \r\n\r\nI impatiently ran back towards the door of the house. When I entered the door, dad said to me \"Ranran, didn\'t you say you wanted to try the experience [lit: flavor] of using the phone when it had been installed? Come quick!\" \r\n\r\nI picked up the phone, as if I\'d never seen a phone before, and stared at the phone for [what seemed like] half a day, carefully sizing it up: it had a green casing, and the numbers 0-9 were arrayed in neat rows. \r\n\r\n\"What are you doing just standing there? Quick, make a call!\" papa urged me. \r\n\r\nI thought: who should my first telephone call be to?  Should I call my good friend Wang Yu Han, and let her share the joy of a phone call? Call close friends and family and tell them to come over to my house and play? No, I want to call my teacher. \"8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8\", dad told me teachers phone number. [The call to] \"8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5\" went through. \r\n\r\n\"Teacher, this is Li Ran, we just installed a telephone, after this I...\" \r\n\r\n\"Kid, you dialed the wrong number, I\'m not your teacher.\" \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Essay: My First Telephone Call', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1393-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 04:09:17', '2020-04-20 08:09:17', '', 1393, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1393-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1394, 1, '2013-06-11 00:02:41', '2013-06-11 04:02:41', '[two_third]\nThough the conclusion of this first-grade essay might fall a bit flat for all of us who are very used to having a telephone, this is an interesting look into of . \n\nA confusing word (and an important and often-repeated one) in this text might be 安. We know this word most commonly means \"peace\". But the author keeps saying 安电话. This does not, contrary to appearances, mean \"peace phone\". In this text, we learn that 安 is the shorter version of 安装 [pinyin]an1 zhuang1[/pinyin], meaning \"to install\". So, 安电话 means \"to install a phone\".\n\nThere are also a few names in here, which we\'ll point out early: 燃燃 is the author\'s name, when the author is addressed by a loved one (typically who is older than them).  李燃 is the author\'s actual full name. You can see from this that family members and close friends will sometimes take a Chinese person\'s given name (which as we know, comes last, and in this case is 燃), and double it as a form of endearment. So 李燃 becomes 燃燃 to close friends and family. This isn\'t always the case but you\'ll see it a lot. It is inappropriate to address a Chinese person this way unless you know them very well, and you should never address an elder this way. It\'s considered very cutesy.\n\n滋味\n\n像是没见过电话似的\n\n<a href=\"http://www.51edu.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/yinianji/3302494.html\">Here\'s the original text. </a>\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n安 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes\n记忆犹新 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly\n迫不及待 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can\n狠 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce\n莫大 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in \'a large amount\' rather than \'good\')\n理 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to\n肺 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs\n尼古丁 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine\n千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses\n吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a loogie\n丢下 - [pinyin]diu1 xia4[/pinyin] - to abandon\n\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n同学们，我的新家<strong>安</strong>电话的时侯还是几年前，可现在想起来可真是<strong>记忆犹新</strong>呀！不信？那我就讲给你听听，我可要出点丑了！\n\n“燃燃，你快点来呀，咱们家安电话了！”啊？什么？安了？其实，我家以前也安过电话，不过那个时侯安电话时，我还是个婴儿，根本不知道刚安电话后打电话的滋味，我早就想尝一尝啦！（其实，我以前不敢动电话）我<strong>迫不及待</strong>的向家门跑去。我进门时爸爸对我说：“燃燃，你不是说你想尝一尝刚安电话的时候打电话的滋味吗？快点来呀！”我拿起电话，像是没见过电话似的，盯着电话看了老半天，仔细打量着这部电话来：绿色的机身，0——9的电话号码整齐的排列着……“还愣着干嘛？快打呀！”爸爸催我。我想：这第一次打该打给谁呢？打给我的好朋友王钰涵，让她分享我打电话的喜悦？打给亲朋好友让他们来我家玩？不，我要打给老师。“8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8”爸爸告诉我老师的电话。“8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5”通了。“老师，我是李燃，我家安了电话，我以后……”“小朋友，你打错了，我不是你老师。”“啊？”\n\n我的心跳得更厉害了。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nFellow students, [though] it was several years ago when our new home installed a telephone, but when I think of it now it\'s still fresh in my memory! Don\'t believe me? Then I\'ll give you a listen [to my story], and my shame will be apparent! \n\n\"Ranran, come quickly, we\'ve installed a telephone!\" Oh? What? Installed one? Actually we had a phone before, but when we had the phone installed, I was still an infant, and I didn\'t know the feeling of making a call after the phone had been installed, but I\'d always wanted a taste! (actually, before I didn\'t dare touch the phone). I impatiently ran back towards the door of the house. When I entered the door, dad said to me \"Ranran, didn\'t you say you wanted to taste the experience [lit: flavor] of using the phone when it had been installed? Come quick!\" I picked up the phone, as if I\'d never seen a phone before, ？快点来呀！”我拿起电话，像是没见过电话似的，盯着电话看了老半天，仔细打量着这部电话来：绿色的机身，0——9的电话号码整齐的排列着……“还愣着干嘛？快打呀！”爸爸催我。我想：这第一次打该打给谁呢？打给我的好朋友王钰涵，让她分享我打电话的喜悦？打给亲朋好友让他们来我家玩？不，我要打给老师。“8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8”爸爸告诉我老师的电话。“8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5”通了。“老师，我是李燃，我家安了电话，我以后……”“小朋友，你打错了，我不是你老师。”“啊？”\n\n我的心跳得更厉害了。\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Essay: My First Telephone Call', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1393-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-11 00:02:41', '2013-06-11 04:02:41', '', 1393, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/11/1393-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1395, 1, '2013-06-11 00:13:28', '2013-06-11 04:13:28', '[two_third]\nThough the conclusion of this first-grade essay might fall a bit flat for all of us who are very used to having a telephone, this is an interesting look into of . \n\nA confusing word (and an important and often-repeated one) in this text might be 安. We know this word most commonly means \"peace\". But the author keeps saying 安电话. This does not, contrary to appearances, mean \"peace phone\". In this text, we learn that 安 is the shorter version of 安装 [pinyin]an1 zhuang1[/pinyin], meaning \"to install\". So, 安电话 means \"to install a phone\".\n\nThere are also a few names in here, which we\'ll point out early: 燃燃 is the author\'s name, when the author is addressed by a loved one (typically who is older than them).  李燃 is the author\'s actual full name. You can see from this that family members and close friends will sometimes take a Chinese person\'s given name (which as we know, comes last, and in this case is 燃), and double it as a form of endearment. So 李燃 becomes 燃燃 to close friends and family. This isn\'t always the case but you\'ll see it a lot. It is inappropriate to address a Chinese person this way unless you know them very well, and you should never address an elder this way. It\'s considered very cutesy. Another proper name is 王钰涵 [pinyin]wang2 yu4 han2[/pinyin], the author\'s best friend mentioned in passing. \n\n滋味\n\n像是没见过电话似的\n\n<a href=\"http://www.51edu.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/yinianji/3302494.html\">Here\'s the original text. </a>\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n安 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes\n记忆犹新 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly\n迫不及待 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)\n仔细 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can\n打量 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce\n机身 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in \'a large amount\' rather than \'good\')\n整齐 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to\n愣 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs\n催 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine\n千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses\n吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a loogie\n丢下 - [pinyin]diu1 xia4[/pinyin] - to abandon\n\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n同学们，我的新家<strong>安</strong>电话的时侯还是几年前，可现在想起来可真是<strong>记忆犹新</strong>呀！不信？那我就讲给你听听，我可要出点丑了！\n\n“燃燃，你快点来呀，咱们家安电话了！”啊？什么？安了？其实，我家以前也安过电话，不过那个时侯安电话时，我还是个婴儿，根本不知道刚安电话后打电话的滋味，我早就想尝一尝啦！我<strong>迫不及待</strong>的向家门跑去。我进门时爸爸对我说：“燃燃，你不是说你想尝一尝刚安电话的时候打电话的滋味吗？快点来呀！”我拿起电话，像是没见过电话似的，盯着电话看了老半天，<strong>仔细</strong><strong>打量</strong>着这部电话来：绿色的<strong>机身</strong>，0——9的电话号码<strong>整齐</strong>的排列着……“还<strong>愣</strong>着干嘛？快打呀！”爸爸<strong>催</strong>我。我想：这第一次打该打给谁呢？打给我的好朋友王钰涵，让她分享我打电话的喜悦？打给亲朋好友让他们来我家玩？不，我要打给老师。“8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8”爸爸告诉我老师的电话。“8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5”通了。“老师，我是李燃，我家安了电话，我以后……”“小朋友，你打错了，我不是你老师。”“啊？”\n\n我的心跳得更厉害了。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nFellow students, [though] it was several years ago when our new home installed a telephone, but when I think of it now it\'s still fresh in my memory! Don\'t believe me? Then I\'ll give you a listen [to my story], and my shame will be apparent! \n\n\"Ranran, come quickly, we\'ve installed a telephone!\" Oh? What? Installed one? Actually we had a phone before, but when we had the phone installed, I was still an infant, and I didn\'t know the feeling of making a call after the phone had been installed, but I\'d always wanted a taste! I impatiently ran back towards the door of the house. When I entered the door, dad said to me \"Ranran, didn\'t you say you wanted to taste the experience [lit: flavor] of using the phone when it had been installed? Come quick!\" I picked up the phone, as if I\'d never seen a phone before, and stared at the phone for [what seemed like] half a day, carefully sizing it up: it had a green casing, and the numbers 0-9 were arrayed in neat rows. \"What are you doing just standing there? Quick, make a call!\" papa urged me. I thought: who should my first telephone call be to?  Should I call my good friend Wang Yu Han, and let her share the joy of a phone call? Call close friends and family and tell them to come over to my house and play? No, I want to call my teacher. \"8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8\", dad told me teachers phone number. [The call to] \"8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5\" went through. \"Teacher, this is Li Ran, we just installed a telephone, after this I...\" \"Little friend, you dialed the wrong number, I\'m not your teacher.\" \"Huh?\" \n\nMy heart pounded.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Essay: My First Telephone Call', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1393-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-11 00:13:28', '2013-06-11 04:13:28', '', 1393, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/11/1393-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(1398, 1, '2013-06-11 00:24:25', '2013-06-11 04:24:25', '[two_third]\nThough the conclusion of this essay might fall a bit flat for all of us who are very used to having a telephone, this is an interesting glimpse into what a monumental rite of passage it is for children in rural areas to have one or use one for the first time. <!--more--> \n\nA confusing word (and an important and often-repeated one) in this text might be 安. We know this word most commonly means \"peace\". But the author keeps saying 安电话. This does not, contrary to appearances, mean \"peace phone\". In this case, 安 is the shorter version of 安装 [pinyin]an1 zhuang1[/pinyin], meaning \"to install\". So, 安电话 means \"to install a phone\".\n\nThere are also a few proper names in here, which we\'ll point out early: 燃燃 is the author\'s name, when the author is addressed by a loved one (typically who is older than them).  李燃 is the author\'s actual full name. You can see from this that family members and close friends will sometimes take a Chinese person\'s given name (which as we know, comes last, and in this case is 燃), and double it as a form of endearment. So 李燃 becomes 燃燃 to close friends and family. This isn\'t always the case but you\'ll see it a lot. It is inappropriate to address a Chinese person this way unless you know them very well, and you should never address an elder this way. It\'s considered very cutesy. Another proper name is 王钰涵 [pinyin]wang2 yu4 han2[/pinyin], the author\'s best friend mentioned in passing. \n\nIn several instances, the author also mentions the \"滋味\" of using a phone. 滋味 literally means \"flavor\" or \"taste\" (noun). In English, we\'d probably substitute the word \"feeling\". \n\nAnd a final grammar note on the phrase: 像是没见过电话似的. Pay attention to the 像 - it\'s attached to the 似的 at the end. Together, wrapped around a phrase, these characters mean \"as if...\" or \"like...\". This phrase means \"... as if I had never seen a phone before\". \n\n<a href=\"http://www.51edu.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/yinianji/3302494.html\">Here\'s the original text of 第一次打电话</a>\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n安 - [pinyin]an1[/pinyin] - short for 安装, to install\n记忆犹新 - [pinyin]ji4 yi4 you2 xin1[/pinyin] - Remember something as if it just happened\n迫不及待 - [pinyin]po4 bu4 ji2 dai4[/pinyin] - Impatient, itching to get on with sthg.\n仔细 - [pinyin]zi3 xi4[/pinyin] - Meticulously, carefully\n打量 - [pinyin]da3 liang5[/pinyin] - To size up\n机身 - [pinyin]ji1 shen1[/pinyin] - Body of a machine, casing\n整齐 - [pinyin]zheng3 qi2[/pinyin] - Neat and tidy\n愣 - [pinyin]leng4[/pinyin] - To stare blankly\n催 - [pinyin]cui1[/pinyin] - To urge\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n同学们，我的新家<strong>安</strong>电话的时侯还是几年前，可现在想起来可真是<strong>记忆犹新</strong>呀！不信？那我就讲给你听听，我可要出点丑了！\n\n“燃燃，你快点来呀，咱们家安电话了！”啊？什么？安了？其实，我家以前也安过电话，不过那个时侯安电话时，我还是个婴儿，根本不知道刚安电话后打电话的滋味，我早就想尝一尝啦！我<strong>迫不及待</strong>的向家门跑去。我进门时爸爸对我说：“燃燃，你不是说你想尝一尝刚安电话的时候打电话的滋味吗？快点来呀！”我拿起电话，像是没见过电话似的，盯着电话看了老半天，<strong>仔细</strong><strong>打量</strong>着这部电话来：绿色的<strong>机身</strong>，0——9的电话号码<strong>整齐</strong>的排列着……“还<strong>愣</strong>着干嘛？快打呀！”爸爸<strong>催</strong>我。我想：这第一次打该打给谁呢？打给我的好朋友王钰涵，让她分享我打电话的喜悦？打给亲朋好友让他们来我家玩？不，我要打给老师。“8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8”爸爸告诉我老师的电话。“8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5”通了。“老师，我是李燃，我家安了电话，我以后……”“小朋友，你打错了，我不是你老师。”“啊？”\n\n我的心跳得更厉害了。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nFellow students, [though] it was several years ago when our new home installed a telephone, but when I think of it now it\'s still fresh in my memory! Don\'t believe me? Then I\'ll give you a listen [to my story], and my shame will be apparent! \n\n\"Ranran, come quickly, we\'ve installed a telephone!\" Oh? What? Installed one? Actually we had a phone before, but when we had the phone installed, I was still an infant, and I didn\'t know the feeling of making a call after the phone had been installed, but I\'d always wanted a taste! I impatiently ran back towards the door of the house. When I entered the door, dad said to me \"Ranran, didn\'t you say you wanted to taste the experience [lit: flavor] of using the phone when it had been installed? Come quick!\" I picked up the phone, as if I\'d never seen a phone before, and stared at the phone for [what seemed like] half a day, carefully sizing it up: it had a green casing, and the numbers 0-9 were arrayed in neat rows. \"What are you doing just standing there? Quick, make a call!\" papa urged me. I thought: who should my first telephone call be to?  Should I call my good friend Wang Yu Han, and let her share the joy of a phone call? Call close friends and family and tell them to come over to my house and play? No, I want to call my teacher. \"8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8\", dad told me teachers phone number. [The call to] \"8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5\" went through. \"Teacher, this is Li Ran, we just installed a telephone, after this I...\" \"Little friend, you dialed the wrong number, I\'m not your teacher.\" \"Huh?\" \n\nMy heart pounded.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Essay: My First Telephone Call', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1393-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-11 00:24:25', '2013-06-11 04:24:25', '', 1393, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/11/1393-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1399, 1, '2013-06-11 00:30:10', '2013-06-11 04:30:10', '[two_third]\r\nThough the conclusion of this essay might fall a bit flat for all of us who are very used to having a telephone, this is an interesting glimpse into what a monumental rite of passage it is for children in rural areas to have one or use one for the first time. <!--more--> \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130611-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese Exercises: Study Chinese Characters Learning Exercises\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A confusing word (and an important and often-repeated one) in this text might be 安. We know this word most commonly means \"peace\". But the author keeps saying 安电话. This does not, contrary to appearances, mean \"peace phone\". In this case, 安 is the shorter version of 安装 [pinyin]an1 zhuang1[/pinyin], meaning \"to install\". So, 安电话 means \"to install a phone\".\r\n\r\nThere are also a few proper names in here, which we\'ll point out early: 燃燃 is the author\'s name, when the author is addressed by a loved one (typically who is older than them).  李燃 is the author\'s actual full name. You can see from this that family members and close friends will sometimes take a Chinese person\'s given name (which as we know, comes last, and in this case is 燃), and double it as a form of endearment. So 李燃 becomes 燃燃 to close friends and family. This isn\'t always the case but you\'ll see it a lot. It is inappropriate to address a Chinese person this way unless you know them very well, and you should never address an elder this way. It\'s considered very cutesy. Another proper name is 王钰涵 [pinyin]wang2 yu4 han2[/pinyin], the author\'s best friend mentioned in passing. \r\n\r\nIn several instances, the author also mentions the \"滋味\" of using a phone. 滋味 literally means \"flavor\" or \"taste\" (noun). In English, we\'d probably substitute the word \"feeling\". \r\n\r\nAnd a final grammar note on the phrase: 像是没见过电话似的. Pay attention to the 像 - it\'s attached to the 似的 at the end. Together, wrapped around a phrase, these characters mean \"as if...\" or \"like...\". This phrase means \"... as if I had never seen a phone before\". \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.51edu.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/yinianji/3302494.html\">Here\'s the original text of 第一次打电话</a>\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n安 - [pinyin]an1[/pinyin] - short for 安装, to install\r\n记忆犹新 - [pinyin]ji4 yi4 you2 xin1[/pinyin] - Remember something as if it just happened\r\n迫不及待 - [pinyin]po4 bu4 ji2 dai4[/pinyin] - Impatient, itching to get on with sthg.\r\n仔细 - [pinyin]zi3 xi4[/pinyin] - Meticulously, carefully\r\n打量 - [pinyin]da3 liang5[/pinyin] - To size up\r\n机身 - [pinyin]ji1 shen1[/pinyin] - Body of a machine, casing\r\n整齐 - [pinyin]zheng3 qi2[/pinyin] - Neat and tidy\r\n愣 - [pinyin]leng4[/pinyin] - To stare blankly\r\n催 - [pinyin]cui1[/pinyin] - To urge\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n同学们，我的新家<strong>安</strong>电话的时侯还是几年前，可现在想起来可真是<strong>记忆犹新</strong>呀！不信？那我就讲给你听听，我可要出点丑了！\r\n\r\n“燃燃，你快点来呀，咱们家安电话了！”啊？什么？安了？其实，我家以前也安过电话，不过那个时侯安电话时，我还是个婴儿，根本不知道刚安电话后打电话的滋味，我早就想尝一尝啦！我<strong>迫不及待</strong>的向家门跑去。我进门时爸爸对我说：“燃燃，你不是说你想尝一尝刚安电话的时候打电话的滋味吗？快点来呀！”我拿起电话，像是没见过电话似的，盯着电话看了老半天，<strong>仔细</strong><strong>打量</strong>着这部电话来：绿色的<strong>机身</strong>，0——9的电话号码<strong>整齐</strong>的排列着……“还<strong>愣</strong>着干嘛？快打呀！”爸爸<strong>催</strong>我。我想：这第一次打该打给谁呢？打给我的好朋友王钰涵，让她分享我打电话的喜悦？打给亲朋好友让他们来我家玩？不，我要打给老师。“8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8”爸爸告诉我老师的电话。“8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5”通了。“老师，我是李燃，我家安了电话，我以后……”“小朋友，你打错了，我不是你老师。”“啊？”\r\n\r\n我的心跳得更厉害了。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nFellow students, [though] it was several years ago when our new home installed a telephone, but when I think of it now it\'s still fresh in my memory! Don\'t believe me? Then I\'ll give you a listen [to my story], and my shame will be apparent! \r\n\r\n\"Ranran, come quickly, we\'ve installed a telephone!\" Oh? What? Installed one? Actually we had a phone before, but when we had the phone installed, I was still an infant, and I didn\'t know the feeling of making a call after the phone had been installed, but I\'d always wanted a taste! I impatiently ran back towards the door of the house. When I entered the door, dad said to me \"Ranran, didn\'t you say you wanted to taste the experience [lit: flavor] of using the phone when it had been installed? Come quick!\" I picked up the phone, as if I\'d never seen a phone before, and stared at the phone for [what seemed like] half a day, carefully sizing it up: it had a green casing, and the numbers 0-9 were arrayed in neat rows. \"What are you doing just standing there? Quick, make a call!\" papa urged me. I thought: who should my first telephone call be to?  Should I call my good friend Wang Yu Han, and let her share the joy of a phone call? Call close friends and family and tell them to come over to my house and play? No, I want to call my teacher. \"8-5-8-6-1-1-5-8\", dad told me teachers phone number. [The call to] \"8-5-8-6-1-1-8-5\" went through. \"Teacher, this is Li Ran, we just installed a telephone, after this I...\" \"Little friend, you dialed the wrong number, I\'m not your teacher.\" \"Huh?\" \r\n\r\nMy heart pounded.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Essay: My First Telephone Call', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1393-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-11 00:30:10', '2013-06-11 04:30:10', '', 1393, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/11/1393-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1400, 1, '2013-05-28 11:03:14', '2013-05-28 15:03:14', '[two_third]\r\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Reading comprehension exercises: Learn to read mandarin chinese\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Couple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \r\n\r\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (thing, stuff) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\r\n\r\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \r\n\r\n这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n抽烟 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes\r\n悄悄 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly\r\n偷走 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)\r\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can\r\n狠 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce\r\n莫大 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in \'a large amount\' rather than \'good\')\r\n理 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to\r\n肺 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs\r\n尼古丁 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine\r\n千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses\r\n吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a loogie\r\n丢下 - [pinyin]diu1 xia4[/pinyin] - to abandon\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。\r\n\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。\r\n\r\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。\r\n\r\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \r\n\r\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke! ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-28 11:03:14', '2013-05-28 15:03:14', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/28/1385-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(1928, 1, '2020-04-20 22:42:41', '2020-04-21 02:42:41', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis one\'s pretty cool, guys. Today, we\'re going to take look at a short text that\'s almost 2000 years old. This passage comes from the 《山海经》[pinyin]shan1 hai3 jing1[/pinyin], or <em><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Mountains_and_Seas\">The Classic of Mountains and Seas</a></em>, an ancient compendium of mythological beasts that was formalized during the Han Dynasty - that\'s around the same time as the Roman Empire. \r\n\r\nThe《山海经》is kind of a zoologist\'s manual of magical creatures: it describes where they live, what they look like, what they eat, and sometimes, how they came to exist. This particular passage is the origin story of the famous 精卫 [pinyin]jing1 wei4[/pinyin], a mystic bird that spends its time trying to fill up the ocean (填海) with sticks and pebbles. \r\n\r\nBut 精卫填海 is not just a story from antiquity, it has also become an idiom in modern times. Filling up the sea with pebbles is, obviously, a futile, pointless, and never-ending job, which is exactly what this phrase now describes. In other words, the 精卫 is the Chinese equivalent of Sisyphus from Greek mythology, the king cursed by Zeus to roll a bolder up a hill for all eternity, and \"精卫填海\" describes a similarly Sisyphean task. But sometimes it can have a positive meaning: dogged determination in the face of overwhelming odds. \r\n\r\n<h4>The language</h4>\r\nBooks written prior to around 1920 are mostly written in classical Chinese, which is kind of like Shakespearean English. Because this language can be difficult even for native speakers, classic texts are often translated into modern Chinese. The version of 《精卫填海》 that we\'re going to read today is the modern Chinese translation of the classical Chinese. \r\n\r\nThere are a few proper names of people and places, which I\'ve highlighted in the Chinese text. One god mentioned in passing here is 炎帝 [pinyin]Yan2 di4[/pinyin], the Fire Emperor, a semi-mythical figure from ancient history.\r\n\r\nOne note on grammar: this passage uses a less well-known definition of the character 为. In this case, 为 means \"become\" or \"into\", so the phrase 化为 mean \"transform into\".\r\n\r\nIf you enjoy this story, and want more mythology, you can pick up either the <a href=\"https://amzn.to/3blphOC\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Chinese version</a> or the <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2XYAxwm\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">English version</a> of the 《山海经》on Amazon.\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>《精卫填海》</h4>\r\n<span class=\"highlightText\">发鸠山</span>，山上长了很多柘树。有一种鸟，它的形状像乌鸦，头部有花纹，白色的嘴，红色的脚，名叫<span class=\"highlightText\">精卫</span>，它的叫声像在呼唤自己的名字。传说这种鸟是<span class=\"highlightText\">炎帝</span>小女儿的化身，名叫<span class=\"highlightText\">女娃</span>。有一次，<span class=\"highlightText\">女娃</span>去东海游泳，溺水身亡，再也没有回来，所以化为精卫版鸟。经常口衔西山上的树枝和石块，用来填塞东海。<span class=\"highlightText\">浊漳河</span>就发源于<span class=\"highlightText\">发鸠山</span>，向东流去，引入<span class=\"highlightText\">黄河</span>。\r\n\r\n<h6>Buy it on Amazon:</h6>\r\n<a href=\"https://amzn.to/3blphOC\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In Chinese</a> or <a href=\"https://amzn.to/2XYAxwm\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In English</a>.\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nFajiu Mountain - upon the mountain grew many mulberry trees. There is a kind of bird there, whose shape is like a raven, with a patterned head, a white beak, and red feet, which is called the Jingwei, and its name sounds like its cry. According to legend, this bird is the reincarnation of the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Emperor\">Yan Emperor</a>\'s daughter, her name was Nvwa. Once, Nvwa went swimming in the Eastern Sea, where she drowned and died, never to return, so she transformed into the Jingwei. [The Jingwei] often carries sticks and stones from the Western mountains in its mouth, and tries to fill up the Eastern Sea. The Zhuozhang River originates from Fajiu Mountain，and flows east, into the Yellow River.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]</div>', 'Mythology: 《精卫填海》 from the Classic of Mountains and Seas', 'This one\'s pretty cool, guys. Today, we\'re going to take look at a short text that\'s almost 2000 years old. This passage comes from the 《山海经》[pinyin]shan1 hai3 jing1[/pinyin], or <em><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Mountains_and_Seas\">The Classic of Mountains and Seas</a></em>, an ancient compendium of mythological beasts that was formalized during the Han Dynasty - that\'s around the same time as the Roman Empire. ', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'mythology-jing-wei-tian-hai-from-the-classic-of-mountains-and-seas', '', '', '2020-04-21 07:02:50', '2020-04-21 11:02:50', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1928', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(1878, 1, '2020-04-20 08:09:21', '2020-04-20 12:09:21', 'h1.entry-title, h2.entry-title {text-align:left;}\nh2.entry-title {font-size: 4.2rem;}\n.section-inner.medium, .section-inner {max-width:100%;}\nh2.widget-title {font-size: 16px}\n.featured-media {display:none;}\n.entry-categories-inner {justify-content: left; }\n.archive-header-inner {text-align:left;}\n.post-meta-single-top .post-meta {justify-content: left;}\n.post-meta-wrapper {max-width: 100%;}\nul.primary-menu {font-size: 16px;}\n.post-meta-wrapper {margin-top: 1rem;}\n.post-inner {padding-top: 3rem;}\n.entry-content > *:not(.alignwide):not(.alignfull):not(.alignleft):not(.alignright):not(.is-style-wide) {\n    max-width: 100%;\n	width: calc(100% - 8rem);}\n	\n	#mandarinspot-tip {padding: 15px!important; border-radius: 0 !important; border: none !important; background-color: #000 !important; color: #fff !important;}\n.sub-menu li a {font-size: 12px;}\n.hide-this-part-more {background-color: #444444;\n    display: inline-block;\n    padding: 12px;\n    color: #ffff;\n    font-size: 16px;\n    font-family: sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px;}\n.hide-this-part-more:hover {cursor:pointer;}\n.readingPassage {padding: 40px; background-color: #fffbcc;}\n.entry-content #chinesetext h4 {margin-top: 0;}\n.post-meta-wrapper.post-meta-single-bottom  {margin-top: 1rem;}', 'twentytwenty', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1649-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 08:09:21', '2020-04-20 12:09:21', '', 1649, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1649-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1429, 1, '2013-06-13 00:46:20', '2013-06-13 04:46:20', '[two_third]\nEeps - bad medicine! In this story, the mischievous Monkey - always a trickster figure in Chinese stories - pulls the wool over Little Bear\'s eyes. If Little Bear was American, he\'d sue the hospital for negligence and rake in millions of baskets of peaches. <!--more-->\n\nThough the majority of this text is very basic reading, there are three phrases which jump out at me as being difficult, or words I couldn\'t find in basic dictionaries. \n\n理所应当 - [pinyin]li3 suo3 ying1 dang1[/pinyin] This phrase means to feel something is well-deserved, that something has been earned through hard work, usually when it actually hasn\'t. So I guess that roughly translates to \'taking a reward for granted\'? In this story, Monkey feels that his payment is well-earned or well-deserved. But as readers, we know Monkey doesn\'t deserve anything at all - he\'s taking that payment for granted when he didn\'t really earn it. Consider this phrase in another context:\n\n别人帮助你那是义气，你不能当作是理所应当的。 - \"When other people help you it\'s in the spirit of self-sacrifice, you shouldn\'t consider this something you deserve as a matter of course.\"  \n\n甜头 - Though this looks like two words, the first meaning \"sweet\" and the second meaning \"head\" or \"brain\", it\'s actually a colloquialism that just means \"sweet flavor\" or \"pleasant taste\".  \n\n贪念 - These two characters also seem separate, they don\'t appear together in my dictionary, but they\'re actually one word. According to <a href=\"http://baike.baidu.com/view/3187101.htm\">Baidu Bai Ke</a>, the Baidu dictionary (a Chinese-language resource for word meanings and derivations), 贪念 [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] just means \"greedy\" (I presume the \"念\" probably adds the meaning \"idea\" or \"thoughts\" here, so 贪念 could be read as \"greedy thoughts\"). \n\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/ertongwenxue/yuyangushi/2012-10-06/26930.html\">You can read the original here.</a> \n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n玩耍 - [pinyin]wan2 shua3[/pinyin] - Enjoy oneself, mess around\n白大褂子 - [pinyin]bai2 da4 gua4 zi5[/pinyin] - White lab coat [lit: Large white unlined upper garment]\n看病 - [pinyin]kan4 bing4[/pinyin] - See a doctor\n酬金 - [pinyin]chou2 jin1[/pinyin] - monetary remuneration, payment\n贪念 - [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] - Greedy\n装模作样 - [pinyin]zhuang1 mo2 zuo4 yang4[/pinyin] - To put on an act\n不得而知 - [pinyin]bu4 de2 er2 zhi1[/pinyin] - Can\'t be known, unknowable\n潜入 - [pinyin]qian2 ru4[/pinyin] - To sneak into\n干脆 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n猴子去医院<strong>玩耍</strong>,进了大夫的房间。正好大夫不在,衣服也落在了房间内。\n\n猴子觉得好玩,就穿上了大夫的衣服,也就是我们常见的那种<strong>白大褂子</strong>。这时候有一只小熊来医院<strong>看病</strong>。小熊是第一次上医院,并不了解医院的情况。它所知道的,就是大夫们都穿着白大褂子。\n\n小熊提着一篮桃子(这是它准备送给大夫的<strong>酬金</strong>)来到医院,正好走进猴子所在的房间。小熊不认识猴子,但是它认识那件白大褂子,于是就请猴子给它看病。\n\n猴子本来只是玩耍,并不会看病,但是它看到小熊的篮子后,就起了<strong>贪念</strong>。于是猴子便<strong>装模作样</strong>地给小熊看了病,并且<strong>理所应当地</strong>收下了那篮桃子。至于小熊的病是否给猴子看好了,这一点<strong>不得而知</strong>。\n\n但是猴子却尝到了甜头,以后常常<strong>潜入</strong>医院,趁大夫不在的时候,穿上大夫的衣服,给病人看病。到后来,猴子<strong>干脆</strong>给自己也做了一身那样的白大褂子。\n\n唉!我们不知道有多少人是在猴子那里看的病啊!\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nMonkey went to the hospital on a lark, and entered the doctor\'s room. At that moment, the doctor wasn\'t in, and he\'d left his [doctor\'s] clothes in the room.\n\nMonkey thought this would be fun, so he put on the doctor\'s clothes, that white lab coat we see so often. Just then a little bear came to the hospital to see the doctor. This was the little bear\'s first time at the hospital, and he didn\'t know what hospitals were like [lit: didn\'t know the hospital situation]. All he knew was that doctors wear white lab coats. \n\nThe little bear had shown up at the hospital carrying a basket of peaches (this was the payment he had prepared to give to the doctor), and he happened to walk into the room where Monkey was. Little Bear didn\'t know Monkey, but he recognized the white lab coat, so he asked Monkey to examine him.\n\nMonkey originally just [intended to] have a bit of fun, but when he saw Little Bear\'s basket, he coveted it fiercely. So Monkey put on a big show of examining Little Bear, and accepted his well-earned basket of peaches. As to whether or not Monkey actually cured Little Bear, we will never know. \n\nHowever, after Monkey tasted that sweetness, he often stole into the hospital, taking advantage of the doctor\'s absence, and examined patients. Later, Monkey simply made himself one of those kind of white lab coats. \n\nAi! We don\'t know how many people were examined by Monkey!\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Doctor and the Monkey', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1401-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-13 00:46:20', '2013-06-13 04:46:20', '', 1401, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/13/1401-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1431, 1, '2013-06-13 01:14:37', '2013-06-13 05:14:37', '[two_third]\r\nEeps - bad medicine! In this story, the mischievous Monkey - always a trickster figure in Chinese stories - pulls the wool over Little Bear\'s eyes. If Little Bear was American, he\'d sue the hospital for negligence and rake in millions of baskets of peaches. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130617-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Read Chinese: Bedtime Stories in Mandarin Chinese Characters\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Though the majority of this text is very basic reading, there are three phrases which jump out at me as being difficult, or words I couldn\'t find in basic dictionaries. \r\n\r\n理所应当 - [pinyin]li3 suo3 ying1 dang1[/pinyin] This phrase means to feel something is well-deserved, that something has been earned through hard work, usually when it actually hasn\'t. So I guess that roughly translates to \'taking a reward for granted\'? In this story, Monkey feels that his payment is well-earned or well-deserved. But as readers, we know Monkey doesn\'t deserve anything at all - he\'s taking that payment for granted when he didn\'t really earn it. Consider this phrase in another context:\r\n\r\n别人帮助你那是义气，你不能当作是理所应当的。 - \"When other people help you it\'s in the spirit of self-sacrifice, you shouldn\'t consider this something you deserve as a matter of course.\"  \r\n\r\n甜头 - Though this looks like two words, the first meaning \"sweet\" and the second meaning \"head\" or \"brain\", it\'s actually a colloquialism that just means \"sweet flavor\" or \"pleasant taste\".  \r\n\r\n贪念 - These two characters also seem separate, they don\'t appear together in my dictionary, but they\'re actually one word. According to <a href=\"http://baike.baidu.com/view/3187101.htm\">Baidu Bai Ke</a>, the Baidu dictionary (a Chinese-language resource for word meanings and derivations), 贪念 [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] just means \"greedy\" (I presume the \"念\" probably adds the meaning \"idea\" or \"thoughts\" here, so 贪念 could be read as \"greedy thoughts\"). \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/ertongwenxue/yuyangushi/2012-10-06/26930.html\">You can read the original here.</a> \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n玩耍 - [pinyin]wan2 shua3[/pinyin] - Enjoy oneself, mess around\r\n白大褂子 - [pinyin]bai2 da4 gua4 zi5[/pinyin] - White lab coat [lit: Large white unlined upper garment]\r\n看病 - [pinyin]kan4 bing4[/pinyin] - See a doctor\r\n酬金 - [pinyin]chou2 jin1[/pinyin] - monetary remuneration, payment\r\n贪念 - [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] - Greedy\r\n装模作样 - [pinyin]zhuang1 mo2 zuo4 yang4[/pinyin] - To put on an act\r\n不得而知 - [pinyin]bu4 de2 er2 zhi1[/pinyin] - Can\'t be known, unknowable\r\n潜入 - [pinyin]qian2 ru4[/pinyin] - To sneak into\r\n干脆 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n猴子去医院<strong>玩耍</strong>,进了大夫的房间。正好大夫不在,衣服也落在了房间内。\r\n\r\n猴子觉得好玩,就穿上了大夫的衣服,也就是我们常见的那种<strong>白大褂子</strong>。这时候有一只小熊来医院<strong>看病</strong>。小熊是第一次上医院,并不了解医院的情况。它所知道的,就是大夫们都穿着白大褂子。\r\n\r\n小熊提着一篮桃子(这是它准备送给大夫的<strong>酬金</strong>)来到医院,正好走进猴子所在的房间。小熊不认识猴子,但是它认识那件白大褂子,于是就请猴子给它看病。\r\n\r\n猴子本来只是玩耍,并不会看病,但是它看到小熊的篮子后,就起了<strong>贪念</strong>。于是猴子便<strong>装模作样</strong>地给小熊看了病,并且<strong>理所应当地</strong>收下了那篮桃子。至于小熊的病是否给猴子看好了,这一点<strong>不得而知</strong>。\r\n\r\n但是猴子却尝到了甜头,以后常常<strong>潜入</strong>医院,趁大夫不在的时候,穿上大夫的衣服,给病人看病。到后来,猴子<strong>干脆</strong>给自己也做了一身那样的白大褂子。\r\n\r\n唉!我们不知道有多少人是在猴子那里看的病啊!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nMonkey went to the hospital on a lark, and entered the doctor\'s room. At that moment, the doctor wasn\'t in, and he\'d left his [doctor\'s] clothes in the room.\r\n\r\nMonkey thought this would be fun, so he put on the doctor\'s clothes, that white lab coat we see so often. Just then a little bear came to the hospital to see the doctor. This was the little bear\'s first time at the hospital, and he didn\'t know what hospitals were like [lit: didn\'t know the hospital situation]. All he knew was that doctors wear white lab coats. \r\n\r\nThe little bear had shown up at the hospital carrying a basket of peaches (this was the payment he had prepared to give to the doctor), and he happened to walk into the room where Monkey was. Little Bear didn\'t know Monkey, but he recognized the white lab coat, so he asked Monkey to examine him.\r\n\r\nMonkey originally just [intended to] have a bit of fun, but when he saw Little Bear\'s basket, he coveted it fiercely. So Monkey put on a big show of examining Little Bear, and accepted his well-earned basket of peaches. As to whether or not Monkey actually cured Little Bear, we will never know. \r\n\r\nHowever, after Monkey tasted that sweetness, he often stole into the hospital, taking advantage of the doctor\'s absence, and examined patients. Later, Monkey simply made himself one of those kind of white lab coats. \r\n\r\nAi! We don\'t know how many people were examined by Monkey!\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Doctor and the Monkey', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1401-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-13 01:14:37', '2013-06-13 05:14:37', '', 1401, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/13/1401-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1432, 1, '2013-06-23 02:43:24', '2013-06-23 06:43:24', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\r\n\r\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nI wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \r\n\r\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>沉默的狗</h4>\r\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊跳起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声地向朋友喊救命。\r\n\r\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\r\n\r\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\r\n\r\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\r\n\r\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\r\n\r\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\r\n\r\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\r\n\r\n回到家，朋友都来了，\r\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\r\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\r\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\r\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\r\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传信呀。\r\n\r\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\r\n\r\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\r\n\r\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and slipped away in a puff of smoke.\r\n\r\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly slipped down the mountain.\r\n\r\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\r\n\r\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\r\n\r\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\r\n\r\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\r\n\r\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\r\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\r\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \r\nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\r\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I run fast, I could have spread the word.\r\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Fable: 《沉默的狗》The Silent Dog', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'the-silent-dog', '', '', '2020-05-07 17:08:43', '2020-05-07 21:08:43', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1432', 0, 'post', '', 23),
(1725, 1, '2020-04-20 03:29:23', '2020-04-20 07:29:23', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\r\n\r\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nI wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \r\n\r\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>沉默的狗</h4>\r\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊跳起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声向朋友们救命。\r\n\r\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\r\n\r\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\r\n\r\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\r\n\r\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\r\n\r\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\r\n\r\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\r\n\r\n回到家，朋友都来了，\r\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\r\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\r\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\r\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\r\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传信呀。\r\n\r\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\r\n\r\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\r\n\r\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and slipped away in a puff of smoke.\r\n\r\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly slipped down the mountain.\r\n\r\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\r\n\r\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\r\n\r\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\r\n\r\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\r\n\r\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\r\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\r\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \r\nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\r\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I run fast, I could have spread the word.\r\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:29:23', '2020-04-20 07:29:23', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1432-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1724, 1, '2020-04-20 03:29:05', '2020-04-20 07:29:05', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\r\n\r\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130624-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese Characters: Intermediate Exercises for Chinese Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \r\n\r\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>沉默的狗</h4>\r\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊跳起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声向朋友们救命。\r\n\r\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\r\n\r\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\r\n\r\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\r\n\r\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\r\n\r\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\r\n\r\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\r\n\r\n回到家，朋友都来了，\r\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\r\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\r\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\r\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\r\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传信呀。\r\n\r\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\r\n\r\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\r\n\r\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and slipped away in a puff of smoke.\r\n\r\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly slipped down the mountain.\r\n\r\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\r\n\r\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\r\n\r\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\r\n\r\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\r\n\r\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\r\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\r\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \r\nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\r\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I run fast, I could have spread the word.\r\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:29:05', '2020-04-20 07:29:05', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1432-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1434, 1, '2013-06-17 02:42:32', '2013-06-17 06:42:32', '[two_third]\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in an in-flight magazine and couldn\'t resist typing it up. I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but they\'re had to scan for in Chinese, so if you run across one, please comment. \n\nThe Chinese title is 沉默的狗\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n玩耍 - [pinyin]wan2 shua3[/pinyin] - Enjoy oneself, mess around\n白大褂子 - [pinyin]bai2 da4 gua4 zi5[/pinyin] - White lab coat [lit: Large white unlined upper garment]\n看病 - [pinyin]kan4 bing4[/pinyin] - See a doctor\n酬金 - [pinyin]chou2 jin1[/pinyin] - monetary remuneration, payment\n贪念 - [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] - Greedy\n装模作样 - [pinyin]zhuang1 mo2 zuo4 yang4[/pinyin] - To put on an act\n不得而知 - [pinyin]bu4 de2 er2 zhi1[/pinyin] - Can\'t be known, unknowable\n潜入 - [pinyin]qian2 ru4[/pinyin] - To sneak into\n干脆 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n傍晚，一只羊独自在山坡上玩，突然从树木中窜出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊挑起来，拼命用角抵抗，并大声向朋友们救命。\n\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\n\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一溜烟跑了。\n\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\n\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\n\n兔子一听，更是一箭一般离去。\n\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙奔上坡来，从草丛中闪出，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够换气时，怆惶挑走了。\n\n回到家，朋友都来了，\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以剜出狼的肠子。\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的蹄子能踢碎狼的脑袋。\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴一拱，就让它摔下山去。\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传心呀。\n\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，唯独没有狗。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nMonkey went to the hospital on a lark, and entered the doctor\'s room. At that moment, the doctor wasn\'t in, and he\'d left his [doctor\'s] clothes in the room.\n\nMonkey thought this would be fun, so he put on the doctor\'s clothes, that white lab coat we see so often. Just then a little bear came to the hospital to see the doctor. This was the little bear\'s first time at the hospital, and he didn\'t know what hospitals were like [lit: didn\'t know the hospital situation]. All he knew was that doctors wear white lab coats. \n\nThe little bear had shown up at the hospital carrying a basket of peaches (this was the payment he had prepared to give to the doctor), and he happened to walk into the room where Monkey was. Little Bear didn\'t know Monkey, but he recognized the white lab coat, so he asked Monkey to examine him.\n\nMonkey originally just [intended to] have a bit of fun, but when he saw Little Bear\'s basket, he coveted it fiercely. So Monkey put on a big show of examining Little Bear, and accepted his well-earned basket of peaches. As to whether or not Monkey actually cured Little Bear, we will never know. \n\nHowever, after Monkey tasted that sweetness, he often stole into the hospital, taking advantage of the doctor\'s absence, and examined patients. Later, Monkey simply made himself one of those kind of white lab coats. \n\nAi! We don\'t know how many people were examined by Monkey!\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-17 02:42:32', '2013-06-17 06:42:32', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/17/1432-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1433, 1, '2013-06-17 02:08:47', '2013-06-17 06:08:47', '[two_third]\r\nEeps - bad medicine! In this story, the mischievous Monkey - always a trickster figure in Chinese stories - pulls the wool over Little Bear\'s eyes. If Little Bear was American, he\'d sue the hospital for negligence and rake in millions of baskets of peaches. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130617-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Read Chinese: Bedtime Stories in Mandarin Chinese Characters\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Though the majority of this text is very basic reading, there are three phrases which jump out at me as being difficult, or words I couldn\'t find in basic dictionaries. \r\n\r\n理所应当 - [pinyin]li3 suo3 ying1 dang1[/pinyin] This phrase means to feel something is well-deserved, that something has been earned through hard work, usually when it actually hasn\'t. So I guess that roughly translates to \'taking a reward for granted\'? In this story, Monkey feels that his payment is well-earned or well-deserved. But as readers, we know Monkey doesn\'t deserve anything at all - he\'s taking that payment for granted when he didn\'t really earn it. Consider this phrase in another context:\r\n\r\n别人帮助你那是义气，你不能当作是理所应当的。 - \"When other people help you it\'s in the spirit of self-sacrifice, you shouldn\'t consider this something you deserve as a matter of course.\"  \r\n\r\n甜头 - Though this looks like two words, the first meaning \"sweet\" and the second meaning \"head\" or \"brain\", it\'s actually a colloquialism that just means \"sweet flavor\" or \"pleasant taste\".  \r\n\r\n贪念 - These two characters also seem separate, they don\'t appear together in my dictionary, but they\'re actually one word. According to <a href=\"http://baike.baidu.com/view/3187101.htm\">Baidu Bai Ke</a>, the Baidu dictionary (a Chinese-language resource for word meanings and derivations), 贪念 [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] just means \"greedy\" (I presume the \"念\" probably adds the meaning \"idea\" or \"thoughts\" here, so 贪念 could be read as \"greedy thoughts\"). \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/ertongwenxue/yuyangushi/2012-10-06/26930.html\">You can read the original here.</a> \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n玩耍 - [pinyin]wan2 shua3[/pinyin] - Enjoy oneself, mess around\r\n白大褂子 - [pinyin]bai2 da4 gua4 zi5[/pinyin] - White lab coat [lit: Large white unlined upper garment]\r\n看病 - [pinyin]kan4 bing4[/pinyin] - See a doctor\r\n酬金 - [pinyin]chou2 jin1[/pinyin] - monetary remuneration, payment\r\n贪念 - [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] - Greedy\r\n装模作样 - [pinyin]zhuang1 mo2 zuo4 yang4[/pinyin] - To put on an act\r\n不得而知 - [pinyin]bu4 de2 er2 zhi1[/pinyin] - Can\'t be known, unknowable\r\n潜入 - [pinyin]qian2 ru4[/pinyin] - To sneak into\r\n干脆 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n猴子去医院<strong>玩耍</strong>,进了大夫的房间。正好大夫不在,衣服也落在了房间内。\r\n\r\n猴子觉得好玩,就穿上了大夫的衣服,也就是我们常见的那种<strong>白大褂子</strong>。这时候有一只小熊来医院<strong>看病</strong>。小熊是第一次上医院,并不了解医院的情况。它所知道的,就是大夫们都穿着白大褂子。\r\n\r\n小熊提着一篮桃子(这是它准备送给大夫的<strong>酬金</strong>)来到医院,正好走进猴子所在的房间。小熊不认识猴子,但是它认识那件白大褂子,于是就请猴子给它看病。\r\n\r\n猴子本来只是玩耍,并不会看病,但是它看到小熊的篮子后,就起了<strong>贪念</strong>。于是猴子便<strong>装模作样</strong>地给小熊看了病,并且<strong>理所应当地</strong>收下了那篮桃子。至于小熊的病是否给猴子看好了,这一点<strong>不得而知</strong>。\r\n\r\n但是猴子却尝到了甜头,以后常常<strong>潜入</strong>医院,趁大夫不在的时候,穿上大夫的衣服,给病人看病。到后来,猴子<strong>干脆</strong>给自己也做了一身那样的白大褂子。\r\n\r\n唉!我们不知道有多少人是在猴子那里看的病啊!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nMonkey went to the hospital on a lark, and entered the doctor\'s room. At that moment, the doctor wasn\'t in, and he\'d left his [doctor\'s] clothes in the room.\r\n\r\nMonkey thought this would be fun, so he put on the doctor\'s clothes, that white lab coat we see so often. Just then a little bear came to the hospital to see the doctor. This was the little bear\'s first time at the hospital, and he didn\'t know what hospitals were like [lit: didn\'t know the hospital situation]. All he knew was that doctors wear white lab coats. \r\n\r\nThe little bear had shown up at the hospital carrying a basket of peaches (this was the payment he had prepared to give to the doctor), and he happened to walk into the room where Monkey was. Little Bear didn\'t know Monkey, but he recognized the white lab coat, so he asked Monkey to examine him.\r\n\r\nMonkey originally just [intended to] have a bit of fun, but when he saw Little Bear\'s basket, he coveted it fiercely. So Monkey put on a big show of examining Little Bear, and accepted his well-earned basket of peaches. As to whether or not Monkey actually cured Little Bear, we will never know. \r\n\r\nHowever, after Monkey tasted that sweetness, he often stole into the hospital, taking advantage of the doctor\'s absence, and examined patients. Later, Monkey simply made himself one of those kind of white lab coats. \r\n\r\nAi! We don\'t know how many people were examined by Monkey!\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Doctor and the Monkey', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1401-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-17 02:08:47', '2013-06-17 06:08:47', '', 1401, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/17/1401-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1435, 1, '2013-06-17 03:12:07', '2013-06-17 07:12:07', '', 'Read Chinese: Intermediate Chinese Character Learning Exercises', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130624-inline', '', '', '2013-06-17 03:12:07', '2013-06-17 07:12:07', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130624-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1436, 1, '2013-06-17 03:12:09', '2013-06-17 07:12:09', '', '', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130624', '', '', '2013-06-17 03:12:09', '2013-06-17 07:12:09', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130624.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1437, 1, '2013-06-17 03:11:27', '2013-06-17 07:11:27', '[two_third]\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\n\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\n\nI wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \n\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \n\nThe Chinese title is 沉默的狗\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n山坡 - [pinyin]wan2 shua3[/pinyin] - Enjoy oneself, mess around\n窜 - [pinyin]bai2 da4 gua4 zi5[/pinyin] - White lab coat [lit: Large white unlined upper garment]\n抵抗 - [pinyin]kan4 bing4[/pinyin] - See a doctor\n溜烟 - [pinyin]chou2 jin1[/pinyin] - monetary remuneration, payment\n奔 - [pinyin]tan1 nian4[/pinyin] - Greedy\n换气 - [pinyin]zhuang1 mo2 zuo4 yang4[/pinyin] - To put on an act\n怆惶 - [pinyin]bu4 de2 er2 zhi1[/pinyin] - Can\'t be known, unknowable\n剜出 - [pinyin]qian2 ru4[/pinyin] - To sneak into\n蹄子 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\n一拱 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\n唯独 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊挑起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声向朋友们救命。\n\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\n\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\n\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\n\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\n\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\n\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\n\n回到家，朋友都来了，\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传心呀。\n\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\n\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\n\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and ran away in a streak of smoke.\n\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly streaked down the mountain.\n\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\n\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\n\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\n\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\n\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I ran fast, I could have spread the word.\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-17 03:11:27', '2013-06-17 07:11:27', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/17/1432-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(1439, 1, '2013-06-17 03:29:37', '2013-06-17 07:29:37', '[two_third]\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\n\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\n\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130624-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese Characters: Intermediate Exercises for Chinese Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \n\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \n\nThe Chinese title is 沉默的狗\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n山坡 - [pinyin]shan1 po1[/pinyin] - Hillside, mountain side\n窜 - [pinyin]cuan4[/pinyin] - To be exiled from, to flee\n抵抗 - [pinyin]di3 kang4[/pinyin] - Resist\n溜烟 - [pinyin]liu1 yan1[/pinyin] - Slip away like smoke, disappear in a puff of smoke\n奔 - [pinyin]ben1[/pinyin] - To rush, to hurry\n换气 - [pinyin]huan4 qi4[/pinyin] - Take a breath (after holding your breath, as with swimming)\n怆惶 - [pinyin]chuang4 huang2[/pinyin] - Sad and scared\n剜出 - [pinyin]wan1 chu1[/pinyin] - To gouge out\n蹄子 - [pinyin]ti2 zi5[/pinyin] - Hoov\n一拱 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\n唯独 - [pinyin]gan1 cui4[/pinyin] - Simply, straightbforward\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊挑起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声向朋友们救命。\n\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\n\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\n\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\n\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\n\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\n\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\n\n回到家，朋友都来了，\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传心呀。\n\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\n\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\n\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and slipped away in a puff of smoke.\n\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly slipped down the mountain.\n\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\n\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\n\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\n\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\n\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I ran fast, I could have spread the word.\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-17 03:29:37', '2013-06-17 07:29:37', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/17/1432-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1438, 1, '2011-02-23 09:37:58', '2011-02-23 14:37:58', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nThis very short husband and wife joke is courtesy of the March 2006 print issue of Youth Digest.  <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe vocabulary here is intermediate, but the story contains quite a few beginner words and short sentences that you may enjoy puzzling out.\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Interesting Vocabulary</h4>\r\n性感 - [pinyin]xing4 gan3[/pinyin] - Sexy\r\n期盼 -  [pinyin]qi1 pan4[/pinyin] - Look forward to, hope to expect\r\n袍 -  [pinyin]pao4[/pinyin] - Gown\r\n镂空 - [pinyin]lou4 kong4[/pinyin] - Lacy or mostly see-through. Lit: Pierced with holes\r\n睡褂 - [pinyin]shui4 gua4[/pinyin] - Sleep robe\r\n吓了一条 - [pinyin]xia4 le5 yi1 tiao2[/pinyin] - Be startled\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n\r\n丈夫问我，40岁生日礼物想要什么东西，我告诉他想要一种能使我看上去更加<strong>性感</strong>和美丽的东西，也就是说，我心中<strong>期盼</strong>的是装有黑色丝<strong>袍</strong>和<strong>镂空睡褂</strong>的女内衣盒。 但是礼物送到时，我着实<strong>吓了一条</strong>。 丈夫拖回家一直巨大笨重的包装箱，里面是一辆健身自行车。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n\r\nMy husband asked me what I wanted for my 40th birthday. I told him that I wanted something that would make me look more sexy and beautiful. In other words, I was looking forward to getting some clothes, like a black silk gown and a lacy sleeping robe in a women\'s lingerie box. But when the gift arrived, I was startled. My husband dragged home a huge, heavy package, and inside was an exercise bike. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Birthday Present', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '270-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-02-23 09:37:58', '2011-02-23 14:37:58', '', 270, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/02/23/270-revision-12/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1440, 1, '2013-06-17 03:30:22', '2013-06-17 07:30:22', '[two_third]\r\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\r\n\r\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130624-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese Characters: Intermediate Exercises for Chinese Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \r\n\r\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is 沉默的狗\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n山坡 - [pinyin]shan1 po1[/pinyin] - Hillside, mountain side\r\n窜 - [pinyin]cuan4[/pinyin] - To be exiled from, to flee\r\n抵抗 - [pinyin]di3 kang4[/pinyin] - Resist\r\n溜烟 - [pinyin]liu1 yan1[/pinyin] - Slip away like smoke, disappear in a puff of smoke\r\n奔 - [pinyin]ben1[/pinyin] - To rush, to hurry\r\n换气 - [pinyin]huan4 qi4[/pinyin] - Take a breath (after holding your breath, as with swimming)\r\n怆惶 - [pinyin]chuang4 huang2[/pinyin] - Sad and scared\r\n剜出 - [pinyin]wan1 chu1[/pinyin] - To gouge out\r\n蹄子 - [pinyin]ti2 zi5[/pinyin] - Hooves\r\n一拱 - [pinyin]yi1 gong3[/pinyin] - Nuzzle with snout\r\n唯独 - [pinyin]wei2 du2[/pinyin] - Only\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊挑起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声向朋友们救命。\r\n\r\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\r\n\r\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\r\n\r\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\r\n\r\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\r\n\r\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\r\n\r\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\r\n\r\n回到家，朋友都来了，\r\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\r\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\r\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\r\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\r\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传心呀。\r\n\r\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\r\n\r\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\r\n\r\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and slipped away in a puff of smoke.\r\n\r\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly slipped down the mountain.\r\n\r\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\r\n\r\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\r\n\r\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\r\n\r\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\r\n\r\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\r\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\r\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \r\nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\r\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I ran fast, I could have spread the word.\r\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-17 03:30:22', '2013-06-17 07:30:22', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/17/1432-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1441, 1, '2013-06-11 00:46:40', '2013-06-11 04:46:40', '[two_third]\r\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Reading comprehension exercises: Learn to read mandarin chinese\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Couple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \r\n\r\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (thing, stuff) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\r\n\r\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n抽烟 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes\r\n悄悄 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly\r\n偷走 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)\r\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can\r\n狠 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce\r\n莫大 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in \'a large amount\' rather than \'good\')\r\n理 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to\r\n肺 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs\r\n尼古丁 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine\r\n千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses\r\n吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a loogie\r\n丢下 - [pinyin]diu1 xia4[/pinyin] - to abandon\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。\r\n\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。\r\n\r\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。\r\n\r\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \r\n\r\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke! ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-11 00:46:40', '2013-06-11 04:46:40', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/11/1385-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1445, 1, '2013-06-17 03:33:39', '2013-06-17 07:33:39', '[two_third]\r\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\r\n\r\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130624-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese Characters: Intermediate Exercises for Chinese Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \r\n\r\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is 沉默的狗\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n山坡 - [pinyin]shan1 po1[/pinyin] - Hillside, mountain side\r\n窜 - [pinyin]cuan4[/pinyin] - To be exiled from, to flee\r\n抵抗 - [pinyin]di3 kang4[/pinyin] - Resist\r\n溜烟 - [pinyin]liu1 yan1[/pinyin] - Slip away like smoke, disappear in a puff of smoke\r\n奔 - [pinyin]ben1[/pinyin] - To rush, to hurry\r\n换气 - [pinyin]huan4 qi4[/pinyin] - Take a breath (after holding your breath, as with swimming)\r\n怆惶 - [pinyin]chuang4 huang2[/pinyin] - Sad and scared\r\n剜出 - [pinyin]wan1 chu1[/pinyin] - To gouge out\r\n蹄子 - [pinyin]ti2 zi5[/pinyin] - Hooves\r\n一拱 - [pinyin]yi1 gong3[/pinyin] - Nuzzle with snout\r\n唯独 - [pinyin]wei2 du2[/pinyin] - Only\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊挑起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声向朋友们救命。\r\n\r\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\r\n\r\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\r\n\r\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\r\n\r\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\r\n\r\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\r\n\r\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\r\n\r\n回到家，朋友都来了，\r\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\r\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\r\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\r\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\r\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传心呀。\r\n\r\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\r\n\r\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\r\n\r\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and slipped away in a puff of smoke.\r\n\r\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly slipped down the mountain.\r\n\r\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\r\n\r\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\r\n\r\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\r\n\r\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\r\n\r\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\r\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\r\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \r\nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\r\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I run fast, I could have spread the word.\r\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-17 03:33:39', '2013-06-17 07:33:39', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/17/1432-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1444, 1, '2011-03-26 21:54:42', '2011-03-27 01:54:42', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nA short story about an older cat teaching a younger cat a lesson as they fish together. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/20110328-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Reading: Chinese Childrens Stories\" title=\"Easy Chinese Reading: Chinese Childrens Stories\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The most interesting thing you\'ll learn here is the contrast between the two phrases \"三心二意\" and \"一心一意\". The first, 三心二意, literally translates as \"three hearts two intentions\", and it means to be of two minds about something, or to be a bit scatterbrained while doing something. The second, 一心一意, translates into \"one heart one intention\", which means \"intently\", or to really concentrate on what you\'re doing. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n蜻蜓 - [pinyin]qing1 ting2[/pinyin] - Dragonfly\r\n蝴蝶- [pinyin]hu2 die2[/pinyin] - Butterfly\r\n不大一会儿 - [pinyin]bu4 da4 yi1 hui4 er5[/pinyin] - Not long after\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n老猫和小猫一块儿在河边钓鱼。\r\n\r\n一只<strong>蜻蜓</strong>飞来了。小猫看见了，放下钓鱼竿，就去捉蜻蜓。蜻蜓飞走了，小猫没捉着，空着手回到河边来。小猫一看，老猫钓着了一条大鱼。\r\n\r\n一只<strong>蝴蝶</strong>飞来了。小猫看见了，放下钓鱼竿，又去捉蝴蝶。蝴蝶飞走了，小猫又没捉着，空着手回到河边来。小猫一看，老猫又钓着了一条大鱼。\r\n\r\n小猫说: “真气人，我怎么一条小鱼也钓不着？”\r\n\r\n老猫看了看小猫，说: “钓鱼就钓鱼，不要这么<strong>三心二意</strong>的。一会儿捉蜻蜓，一会儿捉蝴蝶，怎么能钓着鱼呢？”\r\n\r\n小猫听了老猫的话，就<strong>一心一意</strong>地钓鱼。\r\n\r\n蜻蜓又飞来了，蝴蝶又飞来了，小猫就象没看见一样。<strong>不大一会儿</strong>，小猫也钓着了一条大鱼。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n\r\nOld Cat and Little Cat were fishing together on the riverbank.\r\n\r\nA dragonfly flew over. The little cat saw it, put down his fishing pole, and tried to grab the dragonfly. The dragonfly flew away, and the little cat, unable to grab it, stopped trying and went back to fishing on the riverbank. As soon as Little Cat was back [lit: as soon as little cat looked], Old Cat caught a big fish. \r\n\r\n[This time] a butterfly flew over. The little cat saw it, put down his fishing pole and again tried to catch it. The butterfly flew away without the little cat having caught it, and Little Cat again went back to the riverbank. As soon as he looked over at Old Cat, Old Cat had caught another big fish.\r\n\r\nLittle Cat said: \"How annoying, why is it that I haven\'t caught even one little fish?\" \r\n\r\nOld Cat looked him over and said: \"If you\'re fishing just fish, don\'t be in two minds about it. If you spend a while catching dragonflies, then you spend another while catching butterflies, how can you catch fish?\" \r\n\r\nLittle Cat listened to Old Fish\'s words and begin to fish intently. \r\n\r\nThe dragonfly flew over again, and the butterfly flew over also, but it was as if Little Cat didn\'t see them. Not long after that, Little Cat caught a big fish.  \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n', 'Cat Goes Fishing', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '607-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-03-26 21:54:42', '2011-03-27 01:54:42', '', 607, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/03/26/607-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1446, 1, '2013-06-23 03:28:40', '2013-06-23 07:28:40', '[two_third]\r\nIn this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as \"Intermediate\", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Reading comprehension exercises: Learn to read mandarin chinese\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Couple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means \"originally\", as in \"I originally thought to let you not smoke.\" Or, in better English, \"My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking.\" \r\n\r\nAnother point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (east and west / left and right / in all directions) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We\'ve seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase \"仰起头来\" in the post <a href=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/\">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.\r\n\r\nA word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means \"big opium pipe\" or in more contemporary times can actually mean \"big bong\". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means \"someone who smokes a lot\", a \"heavy smoker\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html\">here</a>. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n抽烟 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes\r\n悄悄 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly\r\n偷走 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)\r\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can\r\n狠 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce\r\n莫大 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in \'a large amount\' rather than \'good\')\r\n理 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to\r\n肺 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs\r\n尼古丁 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine\r\n千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses\r\n吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a loogie\r\n丢下 - [pinyin]diu1 xia4[/pinyin] - to abandon\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。\r\n\r\n爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。\r\n\r\n爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。\r\n\r\n爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: \'the me of that time\'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won\'t care [lit: I won\'t pay any attention to you].\r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there\'s a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. \r\n\r\nPapa, please don\'t smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? \r\n\r\nPapa, for your health, and for us, please don\'t smoke! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Papa, Please Don\'t Smoke! ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1385-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-06-23 03:28:40', '2013-06-23 07:28:40', '', 1385, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/06/23/1385-revision-7/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1450, 1, '2013-08-05 07:13:59', '2013-08-05 11:13:59', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nI love it when I find a longer story that\'s suitable for beginning readers. This one, which is either a tale that reminds us what happens when you try to be something you\'re not, or a tale that reminds us that men should never be allowed to give each other fashion advice, definitely fits the bill. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe first sentence isn\'t super simple, so push through that one if you can, it gets much easier in the following paragraphs. Four points of grammar: \r\n\r\n能有幸请 [pinyin]neng2 you3 xing4 qing3[/pinyin] - A politely formal phrase of invitation \"May have the pleasure of inviting you ...\" or more specifically, \"May I be so lucky as to...\" (have this dance?) (take you on a date?). \r\n\r\n看上去 [pinyin]kan4 shang4 qu4[/pinyin] - To look like. \r\n\r\n你要是再不走开 [pinyin]ni3 yao4 shi4 zai4 bu4 zou3 kai1[/pinyin] - This one might be a little confusing. Let\'s break it down: \r\n\r\n你 - You\r\n要是 - If\r\n再不 - Otherwise / If not\r\n走开 - Go away\r\n\r\nThe full phrase means \"If you don\'t go away....\"\r\n\r\n他会来收拾你的 [pinyin]ta1 hui4 lai2 shou1 shi5 ni3 de5[/pinyin]. In the story, Miss Pig says this to an unwelcome guest. The \"他\" in this case is Mr. Pig. The Beginners often learn the word \"收拾\", meaning \"to tidy up\". Usually, this means exactly what it sounds like, and applies to cleaning up a room or an apartment. In this case, it\'s being used in kind of an action movie way, meaning \"He\'ll come over and <strong>deal with</strong> you!\" or \"He\'ll come <strong>straighten you out</strong>!\". So Miss Pig is threatening the unwelcome guest, telling him that Mr. Pig will come over and beat him up. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>猪先生去野餐</h4>\r\n今天，真是个<strong>野餐</strong>的好日子。 猪先生精心打扮着自己，他<strong>期待</strong>着猪小姐能与他一起去野餐。\r\n\r\n“呵呵，真希望她会说‘我愿意’啊。 嗯，我再摘朵花送给她，一定能够打<strong>动她</strong>！”\r\n\r\n路上，猪先生<strong>遇到</strong>了他的朋友狐狸。狐狸听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的尾巴<strong>借</strong>去吧。瞧，你<strong>看上去</strong>有多聪明啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\r\n\r\n<strong>接着</strong>，他又遇到了他的朋友狮子。狮子听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的头发借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>威猛</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\r\n\r\n后来，他又遇到他的朋友斑马。斑马听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的条纹借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>英俊</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。他觉得自己从来没有这样英俊过。\r\n\r\n终于来到猪小姐家了，猪先生<strong>激动</strong>地敲了敲门。“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他问。\r\n\r\n猪小姐吓了一大跳：“噢，不行！你是哪儿来的<strong>妖怪</strong>呀？你要是<strong>再不走开</strong>，我就去叫猪先生了，他会来收拾你的！”\r\n\r\n猪先生连忙往回跑。一路上，他把条纹还给了斑马，把头发还给了狮子，把尾巴还给了狐狸。然后，他又赶回到猪小姐的家，再一次摁响了门铃。\r\n\r\n“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他又问。\r\n\r\n“啊呀，猪先生！” 猪小姐叫道，“看到你我真是太高兴啦，我很愿意跟你一起去野餐。刚才来了个<strong>丑八怪</strong>，就站在我的院子里，可把我吓坏啦。”\r\n\r\n一路上，猪小姐把那个丑八怪的故事仔细地讲给了猪先生。她英俊的朋友猪先生，则一直满怀同情地听着。这真是一个去野餐的好日子啊。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nToday, it\'s a great day for a picnic. Mr. Pig dressed himself with care, looking forward to [the possibility of] Miss Pig and himself going on a picnic together.\r\n\r\n\"Heh, I hope she says \'Yes\' [lit: I\'m willing]. Hm, I\'ll also pick some flowers to give her, that will certainly be enough to sway her!\"\r\n\r\nOn the road, Mr. Pig ran into his friend Fox. When fox heard about the picnic, he said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, let me lend you my beautiful tail. See, you look so clever, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. \r\n\r\nContinuing on, he ran into his friend Lion. Lion heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, borrow my beautiful hair for when you go over there. See, you look so powerful, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased.  \r\n\r\nAfter a while, he ran into his friend Zebra. Zebra heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, I\'ll lend you my beautiful stripes. See, you look so handsome. Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. He felt that he\'d never before looked so handsome.\r\n\r\nFinally arriving at Miss Pig\'s house, Mr. Pig excitedly knocked on the door. \"Would you do me the honor of going on a picnic with me?\" he asked. \r\n\r\nMiss Pig was terrified: \"Oh, no way! What kind of monster are you? If you don\'t go away, I\'ll go get Mr. Pig, he\'ll straighten you out!\"\r\n\r\nMr. Pig hurriedly ran away. On the road, he gave the stripes back to Zebra, the hair back to Lion, and the tail back to Fox. AFter that, he hurried back to Miss Pig\'s house, and again pressed the doorbell. \r\n\r\n\"Would you do me the honor of having a picnic with me?\" he asked again. \r\n\r\n\"Goodness, Mr. Pig!\" Miss Pig cried out. \"I\'m so happy to see you, I\'d love to go on a picnic with you. An ugly wretch just came by here, standing in my garden, and scared me so.\" \r\n\r\nOn the way, Miss Pig told Mr. Pig the story of the \'ugly wretch\' in great detail. Her handsome friend Mr. Pig, though, listened with great sympathy. It really was a great day for a picnic.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Children\'s Story: 《猪先生去野餐》 Mr. Pig\'s Picnic', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'mr-pigs-picnic', '', '', '2020-05-07 17:09:02', '2020-05-07 21:09:02', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1450', 0, 'post', '', 66),
(1730, 1, '2020-04-20 03:33:18', '2020-04-20 07:33:18', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nI love it when I find a longer story that\'s suitable for beginning readers. This one, which is either a tale that reminds us what happens when you try to be something you\'re not, or a tale that reminds us that men should never be allowed to give each other fashion advice, definitely fits the bill. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe first sentence isn\'t super simple, so push through that one if you can, it gets much easier in the following paragraphs. Four points of grammar: \r\n\r\n能有幸请 [pinyin]neng2 you3 xing4 qing3[/pinyin] - A politely formal phrase of invitation \"May have the pleasure of inviting you ...\" or more specifically, \"May I be so lucky as to...\" (have this dance?) (take you on a date?). \r\n\r\n看上去 [pinyin]kan4 shang4 qu4[/pinyin] - To look like. \r\n\r\n你要是再不走开 [pinyin]ni3 yao4 shi4 zai4 bu4 zou3 kai1[/pinyin] - This one might be a little confusing. Let\'s break it down: \r\n\r\n你 - You\r\n要是 - If\r\n再不 - Otherwise / If not\r\n走开 - Go away\r\n\r\nThe full phrase means \"If you don\'t go away....\"\r\n\r\n他会来收拾你的 [pinyin]ta1 hui4 lai2 shou1 shi5 ni3 de5[/pinyin]. In the story, Miss Pig says this to an unwelcome guest. The \"他\" in this case is Mr. Pig. The Beginners often learn the word \"收拾\", meaning \"to tidy up\". Usually, this means exactly what it sounds like, and applies to cleaning up a room or an apartment. In this case, it\'s being used in kind of an action movie way, meaning \"He\'ll come over and <strong>deal with</strong> you!\" or \"He\'ll come <strong>straighten you out</strong>!\". So Miss Pig is threatening the unwelcome guest, telling him that Mr. Pig will come over and beat him up. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>猪先生去野餐</h4>\r\n今天，真是个<strong>野餐</strong>的好日子。 猪先生精心打扮着自己，他<strong>期待</strong>着猪小姐能与他一起去野餐。\r\n\r\n“呵呵，真希望她会说‘我愿意’啊。 嗯，我再摘朵花送给她，一定能够打<strong>动她</strong>！”\r\n\r\n路上，猪先生<strong>遇到</strong>了他的朋友狐狸。狐狸听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的尾巴<strong>借</strong>去吧。瞧，你<strong>看上去</strong>有多聪明啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\r\n\r\n<strong>接着</strong>，他又遇到了他的朋友狮子。狮子听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的头发借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>威猛</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\r\n\r\n后来，他又遇到他的朋友斑马。斑马听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的条纹借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>英俊</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。他觉得自己从来没有这样英俊过。\r\n\r\n终于来到猪小姐家了，猪先生<strong>激动</strong>地敲了敲门。“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他问。\r\n\r\n猪小姐吓了一大跳：“噢，不行！你是哪儿来的<strong>妖怪</strong>呀？你要是<strong>再不走开</strong>，我就去叫猪先生了，他会来收拾你的！”\r\n\r\n猪先生连忙往回跑。一路上，他把条纹还给了斑马，把头发还给了狮子，把尾巴还给了狐狸。然后，他又赶回到猪小姐的家，再一次摁响了门铃。\r\n\r\n“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他又问。\r\n\r\n“啊呀，猪先生！” 猪小姐叫道，“看到你我真是太高兴啦，我很愿意跟你一起去野餐。刚才来了个<strong>丑八怪</strong>，就站在我的院子里，可把我吓坏啦。”\r\n\r\n一路上，猪小姐把那个丑八怪的故事仔细地讲给了猪先生。她英俊的朋友猪先生，则一直满怀同情地听着。这真是一个去野餐的好日子啊。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nToday, it\'s a great day for a picnic. Mr. Pig dressed himself with care, looking forward to [the possibility of] Miss Pig and himself going on a picnic together.\r\n\r\n\"Heh, I hope she says \'Yes\' [lit: I\'m willing]. Hm, I\'ll also pick some flowers to give her, that will certainly be enough to sway her!\"\r\n\r\nOn the road, Mr. Pig ran into his friend Fox. When fox heard about the picnic, he said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, let me lend you my beautiful tail. See, you look so clever, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. \r\n\r\nContinuing on, he ran into his friend Lion. Lion heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, borrow my beautiful hair for when you go over there. See, you look so powerful, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased.  \r\n\r\nAfter a while, he ran into his friend Zebra. Zebra heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, I\'ll lend you my beautiful stripes. See, you look so handsome. Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. He felt that he\'d never before looked so handsome.\r\n\r\nFinally arriving at Miss Pig\'s house, Mr. Pig excitedly knocked on the door. \"Would you do me the honor of going on a picnic with me?\" he asked. \r\n\r\nMiss Pig was terrified: \"Oh, no way! What kind of monster are you? If you don\'t go away, I\'ll go get Mr. Pig, he\'ll straighten you out!\"\r\n\r\nMr. Pig hurriedly ran away. On the road, he gave the stripes back to Zebra, the hair back to Lion, and the tail back to Fox. AFter that, he hurried back to Miss Pig\'s house, and again pressed the doorbell. \r\n\r\n\"Would you do me the honor of having a picnic with me?\" he asked again. \r\n\r\n\"Goodness, Mr. Pig!\" Miss Pig cried out. \"I\'m so happy to see you, I\'d love to go on a picnic with you. An ugly wretch just came by here, standing in my garden, and scared me so.\" \r\n\r\nOn the way, Miss Pig told Mr. Pig the story of the \'ugly wretch\' in great detail. Her handsome friend Mr. Pig, though, listened with great sympathy. It really was a great day for a picnic.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Mr. Pig\'s Picnic', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1450-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:33:18', '2020-04-20 07:33:18', '', 1450, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1450-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1729, 1, '2020-04-20 03:32:57', '2020-04-20 07:32:57', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nI love it when I find a longer story that\'s suitable for beginning readers. This one, which is either a tale that reminds us what happens when you try to be something you\'re not, or a tale that reminds us that men should never be allowed to give each other fashion advice, definitely fits the bill. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130805-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese: Basic Chinese Reader\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The first sentence isn\'t super simple, so push through that one if you can, it gets much easier in the following paragraphs. Four points of grammar: \r\n\r\n能有幸请 [pinyin]neng2 you3 xing4 qing3[/pinyin] - A politely formal phrase of invitation \"May have the pleasure of inviting you ...\" or more specifically, \"May I be so lucky as to...\" (have this dance?) (take you on a date?). \r\n\r\n看上去 [pinyin]kan4 shang4 qu4[/pinyin] - To look like. \r\n\r\n你要是再不走开 [pinyin]ni3 yao4 shi4 zai4 bu4 zou3 kai1[/pinyin] - This one might be a little confusing. Let\'s break it down: \r\n\r\n你 - You\r\n要是 - If\r\n再不 - Otherwise / If not\r\n走开 - Go away\r\n\r\nThe full phrase means \"If you don\'t go away....\"\r\n\r\n他会来收拾你的 [pinyin]ta1 hui4 lai2 shou1 shi5 ni3 de5[/pinyin]. In the story, Miss Pig says this to an unwelcome guest. The \"他\" in this case is Mr. Pig. The Beginners often learn the word \"收拾\", meaning \"to tidy up\". Usually, this means exactly what it sounds like, and applies to cleaning up a room or an apartment. In this case, it\'s being used in kind of an action movie way, meaning \"He\'ll come over and <strong>deal with</strong> you!\" or \"He\'ll come <strong>straighten you out</strong>!\". So Miss Pig is threatening the unwelcome guest, telling him that Mr. Pig will come over and beat him up. \r\n\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>猪先生去野餐</h4>\r\n今天，真是个<strong>野餐</strong>的好日子。 猪先生精心打扮着自己，他<strong>期待</strong>着猪小姐能与他一起去野餐。\r\n\r\n“呵呵，真希望她会说‘我愿意’啊。 嗯，我再摘朵花送给她，一定能够打<strong>动她</strong>！”\r\n\r\n路上，猪先生<strong>遇到</strong>了他的朋友狐狸。狐狸听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的尾巴<strong>借</strong>去吧。瞧，你<strong>看上去</strong>有多聪明啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\r\n\r\n<strong>接着</strong>，他又遇到了他的朋友狮子。狮子听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的头发借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>威猛</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\r\n\r\n后来，他又遇到他的朋友斑马。斑马听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的条纹借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>英俊</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。他觉得自己从来没有这样英俊过。\r\n\r\n终于来到猪小姐家了，猪先生<strong>激动</strong>地敲了敲门。“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他问。\r\n\r\n猪小姐吓了一大跳：“噢，不行！你是哪儿来的<strong>妖怪</strong>呀？你要是<strong>再不走开</strong>，我就去叫猪先生了，他会来收拾你的！”\r\n\r\n猪先生连忙往回跑。一路上，他把条纹还给了斑马，把头发还给了狮子，把尾巴还给了狐狸。然后，他又赶回到猪小姐的家，再一次摁响了门铃。\r\n\r\n“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他又问。\r\n\r\n“啊呀，猪先生！” 猪小姐叫道，“看到你我真是太高兴啦，我很愿意跟你一起去野餐。刚才来了个<strong>丑八怪</strong>，就站在我的院子里，可把我吓坏啦。”\r\n\r\n一路上，猪小姐把那个丑八怪的故事仔细地讲给了猪先生。她英俊的朋友猪先生，则一直满怀同情地听着。这真是一个去野餐的好日子啊。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nToday, it\'s a great day for a picnic. Mr. Pig dressed himself with care, looking forward to [the possibility of] Miss Pig and himself going on a picnic together.\r\n\r\n\"Heh, I hope she says \'Yes\' [lit: I\'m willing]. Hm, I\'ll also pick some flowers to give her, that will certainly be enough to sway her!\"\r\n\r\nOn the road, Mr. Pig ran into his friend Fox. When fox heard about the picnic, he said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, let me lend you my beautiful tail. See, you look so clever, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. \r\n\r\nContinuing on, he ran into his friend Lion. Lion heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, borrow my beautiful hair for when you go over there. See, you look so powerful, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased.  \r\n\r\nAfter a while, he ran into his friend Zebra. Zebra heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, I\'ll lend you my beautiful stripes. See, you look so handsome. Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. He felt that he\'d never before looked so handsome.\r\n\r\nFinally arriving at Miss Pig\'s house, Mr. Pig excitedly knocked on the door. \"Would you do me the honor of going on a picnic with me?\" he asked. \r\n\r\nMiss Pig was terrified: \"Oh, no way! What kind of monster are you? If you don\'t go away, I\'ll go get Mr. Pig, he\'ll straighten you out!\"\r\n\r\nMr. Pig hurriedly ran away. On the road, he gave the stripes back to Zebra, the hair back to Lion, and the tail back to Fox. AFter that, he hurried back to Miss Pig\'s house, and again pressed the doorbell. \r\n\r\n\"Would you do me the honor of having a picnic with me?\" he asked again. \r\n\r\n\"Goodness, Mr. Pig!\" Miss Pig cried out. \"I\'m so happy to see you, I\'d love to go on a picnic with you. An ugly wretch just came by here, standing in my garden, and scared me so.\" \r\n\r\nOn the way, Miss Pig told Mr. Pig the story of the \'ugly wretch\' in great detail. Her handsome friend Mr. Pig, though, listened with great sympathy. It really was a great day for a picnic.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Mr. Pig\'s Picnic', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1450-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:32:57', '2020-04-20 07:32:57', '', 1450, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1450-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1451, 1, '2013-08-05 07:12:01', '2013-08-05 11:12:01', '', 'Basic Chinese Reading Texts: Learn to Read in Chinese', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130805-inline', '', '', '2013-08-05 07:12:01', '2013-08-05 11:12:01', '', 1450, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130805-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1452, 1, '2013-08-05 07:12:03', '2013-08-05 11:12:03', '', 'Basic Chinese Reading Texts: Learn to Read in Chinese', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20130805', '', '', '2013-08-05 07:12:03', '2013-08-05 11:12:03', '', 1450, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130805.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
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(1453, 1, '2013-08-05 07:07:51', '2013-08-05 11:07:51', '[two_third]\nI love it when I find a longer story that\'s suitable for beginning readers. This one, which is either a tale that reminds us what happens when you try to be something you\'re not, or a tale that reminds us that men should never be allowed to give each other fashion advice, definitely fits the bill. <!--more-->\n\nThe first sentence isn\'t super simple, so push through that one if you can, it gets much easier in the following paragraphs. Four points of grammar: \n\n能有幸请 [pinyin]neng2 you3 xing4 qing3[/pinyin] - A politely formal phrase of invitation \"May have the pleasure of inviting you ...\" or more specifically, \"May I be so lucky as to...\" (have this dance?) (take you on a date?). \n\n看上去 [pinyin]kan4 shang4 qu4[/pinyin] - To look like. \n\n你要是再不走开 [pinyin]ni3 yao4 shi4 zai4 bu4 zou3 kai1[/pinyin] - This one might be a little confusing. Let\'s break it down: \n\n你 - You\n要是 - If\n再不 - Otherwise / If not\n走开 - Go away\n\nThe full phrase means \"If you don\'t go away....\"\n\n他会来收拾你的 [pinyin]ta1 hui4 lai2 shou1 shi5 ni3 de5[/pinyin]. In the story, Miss Pig says this to an unwelcome guest. The \"他\" in this case is Mr. Pig. The Beginners often learn the word \"收拾\", meaning \"to tidy up\". Usually, this means exactly what it sounds like, and applies to cleaning up a room or an apartment. In this case, it\'s being used in kind of an action movie way, meaning \"He\'ll come over and <strong>deal with</strong> you!\" or \"He\'ll come <strong>straighten you out</strong>!\". So Miss Pig is threatening the unwelcome guest, telling him that Mr. Pig will come over and beat him up. \n\nThe Chinese title is 猪先生去野餐\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n野餐 - [pinyin]ye3 can1[/pinyin] - Picnic\n期待 - [pinyin]qi1 dai4[/pinyin] - To look forward to\n打动 - [pinyin]da3 dong4[/pinyin] - To move someone(emotionally)\n遇到 - [pinyin]yu4 dao4[/pinyin] - To run into\n借 - [pinyin]jie4[/pinyin] - Lend, borrow\n接着 - [pinyin]jie1 zhe5[/pinyin] - Continuing on\n威猛 - [pinyin]wei1 meng3[/pinyin] - Bold and powerful\n英俊 - [pinyin]ying1 jun4[/pinyin] - Handsome\n激动 - [pinyin]ji1 dong4[/pinyin] - Excite, agitate\n妖怪 - [pinyin]yao1 guai4[/pinyin] - Monster, devil\n丑八怪 - [pinyin]chou3 ba1 guai4[/pinyin] - Ugly person\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n今天，真是个<strong>野餐</strong>的好日子。 猪先生精心打扮着自己，他<strong>期待</strong>着猪小姐能与他一起去野餐。\n\n“呵呵，真希望她会说‘我愿意’啊。 嗯，我再摘朵花送给她，一定能够打<strong>动她</strong>！”\n\n路上，猪先生<strong>遇到</strong>了他的朋友狐狸。狐狸听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的尾巴<strong>借</strong>去吧。瞧，你<strong>看上去</strong>有多聪明啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\n\n<strong>接着</strong>，他又遇到了他的朋友狮子。狮子听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的头发借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>威猛</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。\n\n后来，他又遇到他的朋友斑马。斑马听说了野餐的事，就说：“让我给你一个建议，把我美丽的条纹借去吧。 瞧，你看上去有多<strong>英俊</strong>啊，猪小姐肯定会喜欢的。” 猪先生很满意。他觉得自己从来没有这样英俊过。\n\n终于来到猪小姐家了，猪先生<strong>激动</strong>地敲了敲门。“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他问。\n\n猪小姐吓了一大跳：“噢，不行！你是哪儿来的<strong>妖怪</strong>呀？你要是<strong>再不走开</strong>，我就去叫猪先生了，他会来收拾你的！”\n\n猪先生连忙往回跑。一路上，他把条纹还给了斑马，把头发还给了狮子，把尾巴还给了狐狸。然后，他又赶回到猪小姐的家，再一次摁响了门铃。\n\n“能有幸请你一起去野餐吗？”他又问。\n\n“啊呀，猪先生！” 猪小姐叫道，“看到你我真是太高兴啦，我很愿意跟你一起去野餐。刚才来了个<strong>丑八怪</strong>，就站在我的院子里，可把我吓坏啦。”\n\n一路上，猪小姐把那个丑八怪的故事仔细地讲给了猪先生。她英俊的朋友猪先生，则一直满怀同情地听着。这真是一个去野餐的好日子啊。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nToday, it\'s a great day for a picnic. Mr. Pig dressed himself with care, looking forward to [the possibility of] Miss Pig and himself going on a picnic together.\n\n\"Heh, I hope she says \'Yes\' [lit: I\'m willing]. Hm, I\'ll also pick some flowers to give her, that will certainly be enough to sway her!\"\n\nOn the road, Mr. Pig ran into his friend Fox. When fox heard about the picnic, he said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, let me lend you my beautiful tail. See, you look so clever, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. \n\nContinuing on, he ran into his friend Lion. Lion heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, borrow my beautiful hair for when you go over there. See, you look so powerful, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased.  \n\nAfter a while, he ran into his friend Zebra. Zebra heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, I\'ll lend you my beautiful stripes. See, you look so handsome. Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. He felt that he\'d never before looked so handsome.\n\nFinally arriving at Miss Pig\'s house, Mr. Pig excitedly knocked on the door. \"Would you do me the honor of going on a picnic with me?\" he asked. \n\nMiss Pig was terrified: \"Oh, no way! What kind of monster are you? If you don\'t go away, I\'ll go get Mr. Pig, he\'ll straighten you out!\"\n\nMr. Pig hurriedly ran away. On the road, he gave the stripes back to Zebra, the hair back to Lion, and the tail back to Fox. AFter that, he hurried back to Miss Pig\'s house, and again pressed the doorbell. \n\n\"Would you do me the honor of having a picnic with me?\" he asked again. \n\n\"Goodness, Mr. Pig!\" Miss Pig cried out. \"I\'m so happy to see you, I\'d love to go on a picnic with you. An ugly wretch just came by here, standing in my garden, and scared me so.\" \n\nOn the way, Miss Pig told Mr. Pig the story of the \'ugly wretch\' in great detail. Her handsome friend Mr. Pig, though, listened with great sympathy. It really was a great day for a picnic.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Mr. Pig\'s Picnic', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1450-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-08-05 07:07:51', '2013-08-05 11:07:51', '', 1450, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/08/05/1450-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1455, 1, '2013-05-06 04:44:05', '2013-05-06 08:44:05', '[two_third]\r\nWell well well, lookie here. A guest post! Today we\'ll be reading Rebecca Chua\'s (Chinese name: 蔡幸彤) translation of an essay from her textbook. The post is about the rewards of honesty. I remember my own textbook being full of these types of essays, so thank you, Rebecca, for the traditional read. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img class=\"imgborder alignleft\" title=\"20130506-inline\" src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130506-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Learn Mandarin Chinese Characters: Practice Reading Simplified Chinese Character Essays\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" />Rebecca has this to say about the post: <em>This story talks about a school-going child\'s problems of getting his parents to sign his papers. It also talks about being honest, and that life\'s exam papers matter the most. This essay was from my tutoring centre\'s teaching materials. This was done with help. Thank you for those who helped me!</em>\r\n\r\n(And the same in Chinese:) 这个故事是讲述华文考试卷要签名所遇到的困难。这个故事教我们要诚实，也教我们，虽然考卷的真正分数低，但人生的考卷上有高分才是最重要的。\r\n\r\nOne of the interesting things about this post is the punctuation. In Chinese, they use a six-dot ellipses …… where we only use... three. (u c wat i did thar?). We also learn a little culture here: it\'s worth noting that in most Chinese highschools, parents actually have to sign your test results to prove you showed it to them. We also see that Rebecca\'s book spells \"A+\" as \"A*\".\r\n\r\nI\'m super loving this phrase - 从天堂降落到地狱 - though it might need a little breakdown:\r\n\r\n从 - From\r\n天堂 - Heaven\r\n降落 - descend\r\n到 - to\r\n地狱 - Hell\r\n\r\nThis phrase means to \"have a sinking heart\" or to \"fall from joy to misery\".\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n发下来 - [pinyin]fa1 xia4 lai5[/pinyin] - To pass out (papers), hand back (homework)\r\n考卷 - [pinyin]kao3 juan4[/pinyin] - Exam paper\r\n沉重 - [pinyin]chen2 zhong4[/pinyin] - Hard, serious\r\n羡慕 - [pinyin]xian4 mu4[/pinyin] - To envy\r\n竟然 - [pinyin]jing4 ran2[/pinyin] - Unexpectedly\r\n松了一口气 - [pinyin]song1 le yi1 kou3 qi4[/pinyin] - Let out a sigh (usually of relief) \r\n顿 - [pinyin]dun4[/pinyin] - Classifier for a period of time when a beating, scolding or critique takes place\r\n到底 - [pinyin]dao4 di3[/pinyin] - When all is said and done\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">我背着书包，手里拿着刚刚<strong>发下来</strong>的<strong>考卷</strong>，一边拖着<strong>沉重</strong>的脚步向家走着，一边紧张的思考怎样让爸爸在考卷上签名……前两天的考卷，今天老师发下来了。我拿了一个A*，考到了97分！同学们都很<strong>羡慕</strong>我，我也得到老师的肯定。在老师要我们做改正的时候，我就<strong>从天堂降落到地狱</strong>。天啊！我<strong>竟然</strong>忘了一整页试题，整整要被扣十分！但是老师却没发现，我还真不知该不该对她说。这时，我的头脑出现了两个“我”，一个说：“算了，不要告诉老师，我已经得了老师的肯定，同学们又那么羡慕我，如果我告诉老师，不就等于丢我的脸，还失去爸爸要給我的礼物。”另一个说：“不行，要做个诚实的人，一定要告诉老师。”于是，我对老师说：“我漏掉了这些题，应该是87 分！”老师帮我改分数的那一刻，我立刻<strong>松了一口气</strong>。\r\n\r\n在回家的路上，我真希望我没有对老师说这番话。现在，我不仅要丢掉爸爸的礼物，还得被他骂一<strong>顿</strong>。晚上，我把考卷交给爸爸，爸爸说：“你为什么那么不小心？为什么一整页的题目没做？为什么？” 如在平时，当他问我这些问题时，我会叫他一个“十万个为什么”的人。可现在，我不敢，应为他生气得好像要打我似的。突然，他看见97分改成87分，很奇怪地问我：\"<strong>到底</strong>怎么一回事？“我把情况如实地告诉了他。我低着头，准备继续挨训。\r\n\r\n爸爸沉默了一会儿，突然惊喜地看着我：“不，宝贝儿，虽然你考卷上的分数不尽人意，但是在人生考卷上你却得了高分。爸爸为你骄傲！你做得对......”说完他在考卷上签了名。\r\n\r\n第二天早上，我背起书包，手里拿着由爸爸签名的考卷，迈着轻快的脚步，迎着初升的朝阳，信心十足地向学校走去……\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nCarrying a heavy load on my back, holding the exam papers that were just handed back to us, I wondered how I could make my father sign this paper......\r\n\r\nThe exam, which was held just two days before, was handed back to us. I got an A+, a high score of 97 points! All the students in my class were envious of me, and I got the praise of my teacher. But when we were asked to do corrections, I found myself dropping all the way from heaven to hell. I actually forgot to do a whole page of questions, and had to be deducted of ten marks! But my teacher hadn\'t discovered yet, and I wasn\'t sure if I had to say it to her. I was in two minds. One said, \"Don\'t tell her, otherwise you would lose face and lose your father\'s present!\" The other said, \"No, you should be honest, just tell her!\" So, I said, \"I missed these questions, the actual points should be 87!\" When she helped me change my score, I heaved a sigh of relief.\r\n\r\nWhen I was going home, I wished I had not said all that. Now, not only was I going to lose my father\'s present, but I was also going to be scolded by him. At night, when I passed my paper to him, he said,\"Why were you so careless? Why did you miss out a whole page of questions?\" Usually, when he asks me all these questions, I call him a \"dad of ten-thousand questions\". But now, I daren\'t, because he seems so angry that he might hit me. Suddenly, when he saw that my 97 points became 87 points, he asked me,\"What happened?\" I told him the truth, and lowered my head, ready to continue being scolded.\r\n\r\nMy father silenced for a while. Then he suddenly said, \"No, darling, even though you results aren\'t satisfactory, in life\'s exam, you have gotten a high score. I am proud of you! You have done it right......\" after saying that he signed his name.\r\n\r\nThe next morning, carrying my schoolbag, with light steps, I was feeling happy. Welcoming the rising sun, I walked towards my school with confidence......\r\n[/hide-this-part]', 'Guest Post by Rebecca Chua: The difference between life\'s exam and exam papers', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1348-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-05-06 04:44:05', '2013-05-06 08:44:05', '', 1348, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/05/06/1348-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1456, 1, '2012-10-06 00:58:15', '2012-10-06 04:58:15', '[two_third]\r\n<strong>Chinese Title: 拿到压岁钱以后</strong>\r\nFor those of you new to Chinese culture, one thing a Chinese child most looks forward to all year is the time during Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) when they get to go ask their neighbors and other adults for red envelopes containing some money - it\'s a bit like trick-or-treating for cash. This essay is about what happened to one kid\'s Spring Festival haul. We\'ll cover a lot of beginner grammar here.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/20120910-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"How to Read Chinese: Simplified Mandarin Chinese Essays for Children\" title=\"Learning to Read Chinese: Simplified Mandarin Chinese Essays for Kids\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I should probably talk about a couple of points before we dive in. One is the use of the word 玩. Describing what he (or she, perhaps) does on Chinese New Year, the author says he can 玩得快活 - \"play happily\". The Chinese don\'t use \"play\" the way we do. While they do use it to mean \"to play with toys\" as a child does, they also use it to mean going out (like adults going out on Saturday night), or friends going out to a mall to go shopping - it\'s really more of a blanket term better translated as \"having fun\". So the kid is not saying they necessarily only play with toys happily on Chinese New Year, but also maybe that they go hang out at parents\' friends houses, or whatever. It\'s not specified.\r\n\r\nAnother interesting point comes in here: 心里特别高兴，但是也很扫兴 - \"In my heart I was extremely happy, but also very disappointed\". Note the use of the words 特别 and 很 - meaning \"extremely\" / \"very\" respectively. Thing is, in Chinese you can\'t use a word like \"happy\" or \"disappointed\" without balancing it with a word measuring how happy or disappointed you were. There\'s no way in general casual conversation to say \"I was happy\" - just regular ol\' happy. You can\'t, for example, say just \"我高兴“. Instead, say \"I was VERY happy\" 我很高兴, or \"extremely happy\" 我非常高兴 or \"exceedingly happy\" 高兴极了 or \"fairly happy\" 比较高兴 or whatever. So when we translate Chinese, we could actually drop the \"very\"s and \"extremely\"s and all that, because they have much less meaning in Mandarin then they do to us. This used to bug me a lot when speaking. I didn\'t <em>want</em> to say I was \"very happy\" - I wasn\'t. I was just normally happy. But it was finally explained to me how little that \"very\" actually mattered. So bear that in mind. \r\n\r\nAnd another point: ...收到了700<strong>余</strong>元... This means \"received over 700 yuan\". Notice that the word 余, which means \"over\" / \"more than\" is written <strong>after </strong>the amount of money and <strong>before </strong>the actual word \"yuan\". In English, this would be like saying \"received 700-plus dollars\". You could also say 收到了700<strong>多</strong>元, which means the same thing. \r\n\r\nAnd finally: Beware the definition I give for the word 由 here. It\'s one of those grammar words that means a ton of different things in different contexts - kind of like how the English word \"to\" is hard to define and used often. In my definition list, I only ever show the definition relevant to this text, so you\'re going to see the word 由 in many contexts in many essays and it doesn\'t always mean what it means here. \r\n\r\nThe original is from my new favorite Chinese <a href=\"http://www.61zuowen.com/jishi/2012082085897.html\">essay composition site</a>. \r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n过 - [pinyin]guo4[/pinyin] - To celebrate\r\n不但...而且 - [pinyin]bu4 dan4...er2 qie3[/pinyin] - Not only [sthg], but also [sthg else]\r\n压岁钱 - [pinyin]ya1 sui4 qian2[/pinyin] - Money Chinese children get as presents during Chinese New Years\r\n以往 - [pinyin]yi3 wang3[/pinyin] - Before, previously\r\n上缴 - [pinyin]shang4 jiao3[/pinyin] - To give money up to higher authorities\r\n由 - [pinyin]you4[/pinyin] - To leave something to someone (to manage / handle)\r\n爽快 - [pinyin]shuang3 kuai5[/pinyin] - Straightforward\r\n肯德基 - [pinyin]ken3 de2 ji1[/pinyin] - Kentucky Fried Chicken\r\n苦思冥想 - [pinyin]ku3 si1 ming2 xiang3[/pinyin] - Rack one\'s brains\r\n订 - [pinyin]ding1[/pinyin] - To subscribe to (a newspaper / magazine)\r\n献 - [pinyin]xian4[/pinyin] - To donate\r\n勤俭节约 - [pinyin]qin2 jian3 jie2 jue1 [/pinyin] - Diligent and thrifty\r\n逐渐 - [pinyin]zhu2 jian4[/pinyin] - Gradually\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n我非常喜欢<strong>过</strong>新年，因为过年<strong>不但</strong>能穿新衣服，玩得快活，<strong>而且</strong>还能收到很多的<strong>压岁钱</strong>。今年我一下子就收到了700<strong>余</strong>元<strong>压岁钱</strong>，我拿着压岁钱，心里特别高兴，但是也很扫兴，怕妈妈给收走了，<strong>以往</strong>的压岁钱都要<strong>上缴</strong>的，我就给妈妈商量：今年我刚满十岁，我已经长大了，希望这些压岁钱<strong>由</strong>我来保管，没想到妈妈很<strong>爽快</strong>的答应了，我心里乐的开了花。我拿到这些压岁钱，我应该怎样来花这些钱呢？买我喜欢的玩具、还有我最喜欢吃的<strong>肯德基</strong>？我<strong>苦思冥想</strong>了好几天，我打算用这些钱来买我喜欢的书籍、买一些学习用品或者<strong>订</strong>报纸、<strong>献</strong>爱心捐款......除了这些,我是决不乱花的。\r\n\r\n我决得这样做，不但可以从小学会<strong>勤俭节约</strong>、不乱花钱的习惯，而且还可以使我学会管理、学会生活，这样才会使我<strong>逐渐</strong>成长起来。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n I really love New Year, because [during] New Year I can not only wear new clothes, and play happily, but also I can get a lot of New Year\'s money. This year in a short while I got more than 700 yuan, and holding that New Years\' money, in my heart I was extremely happy, but also my spirits were dampened, I was afraid mama would take it away from me, [because] in the past [I had to] give over my New Year\'s money to the higher authorities [author means his mother here, not God], so I discussed it with mom [thus]:<em> this year I\'m fully 10 years old, I\'m already a grown up, and I hope this New Year\'s money can be left under my care,</em> but I never though she\'d agree so easily [lit: so frankly], and happiness bloomed in my heart like a flower. I held the New Year\'s money, but what should I spend this money on? Buy a toy I like, or my favorite thing to eat, Kentucky Fried Chicken? I racked my brains for several days, and decided to use the money to buy some books I liked, buy a few school supplies or to subscribe to a newspaper, and to make a charitable donation... apart from these things, I figured I\'d better not spend it recklessly [author likely means they won\'t spend the rest at all].  \r\n\r\nI though that doing it this way, I not only could learn to be diligent and thrifty starting in primary school, and develop careful spending habits, but also this could let me study money management, study life [skills], and this would finally let me gradually mature.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'After I Got My New Years\' Money', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1241-revision-v1', '', '', '2012-10-06 00:58:15', '2012-10-06 04:58:15', '', 1241, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/10/06/1241-revision-7/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1460, 1, '2014-02-04 03:49:05', '2014-02-04 08:49:05', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nBeen a couple of months since I tossed a post out there - the latter half of 2013 was a bit of a shake-up, so please forgive the lapse. In other news, I can\'t get my favorite Chinese story website, tom61.com, to load anymore, #sadface. Fingers crossed that\'s a temporary glitch, but if not, I\'ll mourn the loss of a fantastic learner\'s website. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140204-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Practice Chinese Simplified Essays Stories for Beginners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In the meantime, I\'ve pulled something off <a href=\"http://gushi365.com\">gushi365.com</a>. \r\n\r\nThe content of <a href=\"http://www.gushi365.com/info/9851.html\">this story</a> is for children, but the language is not beginner, and neither is the sentence structure - this is an intermediate read for sure. I say that because it feels very \"fairy-tale\" language-y, in the sense that sentences are formed in a more literary way, rather than in a chatty way, and there are some uncommonly-heard words, like \"footprint\" (脚印), etc. The tone of the story, on the other hand, is very tra-la-la, winter sparkly glitter magic.\r\n\r\nTwo quick notes on phrases here: 传来了 [pinyin]chuan4 lai2[/pinyin] is an intermediate phrase that can be a little hard to understand, but it is used in reference to things we hear that come to us from afar. This may include voices (like hearing someone\'s voice from outside your house), or noises, or smells, or a piece of news. You can use this to talk about sensations and things that come to you from no particular person or direction - from \"afar\" or \"all around\". \r\n\r\n掏出 [pinyin]tao1 chu1[/pinyin]: this means to fish something out of something else. For example, to fish your phone out of your pocket, or to fish your sweatshirt out of your backpack. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>小熊的美梦</h4>\r\n下雪啦，下雪啦！一片片雪花像<strong>蒲公英</strong>一样在空中<strong>翩翩起舞</strong>，不一会儿，大地就穿上了一件洁白的衣裳。\r\n\r\n可爱的小熊不小心<strong>扭到脚了</strong>，只得孤零零地躺在小床上。忽然，从窗外<strong>传来了</strong>欢快的歌声。小熊朝窗外看去，原来是小老鼠和小白兔在雪地里<strong>载歌载舞</strong>呢！雪地上还留下了他们可爱的小脚印。小熊心里真羡慕呀！可是，他有什么办法呢？小熊深深地叹了一口气，<strong>自言自语</strong>：“还是睡一觉吧，<strong>说不定</strong>梦里会出现<strong>奇迹</strong>！”\r\n\r\n小熊果然做了一个好梦。他梦见一位留着长胡子的老爷爷来到了他的小屋里。老爷爷从衣袋里<strong>掏出</strong>一个小瓶子，笑眯眯地喷了喷小熊受伤的脚。小熊马上就<strong>活蹦乱跳</strong>了，快活地在雪地上和小伙伴们玩耍……\r\n\r\n小鸟们的欢声笑语把小熊<strong>吵醒</strong>了，原来这只是一场梦。可是小熊发现自己的手里竟然有一个小瓶子！小熊拿起小瓶子往脚上一喷，受伤的脚马上就好了。这真是一瓶神水啊！从此，小熊再也不怕摔伤了。 \r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nIt\'s snowing, it\'s snowing! Flakes of snow lightly danced like dandelions in the air, and after a while, the earth wore clothes of pure white. \r\n\r\nCute little bear incautiously sprained his ankle, and had to lie in bed all alone. Suddenly, from outside the window came the sound of lighthearted singing. Little bear looked out the window, and [saw that it was] Little Mouse and Little White Rabbit dancing and singing! The snow still held [impressions of] their cute little footprints. Little Bear was truly envious! But what could he do? Little Bear gave a deep sigh, and said aloud to himself: \"Better get some more sleep, and maybe in my dream there will be a miracle!\" \r\n\r\nSure enough, Little bear had a good dream. In his dream, an old man with a long beard came into his room. The old man fished a little bottle out of his pocket, and smilingly sprayed [some liquid from the bottle] on Little Bear\'s wounded foot. Little Bear immediately leaped up and frisked about, playing cheerfully with his [two] buddies on the snowy ground.\r\n\r\nThe happy sounds of the small birds woke Little Bear up, and [found that] actually it was all just a dream. But then he discovered that there was a small bottle in his hand! Little Bear took up the small bottle and sprayed it on his foot, and the wounded foot was immediately better! This really was a bottle of magic water! After that, Little Bear never again feared bumps and bruises. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Children\'s Story: Little Bear\'s Beautiful Dream', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'little-bears-beautiful-dream', '', '', '2020-04-28 20:01:53', '2020-04-29 00:01:53', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1460', 0, 'post', '', 17),
(1731, 1, '2020-04-20 03:34:33', '2020-04-20 07:34:33', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nBeen a couple of months since I tossed a post out there - the latter half of 2013 was a bit of a shake-up, so please forgive the lapse. In other news, I can\'t get my favorite Chinese story website, tom61.com, to load anymore, #sadface. Fingers crossed that\'s a temporary glitch, but if not, I\'ll mourn the loss of a fantastic learner\'s website. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140204-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Practice Chinese Simplified Essays Stories for Beginners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In the meantime, I\'ve pulled something off <a href=\"http://gushi365.com\">gushi365.com</a>. \r\n\r\nThe content of <a href=\"http://www.gushi365.com/info/9851.html\">this story</a> is for children, but the language is not beginner, and neither is the sentence structure - this is an intermediate read for sure. I say that because it feels very \"fairy-tale\" language-y, in the sense that sentences are formed in a more literary way, rather than in a chatty way, and there are some uncommonly-heard words, like \"footprint\" (脚印), etc. The tone of the story, on the other hand, is very tra-la-la, winter sparkly glitter magic.\r\n\r\nTwo quick notes on phrases here: 传来了 [pinyin]chuan4 lai2[/pinyin] is an intermediate phrase that can be a little hard to understand, but it is used in reference to things we hear that come to us from afar. This may include voices (like hearing someone\'s voice from outside your house), or noises, or smells, or a piece of news. You can use this to talk about sensations and things that come to you from no particular person or direction - from \"afar\" or \"all around\". \r\n\r\n掏出 [pinyin]tao1 chu1[/pinyin]: this means to fish something out of something else. For example, to fish your phone out of your pocket, or to fish your sweatshirt out of your backpack. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>小熊的美梦</h4>\r\n下雪啦，下雪啦！一片片雪花像<strong>蒲公英</strong>一样在空中<strong>翩翩起舞</strong>，不一会儿，大地就穿上了一件洁白的衣裳。\r\n\r\n可爱的小熊不小心<strong>扭到脚了</strong>，只得孤零零地躺在小床上。忽然，从窗外<strong>传来了</strong>欢快的歌声。小熊朝窗外看去，原来是小老鼠和小白兔在雪地里<strong>载歌载舞</strong>呢！雪地上还留下了他们可爱的小脚印。小熊心里真羡慕呀！可是，他有什么办法呢？小熊深深地叹了一口气，<strong>自言自语</strong>：“还是睡一觉吧，<strong>说不定</strong>梦里会出现<strong>奇迹</strong>！”\r\n\r\n小熊果然做了一个好梦。他梦见一位留着长胡子的老爷爷来到了他的小屋里。老爷爷从衣袋里<strong>掏出</strong>一个小瓶子，笑眯眯地喷了喷小熊受伤的脚。小熊马上就<strong>活蹦乱跳</strong>了，快活地在雪地上和小伙伴们玩耍……\r\n\r\n小鸟们的欢声笑语把小熊<strong>吵醒</strong>了，原来这只是一场梦。可是小熊发现自己的手里竟然有一个小瓶子！小熊拿起小瓶子往脚上一喷，受伤的脚马上就好了。这真是一瓶神水啊！从此，小熊再也不怕摔伤了。 \r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nIt\'s snowing, it\'s snowing! Flakes of snow lightly danced like dandelions in the air, and after a while, the earth wore clothes of pure white. \r\n\r\nCute little bear incautiously sprained his ankle, and had to lie in bed all alone. Suddenly, from outside the window came the sound of lighthearted singing. Little bear looked out the window, and [saw that it was] Little Mouse and Little White Rabbit dancing and singing! The snow still held [impressions of] their cute little footprints. Little Bear was truly envious! But what could he do? Little Bear gave a deep sigh, and said aloud to himself: \"Better get some more sleep, and maybe in my dream there will be a miracle!\" \r\n\r\nSure enough, Little bear had a good dream. In his dream, an old man with a long beard came into his room. The old man fished a little bottle out of his pocket, and smilingly sprayed [some liquid from the bottle] on Little Bear\'s wounded foot. Little Bear immediately leaped up and frisked about, playing cheerfully with his [two] buddies on the snowy ground.\r\n\r\nThe happy sounds of the small birds woke Little Bear up, and [found that] actually it was all just a dream. But then he discovered that there was a small bottle in his hand! Little Bear took up the small bottle and sprayed it on his foot, and the wounded foot was immediately better! This really was a bottle of magic water! After that, Little Bear never again feared bumps and bruises. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Little Bear\'s Beautiful Dream', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1460-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:34:33', '2020-04-20 07:34:33', '', 1460, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1460-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1461, 1, '2014-02-04 03:42:37', '2014-02-04 08:42:37', '[two_third]\nBeen a couple of months since I tossed a post out there - the latter half of 2013 was a bit of a shake-up, so please forgive the lapse. In other news, I can\'t get my favorite Chinese story website, tom61.com, to load anymore, #sadface. Fingers crossed that\'s a temporary glitch, but if not, I\'ll mourn the loss of a fantastic learner\'s website. \n\nIn the meantime, I\'ve pulled something off <a href=\"http://gushi365.com\">gushi365.com</a>. \n\nThe content of <a href=\"http://www.gushi365.com/info/9851.html\">this story</a> is for children, but the language is not beginner, and neither is the sentence structure - this is an intermediate read for sure. I say that because it feels very \"fairy-tale\" language-y, in the sense that sentences are formed in a more literary way, rather than in a chatty way, and there are some uncommonly-heard words, like \"footprint\" (脚印), etc. The tone of the story, on the other hand, is very tra-la-la, winter sparkly glitter magic.\n\nTwo quick notes on phrases here: 传来了 [pinyin]chuan4 lai2[/pinyin] is an intermediate phrase that can be a little hard to understand, but it is used in reference to things we hear that come to us from afar. This may include voices (like hearing someone\'s voice from outside your house), or noises, or smells, or a piece of news. You can use this to talk about sensations and things that come to you from no particular person or direction - from \"afar\" or \"all around\". \n\n掏出 [pinyin]tao1 chu1[/pinyin]: this means to fish something out of something else. For example, to fish your phone out of your pocket, or to fish your sweatshirt out of your backpack. Quick Chinese internet culture cross-over: 掏 is the same character in <a\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n蒲公英 - [pinyin]pu2 gong1 ying1[/pinyin] - Dandelion\n翩翩起舞 - [pinyin]pian1 pian1 qi3 wu3[/pinyin] - Lightly dance about\n扭到脚了 - [pinyin]niu3 dao4 jiao3 le[/pinyin] - Sprain / twist one\'s foot / ankle\n载歌载舞 - [pinyin]zai4 ge1 zai4 wu3[/pinyin] - Singing and dancing\n自言自语- [pinyin]zi4 yan2 zi4 yu3[/pinyin] - Talk to yourself\n说不定 - [pinyin]shuo1 bu5 ding4[/pinyin] - Who can say... [that sthng won\'t happen]\n奇迹 - [pinyin]qi2 ji4[/pinyin] - Miracle\n活蹦乱跳 - [pinyin]huo2 beng4 luan4 tiao4[/pinyin] - Leap and frisk about\n吵醒 - [pinyin]chao2 xing3[/pinyin] - To be woken up by noise\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n下雪啦，下雪啦！一片片雪花像<strong>蒲公英</strong>一样在空中<strong>翩翩起舞</strong>，不一会儿，大地就穿上了一件洁白的衣裳。\n\n可爱的小熊不小心<strong>扭到脚了</strong>，只得孤零零地躺在小床上。忽然，从窗外<strong>传来了</strong>欢快的歌声。小熊朝窗外看去，原来是小老鼠和小白兔在雪地里<strong>载歌载舞</strong>呢！雪地上还留下了他们可爱的小脚印。小熊心里真羡慕呀！可是，他有什么办法呢？小熊深深地叹了一口气，<strong>自言自语</strong>：“还是睡一觉吧，<strong>说不定</strong>梦里会出现<strong>奇迹</strong>！”\n\n小熊果然做了一个好梦。他梦见一位留着长胡子的老爷爷来到了他的小屋里。老爷爷从衣袋里<strong>掏出</strong>一个小瓶子，笑眯眯地喷了喷小熊受伤的脚。小熊马上就<strong>活蹦乱跳</strong>了，快活地在雪地上和小伙伴们玩耍……\n\n小鸟们的欢声笑语把小熊<strong>吵醒</strong>了，原来这只是一场梦。可是小熊发现自己的手里竟然有一个小瓶子！小熊拿起小瓶子往脚上一喷，受伤的脚马上就好了。这真是一瓶神水啊！从此，小熊再也不怕摔伤了。 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nIt\'s snowing, it\'s snowing! Flakes of snow lightly danced like dandelions in the air, and after a while, the earth wore clothes of pure white. \n\nCute little bear incautiously sprained his ankle, and had to lie in bed all alone. Suddenly, from outside the window came the sound of lighthearted singing. Little bear looked out the window, and [saw that it was] Little Mouse and Little White Rabbit dancing and singing! The snow still held [impressions of] their cute little footprints. Little Bear was truly envious! But what could he do? Little Bear gave a deep sigh, and said aloud to himself: \"Better get some more sleep, and maybe in my dream there will be a miracle!\" \n\nSure enough, Little bear had a good dream. In his dream, an old man with a long beard came into his room. The old man fished a little bottle out of his pocket, and smilingly sprayed [some liquid from the bottle] on Little Bear\'s wounded foot. Little Bear immediately leaped up and frisked about, playing cheerfully with his [two] buddies on the snowy ground.\n\nThe happy sounds of the small birds woke Little Bear up, and [found that] actually it was all just a dream. But then he discovered that there was a small bottle in his hand! Little Bear took up the small bottle and sprayed it on his foot, and the wounded foot was immediately better! This really was a bottle of magic water! After that, Little Bear never again feared bumps and bruises. \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Little Bear\'s Beautiful Dream', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1460-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-02-04 03:42:37', '2014-02-04 08:42:37', '', 1460, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/02/04/1460-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1462, 1, '2014-02-04 03:47:54', '2014-02-04 08:47:54', '', 'Learn to Read Chinese: Learn Simplified Chinese character Reading', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20140204-inline', '', '', '2014-02-04 03:47:54', '2014-02-04 08:47:54', '', 1460, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140204-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1463, 1, '2014-02-04 03:47:56', '2014-02-04 08:47:56', '', 'Learn to Read Chinese: beginners', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20140204', '', '', '2014-02-04 03:47:56', '2014-02-04 08:47:56', '', 1460, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140204.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1464, 1, '2014-02-04 03:43:22', '2014-02-04 08:43:22', '[two_third]\r\nBeen a couple of months since I tossed a post out there - the latter half of 2013 was a bit of a shake-up, so please forgive the lapse. In other news, I can\'t get my favorite Chinese story website, tom61.com, to load anymore, #sadface. Fingers crossed that\'s a temporary glitch, but if not, I\'ll mourn the loss of a fantastic learner\'s website. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nIn the meantime, I\'ve pulled something off <a href=\"http://gushi365.com\">gushi365.com</a>. \r\n\r\nThe content of <a href=\"http://www.gushi365.com/info/9851.html\">this story</a> is for children, but the language is not beginner, and neither is the sentence structure - this is an intermediate read for sure. I say that because it feels very \"fairy-tale\" language-y, in the sense that sentences are formed in a more literary way, rather than in a chatty way, and there are some uncommonly-heard words, like \"footprint\" (脚印), etc. The tone of the story, on the other hand, is very tra-la-la, winter sparkly glitter magic.\r\n\r\nTwo quick notes on phrases here: 传来了 [pinyin]chuan4 lai2[/pinyin] is an intermediate phrase that can be a little hard to understand, but it is used in reference to things we hear that come to us from afar. This may include voices (like hearing someone\'s voice from outside your house), or noises, or smells, or a piece of news. You can use this to talk about sensations and things that come to you from no particular person or direction - from \"afar\" or \"all around\". \r\n\r\n掏出 [pinyin]tao1 chu1[/pinyin]: this means to fish something out of something else. For example, to fish your phone out of your pocket, or to fish your sweatshirt out of your backpack. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n蒲公英 - [pinyin]pu2 gong1 ying1[/pinyin] - Dandelion\r\n翩翩起舞 - [pinyin]pian1 pian1 qi3 wu3[/pinyin] - Lightly dance about\r\n扭到脚了 - [pinyin]niu3 dao4 jiao3 le[/pinyin] - Sprain / twist one\'s foot / ankle\r\n载歌载舞 - [pinyin]zai4 ge1 zai4 wu3[/pinyin] - Singing and dancing\r\n自言自语- [pinyin]zi4 yan2 zi4 yu3[/pinyin] - Talk to yourself\r\n说不定 - [pinyin]shuo1 bu5 ding4[/pinyin] - Who can say... [that sthng won\'t happen]\r\n奇迹 - [pinyin]qi2 ji4[/pinyin] - Miracle\r\n活蹦乱跳 - [pinyin]huo2 beng4 luan4 tiao4[/pinyin] - Leap and frisk about\r\n吵醒 - [pinyin]chao2 xing3[/pinyin] - To be woken up by noise\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n下雪啦，下雪啦！一片片雪花像<strong>蒲公英</strong>一样在空中<strong>翩翩起舞</strong>，不一会儿，大地就穿上了一件洁白的衣裳。\r\n\r\n可爱的小熊不小心<strong>扭到脚了</strong>，只得孤零零地躺在小床上。忽然，从窗外<strong>传来了</strong>欢快的歌声。小熊朝窗外看去，原来是小老鼠和小白兔在雪地里<strong>载歌载舞</strong>呢！雪地上还留下了他们可爱的小脚印。小熊心里真羡慕呀！可是，他有什么办法呢？小熊深深地叹了一口气，<strong>自言自语</strong>：“还是睡一觉吧，<strong>说不定</strong>梦里会出现<strong>奇迹</strong>！”\r\n\r\n小熊果然做了一个好梦。他梦见一位留着长胡子的老爷爷来到了他的小屋里。老爷爷从衣袋里<strong>掏出</strong>一个小瓶子，笑眯眯地喷了喷小熊受伤的脚。小熊马上就<strong>活蹦乱跳</strong>了，快活地在雪地上和小伙伴们玩耍……\r\n\r\n小鸟们的欢声笑语把小熊<strong>吵醒</strong>了，原来这只是一场梦。可是小熊发现自己的手里竟然有一个小瓶子！小熊拿起小瓶子往脚上一喷，受伤的脚马上就好了。这真是一瓶神水啊！从此，小熊再也不怕摔伤了。 \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIt\'s snowing, it\'s snowing! Flakes of snow lightly danced like dandelions in the air, and after a while, the earth wore clothes of pure white. \r\n\r\nCute little bear incautiously sprained his ankle, and had to lie in bed all alone. Suddenly, from outside the window came the sound of lighthearted singing. Little bear looked out the window, and [saw that it was] Little Mouse and Little White Rabbit dancing and singing! The snow still held [impressions of] their cute little footprints. Little Bear was truly envious! But what could he do? Little Bear gave a deep sigh, and said aloud to himself: \"Better get some more sleep, and maybe in my dream there will be a miracle!\" \r\n\r\nSure enough, Little bear had a good dream. In his dream, an old man with a long beard came into his room. The old man fished a little bottle out of his pocket, and smilingly sprayed [some liquid from the bottle] on Little Bear\'s wounded foot. Little Bear immediately leaped up and frisked about, playing cheerfully with his [two] buddies on the snowy ground.\r\n\r\nThe happy sounds of the small birds woke Little Bear up, and [found that] actually it was all just a dream. But then he discovered that there was a small bottle in his hand! Little Bear took up the small bottle and sprayed it on his foot, and the wounded foot was immediately better! This really was a bottle of magic water! After that, Little Bear never again feared bumps and bruises. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Little Bear\'s Beautiful Dream', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1460-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-02-04 03:43:22', '2014-02-04 08:43:22', '', 1460, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/02/04/1460-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1465, 1, '2013-07-08 15:38:57', '2013-07-08 19:38:57', '[two_third]\r\nWelp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines\' in-flight magazine (I\'m in Prague!) and couldn\'t resist typing it up (as opposed to copy-pasting from an online source). I\'ve checked and checked for typos, but I\'m not always the best at that, so if you run across one, please comment.\r\n\r\nThis is one of those reads where the sentence structure is basic and in parts very repetitive, but quite a few advanced words are used - \"advanced\" only because they\'re not used often in casual conversation, like parts of an animal (hooves, horns, etc.) So beginners, you can give this a go if you\'re feeling very patient but you\'ll be looking up every other word in some paragraphs even though you will be able to predict generally what the next few sentences are about.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130624-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese Characters: Intermediate Exercises for Chinese Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I wanted to post a quick comment about the words 一箭一般, because this looks like a typical four-character idiom, but it\'s actually two separate words, 一箭 (an arrow) and 一般 (like, as if). Together this means \"like an arrow\", or in context of this sentence \"to take off (running) like a shot\". \r\n\r\nThere\'s also the phrase 从草丛中闪出. We\'re talking here about a dog that is \"[darting] out in a flash\" (闪出) \"from the middle of a cluster of grasses\" (从草丛中). We can imagine a dog charging out of a field of tall grass and into a clearing. \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is 沉默的狗\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n山坡 - [pinyin]shan1 po1[/pinyin] - Hillside, mountain side\r\n窜 - [pinyin]cuan4[/pinyin] - To be exiled from, to flee\r\n抵抗 - [pinyin]di3 kang4[/pinyin] - Resist\r\n溜烟 - [pinyin]liu1 yan1[/pinyin] - Slip away like smoke, disappear in a puff of smoke\r\n奔 - [pinyin]ben1[/pinyin] - To rush, to hurry\r\n换气 - [pinyin]huan4 qi4[/pinyin] - Take a breath (after holding your breath, as with swimming)\r\n怆惶 - [pinyin]chuang4 huang2[/pinyin] - Sad and scared\r\n剜出 - [pinyin]wan1 chu1[/pinyin] - To gouge out\r\n蹄子 - [pinyin]ti2 zi5[/pinyin] - Hooves\r\n一拱 - [pinyin]yi1 gong3[/pinyin] - Nuzzle with snout\r\n唯独 - [pinyin]wei2 du2[/pinyin] - Only\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n傍晚，一只羊独自在<strong>山坡</strong>上玩，突然从树木中<strong>窜</strong>出一只狼来，要吃羊，羊跳起来，拼命用角<strong>抵抗</strong>，并大声向朋友们救命。\r\n\r\n牛在树丛中向这个地方望了一眼，发现是狼，跑走了。\r\n\r\n马低头一看，发现是狼，一<strong>溜烟</strong>跑了。\r\n\r\n驴停下脚步，发现是狼，悄悄溜下山坡。\r\n\r\n猪经过这里，发现是狼，冲下山坡。\r\n\r\n兔子一听，更是<strong>一箭一般</strong>离去。\r\n\r\n山下的狗听见羊的呼喊，急忙<strong>奔</strong>上坡来，<strong>从草丛中闪出</strong>，一下咬住了狼的脖子，狼疼得直叫唤, 趁够<strong>换气</strong>时，<strong>怆惶</strong>挑走了。\r\n\r\n回到家，朋友都来了，\r\n牛说：你怎么不告诉我？我的角可以<strong>剜出</strong>狼的肠子。\r\n马说：你怎么不告诉我？我的<strong>蹄子</strong>能踢碎狼的脑袋。\r\n驴说：你怎么不告诉我？我一声吼叫，吓破狼的胆。\r\n猪说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我用嘴<strong>一拱</strong>，就让它摔下山去。\r\n兔子说：你怎么不告诉我？ 我跑得快，可以传心呀。\r\n\r\n在这闹嚷嚷的一群中，<strong>唯独</strong>没有狗。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOne nightfall, a sheep was playing alone on the mountainside, when suddenly a wolf emerged from among the trees, wanting to eat the sheep, so the sheep jumped up, using his horns to defend himself with all his might, and loudly called out for his friends to save his life.\r\n\r\nThe bull looked over from among a cluster of trees, saw there was a wolf, and ran away.\r\n\r\nThe horse lowered its head and looked, discovered there was a wolf, and slipped away in a puff of smoke.\r\n\r\nThe mule stopped walking for a moment, discovered there was a wolf, and quietly slipped down the mountain.\r\n\r\nThe pig passed through there, found out there was a wolf, and rushed down the mountainside.\r\n\r\nThe rabbit listened a moment, then took off like a shot.\r\n\r\nFrom the bottom of the mountain, the dog heard the sheep\'s cry, and ran quickly up the mountainside, came out of the grass in a flash, and in a moment had grabbed the wolf\'s neck in his teeth, the wolf cried out in pain, and taking advantage of the dog\'s intake of breath, ran away full of sorrow and fear.\r\n\r\n[When the sheep] returned home, his friends all came over.\r\n\r\nThe bull said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My horns could have gouged out the wolf\'s intestines.\r\nThe horse said: Why didn\'t you tell me? My hooves could have kicked the wolf\'s skull apart.\r\nDonkey said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could have brayed and startled the wolf so as to break his courage. \r\nPig said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I could nuzzle him with my snout, and make him fall down the mountain.\r\nRabbit said: Why didn\'t you tell me? I run fast, I could have spread the word.\r\nIn this noisy group, the only one who wasn\'t present was the dog.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The Silent Dog', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1432-revision-v1', '', '', '2013-07-08 15:38:57', '2013-07-08 19:38:57', '', 1432, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2013/07/08/1432-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1466, 1, '2014-02-05 05:21:12', '2014-02-05 10:21:12', '[two_third]\r\nWoo, I\'m on a roll this week. I can\'t vouch for the accuracy of the history here, not being a pencil history expert myself, but this read has a lot of good words for larnin\'. I\'d put this in the lower-advanced spectrum, as the sentence structure isn\'t over-the-top literary, but there are a ton of specialized words and proper nouns. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140205-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Mandarin Chinese - Simplified Character Learning Short Stories\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The tone is very encyclopedic, so, rather serious and not a lot of fun. \r\n\r\nA couple of proper names for you: \r\n<strong>巴罗代尔</strong> - Borrowdale, England\r\n<strong>乔治二世</strong> - George the Second (English King)\r\n<strong>法伯</strong> - Eberhard Faber, a German chemist\r\n<strong>孔德</strong> - Nicolas-Jacques Conté, French scientist\r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.gushi365.com/info/9763.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.gushi365.com/info/9763.html</a>\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n简陋 - [pinyin]jian3 lou4[/pinyin] - Simple and crude\r\n名副其实 - [pinyin]ming2 fu4 qi2 shi2[/pinyin] - Not in name only, but also in reality\r\n诞生 - [pinyin]dan4 sheng1[/pinyin] - To be born\r\n矿物 - [pinyin]kuang4 wu4[/pinyin] - Mineral\r\n皇室- [pinyin]huang2 shi4[/pinyin] - Imperial household\r\n缺点 - [pinyin]que1 dian3[/pinyin] - Weak point, drawback\r\n硫磺 - [pinyin]liu2 huang2[/pinyin] - Sulfer\r\n松香 - [pinyin]song1 xiang1[/pinyin] - Pine resin\r\n掺入 - [pinyin]chan1 ru4[/pinyin] - To mix into\r\n芯 - [pinyin]xin4 / xin1[/pinyin] - Wick / core\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n铅笔的历史非常悠久，它起源于2000多年前的古罗马时期。那时的铅笔很<strong>简陋</strong>，只不过是金属套里夹着的一根铅棒，甚至是铅块，倒真是<strong>名副其实</strong>的“铅”笔。而我们今天使用的铅笔是用石墨和黏土制成的，里面并不含铅。\r\n\r\n现代铅笔<strong>诞生</strong>于16世纪的英国。1564年，有人在巴罗代尔发现了一种名叫石墨的黑色<strong>矿物</strong>。石墨能像铅一样在纸上留下痕迹，而且比铅的痕迹要黑得多，因此，人们称石墨为“黑铅”。巴罗代尔一带的牧羊人常用石墨在羊身上做记号。后来，人们又将石墨块切成小条，用于写字、绘画。不久，英王乔治二世将巴罗代尔石墨矿收归<strong>皇室</strong>所有，把它定为皇家的专用品。\r\n\r\n不过，石墨条也有它的<strong>缺点</strong>：容易弄脏手，还容易折断。1761年，德国化学家法伯用石墨粉同<strong>硫磺</strong>、<strong>松香</strong>等混合起来，制成条，这比纯石墨条的韧性大得多，也不大容易弄脏手。18世纪末时，只有英、德两国能够生产铅笔。\r\n\r\n后来，法国也在自己的国土上找到了石墨矿，但矿的质量不高，储量也少。法国科学家孔德便在石墨中<strong>掺入</strong>黏土，放进窑里烧制，制成了既好用又耐用的铅笔<strong>芯</strong>。石墨中掺入的黏土的比例不同，铅笔芯的硬度也就不同。我们常看到铅笔头上标着B、HB一类的字母，表示的就是铅笔芯的硬度和颜色深浅。B表示黑度，H表示硬度，所以，HB就是软硬和颜色深浅都适中的铅笔芯，适合写字。 \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nThe history of the pencil is very long, dating back 2000 years to ancient Roman times. The pencils of that time were very crude, being nothing more than a gold cover cripping a lead stick, or even a lead block, and it really was a \"lead\" pen (not just in name only). Whereas the pencils we use toady are manufactured from graphite and clay, the inside doesn\'t really contain lead.  \r\n\r\nModern pencils were born in 16th Century England. In 1564, people in Borrowdale discovered a kind of black mineral called graphite. Like lead, graphite could leave marks on paper, and the marks it left were much darker than lead, thus, people called graphite \"black lead\". Shepherds in the Borrowdale region commonly used graphite to mark seals on the bodies of sheep. Later, people carved lead into little strips, using them for writing and drawing. After long, the English king George the Second brought Borrowdale graphite ore back to the imperial household for the royal family\'s particular use.   \r\n\r\nHowever, graphite strips also had their weak point: they dirty the hands, and they break easily. In 1761, German chemist Faber mixed graphite powder together with sulfer, pine resin and other things, and manufactured them as strips, which was much tougher than simple graphite, and didn\'t dirty the hands as easily. At the end of the 18th century, only England and Germany were capable of producing pencils.    \r\n\r\nLater, France discovered [deposits of] graphite ore in their earth, but the ore\'s quality wasn\'t high, and the quantities weren\'t great. French Scientist Conte mixed the ore with clay, fired it in a kiln, making a more easy to use and durable pencil wick. The amount of clay mixed with the graphite wasn\'t always the same, and so the hardness of the lead [wick] also changed accordingly. We often see \"B\" and \"HB\" letters marked out on the head of the pencil, indicating hardness and light or darkness of color. \"B\" indicates color, H indicates hardness, therefore, \"HB\" indicates that hardness and darkness  of the lead are both moderate, and are suitable for writing.   \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'History: The History of the Pencil', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'history-of-the-pencil', '', '', '2020-04-28 20:01:34', '2020-04-29 00:01:34', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1466', 0, 'post', '', 13);
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(1467, 1, '2014-02-04 22:32:04', '2014-02-05 03:32:04', '[two_third]\nhttp://ent.chinadaily.com.cn/2014-02/04/content_17268203.htm\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n蒲公英 - [pinyin]pu2 gong1 ying1[/pinyin] - Dandelion\n翩翩起舞 - [pinyin]pian1 pian1 qi3 wu3[/pinyin] - Lightly dance about\n扭到脚了 - [pinyin]niu3 dao4 jiao3 le[/pinyin] - Sprain / twist one\'s foot / ankle\n载歌载舞 - [pinyin]zai4 ge1 zai4 wu3[/pinyin] - Singing and dancing\n自言自语- [pinyin]zi4 yan2 zi4 yu3[/pinyin] - Talk to yourself\n说不定 - [pinyin]shuo1 bu5 ding4[/pinyin] - Who can say... [that sthng won\'t happen]\n奇迹 - [pinyin]qi2 ji4[/pinyin] - Miracle\n活蹦乱跳 - [pinyin]huo2 beng4 luan4 tiao4[/pinyin] - Leap and frisk about\n吵醒 - [pinyin]chao2 xing3[/pinyin] - To be woken up by noise\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n下雪啦，下雪啦！一片片雪花像<strong>蒲公英</strong>一样在空中<strong>翩翩起舞</strong>，不一会儿，大地就穿上了一件洁白的衣裳。\n\n可爱的小熊不小心<strong>扭到脚了</strong>，只得孤零零地躺在小床上。忽然，从窗外<strong>传来了</strong>欢快的歌声。小熊朝窗外看去，原来是小老鼠和小白兔在雪地里<strong>载歌载舞</strong>呢！雪地上还留下了他们可爱的小脚印。小熊心里真羡慕呀！可是，他有什么办法呢？小熊深深地叹了一口气，<strong>自言自语</strong>：“还是睡一觉吧，<strong>说不定</strong>梦里会出现<strong>奇迹</strong>！”\n\n小熊果然做了一个好梦。他梦见一位留着长胡子的老爷爷来到了他的小屋里。老爷爷从衣袋里<strong>掏出</strong>一个小瓶子，笑眯眯地喷了喷小熊受伤的脚。小熊马上就<strong>活蹦乱跳</strong>了，快活地在雪地上和小伙伴们玩耍……\n\n小鸟们的欢声笑语把小熊<strong>吵醒</strong>了，原来这只是一场梦。可是小熊发现自己的手里竟然有一个小瓶子！小熊拿起小瓶子往脚上一喷，受伤的脚马上就好了。这真是一瓶神水啊！从此，小熊再也不怕摔伤了。 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nIt\'s snowing, it\'s snowing! Flakes of snow lightly danced like dandelions in the air, and after a while, the earth wore clothes of pure white. \n\nCute little bear incautiously sprained his ankle, and had to lie in bed all alone. Suddenly, from outside the window came the sound of lighthearted singing. Little bear looked out the window, and [saw that it was] Little Mouse and Little White Rabbit dancing and singing! The snow still held [impressions of] their cute little footprints. Little Bear was truly envious! But what could he do? Little Bear gave a deep sigh, and said aloud to himself: \"Better get some more sleep, and maybe in my dream there will be a miracle!\" \n\nSure enough, Little bear had a good dream. In his dream, an old man with a long beard came into his room. The old man fished a little bottle out of his pocket, and smilingly sprayed [some liquid from the bottle] on Little Bear\'s wounded foot. Little Bear immediately leaped up and frisked about, playing cheerfully with his [two] buddies on the snowy ground.\n\nThe happy sounds of the small birds woke Little Bear up, and [found that] actually it was all just a dream. But then he discovered that there was a small bottle in his hand! Little Bear took up the small bottle and sprayed it on his foot, and the wounded foot was immediately better! This really was a bottle of magic water! After that, Little Bear never again feared bumps and bruises. \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'News: Famous Hong Kong Actor Xu Ma Dies of Lung Cancer at 71', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1466-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-02-04 22:32:04', '2014-02-05 03:32:04', '', 1466, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/02/04/1466-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1468, 1, '2014-02-05 04:19:43', '2014-02-05 09:19:43', '[two_third]\nhttp://www.gushi365.com/info/9763.html\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n简陋 - [pinyin]pu2 gong1 ying1[/pinyin] - Dandelion\n名副其实 - [pinyin]pian1 pian1 qi3 wu3[/pinyin] - Lightly dance about\n扭到脚了 - [pinyin]niu3 dao4 jiao3 le[/pinyin] - Sprain / twist one\'s foot / ankle\n载歌载舞 - [pinyin]zai4 ge1 zai4 wu3[/pinyin] - Singing and dancing\n自言自语- [pinyin]zi4 yan2 zi4 yu3[/pinyin] - Talk to yourself\n说不定 - [pinyin]shuo1 bu5 ding4[/pinyin] - Who can say... [that sthng won\'t happen]\n奇迹 - [pinyin]qi2 ji4[/pinyin] - Miracle\n活蹦乱跳 - [pinyin]huo2 beng4 luan4 tiao4[/pinyin] - Leap and frisk about\n吵醒 - [pinyin]chao2 xing3[/pinyin] - To be woken up by noise\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n铅笔的历史非常悠久，它起源于2000多年前的古罗马时期。那时的铅笔很简陋（lòu），只不过是金属套里夹着的一根铅棒，甚至是铅块，倒真是名副其实的“铅”笔。而我们今天使用的铅笔是用石墨和黏（nián）土制成的，里面并不含铅。\n\n现代铅笔诞生于16世纪的英国。1564年，有人在巴罗代尔发现了一种名叫石墨的黑色矿物。石墨能像铅一样在纸上留下痕迹，而且比铅的痕迹要黑得多，因此，人们称石墨为“黑铅”。巴罗代尔一带的牧羊人常用石墨在羊身上做记号。后来，人们又将石墨块切成小条，用于写字、绘画。不久，英王乔治二世将巴罗代尔石墨矿收归皇室所有，把它定为皇家的专用品。\n\n不过，石墨条也有它的缺点：容易弄脏手，还容易折断。1761年，德国化学家法伯用石墨粉同硫磺（liú huánɡ）、松香等混合起来，制成条，这比纯石墨条的韧（rèn）性大得多，也不大容易弄脏手。18世纪末时，只有英、德两国能够生产铅笔。\n\n后来，法国也在自己的国土上找到了石墨矿，但矿的质量不高，储（chǔ）量也少。法国科学家孔德便在石墨中掺（chān）入黏土，放进窑（yáo）里烧制，制成了既好用又耐用的铅笔芯（xīn）。石墨中掺入的黏土的比例不同，铅笔芯的硬度也就不同。我们常看到铅笔头上标着B、HB一类的字母，表示的就是铅笔芯的硬度和颜色深浅。B表示黑度，H表示硬度，所以，HB就是软硬和颜色深浅都适中的铅笔芯，适合写字。 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThe history of the pencil is very long, dating back 2000 years to ancient Roman times. The pencils of that time were very crude, being nothing more than a gold cover cripping a lead stick, or even a lead block, and it really was a \"lead\" pen (not just in name only). Whereas the pencils we use toady are manufactured from graphite and clay, the inside doesn\'t really contain lead.  \n\nModern pencils were born in 16th Century England. In 1564, people in Borrowdale discovered a kind of black mineral called graphite. Like lead, graphite could leave marks on paper, and the marks it left were much darker than lead, thus, people called graphite \"black lead\". Shepherds in the Borrowdale region commonly used graphite to mark seals on the bodies of sheep. Later, people carved lead into little strips, using them for writing and drawing. After long, the English king George the Second brought Borrowdale graphite ore back to the imperial household,      。后来，人们又将石墨块切成小条，用于写字、绘画。不久，英王乔治二世将巴罗代尔石墨矿收归皇室所有，把它定为皇家的专用品。\n\n不过，石墨条也有它的缺点：容易弄脏手，还容易折断。1761年，德国化学家法伯用石墨粉同硫磺（liú huánɡ）、松香等混合起来，制成条，这比纯石墨条的韧（rèn）性大得多，也不大容易弄脏手。18世纪末时，只有英、德两国能够生产铅笔。\n\n后来，法国也在自己的国土上找到了石墨矿，但矿的质量不高，储（chǔ）量也少。法国科学家孔德便在石墨中掺（chān）入黏土，放进窑（yáo）里烧制，制成了既好用又耐用的铅笔芯（xīn）。石墨中掺入的黏土的比例不同，铅笔芯的硬度也就不同。我们常看到铅笔头上标着B、HB一类的字母，表示的就是铅笔芯的硬度和颜色深浅。B表示黑度，H表示硬度，所以，HB就是软硬和颜色深浅都适中的铅笔芯，适合写字。 \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The History of the Pencil', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1466-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-02-05 04:19:43', '2014-02-05 09:19:43', '', 1466, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/02/05/1466-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1469, 1, '2014-02-05 04:41:10', '2014-02-05 09:41:10', '[two_third]\nWoo, I\'m on a roll this week. I can\'t vouch for the accuracy of the history here, not being a pencil history expert myself, \nI can\'t vouch for the \nhttp://www.gushi365.com/info/9763.html\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n简陋 - [pinyin]pu2 gong1 ying1[/pinyin] - Dandelion\n名副其实 - [pinyin]pian1 pian1 qi3 wu3[/pinyin] - Lightly dance about\n扭到脚了 - [pinyin]niu3 dao4 jiao3 le[/pinyin] - Sprain / twist one\'s foot / ankle\n载歌载舞 - [pinyin]zai4 ge1 zai4 wu3[/pinyin] - Singing and dancing\n自言自语- [pinyin]zi4 yan2 zi4 yu3[/pinyin] - Talk to yourself\n说不定 - [pinyin]shuo1 bu5 ding4[/pinyin] - Who can say... [that sthng won\'t happen]\n奇迹 - [pinyin]qi2 ji4[/pinyin] - Miracle\n活蹦乱跳 - [pinyin]huo2 beng4 luan4 tiao4[/pinyin] - Leap and frisk about\n吵醒 - [pinyin]chao2 xing3[/pinyin] - To be woken up by noise\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n铅笔的历史非常悠久，它起源于2000多年前的古罗马时期。那时的铅笔很简陋（lòu），只不过是金属套里夹着的一根铅棒，甚至是铅块，倒真是名副其实的“铅”笔。而我们今天使用的铅笔是用石墨和黏（nián）土制成的，里面并不含铅。\n\n现代铅笔诞生于16世纪的英国。1564年，有人在巴罗代尔发现了一种名叫石墨的黑色矿物。石墨能像铅一样在纸上留下痕迹，而且比铅的痕迹要黑得多，因此，人们称石墨为“黑铅”。巴罗代尔一带的牧羊人常用石墨在羊身上做记号。后来，人们又将石墨块切成小条，用于写字、绘画。不久，英王乔治二世将巴罗代尔石墨矿收归皇室所有，把它定为皇家的专用品。\n\n不过，石墨条也有它的缺点：容易弄脏手，还容易折断。1761年，德国化学家法伯用石墨粉同硫磺（liú huánɡ）、松香等混合起来，制成条，这比纯石墨条的韧（rèn）性大得多，也不大容易弄脏手。18世纪末时，只有英、德两国能够生产铅笔。\n\n后来，法国也在自己的国土上找到了石墨矿，但矿的质量不高，储（chǔ）量也少。法国科学家孔德便在石墨中掺（chān）入黏土，放进窑（yáo）里烧制，制成了既好用又耐用的铅笔芯（xīn）。石墨中掺入的黏土的比例不同，铅笔芯的硬度也就不同。我们常看到铅笔头上标着B、HB一类的字母，表示的就是铅笔芯的硬度和颜色深浅。B表示黑度，H表示硬度，所以，HB就是软硬和颜色深浅都适中的铅笔芯，适合写字。 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThe history of the pencil is very long, dating back 2000 years to ancient Roman times. The pencils of that time were very crude, being nothing more than a gold cover cripping a lead stick, or even a lead block, and it really was a \"lead\" pen (not just in name only). Whereas the pencils we use toady are manufactured from graphite and clay, the inside doesn\'t really contain lead.  \n\nModern pencils were born in 16th Century England. In 1564, people in Borrowdale discovered a kind of black mineral called graphite. Like lead, graphite could leave marks on paper, and the marks it left were much darker than lead, thus, people called graphite \"black lead\". Shepherds in the Borrowdale region commonly used graphite to mark seals on the bodies of sheep. Later, people carved lead into little strips, using them for writing and drawing. After long, the English king George the Second brought Borrowdale graphite ore back to the imperial household for the royal family\'s particular use.   \n\nHowever, graphite strips also had their weak point: they dirty the hands, and they break easily. In 1761, German chemist Faber mixed graphite powder together with sulfer, pine resin and other things, and manufactured them as strips, which was much tougher than simple graphite, and didn\'t dirty the hands as easily. At the end of the 18th century, only England and Germany were capable of producing pencils.    \n\nLater, France discovered [deposits of] graphite ore in their earth, but the ore\'s quality wasn\'t high, and the quantities weren\'t great. French Scientist Conte mixed the ore with clay, fired it in a kiln, making a more easy to use and durable pencil wick. The amount of clay mixed with the graphite wasn\'t always the same, and so the hardness of the lead [wick] also changed accordingly. We often see \"B\" and \"HB\" letters marked out on the head of the pencil, indicating hardness and light or darkness of color. \"B\" indicates color, H indicates hardness, therefore, \"HB\" indicates that hardness and darkness  of the lead are both   我们常看到铅笔头上标着B、HB一类的字母，表示的就是铅笔芯的硬度和颜色深浅。B表示黑度，H表示硬度，所以，HB就是软硬和颜色深浅都适中的铅笔芯，适合写字。 \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The History of the Pencil', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1466-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-02-05 04:41:10', '2014-02-05 09:41:10', '', 1466, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/02/05/1466-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1470, 1, '2014-02-05 04:43:38', '2014-02-05 09:43:38', '[two_third]\nWoo, I\'m on a roll this week. I can\'t vouch for the accuracy of the history here, not being a pencil history expert myself, but this read has a lot of good words for larnin\'. I\'d put this in the lower-advanced spectrum, as the sentence structure isn\'t over-the-top literary, but there are a ton of specialized words and proper nouns. \n\nI can\'t vouch for the \nhttp://www.gushi365.com/info/9763.html\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n简陋 - [pinyin]pu2 gong1 ying1[/pinyin] - Dandelion\n名副其实 - [pinyin]pian1 pian1 qi3 wu3[/pinyin] - Lightly dance about\n扭到脚了 - [pinyin]niu3 dao4 jiao3 le[/pinyin] - Sprain / twist one\'s foot / ankle\n载歌载舞 - [pinyin]zai4 ge1 zai4 wu3[/pinyin] - Singing and dancing\n自言自语- [pinyin]zi4 yan2 zi4 yu3[/pinyin] - Talk to yourself\n说不定 - [pinyin]shuo1 bu5 ding4[/pinyin] - Who can say... [that sthng won\'t happen]\n奇迹 - [pinyin]qi2 ji4[/pinyin] - Miracle\n活蹦乱跳 - [pinyin]huo2 beng4 luan4 tiao4[/pinyin] - Leap and frisk about\n吵醒 - [pinyin]chao2 xing3[/pinyin] - To be woken up by noise\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n铅笔的历史非常悠久，它起源于2000多年前的古罗马时期。那时的铅笔很简陋，只不过是金属套里夹着的一根铅棒，甚至是铅块，倒真是名副其实的“铅”笔。而我们今天使用的铅笔是用石墨和黏（ni土制成的，里面并不含铅。\n\n现代铅笔诞生于16世纪的英国。1564年，有人在巴罗代尔发现了一种名叫石墨的黑色矿物。石墨能像铅一样在纸上留下痕迹，而且比铅的痕迹要黑得多，因此，人们称石墨为“黑铅”。巴罗代尔一带的牧羊人常用石墨在羊身上做记号。后来，人们又将石墨块切成小条，用于写字、绘画。不久，英王乔治二世将巴罗代尔石墨矿收归皇室所有，把它定为皇家的专用品。\n\n不过，石墨条也有它的缺点：容易弄脏手，还容易折断。1761年，德国化学家法伯用石墨粉同硫磺（liú huánɡ）、松香等混合起来，制成条，这比纯石墨条的韧（rèn）性大得多，也不大容易弄脏手。18世纪末时，只有英、德两国能够生产铅笔。\n\n后来，法国也在自己的国土上找到了石墨矿，但矿的质量不高，储（chǔ）量也少。法国科学家孔德便在石墨中掺（chān）入黏土，放进窑（yáo）里烧制，制成了既好用又耐用的铅笔芯（xīn）。石墨中掺入的黏土的比例不同，铅笔芯的硬度也就不同。我们常看到铅笔头上标着B、HB一类的字母，表示的就是铅笔芯的硬度和颜色深浅。B表示黑度，H表示硬度，所以，HB就是软硬和颜色深浅都适中的铅笔芯，适合写字。 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThe history of the pencil is very long, dating back 2000 years to ancient Roman times. The pencils of that time were very crude, being nothing more than a gold cover cripping a lead stick, or even a lead block, and it really was a \"lead\" pen (not just in name only). Whereas the pencils we use toady are manufactured from graphite and clay, the inside doesn\'t really contain lead.  \n\nModern pencils were born in 16th Century England. In 1564, people in Borrowdale discovered a kind of black mineral called graphite. Like lead, graphite could leave marks on paper, and the marks it left were much darker than lead, thus, people called graphite \"black lead\". Shepherds in the Borrowdale region commonly used graphite to mark seals on the bodies of sheep. Later, people carved lead into little strips, using them for writing and drawing. After long, the English king George the Second brought Borrowdale graphite ore back to the imperial household for the royal family\'s particular use.   \n\nHowever, graphite strips also had their weak point: they dirty the hands, and they break easily. In 1761, German chemist Faber mixed graphite powder together with sulfer, pine resin and other things, and manufactured them as strips, which was much tougher than simple graphite, and didn\'t dirty the hands as easily. At the end of the 18th century, only England and Germany were capable of producing pencils.    \n\nLater, France discovered [deposits of] graphite ore in their earth, but the ore\'s quality wasn\'t high, and the quantities weren\'t great. French Scientist Conte mixed the ore with clay, fired it in a kiln, making a more easy to use and durable pencil wick. The amount of clay mixed with the graphite wasn\'t always the same, and so the hardness of the lead [wick] also changed accordingly. We often see \"B\" and \"HB\" letters marked out on the head of the pencil, indicating hardness and light or darkness of color. \"B\" indicates color, H indicates hardness, therefore, \"HB\" indicates that hardness and darkness  of the lead are both moderate, and are suitable for writing.   \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The History of the Pencil', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1466-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-02-05 04:43:38', '2014-02-05 09:43:38', '', 1466, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/02/05/1466-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1471, 1, '2014-02-05 05:10:10', '2014-02-05 10:10:10', '', 'Learn to Read Simplified Chinese - Advanced Chinese Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20140205-inline', '', '', '2014-02-05 05:10:10', '2014-02-05 10:10:10', '', 1466, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140205-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1472, 1, '2014-02-05 05:10:11', '2014-02-05 10:10:11', '', 'Learn to Read Simplified Chinese - Advanced Chinese Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20140205', '', '', '2014-02-05 05:10:11', '2014-02-05 10:10:11', '', 1466, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140205.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1473, 1, '2014-02-05 05:20:20', '2014-02-05 10:20:20', '[two_third]\nWoo, I\'m on a roll this week. I can\'t vouch for the accuracy of the history here, not being a pencil history expert myself, but this read has a lot of good words for larnin\'. I\'d put this in the lower-advanced spectrum, as the sentence structure isn\'t over-the-top literary, but there are a ton of specialized words and proper nouns. \n\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20140205-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Mandarin Chinese - Simplified Character Learning Short Stories\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The tone is very encyclopedic, so, rather serious and not a lot of fun. \n\nA couple of proper names for you: \n<strong>巴罗代尔</strong> - Borrowdale, England\n<strong>乔治二世</strong> - George the Second (English King)\n<strong>法伯</strong> - Eberhard Faber, a German chemist\n<strong>孔德</strong> - Nicolas-Jacques Conté, French scientist\n\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.gushi365.com/info/9763.html\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.gushi365.com/info/9763.html</a>\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n简陋 - [pinyin]jian3 lou4[/pinyin] - Simple and crude\n名副其实 - [pinyin]ming2 fu4 qi2 shi2[/pinyin] - Not in name only, but also in reality\n诞生 - [pinyin]dan4 sheng1[/pinyin] - To be born\n矿物 - [pinyin]kuang4 wu4[/pinyin] - Mineral\n皇室- [pinyin]huang2 shi4[/pinyin] - Imperial household\n缺点 - [pinyin]que1 dian3[/pinyin] - Weak point, drawback\n硫磺 - [pinyin]liu2 huang2[/pinyin] - Sulfer\n松香 - [pinyin]song1 xiang1[/pinyin] - Leap and frisk about\n掺入 - [pinyin]chao2 xing3[/pinyin] - To be woken up by noise\n芯\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n铅笔的历史非常悠久，它起源于2000多年前的古罗马时期。那时的铅笔很<strong>简陋</strong>，只不过是金属套里夹着的一根铅棒，甚至是铅块，倒真是<strong>名副其实</strong>的“铅”笔。而我们今天使用的铅笔是用石墨和黏土制成的，里面并不含铅。\n\n现代铅笔<strong>诞生</strong>于16世纪的英国。1564年，有人在巴罗代尔发现了一种名叫石墨的黑色<strong>矿物</strong>。石墨能像铅一样在纸上留下痕迹，而且比铅的痕迹要黑得多，因此，人们称石墨为“黑铅”。巴罗代尔一带的牧羊人常用石墨在羊身上做记号。后来，人们又将石墨块切成小条，用于写字、绘画。不久，英王乔治二世将巴罗代尔石墨矿收归<strong>皇室</strong>所有，把它定为皇家的专用品。\n\n不过，石墨条也有它的<strong>缺点</strong>：容易弄脏手，还容易折断。1761年，德国化学家法伯用石墨粉同<strong>硫磺</strong>、<strong>松香</strong>等混合起来，制成条，这比纯石墨条的韧性大得多，也不大容易弄脏手。18世纪末时，只有英、德两国能够生产铅笔。\n\n后来，法国也在自己的国土上找到了石墨矿，但矿的质量不高，储量也少。法国科学家孔德便在石墨中<strong>掺入</strong>黏土，放进窑里烧制，制成了既好用又耐用的铅笔<strong>芯</strong>。石墨中掺入的黏土的比例不同，铅笔芯的硬度也就不同。我们常看到铅笔头上标着B、HB一类的字母，表示的就是铅笔芯的硬度和颜色深浅。B表示黑度，H表示硬度，所以，HB就是软硬和颜色深浅都适中的铅笔芯，适合写字。 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThe history of the pencil is very long, dating back 2000 years to ancient Roman times. The pencils of that time were very crude, being nothing more than a gold cover cripping a lead stick, or even a lead block, and it really was a \"lead\" pen (not just in name only). Whereas the pencils we use toady are manufactured from graphite and clay, the inside doesn\'t really contain lead.  \n\nModern pencils were born in 16th Century England. In 1564, people in Borrowdale discovered a kind of black mineral called graphite. Like lead, graphite could leave marks on paper, and the marks it left were much darker than lead, thus, people called graphite \"black lead\". Shepherds in the Borrowdale region commonly used graphite to mark seals on the bodies of sheep. Later, people carved lead into little strips, using them for writing and drawing. After long, the English king George the Second brought Borrowdale graphite ore back to the imperial household for the royal family\'s particular use.   \n\nHowever, graphite strips also had their weak point: they dirty the hands, and they break easily. In 1761, German chemist Faber mixed graphite powder together with sulfer, pine resin and other things, and manufactured them as strips, which was much tougher than simple graphite, and didn\'t dirty the hands as easily. At the end of the 18th century, only England and Germany were capable of producing pencils.    \n\nLater, France discovered [deposits of] graphite ore in their earth, but the ore\'s quality wasn\'t high, and the quantities weren\'t great. French Scientist Conte mixed the ore with clay, fired it in a kiln, making a more easy to use and durable pencil wick. The amount of clay mixed with the graphite wasn\'t always the same, and so the hardness of the lead [wick] also changed accordingly. We often see \"B\" and \"HB\" letters marked out on the head of the pencil, indicating hardness and light or darkness of color. \"B\" indicates color, H indicates hardness, therefore, \"HB\" indicates that hardness and darkness  of the lead are both moderate, and are suitable for writing.   \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'The History of the Pencil', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1466-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-02-05 05:20:20', '2014-02-05 10:20:20', '', 1466, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/02/05/1466-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1480, 1, '2014-06-10 20:05:10', '2014-06-11 00:05:10', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nScience! A quick paragraph about why peppers come in so many hues. Though the sentence structure here isn\'t too bad and the article is very short, I\'m classifying this as \'advanced\' since several of the words are quite chemistry-specific. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nAdvanced readers will recognize the words \"被破坏\" - to be broken by - as the phrase itself is common. In this case, though, we\'re not talking about a literal breaking, we\'re talking about the chemical process of an element \"breaking down\". \r\n\r\nHere\'s <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/shiwangeweishime/youqudezhiwu/2012-01-30/25368.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the original</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>辣椒的颜色</h4>\r\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在<strong>未成熟</strong>前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有<strong>叶绿素</strong>的<strong>缘故</strong>。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中<strong>含有</strong>的黄色<strong>素</strong>和叶红素就<strong>相应</strong>增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere are many types of peppers, but all types of pepper are green in color before they ripen, which is because they contain chlorophyll. When it finally comes time for them to ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow and red pigments in the peppers increase accordingly, so they become yellow and red. In addition, some types of peppers taste better when they\'re still green, so they are brought to market before they ripen. That\'s why we see so many different colors of peppers.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Science: Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'why-are-some-peppers-different-colors', '', '', '2020-04-28 19:58:01', '2020-04-28 23:58:01', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1480', 0, 'post', '', 12),
(1714, 1, '2020-04-20 03:07:29', '2020-04-20 07:07:29', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nScience! A quick paragraph about why peppers come in so many hues. Though the sentence structure here isn\'t too bad and the article is very short, I\'m classifying this as \'advanced\' since several of the words are quite chemistry-specific. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nAdvanced readers will recognize the words \"被破坏\" - to be broken by - as the phrase itself is common. In this case, though, we\'re not talking about a literal breaking, we\'re talking about the chemical process of an element \"breaking down\". \r\n\r\nHere\'s <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/shiwangeweishime/youqudezhiwu/2012-01-30/25368.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the original</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>辣椒的颜色</h4>\r\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在<strong>未成熟</strong>前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有<strong>叶绿素</strong>的<strong>缘故</strong>。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中<strong>含有</strong>的黄色<strong>素</strong>和叶红素就<strong>相应</strong>增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere are many types of peppers, but all types of pepper are green in color before they ripen, which is because they contain chlorophyll. When it finally comes time for them to ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow and red pigments in the peppers increase accordingly, so they become yellow and red. In addition, some types of peppers taste better when they\'re still green, so they are brought to market before they ripen. That\'s why we see so many different colors of peppers.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1480-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:07:29', '2020-04-20 07:07:29', '', 1480, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1480-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1713, 1, '2020-04-20 03:07:10', '2020-04-20 07:07:10', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nScience! A quick paragraph about why peppers come in so many hues. Though the sentence structure here isn\'t too bad and the article is very short, I\'m classifying this as \'advanced\' since several of the words are quite chemistry-specific. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/20140611-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Character Practice: Simplified Chinese\" title=\"Chinese Character Reading Materials: Mandarin Chinese\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Advanced readers will recognize the words \"被破坏\" - to be broken by - as the phrase itself is common. In this case, though, we\'re not talking about a literal breaking, we\'re talking about the chemical process of an element \"breaking down\". \r\n\r\nHere\'s <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/shiwangeweishime/youqudezhiwu/2012-01-30/25368.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the original</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>辣椒的颜色</h4>\r\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在<strong>未成熟</strong>前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有<strong>叶绿素</strong>的<strong>缘故</strong>。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中<strong>含有</strong>的黄色<strong>素</strong>和叶红素就<strong>相应</strong>增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nThere are many types of peppers, but all types of pepper are green in color before they ripen, which is because they contain chlorophyll. When it finally comes time for them to ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow and red pigments in the peppers increase accordingly, so they become yellow and red. In addition, some types of peppers taste better when they\'re still green, so they are brought to market before they ripen. That\'s why we see so many different colors of peppers.  \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1480-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:07:10', '2020-04-20 07:07:10', '', 1480, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1480-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1481, 1, '2014-05-28 05:43:31', '2014-05-28 09:43:31', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis kid was asked to imagine the perfect desk-chair of the future - what it would look like, and what it would do - and boy, does he ever. The chair turns into all kinds of utopian machinery. It flies, it helps you sleep, and it carries your books to school. Sentence structure is pretty easy and the language is solidly intermediate, with very little advanced vocab (one idiom, a couple of advanced words but not much). At six paragraphs, the text is a bit long, though. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nIn this text, you\'ll notice several uses of the character \"型\". 型 [pinyin]xing2[/pinyin] means \"type\", \"kind\", \"sort\". The character can be combined with other descriptive words, and in this text you\'ll see 新型 - \"New Type of...\" and 大型, meaning \"big type\" or \"large-scale\". \r\n\r\nHere\'s the <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2014-04-02/1396399386256109.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">original</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>未来的桌椅</h4>\r\n你想知道<strong>未来</strong>的桌椅是什么样子吗? 还是让我这个<strong>发明人</strong>来介绍一下吧!\r\n\r\n未来的桌椅是<strong>高科技</strong>材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意<strong>变化</strong>。早晨去上学，就按第一个<strong>按钮</strong>，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天<strong>朝气蓬勃</strong>，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的<strong>能源</strong>，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\r\n\r\n到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、<strong>文具盒</strong>、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\r\n\r\n到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型<strong>游戏机</strong>，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\r\n\r\n到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折<strong>叠床</strong>，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你<strong>安然</strong>入睡。\r\n\r\n怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDo you want to know what chairs and tables will be like in the future? Well then let this inventor [author is referring to self] introduce you!\r\n\r\nChairs and tables in the future are manufactured from high-tech materials, and the size, color and shape can change according to your wishes. In the morning when you go to school, you just push the first button, and the color will change to green, symbolizing a new day full of youthful energy, and its shape will change into a new type of bicycle, since at that time [the future] people will all pay attention to the environment, and every student will ride this kind of bike to go to school, and no other power source will be needed, just solar and wind will be enough. If you run into traffic, this bike can leap over it, ensuring you\'ll arrive at school on time. 　\r\n\r\nOnce you get to school, please push the second button, and the green bike will turn into a blue computer desk and chair, and when you start to study, you don\'t even need to have your book bag, stationery box or other study materials. Everything you need [to accomplish studying] is all in the computer. 　\r\n\r\nWhen school gets out, it will again turn into a bike so you can return home. Of course at this time, the bike is also freed to go slowly, so that you can take a moment to appreciate the natural scenery. When you get home and you have no homework, press the third orange-colored button, and the bike will change into a large video game machine, and you can play all kinds of games. Of course, it will do no damage to your eyes. \r\n\r\nAt night, press the fourth button, and the video game machine will turn into a fold-out bed in any color you want, playing splendid music, that will encourage you to drift into sweet sleep. If you feel at all uncomfortable, a few massagers will extend from the head of the bed and give you a massage, to let you rest peacefully. \r\n\r\nWhat do you think? Surely you\'ll like my future desk chair. I welcome you to place an order for one now. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Essay: Desk-chairs of the Future', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'desk-chairs-of-the-future', '', '', '2020-04-28 19:58:11', '2020-04-28 23:58:11', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1481', 0, 'post', '', 13),
(1711, 1, '2020-04-20 03:05:35', '2020-04-20 07:05:35', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis kid was asked to imagine the perfect desk-chair of the future - what it would look like, and what it would do - and boy, does he ever. The chair turns into all kinds of utopian machinery. It flies, it helps you sleep, and it carries your books to school. Sentence structure is pretty easy and the language is solidly intermediate, with very little advanced vocab (one idiom, a couple of advanced words but not much). At six paragraphs, the text is a bit long, though. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nIn this text, you\'ll notice several uses of the character \"型\". 型 [pinyin]xing2[/pinyin] means \"type\", \"kind\", \"sort\". The character can be combined with other descriptive words, and in this text you\'ll see 新型 - \"New Type of...\" and 大型, meaning \"big type\" or \"large-scale\". \r\n\r\nHere\'s the <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2014-04-02/1396399386256109.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">original</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>未来的桌椅</h4>\r\n你想知道<strong>未来</strong>的桌椅是什么样子吗? 还是让我这个<strong>发明人</strong>来介绍一下吧!\r\n\r\n未来的桌椅是<strong>高科技</strong>材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意<strong>变化</strong>。早晨去上学，就按第一个<strong>按钮</strong>，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天<strong>朝气蓬勃</strong>，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的<strong>能源</strong>，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\r\n\r\n到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、<strong>文具盒</strong>、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\r\n\r\n到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型<strong>游戏机</strong>，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\r\n\r\n到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折<strong>叠床</strong>，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你<strong>安然</strong>入睡。\r\n\r\n怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDo you want to know what chairs and tables will be like in the future? Well then let this inventor [author is referring to self] introduce you!\r\n\r\nChairs and tables in the future are manufactured from high-tech materials, and the size, color and shape can change according to your wishes. In the morning when you go to school, you just push the first button, and the color will change to green, symbolizing a new day full of youthful energy, and its shape will change into a new type of bicycle, since at that time [the future] people will all pay attention to the environment, and every student will ride this kind of bike to go to school, and no other power source will be needed, just solar and wind will be enough. If you run into traffic, this bike can leap over it, ensuring you\'ll arrive at school on time. 　\r\n\r\nOnce you get to school, please push the second button, and the green bike will turn into a blue computer desk and chair, and when you start to study, you don\'t even need to have your book bag, stationery box or other study materials. Everything you need [to accomplish studying] is all in the computer. 　\r\n\r\nWhen school gets out, it will again turn into a bike so you can return home. Of course at this time, the bike is also freed to go slowly, so that you can take a moment to appreciate the natural scenery. When you get home and you have no homework, press the third orange-colored button, and the bike will change into a large video game machine, and you can play all kinds of games. Of course, it will do no damage to your eyes. \r\n\r\nAt night, press the fourth button, and the video game machine will turn into a fold-out bed in any color you want, playing splendid music, that will encourage you to drift into sweet sleep. If you feel at all uncomfortable, a few massagers will extend from the head of the bed and give you a massage, to let you rest peacefully. \r\n\r\nWhat do you think? Surely you\'ll like my future desk chair. I welcome you to place an order for one now. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Desk-chairs of the Future', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1481-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:05:35', '2020-04-20 07:05:35', '', 1481, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1481-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1708, 1, '2020-04-20 03:01:23', '2020-04-20 07:01:23', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThis kid was asked to imagine the perfect desk-chair of the future - what it would look like, and what it would do - and boy, does he ever. The chair turns into all kinds of utopian machinery. It flies, it helps you sleep, and it carries your books to school. Sentence structure is pretty easy and the language is solidly intermediate, with very little advanced vocab (one idiom, a couple of advanced words but not much). At six paragraphs, the text is a bit long, though. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140528-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Mandarin - Simplified Chinese Character Reading\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" /> In this text, you\'ll notice several uses of the character \"型\". 型 [pinyin]xing2[/pinyin] means \"type\", \"kind\", \"sort\". The character can be combined with other descriptive words, and in this text you\'ll see 新型 - \"New Type of...\" and 大型, meaning \"big type\" or \"large-scale\". \r\n\r\nHere\'s the <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2014-04-02/1396399386256109.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">original</a>. \r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>未来的桌椅</h4>\r\n你想知道<strong>未来</strong>的桌椅是什么样子吗? 还是让我这个<strong>发明人</strong>来介绍一下吧!\r\n\r\n未来的桌椅是<strong>高科技</strong>材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意<strong>变化</strong>。早晨去上学，就按第一个<strong>按钮</strong>，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天<strong>朝气蓬勃</strong>，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的<strong>能源</strong>，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\r\n\r\n到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、<strong>文具盒</strong>、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\r\n\r\n到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型<strong>游戏机</strong>，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\r\n\r\n到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折<strong>叠床</strong>，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你<strong>安然</strong>入睡。\r\n\r\n怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nDo you want to know what chairs and tables will be like in the future? Well then let this inventor [author is referring to self] introduce you!\r\n\r\nChairs and tables in the future are manufactured from high-tech materials, and the size, color and shape can change according to your wishes. In the morning when you go to school, you just push the first button, and the color will change to green, symbolizing a new day full of youthful energy, and its shape will change into a new type of bicycle, since at that time [the future] people will all pay attention to the environment, and every student will ride this kind of bike to go to school, and no other power source will be needed, just solar and wind will be enough. If you run into traffic, this bike can leap over it, ensuring you\'ll arrive at school on time. 　\r\n\r\nOnce you get to school, please push the second button, and the green bike will turn into a blue computer desk and chair, and when you start to study, you don\'t even need to have your book bag, stationery box or other study materials. Everything you need [to accomplish studying] is all in the computer. 　\r\n\r\nWhen school gets out, it will again turn into a bike so you can return home. Of course at this time, the bike is also freed to go slowly, so that you can take a moment to appreciate the natural scenery. When you get home and you have no homework, press the third orange-colored button, and the bike will change into a large video game machine, and you can play all kinds of games. Of course, it will do no damage to your eyes. \r\n\r\nAt night, press the fourth button, and the video game machine will turn into a fold-out bed in any color you want, playing splendid music, that will encourage you to drift into sweet sleep. If you feel at all uncomfortable, a few massagers will extend from the head of the bed and give you a massage, to let you rest peacefully. \r\n\r\nWhat do you think? Surely you\'ll like my future desk chair. I welcome you to place an order for one now. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Desk-chairs of the Future', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1481-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:01:23', '2020-04-20 07:01:23', '', 1481, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1481-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1482, 1, '2014-05-01 23:17:01', '2014-05-02 03:17:01', '　你想知道未来的桌椅是什么样子吗?还是让我这个发明人来介绍一下吧!\n　　未来的桌椅是高科技材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意变化。早晨去上学，就按第一个按钮，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天朝气蓬勃，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的能源，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\n　　到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、文具盒、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\n　　到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型游戏机，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\n　　到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折叠床，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你安然入睡。\n　　怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\n\nhttp://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2014-04-02/1396399386256109.html', 'Chairs of the Future', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1481-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-01 23:17:01', '2014-05-02 03:17:01', '', 1481, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/01/1481-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1483, 1, '2014-05-07 00:08:31', '2014-05-07 04:08:31', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<h3>A few notes:</h3>\r\n\r\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \r\n\r\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>捉青蛙</h4>\r\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Essay: Catching Frogs', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'catching-frogs', '', '', '2020-04-28 19:58:15', '2020-04-28 23:58:15', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1483', 0, 'post', '', 52),
(1706, 1, '2020-04-20 03:00:24', '2020-04-20 07:00:24', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<h3>A few notes:</h3>\r\n\r\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \r\n\r\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>捉青蛙</h4>\r\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Catching Frogs', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1483-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 03:00:24', '2020-04-20 07:00:24', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1483-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1705, 1, '2020-04-20 02:58:38', '2020-04-20 06:58:38', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20100510-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learning to Read Mandarin: Simplified Essays for Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A few notes: \r\n\r\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \r\n\r\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>捉青蛙</h4>\r\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Catching Frogs', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1483-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 02:58:38', '2020-04-20 06:58:38', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1483-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1490, 1, '2014-05-02 00:57:49', '2014-05-02 04:57:49', '', 'Beginning Chinese Reading: Mandarin Chinese Childrens Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20140510', '', '', '2014-05-02 00:57:49', '2014-05-02 04:57:49', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140510.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1491, 1, '2014-05-02 00:57:51', '2014-05-02 04:57:51', '', 'Beginning Chinese Reading: Mandarin Chinese Childrens Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20100510-inline', '', '', '2014-05-02 00:57:51', '2014-05-02 04:57:51', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20100510-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` (`ID`, `post_author`, `post_date`, `post_date_gmt`, `post_content`, `post_title`, `post_excerpt`, `post_status`, `comment_status`, `ping_status`, `post_password`, `post_name`, `to_ping`, `pinged`, `post_modified`, `post_modified_gmt`, `post_content_filtered`, `post_parent`, `guid`, `menu_order`, `post_type`, `post_mime_type`, `comment_count`) VALUES
(1492, 1, '2014-05-02 00:54:41', '2014-05-02 04:54:41', '[two_third]\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\n\nA few notes: \n\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \n\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \n\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n光彩 - [pinyin]guang1 cai3[/pinyin] - Illustrious\n难为情 - [pinyin]nan2 wei2 qing2[/pinyin] - Embarrassed\n捉 - [pinyin]zhuo1[/pinyin] - Capture\n青蛙 - [pinyin]qing1 wa1[/pinyin] - Frog\n渐渐- [pinyin]jian1 jian1[/pinyin] - Gradually\n大自然 - [pinyin]da4 zi4 ran2[/pinyin] - The great outdoors\n害虫- [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Catching Frogs', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1483-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-02 00:54:41', '2014-05-02 04:54:41', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/02/1483-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1484, 1, '2014-05-02 00:37:08', '2014-05-02 04:37:08', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA quick and simple poem about morning dew. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe author used a turn of phrase here which might be slightly confusing: 打湿. Most commonly, we know the word 打 [pinyin]da3[/pinyin] as \"to hit\" or \"to strike\". 湿 [pinyin]shi1[/pinyin] means \"wet\" or \"moist\". Put these two words together, and 打湿 means \"to get something wet\" or to moisten. \r\n\r\nThough the title of the poem is \"Dewdrops\" - 露珠 - you\'ll notice that the actual word is never mentioned in the poem. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>露珠</h4>\r\n昨天夜里，\r\n谁从<strong>草地</strong>上走过？\r\n丢了那么多的<strong>珍珠</strong>。\r\n今天早上，\r\n谁在<strong>草丛</strong>中看着我？\r\n还打<strong>湿</strong>了我的衣裤。\r\n太阳升高了，\r\n谁收走了珍珠？\r\n留下了湿湿的气息，\r\n湿湿的泥土。\r\n \r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLast night,\r\nWho walked up from the meadow?\r\n[They] lost so many pearls.\r\nThis morning, \r\nWho was watching me from the underbrush? \r\n[They] made damp my trousers.\r\nThe sun is high,\r\nwho left with the pearls?\r\n[They] left behind them dewy breath,\r\nand wet soil.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Poem: Dewdrops', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'poem-dewdrops', '', '', '2020-04-20 02:57:03', '2020-04-20 06:57:03', '', 0, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1484', 0, 'post', '', 16),
(1704, 1, '2020-04-20 02:57:03', '2020-04-20 06:57:03', '[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\r\nA quick and simple poem about morning dew. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe author used a turn of phrase here which might be slightly confusing: 打湿. Most commonly, we know the word 打 [pinyin]da3[/pinyin] as \"to hit\" or \"to strike\". 湿 [pinyin]shi1[/pinyin] means \"wet\" or \"moist\". Put these two words together, and 打湿 means \"to get something wet\" or to moisten. \r\n\r\nThough the title of the poem is \"Dewdrops\" - 露珠 - you\'ll notice that the actual word is never mentioned in the poem. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml</a>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\r\n[su_row]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h4>露珠</h4>\r\n昨天夜里，\r\n谁从<strong>草地</strong>上走过？\r\n丢了那么多的<strong>珍珠</strong>。\r\n今天早上，\r\n谁在<strong>草丛</strong>中看着我？\r\n还打<strong>湿</strong>了我的衣裤。\r\n太阳升高了，\r\n谁收走了珍珠？\r\n留下了湿湿的气息，\r\n湿湿的泥土。\r\n \r\n</div>\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\r\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\r\nLast night,\r\nWho walked up from the meadow?\r\n[They] lost so many pearls.\r\nThis morning, \r\nWho was watching me from the underbrush? \r\n[They] made damp my trousers.\r\nThe sun is high,\r\nwho left with the pearls?\r\n[They] left behind them dewy breath,\r\nand wet soil.\r\n[/hide-this-part]\r\n[/su_column]\r\n[/su_row]', 'Poem: Dewdrops', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1484-revision-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 02:57:03', '2020-04-20 06:57:03', '', 1484, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/04/20/1484-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1485, 1, '2014-05-02 00:34:52', '2014-05-02 04:34:52', '', 'Learn to Read Chinese: Beginner Chinese Reading Exercises', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20140502', '', '', '2014-05-02 00:34:52', '2014-05-02 04:34:52', '', 1484, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140502.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1486, 1, '2014-05-02 00:34:57', '2014-05-02 04:34:57', '', 'Learn to Read Chinese: Beginner Chinese Reading Exercises', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20140502-inline', '', '', '2014-05-02 00:34:57', '2014-05-02 04:34:57', '', 1484, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140502-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1487, 1, '2014-05-02 00:37:02', '2014-05-02 04:37:02', '[two_third]\nA quick and simple poem about morning dew. <!--more-->\n\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140502-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Mandarin: Simplified Chinese Poems Study\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder a\" />The author used a turn of phrase here which might be slightly confusing: 打湿. Most commonly, we know the word 打 [pinyin]da3[/pinyin] as \"to hit\" or \"to strike\". 湿 [pinyin]shi1[/pinyin] means \"wet\" or \"moist\". Put these two words together, and 打湿 means \"to get something wet\" or to moisten. \n\nThough the title of the poem is \"Dewdrops\" - 露珠 - you\'ll notice that the actual word is never mentioned in the poem. \n\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml</a>\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n草地 - [pinyin]cao3 di4[/pinyin] - Meadow\n珍珠 - [pinyin]zhen1 zhu1[/pinyin] - Pearl\n草丛 - [pinyin]cao3 cong2[/pinyin] - Underbrush\n湿 - [pinyin]shi1[/pinyin] - Moist, wet\n泥土- [pinyin]ni2 tu3[/pinyin] - soil, earth\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n昨天夜里，\n谁从<strong>草地</strong>上走过？\n丢了那么多的<strong>珍珠</strong>。\n今天早上，\n谁在<strong>草丛</strong>中看着我？\n还打<strong>湿</strong>了我的衣裤。\n太阳升高了，\n谁收走了珍珠？\n留下了湿湿的气息，\n湿湿的泥土。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nLast night,\nWho walked up from the meadow?\n[They] lost so many pearls.\nThis morning, \nWho was watching me from the underbrush? \n[They] made damp my trousers.\nThe sun is high,\nwho left with the pearls?\n[They] left behind them dewy breath,\nand wet soil.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Poem: Dewdrops', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1484-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-02 00:37:02', '2014-05-02 04:37:02', '', 1484, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/02/1484-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1488, 1, '2020-04-20 02:56:17', '2020-04-20 06:56:17', '[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"yes\" class=\"\"]\nA quick and simple poem about morning dew. <!--more-->\n\nThe author used a turn of phrase here which might be slightly confusing: 打湿. Most commonly, we know the word 打 [pinyin]da3[/pinyin] as \"to hit\" or \"to strike\". 湿 [pinyin]shi1[/pinyin] means \"wet\" or \"moist\". Put these two words together, and 打湿 means \"to get something wet\" or to moisten. \n\nThough the title of the poem is \"Dewdrops\" - 露珠 - you\'ll notice that the actual word is never mentioned in the poem. \n\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml</a>\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>小马过河</h4>\n昨天夜里，\n谁从<strong>草地</strong>上走过？\n丢了那么多的<strong>珍珠</strong>。\n今天早上，\n谁在<strong>草丛</strong>中看着我？\n还打<strong>湿</strong>了我的衣裤。\n太阳升高了，\n谁收走了珍珠？\n留下了湿湿的气息，\n湿湿的泥土。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nLast night,\nWho walked up from the meadow?\n[They] lost so many pearls.\nThis morning, \nWho was watching me from the underbrush? \n[They] made damp my trousers.\nThe sun is high,\nwho left with the pearls?\n[They] left behind them dewy breath,\nand wet soil.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Poem: Dewdrops', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1484-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 02:56:17', '2020-04-20 06:56:17', '', 1484, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/02/1484-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1489, 1, '2014-05-02 00:37:08', '2014-05-02 04:37:08', '[two_third]\r\nA quick and simple poem about morning dew. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140502-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Mandarin: Simplified Chinese Poems Study\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The author used a turn of phrase here which might be slightly confusing: 打湿. Most commonly, we know the word 打 [pinyin]da3[/pinyin] as \"to hit\" or \"to strike\". 湿 [pinyin]shi1[/pinyin] means \"wet\" or \"moist\". Put these two words together, and 打湿 means \"to get something wet\" or to moisten. \r\n\r\nThough the title of the poem is \"Dewdrops\" - 露珠 - you\'ll notice that the actual word is never mentioned in the poem. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20131223/52b840bf2572e.shtml</a>\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n草地 - [pinyin]cao3 di4[/pinyin] - Meadow\r\n珍珠 - [pinyin]zhen1 zhu1[/pinyin] - Pearl\r\n草丛 - [pinyin]cao3 cong2[/pinyin] - Underbrush\r\n湿 - [pinyin]shi1[/pinyin] - Moist, wet\r\n泥土- [pinyin]ni2 tu3[/pinyin] - soil, earth\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n昨天夜里，\r\n谁从<strong>草地</strong>上走过？\r\n丢了那么多的<strong>珍珠</strong>。\r\n今天早上，\r\n谁在<strong>草丛</strong>中看着我？\r\n还打<strong>湿</strong>了我的衣裤。\r\n太阳升高了，\r\n谁收走了珍珠？\r\n留下了湿湿的气息，\r\n湿湿的泥土。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nLast night,\r\nWho walked up from the meadow?\r\n[They] lost so many pearls.\r\nThis morning, \r\nWho was watching me from the underbrush? \r\n[They] made damp my trousers.\r\nThe sun is high,\r\nwho left with the pearls?\r\n[They] left behind them dewy breath,\r\nand wet soil.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Poem: Dewdrops', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1484-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-02 00:37:08', '2014-05-02 04:37:08', '', 1484, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/02/1484-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1493, 1, '2020-04-20 02:58:20', '2020-04-20 06:58:20', '[two_third]\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\n\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20100510-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learning to Read Mandarin: Simplified Essays for Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A few notes: \n\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \n\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \n\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]\n\n<div class=\"readingPassage\">\n[su_row]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n<h4>zhuo qing w</h4>\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\n</div>\n[/su_column]\n[su_column size=\"1/2\" center=\"no\" class=\"\"]\n[hide-this-part morelink=\"Show English translation\"]\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \n[/hide-this-part]\n[/su_column]\n[/su_row]', 'Catching Frogs', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1483-autosave-v1', '', '', '2020-04-20 02:58:20', '2020-04-20 06:58:20', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/02/1483-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1494, 1, '2014-05-02 01:00:39', '2014-05-02 05:00:39', '[two_third]\r\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20100510-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learning to Read Mandarin: Simplified Essays for Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A few notes: \r\n\r\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \r\n\r\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n光彩 - [pinyin]guang1 cai3[/pinyin] - Illustrious\r\n难为情 - [pinyin]nan2 wei2 qing2[/pinyin] - Embarrassed\r\n捉 - [pinyin]zhuo1[/pinyin] - Capture\r\n青蛙 - [pinyin]qing1 wa1[/pinyin] - Frog\r\n渐渐- [pinyin]jian1 jian1[/pinyin] - Gradually\r\n大自然 - [pinyin]da4 zi4 ran2[/pinyin] - The great outdoors\r\n害虫- [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Catching Frogs', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1483-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-02 01:00:39', '2014-05-02 05:00:39', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/02/1483-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1495, 1, '2014-05-07 23:07:36', '2014-05-08 03:07:36', '[two_third]\r\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20100510-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learning to Read Mandarin: Simplified Essays for Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A few notes: \r\n\r\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \r\n\r\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n光彩 - [pinyin]guang1 cai3[/pinyin] - Illustrious\r\n难为情 - [pinyin]nan2 wei2 qing2[/pinyin] - Embarrassed\r\n捉 - [pinyin]zhuo1[/pinyin] - Capture\r\n青蛙 - [pinyin]qing1 wa1[/pinyin] - Frog\r\n渐渐- [pinyin]jian1 jian1[/pinyin] - Gradually\r\n大自然 - [pinyin]da4 zi4 ran2[/pinyin] - The great outdoors\r\n害虫- [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Catching Frogs', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1483-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-07 23:07:36', '2014-05-08 03:07:36', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/07/1483-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1496, 1, '2014-05-07 23:08:06', '2014-05-08 03:08:06', '[two_third]\r\nThough this post is beginner-level, it\'s also very condensed. I\'d say you\'ll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20100510-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learning to Read Mandarin: Simplified Essays for Learners\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A few notes: \r\n\r\n- There\'s a proper noun in here you probably won\'t find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it\'s a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is \"JiangDong Park\". \r\n\r\n- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally \"Little Friend\", actually just means \"small children\", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn\'t know. \r\n\r\nSource: <a href=\"http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n光彩 - [pinyin]guang1 cai3[/pinyin] - Illustrious\r\n难为情 - [pinyin]nan2 wei2 qing2[/pinyin] - Embarrassed\r\n捉 - [pinyin]zhuo1[/pinyin] - Capture\r\n青蛙 - [pinyin]qing1 wa1[/pinyin] - Frog\r\n渐渐- [pinyin]jian1 jian1[/pinyin] - Gradually\r\n大自然 - [pinyin]da4 zi4 ran2[/pinyin] - The great outdoors\r\n害虫- [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIn the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I\'m ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it\'s like they were saying to me: \"Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects.\" I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Catching Frogs', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1483-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-07 23:08:06', '2014-05-08 03:08:06', '', 1483, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/07/1483-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1498, 1, '2014-05-07 23:35:01', '2014-05-08 03:35:01', '\r\n\r\n\r\n[two_third]\r\nintro \r\nhttp://www.tom61.com/shiwangeweishime/youqudezhiwu/2012-01-30/25368.html\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n野餐 - [pinyin]ye3 can1[/pinyin] - Picnic\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在未成熟前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有叶绿素的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在未成熟前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有叶绿素的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1480-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-07 23:35:01', '2014-05-08 03:35:01', '', 1480, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/07/1480-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1500, 1, '2014-05-08 19:42:46', '2014-05-08 23:42:46', '[two_third]\nintro \nhttp://www.tom61.com/shiwangeweishime/youqudezhiwu/2012-01-30/25368.html\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n辣椒 - [pinyin]ye3 can1[/pinyin] - Picnic\n未成熟\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在未成熟前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有叶绿素的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThere are many types of peppers, but all types of pepper are green in color before they ripen, which is because they contain chlorophyll. When it finally comes time for them to ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow and red pigments in the peppers increase accordingly, so they become yellow and red. In addition, some types of peppers taste better when they\'re still green, so they are brought to market before they ripen. That\'s why we see so many different colors of peppers.  \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1480-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-08 19:42:46', '2014-05-08 23:42:46', '', 1480, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/08/1480-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1499, 1, '2014-05-08 19:30:16', '2014-05-08 23:30:16', '\n[two_third]\nintro \nhttp://www.tom61.com/shiwangeweishime/youqudezhiwu/2012-01-30/25368.html\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n野餐 - [pinyin]ye3 can1[/pinyin] - Picnic\n\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在未成熟前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有叶绿素的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThere are many types of peppers, but all types of pepper are green in color before they ripen, which is because they contain chlorophyll. When it finally comes time for them to ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow and red pigments in the peppers increase accordingly, so they become yellow and red. In addition, some types of peppers taste better when they\'re still green, so they are brought to market before they ripen. Therefore, we can see 　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在未成熟前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有叶绿素的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1480-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-08 19:30:16', '2014-05-08 23:30:16', '', 1480, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/08/1480-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1497, 1, '2014-05-07 23:34:32', '2014-05-08 03:34:32', '\n\n\n[two_third]\nI love it when I find a longer story that\'s suitable for beginning readers. This one, which is either a tale that reminds us what happens when you try to be something you\'re not, or a tale that reminds us that men should never be allowed to give each other fashion advice, definitely fits the bill. <!--more-->\n\n<img src=\"http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130805-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Learn to Read Simplified Chinese: Basic Chinese Reader\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The first sentence isn\'t super simple, so push through that one if you can, it gets much easier in the following paragraphs. Four points of grammar: \n\n能有幸请 [pinyin]neng2 you3 xing4 qing3[/pinyin] - A politely formal phrase of invitation \"May have the pleasure of inviting you ...\" or more specifically, \"May I be so lucky as to...\" (have this dance?) (take you on a date?). \n\n看上去 [pinyin]kan4 shang4 qu4[/pinyin] - To look like. \n\n你要是再不走开 [pinyin]ni3 yao4 shi4 zai4 bu4 zou3 kai1[/pinyin] - This one might be a little confusing. Let\'s break it down: \n\n你 - You\n要是 - If\n再不 - Otherwise / If not\n走开 - Go away\n\nThe full phrase means \"If you don\'t go away....\"\n\n他会来收拾你的 [pinyin]ta1 hui4 lai2 shou1 shi5 ni3 de5[/pinyin]. In the story, Miss Pig says this to an unwelcome guest. The \"他\" in this case is Mr. Pig. The Beginners often learn the word \"收拾\", meaning \"to tidy up\". Usually, this means exactly what it sounds like, and applies to cleaning up a room or an apartment. In this case, it\'s being used in kind of an action movie way, meaning \"He\'ll come over and <strong>deal with</strong> you!\" or \"He\'ll come <strong>straighten you out</strong>!\". So Miss Pig is threatening the unwelcome guest, telling him that Mr. Pig will come over and beat him up. \n\nThe Chinese title is 猪先生去野餐\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n野餐 - [pinyin]ye3 can1[/pinyin] - Picnic\n期待 - [pinyin]qi1 dai4[/pinyin] - To look forward to\n打动 - [pinyin]da3 dong4[/pinyin] - To move someone(emotionally)\n遇到 - [pinyin]yu4 dao4[/pinyin] - To run into\n借 - [pinyin]jie4[/pinyin] - Lend, borrow\n接着 - [pinyin]jie1 zhe5[/pinyin] - Continuing on\n威猛 - [pinyin]wei1 meng3[/pinyin] - Bold and powerful\n英俊 - [pinyin]ying1 jun4[/pinyin] - Handsome\n激动 - [pinyin]ji1 dong4[/pinyin] - Excite, agitate\n妖怪 - [pinyin]yao1 guai4[/pinyin] - Monster, devil\n丑八怪 - [pinyin]chou3 ba1 guai4[/pinyin] - Ugly person\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在未成熟前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有叶绿素的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nToday, it\'s a great day for a picnic. Mr. Pig dressed himself with care, looking forward to [the possibility of] Miss Pig and himself going on a picnic together.\n\n\"Heh, I hope she says \'Yes\' [lit: I\'m willing]. Hm, I\'ll also pick some flowers to give her, that will certainly be enough to sway her!\"\n\nOn the road, Mr. Pig ran into his friend Fox. When fox heard about the picnic, he said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, let me lend you my beautiful tail. See, you look so clever, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. \n\nContinuing on, he ran into his friend Lion. Lion heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, borrow my beautiful hair for when you go over there. See, you look so powerful, Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased.  \n\nAfter a while, he ran into his friend Zebra. Zebra heard about the picnic and said: \"Let me give you a suggestion, I\'ll lend you my beautiful stripes. See, you look so handsome. Miss Pig will certainly like it.\" Mr. Pig was very pleased. He felt that he\'d never before looked so handsome.\n\nFinally arriving at Miss Pig\'s house, Mr. Pig excitedly knocked on the door. \"Would you do me the honor of going on a picnic with me?\" he asked. \n\nMiss Pig was terrified: \"Oh, no way! What kind of monster are you? If you don\'t go away, I\'ll go get Mr. Pig, he\'ll straighten you out!\"\n\nMr. Pig hurriedly ran away. On the road, he gave the stripes back to Zebra, the hair back to Lion, and the tail back to Fox. AFter that, he hurried back to Miss Pig\'s house, and again pressed the doorbell. \n\n\"Would you do me the honor of having a picnic with me?\" he asked again. \n\n\"Goodness, Mr. Pig!\" Miss Pig cried out. \"I\'m so happy to see you, I\'d love to go on a picnic with you. An ugly wretch just came by here, standing in my garden, and scared me so.\" \n\nOn the way, Miss Pig told Mr. Pig the story of the \'ugly wretch\' in great detail. Her handsome friend Mr. Pig, though, listened with great sympathy. It really was a great day for a picnic.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1480-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-07 23:34:32', '2014-05-08 03:34:32', '', 1480, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/07/1480-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1501, 1, '2014-05-08 19:44:41', '2014-05-08 23:44:41', '[two_third]\nScience! A quick para. Though the sentence structure here isn\'t too bad and the article is very short, I\'m classifying this as \'advanced\' since several of the words are quite s\nhttp://www.tom61.com/shiwangeweishime/youqudezhiwu/2012-01-30/25368.html\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n辣椒 - [pinyin]ye3 can1[/pinyin] - Picnic\n未成熟\n叶绿素\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n　辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在<strong>未成熟</strong>前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有<strong>叶绿素</strong>的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。  \n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThere are many types of peppers, but all types of pepper are green in color before they ripen, which is because they contain chlorophyll. When it finally comes time for them to ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow and red pigments in the peppers increase accordingly, so they become yellow and red. In addition, some types of peppers taste better when they\'re still green, so they are brought to market before they ripen. That\'s why we see so many different colors of peppers.  \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Why are some peppers different colors?', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1480-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-08 19:44:41', '2014-05-08 23:44:41', '', 1480, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/08/1480-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1503, 1, '2014-05-28 04:49:35', '2014-05-28 08:49:35', '\n\nhttp://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2014-04-02/1396399386256109.html\n\n\n[two_third]\nThis post kicks ass, if I do say so myself. \n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n光彩 - [pinyin]guang1 cai3[/pinyin] - Illustrious\n难为情 - [pinyin]nan2 wei2 qing2[/pinyin] - Embarrassed\n捉 - [pinyin]zhuo1[/pinyin] - Capture\n青蛙 - [pinyin]qing1 wa1[/pinyin] - Frog\n渐渐- [pinyin]jian1 jian1[/pinyin] - Gradually\n大自然 - [pinyin]da4 zi4 ran2[/pinyin] - The great outdoors\n害虫- [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n　你想知道未来的桌椅是什么样子吗?还是让我这个发明人来介绍一下吧!\n　　未来的桌椅是高科技材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意变化。早晨去上学，就按第一个按钮，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天朝气蓬勃，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的能源，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\n　　到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、文具盒、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\n　　到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型游戏机，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\n　　到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折叠床，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你安然入睡。\n　　怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nDo you want to know what chairs and tables will be like in the future? Well then let this inventor [author is referring to self] introduce you!\n\nChairs and tables in the future are made from hig　　未来的桌椅是高科技材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意变化。早晨去上学，就按第一个按钮，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天朝气蓬勃，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的能源，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\n　　到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、文具盒、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\n　　到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型游戏机，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\n　　到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折叠床，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你安然入睡。\n　　怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Chairs of the Future', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1481-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-28 04:49:35', '2014-05-28 08:49:35', '', 1481, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/28/1481-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1504, 1, '2014-05-28 05:21:28', '2014-05-28 09:21:28', '[two_third]\nThis post kicks ass, if I do say so myself. This kid was asked to imagine the perfect desk-chair of the future - what it would look like, and what it would do - and boy, does he ever. The chair turns into all kinds of utopian machinery, flies, and . Sentence structure is pretty easy and the language is solidly intermediate, with very little advanced vocab (one idiom, a couple of advanced words but not much). At 5 paragraphs, the text is a bit long, though. <!--more-->\n\nHere\'s the <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2014-04-02/1396399386256109.html\" target=\"_blank\">original</a>. \n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n光彩 - [pinyin]guang1 cai3[/pinyin] - Illustrious\n难为情 - [pinyin]nan2 wei2 qing2[/pinyin] - Embarrassed\n捉 - [pinyin]zhuo1[/pinyin] - Capture\n青蛙 - [pinyin]qing1 wa1[/pinyin] - Frog\n渐渐- [pinyin]jian1 jian1[/pinyin] - Gradually\n大自然 - [pinyin]da4 zi4 ran2[/pinyin] - The great outdoors\n害虫- [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n　你想知道未来的桌椅是什么样子吗?还是让我这个发明人来介绍一下吧!\n　　未来的桌椅是高科技材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意变化。早晨去上学，就按第一个按钮，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天朝气蓬勃，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的能源，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\n　　到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、文具盒、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\n　　到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型游戏机，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\n　　到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折叠床，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你安然入睡。\n　　怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nDo you want to know what chairs and tables will be like in the future? Well then let this inventor [author is referring to self] introduce you!\n\nChairs and tables in the future are manufactured from high-tech materials, and the size, color and shape can change according to your wishes. In the morning when you go to school, you just push the first button, and the color will change to green, symbolizing a new day full of youthful energy, and its shape will change into a new type of bicycle, since at that time [the future] people will all pay attention to the environment, and every student will ride this kind of bike to go to school, and no other power source will be needed, just solar and wind will be enough. If you run into traffic, this bike can leap over it, ensuring you\'ll arrive at school on time. 　\n\nOnce you get to school, please push the second button, and the green bike will turn into a blue computer desk and chair, and when you start to study, you don\'t even need to have your book bag, stationery or other study materials. Everything you need [to accomplish studying] is all in the computer. 　\n\nWhen school gets out, it will again turn into a bike so you can return home. Of course at this time, the bike can also go slowly, so that you can take a moment to appreciate the natural scenery. When you get home and you have no homework, press the third orange-colored button, and the bike will change into a large video game machine. Of course, it will do no damage to your eyes. \n\nAt night, press the fourth button, and the video game machine will turn into a fold-out bed in any color you want, playing splendid music, that will encourage you to drift into sweet sleep. If you feel at all uncomfortable, a few massagers will extend from the head of the bed and give you a massage, to let you rest peacefully. \n\nWhat do you think? Surely you\'ll like my future desk chair. I welcome you to place an order for one now. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Chairs of the Future', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1481-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-28 05:21:28', '2014-05-28 09:21:28', '', 1481, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/28/1481-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1505, 1, '2014-05-28 05:32:15', '2014-05-28 09:32:15', '[two_third]\nThis post kicks ass, if I do say so myself. This kid was asked to imagine the perfect desk-chair of the future - what it would look like, and what it would do - and boy, does he ever. The chair turns into all kinds of utopian machinery. It flies, it helps you sleep, and it carries your books to school. Sentence structure is pretty easy and the language is solidly intermediate, with very little advanced vocab (one idiom, a couple of advanced words but not much). At six paragraphs, the text is a bit long, though. <!--more-->\n\nIn this text, you\'ll notice several uses of the character \"型\". 型 [pinyin]xing2[/pinyin] means \"type\", \"kind\", \"sort\". The character can be combined with other descriptive words, and in this text you\'ll see 新型 - \"New Type of...\" and 大型, meaning \"big type\" or \"large-scale\". \n\nHere\'s the <a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2014-04-02/1396399386256109.html\" target=\"_blank\">original</a>. \n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n未来 - [pinyin]guang1 cai3[/pinyin] - Illustrious\n发明人 - [pinyin]nan2 wei2 qing2[/pinyin] - Embarrassed\n高科技 - [pinyin]zhuo1[/pinyin] - Capture\n变化 - [pinyin]qing1 wa1[/pinyin] - Frog\n按钮 - [pinyin]jian1 jian1[/pinyin] - Gradually\n朝气蓬勃 - [pinyin]da4 zi4 ran2[/pinyin] - The great outdoors\n能源 - [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n文具盒 - [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n游戏机 - [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n叠床 - [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n能源 - [pinyin]hai4 chong2[/pinyin] - Insect\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n你想知道<strong>未来</strong>的桌椅是什么样子吗? 还是让我这个<strong>发明人</strong>来介绍一下吧!\n\n未来的桌椅是<strong>高科技</strong>材料制成的，大小、颜色、形状能随意<strong>变化</strong>。早晨去上学，就按第一个<strong>按钮</strong>，颜色可以变成绿色，象征新的一天<strong>朝气蓬勃</strong>，这个桌椅变成了新型自行车，那时候人们讲究环保，每个学生都骑这样的车去上学，不用别的<strong>能源</strong>，有太阳能和风就够了。如果遇见堵车的现象，自行车就会飞跃过去，保证准时到达学校。\n\n到了学校，请按第二个按钮，绿色自行车变成了蓝色电脑桌椅，开始上课学习，根本不用带书包呀、<strong>文具盒</strong>、教材什么的。一切学习任务都在电脑上完成。\n\n到了放学的时候，又变回自行车回到家。当然这时候的车速可以放慢，好好欣赏一下大自然的风光。回到家没有作业，这时请按第三个橘色按钮，自行车再变成大型<strong>游戏机</strong>，你就可以玩各种游戏了。当然，对眼睛没有害处。\n\n到了晚上，请按第四个按钮，游戏机变成了你喜欢颜色的折<strong>叠床</strong>，发出美妙的音乐，催你甜蜜地入眠。假如你感觉哪儿不舒服了，就从床头伸出几个按摩头给你按摩，让你安然入睡。\n\n怎么样，我发明的未来的桌椅你一定喜欢吧?欢迎你现在就来预订一套。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nDo you want to know what chairs and tables will be like in the future? Well then let this inventor [author is referring to self] introduce you!\n\nChairs and tables in the future are manufactured from high-tech materials, and the size, color and shape can change according to your wishes. In the morning when you go to school, you just push the first button, and the color will change to green, symbolizing a new day full of youthful energy, and its shape will change into a new type of bicycle, since at that time [the future] people will all pay attention to the environment, and every student will ride this kind of bike to go to school, and no other power source will be needed, just solar and wind will be enough. If you run into traffic, this bike can leap over it, ensuring you\'ll arrive at school on time. 　\n\nOnce you get to school, please push the second button, and the green bike will turn into a blue computer desk and chair, and when you start to study, you don\'t even need to have your book bag, stationery box or other study materials. Everything you need [to accomplish studying] is all in the computer. 　\n\nWhen school gets out, it will again turn into a bike so you can return home. Of course at this time, the bike is also freed to go slowly, so that you can take a moment to appreciate the natural scenery. When you get home and you have no homework, press the third orange-colored button, and the bike will change into a large video game machine, and you can play all kinds of games. Of course, it will do no damage to your eyes. \n\nAt night, press the fourth button, and the video game machine will turn into a fold-out bed in any color you want, playing splendid music, that will encourage you to drift into sweet sleep. If you feel at all uncomfortable, a few massagers will extend from the head of the bed and give you a massage, to let you rest peacefully. \n\nWhat do you think? Surely you\'ll like my future desk chair. I welcome you to place an order for one now. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Desk-chairs of the Future', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '1481-revision-v1', '', '', '2014-05-28 05:32:15', '2014-05-28 09:32:15', '', 1481, 'http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2014/05/28/1481-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
