Yours,
Li Hua
EasyEnglish Is Waiting for You
I’m a special needs teacher. We don’t usually get storms in May. We were having a fairly unremarkable school day and I’d seen the last of my class of five-year-olds leave when my dad rang to warn me that there was a storm heading straight towards us. At first, I thought he couldn’t be right, but then the storm alarm went off. My own daughter, Kali, was at the school, in the kindergarten class across the hall, and that’s where I headed. Her teacher, Jennifer, was following the standard procedure: moving the 10 children into the hallway,getting them to kneel (跪下) with their elbows on the ground, hands over their heads.
We encouraged the children to sing, to keep up their spirits,but when the sky grew dark dim and the lights went out, it became harder to keep everyone calm. Hail (冰雹) and broken glass showered into the hallway. Instinctively, Jennifer and I took five children each and lay across them. It wasn’t something we had to think about. They were small children; we were adults and we would protect them with our lives. My daughter was among them. I just kept saying over and over, “We’re going to be OK. We’re going to be OK.” But soon I couldn’t hear my own voice above the sound of the school’s metal roof exploding under huge pressure.
Then came a big noise so loud that I’ll never forget it, like a plane but 10 times louder. It was the storm passing directly overhead. Suddenly I realised the roof had gone; the wind had torn it clean off. We were at the mercy of the elements. My mouth was filled with dirt and I wondered if we were going to be buried alive. Beneath me, the children were packed together tightly. I did my best to cover them, but there was water, too, pouring down. Then I felt a blunt thing against my back. By now, I was simply repeating to myself, “Please go away. Please go away.” I just wanted it to stop.
By the time it did,
Fortunately, no children died or hurt in the storm.
One of the most frequently repeated issues in protecting cultural heritage is the difficult relationship between the interests of the individual and the community.
Ancient Romans established that a work of art could be considered part of the possessions of the whole community, even if privately owned. For example, sculptures decorating the façade of a private building were recognized as having a common value and couldn’t be removed, since they stood in a public site, where they could be seen by all citizens.
The statesman and general Agrippa placed the Apoxyomenos, a masterpiece by the very famous Greek sculptor Lysippos, in front of his bathroom. Emperor Tiberius deeply admired the sculpture and ordered it be removed from the public view and placed in his private palace. The Roman people rose up and forced him to return the Apoxyomenos to its previous location, where everyone could admire it!
The term “cultural heritage” typically raises the idea of a single society and the communication between its members. But cultural boundaries are not necessarily well-defined. Artists, writers, scientists, craftsmen and musicians learn from each other, even if they belong to different cultures, far removed in space or time. Just think about the influence of Japanese prints on Paul Gauguin’s paintings; or of African masks on Pablo Picasso’s works.
Let’s take another example, that of the Mona Lisa painted in the early sixteenth century by Leonardo da Vinci. From a modern point of view, whose national heritage does the Mona Lisa belong to?
Leonardo was a very famous Italian painter, that’s why the Mona Lisa is obviously part of the Italian cultural heritage. When Leonardo went to France, to work at King Francis I’s court, he probably brought the Mona Lisa with him. It seems that in 1518 King Francis I acquired the Mona Lisa, which therefore ended up in the royal collections: that’s why it is obviously part of the French national heritage, too. This painting belongs to the cultural heritage of all mankind.
Cultural heritage passed down to us from our parents must be preserved for the benefit of all. In an era of globalization, cultural heritage helps us to remember our cultural diversity, and its understanding develops mutual respect and renewed dialogue amongst different cultures.
Jimmy lived in a city with his family, but he loved nature so much. For his son’s birthday, he decided to go to the forest for celebration with family and friends and enjoy some time with Mother Nature. He booked a cottage (别墅) which was near the forest. There were arrangements for guests to enjoy nature and view wild animals roaming (游荡) in nearby places.
On the first day of their trip, they saw a small dog while entering the cottage. When Jimmy’s two year-old son noticed that dog, he offered it a biscuit with his small hands. The dog was happy to get a treat from the kid and stay with him. Soon the kid and the dog became friends. From that moment, the dog wouldn’t leave the kid’s side even for a minute.
On the third day of the trip, Jimmy’s family and their friends celebrated the kid’s birthday and everyone enjoyed it. The next day they wanted to spend more time in the forest. So all the adults decided to go for hunting and the kid was left in the care of his baby-sitter in the cottage.
They became worried and started to search for them in the cottage. At that moment, Jimmy’s eyes lit upon that dog with blood stains (血迹) on its mouth.
Seeing this. Jimmy’s wife got scared and started shouting. In the meantime, everyone else also returned to the cottage. They heard her shout and ran toward there. Shocked by the sight, they all started beating that dog.
Just then, the baby sitter came back with the kid.
A fight broke out between the dog and the wolf.
Great Moments in the Sports Meet