用英语讲中国-传统文化时文阅读(配练习)(二)-2026-2027学年译林版九年级英语上册

用英语讲中国-传统文化时文阅读(配练习)(二)

用英语讲中国 | 京剧简介 An Introduction to Beijing Opera

While Beijing Opera is the most famous type of opera in China, it is not the only one. In f       1        , there are more than 300 styles of opera in China. Most have strong local colour, although some, such as the Yue, Ping, Kunqu, and Huangmei Operas, are loved and

a       2       far outside of their home areas. Typically, the stories used in Chinese operas are

b      3        on old legends. Some stories are more heavily c       4        with certain operas, and many operas feature stories that are no longer found anywhere else. Most opera styles in China i       5        martial arts as well as singing, and actors usually wear heavy make-up. Generally, each opera uses the dialect of its area and has its own personality.

In the beginning, Beijing did not have its o      6       style of opera. According to legend, Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) had seen and enjoyed some Huiban performances when he toured Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. The word ban may refer to an opera company, while the word hui p   7         

refers to Anhui Province. There were many famous Huiban groups performing in Yangzhou, and they performed various opera styles, including Erhuang and Kunqu. S     8        Qianlong had enjoyed Huiban performances so much, four Huiban groups were i      9         to perform in Beijing for Qianlong's 80th birthday celebration in 1790. They proved a hit and made their home in the capital, mostly performing for the imperial court(皇室), and then later also performing for the p     10        . From around 1828, they were joined by opera singers from Hubei Province. Over the years, Beijing Opera

d      11         and changed, borrowing parts of other opera styles, especially Kunqu Opera, which had been popular in the imperial court before 1790.

First-time visitors to China who see a Beijing Opera performance, perhaps by chance when they turn on the TV in their hotel rooms, will be s      12        . Beijing Opera is so different from what most Westerners are used to that, at first, it can seem a bit confusing: What does it all mean? What is this all about? Y      13          , to most Chinese people Beijing Opera is a prized part of their culture. Indeed, many of the c        14          have become folk icons famous all over China. 

用英语讲中国 | 愚公移山 The Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountains

Between Jizhou in the south and Heyang in the north s     1       two towering mountains—Taihang and Wangwu. Each covered an area of over seven hundred li(里) square and reached ten thousand ren(仞) in h      2      . North of these mountains lived an old man named Yu Gong, nearly ninety years old. With the massive peaks blocking his home, his family faced hard detours(迂回) whenever they needed to t      3          beyond them.

One day, Yu Gong gathered his family. "Let us m     4       these mountains elsewhere!" he declared. His wife objected(反对), "At your age, you cannot even shift a small mound(土堆), let alone two mountains! And where would we dump all the earth and stone?" Yu Gong r     5      , "To the Bohai Sea, beyond Yintu." Problem solved, they began d       6       , led by the determined patriarch(族长).

A bystander(旁观者), Zhi Sou, laughed at them: "How foolish! You, weak and old, cannot even clear weeds(杂草)—how will you move mountains?" Yu Gong sighed(叹气), "You misunderstand. My sons will c     7       after me, then their sons, and so on endlessly. The mountains cannot grow, but my descendants(后代) are limitless. Will we not s      8       ?" Surprised by his c      9        , Zhi Sou felt inspired.

When the Heavenly God learned of Yu Gong's perseverance, he was moved. He asked another deity(神明) to remove the mountains.

This fable(寓言) teaches that unyielding(坚定的) determination can overcome any difficulties, no matter how i        10      it seems.

 

用英语讲中国 | 画蛇添足 To Draw a Snake and Add Feet to It

The story in Strategies of the Warring States · Anecdotes of Qi recounts: After the Spring Sacrifice ceremony, an o     1      of the ancient State of Chu rewarded his men with a pot of wine. One man suggested, "We have only one pot of wine. It's not enough for all but enough for one. Let's d       2       the winner by drawing snakes on the ground - whoever finishes first gets the wine." The others agreed.

Soon, one man c     3       his snake. As he reached for the wine, he n      4       others still drawing. Smugly(自鸣得意地), he boasted(夸口说), "How slow you are! I even have time to

a      5       feet to my snake!"

But before he f      6      , another completed his snake and snatched(抓住) the pot. "Whoever saw a snake with feet? Yours isn't a snake, so the wine is mine!" he declared, drinking it. The overambitious(野心太大的) artist could only regret his folly(愚蠢).

Hence came the idiom "Draw a snake and add feet to it," showing that excess(过剩) is just as

w     7       as deficiency(缺乏).