学进去

China is widely known for its ancient civilisation (文明) which has continued all the way through into modern times, in the fact of many ups and downs in its history. There are many reasons, why this has been possible, but one of the main factors has been the Chinese writing system.

At the beginning, written Chinese was a picture based language. It dates back several thousand years to the use of longgu-animal bones and shells on which marks were cared (雕刻) by ancient Chinese people. In ancient China, characters began as simple drawings of natural objects—trees, rivers, mountains and hill, horses and oxen, human beings themselves, etc. The earliest character-like drawings are “pictographic” in quality. Compared with other scripts (字体) in the world, Chinese characters appeared much earlier with the first evidence of the characters around 5, 000 or more years old. More than 50 kinds of carved marks appeared around the Banpo Site and other nearby places. They were shaped and ordered in a certain rule and they have the same characteristics as today’s simple characters—scientists judge them to be the original Chinese characters.

By the Shang Dynasty (around 1600—1046 BCE), these marks had become a well-developed writing system. Over the years, the systems developed into different forms, as it was a time when people were divided geographically, leading to many kinds of dialects (方言) and characters. This, however, changed under Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty (221—207 BCE).

Emperor Qin Shi Huang united the six major states into one country where the Chinese writing system began to develop in one direction. That writing method was of great importance in uniting the Chinese people and culture.

Written Chinese has also become an important means by which China’s present is connected with its past. People in modern times can read the classic works which were written by Chinese in ancient times. Chinese character, therefore, is a bridge between the present and the past.

Today, the Chinese writing system is still an important part of Chinese culture. As China plays a greater role in the world, an increasing number of international students are beginning to show their love to China’s culture and history through this amazing language.

Learn to Love Yourself

Do you ever compare yourself to other people and wish you could be more like them? We are all different in our own way. Self-acceptance (自我接纳) can help you feel happier and better about yourself.

What is self-acceptance?

Self-acceptance means learning to accept the things that make you who you are. As well as being thankful for what you’re good at, like sports, science or singing in the school choir, self-acceptance also means valuing (重视) the parts of you that don’t shine very brightly, like being forgetful or untidy. A 12-year-old girl, Lily, says self-acceptance means “knowing your own weaknesses and strengths (强项), and accepting who you are no matter what other people say or think.”

Why is self-acceptance good for you?

When you accept who you are, you worry less about things you can’t change. This makes you feel happier and more confident (自信的). The Anna Freud Centre, a charity (慈善机构) that helps young people, says everyone can feel that they have to be perfect, but that makes us forget about the little things that make us special, because we’re so busy trying to meet someone else’s standards. Learning to accept everything about yourself can also help you find what you’re really good at. For example, some people may find letters or numbers hard to read, but they might have strengths in other things, like finding good ways to work out problems.

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Start by making a list of all the things you like about yourself. Maybe you’re good at cooking, or people find it easy to talk to you. Also, try saying kind, happy things to yourself in a mirror (镜子) every morning. Think up ways to treat yourself, such as taking a long bath, watching your favorite film, or eating delicious ice-cream. But don’t forget it’s important to eat healthy food and get enough sleep.

环渤海地区成为高新技术产业聚集地，有着得天独厚的发展优势。左图为环渤海地区示意图，右图为京津冀地区各类高新技术企业数量占比统计图。读图，完成下面小题。

【青春的邀约】进入初中后，小崔同学成为学校辩论队的一员。因为总能提出独到的见解，老师对他赞不绝口。逐渐地，小崔听到别人任何观点都要反驳两句，还认为别人都很笨。同学们对他颇有怨言，小崔却“标榜”自己有主见。

【青春的情绪】语文考试时，小冲因为紧张导致许多原本会做的题目做不出来，一怒之下，他把试卷撕了，哭着离开考场。之后的几天他吃不下饭、睡不着觉，精神恍惚，生病了。

【青春的创造】相传，鲁班有一次上山砍柴，被野草割伤，他通过观察、联想，发明了锯子。鲁班从小就参加劳动，在长期劳动中，他还发明了刨子、曲尺、墨斗等工具。他发明的每一件工具，都是在生产实践中得到启发，经过反复研究、试验创造出来的。