I started playing the piano when I was around four years old—that was 15 years ago!—and since then, the longest I haven’t touched piano keys was probably two months. This was an enormous amount of devotion to something that I wasn’t even planning to make money off of—so there must have been something worth holding on to, right?
The easy guess is that I was always so purely in love with music and piano that I couldn’t bear to let them go. However, it’s a bit more complicated than that. I struggled a lot with piano. I felt pressure to improve, innovate, and be the best in order to prove something to others. The seed of my musical interest was grown with competition and doubt.
It’s difficult to learn to love something that you didn’t choose in the first place. But somehow, sometime, love grew. And by high school, it was strong enough that I found the strength to hold on tighter, dig further, and find something of my own to grow. In a way, I had to start over.
And so, I took a pause. I switched teachers, and got incredibly lucky with one who encouraged me and helped me tunnel into what I loved, not what I was told I should learn. Anything I had was good enough to be loved.
This summer, I started learning the guitar. I deliberately wanted to learn on my own—this was just for me, to form a new relationship to music. Even though my guitar skills are miles lower than my piano skills, I feel I can express myself even more wholly through strings than keys. There’s just something about doing it all for myself that has helped me heal the damages to my relationship to music.
The love and hate I’ve had for the piano were both planted and grown. If you too have learned to hate something you once loved—or something you never chose—remember that with dedication, it can be uprooted, and love can make a home in its place. There is always time. There is always room.
1．What can we learn about the author’s experience from Paragraph 1?| A．He probably spent two months in playing the piano. |
| B．He began to play the piano when he was 15 years old. |
| C．He thought it necessary to start playing the piano early. |
| D．He committed himself to the piano not for financial factors. |
| A．Bittersweet. | B．Harmonious. | C．Painful. | D．Passive. |
| A．His teacher’s constant encouragement. | B．His desire for a new relationship with music. |
| C．His interest in strings rather than keys. | D．His talent for playing musical instruments. |
| A．Practice makes perfect | B．Love cannot be forced |
| C．Love is a thing that grows | D．There is no end to learning |
Yours,
Li Hua
“Oh, no!” Jack shouted while looking at the likes and comments on his recent TikTok video.
“Why aren’t people reacting to my content as they used to?”
Jack was a 19-year-old strong and muscular man addicted to the gym. He loved recording exercise videos and posting them on his TikTok account. Initially, his video logs (vlogs) were popular, but his posts’ reach soon decreased.
Jack wondered why people had stopped sharing and liking his videos, “Maybe my audience is tired of watching me work out in the gym,” he thought, determined to change the location of his videos.
The following day, Jack went to the neighborhood park and began filming while walking on the track.“Hi, guys! How about we shake things up a little? I’m to work out in the park today!” he said excitedly, looking into the camera lens (镜头).
“Let’s look for a good spot to warm up,” he said as he walked towards a bench(长椅), on which sat an elderly lady. Jack thought the bench was the perfect place to film his video because of the light.
He put his tripod stand (三脚架) on the bench and set the camera, but he felt like he needed the full bench. He wanted to place his camera where the lady sat, so he gestured to her to move, but the woman didn’t seem to understand.
“Get out of my way!” he yelled.“Can’t you see I’m filming a video? You old fool!” Looking him up and down in surprise, the old lady didn’t argue over his disrespectful attitude and quietly walked towards another bench.
Jack set his camera up, pressed the record button and waved at his followers, ready to demonstrate exercises. Suddenly, he tripped on a loose stone, lost balance and fell down, his head striking the bench and bleeding heavily.
Crying in pain, Jack tried to get up, but he didn’t have the strength to rise. He collapsed on the ground, screaming desperately for help.
There was nobody around but the elderly lady.
To Jack’s joy, a net friend sent a message saying where the lady lived.
The “Chuanbei Big Puppet (木偶) Show” in Nanchong, Sichuan Province,
The art dates back over 300 years, and 82-year-old Li Siyuan is a
You can’t
“The traditional puppet, along with the ability
The good news is that the big puppet show in Nanchong is slowly gaining
If you want to understand China but can’t afford an expensive international flight, these four books can give you a complete overview of the country.
River Town
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler-This book is a journal of the author’s two years spent teaching English in a small town called Fuling, situated on the banks of the Yangtze River. Hessler writes about his experiences living in a foreign culture and observing the lives of the town’s residents. The book was published in 2001 and has won several awards, including the Kiriyama Prize.
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
It is a book that tells the story of China’s modernization. It was written by Ezra Vogel and published in 2011. The author describes how Deng Xiaoping’s policies led to significant changes in China’s economy and society. The book has received critical honors and won the Lionel Gelber Prize In 2012.
The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence
This book is a comprehensive history of China from the Ming dynasty to the present day. The author, a prominent scholar of Chinese history, provides a detailed analysis of the social, cultural, and political changes that have taken place in China over the past 500 years. The book was first put out in 1990 and has since been revised and updated several times. This book was the top bestseller for years.
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
Written by Leslie T. Chang, this book, published in 2008, is reportage on the lives of young women who leave their rural homes to work in factories in China’s cities. Chang, a former New York Times correspondent (someone who is employed by a newspaper or a television station etc. to report news from a particular area or on a particular subject), interviewed hundreds of factory girls to provide insight into the social and economic changes in China.
1．What kind of book is River Town?| A．Science fiction. | B．Nonfiction. |
| C．A travel guide of Fuling. | D．A reference book. |
| A．It was published 500 years ago. | B．It was written by a history teacher. |
| C．It was very popular. | D．It has remained the same since its first publication. |
| A．River Town. |
| B．Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. |
| C．The Search for Modern China. |
| D．Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China. |
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