Do you like reading? ⑴Now the Internet provides people with a lot of reading choices. But if you read them in the smallest library in the world, you will feel quite different. Here is the introduction of it.
The Little Free Library has first appeared on the streets of New York City. ⑵It is so small that only one person can come in at a time. It was set up in a neighborhood in Manhattan. There are only 40 books in the library. In fact, it is not a house but a plastic building. Two designers designed it. The library was made of recycled materials (材料). It looks like an umbrella so that all the books in it can be protected from bad weather. There are also some holes outside the building, which allow readers to look at the books before they go into the library.
⑶Since the library was set up, many people have paid a visit to it. When the idea of Little Free Library came into being, it soon started spreading all over the United States. Later some areas of Europe, Africa and Asia also followed the example. The purpose of this library is to help people take a break from their pace (步伐) of life.
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In April, the second Belt and Road Forum(论坛) for International Cooperation(合作) was held in Beijing. Heads of states from 37 foreign countries attended it. ⑴The main goal of it is to make the countries work together in more areas. It has won the support of 152 countries and international groups.
As a Chinese student, ⑵你应该了解一些有关丝绸之路的事.
⑶Long ago, traders brought treasures from the East to the West. Trips to the West became more favorable when traders found silks and spices(香料). These treasures were not ordinary goods that were easy to get.
⑷丝绸之路不是一条真正的路. It was a route(路线) between the East and the West. It went through China, Turkey and Greece. Some traders traveled over land and others sailed across the sea. There was danger along both routes.
Over time, the Silk Road changed people in both the East and the West. Traders shared stories about faraway lands. They brought back drawings of the places and things they had seen, which helped people learn about new cultures. ⑸Because of the Silk Road, the world seemed much smaller.
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Do you enjoy hitting the books? It doesn't mean you enjoy beating your books with your hand. That may be reasonable if you don't understand something inside your books. Hitting the books just means that you are studying hard. You can learn a lot when you hit the books. Especially before exams, most students spend a lot of time hitting the books to get good grades.
This is just one example of expressions that can't be understood by taking them apart (分开) word by word. Expressions like this are called idioms (习语). They are an important part of a culture's language. Languages and cultures are closely connected. One example of an idiom in the Chinese language is "dui niu tan qin", or "to play the lute (拨弦乐器) to a cow." 这意味着某人在说话或写作时不考虑其听众或读者。
Let's get back to idioms that begin with the word "hit". There are many of them in English, but it's not that easy for you to understand.
One common idiom you may hear in English is "hit the road". It means to leave or to go. You can say, "Hey, I need to hit the road. Can we talk about this another time?" Or simply, "It's time to hit the road." When you are tired and you want to go to bed, you can say, "I need to hit the hay (干草)." It means you want to go to sleep. That's because a bed was often a big bag with hay inside in the past.
习语使你的语言生动而有趣。 Let's hit the road to learn some and try to use them.
