1、“你要茶还是要咖啡?”是用餐人常被问到的问题。许多西方人会选咖啡,而中国人则会选茶。相传,中国的一位帝王于五千多年前发现了茶,并用来治病。在明清(the Ming and Qing Dynasties)期间,茶馆遍布全国。饮茶在六世纪传到日本,但直到十七、十八世纪才传到欧美。如今,茶是世界上最流行的饮料(beverage)之一。茶是中国的民族饮品,也是中国传统和文化的重要组成部分。 “Tea or coffee? ” Thats a question often asked when people have a meal. Many westerners would choose coffee
2、, while the Chinese would choose tea. Legend has it that tea was discovered by a Chinese emperor five thousand years ago, and was used to cure diseases. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, tea houses were all over the country. Tea drinking was introduced to Japan in the 16th century, but it was not
3、until the 17th or the 18th century that it spread to Europe and America. Nowadays, tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world. It is not only the national beverage of China, but also an important part of Chinese tradition and culture.,中国结(the Chinese knot)最初是由手工艺人发明的,经过数百年不断的改进,已经成为一种优雅多彩
4、的艺术和工艺。在古代,人们用它来记录事件,但现在主要用于装饰的目的。“结”在中文里意味着爱情、婚姻和团聚。中国结常作为礼物交换或用作饰品祈求好运和避邪。这种形式的手工艺(handicraft)代代相传,现在已经在中国和世界各地越来越受欢迎。 The Chinese knot was originally invented by the craftsmen. After hundreds of years continuous improvement, it has become a kind of elegant and colorful art and craft. In ancient t
5、imes, it was used to record events, but now it is used mainly for decorative purposes. Knot, pronounced “jie” in Chinese, means love, marriage and reunion. The Chinese knot is used as gifts to exchange or as decorations to pray for good luck and ward off evil spirits. This form of handicraft has bee
6、n passed down from generation to generation, and has become increasingly popular in China and around the world.,许多人喜欢中餐。在中国,烹饪不仅被视为一种技能,而且也被视为一种艺术。精心准备的中餐既可口又好看,烹饪技艺和配料在中国各地差别很大。但好的烹饪都有一个共同点,总要考虑到颜色、味道、口感和营养。由于食物对健康至关重要,好的厨师总是在谷物、肉类和蔬菜之间取得平衡,所以中餐既美味又健康。 Many people like Chinese food. In China, cooki
7、ng is considered as not only a skill but also an art. The well-prepared Chinese food is both delicious and good looking. Although cooking methods and food ingredients vary wildly in different places of China, it is common for good cuisine to take color, flavor, taste and nutrition into account. Sinc
8、e food is crucial to health, a good chef is always trying to seek balance among cereals, meat and vegetables, thus making Chinese food tasty as well as healthy.,中国人的姓(surname)有一个字的单姓,也有两个字或两个字以上的复姓。当代中国人正在使用的汉姓约有3,500个。在其中100个常见姓氏中,最大的三个姓氏是李、王、张。在中国,姓在前,名在后。中国人的名也具有自己的传统和特点。名有一个字的,也有两个字的。同一个家族(clan)
9、中名字常要按辈份排列。同辈的名字(如果是两个字)里往往有一个字相同。 The surnames of Chinese people can be one-character surnames or compound surnames made up of two or more characters. Contemporary Chinese use about 3,500 Chinese surnames. Among the 100 commonly used surnames, the three most common are Li, Wang and Zhang. In China,
10、 the surname comes first, and is followed by the given name, and the latter has its own traditions and features. It can have one or two characters. In the same clan, the given name is often arranged in the order of seniority in the family hierarchy. And the given names of the peers usually have one
11、Chinese character in common if there are more than one character in their given names.,黄河全长5,400多千米,是中国的第二长河。从地图上看,黄河的形状是一个巨大的“几”字。黄河上游是中国羊毛、皮革和其他畜产品的主要产地。中、下游是中国农业发源地之一。黄河是中华民族的母亲河。黄河流域被称为中华民族的摇篮,也是世界文明的发祥地之一。相传中华民族的始祖之一的黄帝就出生在这里。传说人就是天神女娲用黄河泥捏成的。 The Yellow River is over 5,400 km long and is the s
12、econd longest river in China. Seen from the map, the Yellow River lies in the shape of a huge “几”. The upper reaches of the Yellow River are the main producing area of wool, leather and other livestock products. The middle and lower reaches are one of the origins of Chinas agriculture. The Yellow Ri
13、ver is considered as the Mother River of the Chinese people. The drainage area of the Yellow River is honored as the cradle of the Chinese people and also one of the origins of world civilization. It is said that Huangdi, legendary ruler and ancestor of the Chinese nation, was born here. It is said
14、man was made by Nv Wa (a legendary goddess) with the mud in the Yellow River.,中国是一个农业大国,同时也是世界上农业发展历史最悠久的国家之一。水稻等农作物都起源于中国。中国政府十分重视农业生产,不断加大农业投入,积极进行农田水利基本建设,从而提高了农业生产的现代化水平,使农业取得了辉煌的成就。最突出的表现是:中国依靠占世界不足7%的耕地,养活了占世界22%的人口。 China is a big agricultural country. It is also one of the countries with the
15、 longest history of agricultural development in the world. Crops like rice originated from China. The Chinese government attaches great significance to agriculture. It constantly increases investment in agriculture by actively building farmland irrigation and water conservation infrastructure. These
16、 efforts have led to Chinas improvement of agricultural modernization and great accomplishments in agriculture. This is particularly shown by the fact that China has managed to feed 22% of the world population with less than 7% of the worlds cultivated land.,给红包(red packets)是过春节的一个传统,就是在一个红色的小信封里装上钱
17、,寓意幸运和财富。红色是幸运色,能给收到红包的人带来好运。红包一般是父母给儿女,爷爷奶奶给孙儿孙女,或者亲戚朋友给小孩子的,一般说来,都是除夕夜给的。这笔钱也称作是压岁钱,代表长辈对晚辈的美好祝福,希望小孩在新的一年里平安、健康。大年初一串亲戚朋友,也要给孩子送礼物和红包。 Giving red packets during the Spring Festival is a tradition. A red packet is simply a red envelop with money in it, which symbolizes luck and wealth. Red is the
18、lucky color and will bring good luck to the person receiving the present. Red packets are usually handed out to younger generations by their parents, grandparents, relatives, close neighbors and friends, and are usually given to children on New Years Eve. The money is also called gift money, which i
19、s symbol of good wishes from the elders in the hope that children are safe and healthy in the new year. Starting from the second day, people begin to go out to visit friends and relatives, taking with them gifts and red packets for the children.,每年4月4日、5日或6日是清明节(the Qingming Festival)。清明节后气温升高,雨水增多。
20、清明节既是中国的传统节日,也是最重要的祭祀(commemoration)节日。在这一天,汉族和一些少数民族都会供奉祖先,为逝去的人扫墓。清明节也是阳光明媚、草木吐绿的时节。自古以来,人们就有清明踏青(Spring outings)的习俗。人们还会在清明节放风筝。这时植树树苗存活率高,之后长得也快,因此清明节也是植树的好时候。 The Qingming Festival falls on April 4, or 5, or 6 each year. After the festival, the temperature rises up and rainfall increases. The Q
21、ingming Festival is not only a traditional festival in China, but also the most important festival of commemoration. Both the Han people and some minority ethnic groups offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the deceased at this time. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun
22、shines brightly, the trees and grass become green. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. The Qingming Festival is also a good time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast la
23、ter.,To get a sense of how women have progressed in science, take a quick tour of the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley. This is a storied place, the 1_ of some of the most important discoveries in modern science starting with Ernest Lawrences invention of the cyclotron in
24、 1931. A generation ago, female faces were 2_ and, even today, visitors walking through the first floor of LeConte Hall will see a full corridor of exhibits 3_ the many distinguished physicists who made history here, 4_ all of them white males. But climb up to the third floor and youll see a 5_ disp
25、lay. There, among the photos of current faculty members and students, are portraits of the 6_ head of department, Marjorie Shapiro, and four other women whose research 7_ everything from the mechanics of,The universe to the smallest particles of matter. A sixth woman was hired just two weeks ago. Al
26、though theyre still only about 10% of the physics faculty, women are clearly a presence here. And the real 8_ may be in the smaller photos to the right: graduate and undergraduate students, about 20 percent of them female. Every year Berkeley sends its fresh female physics PhDs to the countrys top u
27、niversities. That makes Shapiro optimistic, but also 9_. “I believe things are getting better,” she says, “but theyre not getting better as 10_ I would like.”,What does it take to be a well-trained nurse? The answer used to be two-year associates or four-year bachelors degree programs. But as the nu
28、rsing shortage 1_, a growing number of schools and hospitals are establishing “fast-track programs” that enable college graduates with no nursing 2_ to become registered nurses with only a year or so of 3_ training. In 1991, there were only 40 fast-track curricula; now there are more than 200. typic
29、al is Columbia Universitys Entry to Practice program. Students earn their bachelor of science in nursing in a year. Those who stay on for an 4_ two years can earn a masters degree that 5_ them as nurse practitioners(执业护士) or clinical nurse specialists.,Many students are recent 6_; others are career
30、switchers. Rudy Guardron, 32, a 2004 graduate of Columbias program, was a premedical student in college and then worked for a pharmaceutical (药物的) research company. At Columbia, he was 7_ as a nurse practitioner. “I saw that nurses were in high 8_ and it looked like a really good opportunity,” he sa
31、ys. “Also, I didnt want to be in school for that long.” The fast-track trend fills a need, but its also creating some 9_ between newcomers and veterans. “Nurses that are still at the bedside 10_ these kids with suspicion,” says Linda Pellico, who has taught nursing at Yale University for 18 years. “
32、They wonder, how can they do it quicker?” The answer is they dont.,The mobile phone is a magic device widely used these days. Although it has been nearly 30 years since the first commercial mobile-phone network was launched, advertisers have yet to figure out how to get their 1_ out to mobile-phone
33、users in a big way. There are 2.2 billion cell-phone users worldwide, a 2_ that is growing by about 25% each year. Yet spending on ads carried over cell-phone networks last year 3_ to just $1.5 billion worldwide, a fraction of the $424 billion global ad market. But as the number of eyeballs glued to
34、 4_ screens multiplies, so too does the mobile phones value as a pocket billboard(广告牌). Consumers are 5_ using their phones for things other than voice calls, such as text messages,downloading songs and games, and 6_ the internet. By 2010, 70 million Asians are expected to be watching videos and TV
35、programs on mobile phones. All of these activities give advertisers 7_ options for reaching audiences. During soccers World Cup last summer, for example, Adidas used real-time scores and games to 8_ thousands of fans to a website set up for mobile-phone access. “Our target audience was make aged 17-
36、25,” says Marcus Spurrel, Adidas regional manager for Asia. “Their mobiles are always on, always in their pocket you just cant 9_ cell phones as an advertising tool.” Mobile-phone marketing has become as 10_ a platform as TV, online or print.,Just when you had figured out how to manage fat in your d
37、iet, researchers are now warning against another common mealtime pitfall (陷阱) salt. A study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Stanford University and Columbia University shows that even a 1_ decrease in daily salt intake (摄入) can lead to dramatic health benefits.
38、The authors 2_ an annual drop of as many as 120,000 cases of heart disease, 66,000 3_ of stroke and 99,000 heart attacks 4_ by high blood pressure after a 3-g-per-day reduction in salt. The advantages, not surprisingly, were greater for African Americans, who are more likely to 5_ high blood pressur
39、e than other ethnic groups, and for the elderly,Since blood vessels stiffen with age, which can lead to higher blood pressure. “Everyone in the U.S. is consuming salt far in 6_ of what is good for them,” says lead author Dr Kirsten Bobbing-Domingo of UCSF. “What we are suggesting is that a populatio
40、n-wide effort to reduce salt intake, even 7_, will have health benefits.” The team conducted a computer-based analysis to determine the 8_ of a 3-g-per-day reduction in salt intake on rates of heart disease and death. They also calculated the cost savings emerging from the amount of disease that would be 9_ because of lower blood pressure. The conclusion: by cutting salt intake nationwide, the U.S. could save $10 billion to $24 billion 10_ in health care costs.,