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(737, 1, '2011-08-09 23:18:51', '2011-08-10 03:18:51', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nFinally! A rather long, but simple from start-to-finish, children\'s fable. This is definitely my favorite find so far, as it falls solidly within my favorite Chinese story genre with my favorite Chinese archetype: the clever government official who catches a crook. The official in this case is Bao Gong (包公) a historical figure from who lived from 999-1062 A.D. and who, like so many historical figures in Chinese history, somehow became a fictional story character. Bao Gong was known to be fair, just and smart. <!--more--> \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110813-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, you can also expect to learn a few Chinese onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are, like the English word \"boom\". There\'s a ton of them in here. We find \"呜呜\" [pinyin]wu1 wu1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of \"Boo Hoo!\". There\'s also 劈里啪啦 [pinyin]pi1 li5 pa1 la5[/pinyin], the sound of someone slapping whacking something (in this case, with a stick). There\'s 扑通 [pinyin]pu1 tong1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of the English word \"plunk\" - the sound of something falling into water. And there\'s 唧唧喳喳 pinyin]ji1 ji1 zha1 zha1[/pinyin], the sound of a crowd of people chattering. \r\n\r\nI probably added way too many words to the word list for this post, but I couldn\'t bring myself to take any of these out. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n从前 - [pinyin]cong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Long ago\r\n油条 - [pinyin]you2 tiao2[/pinyin] - Fried breadsticks\r\n铜钱 - [pinyin]tong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Copper money / coin\r\n脆 - [pinyin]cui4[/pinyin] - Crispy\r\n油乎乎 - [pinyin]you2 hu1 hu1[/pinyin] - Greasy, coated in oil\r\n亮闪闪 - [pinyin]liang4 shan3 shan3[/pinyin] - Bright\r\n人马 - [pinyin]ren2 ma3[/pinyin] - Men and horses\r\n官 - [pinyin]guan1[/pinyin] - A government official\r\n审问 - [pinyin]shen3 wen4[/pinyin] - Interrogate\r\n发火 - [pinyin]fa1 huo3[/pinyin] - Explode (angrily)\r\n手下 - [pinyin]shou3 xia4[/pinyin] - Subordinates\r\n棍子 - [pinyin]gun4 zi[/pinyin] - Stick\r\n胡涂 - [pinyin]hu2 tu5[/pinyin] - Confused\r\n蛋 - [pinyin]dan4[/pinyin] - Idiot [lit: egg]\r\n罚 - [pinyin]fa2[/pinyin] - To punish\r\n抓住 - [pinyin]zhua1 zhu4[/pinyin] - To grab, capture\r\n浮 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - To float\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n从前有个小孩，爸爸死了，妈妈病了，日子可不好过了。小孩每天一早起来，提着一篮<strong>油条</strong>，一边跑，一边嚷:“卖油条咯，卖油条咯: 又香又脆的油条，两个<strong>铜钱</strong>买一根。” 有一天，他把油条全卖完了，坐在路边一块石头上，把篮子里的铜钱一个一个的数了一遍，正好一百个。他卖油条，把一双手弄得<strong>油乎乎</strong>的，用手数铜钱，把铜钱也弄得油乎乎的。他瞧着这些油乎乎亮闪闪的铜钱，可高兴了，心想: “今天卖了一百个钱，可以给妈妈买药了。”\r\n\r\n小孩跑了一个上午，可累坏了，他把头一歪，靠在石头上，就呼呼地睡着了，睡了好一会儿才醒来。“哎呀，我得赶快给妈妈买药去了。”小孩站起来一看，糟了，篮子里的铜钱一个也没有了。小孩又着急，又伤心，呜呜地哭了起来。这时候，正好包公带了<strong>人马</strong>打这儿走过。\r\n\r\n包公是什么人呀？包公是个<strong>官</strong>，黑脸黑胡子，人家叫他“包老黑”，又叫他“黑包公”，他办事公道，又很聪明。包公看见小孩哭得很伤心，就问他: “小孩，你为什么哭呀？”“我卖油条得的钱不见了，呜——呜。”“谁偷了你的钱？”“不知道。我靠在这块石头上睡着了，醒来一看，钱就不见了。呜——呜。” \r\n\r\n包公想了一想说: “我知道了，一定是这块石头偷了你的钱，我来<strong>审问</strong>这块石头，叫它把钱还给你。”人们听说包公要审问石头，觉得很奇怪，都跑来看热闹。包公对那块石头说: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？”石头会说话吗？不会。包公又问了: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？快说，快说！”石头还是一声不响，它不会说话呀。包公<strong>发火</strong>了: “石头，石头，你不说实话，打烂你的头。”<strong>手下</strong>的人听包公这么一说，就拿起<strong>棍子</strong>，劈里啪啦地打起石头来，一边打，一边喊: “快说，快说！” \r\n\r\n看热闹的人哄的笑起来了，唧唧喳喳地说: “石头怎么会偷钱？”“石头怎么会说话？”“人家都说包公聪明，原来是个<strong>胡涂蛋</strong>！”包公听了很生气，就说: “我在审问石头，你们怎么说我的坏话。哼! 你们每个人都得<strong>罚</strong>一个铜钱！”包公叫手下的人借来一只盆子，倒上水，让看热闹的人往盆子里丢一个铜钱。看热闹的人没办法，只好排着队每人往盆子里丢一个铜钱，“扑通，扑通，扑通……”\r\n\r\n有一个人刚把铜钱丢进盆子里去，就给包公叫手下的人<strong>抓住</strong>了。 包公指着这个人说: “你是小偷，你偷了小孩卖油条得来的铜钱！”大家都觉得很奇怪，这是怎么回事呀？包公说: “你们瞧，只有他丢下的铜钱，水面上<strong>浮</strong>起了一层油，他的铜钱一定是趁小孩睡觉的时候偷来的。” 那个小偷没办法，只好把一百个铜钱还给小孩。 大家都说，包公真聪明。\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nLong ago, there was a little child whose father was dead, whose mother was sick, and who had a rough life in general. The child woke up early every day, and scooping up a basket of fried breadsticks, ran about shouting \"Buy breadsticks, buy breadsticks, they\'re fragrant and crispy, two coppers buys one!\" One day, after he\'d sold all his breadsticks, he sat on a rock by the side of the road and counted all the coppers in the basket one at a time - he had exactly 100.  Well, selling breadsticks had made his two hands greasy, and when he used hands to count the coppers, it had bade the coppers greasy. Looking at these greasy, bright coppers, he was happy, and in his heart he thought, \"Today I sold 100-worth, I can buy mother some medicine.\" \r\n\r\nThe child had been running all morning, he was exhausted, so he let his head droop, leaned against a rock, and, snoring \"hu hu\" [sound of snoring], fell asleep - after he\'d slept a bit he finally woke up. \"Ai ya! I have to quickly run and buy medicine for mother!\" The child stood up but, oh no, there was not a single coin in the basket. The child was worried and broken-hearted, and began to cry \"wu wu\" [sounds like \'boo hoo\'].  It was just then that Bao Gong, with his men and horses, happened to walk past.\r\n\r\nNow, who was Bao Gong? Bao Gong was an official, black of face and black of beard, whom the people called \"Old Black Bao\" or \"Black Bao Gong\"; he handled matters fairly, and was very smart. Bao Gong saw the child crying so broken-heartedly, and he asked: \"Child, why are you crying?\" \"The money from selling bread sticks is gone, Boo Hoooo!\" \r\n\r\nBao Gong though for a moment and said, \"I know, it was definitely this rock that stole your money, I\'ll question the rock, and tell it to give you your money back.\" The people nearby heard that Bao Gong was going to interrogate a rock, and they thought this was very strange, so they all ran over and watched excitedly. Bao Gong said to the rock: \"Rock, rock, was it you that stole the child\'s coppers?\" But can a rock speak? It cannot. Bao Gong asked again: \"Rock, rock, the child\'s coppers, wasn\'t it you who stole them? Speak up, speak up!\" The rock still said nothing, it couldn\'t speak. Bao Gong exploded, \"Rock, rock, tell the truth or I\'ll beat you over the head!\" Bao Gong\'s men heard him say this, and they found a stick for him, and he began to <em>pi li pa la</em> [sound of stick hitting rock] hit the rock, hitting and shouting \"Speak up! Speak up!\" \r\n\r\nThe people watching excitedly roared with laughter, and chattering \"ji ji zha zha\" [sound of many people chattering], said: \"How can a rock steal money?\" \"How can a rock speak?\" and \"Everyone said that Bao Gong is smart, actually he\'s a muddled idiot!\" Bao Gong heard all this and was very angry, so he said: \" I\'m interrogating this rock. How can you all say bad thing about me? Huh! Each one of you will be fined one copper!” Bao Gong called his men to bring him a borrowed pot - he poured water into it, and made every spectator throw one copper in the pot. The spectators had no choice, they had to line up and each one had to put one copper in the pot. \"Pu tong, pu tong, pu tong...\" [the sound of metal coins plunking into a pot]\r\n\r\nWhen one man in particular put his copper in the pot, Bao Gong ordered his men to seize this man. Bao Gong pointed at the man and said, \"You\'re the thief, you took the coppers the child made from selling breadsticks!\" Everyone thought that was very strange, for how could it be? Bao Gong said: \"All of you look, it was only when this man dropped a copper in the pot that a film of oil floated to the surface, his copper is certainly one that he took advantage of a sleeping child to steal.\" The thief had no choice, he had to give the 100 coppers back to the child. Everyone said, Bao Gong sure is clever. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n', 'Bao Gong Interrogates A Rock', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '723-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-09 23:18:51', '2011-08-10 03:18:51', '', 723, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/09/723-revision-11/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(738, 1, '2011-08-09 23:20:15', '2011-08-10 03:20:15', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nFinally! A rather long, but simple from start-to-finish, children\'s fable. This is definitely my favorite find so far, as it falls solidly within my favorite Chinese story genre with my favorite Chinese archetype: the clever government official who catches a crook. The official in this case is Bao Gong (包公) a historical figure from who lived from 999-1062 A.D. and who, like so many historical figures in Chinese history, somehow became a fictional story character. Bao Gong was known to be fair, just and smart. <!--more--> \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110813-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, you can also expect to learn a few Chinese onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are, like the English word \"boom\". There\'s a ton of them in here. We find \"呜呜\" [pinyin]wu1 wu1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of \"Boo Hoo!\". There\'s also 劈里啪啦 [pinyin]pi1 li5 pa1 la5[/pinyin], the sound of someone slapping whacking something (in this case, with a stick). There\'s 扑通 [pinyin]pu1 tong1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of the English word \"plunk\" - the sound of something falling into water. And there\'s 唧唧喳喳 pinyin]ji1 ji1 zha1 zha1[/pinyin], the sound of a crowd of people chattering. \r\n\r\nI probably added way too many words to the word list for this post, but I couldn\'t bring myself to take any of these out. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n从前 - [pinyin]cong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Long ago\r\n油条 - [pinyin]you2 tiao2[/pinyin] - Fried breadsticks\r\n铜钱 - [pinyin]tong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Copper money / coin\r\n脆 - [pinyin]cui4[/pinyin] - Crispy\r\n油乎乎 - [pinyin]you2 hu1 hu1[/pinyin] - Greasy, coated in oil\r\n亮闪闪 - [pinyin]liang4 shan3 shan3[/pinyin] - Bright\r\n人马 - [pinyin]ren2 ma3[/pinyin] - Men and horses\r\n官 - [pinyin]guan1[/pinyin] - A government official\r\n审问 - [pinyin]shen3 wen4[/pinyin] - Interrogate\r\n发火 - [pinyin]fa1 huo3[/pinyin] - Explode (angrily)\r\n手下 - [pinyin]shou3 xia4[/pinyin] - Subordinates\r\n棍子 - [pinyin]gun4 zi[/pinyin] - Stick\r\n胡涂 - [pinyin]hu2 tu5[/pinyin] - Confused\r\n蛋 - [pinyin]dan4[/pinyin] - Idiot [lit: egg]\r\n罚 - [pinyin]fa2[/pinyin] - To punish\r\n抓住 - [pinyin]zhua1 zhu4[/pinyin] - To grab, capture\r\n浮 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - To float\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n从前有个小孩，爸爸死了，妈妈病了，日子可不好过了。小孩每天一早起来，提着一篮<strong>油条</strong>，一边跑，一边嚷:“卖油条咯，卖油条咯: 又香又脆的油条，两个<strong>铜钱</strong>买一根。” 有一天，他把油条全卖完了，坐在路边一块石头上，把篮子里的铜钱一个一个的数了一遍，正好一百个。他卖油条，把一双手弄得<strong>油乎乎</strong>的，用手数铜钱，把铜钱也弄得油乎乎的。他瞧着这些油乎乎亮闪闪的铜钱，可高兴了，心想: “今天卖了一百个钱，可以给妈妈买药了。”\r\n\r\n小孩跑了一个上午，可累坏了，他把头一歪，靠在石头上，就呼呼地睡着了，睡了好一会儿才醒来。“哎呀，我得赶快给妈妈买药去了。”小孩站起来一看，糟了，篮子里的铜钱一个也没有了。小孩又着急，又伤心，呜呜地哭了起来。这时候，正好包公带了<strong>人马</strong>打这儿走过。\r\n\r\n包公是什么人呀？包公是个<strong>官</strong>，黑脸黑胡子，人家叫他“包老黑”，又叫他“黑包公”，他办事公道，又很聪明。包公看见小孩哭得很伤心，就问他: “小孩，你为什么哭呀？”“我卖油条得的钱不见了，呜——呜。”“谁偷了你的钱？”“不知道。我靠在这块石头上睡着了，醒来一看，钱就不见了。呜——呜。” \r\n\r\n包公想了一想说: “我知道了，一定是这块石头偷了你的钱，我来<strong>审问</strong>这块石头，叫它把钱还给你。”人们听说包公要审问石头，觉得很奇怪，都跑来看热闹。包公对那块石头说: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？”石头会说话吗？不会。包公又问了: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？快说，快说！”石头还是一声不响，它不会说话呀。包公<strong>发火</strong>了: “石头，石头，你不说实话，打烂你的头。”<strong>手下</strong>的人听包公这么一说，就拿起<strong>棍子</strong>，劈里啪啦地打起石头来，一边打，一边喊: “快说，快说！” \r\n\r\n看热闹的人哄的笑起来了，唧唧喳喳地说: “石头怎么会偷钱？”“石头怎么会说话？”“人家都说包公聪明，原来是个<strong>胡涂蛋</strong>！”包公听了很生气，就说: “我在审问石头，你们怎么说我的坏话。哼! 你们每个人都得<strong>罚</strong>一个铜钱！”包公叫手下的人借来一只盆子，倒上水，让看热闹的人往盆子里丢一个铜钱。看热闹的人没办法，只好排着队每人往盆子里丢一个铜钱，“扑通，扑通，扑通……”\r\n\r\n有一个人刚把铜钱丢进盆子里去，就给包公叫手下的人<strong>抓住</strong>了。 包公指着这个人说: “你是小偷，你偷了小孩卖油条得来的铜钱！”大家都觉得很奇怪，这是怎么回事呀？包公说: “你们瞧，只有他丢下的铜钱，水面上<strong>浮</strong>起了一层油，他的铜钱一定是趁小孩睡觉的时候偷来的。” 那个小偷没办法，只好把一百个铜钱还给小孩。 大家都说，包公真聪明。\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nLong ago, there was a little child whose father was dead, whose mother was sick, and who had a rough life in general. The child woke up early every day, and scooping up a basket of fried breadsticks, ran about shouting \"Buy breadsticks, buy breadsticks, they\'re fragrant and crispy, two coppers buys one!\" One day, after he\'d sold all his breadsticks, he sat on a rock by the side of the road and counted all the coppers in the basket one at a time - he had exactly 100.  Well, selling breadsticks had made his two hands greasy, and when he used hands to count the coppers, it had bade the coppers greasy. Looking at these greasy, bright coppers, he was happy, and in his heart he thought, \"Today I sold 100-worth, I can buy mother some medicine.\" \r\n\r\nThe child had been running all morning, he was exhausted, so he let his head droop, leaned against a rock, and, snoring \"hu hu\" [sound of snoring], fell asleep - after he\'d slept a bit he finally woke up. \"Ai ya! I have to quickly run and buy medicine for mother!\" The child stood up but, oh no, there was not a single coin in the basket. The child was worried and broken-hearted, and began to cry \"wu wu\" [sounds like \'boo hoo\'].  It was just then that Bao Gong, with his men and horses, happened to walk past.\r\n\r\nNow, who was Bao Gong? Bao Gong was an official, black of face and black of beard, whom the people called \"Old Black Bao\" or \"Black Bao Gong\"; he handled matters fairly, and was very smart. Bao Gong saw the child crying so broken-heartedly, and he asked: \"Child, why are you crying?\" \"The money from selling bread sticks is gone, Boo Hoooo!\" \r\n\r\nBao Gong though for a moment and said, \"I know, it was definitely this rock that stole your money, I\'ll question the rock, and tell it to give you your money back.\" The people nearby heard that Bao Gong was going to interrogate a rock, and they thought this was very strange, so they all ran over and watched excitedly. Bao Gong said to the rock: \"Rock, rock, was it you that stole the child\'s coppers?\" But can a rock speak? It cannot. Bao Gong asked again: \"Rock, rock, the child\'s coppers, wasn\'t it you who stole them? Speak up, speak up!\" The rock still said nothing, it couldn\'t speak. Bao Gong exploded, \"Rock, rock, tell the truth or I\'ll beat you over the head!\" Bao Gong\'s men heard him say this, and they found a stick for him, and he began to <em>pi li pa la</em> [sound of stick hitting rock] hit the rock, hitting and shouting \"Speak up! Speak up!\" \r\n\r\nThe people watching excitedly roared with laughter, and chattering \"ji ji zha zha\" [sound of many people chattering], said: \"How can a rock steal money?\" \"How can a rock speak?\" and \"Everyone said that Bao Gong is smart, actually he\'s a muddled idiot!\" Bao Gong heard all this and was very angry, so he said: \" I\'m interrogating this rock. How can you all say bad thing about me? Huh! Each one of you will be fined one copper!” Bao Gong called his men to bring him a borrowed pot - he poured water into it, and made every spectator throw one copper in the pot. The spectators had no choice, they had to line up and each one had to put one copper in the pot. \"Pu tong, pu tong, pu tong...\" [the sound of metal coins plunking into a pot]\r\n\r\nWhen one man in particular put his copper in the pot, Bao Gong ordered his men to seize this man. Bao Gong pointed at the man and said, \"You\'re the thief, you took the coppers the child made from selling breadsticks!\" Everyone thought that was very strange, for how could it be? Bao Gong said: \"All of you look, it was only when this man dropped a copper in the pot that a film of oil floated to the surface, his copper is certainly one that he took advantage of a sleeping child to steal.\" The thief had no choice, he had to give the 100 coppers back to the child. Everyone said, Bao Gong sure is clever. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n', 'Bao Gong Interrogates A Rock', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '723-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-09 23:20:15', '2011-08-10 03:20:15', '', 723, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/09/723-revision-12/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(739, 1, '2011-08-13 15:25:34', '2011-08-13 19:25:34', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nFinally! A rather long, but simple from start-to-finish, children\'s fable. This is definitely my favorite find so far, as it falls solidly within my favorite Chinese story genre with my favorite Chinese archetype: the clever government official who catches a crook. The official in this case is Bao Gong (包公) a historical figure from who lived from 999-1062 A.D. and who, like so many historical figures in Chinese history, somehow became a fictional story character. Bao Gong was known to be fair, just and smart. <!--more--> \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110813-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, you can also expect to learn a few Chinese onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are, like the English word \"boom\". There\'s a ton of them in here. We find \"呜呜\" [pinyin]wu1 wu1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of \"Boo Hoo!\". There\'s also 劈里啪啦 [pinyin]pi1 li5 pa1 la5[/pinyin], the sound of someone whacking something (in this case, with a stick). There\'s 扑通 [pinyin]pu1 tong1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of the English word \"plunk\" - the sound of something falling into water. And there\'s 唧唧喳喳 [pinyin]ji1 ji1 zha1 zha1[/pinyin], the sound of a crowd of people chattering. \r\n\r\nI probably added way too many words to the word list for this post, but I couldn\'t bring myself to take any of these out. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n从前 - [pinyin]cong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Long ago\r\n油条 - [pinyin]you2 tiao2[/pinyin] - Fried breadsticks\r\n铜钱 - [pinyin]tong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Copper money / coin\r\n脆 - [pinyin]cui4[/pinyin] - Crispy\r\n油乎乎 - [pinyin]you2 hu1 hu1[/pinyin] - Greasy, coated in oil\r\n亮闪闪 - [pinyin]liang4 shan3 shan3[/pinyin] - Bright\r\n人马 - [pinyin]ren2 ma3[/pinyin] - Men and horses\r\n官 - [pinyin]guan1[/pinyin] - A government official\r\n审问 - [pinyin]shen3 wen4[/pinyin] - Interrogate\r\n发火 - [pinyin]fa1 huo3[/pinyin] - Explode (angrily)\r\n手下 - [pinyin]shou3 xia4[/pinyin] - Subordinates\r\n棍子 - [pinyin]gun4 zi[/pinyin] - Stick\r\n胡涂 - [pinyin]hu2 tu5[/pinyin] - Confused\r\n蛋 - [pinyin]dan4[/pinyin] - Idiot [lit: egg]\r\n罚 - [pinyin]fa2[/pinyin] - To punish\r\n抓住 - [pinyin]zhua1 zhu4[/pinyin] - To grab, capture\r\n浮 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - To float\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n从前有个小孩，爸爸死了，妈妈病了，日子可不好过了。小孩每天一早起来，提着一篮<strong>油条</strong>，一边跑，一边嚷:“卖油条咯，卖油条咯: 又香又脆的油条，两个<strong>铜钱</strong>买一根。” 有一天，他把油条全卖完了，坐在路边一块石头上，把篮子里的铜钱一个一个的数了一遍，正好一百个。他卖油条，把一双手弄得<strong>油乎乎</strong>的，用手数铜钱，把铜钱也弄得油乎乎的。他瞧着这些油乎乎亮闪闪的铜钱，可高兴了，心想: “今天卖了一百个钱，可以给妈妈买药了。”\r\n\r\n小孩跑了一个上午，可累坏了，他把头一歪，靠在石头上，就呼呼地睡着了，睡了好一会儿才醒来。“哎呀，我得赶快给妈妈买药去了。”小孩站起来一看，糟了，篮子里的铜钱一个也没有了。小孩又着急，又伤心，呜呜地哭了起来。这时候，正好包公带了<strong>人马</strong>打这儿走过。\r\n\r\n包公是什么人呀？包公是个<strong>官</strong>，黑脸黑胡子，人家叫他“包老黑”，又叫他“黑包公”，他办事公道，又很聪明。包公看见小孩哭得很伤心，就问他: “小孩，你为什么哭呀？”“我卖油条得的钱不见了，呜——呜。”“谁偷了你的钱？”“不知道。我靠在这块石头上睡着了，醒来一看，钱就不见了。呜——呜。” \r\n\r\n包公想了一想说: “我知道了，一定是这块石头偷了你的钱，我来<strong>审问</strong>这块石头，叫它把钱还给你。”人们听说包公要审问石头，觉得很奇怪，都跑来看热闹。包公对那块石头说: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？”石头会说话吗？不会。包公又问了: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？快说，快说！”石头还是一声不响，它不会说话呀。包公<strong>发火</strong>了: “石头，石头，你不说实话，打烂你的头。”<strong>手下</strong>的人听包公这么一说，就拿起<strong>棍子</strong>，劈里啪啦地打起石头来，一边打，一边喊: “快说，快说！” \r\n\r\n看热闹的人哄的笑起来了，唧唧喳喳地说: “石头怎么会偷钱？”“石头怎么会说话？”“人家都说包公聪明，原来是个<strong>胡涂蛋</strong>！”包公听了很生气，就说: “我在审问石头，你们怎么说我的坏话。哼! 你们每个人都得<strong>罚</strong>一个铜钱！”包公叫手下的人借来一只盆子，倒上水，让看热闹的人往盆子里丢一个铜钱。看热闹的人没办法，只好排着队每人往盆子里丢一个铜钱，“扑通，扑通，扑通……”\r\n\r\n有一个人刚把铜钱丢进盆子里去，就给包公叫手下的人<strong>抓住</strong>了。 包公指着这个人说: “你是小偷，你偷了小孩卖油条得来的铜钱！”大家都觉得很奇怪，这是怎么回事呀？包公说: “你们瞧，只有他丢下的铜钱，水面上<strong>浮</strong>起了一层油，他的铜钱一定是趁小孩睡觉的时候偷来的。” 那个小偷没办法，只好把一百个铜钱还给小孩。 大家都说，包公真聪明。\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nLong ago, there was a little child whose father was dead, whose mother was sick, and who had a rough life in general. The child woke up early every day, and scooping up a basket of fried breadsticks, ran about shouting \"Buy breadsticks, buy breadsticks, they\'re fragrant and crispy, two coppers buys one!\" One day, after he\'d sold all his breadsticks, he sat on a rock by the side of the road and counted all the coppers in the basket one at a time - he had exactly 100.  Well, selling breadsticks had made his two hands greasy, and when he used hands to count the coppers, it had bade the coppers greasy. Looking at these greasy, bright coppers, he was happy, and in his heart he thought, \"Today I sold 100-worth, I can buy mother some medicine.\" \r\n\r\nThe child had been running all morning, he was exhausted, so he let his head droop, leaned against a rock, and, snoring \"hu hu\" [sound of snoring], fell asleep - after he\'d slept a bit he finally woke up. \"Ai ya! I have to quickly run and buy medicine for mother!\" The child stood up but, oh no, there was not a single coin in the basket. The child was worried and broken-hearted, and began to cry \"wu wu\" [sounds like \'boo hoo\'].  It was just then that Bao Gong, with his men and horses, happened to walk past.\r\n\r\nNow, who was Bao Gong? Bao Gong was an official, black of face and black of beard, whom the people called \"Old Black Bao\" or \"Black Bao Gong\"; he handled matters fairly, and was very smart. Bao Gong saw the child crying so broken-heartedly, and he asked: \"Child, why are you crying?\" \"The money from selling bread sticks is gone, Boo Hoooo!\" \r\n\r\nBao Gong though for a moment and said, \"I know, it was definitely this rock that stole your money, I\'ll question the rock, and tell it to give you your money back.\" The people nearby heard that Bao Gong was going to interrogate a rock, and they thought this was very strange, so they all ran over and watched excitedly. Bao Gong said to the rock: \"Rock, rock, was it you that stole the child\'s coppers?\" But can a rock speak? It cannot. Bao Gong asked again: \"Rock, rock, the child\'s coppers, wasn\'t it you who stole them? Speak up, speak up!\" The rock still said nothing, it couldn\'t speak. Bao Gong exploded, \"Rock, rock, tell the truth or I\'ll beat you over the head!\" Bao Gong\'s men heard him say this, and they found a stick for him, and he began to <em>pi li pa la</em> [sound of stick hitting rock] hit the rock, hitting and shouting \"Speak up! Speak up!\" \r\n\r\nThe people watching excitedly roared with laughter, and chattering \"ji ji zha zha\" [sound of many people chattering], said: \"How can a rock steal money?\" \"How can a rock speak?\" and \"Everyone said that Bao Gong is smart, actually he\'s a muddled idiot!\" Bao Gong heard all this and was very angry, so he said: \" I\'m interrogating this rock. How can you all say bad thing about me? Huh! Each one of you will be fined one copper!” Bao Gong called his men to bring him a borrowed pot - he poured water into it, and made every spectator throw one copper in the pot. The spectators had no choice, they had to line up and each one had to put one copper in the pot. \"Pu tong, pu tong, pu tong...\" [the sound of metal coins plunking into a pot]\r\n\r\nWhen one man in particular put his copper in the pot, Bao Gong ordered his men to seize this man. Bao Gong pointed at the man and said, \"You\'re the thief, you took the coppers the child made from selling breadsticks!\" Everyone thought that was very strange, for how could it be? Bao Gong said: \"All of you look, it was only when this man dropped a copper in the pot that a film of oil floated to the surface, his copper is certainly one that he took advantage of a sleeping child to steal.\" The thief had no choice, he had to give the 100 coppers back to the child. Everyone said, Bao Gong sure is clever. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n', 'Bao Gong Interrogates A Rock', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '723-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-13 15:25:34', '2011-08-13 19:25:34', '', 723, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/13/723-revision-13/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(740, 1, '2016-11-05 01:10:42', '2016-11-05 05:10:42', 'Finally! A rather long, but simple from start-to-finish, children\'s fable. This is definitely my favorite find so far, as it falls solidly within my favorite Chinese story genre with my favorite Chinese archetype: the clever government official who catches a crook. The official in this case is Bao Gong (包公) a historical figure from who lived from 999-1062 A.D. and who, like so many historical figures in Chinese history, somehow became a fictional story character. Bao Gong was known to be fair, just and smart. <!--more--> \n\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110813-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, you can also expect to learn a few Chinese onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are, like the English word \"boom\". There\'s a ton of them in here. We find \"呜呜\" [pinyin]wu1 wu1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of \"Boo Hoo!\". There\'s also 劈里啪啦 [pinyin]pi1 li5 pa1 la5[/pinyin], the sound of someone whacking something (in this case, with a stick). There\'s 扑通 [pinyin]pu1 tong1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of the English word \"plunk\" - the sound of something falling into water. And there\'s 唧唧喳喳 [pinyin]ji1 ji1 zha1 zha1[/pinyin], the sound of a crowd of people chattering. \n\n<hr />[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n<strong>1)</strong> 从前有个小孩，爸爸死了，妈妈病了，日子可不好过了。小孩每天一早起来，提着一篮<strong>油条</strong>，一边跑，一边嚷:“卖油条咯，卖油条咯: 又香又脆的油条，两个<strong>铜钱</strong>买一根。” 有一天，他把油条全卖完了，坐在路边一块石头上，把篮子里的铜钱一个一个的数了一遍，正好一百个。他卖油条，把一双手弄得<strong>油乎乎</strong>的，用手数铜钱，把铜钱也弄得油乎乎的。他瞧着这些油乎乎亮闪闪的铜钱，可高兴了，心想: “今天卖了一百个钱，可以给妈妈买药了。”\n\n<strong>2)</strong> 小孩跑了一个上午，可累坏了，他把头一歪，靠在石头上，就呼呼地睡着了，睡了好一会儿才醒来。“哎呀，我得赶快给妈妈买药去了。”小孩站起来一看，糟了，篮子里的铜钱一个也没有了。小孩又着急，又伤心，呜呜地哭了起来。这时候，正好包公带了<strong>人马</strong>打这儿走过。\n\n<strong>3)</strong> 包公是什么人呀？包公是个<strong>官</strong>，黑脸黑胡子，人家叫他“包老黑”，又叫他“黑包公”，他办事公道，又很聪明。包公看见小孩哭得很伤心，就问他: “小孩，你为什么哭呀？”“我卖油条得的钱不见了，呜——呜。”“谁偷了你的钱？”“不知道。我靠在这块石头上睡着了，醒来一看，钱就不见了。呜——呜。” \n\n<strong>4)</strong> 包公想了一想说: “我知道了，一定是这块石头偷了你的钱，我来<strong>审问</strong>这块石头，叫它把钱还给你。”人们听说包公要审问石头，觉得很奇怪，都跑来看热闹。包公对那块石头说: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？”石头会说话吗？不会。包公又问了: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？快说，快说！”石头还是一声不响，它不会说话呀。包公<strong>发火</strong>了: “石头，石头，你不说实话，打烂你的头。”<strong>手下</strong>的人听包公这么一说，就拿起<strong>棍子</strong>，劈里啪啦地打起石头来，一边打，一边喊: “快说，快说！” \n\n<strong>5)</strong> 看热闹的人哄的笑起来了，唧唧喳喳地说: “石头怎么会偷钱？”“石头怎么会说话？”“人家都说包公聪明，原来是个<strong>胡涂蛋</strong>！”包公听了很生气，就说: “我在审问石头，你们怎么说我的坏话。哼! 你们每个人都得<strong>罚</strong>一个铜钱！”包公叫手下的人借来一只盆子，倒上水，让看热闹的人往盆子里丢一个铜钱。看热闹的人没办法，只好排着队每人往盆子里丢一个铜钱，“扑通，扑通，扑通……”\n\n<strong>6)</strong> 有一个人刚把铜钱丢进盆子里去，就给包公叫手下的人<strong>抓住</strong>了。 包公指着这个人说: “你是小偷，你偷了小孩卖油条得来的铜钱！”大家都觉得很奇怪，这是怎么回事呀？包公说: “你们瞧，只有他丢下的铜钱，水面上<strong>浮</strong>起了一层油，他的铜钱一定是趁小孩睡觉的时候偷来的。” 那个小偷没办法，只好把一百个铜钱还给小孩。 大家都说，包公真聪明。\n</div>\n\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nLong ago, there was a little child whose father was dead, whose mother was sick, and who had a rough life in general. The child woke up early every day, and scooping up a basket of fried breadsticks, ran about shouting \"Buy breadsticks, buy breadsticks, they\'re fragrant and crispy, two coppers buys one!\" One day, after he\'d sold all his breadsticks, he sat on a rock by the side of the road and counted all the coppers in the basket one at a time - he had exactly 100.  Well, selling breadsticks had made his two hands greasy, and when he used hands to count the coppers, it had made the coppers greasy. Looking at these greasy, bright coppers, he was happy, and in his heart he thought, \"Today I sold 100-worth, I can buy mother some medicine.\" \n\nThe child had been running all morning, he was exhausted, so he let his head droop, leaned against a rock, and, snoring \"hu hu\" [sound of snoring], fell asleep - after he\'d slept a bit he finally woke up. \"Ai ya! I have to quickly run and buy medicine for mother!\" The child stood up but, oh no, there was not a single coin in the basket. The child was worried and broken-hearted, and began to cry \"wu wu\" [sounds like \'boo hoo\'].  It was just then that Bao Gong, with his men and horses, happened to walk past.\n\nNow, who was Bao Gong? Bao Gong was an official, black of face and black of beard, whom the people called \"Old Black Bao\" or \"Black Bao Gong\"; he handled matters fairly, and was very smart. Bao Gong saw the child crying so broken-heartedly, and he asked: \"Child, why are you crying?\" \"The money from selling bread sticks is gone, Boo Hoooo!\" \n\nBao Gong thought for a moment and said, \"I know, it was definitely this rock that stole your money, I\'ll question the rock, and tell it to give you your money back.\" The people nearby heard that Bao Gong was going to interrogate a rock, and they thought this was very strange, so they all ran over and watched excitedly. Bao Gong said to the rock: \"Rock, rock, was it you that stole the child\'s coppers?\" But can a rock speak? It cannot. Bao Gong asked again: \"Rock, rock, the child\'s coppers, wasn\'t it you who stole them? Speak up, speak up!\" The rock still said nothing, it couldn\'t speak. Bao Gong exploded, \"Rock, rock, tell the truth or I\'ll beat you over the head!\" Bao Gong\'s men heard him say this, and they found a stick for him, and he began to <em>pi li pa la</em> [sound of stick hitting rock] hit the rock, hitting and shouting \"Speak up! Speak up!\" \n\nThe people watching excitedly roared with laughter, and chattering \"ji ji zha zha\" [sound of many people chattering], said: \"How can a rock steal money?\" \"How can a rock speak?\" and \"Everyone said that Bao Gong is smart, actually he\'s a muddled idiot!\" Bao Gong heard all this and was very angry, so he said: \" I\'m interrogating this rock. How can you all say bad things about me? Huh! Each one of you will be fined one copper!” Bao Gong called his men to bring him a borrowed pot - he poured water into it, and made every spectator throw one copper in the pot. The spectators had no choice, they had to line up and each one had to put one copper in the pot. \"Pu tong, pu tong, pu tong...\" [the sound of metal coins plunking into a pot]\n\nWhen one man in particular put his copper in the pot, Bao Gong ordered his men to seize this man. Bao Gong pointed at the man and said, \"You\'re the thief, you took the coppers the child made from selling breadsticks!\" Everyone thought that was very strange, for how could it be? Bao Gong said: \"All of you look, it was only when this man dropped a copper in the pot that a film of oil floated to the surface, his copper is certainly one that he took advantage of a sleeping child to steal.\" The thief had no choice, he had to give the 100 coppers back to the child. Everyone said, Bao Gong sure is clever. \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\n', '[Historical Fable] 包公审石头 - Bao Gong Interrogates A Rock', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '723-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:10:42', '2016-11-05 05:10:42', '', 723, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/13/723-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(741, 1, '2011-08-13 15:28:34', '2011-08-13 19:28:34', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nFinally! A rather long, but simple from start-to-finish, children\'s fable. This is definitely my favorite find so far, as it falls solidly within my favorite Chinese story genre with my favorite Chinese archetype: the clever government official who catches a crook. The official in this case is Bao Gong (包公) a historical figure from who lived from 999-1062 A.D. and who, like so many historical figures in Chinese history, somehow became a fictional story character. Bao Gong was known to be fair, just and smart. <!--more--> \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110813-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, you can also expect to learn a few Chinese onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are, like the English word \"boom\". There\'s a ton of them in here. We find \"呜呜\" [pinyin]wu1 wu1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of \"Boo Hoo!\". There\'s also 劈里啪啦 [pinyin]pi1 li5 pa1 la5[/pinyin], the sound of someone whacking something (in this case, with a stick). There\'s 扑通 [pinyin]pu1 tong1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of the English word \"plunk\" - the sound of something falling into water. And there\'s 唧唧喳喳 [pinyin]ji1 ji1 zha1 zha1[/pinyin], the sound of a crowd of people chattering. \r\n\r\nI probably added way too many words to the word list for this post, but I couldn\'t bring myself to take any of these out. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n从前 - [pinyin]cong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Long ago\r\n油条 - [pinyin]you2 tiao2[/pinyin] - Fried breadsticks\r\n铜钱 - [pinyin]tong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Copper money / coin\r\n脆 - [pinyin]cui4[/pinyin] - Crispy\r\n油乎乎 - [pinyin]you2 hu1 hu1[/pinyin] - Greasy, coated in oil\r\n亮闪闪 - [pinyin]liang4 shan3 shan3[/pinyin] - Bright\r\n人马 - [pinyin]ren2 ma3[/pinyin] - Men and horses\r\n官 - [pinyin]guan1[/pinyin] - A government official\r\n审问 - [pinyin]shen3 wen4[/pinyin] - Interrogate\r\n发火 - [pinyin]fa1 huo3[/pinyin] - Explode (angrily)\r\n手下 - [pinyin]shou3 xia4[/pinyin] - Subordinates\r\n棍子 - [pinyin]gun4 zi[/pinyin] - Stick\r\n胡涂 - [pinyin]hu2 tu5[/pinyin] - Confused\r\n蛋 - [pinyin]dan4[/pinyin] - Idiot [lit: egg]\r\n罚 - [pinyin]fa2[/pinyin] - To punish\r\n抓住 - [pinyin]zhua1 zhu4[/pinyin] - To grab, capture\r\n浮 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - To float\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n从前有个小孩，爸爸死了，妈妈病了，日子可不好过了。小孩每天一早起来，提着一篮<strong>油条</strong>，一边跑，一边嚷:“卖油条咯，卖油条咯: 又香又脆的油条，两个<strong>铜钱</strong>买一根。” 有一天，他把油条全卖完了，坐在路边一块石头上，把篮子里的铜钱一个一个的数了一遍，正好一百个。他卖油条，把一双手弄得<strong>油乎乎</strong>的，用手数铜钱，把铜钱也弄得油乎乎的。他瞧着这些油乎乎亮闪闪的铜钱，可高兴了，心想: “今天卖了一百个钱，可以给妈妈买药了。”\r\n\r\n小孩跑了一个上午，可累坏了，他把头一歪，靠在石头上，就呼呼地睡着了，睡了好一会儿才醒来。“哎呀，我得赶快给妈妈买药去了。”小孩站起来一看，糟了，篮子里的铜钱一个也没有了。小孩又着急，又伤心，呜呜地哭了起来。这时候，正好包公带了<strong>人马</strong>打这儿走过。\r\n\r\n包公是什么人呀？包公是个<strong>官</strong>，黑脸黑胡子，人家叫他“包老黑”，又叫他“黑包公”，他办事公道，又很聪明。包公看见小孩哭得很伤心，就问他: “小孩，你为什么哭呀？”“我卖油条得的钱不见了，呜——呜。”“谁偷了你的钱？”“不知道。我靠在这块石头上睡着了，醒来一看，钱就不见了。呜——呜。” \r\n\r\n包公想了一想说: “我知道了，一定是这块石头偷了你的钱，我来<strong>审问</strong>这块石头，叫它把钱还给你。”人们听说包公要审问石头，觉得很奇怪，都跑来看热闹。包公对那块石头说: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？”石头会说话吗？不会。包公又问了: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？快说，快说！”石头还是一声不响，它不会说话呀。包公<strong>发火</strong>了: “石头，石头，你不说实话，打烂你的头。”<strong>手下</strong>的人听包公这么一说，就拿起<strong>棍子</strong>，劈里啪啦地打起石头来，一边打，一边喊: “快说，快说！” \r\n\r\n看热闹的人哄的笑起来了，唧唧喳喳地说: “石头怎么会偷钱？”“石头怎么会说话？”“人家都说包公聪明，原来是个<strong>胡涂蛋</strong>！”包公听了很生气，就说: “我在审问石头，你们怎么说我的坏话。哼! 你们每个人都得<strong>罚</strong>一个铜钱！”包公叫手下的人借来一只盆子，倒上水，让看热闹的人往盆子里丢一个铜钱。看热闹的人没办法，只好排着队每人往盆子里丢一个铜钱，“扑通，扑通，扑通……”\r\n\r\n有一个人刚把铜钱丢进盆子里去，就给包公叫手下的人<strong>抓住</strong>了。 包公指着这个人说: “你是小偷，你偷了小孩卖油条得来的铜钱！”大家都觉得很奇怪，这是怎么回事呀？包公说: “你们瞧，只有他丢下的铜钱，水面上<strong>浮</strong>起了一层油，他的铜钱一定是趁小孩睡觉的时候偷来的。” 那个小偷没办法，只好把一百个铜钱还给小孩。 大家都说，包公真聪明。\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nLong ago, there was a little child whose father was dead, whose mother was sick, and who had a rough life in general. The child woke up early every day, and scooping up a basket of fried breadsticks, ran about shouting \"Buy breadsticks, buy breadsticks, they\'re fragrant and crispy, two coppers buys one!\" One day, after he\'d sold all his breadsticks, he sat on a rock by the side of the road and counted all the coppers in the basket one at a time - he had exactly 100.  Well, selling breadsticks had made his two hands greasy, and when he used hands to count the coppers, it had made the coppers greasy. Looking at these greasy, bright coppers, he was happy, and in his heart he thought, \"Today I sold 100-worth, I can buy mother some medicine.\" \r\n\r\nThe child had been running all morning, he was exhausted, so he let his head droop, leaned against a rock, and, snoring \"hu hu\" [sound of snoring], fell asleep - after he\'d slept a bit he finally woke up. \"Ai ya! I have to quickly run and buy medicine for mother!\" The child stood up but, oh no, there was not a single coin in the basket. The child was worried and broken-hearted, and began to cry \"wu wu\" [sounds like \'boo hoo\'].  It was just then that Bao Gong, with his men and horses, happened to walk past.\r\n\r\nNow, who was Bao Gong? Bao Gong was an official, black of face and black of beard, whom the people called \"Old Black Bao\" or \"Black Bao Gong\"; he handled matters fairly, and was very smart. Bao Gong saw the child crying so broken-heartedly, and he asked: \"Child, why are you crying?\" \"The money from selling bread sticks is gone, Boo Hoooo!\" \r\n\r\nBao Gong though for a moment and said, \"I know, it was definitely this rock that stole your money, I\'ll question the rock, and tell it to give you your money back.\" The people nearby heard that Bao Gong was going to interrogate a rock, and they thought this was very strange, so they all ran over and watched excitedly. Bao Gong said to the rock: \"Rock, rock, was it you that stole the child\'s coppers?\" But can a rock speak? It cannot. Bao Gong asked again: \"Rock, rock, the child\'s coppers, wasn\'t it you who stole them? Speak up, speak up!\" The rock still said nothing, it couldn\'t speak. Bao Gong exploded, \"Rock, rock, tell the truth or I\'ll beat you over the head!\" Bao Gong\'s men heard him say this, and they found a stick for him, and he began to <em>pi li pa la</em> [sound of stick hitting rock] hit the rock, hitting and shouting \"Speak up! Speak up!\" \r\n\r\nThe people watching excitedly roared with laughter, and chattering \"ji ji zha zha\" [sound of many people chattering], said: \"How can a rock steal money?\" \"How can a rock speak?\" and \"Everyone said that Bao Gong is smart, actually he\'s a muddled idiot!\" Bao Gong heard all this and was very angry, so he said: \" I\'m interrogating this rock. How can you all say bad thing about me? Huh! Each one of you will be fined one copper!” Bao Gong called his men to bring him a borrowed pot - he poured water into it, and made every spectator throw one copper in the pot. The spectators had no choice, they had to line up and each one had to put one copper in the pot. \"Pu tong, pu tong, pu tong...\" [the sound of metal coins plunking into a pot]\r\n\r\nWhen one man in particular put his copper in the pot, Bao Gong ordered his men to seize this man. Bao Gong pointed at the man and said, \"You\'re the thief, you took the coppers the child made from selling breadsticks!\" Everyone thought that was very strange, for how could it be? Bao Gong said: \"All of you look, it was only when this man dropped a copper in the pot that a film of oil floated to the surface, his copper is certainly one that he took advantage of a sleeping child to steal.\" The thief had no choice, he had to give the 100 coppers back to the child. Everyone said, Bao Gong sure is clever. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n', 'Bao Gong Interrogates A Rock', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '723-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-13 15:28:34', '2011-08-13 19:28:34', '', 723, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/13/723-revision-14/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(742, 1, '2011-08-13 15:29:43', '2011-08-13 19:29:43', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nFinally! A rather long, but simple from start-to-finish, children\'s fable. This is definitely my favorite find so far, as it falls solidly within my favorite Chinese story genre with my favorite Chinese archetype: the clever government official who catches a crook. The official in this case is Bao Gong (包公) a historical figure from who lived from 999-1062 A.D. and who, like so many historical figures in Chinese history, somehow became a fictional story character. Bao Gong was known to be fair, just and smart. <!--more--> \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110813-inline.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Fables Stories and Passages\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, you can also expect to learn a few Chinese onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are, like the English word \"boom\". There\'s a ton of them in here. We find \"呜呜\" [pinyin]wu1 wu1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of \"Boo Hoo!\". There\'s also 劈里啪啦 [pinyin]pi1 li5 pa1 la5[/pinyin], the sound of someone whacking something (in this case, with a stick). There\'s 扑通 [pinyin]pu1 tong1[/pinyin], the Chinese equivalent of the English word \"plunk\" - the sound of something falling into water. And there\'s 唧唧喳喳 [pinyin]ji1 ji1 zha1 zha1[/pinyin], the sound of a crowd of people chattering. \r\n\r\nI probably added way too many words to the word list for this post, but I couldn\'t bring myself to take any of these out. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n从前 - [pinyin]cong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Long ago\r\n油条 - [pinyin]you2 tiao2[/pinyin] - Fried breadsticks\r\n铜钱 - [pinyin]tong2 qian2[/pinyin] - Copper money / coin\r\n脆 - [pinyin]cui4[/pinyin] - Crispy\r\n油乎乎 - [pinyin]you2 hu1 hu1[/pinyin] - Greasy, coated in oil\r\n亮闪闪 - [pinyin]liang4 shan3 shan3[/pinyin] - Bright\r\n人马 - [pinyin]ren2 ma3[/pinyin] - Men and horses\r\n官 - [pinyin]guan1[/pinyin] - A government official\r\n审问 - [pinyin]shen3 wen4[/pinyin] - Interrogate\r\n发火 - [pinyin]fa1 huo3[/pinyin] - Explode (angrily)\r\n手下 - [pinyin]shou3 xia4[/pinyin] - Subordinates\r\n棍子 - [pinyin]gun4 zi[/pinyin] - Stick\r\n胡涂 - [pinyin]hu2 tu5[/pinyin] - Confused\r\n蛋 - [pinyin]dan4[/pinyin] - Idiot [lit: egg]\r\n罚 - [pinyin]fa2[/pinyin] - To punish\r\n抓住 - [pinyin]zhua1 zhu4[/pinyin] - To grab, capture\r\n浮 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - To float\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n从前有个小孩，爸爸死了，妈妈病了，日子可不好过了。小孩每天一早起来，提着一篮<strong>油条</strong>，一边跑，一边嚷:“卖油条咯，卖油条咯: 又香又脆的油条，两个<strong>铜钱</strong>买一根。” 有一天，他把油条全卖完了，坐在路边一块石头上，把篮子里的铜钱一个一个的数了一遍，正好一百个。他卖油条，把一双手弄得<strong>油乎乎</strong>的，用手数铜钱，把铜钱也弄得油乎乎的。他瞧着这些油乎乎亮闪闪的铜钱，可高兴了，心想: “今天卖了一百个钱，可以给妈妈买药了。”\r\n\r\n小孩跑了一个上午，可累坏了，他把头一歪，靠在石头上，就呼呼地睡着了，睡了好一会儿才醒来。“哎呀，我得赶快给妈妈买药去了。”小孩站起来一看，糟了，篮子里的铜钱一个也没有了。小孩又着急，又伤心，呜呜地哭了起来。这时候，正好包公带了<strong>人马</strong>打这儿走过。\r\n\r\n包公是什么人呀？包公是个<strong>官</strong>，黑脸黑胡子，人家叫他“包老黑”，又叫他“黑包公”，他办事公道，又很聪明。包公看见小孩哭得很伤心，就问他: “小孩，你为什么哭呀？”“我卖油条得的钱不见了，呜——呜。”“谁偷了你的钱？”“不知道。我靠在这块石头上睡着了，醒来一看，钱就不见了。呜——呜。” \r\n\r\n包公想了一想说: “我知道了，一定是这块石头偷了你的钱，我来<strong>审问</strong>这块石头，叫它把钱还给你。”人们听说包公要审问石头，觉得很奇怪，都跑来看热闹。包公对那块石头说: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？”石头会说话吗？不会。包公又问了: “石头，石头，小孩的铜钱，是不是你偷的？快说，快说！”石头还是一声不响，它不会说话呀。包公<strong>发火</strong>了: “石头，石头，你不说实话，打烂你的头。”<strong>手下</strong>的人听包公这么一说，就拿起<strong>棍子</strong>，劈里啪啦地打起石头来，一边打，一边喊: “快说，快说！” \r\n\r\n看热闹的人哄的笑起来了，唧唧喳喳地说: “石头怎么会偷钱？”“石头怎么会说话？”“人家都说包公聪明，原来是个<strong>胡涂蛋</strong>！”包公听了很生气，就说: “我在审问石头，你们怎么说我的坏话。哼! 你们每个人都得<strong>罚</strong>一个铜钱！”包公叫手下的人借来一只盆子，倒上水，让看热闹的人往盆子里丢一个铜钱。看热闹的人没办法，只好排着队每人往盆子里丢一个铜钱，“扑通，扑通，扑通……”\r\n\r\n有一个人刚把铜钱丢进盆子里去，就给包公叫手下的人<strong>抓住</strong>了。 包公指着这个人说: “你是小偷，你偷了小孩卖油条得来的铜钱！”大家都觉得很奇怪，这是怎么回事呀？包公说: “你们瞧，只有他丢下的铜钱，水面上<strong>浮</strong>起了一层油，他的铜钱一定是趁小孩睡觉的时候偷来的。” 那个小偷没办法，只好把一百个铜钱还给小孩。 大家都说，包公真聪明。\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nLong ago, there was a little child whose father was dead, whose mother was sick, and who had a rough life in general. The child woke up early every day, and scooping up a basket of fried breadsticks, ran about shouting \"Buy breadsticks, buy breadsticks, they\'re fragrant and crispy, two coppers buys one!\" One day, after he\'d sold all his breadsticks, he sat on a rock by the side of the road and counted all the coppers in the basket one at a time - he had exactly 100.  Well, selling breadsticks had made his two hands greasy, and when he used hands to count the coppers, it had made the coppers greasy. Looking at these greasy, bright coppers, he was happy, and in his heart he thought, \"Today I sold 100-worth, I can buy mother some medicine.\" \r\n\r\nThe child had been running all morning, he was exhausted, so he let his head droop, leaned against a rock, and, snoring \"hu hu\" [sound of snoring], fell asleep - after he\'d slept a bit he finally woke up. \"Ai ya! I have to quickly run and buy medicine for mother!\" The child stood up but, oh no, there was not a single coin in the basket. The child was worried and broken-hearted, and began to cry \"wu wu\" [sounds like \'boo hoo\'].  It was just then that Bao Gong, with his men and horses, happened to walk past.\r\n\r\nNow, who was Bao Gong? Bao Gong was an official, black of face and black of beard, whom the people called \"Old Black Bao\" or \"Black Bao Gong\"; he handled matters fairly, and was very smart. Bao Gong saw the child crying so broken-heartedly, and he asked: \"Child, why are you crying?\" \"The money from selling bread sticks is gone, Boo Hoooo!\" \r\n\r\nBao Gong thought for a moment and said, \"I know, it was definitely this rock that stole your money, I\'ll question the rock, and tell it to give you your money back.\" The people nearby heard that Bao Gong was going to interrogate a rock, and they thought this was very strange, so they all ran over and watched excitedly. Bao Gong said to the rock: \"Rock, rock, was it you that stole the child\'s coppers?\" But can a rock speak? It cannot. Bao Gong asked again: \"Rock, rock, the child\'s coppers, wasn\'t it you who stole them? Speak up, speak up!\" The rock still said nothing, it couldn\'t speak. Bao Gong exploded, \"Rock, rock, tell the truth or I\'ll beat you over the head!\" Bao Gong\'s men heard him say this, and they found a stick for him, and he began to <em>pi li pa la</em> [sound of stick hitting rock] hit the rock, hitting and shouting \"Speak up! Speak up!\" \r\n\r\nThe people watching excitedly roared with laughter, and chattering \"ji ji zha zha\" [sound of many people chattering], said: \"How can a rock steal money?\" \"How can a rock speak?\" and \"Everyone said that Bao Gong is smart, actually he\'s a muddled idiot!\" Bao Gong heard all this and was very angry, so he said: \" I\'m interrogating this rock. How can you all say bad thing about me? Huh! Each one of you will be fined one copper!” Bao Gong called his men to bring him a borrowed pot - he poured water into it, and made every spectator throw one copper in the pot. The spectators had no choice, they had to line up and each one had to put one copper in the pot. \"Pu tong, pu tong, pu tong...\" [the sound of metal coins plunking into a pot]\r\n\r\nWhen one man in particular put his copper in the pot, Bao Gong ordered his men to seize this man. Bao Gong pointed at the man and said, \"You\'re the thief, you took the coppers the child made from selling breadsticks!\" Everyone thought that was very strange, for how could it be? Bao Gong said: \"All of you look, it was only when this man dropped a copper in the pot that a film of oil floated to the surface, his copper is certainly one that he took advantage of a sleeping child to steal.\" The thief had no choice, he had to give the 100 coppers back to the child. Everyone said, Bao Gong sure is clever. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n', 'Bao Gong Interrogates A Rock', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '723-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-13 15:29:43', '2011-08-13 19:29:43', '', 723, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/13/723-revision-15/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(744, 1, '2011-08-21 20:26:55', '2011-08-22 00:26:55', 'Thanks to Alex, the awesome coder behind <a href=\"http://mandarinspot.com/\">Mandarinspot.com</a>, Chinese Reading Practice now has new pop-up translation on all Chinese text! Just hover over any Chinese word in the body of an article to see the tone, pronunciation and various meanings. \n\nThis won\'t work if you\'re using Internet Explorer 7 or below, (and if you are, switch to <a href=\"http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/fx/\">Firefox</a>. It\'s free and easy to install.)', 'We\'ve Got Pop-up Annotated Translations!', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '743-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:26:55', '2011-08-22 00:26:55', '', 743, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/21/743-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(745, 1, '2011-08-21 20:43:45', '2011-08-22 00:43:45', '[two_third]\nJust in case you were wondering, below is a short intermediate essay on How to Make Friends. <!--more-->\n\nThis article was both written and translated into English by a Chinese student with her own blog. I wish I could remember where I found it now - it\'s been sitting in my \"drafts\" folder forever. The Chinese title is 如何交朋友.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n共事 - [pinyin]gong4 shi4[/pinyin] - Work together\n交 - [pinyin]jiao1[/pinyin] - to \"make\" (in this case, to \"make\" friends)\n呢 - [pinyin]bao4 yi3[/pinyin] - To give in return\n报以 - [pinyin]huang1 fei4[/pinyin] - Abandoned\n陌生人 - [pinyin]mo4 sheng1 ren2[/pinyin] - A stranger\n为重 - [pinyin]wei2 zhong4[/pinyin] - Attach the most importance to\n分歧 - [pinyin]fen1 qi2[/pinyin] - Difference of opinion\n危急关头 - [pinyin]wei1 ji2 guan1 tou2[/pinyin] - Desperate situation, critical juncture\n患难 - [pinyin]huan4 nan4[/pinyin] - trials and tribulations\n相待 - [pinyin]xiang1 dai4[/pinyin] - to treat [someone a certain way]\n利益 - [pinyin]li4 yi4[/pinyin] - Benefit trials and tribulations\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n人人都需要朋友。朋友可以给我们以帮助，与我们<strong>共事</strong>困难和快乐。但是，怎样<strong>交</strong>朋友<strong>呢</strong>? \n\n交朋友首先要对别人友善。你对别人微笑；肯定别人也会<strong>报以</strong>微笑。要使<strong>陌生人</strong>感到亲切，关心别人要比,关心自己<strong>为重</strong>，决不以貌取人。 \n\n其次，朋友之间应该商量而不是争吵。当与别人有<strong>分歧</strong>时，要和他一起讨论。 \n\n最后，不要相信那些在<strong>危急关头</strong>背离你的人，也不要在朋友危难时离开他。记住: <strong>患难</strong><strong>之中见真情。 \n\n朋友应该以诚<strong>相待</strong>。只要你把朋友的<strong>利益</strong>置于你的利益之上，你就会拥有好多好朋友 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\n\nEveryone needs friends. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how can we make friends? \n\nFirst, to make friends, you must be friendly to others. Smile at others and you are sure to get a smile in return. You should try to make a stranger feel at home wherever he happens to be. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by their appearance and clothes. \n\nSecond, friends should negotiate instead of quarrel. When you don\'t agree with someone, discuss the issue with them. \n\nFinally, never trust in those who leave you when you are in trouble. And never leave your friends when they are in trouble. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed. \n\nFriends should be faithful to each other. So long as you can put your friend\'s interests in front of yours, you will have a lot of good friends.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\n\n\n\n\n', 'How to Make Friends', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '654-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:43:45', '2011-08-22 00:43:45', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/21/654-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(746, 1, '2011-08-21 20:47:15', '2011-08-22 00:47:15', '', 'Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110821', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:47:15', '2011-08-22 00:47:15', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110821.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(747, 1, '2011-08-21 20:48:03', '2011-08-22 00:48:03', '', 'Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110821-inline', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:48:03', '2011-08-22 00:48:03', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110821-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(748, 1, '2011-08-21 20:44:52', '2011-08-22 00:44:52', '[two_third]\nJust in case you were wondering, below is a short intermediate essay on How to Make Friends. <!--more-->\n\nThis article was both written and translated into English by a Chinese student on her own blog. I wish I could remember where I found it now, as I\'d like to give the credit where credit is due, but it\'s been sitting in my \"drafts\" folder forever. The Chinese title is 如何交朋友.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n共事 - [pinyin]gong4 shi4[/pinyin] - Work together\n交 - [pinyin]jiao1[/pinyin] - to \"make\" (in this case, to \"make\" friends)\n呢 - [pinyin]bao4 yi3[/pinyin] - To give in return\n报以 - [pinyin]huang1 fei4[/pinyin] - Abandoned\n陌生人 - [pinyin]mo4 sheng1 ren2[/pinyin] - A stranger\n为重 - [pinyin]wei2 zhong4[/pinyin] - Attach the most importance to\n分歧 - [pinyin]fen1 qi2[/pinyin] - Difference of opinion\n危急关头 - [pinyin]wei1 ji2 guan1 tou2[/pinyin] - Desperate situation, critical juncture\n患难 - [pinyin]huan4 nan4[/pinyin] - trials and tribulations\n相待 - [pinyin]xiang1 dai4[/pinyin] - to treat [someone a certain way]\n利益 - [pinyin]li4 yi4[/pinyin] - Benefit\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n人人都需要朋友。朋友可以给我们以帮助，与我们<strong>共事</strong>困难和快乐。但是，怎样<strong>交</strong>朋友<strong>呢</strong>? \n\n交朋友首先要对别人友善。你对别人微笑；肯定别人也会<strong>报以</strong>微笑。要使<strong>陌生人</strong>感到亲切，关心别人要比,关心自己<strong>为重</strong>，决不以貌取人。 \n\n其次，朋友之间应该商量而不是争吵。当与别人有<strong>分歧</strong>时，要和他一起讨论。 \n\n最后，不要相信那些在<strong>危急关头</strong>背离你的人，也不要在朋友危难时离开他。记住: <strong>患难</strong><strong>之中见真情。 \n\n朋友应该以诚<strong>相待</strong>。只要你把朋友的<strong>利益</strong>置于你的利益之上，你就会拥有好多好朋友 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\n\nEveryone needs friends. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how can we make friends? \n\nFirst, to make friends, you must be friendly to others. Smile at others and you are sure to get a smile in return. You should try to make a stranger feel at home wherever he happens to be. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by their appearance and clothes. \n\nSecond, friends should negotiate instead of quarrel. When you don\'t agree with someone, discuss the issue with them. \n\nFinally, never trust in those who leave you when you are in trouble. And never leave your friends when they are in trouble. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed. \n\nFriends should be faithful to each other. So long as you can put your friend\'s interests in front of yours, you will have a lot of good friends.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\n\n\n\n\n', 'How to Make Friends', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '654-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:44:52', '2011-08-22 00:44:52', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/21/654-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(749, 1, '2011-08-21 20:48:24', '2011-08-22 00:48:24', '[two_third]\r\nJust in case you were wondering, below is a short intermediate essay on How to Make Friends. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110821-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays\" title=\"Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />This article was both written and translated into English by a Chinese student on her own blog. I wish I could remember where I found it now, as I\'d like to give the credit where credit is due, but it\'s been sitting in my \"drafts\" folder forever. The Chinese title is 如何交朋友.\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n共事 - [pinyin]gong4 shi4[/pinyin] - Work together\r\n交 - [pinyin]jiao1[/pinyin] - to \"make\" (in this case, to \"make\" friends)\r\n呢 - [pinyin]bao4 yi3[/pinyin] - To give in return\r\n报以 - [pinyin]huang1 fei4[/pinyin] - Abandoned\r\n陌生人 - [pinyin]mo4 sheng1 ren2[/pinyin] - A stranger\r\n为重 - [pinyin]wei2 zhong4[/pinyin] - Attach the most importance to\r\n分歧 - [pinyin]fen1 qi2[/pinyin] - Difference of opinion\r\n危急关头 - [pinyin]wei1 ji2 guan1 tou2[/pinyin] - Desperate situation, critical juncture\r\n患难 - [pinyin]huan4 nan4[/pinyin] - trials and tribulations\r\n相待 - [pinyin]xiang1 dai4[/pinyin] - to treat [someone a certain way]\r\n利益 - [pinyin]li4 yi4[/pinyin] - Benefit\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n人人都需要朋友。朋友可以给我们以帮助，与我们<strong>共事</strong>困难和快乐。但是，怎样<strong>交</strong>朋友<strong>呢</strong>? \r\n\r\n交朋友首先要对别人友善。你对别人微笑；肯定别人也会<strong>报以</strong>微笑。要使<strong>陌生人</strong>感到亲切，关心别人要比,关心自己<strong>为重</strong>，决不以貌取人。 \r\n\r\n其次，朋友之间应该商量而不是争吵。当与别人有<strong>分歧</strong>时，要和他一起讨论。 \r\n\r\n最后，不要相信那些在<strong>危急关头</strong>背离你的人，也不要在朋友危难时离开他。记住: <strong>患难</strong><strong>之中见真情。 \r\n\r\n朋友应该以诚<strong>相待</strong>。只要你把朋友的<strong>利益</strong>置于你的利益之上，你就会拥有好多好朋友 \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n\r\nEveryone needs friends. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how can we make friends? \r\n\r\nFirst, to make friends, you must be friendly to others. Smile at others and you are sure to get a smile in return. You should try to make a stranger feel at home wherever he happens to be. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by their appearance and clothes. \r\n\r\nSecond, friends should negotiate instead of quarrel. When you don\'t agree with someone, discuss the issue with them. \r\n\r\nFinally, never trust in those who leave you when you are in trouble. And never leave your friends when they are in trouble. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed. \r\n\r\nFriends should be faithful to each other. So long as you can put your friend\'s interests in front of yours, you will have a lot of good friends.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n', 'How to Make Friends', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '654-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:48:24', '2011-08-22 00:48:24', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/21/654-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(750, 1, '2016-11-05 00:59:31', '2016-11-05 04:59:31', 'Just in case you were wondering, below is a short intermediate essay on How to Make Friends. This article was both written and translated into English by a Chinese student on her own blog. I wish I could remember where I found it now, as I\'d like to give the credit where credit is due, but it\'s been sitting in my \"drafts\" folder forever. \n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n人人都需要朋友。朋友可以给我们以帮助，与我们共事困难和快乐。但是，怎样交朋友呢? \n\n交朋友首先要对别人友善。你对别人微笑；肯定别人也会报以微笑。要使陌生人感到亲切，关心别人要比关心自己为重，决不以貌取人。 \n\n其次，朋友之间应该商量而不是争吵。当与别人有分歧时，要和他一起讨论。 \n\n最后，不要相信那些在危急关头背离你的人，也不要在朋友危难时离开他。记住: 患难之中见真情。 \n\n朋友应该以诚相待。只要你把朋友的利益置于你的利益之上，你就会拥有好多好朋友 \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\n\nEveryone needs friends. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how can we make friends? \n\nFirst, to make friends, you must be friendly to others. Smile at others and you are sure to get a smile in return. You should try to make a stranger a sense of warmth. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by their outward appearance. \n\nSecond, friends should negotiate instead of quarrel. When you don\'t agree with someone, discuss the issue with them. \n\nFinally, never trust in those who leave you when you are in trouble. And never leave your friends when they are in trouble. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed. [Literally: During difficult situations, you will see the truth]\n\nFriends should be faithful to each other. So long as you can put your friend\'s interests in front of yours, you will have a lot of good friends.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\n\n\n\n\n', '[Chinese Essays] 如何交朋友 - How to Make Friends', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '654-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:59:31', '2016-11-05 04:59:31', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/21/654-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2169, 1, '2016-11-05 01:00:29', '2016-11-05 05:00:29', 'This is a short first-person essay about a kid lighting firecrackers (放花炮 - [pinyin]fang4 hua1 pao4[/pinyin]) with his parents. I went back and forth on whether to classify this as \"beginner\" or \"intermediate\". It\'s easier than most of my intermediate stuff, but it\'s got a tighter density of higher-level words than my beginner stuff. But it\'s only a few sentences long. I finally settled on \"Beginner\", because it\'s short and nothing overly complicated happens, but you\'ll need to look up quite a few words, I think. \r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe weirdest part about this, I think, is the part where the kid says he smokes a cigarette his dad gave him. How old is this child? The rest of the piece makes it sound like he\'s about 7-10? Anyway... The Chinese title of this little story is 放花炮.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n今天晚上，我和爸爸妈妈一起<strong>放花炮</strong>。 爸爸用上打火机点上一根香烟，我拿着烟，吸了几口后就开始放花炮。我点了一个，花炮喷出五颜六色的火苗，真是太美丽了！冲天炮太危险了，我不敢放，爸爸帮我放，我只在旁边看。 不一会儿，花炮放完了，我们就高高兴兴地回家了。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nThis evening, my mother father and I set off fireworks together. Father used a lighter to light a cigarette, I took the cigarette and after a few puffs we began lighting the fireworks. I light one, and the firework sprayed multicolor flames, so beautiful! Rockets are too dangerous, I don\'t dare light them, so father helped me do it, and I stood beside and watched. Soon after, the fireworks were all gone, and we happily returned home. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 放花炮 - Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '779-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:00:29', '2016-11-05 05:00:29', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/779-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(751, 1, '2011-08-21 20:49:11', '2011-08-22 00:49:11', '[two_third]\r\nJust in case you were wondering, below is a short intermediate essay on How to Make Friends. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110821-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays\" title=\"Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />This article was both written and translated into English by a Chinese student on her own blog. I wish I could remember where I found it now, as I\'d like to give the credit where credit is due, but it\'s been sitting in my \"drafts\" folder forever. The Chinese title is 如何交朋友.\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n共事 - [pinyin]gong4 shi4[/pinyin] - Work together\r\n交 - [pinyin]jiao1[/pinyin] - to \"make\" (in this case, to \"make\" friends)\r\n呢 - [pinyin]bao4 yi3[/pinyin] - To give in return\r\n报以 - [pinyin]huang1 fei4[/pinyin] - Abandoned\r\n陌生人 - [pinyin]mo4 sheng1 ren2[/pinyin] - A stranger\r\n为重 - [pinyin]wei2 zhong4[/pinyin] - Attach the most importance to\r\n分歧 - [pinyin]fen1 qi2[/pinyin] - Difference of opinion\r\n危急关头 - [pinyin]wei1 ji2 guan1 tou2[/pinyin] - Desperate situation, critical juncture\r\n患难 - [pinyin]huan4 nan4[/pinyin] - trials and tribulations\r\n相待 - [pinyin]xiang1 dai4[/pinyin] - to treat [someone a certain way]\r\n利益 - [pinyin]li4 yi4[/pinyin] - Benefit\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n人人都需要朋友。朋友可以给我们以帮助，与我们<strong>共事</strong>困难和快乐。但是，怎样<strong>交</strong>朋友<strong>呢</strong>? \r\n\r\n交朋友首先要对别人友善。你对别人微笑；肯定别人也会<strong>报以</strong>微笑。要使<strong>陌生人</strong>感到亲切，关心别人要比,关心自己<strong>为重</strong>，决不以貌取人。 \r\n\r\n其次，朋友之间应该商量而不是争吵。当与别人有<strong>分歧</strong>时，要和他一起讨论。 \r\n\r\n最后，不要相信那些在<strong>危急关头</strong>背离你的人，也不要在朋友危难时离开他。记住: <strong>患难</strong>之中见真情。 \r\n\r\n朋友应该以诚<strong>相待</strong>。只要你把朋友的<strong>利益</strong>置于你的利益之上，你就会拥有好多好朋友 \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n\r\nEveryone needs friends. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how can we make friends? \r\n\r\nFirst, to make friends, you must be friendly to others. Smile at others and you are sure to get a smile in return. You should try to make a stranger feel at home wherever he happens to be. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by their appearance and clothes. \r\n\r\nSecond, friends should negotiate instead of quarrel. When you don\'t agree with someone, discuss the issue with them. \r\n\r\nFinally, never trust in those who leave you when you are in trouble. And never leave your friends when they are in trouble. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed. \r\n\r\nFriends should be faithful to each other. So long as you can put your friend\'s interests in front of yours, you will have a lot of good friends.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n', 'How to Make Friends', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '654-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:49:11', '2011-08-22 00:49:11', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/21/654-revision-7/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(752, 1, '2011-08-21 20:51:09', '2011-08-22 00:51:09', '[two_third]\r\nJust in case you were wondering, below is a short intermediate essay on How to Make Friends. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110821-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays\" title=\"Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />This article was both written and translated into English by a Chinese student on her own blog. I wish I could remember where I found it now, as I\'d like to give the credit where credit is due, but it\'s been sitting in my \"drafts\" folder forever. The Chinese title is 如何交朋友.\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n共事 - [pinyin]gong4 shi4[/pinyin] - Work together\r\n交 - [pinyin]jiao1[/pinyin] - to \"make\" (in this case, to \"make\" friends)\r\n呢 - [pinyin]bao4 yi3[/pinyin] - To give in return\r\n报以 - [pinyin]huang1 fei4[/pinyin] - Abandoned\r\n陌生人 - [pinyin]mo4 sheng1 ren2[/pinyin] - A stranger\r\n为重 - [pinyin]wei2 zhong4[/pinyin] - Attach the most importance to\r\n分歧 - [pinyin]fen1 qi2[/pinyin] - Difference of opinion\r\n危急关头 - [pinyin]wei1 ji2 guan1 tou2[/pinyin] - Desperate situation, critical juncture\r\n患难 - [pinyin]huan4 nan4[/pinyin] - trials and tribulations\r\n相待 - [pinyin]xiang1 dai4[/pinyin] - to treat [someone a certain way]\r\n利益 - [pinyin]li4 yi4[/pinyin] - Benefit\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n人人都需要朋友。朋友可以给我们以帮助，与我们<strong>共事</strong>困难和快乐。但是，怎样<strong>交</strong>朋友<strong>呢</strong>? \r\n\r\n交朋友首先要对别人友善。你对别人微笑；肯定别人也会<strong>报以</strong>微笑。要使<strong>陌生人</strong>感到亲切，关心别人要比,关心自己<strong>为重</strong>，决不以貌取人。 \r\n\r\n其次，朋友之间应该商量而不是争吵。当与别人有<strong>分歧</strong>时，要和他一起讨论。 \r\n\r\n最后，不要相信那些在<strong>危急关头</strong>背离你的人，也不要在朋友危难时离开他。记住: <strong>患难</strong>之中见真情。 \r\n\r\n朋友应该以诚<strong>相待</strong>。只要你把朋友的<strong>利益</strong>置于你的利益之上，你就会拥有好多好朋友 \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n\r\nEveryone needs friends. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how can we make friends? \r\n\r\nFirst, to make friends, you must be friendly to others. Smile at others and you are sure to get a smile in return. You should try to make a stranger feel at home wherever he happens to be. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by their appearance and clothes. \r\n\r\nSecond, friends should negotiate instead of quarrel. When you don\'t agree with someone, discuss the issue with them. \r\n\r\nFinally, never trust in those who leave you when you are in trouble. And never leave your friends when they are in trouble. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed. \r\n\r\nFriends should be faithful to each other. So long as you can put your friend\'s interests in front of yours, you will have a lot of good friends.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n', 'How to Make Friends', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '654-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-21 20:51:09', '2011-08-22 00:51:09', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/21/654-revision-8/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(756, 1, '2011-08-30 23:07:39', '2011-08-31 03:07:39', 'A slightly off-color \"they don\'t teach you how to say that in the textbook\" joke about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family. This is really upper-intermediate, not really super advanced, but there will be quite a few new words here for lower-intermediate readers.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a little hard to get rolling on this one, as the first sentence is a little hard to get past unless you know what they\'re talking about, so I\'ll explain a bit. The joke starts out: \"一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了\", which literally translates into \"A 16-year-old girl tells her mother that already two months hadn\'t come.\" Once you see it in English, and you know the joke\'s about pregnancy, it\'s pretty easy to decipher the meaning - the girl hasn\'t had her period for 2 months and suspects she\'s pregnant. Thing is, the medical word for \"menstrual cycle\" never actually shows up here - we\'re seeing instead the colloquial term \"月\", or \"moon / month\".\r\n\r\nIt\'s also worth noting that in this reading, 令媛 is an old-fashioned term of respect to say \'your daughter\'.\r\n\r\nAnd one last interesting grammar point here is the phrase \"负该负的责任\". To \"负责任\", means to shoulder your responsibilities and fulfill your obligations. So this phrase means \"fulfill the responsibilities that should be fulfilled\", or \"to bear the responsibilities that one should bear\".\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了验孕剂来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个浑蛋干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的法拉利跑车疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身名牌衣着又风度翩翩的中年绅士. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"<strong>令媛</strong>刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会负该负的责任\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边别墅及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他继承2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是双胞胎，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果不幸流产了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\"\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that she had missed 2 menstrual cycles... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant! Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did the happy deed, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Ferrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Your honorable daughter just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take her to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\" At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens you can come back again!\"\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Jokes] 你可以再来一次 - You can come back again', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'you-can-come-back-again', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:08:06', '2016-11-05 05:08:06', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=756', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(2173, 1, '2016-11-05 01:08:06', '2016-11-05 05:08:06', 'A slightly off-color \"they don\'t teach you how to say that in the textbook\" joke about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family. This is really upper-intermediate, not really super advanced, but there will be quite a few new words here for lower-intermediate readers.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a little hard to get rolling on this one, as the first sentence is a little hard to get past unless you know what they\'re talking about, so I\'ll explain a bit. The joke starts out: \"一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了\", which literally translates into \"A 16-year-old girl tells her mother that already two months hadn\'t come.\" Once you see it in English, and you know the joke\'s about pregnancy, it\'s pretty easy to decipher the meaning - the girl hasn\'t had her period for 2 months and suspects she\'s pregnant. Thing is, the medical word for \"menstrual cycle\" never actually shows up here - we\'re seeing instead the colloquial term \"月\", or \"moon / month\".\r\n\r\nIt\'s also worth noting that in this reading, 令媛 is an old-fashioned term of respect to say \'your daughter\'.\r\n\r\nAnd one last interesting grammar point here is the phrase \"负该负的责任\". To \"负责任\", means to shoulder your responsibilities and fulfill your obligations. So this phrase means \"fulfill the responsibilities that should be fulfilled\", or \"to bear the responsibilities that one should bear\".\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了验孕剂来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个浑蛋干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的法拉利跑车疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身名牌衣着又风度翩翩的中年绅士. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"<strong>令媛</strong>刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会负该负的责任\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边别墅及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他继承2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是双胞胎，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果不幸流产了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\"\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that she had missed 2 menstrual cycles... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant! Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did the happy deed, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Ferrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Your honorable daughter just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take her to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\" At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens you can come back again!\"\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Jokes] 你可以再来一次 - You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:08:06', '2016-11-05 05:08:06', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/756-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(757, 1, '2011-08-30 22:13:21', '2011-08-31 02:13:21', '[two_third]\nAnother slightly off-color joke, this one about an unexpected pregnancy.  \n\nThe Chinese title of this joke is \"父子不和\".\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n讨论 - [pinyin]tao3 lun4[/pinyin] - To discuss\n不和 - [pinyin]bu4 he2[/pinyin] - To not get along well\n题目 - [pinyin]ti2 mu4[/pinyin] - Topic\n秋子 - [pinyin]qiu1 zi5[/pinyin] - QiuZi (a name)\n消除 - [pinyin]xiao1 chu2[/pinyin] - Eliminate, remove\n现象 - [pinyin]xian4 xiang4[/pinyin] - Phenomenon, happening, appearance\n成绩 - [pinyin]cheng2 ji4[/pinyin] - Grades (school grades)\n通知单 -  [pinyin]tong1 zhi1 dan4[/pinyin] - Report card\n填 - [pinyin]tian2[/pinyin] - To fill in (a form)\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了验孕剂来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个浑蛋干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的法拉利跑车疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身名牌衣着又风度翩翩的中年绅士. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"令媛刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会负该负的责任\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边别墅及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他继承2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是双胞胎，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果不幸流产了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\n\n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\n\n', 'You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 22:13:21', '2011-08-31 02:13:21', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(759, 1, '2011-08-30 22:37:34', '2011-08-31 02:37:34', '[two_third]\r\nAnother slightly off-color joke, this one about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family.\r\n\r\nYou\'ll have to forgive me these couple of not-really-for-kids jokes, . The Chinese title of this joke is \"你可以再来一次\".\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n讨论 - [pinyin]tao3 lun4[/pinyin] - To discuss\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了验孕剂来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个浑蛋干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的法拉利跑车疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身名牌衣着又风度翩翩的中年绅士. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"令媛刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会负该负的责任\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边别墅及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他继承2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是双胞胎，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果不幸流产了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that her period was two weeks late... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant!  Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did this, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Farrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Ling Yuan [presumably daughter\'s name] just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take Ling Yuan to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\"  At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens you can come back again!\" \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n', 'You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 22:37:34', '2011-08-31 02:37:34', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(758, 1, '2011-08-30 22:36:56', '2011-08-31 02:36:56', '[two_third]\nAnother slightly off-color joke, this one about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family.\n\nYou\'ll have to forgive me these couple of not-really-for-kids jokes, . The Chinese title of this joke is \"你可以再来一次\".\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n讨论 - [pinyin]tao3 lun4[/pinyin] - To discuss\n\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了验孕剂来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个浑蛋干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的法拉利跑车疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身名牌衣着又风度翩翩的中年绅士. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"令媛刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会负该负的责任\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边别墅及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他继承2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是双胞胎，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果不幸流产了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that her period was two weeks late... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant!  Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did this, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Farrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Ling Yuan [presumably daughter\'s name] just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take Ling Yuan to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\"  At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens you can come back again!\"  如果生的是双胞胎，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果不幸流产了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\n\n', 'You can come back one more time', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 22:36:56', '2011-08-31 02:36:56', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(760, 1, '2011-08-30 23:02:33', '2011-08-31 03:02:33', '[two_third]\nAnother slightly off-color \"they don\'t teach you how to say that in the textbook\" joke, this one about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family. This is really upper-intermediate, not too terribly advanced, but there may be quite a few new words here. \n\nYou\'ll have to forgive me these couple of recent not-really-for-kids jokes - I\'m no primary school teacher, and I find that an endless stream of kids\' jokes gets a bit tiresome, and is not as reflective of real spoken language. This is the kind of joke you\'d tell with your friends after a couple of glasses of 啤酒, and you have to admit, as scripted jokes go, this one\'s pretty funny.\n\nIt\'s a little hard to get rolling on this one, as the first sentence is a little hard to get past unless you know what they\'re talking about, so I\'ll explain a bit. The joke starts out: \"一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了\", which literally translates into \"A 16-year-old girl tells her mother that already two months hadn\'t come.\" Once you see it in English, and you know the joke\'s about pregnancy, it\'s pretty easy to decipher the meaning - the girl hasn\'t had her period for 2 months and suspects she\'s pregnant. Thing is, the medical word for \"menstrual cycle\" never actually shows up here - we\'re seeing instead the colloquial term \"月\", or \"moon / month\".\n\nIt\'s also worth noting that in this reading, 令媛 is the name of the pregnant daughter - that is not really explained.\n\nAnd one last interesting grammar point here is the phrase \"负该负的责任\". To \"负责任\", means to shoulder your responsibilities and fulfill your obligations. So this phrase means \"fulfill the responsibilities that should be fulfilled\", or \"to bear the responsibilities that one should bear\". \n\nThe Chinese title of this joke is \"你可以再来一次\".\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n验孕剂 - [pinyin]yan4 yun4 ji4[/pinyin] - Pregnancy test\n浑蛋 - [pinyin]hun2 dan4[/pinyin] - Variant of 混蛋, meaning scoundrel, cur, bastard\n法拉利 - [pinyin]fa3 la1 li4[/pinyin] - Ferrari (sports car brand)\n跑车 - [pinyin]pao3 che1[/pinyin] - Sports car\n名牌 - [pinyin]ming2 pai2[/pinyin] - Name brand\n风度 - [pinyin]feng1 du4[/pinyin] - Elegant (applies only to men)\n绅士 - [pinyin]shen1 shi4[/pinyin] - Gentleman\n别墅 - [pinyin]bie2 shu4[/pinyin] - Villa\n继承 -  [pinyin]ji4 cheng2[/pinyin] - To inherit\n双胞胎 - [pinyin]shuang1 bao1 tai[/pinyin] - Twins\n不幸流产 - \n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了<strong>验孕剂</strong>来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个<strong>浑蛋</strong>干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的<strong>法拉利</strong><strong>跑车</strong>疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身<strong>名牌</strong>衣着又<strong>风度</strong>翩翩的中年<strong>绅士</strong>. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"<strong>令媛</strong>刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会<strong>负该负的责任</strong>\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边<strong>别墅</strong>及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他<strong>继承</strong>2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是<strong>双胞胎</strong>，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果<strong>不幸流产</strong>了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that she had missed 2 menstrual cycles... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant!  Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did the happy deed, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Ferrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Ling Yuan [presumably daughter\'s name] just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take Ling Yuan to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\"  At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens [lit: when the time comes] you can come back again!\" \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\n\n', 'You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:02:33', '2011-08-31 03:02:33', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(761, 1, '2011-08-30 23:06:29', '2011-08-31 03:06:29', '', 'Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110830', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:06:29', '2011-08-31 03:06:29', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110830.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(762, 1, '2011-08-30 23:07:22', '2011-08-31 03:07:22', '', 'Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110830-inline', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:07:22', '2011-08-31 03:07:22', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110830-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(763, 1, '2011-08-30 23:03:22', '2011-08-31 03:03:22', '[two_third]\r\nAnother slightly off-color \"they don\'t teach you how to say that in the textbook\" joke, this one about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family. This is really upper-intermediate, not too terribly advanced, but there may be quite a few new words here. \r\n\r\nYou\'ll have to forgive me these couple of recent not-really-for-kids jokes - I\'m no primary school teacher, and I find that an endless stream of kids\' jokes gets a bit tiresome, and is not as reflective of real spoken language. This is the kind of joke you\'d tell with your friends after a couple of glasses of 啤酒, and you have to admit, as scripted jokes go, this one\'s pretty funny.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a little hard to get rolling on this one, as the first sentence is a little hard to get past unless you know what they\'re talking about, so I\'ll explain a bit. The joke starts out: \"一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了\", which literally translates into \"A 16-year-old girl tells her mother that already two months hadn\'t come.\" Once you see it in English, and you know the joke\'s about pregnancy, it\'s pretty easy to decipher the meaning - the girl hasn\'t had her period for 2 months and suspects she\'s pregnant. Thing is, the medical word for \"menstrual cycle\" never actually shows up here - we\'re seeing instead the colloquial term \"月\", or \"moon / month\".\r\n\r\nIt\'s also worth noting that in this reading, 令媛 is the name of the pregnant daughter - that is not really explained.\r\n\r\nAnd one last interesting grammar point here is the phrase \"负该负的责任\". To \"负责任\", means to shoulder your responsibilities and fulfill your obligations. So this phrase means \"fulfill the responsibilities that should be fulfilled\", or \"to bear the responsibilities that one should bear\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this joke is \"你可以再来一次\".\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n验孕剂 - [pinyin]yan4 yun4 ji4[/pinyin] - Pregnancy test\r\n浑蛋 - [pinyin]hun2 dan4[/pinyin] - Variant of 混蛋, meaning scoundrel, cur, bastard\r\n法拉利 - [pinyin]fa3 la1 li4[/pinyin] - Ferrari (sports car brand)\r\n跑车 - [pinyin]pao3 che1[/pinyin] - Sports car\r\n名牌 - [pinyin]ming2 pai2[/pinyin] - Name brand\r\n风度 - [pinyin]feng1 du4[/pinyin] - Elegant (applies only to men)\r\n绅士 - [pinyin]shen1 shi4[/pinyin] - Gentleman\r\n别墅 - [pinyin]bie2 shu4[/pinyin] - Villa\r\n继承 -  [pinyin]ji4 cheng2[/pinyin] - To inherit\r\n双胞胎 - [pinyin]shuang1 bao1 tai[/pinyin] - Twins\r\n不幸流产 - [pinyin]bu4 xing4 liu2 chan3[/pinyin] - Accidental miscarriage\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了<strong>验孕剂</strong>来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个<strong>浑蛋</strong>干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的<strong>法拉利</strong><strong>跑车</strong>疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身<strong>名牌</strong>衣着又<strong>风度</strong>翩翩的中年<strong>绅士</strong>. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"<strong>令媛</strong>刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会<strong>负该负的责任</strong>\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边<strong>别墅</strong>及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他<strong>继承</strong>2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是<strong>双胞胎</strong>，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果<strong>不幸流产</strong>了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that she had missed 2 menstrual cycles... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant!  Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did the happy deed, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Ferrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Ling Yuan [presumably daughter\'s name] just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take Ling Yuan to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\"  At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens [lit: when the time comes] you can come back again!\" \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n', 'You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:03:22', '2011-08-31 03:03:22', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(764, 1, '2011-08-30 23:07:39', '2011-08-31 03:07:39', '[two_third]\r\nAnother slightly off-color \"they don\'t teach you how to say that in the textbook\" joke, this one about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family. This is really upper-intermediate, not too terribly advanced, but there may be quite a few new words here. \r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110830-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice\" title=\"Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />You\'ll have to forgive me these couple of recent not-really-for-kids jokes - I\'m no primary school teacher, and I find that an endless stream of kids\' jokes gets a bit tiresome, and is not as reflective of real spoken language. This is the kind of joke you\'d tell with your friends after a couple of glasses of 啤酒, and you have to admit, as scripted jokes go, this one\'s pretty funny.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a little hard to get rolling on this one, as the first sentence is a little hard to get past unless you know what they\'re talking about, so I\'ll explain a bit. The joke starts out: \"一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了\", which literally translates into \"A 16-year-old girl tells her mother that already two months hadn\'t come.\" Once you see it in English, and you know the joke\'s about pregnancy, it\'s pretty easy to decipher the meaning - the girl hasn\'t had her period for 2 months and suspects she\'s pregnant. Thing is, the medical word for \"menstrual cycle\" never actually shows up here - we\'re seeing instead the colloquial term \"月\", or \"moon / month\".\r\n\r\nIt\'s also worth noting that in this reading, 令媛 is the name of the pregnant daughter - that is not really explained.\r\n\r\nAnd one last interesting grammar point here is the phrase \"负该负的责任\". To \"负责任\", means to shoulder your responsibilities and fulfill your obligations. So this phrase means \"fulfill the responsibilities that should be fulfilled\", or \"to bear the responsibilities that one should bear\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this joke is \"你可以再来一次\".\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n验孕剂 - [pinyin]yan4 yun4 ji4[/pinyin] - Pregnancy test\r\n浑蛋 - [pinyin]hun2 dan4[/pinyin] - Variant of 混蛋, meaning scoundrel, cur, bastard\r\n法拉利 - [pinyin]fa3 la1 li4[/pinyin] - Ferrari (sports car brand)\r\n跑车 - [pinyin]pao3 che1[/pinyin] - Sports car\r\n名牌 - [pinyin]ming2 pai2[/pinyin] - Name brand\r\n风度 - [pinyin]feng1 du4[/pinyin] - Elegant (applies only to men)\r\n绅士 - [pinyin]shen1 shi4[/pinyin] - Gentleman\r\n别墅 - [pinyin]bie2 shu4[/pinyin] - Villa\r\n继承 -  [pinyin]ji4 cheng2[/pinyin] - To inherit\r\n双胞胎 - [pinyin]shuang1 bao1 tai[/pinyin] - Twins\r\n不幸流产 - [pinyin]bu4 xing4 liu2 chan3[/pinyin] - Accidental miscarriage\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了<strong>验孕剂</strong>来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个<strong>浑蛋</strong>干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的<strong>法拉利</strong><strong>跑车</strong>疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身<strong>名牌</strong>衣着又<strong>风度</strong>翩翩的中年<strong>绅士</strong>. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"<strong>令媛</strong>刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会<strong>负该负的责任</strong>\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边<strong>别墅</strong>及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他<strong>继承</strong>2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是<strong>双胞胎</strong>，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果<strong>不幸流产</strong>了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that she had missed 2 menstrual cycles... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant!  Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did the happy deed, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Ferrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Ling Yuan [presumably daughter\'s name] just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take Ling Yuan to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\"  At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens [lit: when the time comes] you can come back again!\" \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n', 'You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:07:39', '2011-08-31 03:07:39', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(765, 1, '2011-08-30 23:08:07', '2011-08-31 03:08:07', '[two_third]\r\nAnother slightly off-color \"they don\'t teach you how to say that in the textbook\" joke, this one about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family. This is really upper-intermediate, not too terribly advanced, but there may be quite a few new words here for intermediate readers.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110830-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice\" title=\"Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />You\'ll have to forgive me these couple of recent not-really-for-kids jokes - I\'m no primary school teacher, and I find that an endless stream of kids\' jokes gets a bit tiresome, and is not as reflective of real spoken language. This is the kind of joke you\'d tell with your friends after a couple of glasses of 啤酒, and you have to admit, as scripted jokes go, this one\'s pretty funny.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a little hard to get rolling on this one, as the first sentence is a little hard to get past unless you know what they\'re talking about, so I\'ll explain a bit. The joke starts out: \"一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了\", which literally translates into \"A 16-year-old girl tells her mother that already two months hadn\'t come.\" Once you see it in English, and you know the joke\'s about pregnancy, it\'s pretty easy to decipher the meaning - the girl hasn\'t had her period for 2 months and suspects she\'s pregnant. Thing is, the medical word for \"menstrual cycle\" never actually shows up here - we\'re seeing instead the colloquial term \"月\", or \"moon / month\".\r\n\r\nIt\'s also worth noting that in this reading, 令媛 is the name of the pregnant daughter - that is not really explained.\r\n\r\nAnd one last interesting grammar point here is the phrase \"负该负的责任\". To \"负责任\", means to shoulder your responsibilities and fulfill your obligations. So this phrase means \"fulfill the responsibilities that should be fulfilled\", or \"to bear the responsibilities that one should bear\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this joke is \"你可以再来一次\".\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n验孕剂 - [pinyin]yan4 yun4 ji4[/pinyin] - Pregnancy test\r\n浑蛋 - [pinyin]hun2 dan4[/pinyin] - Variant of 混蛋, meaning scoundrel, cur, bastard\r\n法拉利 - [pinyin]fa3 la1 li4[/pinyin] - Ferrari (sports car brand)\r\n跑车 - [pinyin]pao3 che1[/pinyin] - Sports car\r\n名牌 - [pinyin]ming2 pai2[/pinyin] - Name brand\r\n风度 - [pinyin]feng1 du4[/pinyin] - Elegant (applies only to men)\r\n绅士 - [pinyin]shen1 shi4[/pinyin] - Gentleman\r\n别墅 - [pinyin]bie2 shu4[/pinyin] - Villa\r\n继承 -  [pinyin]ji4 cheng2[/pinyin] - To inherit\r\n双胞胎 - [pinyin]shuang1 bao1 tai[/pinyin] - Twins\r\n不幸流产 - [pinyin]bu4 xing4 liu2 chan3[/pinyin] - Accidental miscarriage\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了<strong>验孕剂</strong>来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个<strong>浑蛋</strong>干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的<strong>法拉利</strong><strong>跑车</strong>疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身<strong>名牌</strong>衣着又<strong>风度</strong>翩翩的中年<strong>绅士</strong>. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"<strong>令媛</strong>刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会<strong>负该负的责任</strong>\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边<strong>别墅</strong>及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他<strong>继承</strong>2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是<strong>双胞胎</strong>，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果<strong>不幸流产</strong>了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that she had missed 2 menstrual cycles... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant!  Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did the happy deed, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Ferrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Ling Yuan [presumably daughter\'s name] just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take Ling Yuan to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\"  At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens [lit: when the time comes] you can come back again!\" \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n', 'You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:08:07', '2011-08-31 03:08:07', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision-7/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(766, 1, '2011-09-03 07:00:53', '2011-09-03 11:00:53', '[two_third]\r\nTo commemorate passing my 50th post, I\'ll be starting a new series on this blog called \"Interesting Headlines\", which will just include several one-line news headlines from major Chinese newspapers, and will hopefully help with newspaper reading skills.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110903-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" title=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I tend to find that if I can read a headline and get the gist of a story, then I can read the story. But if I can\'t grasp the overall concept, it\'s difficult to pinpoint what\'s being discussed - so I\'ll be tackling headlines directly, and linking to the news story. You\'re welcome to tackle it if it sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nAlmost all news headlines, with a few exceptions, are advanced reading material. I know most of my readers are beginner-level, so I apologize for the emphasis on advanced stuff. But the upshot is that news headlines are very short, which may give lower-level readers a shot at tackling something a bit more difficult. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n减税 - [pinyin]jian3 shui4[/pinyin] - Tax cut\r\n吉普赛 - [pinyin]ji2 pu3 sai4[/pinyin] - Gypsy\r\n争夺 - [pinyin]zheng1 duo2[/pinyin] - To fight / vie over sthg.\r\n仪式 - [pinyin]yi2 shi4[/pinyin] - Rite, ceremony\r\n探秘 - [pinyin]tan4 mi4[/pinyin] - Explore the unknown, probe mysteries\r\n亩 - [pinyin]mu3[/pinyin] - Chinese equivalent of the word \"acre\", one mu equals one fifteenth of a hectare\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 新个税法明起施行: 月入五千每年将<strong>减税</strong>3360元\r\nFinance: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/31/content_13224775.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n2) 会说话<strong>吉普赛</strong>古董算卦机引天价<strong>争夺</strong> 美当地政府拒卖\r\nHuman Interest: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2011-08/31/content_13225695.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n3) 杭州万松书院举办仿古入学<strong>仪式</strong>\r\nChildren: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/29/content_13207804.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n4) <strong>探秘</strong>印度尼西亚原始部落的木乃伊\r\nHistory & Culture: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121936709.htm\">Read it on XinHua </a>\r\n\r\n5) 重庆国家级森林公园发生火灾 面积已超300<strong>亩</strong>\r\nDisasters: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121934715.htm\">Read it on XinHua</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) New tax laws take effect tomorrow: those with a monthly salary of 5000 yuan will get a tax cut of 3360 yuan per year\r\n\r\n2) An antique talking gypsy fortune telling machine creates a high-priced bidding war: American local government refuses to sell  \r\n\r\n3) Hangzhou Wan Song Academy of Classical Learning Holds old-style school entrance ceremony \r\n\r\n4) Exploring the mysteries of primitive Indonesian tribal mummies \r\n\r\n5) Forest fire at Chongqing National Forest has already consumed over 300 mu\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Interesting Headlines: Series 1', '', 'draft', 'open', 'open', '', 'interesting-headlines-series-1', '', '', '2016-11-04 23:26:27', '2016-11-05 03:26:27', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=766', 0, 'post', '', 0),
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(769, 1, '2011-08-30 23:30:25', '2011-08-31 03:30:25', '', 'Interesting Headlines: Series 1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '766-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:30:25', '2011-08-31 03:30:25', '', 766, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/766-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(770, 1, '2011-08-30 23:17:36', '2011-08-31 03:17:36', '[two_third]\r\nAnother slightly off-color \"they don\'t teach you how to say that in the textbook\" joke, this one about two parents dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in the family. This is really upper-intermediate, not really super advanced, but there will be quite a few new words here for lower-intermediate readers.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110830-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice\" title=\"Advanced Chinese Jokes and Written Vocaublary Practice\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />You\'ll have to forgive me these couple of recent not-really-for-kids jokes - I\'m no primary school teacher, and I find that an endless stream of kids\' jokes gets a bit tiresome, and is not as reflective of real spoken language. This is the kind of joke you\'d tell with your friends after a couple of glasses of 啤酒, and you have to admit, as scripted jokes go, this one\'s pretty funny.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a little hard to get rolling on this one, as the first sentence is a little hard to get past unless you know what they\'re talking about, so I\'ll explain a bit. The joke starts out: \"一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了\", which literally translates into \"A 16-year-old girl tells her mother that already two months hadn\'t come.\" Once you see it in English, and you know the joke\'s about pregnancy, it\'s pretty easy to decipher the meaning - the girl hasn\'t had her period for 2 months and suspects she\'s pregnant. Thing is, the medical word for \"menstrual cycle\" never actually shows up here - we\'re seeing instead the colloquial term \"月\", or \"moon / month\".\r\n\r\nIt\'s also worth noting that in this reading, 令媛 is the name of the pregnant daughter - that is not really explained.\r\n\r\nAnd one last interesting grammar point here is the phrase \"负该负的责任\". To \"负责任\", means to shoulder your responsibilities and fulfill your obligations. So this phrase means \"fulfill the responsibilities that should be fulfilled\", or \"to bear the responsibilities that one should bear\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this joke is \"你可以再来一次\".\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n验孕剂 - [pinyin]yan4 yun4 ji4[/pinyin] - Pregnancy test\r\n浑蛋 - [pinyin]hun2 dan4[/pinyin] - Variant of 混蛋, meaning scoundrel, cur, bastard\r\n法拉利 - [pinyin]fa3 la1 li4[/pinyin] - Ferrari (sports car brand)\r\n跑车 - [pinyin]pao3 che1[/pinyin] - Sports car\r\n名牌 - [pinyin]ming2 pai2[/pinyin] - Name brand\r\n风度 - [pinyin]feng1 du4[/pinyin] - Elegant (applies only to men)\r\n绅士 - [pinyin]shen1 shi4[/pinyin] - Gentleman\r\n别墅 - [pinyin]bie2 shu4[/pinyin] - Villa\r\n继承 -  [pinyin]ji4 cheng2[/pinyin] - To inherit\r\n双胞胎 - [pinyin]shuang1 bao1 tai[/pinyin] - Twins\r\n不幸流产 - [pinyin]bu4 xing4 liu2 chan3[/pinyin] - Accidental miscarriage\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n一个16岁的女孩跟她母亲说她已经2个月没来了.... 母亲一听不得了赶紧去药房买了<strong>验孕剂</strong>来确认一下... 结果女孩真的怀孕了！ 母亲又哭又骂的问到:\"到底是那个<strong>浑蛋</strong>干的好事，你给我从实招来!!\" 女孩只好打了通电话... 半小时后，一部全新的<strong>法拉利</strong><strong>跑车</strong>疾驶到了女孩家门，而跨出车门的是位全身<strong>名牌</strong>衣着又<strong>风度</strong>翩翩的中年<strong>绅士</strong>. 绅士进入屋内与女孩及她的父母双亲在客厅坐了下来. \"午安!\"绅士礼貌的向她们问候并说道:\"<strong>令媛</strong>刚刚告知了我这个大问题，但是因为我的个人家庭问题，很抱歉我无法娶令媛为妻，不过我会<strong>负该负的责任</strong>\" \"这样好了，如果生的是女孩，我会留3家店面，2间房子，1栋海边<strong>别墅</strong>及一个200万美金的帐户给她\" \"如果生的是男孩，我会让他<strong>继承</strong>2家公司再加上一个200万美金的帐户\" \"如果生的是<strong>双胞胎</strong>，那就每人继承1家公司还有各100万美金的帐户\" \"但如果<strong>不幸流产</strong>了............\" 此时在一旁沉默已久的父亲，突然站起来，并把手紧紧的搭在绅士的肩上后说:\"没关系，到时你可以再来一次!!\" \r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nA 16-year-old girl said to her mother that she had missed 2 menstrual cycles... as soon as her mother heard this, she rushed in extreme haste to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test and confirm the issue... sure enough the daughter was pregnant!  Crying and yelling, the mother asked, \"Whichever scoundrel did the happy deed, you make him come face me!!\" The daughter was forced to pick up the phone... half an hour later, a brand new Ferrari sports car quickly pulled up to the girl\'s front door, and who stepped out of the car but an elegant middle-aged gentleman wearing a completely new set of brand-name clothes. The gentleman entered the room and sat down in the living room with the daughter and her parents. \"Good afternoon!\" the gentleman politely paid his respects, and said, \"Ling Yuan [presumably daughter\'s name] just told me about this serious problem, but because of my own family situation, I\'m very sorry to say I can\'t take Ling Yuan to wife, but I will bear the responsibility I should bear. This should do: if a girl child is born, I will give her 3 storefronts, 2 houses, 1 seaside villa and a bank account with 2 million American dollars in it. If a boy is born, he will inherit 2 companies plus a bank account worth 2 million American dollars. If it\'s twins, each will inherit one company and a 1 million American dollar bank account. But if it\'s a miscarriage...\"  At that moment, the girl\'s father, who had been sitting silently off to one side, suddenly stood up, put both hands firmly on the gentleman\'s shoulders and said, \"Don\'t worry, if that happens [lit: when the time comes] you can come back again!\" \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n', 'You can come back again', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '756-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:17:36', '2011-08-31 03:17:36', '', 756, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/756-revision-8/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(771, 1, '2011-08-30 23:52:25', '2011-08-31 03:52:25', '[two_third]\r\nTo commemorate passing my 50th post, I\'ll be starting a new series on this blog called \"Interesting Headlines\", which will just include several one-line news headlines from major Chinese newspapers, and will hopefully help with newspaper reading skills.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\nI tend to find that if I can read a headline and get the gist of a story, then I can read the story. But if I can\'t grasp the overall concept, it\'s difficult to pinpoint what\'s being discussed - so I\'ll be tackling headlines directly, and linking to the news story. You\'re welcome to tackle it if it sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nAlmost all news headlines, with a few exceptions, are advanced reading material. I know most of my readers are beginner-level, so I apologize for the emphasis on advanced stuff. But the upshot is that news headlines are very short, which may give lower-level readers a shot at tackling something a bit more difficult. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 新个税法明起施行: 月入五千每年将减税3360元\r\nFinance: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/31/content_13224775.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n2) 会说话吉普赛古董算卦机引天价争夺 美当地政府拒卖\r\nHuman Interest: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2011-08/31/content_13225695.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n3) 杭州万松书院举办仿古入学仪式\r\nChildren: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/29/content_13207804.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n4) 探秘印度尼西亚原始部落的木乃伊\r\nHistory & Culture: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121936709.htm\">Read it on XinHua </a>\r\n\r\n5) 重庆国家级森林公园发生火灾 面积已超300亩\r\nDisasters: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121934715.htm\">Read it on XinHua</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n\r\n', 'Interesting Headlines: Series 1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '766-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-30 23:52:25', '2011-08-31 03:52:25', '', 766, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/30/766-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(773, 1, '2011-08-31 21:26:06', '2011-09-01 01:26:06', '', 'Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110903', '', '', '2011-08-31 21:26:06', '2011-09-01 01:26:06', '', 766, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110903.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(774, 1, '2011-08-31 21:20:29', '2011-09-01 01:20:29', '[two_third]\r\nTo commemorate passing my 50th post, I\'ll be starting a new series on this blog called \"Interesting Headlines\", which will just include several one-line news headlines from major Chinese newspapers, and will hopefully help with newspaper reading skills.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\nI tend to find that if I can read a headline and get the gist of a story, then I can read the story. But if I can\'t grasp the overall concept, it\'s difficult to pinpoint what\'s being discussed - so I\'ll be tackling headlines directly, and linking to the news story. You\'re welcome to tackle it if it sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nAlmost all news headlines, with a few exceptions, are advanced reading material. I know most of my readers are beginner-level, so I apologize for the emphasis on advanced stuff. But the upshot is that news headlines are very short, which may give lower-level readers a shot at tackling something a bit more difficult. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n减税 - [pinyin]jian3 shui4[/pinyin] - Tax cut\r\n吉普赛 - [pinyin]ji2 pu3 sai4[/pinyin] - Gypsy\r\n争夺 - [pinyin]zheng1 duo2[/pinyin] - To fight / vie over sthg.\r\n仪式 - [pinyin]yi2 shi4[/pinyin] - Rite, ceremony\r\n探秘 - [pinyin]tan4 mi4[/pinyin] - Explore the unknown, probe mysteries\r\n亩 - [pinyin]mu3[/pinyin] - Chinese equivalent of the word \"acre\", one mu equals one fifteenth of a hectare\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 新个税法明起施行: 月入五千每年将<strong>减税</strong>3360元\r\nFinance: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/31/content_13224775.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n2) 会说话<strong>吉普赛</strong>古董算卦机引天价<strong>争夺</strong> 美当地政府拒卖\r\nHuman Interest: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2011-08/31/content_13225695.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n3) 杭州万松书院举办仿古入学<strong>仪式</strong>\r\nChildren: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/29/content_13207804.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n4) <strong>探秘</strong>印度尼西亚原始部落的木乃伊\r\nHistory & Culture: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121936709.htm\">Read it on XinHua </a>\r\n\r\n5) 重庆国家级森林公园发生火灾 面积已超300<strong>亩</strong>\r\nDisasters: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121934715.htm\">Read it on XinHua</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) New tax laws take effect tomorrow: those with a monthly salary of 5000 yuan will get a tax cut of 3360 yuan per year\r\n\r\n2) An antique talking gypsy fortune telling machine creates a high-priced bidding war: American local government refuses to sell  \r\n\r\n3) Hangzhou Wan Song Academy of Classical Learning Holds old-style school entrance ceremony \r\n\r\n4) Exploring the mysteries of primitive Indonesian tribal mummies \r\n\r\n5) Forest fire at Chongqing National Forest has already consumed over 300 mu\r\n\r\n', 'Interesting Headlines: Series 1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '766-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-31 21:20:29', '2011-09-01 01:20:29', '', 766, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/31/766-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(775, 1, '2011-08-31 21:28:33', '2011-09-01 01:28:33', '[two_third]\r\nTo commemorate passing my 50th post, I\'ll be starting a new series on this blog called \"Interesting Headlines\", which will just include several one-line news headlines from major Chinese newspapers, and will hopefully help with newspaper reading skills.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110903-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" title=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I tend to find that if I can read a headline and get the gist of a story, then I can read the story. But if I can\'t grasp the overall concept, it\'s difficult to pinpoint what\'s being discussed - so I\'ll be tackling headlines directly, and linking to the news story. You\'re welcome to tackle it if it sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nAlmost all news headlines, with a few exceptions, are advanced reading material. I know most of my readers are beginner-level, so I apologize for the emphasis on advanced stuff. But the upshot is that news headlines are very short, which may give lower-level readers a shot at tackling something a bit more difficult. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n减税 - [pinyin]jian3 shui4[/pinyin] - Tax cut\r\n吉普赛 - [pinyin]ji2 pu3 sai4[/pinyin] - Gypsy\r\n争夺 - [pinyin]zheng1 duo2[/pinyin] - To fight / vie over sthg.\r\n仪式 - [pinyin]yi2 shi4[/pinyin] - Rite, ceremony\r\n探秘 - [pinyin]tan4 mi4[/pinyin] - Explore the unknown, probe mysteries\r\n亩 - [pinyin]mu3[/pinyin] - Chinese equivalent of the word \"acre\", one mu equals one fifteenth of a hectare\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 新个税法明起施行: 月入五千每年将<strong>减税</strong>3360元\r\nFinance: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/31/content_13224775.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n2) 会说话<strong>吉普赛</strong>古董算卦机引天价<strong>争夺</strong> 美当地政府拒卖\r\nHuman Interest: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2011-08/31/content_13225695.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n3) 杭州万松书院举办仿古入学<strong>仪式</strong>\r\nChildren: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/29/content_13207804.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n4) <strong>探秘</strong>印度尼西亚原始部落的木乃伊\r\nHistory & Culture: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121936709.htm\">Read it on XinHua </a>\r\n\r\n5) 重庆国家级森林公园发生火灾 面积已超300<strong>亩</strong>\r\nDisasters: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121934715.htm\">Read it on XinHua</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) New tax laws take effect tomorrow: those with a monthly salary of 5000 yuan will get a tax cut of 3360 yuan per year\r\n\r\n2) An antique talking gypsy fortune telling machine creates a high-priced bidding war: American local government refuses to sell  \r\n\r\n3) Hangzhou Wan Song Academy of Classical Learning Holds old-style school entrance ceremony \r\n\r\n4) Exploring the mysteries of primitive Indonesian tribal mummies \r\n\r\n5) Forest fire at Chongqing National Forest has already consumed over 300 mu\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Interesting Headlines: Series 1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '766-autosave-v1', '', '', '2011-08-31 21:28:33', '2011-09-01 01:28:33', '', 766, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/31/766-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(776, 1, '2011-08-31 21:26:23', '2011-09-01 01:26:23', '[two_third]\r\nTo commemorate passing my 50th post, I\'ll be starting a new series on this blog called \"Interesting Headlines\", which will just include several one-line news headlines from major Chinese newspapers, and will hopefully help with newspaper reading skills.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110903-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" title=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I tend to find that if I can read a headline and get the gist of a story, then I can read the story. But if I can\'t grasp the overall concept, it\'s difficult to pinpoint what\'s being discussed - so I\'ll be tackling headlines directly, and linking to the news story. You\'re welcome to tackle it if it sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nAlmost all news headlines, with a few exceptions, are advanced reading material. I know most of my readers are beginner-level, so I apologize for the emphasis on advanced stuff. But the upshot is that news headlines are very short, which may give lower-level readers a shot at tackling something a bit more difficult. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n减税 - [pinyin]jian3 shui4[/pinyin] - Tax cut\r\n吉普赛 - [pinyin]ji2 pu3 sai4[/pinyin] - Gypsy\r\n争夺 - [pinyin]zheng1 duo2[/pinyin] - To fight / vie over sthg.\r\n仪式 - [pinyin]yi2 shi4[/pinyin] - Rite, ceremony\r\n探秘 - [pinyin]tan4 mi4[/pinyin] - Explore the unknown, probe mysteries\r\n亩 - [pinyin]mu3[/pinyin] - Chinese equivalent of the word \"acre\", one mu equals one fifteenth of a hectare\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 新个税法明起施行: 月入五千每年将<strong>减税</strong>3360元\r\nFinance: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/31/content_13224775.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n2) 会说话<strong>吉普赛</strong>古董算卦机引天价<strong>争夺</strong> 美当地政府拒卖\r\nHuman Interest: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2011-08/31/content_13225695.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n3) 杭州万松书院举办仿古入学<strong>仪式</strong>\r\nChildren: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/29/content_13207804.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n4) <strong>探秘</strong>印度尼西亚原始部落的木乃伊\r\nHistory & Culture: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121936709.htm\">Read it on XinHua </a>\r\n\r\n5) 重庆国家级森林公园发生火灾 面积已超300<strong>亩</strong>\r\nDisasters: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121934715.htm\">Read it on XinHua</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) New tax laws take effect tomorrow: those with a monthly salary of 5000 yuan will get a tax cut of 3360 yuan per year\r\n\r\n2) An antique talking gypsy fortune telling machine creates a high-priced bidding war: American local government refuses to sell  \r\n\r\n3) Hangzhou Wan Song Academy of Classical Learning Holds old-style school entrance ceremony \r\n\r\n4) Exploring the mysteries of primitive Indonesian tribal mummies \r\n\r\n5) Forest fire at Chongqing National Forest has already consumed over 300 mu', 'Interesting Headlines: Series 1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '766-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-31 21:26:23', '2011-09-01 01:26:23', '', 766, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/31/766-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(777, 1, '2011-08-31 21:27:36', '2011-09-01 01:27:36', '[two_third]\r\nTo commemorate passing my 50th post, I\'ll be starting a new series on this blog called \"Interesting Headlines\", which will just include several one-line news headlines from major Chinese newspapers, and will hopefully help with newspaper reading skills.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110903-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" title=\"Advanced and Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Vocabulary and Headlines\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />I tend to find that if I can read a headline and get the gist of a story, then I can read the story. But if I can\'t grasp the overall concept, it\'s difficult to pinpoint what\'s being discussed - so I\'ll be tackling headlines directly, and linking to the news story. You\'re welcome to tackle it if it sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nAlmost all news headlines, with a few exceptions, are advanced reading material. I know most of my readers are beginner-level, so I apologize for the emphasis on advanced stuff. But the upshot is that news headlines are very short, which may give lower-level readers a shot at tackling something a bit more difficult. \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n减税 - [pinyin]jian3 shui4[/pinyin] - Tax cut\r\n吉普赛 - [pinyin]ji2 pu3 sai4[/pinyin] - Gypsy\r\n争夺 - [pinyin]zheng1 duo2[/pinyin] - To fight / vie over sthg.\r\n仪式 - [pinyin]yi2 shi4[/pinyin] - Rite, ceremony\r\n探秘 - [pinyin]tan4 mi4[/pinyin] - Explore the unknown, probe mysteries\r\n亩 - [pinyin]mu3[/pinyin] - Chinese equivalent of the word \"acre\", one mu equals one fifteenth of a hectare\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 新个税法明起施行: 月入五千每年将<strong>减税</strong>3360元\r\nFinance: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/31/content_13224775.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n2) 会说话<strong>吉普赛</strong>古董算卦机引天价<strong>争夺</strong> 美当地政府拒卖\r\nHuman Interest: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2011-08/31/content_13225695.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n3) 杭州万松书院举办仿古入学<strong>仪式</strong>\r\nChildren: <a href=\"http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2011-08/29/content_13207804.htm\">Read it on China Daily</a>\r\n\r\n4) <strong>探秘</strong>印度尼西亚原始部落的木乃伊\r\nHistory & Culture: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121936709.htm\">Read it on XinHua </a>\r\n\r\n5) 重庆国家级森林公园发生火灾 面积已超300<strong>亩</strong>\r\nDisasters: <a href=\"http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-08/31/c_121934715.htm\">Read it on XinHua</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) New tax laws take effect tomorrow: those with a monthly salary of 5000 yuan will get a tax cut of 3360 yuan per year\r\n\r\n2) An antique talking gypsy fortune telling machine creates a high-priced bidding war: American local government refuses to sell  \r\n\r\n3) Hangzhou Wan Song Academy of Classical Learning Holds old-style school entrance ceremony \r\n\r\n4) Exploring the mysteries of primitive Indonesian tribal mummies \r\n\r\n5) Forest fire at Chongqing National Forest has already consumed over 300 mu\r\n[/hide-this-part]', 'Interesting Headlines: Series 1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '766-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-08-31 21:27:36', '2011-09-01 01:27:36', '', 766, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/08/31/766-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(779, 1, '2011-09-09 07:00:09', '2011-09-09 11:00:09', 'This is a short first-person essay about a kid lighting firecrackers (放花炮 - [pinyin]fang4 hua1 pao4[/pinyin]) with his parents. I went back and forth on whether to classify this as \"beginner\" or \"intermediate\". It\'s easier than most of my intermediate stuff, but it\'s got a tighter density of higher-level words than my beginner stuff. But it\'s only a few sentences long. I finally settled on \"Beginner\", because it\'s short and nothing overly complicated happens, but you\'ll need to look up quite a few words, I think. \r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe weirdest part about this, I think, is the part where the kid says he smokes a cigarette his dad gave him. How old is this child? The rest of the piece makes it sound like he\'s about 7-10? Anyway... The Chinese title of this little story is 放花炮.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n今天晚上，我和爸爸妈妈一起<strong>放花炮</strong>。 爸爸用上打火机点上一根香烟，我拿着烟，吸了几口后就开始放花炮。我点了一个，花炮喷出五颜六色的火苗，真是太美丽了！冲天炮太危险了，我不敢放，爸爸帮我放，我只在旁边看。 不一会儿，花炮放完了，我们就高高兴兴地回家了。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nThis evening, my mother father and I set off fireworks together. Father used a lighter to light a cigarette, I took the cigarette and after a few puffs we began lighting the fireworks. I light one, and the firework sprayed multicolor flames, so beautiful! Rockets are too dangerous, I don\'t dare light them, so father helped me do it, and I stood beside and watched. Soon after, the fireworks were all gone, and we happily returned home. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 放花炮 - Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'setting-off-fireworks', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:42:22', '2016-11-05 05:42:22', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=779', 0, 'post', '', 7),
(2168, 1, '2016-11-05 00:54:12', '2016-11-05 04:54:12', 'This is a short first-person essay about a kid lighting firecrackers (放花炮 - [pinyin]fang4 hua1 pao4[/pinyin]) with his parents. I went back and forth on whether to classify this as \"beginner\" or \"intermediate\". It\'s easier than most of my intermediate stuff, but it\'s got a tighter density of higher-level words than my beginner stuff. But it\'s only a few sentences long. I finally settled on \"Beginner\", because it\'s short and nothing overly complicated happens, but you\'ll need to look up quite a few words, I think. \r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe weirdest part about this, I think, is the part where the kid says he smokes a cigarette his dad gave him. How old is this child? The rest of the piece makes it sound like he\'s about 7-10? Anyway... The Chinese title of this little story is 放花炮.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n今天晚上，我和爸爸妈妈一起<strong>放花炮</strong>。 爸爸用上打火机点上一根香烟，我拿着烟，吸了几口后就开始放花炮。我点了一个，花炮喷出五颜六色的火苗，真是太美丽了！冲天炮太危险了，我不敢放，爸爸帮我放，我只在旁边看。 不一会儿，花炮放完了，我们就高高兴兴地回家了。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nThis evening, my mother father and I set off fireworks together. Father used a lighter to light a cigarette, I took the cigarette and after a few puffs we began lighting the fireworks. I light one, and the firework sprayed multicolor flames, so beautiful! Rockets are too dangerous, I don\'t dare light them, so father helped me do it, and I stood beside and watched. Soon after, the fireworks were all gone, and we happily returned home. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 放花炮 - Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '779-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:54:12', '2016-11-05 04:54:12', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/779-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(780, 1, '2011-09-04 10:48:54', '2011-09-04 14:48:54', '', 'Chinese Beginner Intermediate Vocaublary Essay - Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110905', '', '', '2011-09-04 10:48:54', '2011-09-04 14:48:54', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110905.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(781, 1, '2011-09-04 10:49:29', '2011-09-04 14:49:29', '', 'Chinese Beginner Intermediate Vocaublary Essay - Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110905-inline', '', '', '2011-09-04 10:49:29', '2011-09-04 14:49:29', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110905-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(782, 1, '2011-09-04 10:48:10', '2011-09-04 14:48:10', '[two_third]\nA short first-person essay about a kid lighting firecrackers with his parents. I went back and forth on whether to classify this as \"beginner\" or \"intermediate\". It\'s easier than most of my intermediate stuff, but it\'s got a tighter density of higher-level words than my beginner stuff. But it\'s only a few sentences long. I finally settled on \"Intermediate\", but if you\'re beginner level and you\'re willing to walk through it word-by-word and puzzle it out, you may be able to get it.\n<!--more-->\n\nThis isn\'t really an essay, per se. The Chinese have a different word for this type of \"what I did that day\" article: they call it 记事 (a record of events, like a diary) or 叙事 (a narrative). The weirdest part about this, I think, is the part where the kid says he smokes a cigarette his dad gave him. How old is this child? The rest of the piece makes it sound like he\'s about 7-10? Anyway... The Chinese title of this little story is 放花炮.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n放 - [pinyin]fang4[/pinyin] - To release, to put, to place, to set off (in this case, to \"set off\" fireworks)\n花炮 - [pinyin]hua1 pao4[/pinyin] - Firecracker, fireworks\n打火机 - [pinyin]da3 huo3 ji1[/pinyin] - Cigarette lighter\n香烟 - [pinyin]xiang1 yan1[/pinyin] - Cigarette\n吸 - [pinyin]xi1[/pinyin] - To smoke something\n喷出 - [pinyin]pen1 chu1[/pinyin] -  To spray out, to spurt out\n五颜六色 - [pinyin]wu3 yan2 liu4 se4[/pinyin] - Multicolored\n火苗 - [pinyin]huo3 miao2[/pinyin] - Flames\n冲天炮 - [pinyin]chong1 tian1 bao1[/pinyin] - Rocket type of firework that shoots into the air\n危险 - [pinyin]wei1 xian3[/pinyin] - Dangerous\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n今天晚上，我和爸爸妈妈一起<strong>放花炮</strong>。 爸爸用上<strong>打火机</strong>点上一根<strong>香烟</strong>，我拿着烟，<strong>吸</strong>了几口后就开始放花炮。我点了一个，花炮<strong>喷出五颜六色</strong>的的<strong>火苗</strong>，真是太美丽了！<strong>冲天炮</strong>太<strong>危险</strong>了，我不敢放，爸爸帮我放，我只在旁边看。 不一会儿，花炮放完了，我们就高高兴兴地回家了。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThis evening, my mother father and I set off fireworks together. Father used a lighter to light a cigarette, I took the cigarette and after a few puffs we began lighting the fireworks. I light one, and the firework sprayed multicolor flames, so beautiful! Rockets are too dangerous, I don\'t dare light them, so father helped me do it, and I stood beside and watched. Soon after, the fireworks were all gone, and we happily returned home. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '779-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-04 10:48:10', '2011-09-04 14:48:10', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/04/779-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(783, 1, '2016-11-05 01:41:48', '2016-11-05 05:41:48', 'This is a short first-person essay about a kid lighting firecrackers (放花炮 - [pinyin]fang4 hua1 pao4[/pinyin]) with his parents. I went back and forth on whether to classify this as \"beginner\" or \"intermediate\". It\'s easier than most of my intermediate stuff, but it\'s got a tighter density of higher-level words than my beginner stuff. But it\'s only a few sentences long. I finally settled on \"Beginner\", because it\'s short and nothing overly complicated happens, but you\'ll need to look up quite a few words, I think. \n<!--more-->\n\nThe weirdest part about this, I think, is the part where the kid says he smokes a cigarette his dad gave him. How old is this child? The rest of the piece makes it sound like he\'s about 7-10? Anyway... The Chinese title of this little story is 放花炮.\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\n今天晚上，我和爸爸妈妈一起<strong>放花炮</strong>。 爸爸用上打火机点上一根香烟，我拿着烟，吸了几口后就开始放花炮。我点了一个，花炮喷出五颜六色的火苗，真是太美丽了！冲天炮太危险了，我不敢放，爸爸帮我放，我只在旁边看。 不一会儿，花炮放完了，我们就高高兴兴地回家了。\n\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nThis evening, my mother father and I set off fireworks together. Father used a lighter to light a cigarette, I took the cigarette and after a few puffs we began lighting the fireworks. I light one, and the firework sprayed multicolor flames, so beautiful! Rockets are too dangerous, I don\'t dare light them, so father helped me do it, and I stood beside and watched. Soon after, the fireworks were all gone, and we happily returned home. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 放花炮 - Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '779-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:41:48', '2016-11-05 05:41:48', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/04/779-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2170, 1, '2016-11-05 01:00:40', '2016-11-05 05:00:40', '', 'Intermediate Chinese Reading Practice Passages - Intermediate Chinese Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'closed', '', 'friends-chinese-reading', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:00:46', '2016-11-05 05:00:46', '', 654, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/friends-chinese-reading.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
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(785, 1, '2011-09-06 07:00:30', '2011-09-06 11:00:30', 'A sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. This story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\r\n\r\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \r\n\r\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n吃完晚饭,妈妈在厨房里洗碗，明明坐在大大的沙发上，<strong>津津有味</strong>地看着自己喜欢的<strong>动画片</strong>。\r\n\r\n过了一会儿,动画片演完了，电视<strong>屏幕</strong>上出现了大宅门的<strong>片名</strong>。明明知道妈妈最喜欢看《大宅门》了，明明想妈妈要做事，要洗碗，很<strong>辛苦</strong>，一定要让妈妈看会儿《大宅门》，她边想边向厨房跑去。明明拉着妈妈的<strong>围裙</strong>说: “妈妈，您最喜欢看的《大宅门》开始了，您快去看吧,我来洗碗。”妈妈高兴地说: “好呀，你洗碗的时候一定要<strong>小心</strong>啊。”明明说: “妈妈您放心吧!”\r\n\r\n妈妈坐在舒服的沙发上看起电视，明明在厨房里认真地洗碗，这个晚上她们俩过得可<strong>开心</strong>了!\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \r\n\r\nAfter a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \r\n\r\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 我为妈妈做点儿事 - I Did Something for Mom', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'i-did-something-for-mom', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:09:20', '2016-11-05 05:09:20', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=785', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(2175, 1, '2016-11-05 01:09:20', '2016-11-05 05:09:20', 'A sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. This story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\r\n\r\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \r\n\r\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n吃完晚饭,妈妈在厨房里洗碗，明明坐在大大的沙发上，<strong>津津有味</strong>地看着自己喜欢的<strong>动画片</strong>。\r\n\r\n过了一会儿,动画片演完了，电视<strong>屏幕</strong>上出现了大宅门的<strong>片名</strong>。明明知道妈妈最喜欢看《大宅门》了，明明想妈妈要做事，要洗碗，很<strong>辛苦</strong>，一定要让妈妈看会儿《大宅门》，她边想边向厨房跑去。明明拉着妈妈的<strong>围裙</strong>说: “妈妈，您最喜欢看的《大宅门》开始了，您快去看吧,我来洗碗。”妈妈高兴地说: “好呀，你洗碗的时候一定要<strong>小心</strong>啊。”明明说: “妈妈您放心吧!”\r\n\r\n妈妈坐在舒服的沙发上看起电视，明明在厨房里认真地洗碗，这个晚上她们俩过得可<strong>开心</strong>了!\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \r\n\r\nAfter a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \r\n\r\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 我为妈妈做点儿事 - I Did Something for Mom', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '785-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:09:20', '2016-11-05 05:09:20', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/785-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1772, 1, '2016-10-31 03:57:23', '2016-10-31 07:57:23', 'A sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />This story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\r\n\r\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \r\n\r\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n吃完晚饭,妈妈在厨房里洗碗，明明坐在大大的沙发上，<strong>津津有味</strong>地看着自己喜欢的<strong>动画片</strong>。\r\n\r\n过了一会儿,动画片演完了，电视<strong>屏幕</strong>上出现了大宅门的<strong>片名</strong>。明明知道妈妈最喜欢看《大宅门》了，明明想妈妈要做事，要洗碗，很<strong>辛苦</strong>，一定要让妈妈看会儿《大宅门》，她边想边向厨房跑去。明明拉着妈妈的<strong>围裙</strong>说: “妈妈，您最喜欢看的《大宅门》开始了，您快去看吧,我来洗碗。”妈妈高兴地说: “好呀，你洗碗的时候一定要<strong>小心</strong>啊。”明明说: “妈妈您放心吧!”\r\n\r\n妈妈坐在舒服的沙发上看起电视，明明在厨房里认真地洗碗，这个晚上她们俩过得可<strong>开心</strong>了!\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \r\n\r\nAfter a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \r\n\r\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Essay] 我为妈妈做点儿事 - I Did Something for Mom', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '785-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-10-31 03:57:23', '2016-10-31 07:57:23', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/785-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(786, 1, '2011-09-04 11:32:30', '2011-09-04 15:32:30', '', 'Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110906', '', '', '2011-09-04 11:32:30', '2011-09-04 15:32:30', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(787, 1, '2011-09-04 11:33:07', '2011-09-04 15:33:07', '', 'Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110906-inline', '', '', '2011-09-04 11:33:07', '2011-09-04 15:33:07', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(788, 1, '2011-09-04 11:29:32', '2011-09-04 15:29:32', '[two_third]\nA sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. \n<!--more-->\n\nThis story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\n\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \n\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\n\nThe Chinese title of this little narrative is 我为妈妈做点儿事.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - To do sth. with great interest\n动画片 - [pinyin]dong4 hua4 pian1[/pinyin] - Cartoons [lit: moving drawing slides]\n屏幕 - [pinyin]ping2 mu4[/pinyin] - Screen [for TV, computer, etc.]\n片名 - [pinyin]pian1 ming2[/pinyin] - Show or movie title\n辛苦 - [pinyin]xin1 ku3[/pinyin] - Hard or exhausting work\n围裙 - [pinyin]wei2 qun2[/pinyin] -  Apron\n小心 - [pinyin]xiao3 xin1[/pinyin] - Be careful\n放心 - [pinyin]fang4 xin1[/pinyin] - Don\'t worry\n开心 - [pinyin]kai1 xin1[/pinyin] - Happy, fun\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n吃完晚饭,妈妈在厨房里洗碗，明明坐在大大的沙发上，<strong>津津有味</strong>地看着自己喜欢的<strong>动画片</strong>。\n\n过了一会儿,动画片演完了，电视<strong>屏幕</strong>上出现了大宅门的<strong>片名</strong>。明明知道妈妈最喜欢看《大宅门》了，明明想妈妈要做事，要洗碗，很<strong>辛苦</strong>，一定要让妈妈看会儿《大宅门》，她边想边向厨房跑去。明明拉着妈妈的<strong>围裙</strong>说: “妈妈，您最喜欢看的《大宅门》开始了，您快去看吧,我来洗碗。”妈妈高兴地说: “好呀，你洗碗的时候一定要<strong>小心</strong>啊。”明明说: “妈妈您放心吧!”\n\n妈妈坐在舒服的沙发上看起电视，明明在厨房里认真地洗碗，这个晚上她们俩过得可<strong>开心</strong>了!\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \n\nAfter a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \n\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'I Did Something for Mom', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '785-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-04 11:29:32', '2011-09-04 15:29:32', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/04/785-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(789, 1, '2016-11-05 00:52:33', '2016-11-05 04:52:33', 'A sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. This story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\n\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \n\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\n吃完晚饭,妈妈在厨房里洗碗，明明坐在大大的沙发上，<strong>津津有味</strong>地看着自己喜欢的<strong>动画片</strong>。\n\n过了一会儿,动画片演完了，电视<strong>屏幕</strong>上出现了大宅门的<strong>片名</strong>。明明知道妈妈最喜欢看《大宅门》了，明明想妈妈要做事，要洗碗，很<strong>辛苦</strong>，一定要让妈妈看会儿《大宅门》，她边想边向厨房跑去。明明拉着妈妈的<strong>围裙</strong>说: “妈妈，您最喜欢看的《大宅门》开始了，您快去看吧,我来洗碗。”妈妈高兴地说: “好呀，你洗碗的时候一定要<strong>小心</strong>啊。”明明说: “妈妈您放心吧!”\n\n妈妈坐在舒服的沙发上看起电视，明明在厨房里认真地洗碗，这个晚上她们俩过得可<strong>开心</strong>了!\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \n\nAfter a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \n\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 我为妈妈做点儿事 - I Did Something for Mom', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '785-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:52:33', '2016-11-05 04:52:33', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/04/785-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2167, 1, '2016-11-05 00:53:57', '2016-11-05 04:53:57', '', 'learn-chinese-setting-off-fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'closed', '', 'learn-chinese-setting-off-fireworks-2', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:53:57', '2016-11-05 04:53:57', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/learn-chinese-setting-off-fireworks-1.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(790, 1, '2011-09-04 11:33:19', '2011-09-04 15:33:19', '[two_third]\r\nA sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. \r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThis story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\r\n\r\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \r\n\r\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this little narrative is 我为妈妈做点儿事.\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - To do sth. with great interest\r\n动画片 - [pinyin]dong4 hua4 pian1[/pinyin] - Cartoons [lit: moving drawing slides]\r\n屏幕 - [pinyin]ping2 mu4[/pinyin] - Screen [for TV, computer, etc.]\r\n片名 - [pinyin]pian1 ming2[/pinyin] - Show or movie title\r\n辛苦 - [pinyin]xin1 ku3[/pinyin] - Hard or exhausting work\r\n围裙 - [pinyin]wei2 qun2[/pinyin] -  Apron\r\n小心 - [pinyin]xiao3 xin1[/pinyin] - Be careful\r\n放心 - [pinyin]fang4 xin1[/pinyin] - Don\'t worry\r\n开心 - [pinyin]kai1 xin1[/pinyin] - Happy, fun\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n吃完晚饭,妈妈在厨房里洗碗，明明坐在大大的沙发上，<strong>津津有味</strong>地看着自己喜欢的<strong>动画片</strong>。\r\n\r\n过了一会儿,动画片演完了，电视<strong>屏幕</strong>上出现了大宅门的<strong>片名</strong>。明明知道妈妈最喜欢看《大宅门》了，明明想妈妈要做事，要洗碗，很<strong>辛苦</strong>，一定要让妈妈看会儿《大宅门》，她边想边向厨房跑去。明明拉着妈妈的<strong>围裙</strong>说: “妈妈，您最喜欢看的《大宅门》开始了，您快去看吧,我来洗碗。”妈妈高兴地说: “好呀，你洗碗的时候一定要<strong>小心</strong>啊。”明明说: “妈妈您放心吧!”\r\n\r\n妈妈坐在舒服的沙发上看起电视，明明在厨房里认真地洗碗，这个晚上她们俩过得可<strong>开心</strong>了!\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />After a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \r\n\r\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'I Did Something for Mom', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '785-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-04 11:33:19', '2011-09-04 15:33:19', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/04/785-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(791, 1, '2011-09-04 10:49:52', '2011-09-04 14:49:52', '[two_third]\r\nA short first-person essay about a kid lighting firecrackers with his parents. I went back and forth on whether to classify this as \"beginner\" or \"intermediate\". It\'s easier than most of my intermediate stuff, but it\'s got a tighter density of higher-level words than my beginner stuff. But it\'s only a few sentences long. I finally settled on \"Intermediate\", but if you\'re beginner level and you\'re willing to walk through it word-by-word and puzzle it out, you may be able to get it.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110905-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese Beginner Intermediate Vocaublary Essay - Setting Off Fireworks\" title=\"Chinese Beginner Intermediate Vocaublary Essay - Setting Off Fireworks\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />This isn\'t really an essay, per se. The Chinese have a different word for this type of \"what I did that day\" article: they call it 记事 (a record of events, like a diary) or 叙事 (a narrative). The weirdest part about this, I think, is the part where the kid says he smokes a cigarette his dad gave him. How old is this child? The rest of the piece makes it sound like he\'s about 7-10? Anyway... The Chinese title of this little story is 放花炮.\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n放 - [pinyin]fang4[/pinyin] - To release, to put, to place, to set off (in this case, to \"set off\" fireworks)\r\n花炮 - [pinyin]hua1 pao4[/pinyin] - Firecracker, fireworks\r\n打火机 - [pinyin]da3 huo3 ji1[/pinyin] - Cigarette lighter\r\n香烟 - [pinyin]xiang1 yan1[/pinyin] - Cigarette\r\n吸 - [pinyin]xi1[/pinyin] - To smoke something\r\n喷出 - [pinyin]pen1 chu1[/pinyin] -  To spray out, to spurt out\r\n五颜六色 - [pinyin]wu3 yan2 liu4 se4[/pinyin] - Multicolored\r\n火苗 - [pinyin]huo3 miao2[/pinyin] - Flames\r\n冲天炮 - [pinyin]chong1 tian1 bao1[/pinyin] - Rocket type of firework that shoots into the air\r\n危险 - [pinyin]wei1 xian3[/pinyin] - Dangerous\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n今天晚上，我和爸爸妈妈一起<strong>放花炮</strong>。 爸爸用上<strong>打火机</strong>点上一根<strong>香烟</strong>，我拿着烟，<strong>吸</strong>了几口后就开始放花炮。我点了一个，花炮<strong>喷出五颜六色</strong>的的<strong>火苗</strong>，真是太美丽了！<strong>冲天炮</strong>太<strong>危险</strong>了，我不敢放，爸爸帮我放，我只在旁边看。 不一会儿，花炮放完了，我们就高高兴兴地回家了。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nThis evening, my mother father and I set off fireworks together. Father used a lighter to light a cigarette, I took the cigarette and after a few puffs we began lighting the fireworks. I light one, and the firework sprayed multicolor flames, so beautiful! Rockets are too dangerous, I don\'t dare light them, so father helped me do it, and I stood beside and watched. Soon after, the fireworks were all gone, and we happily returned home. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Setting Off Fireworks', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '779-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-04 10:49:52', '2011-09-04 14:49:52', '', 779, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/04/779-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(792, 1, '2011-09-12 07:00:31', '2011-09-12 11:00:31', 'A young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 西瓜圆圆的，有一条一条的绿色花纹，像一个皮球。\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 破开西瓜，周围是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜瓤</strong>。咬一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会拉肚子。\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进垃圾桶，可不能随便乱扔，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> I eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Watermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> When you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> When you finish eating the watermelon, you have to drop the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 西瓜 - Watermelon', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'watermelon', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:44:16', '2016-11-05 04:44:16', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=792', 0, 'post', '', 11),
(2165, 1, '2016-11-05 00:44:16', '2016-11-05 04:44:16', 'A young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 西瓜圆圆的，有一条一条的绿色花纹，像一个皮球。\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 破开西瓜，周围是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜瓤</strong>。咬一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会拉肚子。\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进垃圾桶，可不能随便乱扔，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> I eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Watermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> When you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> When you finish eating the watermelon, you have to drop the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 西瓜 - Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:44:16', '2016-11-05 04:44:16', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/792-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2164, 1, '2016-11-05 00:43:37', '2016-11-05 04:43:37', 'A young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 西瓜圆圆的，有一条一条的绿色花纹，像一个皮球。\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 破开西瓜，<strong>周围</strong>是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜<strong>瓤</strong>。<strong>咬</strong>一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会<strong>拉肚子</strong>。\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>，可不能随便<strong>乱扔</strong>，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> I eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Watermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> When you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> When you finish eating the watermelon, you have to drop the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 西瓜 - Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:43:37', '2016-11-05 04:43:37', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/792-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1770, 1, '2016-10-31 03:55:33', '2016-10-31 07:55:33', 'A young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 西瓜<strong>圆圆的</strong>，有一条一条的绿色<strong>花纹</strong>，像一个<strong>皮球</strong>。\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 破开西瓜，<strong>周围</strong>是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜<strong>瓤</strong>。<strong>咬</strong>一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会<strong>拉肚子</strong>。\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>，可不能随便<strong>乱扔</strong>，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> I eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Watermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> When you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> When you finish eating the watermelon, you have to drop the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Essay] 西瓜 - Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-10-31 03:55:33', '2016-10-31 07:55:33', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/792-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(804, 1, '2011-09-06 08:23:56', '2011-09-06 12:23:56', '[two_third]\nA young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - To do sth. with great interest\n动画片 - [pinyin]dong4 hua4 pian1[/pinyin] - Cartoons [lit: moving drawing slides]\n屏幕 - [pinyin]ping2 mu4[/pinyin] - Screen [for TV, computer, etc.]\n片名 - [pinyin]pian1 ming2[/pinyin] - Show or movie title\n辛苦 - [pinyin]xin1 ku3[/pinyin] - Hard or exhausting work\n围裙 - [pinyin]wei2 qun2[/pinyin] -  Apron\n小心 - [pinyin]xiao3 xin1[/pinyin] - Be careful\n放心 - [pinyin]fang4 xin1[/pinyin] - Don\'t worry\n开心 - [pinyin]kai1 xin1[/pinyin] - Happy, fun\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\n\n西瓜圆圆的，有一条一条的绿色花纹，像一个皮球。\n\n破开西瓜，周围是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜瓤。咬一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会拉肚子。\n\n吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进垃圾桶，可不能随便乱扔，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nI eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\n\nWatermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \n\nWhen you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \n\nWhen you finish eating the watermelon, you have to put the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-06 08:23:56', '2011-09-06 12:23:56', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/06/792-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(793, 1, '2011-09-06 07:54:14', '2011-09-06 11:54:14', '[two_third]\nA sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. \n<!--more-->\n\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />This story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\n\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \n\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\n\nThe Chinese title of this little narrative is 我为妈妈做点儿事.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - To do sth. with great interest\n动画片 - [pinyin]dong4 hua4 pian1[/pinyin] - Cartoons [lit: moving drawing slides]\n屏幕 - [pinyin]ping2 mu4[/pinyin] - Screen [for TV, computer, etc.]\n片名 - [pinyin]pian1 ming2[/pinyin] - Show or movie title\n辛苦 - [pinyin]xin1 ku3[/pinyin] - Hard or exhausting work\n围裙 - [pinyin]wei2 qun2[/pinyin] -  Apron\n小心 - [pinyin]xiao3 xin1[/pinyin] - Be careful\n放心 - [pinyin]fang4 xin1[/pinyin] - Don\'t worry\n开心 - [pinyin]kai1 xin1[/pinyin] - Happy, fun\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\n\n西瓜圆圆的，有一条一条的绿色花纹，像一个皮球。\n\n破开西瓜，周围是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜瓤。咬一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会拉肚子。\n\n　　吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进垃圾桶，可不能随便乱扔，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \n\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />After a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \n\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-06 07:54:14', '2011-09-06 11:54:14', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/06/792-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(802, 1, '2011-05-07 18:28:07', '2011-05-07 22:28:07', '[two_third]\r\n\r\nThis Chinese excerpt is from the modern militant action novel \"Cold Thorn\", or 冷刺, written by 天地飘鸥. You\'ll be reading the first part of Chapter 1: King of the Commandos (特种兵之王). <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/20110411-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced Chinese Reading: Cold Thorn Part 1\" title=\"Advanced Chinese Reading: Cold Thorn Part 1\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The language here is very heavy on the cheesy military slang, so if you like action movies and thrillers, you\'ll be able to catch quite a few of the cliches. \r\n\r\nIf you\'d like to finish reading the book after you finish this first bit, the <a href=\"http://vip.book.sina.com.cn/book/index_162000.html\">full text is available online from Sina.com</a>\'s book archive.  \r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n冬眠 - [pinyin]dong1 mian2[/pinyin] - Hibernation\r\n斑驳- [pinyin]ban1 bo2[/pinyin] - Mottled\r\n潜伏 - [pinyin]qian2 fu2[/pinyin] - Concealed, covered\r\n纹丝不动 - [pinyin]wen2 si1 bu4 dong4[/pinyin] - Not move a whisker\r\n闷热 - [pinyin]men1 re4[/pinyin] - sultry\r\n追踪 - [pinyin]zhui1 zong1[/pinyin] - Track, trace, follow a trail\r\n特战 - [pinyin]te4 zhan4[/pinyin] - Special forces\r\n狙 - [pinyin]ju1[/pinyin] - Lie in ambush\r\n杀戮 - [pinyin]sha1 lu4[/pinyin] - Massacre\r\n匪夷所思 - [pinyin]fei3 yi2 suo3 si1[/pinyin] - Freak, fantastic\r\n比武 - [pinyin]bi3 wu3[/pinyin] - Martial / military contest\r\n军区 - [pinyin]jun1 qu1[/pinyin] - Military region\r\n出局 - [pinyin]chu1 ju2[/pinyin] - Be eliminated [from a contest]\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n韩枫静静地伏在厚厚的落叶下，一动不动，安静得如同一条<strong>冬眠</strong>的蛇，不，他比蛇还要无声无息，谁也不会想到<strong>斑驳</strong>腐烂的落叶堆里会有这样坚强的生命存在，仿佛亘古就是如此。真是无法想象一个人能在这样的环境中<strong>潜伏</strong>两天两夜，不吃不喝，<strong>纹丝不动</strong>。在苍茫的原始丛林中，空气<strong>闷热</strong>得令人窒息，浑身就像霉烂了似的，湿漉漉的感觉别提有多难受了，何况韩枫的身上还捂着这么厚的一堆落叶，真是连气也喘不过来了。\r\n\r\n韩枫就这样无声无息地潜伏着，安静得几乎连生命的体征也消失了，身边来来往往已经过去了几个特种小组，就连最擅长<strong>追踪</strong>的“灵狐”特战小组也没有发现他。\r\n\r\n他不能动，也不敢动，因为他知道林中还有不少<strong>特战</strong>高手在伺机<strong>狙</strong>杀，他要做最有耐心的猎人而不是成为别人的猎物。他们这一组除了他，其他人都“挂”了，在三天前残酷的“<strong>杀戮</strong>”中先后“阵亡”，而他，凭着超强的第六感和<strong>匪夷所思</strong>的身手不但逃过了对方的狙杀，而且还“杀”了数名富有经验的特战精英，居然毫发无伤。在十多个特战精英小组的攻击下能做到这一点，真是奇迹！\r\n\r\n这次的特种兵大<strong>比武</strong>，是五年一度的全国“特种兵”对抗大赛，来自全国七大<strong>军区</strong>的特战精英，个个都是身经百战的高手，随便挑出一个，横扫一个普通连队绝不是痴人说梦。这次的特种兵大比武是实兵对抗，一切从实战出发，除了弹药是空包弹外，其他都是特种部队必需的武器装备。十天为限，没有后援，没有给养，各自为战，淘汰者<strong>出局</strong>。\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n\r\nHan Feng silently hid beneath a thick pile of dead leaves, motionless, as calm as a hibernating snake; no, he was even more silent than a snake. No one would think that a strong life could exist inside such a motley, rotten pile of dead leaves, it was as if [the pile] had always been this way. There was no way to imagine  that a person could hide in this environment for two days without food or drink, not moving a whisker. In this vast primeval forest, the weather was so stiflingly hot as to make men suffocate, as if they were rotting from head to toe; needless to say the clamminess was very uncomfortable, moreso since Han Feng was covered in a thick pile of dead leaves - it was difficult to even draw breath. \r\n\r\nAnd so Han Feng hid there not making a sound, his very sense of life nearly fading away, as special units came and went around him; even the most expert trackers, the \"Quick Foxes\" special forces unit, didn\'t discover his position.\r\n\r\nHe didn\'t move, he didn\'t dare, because he knew that in the forest special forces experts were laying in wait to ambush him. He must be the most patient hunter, or else he would become someone else\'s prey. Everyone else in his group had already been \"hung\". In the \"massacre\" three days before, they\'d \"died\" in battle one after the other. But he, relying on his superior sixth sense and freakish agility, had escaped his opponent\'s ambush, and had also \"killed\" more than a few of supremely experienced special forces elite, somehow taking no wounds himself. It was a real miracle that he\'d managed this under attack from 10-plus special forces elite groups!\r\n\r\nTo this Commando Competition, an international \"special forces soldier\" face-off held once every five years, came elite commandos from the world\'s seven major military regions. Each [soldier] had [proven themselves] in numerous battles - it would not be unrealistic to say that any one you picked out of the bunch could single-handedly wipe out a whole unit of regular soldiers. This Commando Competition was a real military engagement, everything was like a real war, except for the fact that blanks are used for ammunition, all other equipment was special forces standard issue. A ten day limit, no reinforcements, no support, every man for himself, anyone eliminated is out of the running. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]\r\n', 'Cold Thorn Part 1', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '630-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-05-07 18:28:07', '2011-05-07 22:28:07', '', 630, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/05/07/630-revision-19/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(805, 1, '2011-09-06 08:24:17', '2011-09-06 12:24:17', '[two_third]\r\nA young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit.\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - To do sth. with great interest\r\n动画片 - [pinyin]dong4 hua4 pian1[/pinyin] - Cartoons [lit: moving drawing slides]\r\n屏幕 - [pinyin]ping2 mu4[/pinyin] - Screen [for TV, computer, etc.]\r\n片名 - [pinyin]pian1 ming2[/pinyin] - Show or movie title\r\n辛苦 - [pinyin]xin1 ku3[/pinyin] - Hard or exhausting work\r\n围裙 - [pinyin]wei2 qun2[/pinyin] -  Apron\r\n小心 - [pinyin]xiao3 xin1[/pinyin] - Be careful\r\n放心 - [pinyin]fang4 xin1[/pinyin] - Don\'t worry\r\n开心 - [pinyin]kai1 xin1[/pinyin] - Happy, fun\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\r\n\r\n西瓜圆圆的，有一条一条的绿色花纹，像一个皮球。\r\n\r\n破开西瓜，周围是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜瓤。咬一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会拉肚子。\r\n\r\n吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进垃圾桶，可不能随便乱扔，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nI eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\r\n\r\nWatermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \r\n\r\nWhen you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \r\n\r\nWhen you finish eating the watermelon, you have to put the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-06 08:24:17', '2011-09-06 12:24:17', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/06/792-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(806, 1, '2011-09-06 08:41:59', '2011-09-06 12:41:59', '[two_third]\nA young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit. The Chinese title of this article is 西瓜.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n圆圆的 - [pinyin]yuan2 yuan2 de[/pinyin] - Spherical\n花纹 - [pinyin]hua1 wen2[/pinyin] - Design pattern\n皮球 - [pinyin]pi2 qiu2[/pinyin] - Ball (made of plastic or leather)\n片名 - [pinyin]pian1 ming2[/pinyin] - Show or movie title\n辛苦 - [pinyin]xin1 ku3[/pinyin] - Hard or exhausting work\n围裙 - [pinyin]wei2 qun2[/pinyin] -  Apron\n小心 - [pinyin]xiao3 xin1[/pinyin] - Be careful\n放心 - [pinyin]fang4 xin1[/pinyin] - Don\'t worry\n开心 - [pinyin]kai1 xin1[/pinyin] - Happy, fun\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\n\n西瓜<strong>圆圆的</strong>，有一条一条的绿色<strong>花纹</strong>，像一个<strong>皮球</strong>。\n\n破开西瓜，周围是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜瓤。咬一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会拉肚子。\n\n吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进垃圾桶，可不能随便乱扔，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nI eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\n\nWatermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \n\nWhen you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \n\nWhen you finish eating the watermelon, you have to put the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-06 08:41:59', '2011-09-06 12:41:59', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/06/792-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(807, 1, '2011-09-06 09:25:26', '2011-09-06 13:25:26', '', 'Beginner Chinese Vocabulary Reading Essay for Children', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110912', '', '', '2011-09-06 09:25:26', '2011-09-06 13:25:26', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110912.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(808, 1, '2011-09-06 09:26:37', '2011-09-06 13:26:37', '', 'Beginner Chinese Vocabulary Reading Essay for Children', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20110912-inline', '', '', '2011-09-06 09:26:37', '2011-09-06 13:26:37', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110912-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(809, 1, '2011-09-06 09:17:33', '2011-09-06 13:17:33', '[two_third]\nA young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit. The Chinese title of this article is 西瓜.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n圆圆的 - [pinyin]yuan2 yuan2 de[/pinyin] - Spherical\n花纹 - [pinyin]hua1 wen2[/pinyin] - Design pattern\n皮球 - [pinyin]pi2 qiu2[/pinyin] - Ball (made of plastic or leather)\n周围 - [pinyin]zhou1 wei2[/pinyin] - Surrounding, encompassing\n瓤 - [pinyin]rang2[/pinyin] - Pulp (of a fruit)\n咬 - [pinyin]yao3[/pinyin] -  Bite, nibble, nip\n拉肚子 - [pinyin]la1 du4 zi5[/pinyin] - Diarrhea\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash Can\n乱扔 - [pinyin]luan4 reng1[/pinyin] - To litter\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\n\n西瓜<strong>圆圆的</strong>，有一条一条的绿色<strong>花纹</strong>，像一个<strong>皮球</strong>。\n\n破开西瓜，<strong>周围</strong>是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜<strong>瓤</strong>。<strong>咬</strong>一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会<strong>拉肚子</strong>。\n\n吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>，可不能随便<strong>乱扔</strong>，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nI eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\n\nWatermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \n\nWhen you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \n\nWhen you finish eating the watermelon, you have to drop the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-06 09:17:33', '2011-09-06 13:17:33', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/06/792-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(810, 1, '2016-11-05 00:41:56', '2016-11-05 04:41:56', 'A young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit.\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\n<strong>1)</strong> 我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\n\n<strong>2)</strong> 西瓜<strong>圆圆的</strong>，有一条一条的绿色<strong>花纹</strong>，像一个<strong>皮球</strong>。\n\n<strong>3)</strong> 破开西瓜，<strong>周围</strong>是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜<strong>瓤</strong>。<strong>咬</strong>一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会<strong>拉肚子</strong>。\n\n<strong>4)</strong> 吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>，可不能随便<strong>乱扔</strong>，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\n<strong>1)</strong> I eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\n\n<strong>2)</strong> Watermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \n\n<strong>3)</strong> When you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \n\n<strong>4)</strong> When you finish eating the watermelon, you have to drop the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Essay] 西瓜 - Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '792-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:41:56', '2016-11-05 04:41:56', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/06/792-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2163, 1, '2016-11-05 00:43:19', '2016-11-05 04:43:19', '', 'Beginner Chinese Vocabulary Reading Essay for Children', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'closed', '', 'watermelon-2', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:43:25', '2016-11-05 04:43:25', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/watermelon.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(812, 1, '2011-09-04 11:34:06', '2011-09-04 15:34:06', '[two_third]\r\nA sweet essay about a young child doing something nice for her mother. \r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />This story has two proper nouns in it, which I should probably explain. The words 《大宅门》, which is the title of a TV show called \"Grand Gate Mansion\". This is a real Chinese TV soap / drama. If you want to watch it, <a href=\"http://v.pptv.com/show/hs26OKAGdrQXlVk.html\"> here\'s a full video episode of Grand Gate Mansion</a>. Another interesting thing about that is the punctuation  《 and 》, marks that don\'t exist in English. In English, when we refer to the name of a book or movie, we often put the name in quotes, for example, \"Cinderella\" or \"Gone with the Wind\". These 《》 punctuation marks are the equivalent of quotes in English, but while we use quotes for lots of purposes, the Chinese only ever use these to describe the name of a play, book, movie or show.\r\n\r\nThe other proper noun is 明明, a young girl\'s name. \r\n\r\nOne of the things I really like about this is also the juxtaposition between the three words 小心, 放心 and 开心, which mean \"to be careful or cautious\", \"to stop worrying\", and \"to be happy / to have fun\", respectively. You\'ll notice these words all end in 心, \"heart\", and these words could literally be translated as \"small heart\", \"to let go of your heart\", and \"open heart\". When you\'re being careful, doesn\'t it feel like your heart is small? And when you stop worrying about something, isn\'t it just like \"putting your heart down\"? And when you\'re having fun, isn\'t it just like you have an \"open heart\"?\r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this little narrative is 我为妈妈做点儿事.\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - To do sth. with great interest\r\n动画片 - [pinyin]dong4 hua4 pian1[/pinyin] - Cartoons [lit: moving drawing slides]\r\n屏幕 - [pinyin]ping2 mu4[/pinyin] - Screen [for TV, computer, etc.]\r\n片名 - [pinyin]pian1 ming2[/pinyin] - Show or movie title\r\n辛苦 - [pinyin]xin1 ku3[/pinyin] - Hard or exhausting work\r\n围裙 - [pinyin]wei2 qun2[/pinyin] -  Apron\r\n小心 - [pinyin]xiao3 xin1[/pinyin] - Be careful\r\n放心 - [pinyin]fang4 xin1[/pinyin] - Don\'t worry\r\n开心 - [pinyin]kai1 xin1[/pinyin] - Happy, fun\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n吃完晚饭,妈妈在厨房里洗碗，明明坐在大大的沙发上，<strong>津津有味</strong>地看着自己喜欢的<strong>动画片</strong>。\r\n\r\n过了一会儿,动画片演完了，电视<strong>屏幕</strong>上出现了大宅门的<strong>片名</strong>。明明知道妈妈最喜欢看《大宅门》了，明明想妈妈要做事，要洗碗，很<strong>辛苦</strong>，一定要让妈妈看会儿《大宅门》，她边想边向厨房跑去。明明拉着妈妈的<strong>围裙</strong>说: “妈妈，您最喜欢看的《大宅门》开始了，您快去看吧,我来洗碗。”妈妈高兴地说: “好呀，你洗碗的时候一定要<strong>小心</strong>啊。”明明说: “妈妈您放心吧!”\r\n\r\n妈妈坐在舒服的沙发上看起电视，明明在厨房里认真地洗碗，这个晚上她们俩过得可<strong>开心</strong>了!\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nAfter dinner was done, mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Ming Ming was on the big sofa, watching her favorite cartoons with great interest.  \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110906-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />After a while, the cartoons were over, and the TV show title \"Grand Gate Mansion\" appeared on the screen. Ming Ming thought about how her mother had things to do, she had to wash the dishes, which is very tiring work, so [Ming Ming] should certainly let mother watch Grand Gate Mansion for a while, and thinking this, she ran into the kitchen. Ming Ming pulled on her mother\'s apron and said, \"Mama, your favorite show \'Grand Gate Mansion\' is starting, quick, go and watch it, I\'ll wash the dishes.\" Mother happily said, \"Great, just be careful as you\'re washing the dishes.\" Ming Ming said, \"Mama, don\'t worry!\" \r\n\r\nMother sat on the comfortable sofa and watched television, and Ming Ming was in the kitchen diligently washing dishes - that night those two had a great time! \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'I Did Something for Mom', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '785-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-04 11:34:06', '2011-09-04 15:34:06', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/04/785-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(819, 1, '2011-09-06 09:27:25', '2011-09-06 13:27:25', '[two_third]\r\nA young child\'s thoughts and description of watermelon, their favorite fruit. The Chinese title of this article is 西瓜.\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110912-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary Reading Essay for Children\" title=\"Beginner Chinese Vocabulary Reading Essay for Children\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n圆圆的 - [pinyin]yuan2 yuan2 de[/pinyin] - Spherical\r\n花纹 - [pinyin]hua1 wen2[/pinyin] - Design pattern\r\n皮球 - [pinyin]pi2 qiu2[/pinyin] - Ball (made of plastic or leather)\r\n周围 - [pinyin]zhou1 wei2[/pinyin] - Surrounding, encompassing\r\n瓤 - [pinyin]rang2[/pinyin] - Pulp (of a fruit)\r\n咬 - [pinyin]yao3[/pinyin] -  Bite, nibble, nip\r\n拉肚子 - [pinyin]la1 du4 zi5[/pinyin] - Diarrhea\r\n垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash Can\r\n乱扔 - [pinyin]luan4 reng1[/pinyin] - To litter\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n我吃好多水果，但是我最喜欢的是西瓜。\r\n\r\n西瓜<strong>圆圆的</strong>，有一条一条的绿色<strong>花纹</strong>，像一个<strong>皮球</strong>。\r\n\r\n破开西瓜，<strong>周围</strong>是白色的瓜皮，中间是鲜红的瓜<strong>瓤</strong>。<strong>咬</strong>一口，甜甜的，真好吃。我好想一口气把整个西瓜吃完，可是妈妈说，西瓜不能多吃，吃多了会<strong>拉肚子</strong>。\r\n\r\n吃完西瓜，瓜皮要丢进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>，可不能随便<strong>乱扔</strong>，因为有人踩到上面会摔倒的。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nI eat a lot of fruit, but my favorite is watermelon.\r\n\r\nWatermelon is round, and has a striped green design [on it], like a leather ball. \r\n\r\nWhen you break open a watermelon, it\'s surrounded by white skin, in the middle is bright red pulp. Take a bite, it\'s so sweet, it\'s delicious. I\'d love to eat it all up in one mouthful, but mama says you can\'t each too much watermelon, if you eat too much you\'ll have diarrhea. \r\n\r\nWhen you finish eating the watermelon, you have to drop the skin in the trash can, you can\'t just carelessly litter, because if a person steps on it they can slip and fall. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Watermelon', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '792-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-09-06 09:27:25', '2011-09-06 13:27:25', '', 792, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/09/06/792-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(827, 1, '2011-10-06 23:13:44', '2011-10-07 03:13:44', '', 'Beginner Chinese Reading Exercises - Essays and Children\'s Stories', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111006', '', '', '2011-10-06 23:13:44', '2011-10-07 03:13:44', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111006.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(828, 1, '2011-10-06 23:14:58', '2011-10-07 03:14:58', '', 'Beginner Chinese Readers for Children\'s Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111006-inline', '', '', '2011-10-06 23:14:58', '2011-10-07 03:14:58', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111006-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(2166, 1, '2016-11-05 00:53:06', '2016-11-05 04:53:06', '', 'Beginner Chinese Vocabulary and Simplified Reading Materials', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'closed', '', 'learn-chinese-setting-off-fireworks', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:53:13', '2016-11-05 04:53:13', '', 785, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/learn-chinese-setting-off-fireworks.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(835, 1, '2011-10-10 23:56:13', '2011-10-11 03:56:13', '', 'Chinese Reading Passages and Chinese Book Passages: Advanced', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111010-inline', '', '', '2011-10-10 23:56:13', '2011-10-11 03:56:13', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111010-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(836, 1, '2011-10-10 23:57:07', '2011-10-11 03:57:07', '', 'Chinese Reading Passages and Chinese Book Passages: Advanced', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111010', '', '', '2011-10-10 23:57:07', '2011-10-11 03:57:07', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111010.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(854, 1, '2011-10-21 01:12:51', '2011-10-21 05:12:51', '', 'Authentic Chinese Recipes in English - Spicy Shredded Potatoes - Advanced Reading Practice', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111020-inline', '', '', '2011-10-21 01:12:51', '2011-10-21 05:12:51', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111020-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(856, 1, '2011-10-21 01:24:47', '2011-10-21 05:24:47', '', 'Authentic Chinese Recipes - Spicy Shredded Potatoes - Advanced Reading Practice', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111020', '', '', '2011-10-21 01:24:47', '2011-10-21 05:24:47', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111020.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(887, 1, '2011-11-02 21:17:18', '2011-11-03 01:17:18', 'A short, sweet children\'s essay about how umbrellas look on a rainy day. Most of this is beginner reading, but there is one part of a sentence towards the end of the text which is intermediate reading. \r\n\r\n<h3>Di di da da</h3>\r\nYou\'ll also notice another onomatopoeia (I\'ve been running into those a lot lately), 滴滴答答. We\'re rather lucky when we describe sounds in English, we can mash a bunch of letters together until they sound similar to the sound we heard - we have a little more flexibility. I could write: pfffsssshhhh, and you could make that sound, or imagine that sound. The Chinese have no alphabet to work with, so they do this by taking existing characters that sound similar and arranging them together. In this case 滴滴答答 (di1 di1 da1 da1) represents the pattering of raindrops, as you might hear rain fall against a window or roof.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 今天，我回家写作业的时候，我听见外面传来了<strong>滴滴答答</strong>的声音，我想一定是下雨了。我赶忙跑到窗前，向下一看，街上的行人都打着雨伞，真的是下雨了。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 雨伞有黄色的、有白色的、有红色的、有紫色的，还有银灰色的……，美丽极了!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 我觉得雨伞可真好，它为我们撑起了一片晴朗的天空，它真是我们的好朋友。我希望每天都能下雨，让我的漂亮小雨伞每天都能陪伴我。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Today, when I had returned to my house and I was doing my homework, I heard the sound of droplets coming from outside, and I thought it surely must be raining. I hurriedly ran to the window, and looked down, on the street the pedestrians were all carrying umbrellas, and it was indeed raining. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> There were yellow umbrellas, and there were white ones, and red ones, and purple ones, and also silver ones... so beautiful!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> I thought about how great umbrellas are, they unfurl a sunny and cloudless sky for us, they\'re really our good friends. I wish it could rain every day, so that my beautiful little umbrella could accompany me.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 小伞花 - Umbrella Flowers', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'umbrella-flowers', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:28:34', '2016-11-05 04:28:34', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=887', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(2160, 1, '2016-11-05 00:28:34', '2016-11-05 04:28:34', 'A short, sweet children\'s essay about how umbrellas look on a rainy day. Most of this is beginner reading, but there is one part of a sentence towards the end of the text which is intermediate reading. \r\n\r\n<h3>Di di da da</h3>\r\nYou\'ll also notice another onomatopoeia (I\'ve been running into those a lot lately), 滴滴答答. We\'re rather lucky when we describe sounds in English, we can mash a bunch of letters together until they sound similar to the sound we heard - we have a little more flexibility. I could write: pfffsssshhhh, and you could make that sound, or imagine that sound. The Chinese have no alphabet to work with, so they do this by taking existing characters that sound similar and arranging them together. In this case 滴滴答答 (di1 di1 da1 da1) represents the pattering of raindrops, as you might hear rain fall against a window or roof.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 今天，我回家写作业的时候，我听见外面传来了<strong>滴滴答答</strong>的声音，我想一定是下雨了。我赶忙跑到窗前，向下一看，街上的行人都打着雨伞，真的是下雨了。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 雨伞有黄色的、有白色的、有红色的、有紫色的，还有银灰色的……，美丽极了!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 我觉得雨伞可真好，它为我们撑起了一片晴朗的天空，它真是我们的好朋友。我希望每天都能下雨，让我的漂亮小雨伞每天都能陪伴我。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Today, when I had returned to my house and I was doing my homework, I heard the sound of droplets coming from outside, and I thought it surely must be raining. I hurriedly ran to the window, and looked down, on the street the pedestrians were all carrying umbrellas, and it was indeed raining. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> There were yellow umbrellas, and there were white ones, and red ones, and purple ones, and also silver ones... so beautiful!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> I thought about how great umbrellas are, they unfurl a sunny and cloudless sky for us, they\'re really our good friends. I wish it could rain every day, so that my beautiful little umbrella could accompany me.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 小伞花 - Umbrella Flowers', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '887-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:28:34', '2016-11-05 04:28:34', '', 887, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/887-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1768, 1, '2016-10-31 03:52:25', '2016-10-31 07:52:25', 'A short, sweet children\'s essay about how umbrellas look on a rainy day. \r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111102-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Reading - Simplified Texts, Passages and Essays\" title=\"Easy Chinese Reading - Simplified Texts, Passages and Essays\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Most of this is beginner reading, but there is one part of a sentence towards the end of the text which is intermediate reading, so I\'ve outlined the more difficult words there in the \"click to listen\" area. \r\n\r\nYou\'ll also notice another onomatopoeia (I\'ve been running into those a lot lately), 滴滴答答. We\'re rather lucky when we describe sounds in English, we can mash a bunch of letters together until they sound similar to the sound we heard - we have a little more flexibility. I could write: pfffsssshhhh, and you could make that sound, or imagine that sound. The Chinese have no alphabet to work with, so they do this by taking existing characters that sound similar and arranging them together. In this case 滴滴答答 (di1 di1 da1 da1) represents the pattering of raindrops, as you might hear rain fall against a window or roof.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 今天，我回家写作业的时候，我听见外面<strong>传来</strong>了<strong>滴滴答答</strong>的声音，我想一定是下雨了。我赶忙跑到窗前，向下一看，街上的<strong>行人</strong>都打着<strong>雨伞</strong>，真的是下雨了。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 雨伞有黄色的、有白色的、有红色的、有紫色的，还有银灰色的……，美丽<strong>极了</strong>!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 我觉得雨伞可真好，它为我们<strong>撑</strong>起了一片<strong>晴朗</strong>的天空，它真是我们的好朋友。我希望每天都能下雨，让我的漂亮小雨伞每天都能<strong>陪伴</strong>我。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Today, when I had returned to my house and I was doing my homework, I heard the sound of droplets coming from outside, and I thought it surely must be raining. I hurriedly ran to the window, and looked down, on the street the pedestrians were all carrying umbrellas, and it was indeed raining. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> There were yellow umbrellas, and there were white ones, and red ones, and purple ones, and also silver ones... so beautiful!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> I thought about how great umbrellas are, they unfurl a sunny and cloudless sky for us, they\'re really our good friends. I wish it could rain every day, so that my beautiful little umbrella could accompany me.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Essay] 小伞花 - Umbrella Flowers', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '887-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-10-31 03:52:25', '2016-10-31 07:52:25', '', 887, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/887-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1767, 1, '2016-10-31 03:52:12', '2016-10-31 07:52:12', 'A short, sweet children\'s essay about how umbrellas look on a rainy day. The Chinese title is . <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111102-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Easy Chinese Reading - Simplified Texts, Passages and Essays\" title=\"Easy Chinese Reading - Simplified Texts, Passages and Essays\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Most of this is beginner reading, but there is one part of a sentence towards the end of the text which is intermediate reading, so I\'ve outlined the more difficult words there in the \"click to listen\" area. \r\n\r\nYou\'ll also notice another onomatopoeia (I\'ve been running into those a lot lately), 滴滴答答. We\'re rather lucky when we describe sounds in English, we can mash a bunch of letters together until they sound similar to the sound we heard - we have a little more flexibility. I could write: pfffsssshhhh, and you could make that sound, or imagine that sound. The Chinese have no alphabet to work with, so they do this by taking existing characters that sound similar and arranging them together. In this case 滴滴答答 (di1 di1 da1 da1) represents the pattering of raindrops, as you might hear rain fall against a window or roof.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 今天，我回家写作业的时候，我听见外面<strong>传来</strong>了<strong>滴滴答答</strong>的声音，我想一定是下雨了。我赶忙跑到窗前，向下一看，街上的<strong>行人</strong>都打着<strong>雨伞</strong>，真的是下雨了。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 雨伞有黄色的、有白色的、有红色的、有紫色的，还有银灰色的……，美丽<strong>极了</strong>!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 我觉得雨伞可真好，它为我们<strong>撑</strong>起了一片<strong>晴朗</strong>的天空，它真是我们的好朋友。我希望每天都能下雨，让我的漂亮小雨伞每天都能<strong>陪伴</strong>我。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Today, when I had returned to my house and I was doing my homework, I heard the sound of droplets coming from outside, and I thought it surely must be raining. I hurriedly ran to the window, and looked down, on the street the pedestrians were all carrying umbrellas, and it was indeed raining. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> There were yellow umbrellas, and there were white ones, and red ones, and purple ones, and also silver ones... so beautiful!\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> I thought about how great umbrellas are, they unfurl a sunny and cloudless sky for us, they\'re really our good friends. I wish it could rain every day, so that my beautiful little umbrella could accompany me.\r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Essay] 小伞花 - Umbrella Flowers', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '887-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-10-31 03:52:12', '2016-10-31 07:52:12', '', 887, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/887-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(882, 1, '2011-10-28 11:46:13', '2011-10-28 15:46:13', '', 'Easy Simplified Chinese Reading Passage Texts - Intermediate Level', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111028-inline', '', '', '2011-10-28 11:46:13', '2011-10-28 15:46:13', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111028-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(888, 1, '2011-11-02 21:05:57', '2011-11-03 01:05:57', '[two_third]\nA short, sweet children\'s essay about how umbrellas look on a rainy day. The Chinese title is 小伞花. <!--more-->\n\nMost of this is beginner reading, but there is one sentence towards the end of the text which is intermediate reading, so let\'s cover that here (or give the essay below a shot, then come back to this breakdown if you need it).\n\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n传来- [pinyin]chuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Arrive\n滴滴答答 - [pinyin]di1 di1 da1 da1[/pinyin] - The sound of water droplets falling on something\n行人 - [pinyin]xing2 ren2[/pinyin] - Pedestrian\n雨伞 - [pinyin]yu3 san3[/pinyin] - Umbrella\n极了 - [pinyin]ji2 le5[/pinyin] - very, extremely [used after word it refers to]\n撑- [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin] - To open up / unfurl\n晴朗 - [pinyin]qing2 lang3[/pinyin] - sunny and cloudless\n陪伴 - [pinyin]pei2 ban4[/pinyin] - Accompan\n此时此刻 - [pinyin]ci3 shi2 ci3 ke4[/pinyin] - At that very moment\n诺 - [pinyin]nuo4[/pinyin] - promise\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n今天，我回家写作业的时候，我听见外面<strong>传来</strong>了<strong>滴滴答答</strong>的声音，我想一定是下雨了。我赶忙跑到窗前，向下一看，街上的<strong>行人</strong>都打着<strong>雨伞</strong>，真的是下雨了。\n\n雨伞有黄色的、有白色的、有红色的、有紫色的，还有银灰色的……，美丽<strong>极了</strong>!\n\n我觉得雨伞可真好，它为我们<strong>撑</strong>起了一片<strong>晴朗</strong>的天空，它真是我们的好朋友。我希望每天都能下雨，让我的漂亮小雨伞每天都能<strong>陪伴</strong>我。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nToday, when I had returned to my house and I was doing my homework, I heard the sound of droplets coming from outside, and I thought it surely must be raining. I hurriedly ran to the window, and looked down, on the street the pedestrians were all carrying umbrellas, and it was indeed raining. \n\nThere were yellow umbrellas, and there were white ones, and red ones, and purple ones, and also silver ones... so beautiful!\n\nI thought about how great umbrellas are, they unfurl a sunny and cloudless sky for us, they\'re really our good friends. I wish it could rain every day, so that my beautiful little umbrella could accompany me.\n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Umbrella Flowers', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '887-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-02 21:05:57', '2011-11-03 01:05:57', '', 887, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/02/887-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(890, 1, '2011-11-02 21:15:38', '2011-11-03 01:15:38', '', 'Easy Chinese Reading - Simplified Texts, Passages and Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111102', '', '', '2011-11-02 21:15:38', '2011-11-03 01:15:38', '', 887, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111102.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(891, 1, '2011-11-02 21:16:37', '2011-11-03 01:16:37', '', 'Easy Chinese Reading - Simplified Texts, Passages and Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111102-inline', '', '', '2011-11-02 21:16:37', '2011-11-03 01:16:37', '', 887, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111102-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(892, 1, '2011-11-02 21:13:12', '2011-11-03 01:13:12', '[two_third]\nA short, sweet children\'s essay about how umbrellas look on a rainy day. The Chinese title is 小伞花. <!--more-->\n\nMost of this is beginner reading, but there is one part of a sentence towards the end of the text which is intermediate reading, so I\'ve outlined the more difficult words there in the \"click to listen\" area. \n\nYou\'ll also notice another onomatopoeia (I\'ve been running into those a lot lately), 滴滴答答. We\'re rather lucky when we describe sounds in English, we can mash a bunch of letters together until they sound similar to the sound we heard - we have a little more flexibility. I could write: pfffsssshhhh, and you could make that sound, or imagine that sound. The Chinese have no alphabet to work with, so they do this by taking existing characters that sound similar and arranging them together. In this case 滴滴答答 (di1 di1 da1 da1) represents the pattering of raindrops, as you might hear rain fall against a window or roof.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n传来- [pinyin]chuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Arrive\n滴滴答答 - [pinyin]di1 di1 da1 da1[/pinyin] - The sound of water droplets falling on something\n行人 - [pinyin]xing2 ren2[/pinyin] - Pedestrian\n雨伞 - [pinyin]yu3 san3[/pinyin] - Umbrella\n极了 - [pinyin]ji2 le5[/pinyin] - very, extremely [used after word it refers to]\n撑- [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin] - To open up / unfurl\n晴朗 - [pinyin]qing2 lang3[/pinyin] - sunny and cloudless\n陪伴 - [pinyin]pei2 ban4[/pinyin] - Accompany\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n今天，我回家写作业的时候，我听见外面<strong>传来</strong>了<strong>滴滴答答</strong>的声音，我想一定是下雨了。我赶忙跑到窗前，向下一看，街上的<strong>行人</strong>都打着<strong>雨伞</strong>，真的是下雨了。\n\n雨伞有黄色的、有白色的、有红色的、有紫色的，还有银灰色的……，美丽<strong>极了</strong>!\n\n我觉得雨伞可真好，它为我们<strong>撑</strong>起了一片<strong>晴朗</strong>的天空，它真是我们的好朋友。我希望每天都能下雨，让我的漂亮小雨伞每天都能<strong>陪伴</strong>我。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nToday, when I had returned to my house and I was doing my homework, I heard the sound of droplets coming from outside, and I thought it surely must be raining. I hurriedly ran to the window, and looked down, on the street the pedestrians were all carrying umbrellas, and it was indeed raining. \n\nThere were yellow umbrellas, and there were white ones, and red ones, and purple ones, and also silver ones... so beautiful!\n\nI thought about how great umbrellas are, they unfurl a sunny and cloudless sky for us, they\'re really our good friends. I wish it could rain every day, so that my beautiful little umbrella could accompany me.\n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Umbrella Flowers', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '887-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-02 21:13:12', '2011-11-03 01:13:12', '', 887, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/02/887-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(894, 1, '2011-11-27 19:34:18', '2011-11-28 00:34:18', 'This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystals, dolls, little elfs and pretty colors described with great rapture. The writer is describing a gift given to her by a friend, which she loved as a child. I love this essay for its use of unusual color words, like \"glistening yellow\", \"vibrant red\", and \"transparent\".\r\n\r\nIn terms of the item the author describes, it\'s a bit hard to tell from the Chinese text that the writer is describing multiple crystal dolls inside of crystal balls in a crystal bottle until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life. It sounds like the crystal figurine version of Inception. \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“水晶瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\r\n\r\n这个“水晶瓶”一闪一闪，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状<strong>各异</strong>，颜色不一。紫盈盈的是星星形的，黄澄澄的是足球形的，红通通的是皮包形的，透明发亮的是笛子形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在五彩缤纷的灯光的映衬下，显得更夺目耀眼。\r\n\r\n在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个小巧玲珑的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着脚尖旋转起来，多像一个轻盈飞舞的小精灵。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的舞姿当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到九霄云外去了。\r\n\r\n可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性.\r\n\r\n我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \r\n\r\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled very beautifully! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The one filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\r\n\r\nInside the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls\' hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. Whenever I watched them, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing beyond the topmost clouds. \r\n\r\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly no longer liked to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet, and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. I like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go through life.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 水晶球 - Crystal Balls', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'crystal-balls-learning-advanced-colors-and-descriptives', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:24:48', '2016-11-05 04:24:48', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=894', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(2155, 1, '2016-11-05 00:24:48', '2016-11-05 04:24:48', 'This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystals, dolls, little elfs and pretty colors described with great rapture. The writer is describing a gift given to her by a friend, which she loved as a child. I love this essay for its use of unusual color words, like \"glistening yellow\", \"vibrant red\", and \"transparent\".\r\n\r\nIn terms of the item the author describes, it\'s a bit hard to tell from the Chinese text that the writer is describing multiple crystal dolls inside of crystal balls in a crystal bottle until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life. It sounds like the crystal figurine version of Inception. \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“水晶瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\r\n\r\n这个“水晶瓶”一闪一闪，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状<strong>各异</strong>，颜色不一。紫盈盈的是星星形的，黄澄澄的是足球形的，红通通的是皮包形的，透明发亮的是笛子形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在五彩缤纷的灯光的映衬下，显得更夺目耀眼。\r\n\r\n在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个小巧玲珑的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着脚尖旋转起来，多像一个轻盈飞舞的小精灵。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的舞姿当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到九霄云外去了。\r\n\r\n可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性.\r\n\r\n我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \r\n\r\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled very beautifully! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The one filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\r\n\r\nInside the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls\' hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. Whenever I watched them, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing beyond the topmost clouds. \r\n\r\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly no longer liked to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet, and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. I like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go through life.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 水晶球 - Crystal Balls', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:24:48', '2016-11-05 04:24:48', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/894-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(895, 1, '2011-11-02 21:46:12', '2011-11-03 01:46:12', '[two_third]\n\nHard to tell from the chinese text that there are multiple crystal balls until you get partway into the description. \n\n possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystal, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. \n\nThis is upper-intermediate, almost advanced reading. There\'s a lot of new vocabulary, but the sentence structure never gets too complex to follow.\n\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n传来- [pinyin]chuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Arrive\n滴滴答答 - [pinyin]di1 di1 da1 da1[/pinyin] - The sound of water droplets falling on something\n行人 - [pinyin]xing2 ren2[/pinyin] - Pedestrian\n雨伞 - [pinyin]yu3 san3[/pinyin] - Umbrella\n极了 - [pinyin]ji2 le5[/pinyin] - very, extremely [used after word it refers to]\n撑- [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin] - To open up / unfurl\n晴朗 - [pinyin]qing2 lang3[/pinyin] - sunny and cloudless\n陪伴 - [pinyin]pei2 ban4[/pinyin] - Accompany\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n\n　　在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“水晶瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\n　　这个“水晶瓶”一闪一闪，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状各异，颜色不一。紫盈盈的是星星形的，黄澄澄的是足球形的，红通通的是皮包形的，透明发亮的是笛子形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在五彩缤纷的灯光的映衬下，显得更夺目耀眼。\n　　在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个小巧玲珑的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着脚尖旋转起来，多像一个轻盈飞舞的小精灵。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的舞姿当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到九霄云外去了。\n　　可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性。\n　　我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \n\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled, very beautiful! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\n\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. At this time, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing into the wind [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]. \n\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly didn\'t like to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \n\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go on. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Ball', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-02 21:46:12', '2011-11-03 01:46:12', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/02/894-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(896, 1, '2011-11-02 21:47:20', '2011-11-03 01:47:20', '[two_third]\n\nHard to tell from the Chinese text that there are multiple crystal balls until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life except, very vaguely, a ballerina in a crystal jewelry box. \n\n possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystal, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. \n\nThis is upper-intermediate, almost advanced reading. There\'s a lot of new vocabulary, but the sentence structure never gets too complex to follow.\n\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n传来- [pinyin]chuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Arrive\n滴滴答答 - [pinyin]di1 di1 da1 da1[/pinyin] - The sound of water droplets falling on something\n行人 - [pinyin]xing2 ren2[/pinyin] - Pedestrian\n雨伞 - [pinyin]yu3 san3[/pinyin] - Umbrella\n极了 - [pinyin]ji2 le5[/pinyin] - very, extremely [used after word it refers to]\n撑- [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin] - To open up / unfurl\n晴朗 - [pinyin]qing2 lang3[/pinyin] - sunny and cloudless\n陪伴 - [pinyin]pei2 ban4[/pinyin] - Accompany\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n\n　　在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“水晶瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\n　　这个“水晶瓶”一闪一闪，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状各异，颜色不一。紫盈盈的是星星形的，黄澄澄的是足球形的，红通通的是皮包形的，透明发亮的是笛子形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在五彩缤纷的灯光的映衬下，显得更夺目耀眼。\n　　在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个小巧玲珑的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着脚尖旋转起来，多像一个轻盈飞舞的小精灵。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的舞姿当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到九霄云外去了。\n　　可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性。\n　　我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \n\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled, very beautiful! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\n\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. At this time, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing into the wind [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]. \n\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly didn\'t like to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \n\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go on. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Ball', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-02 21:47:20', '2011-11-03 01:47:20', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/02/894-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(897, 1, '2011-11-02 21:47:57', '2011-11-03 01:47:57', '[two_third] This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystal, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. \r\n\r\nHard to tell from the Chinese text that there are multiple crystal balls until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life except, maybe very vaguely, a ballerina in a crystal jewelry box. \r\n \r\n\r\nThis is upper-intermediate, almost advanced reading. There\'s a lot of new vocabulary, but the sentence structure never gets too complex to follow.\r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n传来- [pinyin]chuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Arrive\r\n滴滴答答 - [pinyin]di1 di1 da1 da1[/pinyin] - The sound of water droplets falling on something\r\n行人 - [pinyin]xing2 ren2[/pinyin] - Pedestrian\r\n雨伞 - [pinyin]yu3 san3[/pinyin] - Umbrella\r\n极了 - [pinyin]ji2 le5[/pinyin] - very, extremely [used after word it refers to]\r\n撑- [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin] - To open up / unfurl\r\n晴朗 - [pinyin]qing2 lang3[/pinyin] - sunny and cloudless\r\n陪伴 - [pinyin]pei2 ban4[/pinyin] - Accompany\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n\r\n　　在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“水晶瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\r\n　　这个“水晶瓶”一闪一闪，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状各异，颜色不一。紫盈盈的是星星形的，黄澄澄的是足球形的，红通通的是皮包形的，透明发亮的是笛子形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在五彩缤纷的灯光的映衬下，显得更夺目耀眼。\r\n　　在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个小巧玲珑的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着脚尖旋转起来，多像一个轻盈飞舞的小精灵。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的舞姿当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到九霄云外去了。\r\n　　可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性。\r\n　　我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \r\n\r\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled, very beautiful! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\r\n\r\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. At this time, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing into the wind [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]. \r\n\r\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly didn\'t like to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \r\n\r\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go on. \r\n\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Balls', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-02 21:47:57', '2011-11-03 01:47:57', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/02/894-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(898, 1, '2011-11-03 19:56:28', '2011-11-03 23:56:28', '[two_third] This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystal, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. \n\nHard to tell from the Chinese text that there are multiple crystal balls until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life except, maybe very vaguely, a ballerina in a crystal jewelry box. \n \n\nThis is upper-intermediate, almost advanced reading. There\'s rather a lot of new vocabulary, but if you\'re an intermediate level reader, the sentence structure never gets too complex to follow.\n\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n传来- [pinyin]chuan2 lai2[/pinyin] - Arrive\n滴滴答答 - [pinyin]di1 di1 da1 da1[/pinyin] - The sound of water droplets falling on something\n行人 - [pinyin]xing2 ren2[/pinyin] - Pedestrian\n雨伞 - [pinyin]yu3 san3[/pinyin] - Umbrella\n极了 - [pinyin]ji2 le5[/pinyin] - very, extremely [used after word it refers to]\n撑- [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin] - To open up / unfurl\n晴朗 - [pinyin]qing2 lang3[/pinyin] - sunny and cloudless\n陪伴 - [pinyin]pei2 ban4[/pinyin] - Accompany\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n\n　　在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“水晶瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\n　　这个“水晶瓶”一闪一闪，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状各异，颜色不一。紫盈盈的是星星形的，黄澄澄的是足球形的，红通通的是皮包形的，透明发亮的是笛子形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在五彩缤纷的灯光的映衬下，显得更夺目耀眼。\n　　在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个小巧玲珑的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着脚尖旋转起来，多像一个轻盈飞舞的小精灵。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的舞姿当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到九霄云外去了。\n　　可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性。\n　　我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \n\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled, very beautiful! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\n\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. At this time, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing into the wind [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]. \n\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly didn\'t like to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \n\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go on. \n\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Balls', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-03 19:56:28', '2011-11-03 23:56:28', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/03/894-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1000, 1, '2011-12-08 22:24:13', '2011-12-09 03:24:13', '', 'Intermediate and Advanced Simplified Chinese Reading Passages and Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20120112', '', '', '2011-12-08 22:24:13', '2011-12-09 03:24:13', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20120112.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(1001, 1, '2011-12-08 22:25:04', '2011-12-09 03:25:04', '', 'Intermediate and Advanced Simplified Chinese Reading Passages and Essays', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20120112-inline', '', '', '2011-12-08 22:25:04', '2011-12-09 03:25:04', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20120112-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(907, 1, '2011-11-09 08:52:15', '2011-11-09 13:52:15', '', 'Easy and Difficult Chinese Idioms for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Students', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111109', '', '', '2011-11-09 08:52:15', '2011-11-09 13:52:15', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111109.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(908, 1, '2011-11-09 08:53:18', '2011-11-09 13:53:18', '', 'Easy and Difficult Chinese Idioms for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Students', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111109-inline', '', '', '2011-11-09 08:53:18', '2011-11-09 13:53:18', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111109-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(918, 1, '2011-11-27 19:29:13', '2011-11-28 00:29:13', '[two_third] This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystal, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. The writer is describing a gift given to her by a friend. \n\nThe sentence structure never gets too complex to follow in this, so if you\'re an intermediate reader feeling up for a lot of new words, go for it. But this essay is a little bit new-word heavy, so unless you are fairly good with descriptive vocabulary, so don\'t expect an uninterrupted read. I love this essay for its use of unusual color words, like \"glistening yellow\", \"vibrant red\", and \"transparent\".\n\nIn terms of the item the author describes, it\'s a bit hard to tell from the Chinese text that the writer is describing multiple crystal dolls inside of crystal balls in a crystal bottle until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life. It sounds like the crystal figurine version of Inception. Anyway, without further ado:\n\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n水晶- [pinyin]shui3 jing1[/pinyin] - Crystal\n一闪一闪 - [pinyin]yi1 shan3 yi1 shan3[/pinyin] - Twinkle\n各异 - [pinyin]ge4 yi4[/pinyin] - Each is different / each has its own \n盈 - [pinyin]ying2[/pinyin] - Filled \n黄澄澄 - [pinyin]huang2 deng4 deng4[/pinyin] - Glistening yellow\n红通通- [pinyin]hong2 tong1 tong1[/pinyin] - Vibrant Red\n透明 - [pinyin]tou4 ming2[/pinyin] - Transparent\n笛子 - [pinyin]di2 zi5[/pinyin] - Bamboo flute\n五彩缤纷 - [pinyin]wu3 cai3 bin1 fen1[/pinyin] - A wild profusion of color\n映衬 - [pinyin]ying4 chen4[/pinyin] - To set off by contrast\n夺目- [pinyin]duo2 mu4[/pinyin] - Dazzle the eyes\n小巧 - [pinyin]xiao3 qiao3[/pinyin] - Small and exquisite\n玲珑 - [pinyin]ling2 long2[/pinyin] - The sound of clinking jewels\n脚尖 - [pinyin]jiao3 jian1[/pinyin] - On tiptoe\n轻盈 - [pinyin]qing1 ying2[/pinyin] - Graceful, lithe\n飞舞 - [pinyin]fei1 wu3[/pinyin] - Flitter, dance in the breeze\n小精灵 - [pinyin]xiao3 jing1 ling2[/pinyin] - Elf\n舞姿 - [pinyin]wu3 zi1[/pinyin] - Dancer\'s posture and movement\n九霄云外 - [pinyin]jiu3 xiao1 yun2 [/pinyin] - Bamboo flute [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“<strong>水晶</strong>瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\n\n这个“水晶瓶”<strong>一闪一闪</strong>，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状<strong>各异</strong>，颜色不一。紫<strong>盈</strong>盈的是星星形的，<strong>黄澄澄</strong>的是足球形的，<strong>红通通</strong>的是皮包形的，<strong>透明</strong>发亮的是<strong>笛子</strong>形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在<strong>五彩缤纷</strong>的灯光的<strong>映衬</strong>下，显得更<strong>夺目</strong>耀眼。\n\n在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个<strong>小巧</strong><strong>玲珑</strong>的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着<strong>脚尖</strong>旋转起来，多像一个<strong>轻盈飞舞的小精灵</strong>。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的<strong>舞姿</strong>当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到<strong>九霄云外</strong>去了。\n\n可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性.\n\n我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \n\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled very beautifully! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The one filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\n\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls\' hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. Whenever I watched them, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing into the wind. \n\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly no longer liked to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet, and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \n\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go through life.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Balls - Learning Advanced Colors and Descriptives', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-27 19:29:13', '2011-11-28 00:29:13', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/27/894-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(919, 1, '2011-11-27 19:32:45', '2011-11-28 00:32:45', '', 'Advanced / Intermediate Chinese Essays and Reading Passage', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111127', '', '', '2011-11-27 19:32:45', '2011-11-28 00:32:45', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111127.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(920, 1, '2011-11-27 19:33:59', '2011-11-28 00:33:59', '', 'Advanced / Intermediate Chinese Essays and Reading Exercise', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111127-inline', '', '', '2011-11-27 19:33:59', '2011-11-28 00:33:59', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111127-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(921, 1, '2011-11-27 19:30:04', '2011-11-28 00:30:04', '[two_third] This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystal, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. The writer is describing a gift given to her by a friend. \r\n\r\nThe sentence structure never gets too complex to follow in this, so if you\'re an intermediate reader feeling up for a lot of new words, go for it. But this essay is a little bit new-word heavy, so unless you are fairly good with descriptive vocabulary, so don\'t expect an uninterrupted read. I love this essay for its use of unusual color words, like \"glistening yellow\", \"vibrant red\", and \"transparent\".\r\n\r\nIn terms of the item the author describes, it\'s a bit hard to tell from the Chinese text that the writer is describing multiple crystal dolls inside of crystal balls in a crystal bottle until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life. It sounds like the crystal figurine version of Inception. Anyway, without further ado:\r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n水晶- [pinyin]shui3 jing1[/pinyin] - Crystal\r\n一闪一闪 - [pinyin]yi1 shan3 yi1 shan3[/pinyin] - Twinkle\r\n各异 - [pinyin]ge4 yi4[/pinyin] - Each is different / each has its own \r\n盈 - [pinyin]ying2[/pinyin] - Filled \r\n黄澄澄 - [pinyin]huang2 deng4 deng4[/pinyin] - Glistening yellow\r\n红通通- [pinyin]hong2 tong1 tong1[/pinyin] - Vibrant Red\r\n透明 - [pinyin]tou4 ming2[/pinyin] - Transparent\r\n笛子 - [pinyin]di2 zi5[/pinyin] - Bamboo flute\r\n五彩缤纷 - [pinyin]wu3 cai3 bin1 fen1[/pinyin] - A wild profusion of color\r\n映衬 - [pinyin]ying4 chen4[/pinyin] - To set off by contrast\r\n夺目- [pinyin]duo2 mu4[/pinyin] - Dazzle the eyes\r\n小巧 - [pinyin]xiao3 qiao3[/pinyin] - Small and exquisite\r\n玲珑 - [pinyin]ling2 long2[/pinyin] - The sound of clinking jewels\r\n脚尖 - [pinyin]jiao3 jian1[/pinyin] - On tiptoe\r\n轻盈 - [pinyin]qing1 ying2[/pinyin] - Graceful, lithe\r\n飞舞 - [pinyin]fei1 wu3[/pinyin] - Flitter, dance in the breeze\r\n小精灵 - [pinyin]xiao3 jing1 ling2[/pinyin] - Elf\r\n舞姿 - [pinyin]wu3 zi1[/pinyin] - Dancer\'s posture and movement\r\n九霄云外 - [pinyin]jiu3 xiao1 yun2 wai4[/pinyin] - Beyond the topmost clouds [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“<strong>水晶</strong>瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\r\n\r\n这个“水晶瓶”<strong>一闪一闪</strong>，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状<strong>各异</strong>，颜色不一。紫<strong>盈</strong>盈的是星星形的，<strong>黄澄澄</strong>的是足球形的，<strong>红通通</strong>的是皮包形的，<strong>透明</strong>发亮的是<strong>笛子</strong>形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在<strong>五彩缤纷</strong>的灯光的<strong>映衬</strong>下，显得更<strong>夺目</strong>耀眼。\r\n\r\n在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个<strong>小巧</strong><strong>玲珑</strong>的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着<strong>脚尖</strong>旋转起来，多像一个<strong>轻盈飞舞的小精灵</strong>。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的<strong>舞姿</strong>当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到<strong>九霄云外</strong>去了。\r\n\r\n可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性.\r\n\r\n我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \r\n\r\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled very beautifully! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The one filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\r\n\r\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls\' hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. Whenever I watched them, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing beyond the topmost clouds. \r\n\r\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly no longer liked to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet, and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \r\n\r\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go through life.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Balls - Learning Advanced Colors and Descriptives', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-27 19:30:04', '2011-11-28 00:30:04', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/27/894-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(923, 1, '2011-11-27 19:34:18', '2011-11-28 00:34:18', '[two_third] This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystal, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. The writer is describing a gift given to her by a friend, which she loved as a child. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111127-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced / Intermediate Chinese Essays and Reading Exercise\" title=\"Advanced / Intermediate Chinese Essays and Reading Exercise\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The sentence structure never gets too complex to follow in this, so if you\'re an intermediate reader feeling up for a lot of new words, go for it. But this essay is a little bit new-word heavy, so unless you are fairly good with descriptive vocabulary, so don\'t expect an uninterrupted read. I love this essay for its use of unusual color words, like \"glistening yellow\", \"vibrant red\", and \"transparent\".\r\n\r\nIn terms of the item the author describes, it\'s a bit hard to tell from the Chinese text that the writer is describing multiple crystal dolls inside of crystal balls in a crystal bottle until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life. It sounds like the crystal figurine version of Inception. Anyway, without further ado:\r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n水晶- [pinyin]shui3 jing1[/pinyin] - Crystal\r\n一闪一闪 - [pinyin]yi1 shan3 yi1 shan3[/pinyin] - Twinkle\r\n各异 - [pinyin]ge4 yi4[/pinyin] - Each is different / each has its own \r\n盈 - [pinyin]ying2[/pinyin] - Filled \r\n黄澄澄 - [pinyin]huang2 deng4 deng4[/pinyin] - Glistening yellow\r\n红通通- [pinyin]hong2 tong1 tong1[/pinyin] - Vibrant Red\r\n透明 - [pinyin]tou4 ming2[/pinyin] - Transparent\r\n笛子 - [pinyin]di2 zi5[/pinyin] - Bamboo flute\r\n五彩缤纷 - [pinyin]wu3 cai3 bin1 fen1[/pinyin] - A wild profusion of color\r\n映衬 - [pinyin]ying4 chen4[/pinyin] - To set off by contrast\r\n夺目- [pinyin]duo2 mu4[/pinyin] - Dazzle the eyes\r\n小巧 - [pinyin]xiao3 qiao3[/pinyin] - Small and exquisite\r\n玲珑 - [pinyin]ling2 long2[/pinyin] - The sound of clinking jewels\r\n脚尖 - [pinyin]jiao3 jian1[/pinyin] - On tiptoe\r\n轻盈 - [pinyin]qing1 ying2[/pinyin] - Graceful, lithe\r\n飞舞 - [pinyin]fei1 wu3[/pinyin] - Flitter, dance in the breeze\r\n小精灵 - [pinyin]xiao3 jing1 ling2[/pinyin] - Elf\r\n舞姿 - [pinyin]wu3 zi1[/pinyin] - Dancer\'s posture and movement\r\n九霄云外 - [pinyin]jiu3 xiao1 yun2 wai4[/pinyin] - Beyond the topmost clouds [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“<strong>水晶</strong>瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\r\n\r\n这个“水晶瓶”<strong>一闪一闪</strong>，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状<strong>各异</strong>，颜色不一。紫<strong>盈</strong>盈的是星星形的，<strong>黄澄澄</strong>的是足球形的，<strong>红通通</strong>的是皮包形的，<strong>透明</strong>发亮的是<strong>笛子</strong>形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在<strong>五彩缤纷</strong>的灯光的<strong>映衬</strong>下，显得更<strong>夺目</strong>耀眼。\r\n\r\n在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个<strong>小巧</strong><strong>玲珑</strong>的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着<strong>脚尖</strong>旋转起来，多像一个<strong>轻盈飞舞的小精灵</strong>。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的<strong>舞姿</strong>当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到<strong>九霄云外</strong>去了。\r\n\r\n可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性.\r\n\r\n我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \r\n\r\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled very beautifully! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The one filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\r\n\r\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls\' hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. Whenever I watched them, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing beyond the topmost clouds. \r\n\r\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly no longer liked to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet, and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \r\n\r\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go through life.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Balls - Learning Advanced Colors and Descriptives', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-27 19:34:18', '2011-11-28 00:34:18', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/27/894-revision-7/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(924, 1, '2011-11-27 19:38:08', '2011-11-28 00:38:08', '[two_third] This is possibly the girliest essay ever written, with crystals, dolls, and pretty colors described with great rapture. The writer is describing a gift given to her by a friend, which she loved as a child. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111127-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced / Intermediate Chinese Essays and Reading Exercise\" title=\"Advanced / Intermediate Chinese Essays and Reading Exercise\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />The sentence structure never gets too complex to follow in this, so if you\'re an intermediate reader feeling up for a lot of new words, go for it. But this essay is a little bit new-word heavy, so unless you are fairly good with descriptive vocabulary, so don\'t expect an uninterrupted read. I love this essay for its use of unusual color words, like \"glistening yellow\", \"vibrant red\", and \"transparent\".\r\n\r\nIn terms of the item the author describes, it\'s a bit hard to tell from the Chinese text that the writer is describing multiple crystal dolls inside of crystal balls in a crystal bottle until you get partway into the description, and while the girl paints a very vivid picture of this pretty bauble, I don\'t know that I\'ve ever seen anything like it in real life. It sounds like the crystal figurine version of Inception. Anyway, without further ado:\r\n\r\nThe Chinese title is: 　水晶球\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n水晶- [pinyin]shui3 jing1[/pinyin] - Crystal\r\n一闪一闪 - [pinyin]yi1 shan3 yi1 shan3[/pinyin] - Twinkle\r\n各异 - [pinyin]ge4 yi4[/pinyin] - Each is different / each has its own \r\n盈 - [pinyin]ying2[/pinyin] - Filled \r\n黄澄澄 - [pinyin]huang2 deng4 deng4[/pinyin] - Glistening yellow\r\n红通通- [pinyin]hong2 tong1 tong1[/pinyin] - Vibrant Red\r\n透明 - [pinyin]tou4 ming2[/pinyin] - Transparent\r\n笛子 - [pinyin]di2 zi5[/pinyin] - Bamboo flute\r\n五彩缤纷 - [pinyin]wu3 cai3 bin1 fen1[/pinyin] - A wild profusion of color\r\n映衬 - [pinyin]ying4 chen4[/pinyin] - To set off by contrast\r\n夺目- [pinyin]duo2 mu4[/pinyin] - Dazzle the eyes\r\n小巧 - [pinyin]xiao3 qiao3[/pinyin] - Small and exquisite\r\n玲珑 - [pinyin]ling2 long2[/pinyin] - The sound of clinking jewels\r\n脚尖 - [pinyin]jiao3 jian1[/pinyin] - On tiptoe\r\n轻盈 - [pinyin]qing1 ying2[/pinyin] - Graceful, lithe\r\n飞舞 - [pinyin]fei1 wu3[/pinyin] - Flitter, dance in the breeze\r\n小精灵 - [pinyin]xiao3 jing1 ling2[/pinyin] - Elf\r\n舞姿 - [pinyin]wu3 zi1[/pinyin] - Dancer\'s posture and movement\r\n九霄云外 - [pinyin]jiu3 xiao1 yun2 wai4[/pinyin] - Beyond the topmost clouds [lit: dropped into the clouds and the nine heavens]\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n在我生日的时候，朋友送给了我一个小小的“<strong>水晶</strong>瓶”，我非常喜欢它，爱不释手。\r\n\r\n这个“水晶瓶”<strong>一闪一闪</strong>，漂亮极了！在“水晶瓶”里有一只只亮晶晶“水晶球”。那“水晶球”形状<strong>各异</strong>，颜色不一。紫<strong>盈</strong>盈的是星星形的，<strong>黄澄澄</strong>的是足球形的，<strong>红通通</strong>的是皮包形的，<strong>透明</strong>发亮的是<strong>笛子</strong>形的。这些美丽的“水晶球”在<strong>五彩缤纷</strong>的灯光的<strong>映衬</strong>下，显得更<strong>夺目</strong>耀眼。\r\n\r\n在“水晶球”里，有一个小小的“舞台”，在这个<strong>小巧</strong><strong>玲珑</strong>的“舞台”上，有一个“舞蹈家”——水晶娃娃。水晶娃娃的手一晃一晃的，伴随着美妙的音乐，立着<strong>脚尖</strong>旋转起来，多像一个<strong>轻盈飞舞的小精灵</strong>。我看着，看着，沉醉在这优美的<strong>舞姿</strong>当中，我不由自主地也跟它跳起舞来。在这个时候，所有的烦恼全都抛到<strong>九霄云外</strong>去了。\r\n\r\n可是有一次我不知怎么了，突然间不喜欢这个水晶球了，还把他随便放在衣橱里一直到这位好朋友转学了以后才知道它的重要性.\r\n\r\n我喜欢这个“水晶瓶”，因为它陪我渡过了美好的童年，它将一直陪着我走下去……\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nOn my birthday, my friend gave me a little \"crystal bottle\", I really liked it, loved it so much I never wanted to part with it. \r\n\r\nThis \"crystal bottle\" twinkled very beautifully! Inside the crystal bottle, there were shining \"crystal balls\". Those crystal balls were all shaped differently, and were all different colors. The one filled with a purple color was shaped like a star, the glistening yellow one was shaped like a football, the bright red one was shaped like a handbag, the shining clear one was shaped like a flute. These beautiful \"crystal balls\" contrasted with each other in a radiant profusion of light, dazzling to behold.\r\n\r\nInside each of the crystal balls, there was a very small \"dancing stage\" and on each exquisitely small, clinking stage there was a \"dancer\" -- a crystal doll. The crystal dolls\' hands flashed, accompanying wonderful music, and [the dolls] rotated while standing on tiptoe, like graceful little elves dancing in the breeze. I watched and watched, intoxicated by the dancer\'s elegant movements, and I couldn\'t help but begin dancing with them. Whenever I watched them, all of my worries dropped away, vanishing beyond the topmost clouds. \r\n\r\nBut one day, and I don\'t know why, I suddenly no longer liked to look at the crystal balls, and I put them somewhere in my closet, and it was only when that friend moved to a different school that I realized their importance. \r\n\r\nI like this crystal bottle because it was with me as I passed through a beautiful childhood, and it will always be with me as I go through life.\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Crystal Balls - Learning Advanced Colors and Descriptives', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '894-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-27 19:38:08', '2011-11-28 00:38:08', '', 894, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/27/894-revision-8/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(928, 1, '2011-11-29 14:00:19', '2011-11-29 19:00:19', '', '20111205', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111205', '', '', '2011-11-29 14:00:19', '2011-11-29 19:00:19', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20111205.gif', 0, 'attachment', 'image/gif', 0),
(929, 1, '2011-11-29 14:02:24', '2011-11-29 19:02:24', '', 'Practice Simplified Chinese Reading with Intermediate Texts and Passages', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111205-inline', '', '', '2011-11-29 14:02:24', '2011-11-29 19:02:24', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20111205-INLINE.gif', 0, 'attachment', 'image/gif', 0),
(933, 1, '2011-12-10 07:00:22', '2011-12-10 12:00:22', 'A short, easy (very) beginner read about a child going ice-skating. The word \"ice skating\" appears about a bazillion times in the space of these few sentences, so, after reading this, you may expect to recognize the word for the rest of your natural life. A note: The characters 周井寒 which appear in this essay are a person\'s name. The person is referred to twice, first by their given name, 井寒, then by their full name, 周井寒. The person\'s relationship to the author isn\'t really specified. This clearly isn\'t the name of the child\'s mother, as 周井寒 is referred to as a \"he\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this essay is . \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2011-11-28/1322449584234905.html\">And here\'s the original source</a>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n早上，我把作业写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过早饭后，妈妈带我去溜冰。到了溜冰场，我穿好溜冰鞋，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心摔倒了，井寒把我扶起来了，我连声说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\r\n\r\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们互相帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \r\n\r\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 快乐的我- Happy Me!', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'happy-me', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:16:36', '2016-11-05 04:16:36', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=933', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(2152, 1, '2016-11-05 00:16:36', '2016-11-05 04:16:36', 'A short, easy (very) beginner read about a child going ice-skating. The word \"ice skating\" appears about a bazillion times in the space of these few sentences, so, after reading this, you may expect to recognize the word for the rest of your natural life. A note: The characters 周井寒 which appear in this essay are a person\'s name. The person is referred to twice, first by their given name, 井寒, then by their full name, 周井寒. The person\'s relationship to the author isn\'t really specified. This clearly isn\'t the name of the child\'s mother, as 周井寒 is referred to as a \"he\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this essay is . \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2011-11-28/1322449584234905.html\">And here\'s the original source</a>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n早上，我把作业写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过早饭后，妈妈带我去溜冰。到了溜冰场，我穿好溜冰鞋，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心摔倒了，井寒把我扶起来了，我连声说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\r\n\r\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们互相帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \r\n\r\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 快乐的我- Happy Me!', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '933-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:16:36', '2016-11-05 04:16:36', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/933-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1765, 1, '2016-10-31 03:51:14', '2016-10-31 07:51:14', 'A short, easy (very) beginner read about a child going ice-skating. The word \"ice skating\" appears about a bazillion times in the space of these few sentences, so, after reading this, you may expect to recognize the word for the rest of your natural life. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111210-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Simplified Chinese Essay - Chinese Reading Passage\" title=\"Beginner Simplified Chinese Essay - Chinese Reading Passage\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A note: The characters 周井寒 which appear in this essay are a person\'s name. The person is referred to twice, first by their given name, 井寒, then by their full name, 周井寒. The person\'s relationship to the author isn\'t really specified. This clearly isn\'t the name of the child\'s mother, as 周井寒 is referred to as a \"he\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this essay is . \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2011-11-28/1322449584234905.html\">And here\'s the original source</a>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n早上，我把作业写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过早饭后，妈妈带我去溜冰。到了溜冰场，我穿好溜冰鞋，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心摔倒了，井寒把我扶起来了，我连声说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\r\n\r\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们互相帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \r\n\r\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Essay] 快乐的我- Happy Me!', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '933-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-10-31 03:51:14', '2016-10-31 07:51:14', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/933-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(934, 1, '2011-11-29 18:49:56', '2011-11-29 23:49:56', '[two_third]\nA short, easy (very) beginner read about a child going ice-skating. The word \"ice skating\" appears about a bazillion times in the space of these few sentences, so, after reading this, you may expect to recognize the word for the rest of your natural life. <!--more-->\n\nA note: The characters 周井寒 which appear in this essay are a person\'s name. The person is referred to twice, first by their given name, 井寒, then by their full name, 周井寒. The person\'s relationship to the author isn\'t really specified. This clearly isn\'t the name of the child\'s mother, as 周井寒 is referred to as a \"he\". \n\nThe Chinese title of this essay is 快乐的我. \n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n作业 - [pinyin]zuo4 ye4[/pinyin] - Homework\n早饭 - [pinyin]zao3 fan4[/pinyin] - Breakfast\n带 - [pinyin]dai4[/pinyin] - To take (someone) to do (something)\n溜冰 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\n溜冰场 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\n溜冰鞋 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\n摔倒 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\n扶 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\n连声 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\n互相 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n早上，我把<strong>作业</strong>写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过<strong>早饭</strong>后，妈妈<strong>带</strong>我去<strong>溜冰</strong>。到了<strong>溜冰场</strong>，我穿好<strong>溜冰鞋</strong>，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心<strong>摔倒</strong>了，井寒把我<strong>扶</strong>起来了，我<strong>连声</strong>说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\n\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们<strong>互相</strong>帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \n\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Happy Me!', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '933-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 18:49:56', '2011-11-29 23:49:56', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/933-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(935, 1, '2011-11-29 19:17:44', '2011-11-30 00:17:44', '', '20111210', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111210', '', '', '2011-11-29 19:17:44', '2011-11-30 00:17:44', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111210.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(936, 1, '2011-11-29 19:18:39', '2011-11-30 00:18:39', '', 'Beginner Simplified Chinese Essay - Chinese Reading Passage', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111210-inline', '', '', '2011-11-29 19:18:39', '2011-11-30 00:18:39', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111210-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(937, 1, '2011-11-29 19:15:25', '2011-11-30 00:15:25', '[two_third]\nA short, easy (very) beginner read about a child going ice-skating. The word \"ice skating\" appears about a bazillion times in the space of these few sentences, so, after reading this, you may expect to recognize the word for the rest of your natural life. <!--more-->\n\nA note: The characters 周井寒 which appear in this essay are a person\'s name. The person is referred to twice, first by their given name, 井寒, then by their full name, 周井寒. The person\'s relationship to the author isn\'t really specified. This clearly isn\'t the name of the child\'s mother, as 周井寒 is referred to as a \"he\". \n\nThe Chinese title of this essay is 快乐的我. \n\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2011-11-28/1322449584234905.html\">And here\'s the original source</a>\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n作业 - [pinyin]zuo4 ye4[/pinyin] - Homework\n早饭 - [pinyin]zao3 fan4[/pinyin] - Breakfast\n带 - [pinyin]dai4[/pinyin] - To take (someone) to do (something)\n溜冰 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\n溜冰场 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\n溜冰鞋 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\n摔倒 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\n扶 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\n连声 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\n互相 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n早上，我把<strong>作业</strong>写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过<strong>早饭</strong>后，妈妈<strong>带</strong>我去<strong>溜冰</strong>。到了<strong>溜冰场</strong>，我穿好<strong>溜冰鞋</strong>，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心<strong>摔倒</strong>了，井寒把我<strong>扶</strong>起来了，我<strong>连声</strong>说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\n\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们<strong>互相</strong>帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \n\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Happy Me!', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '933-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 19:15:25', '2011-11-30 00:15:25', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/933-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(938, 1, '2011-11-29 19:19:03', '2011-11-30 00:19:03', '[two_third]\r\nA short, easy (very) beginner read about a child going ice-skating. The word \"ice skating\" appears about a bazillion times in the space of these few sentences, so, after reading this, you may expect to recognize the word for the rest of your natural life. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111210-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Beginner Simplified Chinese Essay - Chinese Reading Passage\" title=\"Beginner Simplified Chinese Essay - Chinese Reading Passage\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />A note: The characters 周井寒 which appear in this essay are a person\'s name. The person is referred to twice, first by their given name, 井寒, then by their full name, 周井寒. The person\'s relationship to the author isn\'t really specified. This clearly isn\'t the name of the child\'s mother, as 周井寒 is referred to as a \"he\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this essay is 快乐的我. \r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2011-11-28/1322449584234905.html\">And here\'s the original source</a>\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n作业 - [pinyin]zuo4 ye4[/pinyin] - Homework\r\n早饭 - [pinyin]zao3 fan4[/pinyin] - Breakfast\r\n带 - [pinyin]dai4[/pinyin] - To take (someone) to do (something)\r\n溜冰 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\r\n溜冰场 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\r\n溜冰鞋 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\r\n摔倒 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\r\n扶 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\r\n连声 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\r\n互相 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n早上，我把<strong>作业</strong>写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过<strong>早饭</strong>后，妈妈<strong>带</strong>我去<strong>溜冰</strong>。到了<strong>溜冰场</strong>，我穿好<strong>溜冰鞋</strong>，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心<strong>摔倒</strong>了，井寒把我<strong>扶</strong>起来了，我<strong>连声</strong>说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\r\n\r\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们<strong>互相</strong>帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \r\n\r\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Happy Me!', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '933-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 19:19:03', '2011-11-30 00:19:03', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/933-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1764, 1, '2016-11-05 00:15:14', '2016-11-05 04:15:14', 'A short, easy (very) beginner read about a child going ice-skating. The word \"ice skating\" appears about a bazillion times in the space of these few sentences, so, after reading this, you may expect to recognize the word for the rest of your natural life. A note: The characters 周井寒 which appear in this essay are a person\'s name. The person is referred to twice, first by their given name, 井寒, then by their full name, 周井寒. The person\'s relationship to the author isn\'t really specified. This clearly isn\'t the name of the child\'s mother, as 周井寒 is referred to as a \"he\". \n\nThe Chinese title of this essay is . \n\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2011-11-28/1322449584234905.html\">And here\'s the original source</a>\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\n早上，我把作业写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过早饭后，妈妈带我去溜冰。到了溜冰场，我穿好溜冰鞋，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心摔倒了，井寒把我扶起来了，我连声说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\n\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们互相帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \n\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 快乐的我- Happy Me!', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '933-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:15:14', '2016-11-05 04:15:14', '', 933, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/933-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
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(940, 1, '2011-12-20 07:00:08', '2011-12-20 12:00:08', 'While we\'re busy prepping for our holiday season, I figured I\'d post something about a Chinese holiday. This is a culturally-rich and comfortably intermediate essay describing how one family celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 [pinyin]duan1 wu3 jie2[/pinyin]. If you\'re curious what the typical Chinese household does on this late-spring holiday (held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar), you\'ll love this read. The customs described are quite unlike any holidays in the West.\r\n\r\nThe <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwu_Festival\">dragon boat festival</a> is held in remembrance of poet Qu Yuan\'s death. Qu Yuan was a faithful servant of his emperor, but was falsely accused of being a traitor. He drowned himself in a river after several decades in exile, but the local people loved him and remember him fondly. Sounds morbid, but actually the festival is a joyous one, where dragon boats are raced on the river (to commemorate the search for Qu Yuan\'s body) and 粽子 [pinyin]zong4 zi5[/pinyin] (boiled triangular rice balls wrapped in leaves) are eaten (when he died, it\'s said that 粽子 were thrown into the river to feed him in the afterlife - other stories have it that people threw 粽子 into the river to keep the fish from eating his body before they could find it).\r\n\r\nA couple of words in this essay are not in the dictionary, and need explaining: namely 艾香. I this case, 艾香 [pinyin]ai4 xiang1[/pinyin] means \"the smell of wormwood\", and it refers to the smell produced by bouquets of wormwood (艾草) that people hang on their door during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away bad luck.Another word here is 雄黄酒, something that I\'ve seen but never tried, and while there is an English word for this, I\'ve never heard this spoken in English. 雄黄酒 is \"realgar wine\", whatever the heck realgar is. If you\'re curious, <a href=\"http://english.sina.com/life/p/2009/0527/244239.html\">this article</a> has more information on realgar wine and it\'s association with the Dragon Boat Festival. \r\n\r\nAnd finally, there\'s 趟露水, literally \"to wade in the dew\", and it refers to (what I think is a) regional custom of going out on an early morning walk and anointing one\'s face with dew drops. And without further adew (har!), the essay.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n今天是<strong>端午节</strong>，我们一家人五点就起床，按照习俗上山去趟露水。一路上我用双手捧起晶莹的露珠往眼睛上抹，一时间我觉得眼睛好像亮了好多。直到坐在教室读书时还觉得眼睛特别亮，什么字都能看清楚。\r\n\r\n放学后，我撒开腿就往家里跑。刚到门口就闻到粽子香，一进门就看见爸爸做了一桌子好菜专门等我回家吃。我洗过手来到饭桌前，先给爸爸妈妈一人解了一个粽子，撒上白糖，然后给我自己解了一个漂亮的三角粽子，撒上白糖就津津有味地吃起来。饭桌上，我们一家边吃边聊，屋子里充满了端午节的快乐气氛，弥漫着>香喷喷的粽子味和浓浓的<strong>艾香</strong>。\r\n\r\n吃完饭，妈妈给我耳朵上抹了雄黄酒，给我嘴上摸了唇膏，给我手腕上戴了红线绳，把我打扮得和粽子一样香，就让我到学校去学习。\r\n\r\n我爱吃粽子，爱过端午节，爱享受节日的欢乐气氛。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nToday is the Dragon Boat Festival, my family got out of bed at 5:00, and in accordance with local customs, when up the mountain to wade in the dew. On the road, I used both hands to cup sparkling dewdrops and smear them on my eyes, for a moment I felt as if they [my eyes] were considerably brightened. I felt they remained extremely bright as I sat in the classroom and read books; I could see every word clearly. \r\n\r\nWhen school let out, I let my legs loose and ran towards home. As soon as I reached the door I could smell the scent of zongzi, and as I entered I saw my father had made a whole table of delicious food that was just waiting for me to come home and eat it. I washed my hands and went to the dining table, first I broke open one zongzi each for father and mother and sprinkled them with white sugar, then I broke open a beautiful triangular zongzi for myself, sprinkled it with white sugar and heartily began eating.  At the dining table, our family ate and chatted, the woom was full of Dragon Boat Festival good cheer, suffused with the savory smell of zongzi and thick with the smell of wormwood.\r\n\r\nAfter we\'d had eaten, mother spread realgar wine on my ears, put lipstick on my lips, placed [bracelets of] red rope around my wrists, and made sure I smelled as sweetly as a zongzi, then sent me off back to school to study. \r\n\r\nI love eating zongzi, I loved the Dragon Boat Festival, and I love enjoying the holiday cheer. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 我家的端午节 - My Family\'s Dragon Boat Festival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'my-familys-dragon-boat-festival', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:13:50', '2016-11-05 04:13:50', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=940', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(2149, 1, '2016-11-05 00:12:54', '2016-11-05 04:12:54', 'While we\'re busy prepping for our holiday season, I figured I\'d post something about a Chinese holiday. This is a culturally-rich and comfortably intermediate essay describing how one family celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 [pinyin]duan1 wu3 jie2[/pinyin]. If you\'re curious what the typical Chinese household does on this late-spring holiday (held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar), you\'ll love this read. The customs described are quite unlike any holidays in the West.\r\n\r\nThe <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwu_Festival\">dragon boat festival</a> is held in remembrance of poet Qu Yuan\'s death. Qu Yuan was a faithful servant of his emperor, but was falsely accused of being a traitor. He drowned himself in a river after several decades in exile, but the local people loved him and remember him fondly. Sounds morbid, but actually the festival is a joyous one, where dragon boats are raced on the river (to commemorate the search for Qu Yuan\'s body) and 粽子 [pinyin]zong4 zi5[/pinyin] (boiled triangular rice balls wrapped in leaves) are eaten (when he died, it\'s said that 粽子 were thrown into the river to feed him in the afterlife - other stories have it that people threw 粽子 into the river to keep the fish from eating his body before they could find it).\r\n\r\nA couple of words in this essay are not in the dictionary, and need explaining: namely 艾香. I this case, 艾香 [pinyin]ai4 xiang1[/pinyin] means \"the smell of wormwood\", and it refers to the smell produced by bouquets of wormwood (艾草) that people hang on their door during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away bad luck.Another word here is 雄黄酒, something that I\'ve seen but never tried, and while there is an English word for this, I\'ve never heard this spoken in English. 雄黄酒 is \"realgar wine\", whatever the heck realgar is. If you\'re curious, <a href=\"http://english.sina.com/life/p/2009/0527/244239.html\">this article</a> has more information on realgar wine and it\'s association with the Dragon Boat Festival. \r\n\r\nAnd finally, there\'s 趟露水, literally \"to wade in the dew\", and it refers to (what I think is a) regional custom of going out on an early morning walk and anointing one\'s face with dew drops. And without further adew (har!), the Chinese title of this essay is 我家的端午节.\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n今天是<strong>端午节</strong>，我们一家人五点就起床，按照习俗上山去趟露水。一路上我用双手捧起晶莹的露珠往眼睛上抹，一时间我觉得眼睛好像亮了好多。直到坐在教室读书时还觉得眼睛特别亮，什么字都能看清楚。\r\n\r\n放学后，我撒开腿就往家里跑。刚到门口就闻到粽子香，一进门就看见爸爸做了一桌子好菜专门等我回家吃。我洗过手来到饭桌前，先给爸爸妈妈一人解了一个粽子，撒上白糖，然后给我自己解了一个漂亮的三角粽子，撒上白糖就津津有味地吃起来。饭桌上，我们一家边吃边聊，屋子里充满了端午节的快乐气氛，弥漫着>香喷喷的粽子味和浓浓的<strong>艾香</strong>。\r\n\r\n吃完饭，妈妈给我耳朵上抹了雄黄酒，给我嘴上摸了唇膏，给我手腕上戴了红线绳，把我打扮得和粽子一样香，就让我到学校去学习。\r\n\r\n我爱吃粽子，爱过端午节，爱享受节日的欢乐气氛。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nToday is the Dragon Boat Festival, my family got out of bed at 5:00, and in accordance with local customs, when up the mountain to wade in the dew. On the road, I used both hands to cup sparkling dewdrops and smear them on my eyes, for a moment I felt as if they [my eyes] were considerably brightened. I felt they remained extremely bright as I sat in the classroom and read books; I could see every word clearly. \r\n\r\nWhen school let out, I let my legs loose and ran towards home. As soon as I reached the door I could smell the scent of zongzi, and as I entered I saw my father had made a whole table of delicious food that was just waiting for me to come home and eat it. I washed my hands and went to the dining table, first I broke open one zongzi each for father and mother and sprinkled them with white sugar, then I broke open a beautiful triangular zongzi for myself, sprinkled it with white sugar and heartily began eating.  At the dining table, our family ate and chatted, the woom was full of Dragon Boat Festival good cheer, suffused with the savory smell of zongzi and thick with the smell of wormwood.\r\n\r\nAfter we\'d had eaten, mother spread realgar wine on my ears, put lipstick on my lips, placed [bracelets of] red rope around my wrists, and made sure I smelled as sweetly as a zongzi, then sent me off back to school to study. \r\n\r\nI love eating zongzi, I loved the Dragon Boat Festival, and I love enjoying the holiday cheer. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] My Family\'s Dragon Boat Festival', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '940-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:12:54', '2016-11-05 04:12:54', '', 940, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/940-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(941, 1, '2011-11-29 20:05:14', '2011-11-30 01:05:14', '[two_third]\nA culturally-rich intermediate essay describing how one family celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 [pinyin]duan1 wu3 jie2[/pinyin]. If you\'re curious what the typical Chinese household does on this late-spring holiday (held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar), you\'ll love this read. The customs described are quite unlike any holidays in the West. <!--more-->\n\nThe <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwu_Festival\">dragon boat festival</a> is held in remembrance of poet Qu Yuan\'s death. Qu Yuan was a faithful servant of his emperor, but was falsely accused of being a traitor. He drowned himself in a river after several decades in exile, but the local people loved him and remember him fondly. Sounds morbid, but actually the festival is a joyous one, where dragon boats are raced on the river (to commemorate the search for Qu Yuan\'s body) and 粽子 [pinyin]zong4 zi5[/pinyin] (boiled triangular rice balls wrapped in leaves) are eaten (when he died, it\'s said that 粽子 were thrown into the river to feed him in the afterlife - other stories have it that people threw 粽子 into the river to keep the fish from eating his body before they could find it).\n\nA couple of words in this essay are not in the dictionary, and need explaining: namely 艾香. I this case, 艾香 [pinyin]ai4 xiang1[/pinyin] means \"the smell of wormwood\", and it refers to the smell produced by bouquets of wormwood (艾草) that people hang on their door during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away bad luck.\n\nAnother word here is 趟露水, literally \"to wade in the dew\", and it refers to (what I think is a) regional custom of going out on an early morning walk and anointing one\'s face with dew drops. And without further adew (har!), the Chinese title of this essay is 我家的端午节.\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n作业 - [pinyin]zuo4 ye4[/pinyin] - Homework\n早饭 - [pinyin]zao3 fan4[/pinyin] - Breakfast\n带 - [pinyin]dai4[/pinyin] - To take (someone) to do (something)\n溜冰 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\n溜冰场 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\n溜冰鞋 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\n摔倒 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\n扶 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\n连声 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\n互相 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n今天是端午节，我们一家人五点就起床，按照习俗上山去趟露水。一路上我用双手捧起晶莹的露珠往眼睛上抹，一时间我觉得眼睛好像亮了好多。直到坐在教室读书时还觉得眼睛特别亮，什么字都能看清楚。\n\n放学后，我撒开腿就往家里跑。刚到门口就闻到粽子香，一进门就看见爸爸做了一桌子好菜专门等我回家吃。我洗过手来到饭桌前，先给爸爸妈妈一人解了一个粽子，撒上白糖，然后给我自己解了一个漂亮的三角粽子，撒上白糖就津津有味地吃起来。饭桌上，我们一家边吃边聊，屋子里充满了端午节的快乐气氛，弥漫着香喷喷的粽子味和浓浓的艾香。\n\n吃完饭，妈妈给我耳朵上抹了雄黄酒，给我嘴上摸了唇膏，给我手腕上戴了红线绳，把我打扮得和粽子一样香，就让我到学校去学习。\n\n我爱吃粽子，爱过端午节，爱享受节日的欢乐气氛。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nToday is the Dragon Boat Festival, my family got out of bed at 5:00, and in accordance with local customs, when up the mountain to wade in the dew. On the road, I used both hands to cup sparkling dewdrops and smear them on my eyes, for a moment I felt as if they [my eyes] were considerably brightened. I felt they remained extremely bright as I sat in the classroom and read books; I could see every word clearly. \n\nAfter school, I let my legs loose and ran towards home. As soon as I reached the door I could smell the scent of zongzi, and as I entered I saw my father had made a whole table of delicious food that was just waiting for me to come home and eat it. I washed my hands and went to the dining table, first I broke open a zongzi for father and mother and sprinkled it with white sugar, then I broke open a beautiful triangle zongzi for myself, sprinkled it with white sugar and heartily began eating.  At the dining table, our family ate and chatted, 。饭桌上，我们一家边吃边聊，屋子里充满了端午节的快乐气氛，弥漫着香喷喷的粽子味和浓浓的艾香。\n\n吃完饭，妈妈给我耳朵上抹了雄黄酒，给我嘴上摸了唇膏，给我手腕上戴了红线绳，把我打扮得和粽子一样香，就让我到学校去学习。\n\n我爱吃粽子，爱过端午节，爱享受节日的欢乐气氛。\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'My Family\'s Dragon Boat Festival', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '940-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 20:05:14', '2011-11-30 01:05:14', '', 940, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/940-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(943, 1, '2011-11-29 20:37:16', '2011-11-30 01:37:16', '', 'Practice Reading Chinese - Easy Intermediate Chinese Reader', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111220-inline', '', '', '2011-11-29 20:37:16', '2011-11-30 01:37:16', '', 940, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111220-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(944, 1, '2011-11-29 20:33:11', '2011-11-30 01:33:11', '[two_third]\nWhile we\'re busy prepping for our holiday season, I figured I\'d post something about a Chinese holiday. This is a culturally-rich and comfortably intermediate essay describing how one family celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 [pinyin]duan1 wu3 jie2[/pinyin]. If you\'re curious what the typical Chinese household does on this late-spring holiday (held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar), you\'ll love this read. The customs described are quite unlike any holidays in the West. <!--more-->\n\nThe <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwu_Festival\">dragon boat festival</a> is held in remembrance of poet Qu Yuan\'s death. Qu Yuan was a faithful servant of his emperor, but was falsely accused of being a traitor. He drowned himself in a river after several decades in exile, but the local people loved him and remember him fondly. Sounds morbid, but actually the festival is a joyous one, where dragon boats are raced on the river (to commemorate the search for Qu Yuan\'s body) and 粽子 [pinyin]zong4 zi5[/pinyin] (boiled triangular rice balls wrapped in leaves) are eaten (when he died, it\'s said that 粽子 were thrown into the river to feed him in the afterlife - other stories have it that people threw 粽子 into the river to keep the fish from eating his body before they could find it).\n\nA couple of words in this essay are not in the dictionary, and need explaining: namely 艾香. I this case, 艾香 [pinyin]ai4 xiang1[/pinyin] means \"the smell of wormwood\", and it refers to the smell produced by bouquets of wormwood (艾草) that people hang on their door during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away bad luck.\n\nAnother word here is 雄黄酒, something that I\'ve seen but never tried, and while there is an English word for this, I\'ve never heard this spoken in English. 雄黄酒 is \"realgar wine\", whatever the heck realgar is. If you\'re curious, <a href=\"http://english.sina.com/life/p/2009/0527/244239.html\">this article</a> has more information on realgar wine and it\'s association with the Dragon Boat Festival. \n\nAnd finally, there\'s 趟露水, literally \"to wade in the dew\", and it refers to (what I think is a) regional custom of going out on an early morning walk and anointing one\'s face with dew drops. And without further adew (har!), the Chinese title of this essay is 我家的端午节.\n\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n习俗 - [pinyin]xi2 su2[/pinyin] - Custom, local tradition\n捧 - [pinyin]peng3[/pinyin] - To cup in the hands\n晶莹 - [pinyin]jing1 ying2[/pinyin] - Sparkling and translucent\n露珠 - [pinyin]lu4 zhu1[/pinyin] - Dewdrop\n撒 - [pinyin]sa1[/pinyin] - (definition 1): To let loose, to let fly\n解 - [pinyin]jie3[/pinyin] - To break up, divide\n撒 - [pinyin]sa3[/pinyin] - (definition 2): To sprinkle\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - With relish, with gusto\n弥漫 - [pinyin]mi2 man4[/pinyin] - to pervade, be diffused with\n香喷喷 - [pinyin]xiang1 pen1 pen1[/pinyin] - Savory\n唇膏 - [pinyin]chun2 gao1[/pinyin] - Lipstick\n绳 - [pinyin]sheng2[/pinyin] - Rope\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n今天是端午节，我们一家人五点就起床，按照<strong>习俗</strong>上山去趟露水。一路上我用双手<strong>捧</strong>起<strong>晶莹</strong>的<strong>露珠</strong>往眼睛上抹，一时间我觉得眼睛好像亮了好多。直到坐在教室读书时还觉得眼睛特别亮，什么字都能看清楚。\n\n放学后，我<strong>撒</strong>开腿就往家里跑。刚到门口就闻到粽子香，一进门就看见爸爸做了一桌子好菜专门等我回家吃。我洗过手来到饭桌前，先给爸爸妈妈一人<strong>解</strong>了一个粽子，<strong>撒</strong>上白糖，然后给我自己解了一个漂亮的三角粽子，撒上白糖就<strong>津津有味</strong>地吃起来。饭桌上，我们一家边吃边聊，屋子里充满了端午节的快乐气氛，<strong>弥漫</strong>着<strong>香喷喷</strong>的粽子味和浓浓的艾香。\n\n吃完饭，妈妈给我耳朵上抹了雄黄酒，给我嘴上摸了<strong>唇膏</strong>，给我手腕上戴了红线<strong>绳</strong>，把我打扮得和粽子一样香，就让我到学校去学习。\n\n我爱吃粽子，爱过端午节，爱享受节日的欢乐气氛。\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nToday is the Dragon Boat Festival, my family got out of bed at 5:00, and in accordance with local customs, when up the mountain to wade in the dew. On the road, I used both hands to cup sparkling dewdrops and smear them on my eyes, for a moment I felt as if they [my eyes] were considerably brightened. I felt they remained extremely bright as I sat in the classroom and read books; I could see every word clearly. \n\nWhen school let out, I let my legs loose and ran towards home. As soon as I reached the door I could smell the scent of zongzi, and as I entered I saw my father had made a whole table of delicious food that was just waiting for me to come home and eat it. I washed my hands and went to the dining table, first I broke open one zongzi each for father and mother and sprinkled them with white sugar, then I broke open a beautiful triangular zongzi for myself, sprinkled it with white sugar and heartily began eating.  At the dining table, our family ate and chatted, the woom was full of Dragon Boat Festival good cheer, suffused with the savory smell of zongzi and thick with the smell of wormwood.\n\nAfter we\'d had eaten, mother spread realgar wine on my ears, put lipstick on my lips, placed [bracelets of] red rope around my wrists, and made sure I smelled as sweetly as a zongzi, then sent me off back to school to study. \n\nI love eating zongzi, I loved the Dragon Boat Festival, and I love enjoying the holiday cheer. \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'My Family\'s Dragon Boat Festival', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '940-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 20:33:11', '2011-11-30 01:33:11', '', 940, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/940-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(945, 1, '2011-11-29 20:37:30', '2011-11-30 01:37:30', '[two_third]\r\nWhile we\'re busy prepping for our holiday season, I figured I\'d post something about a Chinese holiday. This is a culturally-rich and comfortably intermediate essay describing how one family celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 [pinyin]duan1 wu3 jie2[/pinyin]. If you\'re curious what the typical Chinese household does on this late-spring holiday (held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar), you\'ll love this read. The customs described are quite unlike any holidays in the West. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/20111220-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Practice Reading Chinese - Easy Intermediate Chinese Reader\" title=\"Practice Reading Chinese - Easy Intermediate Chinese Reader\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignnone\" />The <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwu_Festival\">dragon boat festival</a> is held in remembrance of poet Qu Yuan\'s death. Qu Yuan was a faithful servant of his emperor, but was falsely accused of being a traitor. He drowned himself in a river after several decades in exile, but the local people loved him and remember him fondly. Sounds morbid, but actually the festival is a joyous one, where dragon boats are raced on the river (to commemorate the search for Qu Yuan\'s body) and 粽子 [pinyin]zong4 zi5[/pinyin] (boiled triangular rice balls wrapped in leaves) are eaten (when he died, it\'s said that 粽子 were thrown into the river to feed him in the afterlife - other stories have it that people threw 粽子 into the river to keep the fish from eating his body before they could find it).\r\n\r\nA couple of words in this essay are not in the dictionary, and need explaining: namely 艾香. I this case, 艾香 [pinyin]ai4 xiang1[/pinyin] means \"the smell of wormwood\", and it refers to the smell produced by bouquets of wormwood (艾草) that people hang on their door during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away bad luck.\r\n\r\nAnother word here is 雄黄酒, something that I\'ve seen but never tried, and while there is an English word for this, I\'ve never heard this spoken in English. 雄黄酒 is \"realgar wine\", whatever the heck realgar is. If you\'re curious, <a href=\"http://english.sina.com/life/p/2009/0527/244239.html\">this article</a> has more information on realgar wine and it\'s association with the Dragon Boat Festival. \r\n\r\nAnd finally, there\'s 趟露水, literally \"to wade in the dew\", and it refers to (what I think is a) regional custom of going out on an early morning walk and anointing one\'s face with dew drops. And without further adew (har!), the Chinese title of this essay is 我家的端午节.\r\n\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n习俗 - [pinyin]xi2 su2[/pinyin] - Custom, local tradition\r\n捧 - [pinyin]peng3[/pinyin] - To cup in the hands\r\n晶莹 - [pinyin]jing1 ying2[/pinyin] - Sparkling and translucent\r\n露珠 - [pinyin]lu4 zhu1[/pinyin] - Dewdrop\r\n撒 - [pinyin]sa1[/pinyin] - (definition 1): To let loose, to let fly\r\n解 - [pinyin]jie3[/pinyin] - To break up, divide\r\n撒 - [pinyin]sa3[/pinyin] - (definition 2): To sprinkle\r\n津津有味 - [pinyin]jin1 jin1 you3 wei4[/pinyin] - With relish, with gusto\r\n弥漫 - [pinyin]mi2 man4[/pinyin] - to pervade, be diffused with\r\n香喷喷 - [pinyin]xiang1 pen1 pen1[/pinyin] - Savory\r\n唇膏 - [pinyin]chun2 gao1[/pinyin] - Lipstick\r\n绳 - [pinyin]sheng2[/pinyin] - Rope\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n今天是端午节，我们一家人五点就起床，按照<strong>习俗</strong>上山去趟露水。一路上我用双手<strong>捧</strong>起<strong>晶莹</strong>的<strong>露珠</strong>往眼睛上抹，一时间我觉得眼睛好像亮了好多。直到坐在教室读书时还觉得眼睛特别亮，什么字都能看清楚。\r\n\r\n放学后，我<strong>撒</strong>开腿就往家里跑。刚到门口就闻到粽子香，一进门就看见爸爸做了一桌子好菜专门等我回家吃。我洗过手来到饭桌前，先给爸爸妈妈一人<strong>解</strong>了一个粽子，<strong>撒</strong>上白糖，然后给我自己解了一个漂亮的三角粽子，撒上白糖就<strong>津津有味</strong>地吃起来。饭桌上，我们一家边吃边聊，屋子里充满了端午节的快乐气氛，<strong>弥漫</strong>着<strong>香喷喷</strong>的粽子味和浓浓的艾香。\r\n\r\n吃完饭，妈妈给我耳朵上抹了雄黄酒，给我嘴上摸了<strong>唇膏</strong>，给我手腕上戴了红线<strong>绳</strong>，把我打扮得和粽子一样香，就让我到学校去学习。\r\n\r\n我爱吃粽子，爱过端午节，爱享受节日的欢乐气氛。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nToday is the Dragon Boat Festival, my family got out of bed at 5:00, and in accordance with local customs, when up the mountain to wade in the dew. On the road, I used both hands to cup sparkling dewdrops and smear them on my eyes, for a moment I felt as if they [my eyes] were considerably brightened. I felt they remained extremely bright as I sat in the classroom and read books; I could see every word clearly. \r\n\r\nWhen school let out, I let my legs loose and ran towards home. As soon as I reached the door I could smell the scent of zongzi, and as I entered I saw my father had made a whole table of delicious food that was just waiting for me to come home and eat it. I washed my hands and went to the dining table, first I broke open one zongzi each for father and mother and sprinkled them with white sugar, then I broke open a beautiful triangular zongzi for myself, sprinkled it with white sugar and heartily began eating.  At the dining table, our family ate and chatted, the woom was full of Dragon Boat Festival good cheer, suffused with the savory smell of zongzi and thick with the smell of wormwood.\r\n\r\nAfter we\'d had eaten, mother spread realgar wine on my ears, put lipstick on my lips, placed [bracelets of] red rope around my wrists, and made sure I smelled as sweetly as a zongzi, then sent me off back to school to study. \r\n\r\nI love eating zongzi, I loved the Dragon Boat Festival, and I love enjoying the holiday cheer. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'My Family\'s Dragon Boat Festival', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '940-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 20:37:30', '2011-11-30 01:37:30', '', 940, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/940-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1007, 1, '2012-02-12 01:42:59', '2012-02-12 06:42:59', 'Not sure what the life lesson is in this story or if it\'s supposed to have one at all. Maybe \"don\'t gossip\"? Or \"don\'t make wild assumptions?\" Not sure. I\'d say the most interesting word in here is 天哪, which means \"My goodness!\" This is used with relative frequency in China, and it\'s a good interjection to use when you\'re shocked or unpleasantly surprised about something but don\'t want to swear or be offensive. For example, if you walked into a room that smelled badly, or if you were jostled by a few dozen people coming off the subway, or if you found out that something you want to buy is outrageously expensive. It doesn\'t always have negative connotations, though - this can be used neutrally as well, but I rarely hear it used in a super positive context. Because the word 天 \"Tian\" ends with an \"n\" and the word 哪 \"na\" starts with one, this usually comes out sounding like \"Tian ah!\" rather than \"Tian na\".\r\n\r\nAnother notable word here is 假如 [pinyin]jia1 ru2[/pinyin], which means \"if\". Thing is, in Chinese, there are quite a few ways to say \"if\". There\'s the most common, which is 如果，there\'s 要是，there\'s 假使，若是，and so on. At a loss for a good explanation myself, I <a href=\"http://www.italki.com/answers/question/116228.htm\">found a site</a> that does a great job of summing this up. In short:\r\n\r\n<blockquote>1) expressing a fact: 要是你水烧到摄氏一百度就会沸腾, if you heat the water to 100 degrees celcius [then] it will boil.\r\n2) talking about a future result: 假如你认真学外语就会进步- if you study foreign language hard, it will improve.\r\n3)an imagined situation: 假使我很有钱，我就带她去很多地方- If I were rich,I would take her to so many places.\r\n4)if something didn\'t happen: 如果你没迟到，我就不会那么生气 (if you weren\'t late, I wouldn\'t of been so mad.\r\n\r\n\"ruguo\" is more common than all of them. In a learning Chinese book you might only see \"ruguo\" and you would hear \"ruguo\" in daily speech. They are all correct to say, and you can use them interchangeably. However, i\'d like to note that 要是 can also be used negatively if you place 不 in the middle, i.e. 要是 means \"if\" 要不是 means \"If not..\" such as 要不是你，我就不会来- If it wasn\'t for you, I wouldn\'t come. Whereas \"ruguo\" and the others cannot be used in that way.</blockquote>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 一只白鹭在浅浅的池水中站着。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 一只小刺猬走过，他说: “天哪，这只白鹭怎么没有脑袋！”\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> “真的！”一只小鼹鼠也叫了起来，“没有脑袋的鸟，我第一次看到!”\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> “假如我没有了脑袋就不能活了！”小刺猬说。\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> “是啊，可这只鸟还能站着不动，真了不起!”小鼹鼠说。\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> 这时，白鹭从她那翅膀底下，伸出了长脖子，长脖子上长着一颗好短短的脑袋。\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> 白鹭笑着说: “我是把脑袋钻进翅膀底下，梳理梳理羽毛，我怎么是没有脑袋的鸟呢?”\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> 小刺猬和小鼹鼠都笑了，他们说:\r\n\r\n<strong>9)</strong> “是我们没有用脑袋好好想一想，对不起，白鹭姐姐！”\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> An egret stood in the middle of a shallow pond. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> A hedgehog walked up and said, \"Goodness gracious! Somehow, that egret has no head!\" \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> \"Really!\" a little mole also cried out, \"This is the first time I\'ve seen a bird without a head!\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> \"If I didn\'t have a head, I wouldn\'t be able to live!\" the little hedgehog said.　　\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Yes, but this bird can still stand there not moving, how very impressive!\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> At this time, from beneath her wing the egret stretched out a long neck, and on top of that long neck grew a very short head.　　\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> Smiling, the egret said, \"I had my head tucked beneath my wing to comb out my feathers, how could I be a bird with no head?\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> The little hedgehog and the little mole smiled, and they said:　　\r\n\r\n<strong>9)</strong> \"We weren\'t using our heads, sorry Sister Egret!\"　　\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Fables] 没有脑袋的鸟 - The Little Bird with No Head', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'the-little-bird-with-no-head', '', '', '2016-11-04 23:31:58', '2016-11-05 03:31:58', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=1007', 0, 'post', '', 37),
(2128, 1, '2016-11-04 23:31:34', '2016-11-05 03:31:34', 'Not sure what the life lesson is in this story or if it\'s supposed to have one at all. Maybe \"don\'t gossip\"? Or \"don\'t make wild assumptions?\" Not sure. I\'d say the most interesting word in here is 天哪, which means \"My goodness!\" This is used with relative frequency in China, and it\'s a good interjection to use when you\'re shocked or unpleasantly surprised about something but don\'t want to swear or be offensive. For example, if you walked into a room that smelled badly, or if you were jostled by a few dozen people coming off the subway, or if you found out that something you want to buy is outrageously expensive. It doesn\'t always have negative connotations, though - this can be used neutrally as well, but I rarely hear it used in a super positive context. Because the word 天 \"Tian\" ends with an \"n\" and the word 哪 \"na\" starts with one, this usually comes out sounding like \"Tian ah!\" rather than \"Tian na\".\r\n\r\nAnother notable word here is 假如 [pinyin]jia1 ru2[/pinyin], which means \"if\". Thing is, in Chinese, there are quite a few ways to say \"if\". There\'s the most common, which is 如果，there\'s 要是，there\'s 假使，若是，and so on. At a loss for a good explanation myself, I <a href=\"http://www.italki.com/answers/question/116228.htm\">found a site</a> that does a great job of summing this up. In short:\r\n\r\n<blockquote>1) expressing a fact: 要是你水烧到摄氏一百度就会沸腾, if you heat the water to 100 degrees celcius [then] it will boil.\r\n2) talking about a future result: 假如你认真学外语就会进步- if you study foreign language hard, it will improve.\r\n3)an imagined situation: 假使我很有钱，我就带她去很多地方- If I were rich,I would take her to so many places.\r\n4)if something didn\'t happen: 如果你没迟到，我就不会那么生气 (if you weren\'t late, I wouldn\'t of been so mad.\r\n\r\n\"ruguo\" is more common than all of them. In a learning Chinese book you might only see \"ruguo\" and you would hear \"ruguo\" in daily speech. They are all correct to say, and you can use them interchangeably. However, i\'d like to note that 要是 can also be used negatively if you place 不 in the middle, i.e. 要是 means \"if\" 要不是 means \"If not..\" such as 要不是你，我就不会来- If it wasn\'t for you, I wouldn\'t come. Whereas \"ruguo\" and the others cannot be used in that way.</blockquote>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 一只白鹭在浅浅的池水中站着。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 一只小刺猬走过，他说: “天哪，这只白鹭怎么没有脑袋！”\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> “真的！”一只小鼹鼠也叫了起来，“没有脑袋的鸟，我第一次看到!”\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> “假如我没有了脑袋就不能活了！”小刺猬说。\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> “是啊，可这只鸟还能站着不动，真了不起!”小鼹鼠说。\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> 这时，白鹭从她那翅膀底下，伸出了长脖子，长脖子上长着一颗好短短的脑袋。\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> 白鹭笑着说: “我是把脑袋钻进翅膀底下，梳理梳理羽毛，我怎么是没有脑袋的鸟呢?”\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> 小刺猬和小鼹鼠都笑了，他们说:\r\n\r\n<strong>9)</strong> “是我们没有用脑袋好好想一想，对不起，白鹭姐姐！”\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> An egret stood in the middle of a shallow pond. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> A hedgehog walked up and said, \"Goodness gracious! Somehow, that egret has no head!\" \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> \"Really!\" a little mole also cried out, \"This is the first time I\'ve seen a bird without a head!\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> \"If I didn\'t have a head, I wouldn\'t be able to live!\" the little hedgehog said.　　\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Yes, but this bird can still stand there not moving, how very impressive!\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> At this time, from beneath her wing the egret stretched out a long neck, and on top of that long neck grew a very short head.　　\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> Smiling, the egret said, \"I had my head tucked beneath my wing to comb out my feathers, how could I be a bird with no head?\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> The little hedgehog and the little mole smiled, and they said:　　\r\n\r\n<strong>9)</strong> \"We weren\'t using our heads, sorry Sister Egret!\"　　\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Fables] 没有脑袋的鸟 - The Little Bird with No Head', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1007-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-04 23:31:34', '2016-11-05 03:31:34', '', 1007, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/1007-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1746, 1, '2016-10-31 03:35:26', '2016-10-31 07:35:26', 'I apologize for not posting a month or so, I\'ve been in the process of - ta da - moving back to China, so life\'s been exciting but busy. On the upside, looks like I\'ll have some interesting new posts from here. But today, in place of something interesting, we\'ve got a slightly insipid story for young children about a bird who appears to have no head. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/20120212-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Childrens Beginner Chinese Reading Passage: The Little Bird with No Head\" title=\"Easy Beginner Chinese Reading Passage: The Little Bird with No Head\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />Not sure what the life lesson is in this story or if it\'s supposed to have one at all. Maybe \"don\'t gossip\"? Or \"don\'t make wild assumptions?\" Not sure. I\'d say the most interesting word in here is 天哪, which means \"My goodness!\" This is used with relative frequency in China, and it\'s a good interjection to use when you\'re shocked or unpleasantly surprised about something but don\'t want to swear or be offensive. For example, if you walked into a room that smelled badly, or if you were jostled by a few dozen people coming off the subway, or if you found out that something you want to buy is outrageously expensive. It doesn\'t always have negative connotations, though - this can be used neutrally as well, but I rarely hear it used in a super positive context. Because the word 天 \"Tian\" ends with an \"n\" and the word 哪 \"na\" starts with one, this usually comes out sounding like \"Tian ah!\" rather than \"Tian na\".\r\n\r\nAnother notable word here is 假如 [pinyin]jia1 ru2[/pinyin], which means \"if\". Thing is, in Chinese, there are quite a few ways to say \"if\". There\'s the most common, which is 如果，there\'s 要是，there\'s 假使，若是，and so on. At a loss for a good explanation myself, I <a href=\"http://www.italki.com/answers/question/116228.htm\">found a site</a> that does a great job of summing this up. In short:\r\n\r\n<blockquote>1) expressing a fact: 要是你水烧到摄氏一百度就会沸腾, if you heat the water to 100 degrees celcius [then] it will boil.\r\n2) talking about a future result: 假如你认真学外语就会进步- if you study foreign language hard, it will improve.\r\n3)an imagined situation: 假使我很有钱，我就带她去很多地方- If I were rich,I would take her to so many places.\r\n4)if something didn\'t happen: 如果你没迟到，我就不会那么生气 (if you weren\'t late, I wouldn\'t of been so mad.\r\n\r\n\"ruguo\" is more common than all of them. In a learning Chinese book you might only see \"ruguo\" and you would hear \"ruguo\" in daily speech. They are all correct to say, and you can use them interchangeably. However, i\'d like to note that 要是 can also be used negatively if you place 不 in the middle, i.e. 要是 means \"if\" 要不是 means \"If not..\" such as 要不是你，我就不会来- If it wasn\'t for you, I wouldn\'t come. Whereas \"ruguo\" and the others cannot be used in that way.</blockquote>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 一只<strong>白鹭</strong>在<strong>浅浅</strong>的<strong>池</strong>水中站着。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 一只小<strong>刺猬</strong>走过，他说: “天哪，这只白鹭怎么没有<strong>脑袋</strong>！”\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> “真的！”一只小<strong>鼹鼠</strong>也叫了起来，“没有脑袋的鸟，我第一次看到!”\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> “<strong>假如</strong>我没有了脑袋就不能活了！”小刺猬说。\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> “是啊，可这只鸟还能站着不动，真了不起!”小鼹鼠说。\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> 这时，白鹭从她那<strong>翅膀</strong>底下，<strong>伸出</strong>了长脖子，长脖子上长着一颗好短短的脑袋。\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> 白鹭笑着说: “我是把脑袋钻进翅膀底下，<strong>梳理</strong>梳理羽毛，我怎么是没有脑袋的鸟呢?”\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> 小刺猬和小鼹鼠都笑了，他们说:\r\n\r\n<strong>9)</strong> “是我们没有用脑袋好好想一想，对不起，白鹭姐姐！”\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> An egret stood in the middle of a shallow pond. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> A hedgehog walked up and said, \"Goodness gracious! Somehow, that egret has no head!\" \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> \"Really!\" a little mole also cried out, \"This is the first time I\'ve seen a bird without a head!\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> \"If I didn\'t have a head, I wouldn\'t be able to live!\" the little hedgehog said.　　\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Yes, but this bird can still stand there not moving, how very impressive!\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> At this time, from beneath her wing the egret stretched out a long neck, and on top of that long neck grew a very short head.　　\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> Smiling, the egret said, \"I had my head tucked beneath my wing to comb out my feathers, how could I be a bird with no head?\"　　\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> The little hedgehog and the little mole smiled, and they said:　　\r\n\r\n<strong>9)</strong> \"We weren\'t using our heads, sorry Sister Egret!\"　　\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Fable] The Little Bird with No Head', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '1007-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-10-31 03:35:26', '2016-10-31 07:35:26', '', 1007, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/1007-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(948, 1, '2011-12-28 07:00:49', '2011-12-28 12:00:49', 'Holy gun smoke and armaments, Batman - you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this kid\'s classroom speech, which reads like a political call-to-action and includes rousing images of bloody soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. \r\n\r\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, have country, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\r\n\r\nThere are two proper nouns in here your dictionary may not have, the first being 钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin]. This guy was an engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry. The second: 詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - was a railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance. \r\n\r\n<h3>The Motherland</h3>\r\n\r\nIf you remember no other word in this whole essay, remember this one: 祖国 [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin]. Look at it: 祖国 祖国 祖国 祖国. It means \"motherland\", and once you know it, you will see it everywhere. \r\n\r\n<h3>The enemy</h3>\r\n\r\nAnother interesting word here is 帝国主义者, which means \"imperialist\". If you ever have plans to use your Chinese skills to read old Maoist textbooks, you\'d better remember that one as well. It also contains a useful grammar point: 主义者 is equivalent to the English suffix \"ist\", as in \"imperial-ist\". 主义, without 者, is equivalent to the \"ism\". So 帝国主义 is \"imperialism\". This can be applied to other words, such as 女权主义者 (feminist) and 女权主义 (feminism), and 理想主义者 (idealist) and 理想主义 (idealism). \r\n\r\n<h3>More martial vocab</h3>\r\n\r\n武装 - [pinyin]wu3 zhuang1[/pinyin] - To arm (someone)\r\n硝烟 - [pinyin]xiao1 yan1[/pinyin] - Gun smoke\r\n边疆 - [pinyin]bian1 jiang1[/pinyin] - Borders, borderlands\r\n回击 - [pinyin]hui2 ji1[/pinyin] - Counterattack\r\n战场 - [pinyin]zhan4 chang3[/pinyin] - Battlefield\r\n夺得 - [pinyin]duo2 de2[/pinyin] - Seize by force\r\n\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\r\n\r\n2) 今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\r\n\r\n3) 有两句话“生我者父母，养我者<strong>祖国</strong>．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\r\n\r\n4) 每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样爱祖国的人，放弃好的待遇，放弃好的前程，就是给那些瞧不起中国的<strong>帝国主义者</strong>一个有力的<strong>回击</strong>，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\r\n\r\n5) 每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上<strong>战场</strong>为祖国，抛头颅，撒热血保卫<strong>边疆</strong>．一次次<strong>硝烟</strong>过去，战场上尸横遍野，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \r\n\r\n6) 每当在荧屏上中国的奥运健儿在比赛中<strong>夺得</strong>冠军时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您争光了！“  \r\n\r\n7) 我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识<strong>武装</strong>自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) Respected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \r\n\r\n2) The topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\r\n\r\n3) There are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \r\n\r\n4) On every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialists who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \r\n\r\n5) In every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \r\n\r\n6) Every Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red flag, in their hearts they are shouting: \"Motherland, I won this honor for you!\" \r\n\r\n7) We can\'t cast our blood on the battlefield like those warriors, we can\'t build the motherland as the great men did... right now we must study well, use our wisdom and knowledge to arm ourselves so that after we grow up we can return with our service the kindness our motherland has done us, we should be like Premier Zhou [Zhou EnLai], read books so that China may rise up! Be an ambitious person.  \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 爱我中华 - Love Our China', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'love-our-china-a-patriotic-speech', '', '', '2016-11-11 02:40:42', '2016-11-11 07:40:42', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=948', 0, 'post', '', 1);
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(2146, 1, '2016-11-05 00:06:57', '2016-11-05 04:06:57', 'Holy gun smoke and armaments, Batman - you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this kid\'s classroom speech, which reads like a political call-to-action and includes rousing images of bloody soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. \r\n\r\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, have country, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\r\n\r\nThere are two proper nouns in here your dictionary may not have, the first being 钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin]. This guy was an engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry. The second: 詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - was a railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance. \r\n\r\n<h3>The Motherland</h3>\r\n\r\nIf you remember no other word in this whole essay, remember this one: 祖国 [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin]. Look at it: 祖国 祖国 祖国 祖国. It means \"motherland\", and once you know it, you will see it everywhere. \r\n\r\n<h3>The enemy</h3>\r\n\r\nAnother interesting word here is 帝国主义者, which means \"imperialist\". If you ever have plans to use your Chinese skills to read old Maoist textbooks, you\'d better remember that one as well. It also contains a useful grammar point: 主义者 is equivalent to the English suffix \"ist\", as in \"imperial-ist\". 主义, without 者, is equivalent to the \"ism\". So 帝国主义 is \"imperialism\". This can be applied to other words, such as 女权主义者 (feminist) and 女权主义 (feminism), and 理想主义者 (idealist) and 理想主义 (idealism). \r\n\r\n<h3>More martial vocab</h3>\r\n\r\n武装 - [pinyin]wu3 zhuang1[/pinyin] - To arm (someone)\r\n硝烟 - [pinyin]xiao1 yan1[/pinyin] - Gun smoke\r\n边疆 - [pinyin]bian1 jiang1[/pinyin] - Borders, borderlands\r\n回击 - [pinyin]hui2 ji1[/pinyin] - Counterattack\r\n战场 - [pinyin]zhan4 chang3[/pinyin] - Battlefield\r\n夺得 - [pinyin]duo2 de2[/pinyin] - Seize by force\r\n\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n1) 敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\r\n\r\n2) 今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\r\n\r\n3) 有两句话“生我者父母，养我者<strong>祖国</strong>．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\r\n\r\n4) 每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样爱祖国的人，放弃好的待遇，放弃好的前程，就是给那些瞧不起中国的<strong>帝国主义者</strong>一个有力的<strong>回击</strong>，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\r\n\r\n5) 每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上<strong>战场</strong>为祖国，抛头颅，撒热血保卫<strong>边疆</strong>．一次次<strong>硝烟</strong>过去，战场上尸横遍野，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \r\n\r\n6) 每当在荧屏上中国的奥运健儿在比赛中<strong>夺得</strong>冠军时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您争光了！“  \r\n\r\n7) 我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识<strong>武装</strong>自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) Respected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \r\n\r\n2) The topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\r\n\r\n3) There are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \r\n\r\n4) On every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialists who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \r\n\r\n5) In every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \r\n\r\n6) Every Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red flag, in their hearts they are shouting: \"Motherland, I won this honor for you!\" \r\n\r\n7) We can\'t cast our blood on the battlefield like those warriors, we can\'t build the motherland as the great men did... right now we must study well, use our wisdom and knowledge to arm ourselves so that after we grow up we can return with our service the kindness our motherland has done us, we should be like Premier Zhou [Zhou EnLai], read books so that China may rise up! Be an ambitious person.  \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 爱我中华 - Love Our China', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:06:57', '2016-11-05 04:06:57', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/948-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(949, 1, '2011-11-29 20:49:52', '2011-11-30 01:49:52', '[two_third]\nWelp, you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this. This transcript of a student\'s speech includes rousing images of soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist dogma. This is probably mid-upper intermediate. \n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n作业 - [pinyin]zuo4 ye4[/pinyin] - Homework\n早饭 - [pinyin]zao3 fan4[/pinyin] - Breakfast\n带 - [pinyin]dai4[/pinyin] - To take (someone) to do (something)\n溜冰 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\n溜冰场 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\n溜冰鞋 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\n摔倒 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\n扶 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\n连声 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\n互相 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n早上，我把<strong>作业</strong>写好了，妈妈起来了，我对妈妈说: “妈妈，我把作业都做好了。”吃过<strong>早饭</strong>后，妈妈<strong>带</strong>我去<strong>溜冰</strong>。到了<strong>溜冰场</strong>，我穿好<strong>溜冰鞋</strong>，开始溜冰了。溜冰的时候，我一不小心<strong>摔倒</strong>了，井寒把我<strong>扶</strong>起来了，我<strong>连声</strong>说: “谢谢你，周井寒。”周井寒摔倒了，我也把他扶起来。　　\n\n今天，你帮我，我帮你，我们<strong>互相</strong>帮助，我们真快乐啊！　　\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nIn the morning, I finished my homework, and [when] mother got up, I said to her: \"Mama, I finished all my homework.\" After we ate breakfast, mama took me ice skating. When we got to the ice rink, I put on my ice skates and began ice skating. When I was ice skating, I wasn\'t being careful and fell down, and Jing Han helped me back up, I repeatedly said: \"Thank you, Zhou Jing Han.\" Zhou Jing Han fell down, and I also helped him up.  \n\nToday, you help me, I help you, we help each other, we\'re so happy! \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'I love my China: A Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 20:49:52', '2011-11-30 01:49:52', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/948-revision/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(950, 1, '2011-11-29 21:22:32', '2011-11-30 02:22:32', '[two_third]\nWelp, you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this. This transcript of a student\'s classroom speech reads like a political essay and includes rousing images of soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. This is probably upper intermediate level reading, but I\'m classifying it as advanced, as the sentence structure really isn\'t very straightforward, and there are quite a few new words. <!--more-->\n\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, country first, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\n\nThe title of this speech is: 爱我中华\n\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\n带 - [pinyin]dai4[/pinyin] - To take (someone) to do (something)\n溜冰 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\n溜冰场 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\n溜冰鞋 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\n摔倒 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\n扶 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\n连声 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\n互相 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\n\n今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\n\n有两句话“生我者父母，养我者祖国．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\n\n每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样爱祖国的人，放弃好的待遇，放弃好的前程，就是给那些瞧不起中国的帝国主义者一个有力的回击，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\n\n每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上战场为祖国，抛头颅，撒热血保卫边疆．一次次硝烟过去，战场上尸横遍野，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \n\n每当在荧屏上中国的奥运健儿 在比赛中夺得冠军时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您争光了！“  \n\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识武装自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nRespected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \n\nThe topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\n\nThere are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \n\nOn every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialist countries who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \n\nIn every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lose their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherlands to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers w  每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上战场为祖国，抛头颅，撒热血保卫边疆．一次次硝烟过去，战场上尸横遍野，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \n\n每当在荧屏上中国的奥运健儿 在比赛中夺得冠军时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您争光了！“  \n\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识武装自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Love Our China: A Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 21:22:32', '2011-11-30 02:22:32', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/948-revision-2/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(951, 1, '2011-11-29 21:27:03', '2011-11-30 02:27:03', '[two_third]\nWelp, you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this. This transcript of a student\'s classroom speech reads like a political essay and includes rousing images of soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. This is probably upper intermediate level reading, but I\'m classifying it as advanced, as the sentence structure really isn\'t very straightforward, and there are quite a few new words. <!--more-->\n\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, country first, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\n\nThe title of this speech is: 爱我中华\n\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\n带 - [pinyin]dai4[/pinyin] - To take (someone) to do (something)\n溜冰 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\n溜冰场 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\n溜冰鞋 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\n摔倒 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\n扶 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\n连声 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\n互相 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\n\n今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\n\n有两句话“生我者父母，养我者祖国．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\n\n每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样爱祖国的人，放弃好的待遇，放弃好的前程，就是给那些瞧不起中国的帝国主义者一个有力的回击，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\n\n每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上战场为祖国，抛头颅，撒热血保卫边疆．一次次硝烟过去，战场上尸横遍野，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \n\n每当在荧屏上中国的奥运健儿 在比赛中夺得冠军时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您争光了！“  \n\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识武装自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nRespected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \n\nThe topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\n\nThere are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \n\nOn every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialist countries who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \n\nIn every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \n\nEvery Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red  ，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您争光了！“  \n\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识武装自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Love Our China: A Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 21:27:03', '2011-11-30 02:27:03', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/948-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(952, 1, '2011-11-29 21:43:52', '2011-11-30 02:43:52', '[two_third]\nWelp, you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this. This transcript of a student\'s classroom speech reads like a political call-to-action and includes rousing images of bloody soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. This is probably upper intermediate level reading, but I\'m classifying it as advanced, as the sentence structure really isn\'t very straightforward, and there are quite a few new words. <!--more-->\n\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, country first, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\n\nIf you remember no other word in this whole essay, remember this one: 祖国 [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin]. Look at it: 祖国 祖国 祖国 祖国. It means \"motherland\", and once you know it, you will see it everywhere. \n\nThe title of this speech is: 爱我中华\n\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\n\n[/two_third]\n[one_third last=last]\n<div class=\"postintro\">\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\n祖国 - [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Motherland\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\n爱祖国 (also 爱国) - [pinyin]ai4 zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Love the motherland, a patriot\n待遇 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\n前程 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\n帝国主义者 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\n回击 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\n战场 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\n抛 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\n边疆 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\n硝烟\n尸横遍野\n荧屏\n健儿\n夺得\n冠军\n争光\n</div>\n[/one_third]\n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\n敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\n\n今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\n\n有两句话“生我者父母，养我者<strong>祖国</strong>．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\n\n每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样<strong>爱祖国</strong>的人，放弃好的<strong>待遇</strong>，放弃好的<strong>前程</strong>，就是给那些瞧不起中国的<strong>帝国主义者</strong>一个有力的<strong>回击</strong>，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\n\n每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上<strong>战场</strong>为祖国，<strong>抛</strong>头颅，撒热血保卫<strong>边疆</strong>．一次次<strong>硝烟</strong>过去，战场上<strong>尸横遍野</strong>，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \n\n每当在<strong>荧屏</strong>上中国的奥运<strong>健儿</strong> 在比赛中<strong>夺得冠军</strong>时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您<strong>争光</strong>了！“  \n\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识武装自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\nRespected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \n\nThe topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\n\nThere are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \n\nOn every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialists who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \n\nIn every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \n\nEvery Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red flag, in their hearts they are shouting: \"Motherland, I won this honor for you!\" \n\nWe can\'t cast our blood on the battlefield like those warriors, we can\'t build the motherland as the great men did... right now we must study well, use our wisdom and knowledge to arm ourselves so that after we grow up we can return with our service the kindness our motherland has done us, we should be like Premier Zhou [Zhou EnLai], read books so that China may rise up! Be an ambitious person.  \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Love Our China: A Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 21:43:52', '2011-11-30 02:43:52', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/948-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(953, 1, '2011-11-29 21:44:48', '2011-11-30 02:44:48', '[two_third]\r\nWelp, you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this. This transcript of a student\'s classroom speech reads like a political call-to-action and includes rousing images of bloody soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. This might be upper intermediate level reading, but I\'m classifying it as advanced, as the sentence structure really isn\'t very straightforward, and there are quite a few new words. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, country first, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\r\n\r\nIf you remember no other word in this whole essay, remember this one: 祖国 [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin]. Look at it: 祖国 祖国 祖国 祖国. It means \"motherland\", and once you know it, you will see it everywhere. \r\n\r\nThe title of this speech is: 爱我中华\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n祖国 - [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Motherland\r\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\r\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\r\n爱祖国 (also 爱国) - [pinyin]ai4 zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Love the motherland, a patriot\r\n待遇 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1[/pinyin] - Ice skating\r\n前程 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 chang2[/pinyin] - Ice skating rink\r\n帝国主义者 - [pinyin]liu1 bing1 xie2[/pinyin] - Ice skates\r\n回击 - [pinyin]shuai1 dao3[/pinyin] - To fall down\r\n战场 - [pinyin]fu2[/pinyin] - Help someone up, to support with one\'s hand\r\n抛 - [pinyin]lian2 sheng1[/pinyin] - Say repeatedly, say over and over\r\n边疆 - [pinyin]hu4 xiang1[/pinyin] - Each other, mutually\r\n硝烟\r\n尸横遍野\r\n荧屏\r\n健儿\r\n夺得\r\n冠军\r\n争光\r\n武装\r\n报效\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\r\n\r\n今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\r\n\r\n有两句话“生我者父母，养我者<strong>祖国</strong>．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\r\n\r\n每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样<strong>爱祖国</strong>的人，放弃好的<strong>待遇</strong>，放弃好的<strong>前程</strong>，就是给那些瞧不起中国的<strong>帝国主义者</strong>一个有力的<strong>回击</strong>，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\r\n\r\n每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上<strong>战场</strong>为祖国，<strong>抛</strong>头颅，撒热血保卫<strong>边疆</strong>．一次次<strong>硝烟</strong>过去，战场上<strong>尸横遍野</strong>，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \r\n\r\n每当在<strong>荧屏</strong>上中国的奥运<strong>健儿</strong> 在比赛中<strong>夺得冠军</strong>时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您<strong>争光</strong>了！“  \r\n\r\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识<strong>武装</strong>自己长大以后<strong>报效</strong>祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nRespected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \r\n\r\nThe topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\r\n\r\nThere are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \r\n\r\nOn every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialists who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \r\n\r\nIn every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \r\n\r\nEvery Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red flag, in their hearts they are shouting: \"Motherland, I won this honor for you!\" \r\n\r\nWe can\'t cast our blood on the battlefield like those warriors, we can\'t build the motherland as the great men did... right now we must study well, use our wisdom and knowledge to arm ourselves so that after we grow up we can return with our service the kindness our motherland has done us, we should be like Premier Zhou [Zhou EnLai], read books so that China may rise up! Be an ambitious person.  \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Love Our China: A Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 21:44:48', '2011-11-30 02:44:48', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/948-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(954, 1, '2011-11-29 21:50:45', '2011-11-30 02:50:45', '[two_third]\r\nWelp, you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this. This transcript of a student\'s classroom speech reads like a political call-to-action and includes rousing images of bloody soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. This might be upper intermediate level reading, but I\'m classifying it as advanced, as the sentence structure really isn\'t very straightforward, and there are quite a few new words. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, country first, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\r\n\r\nIf you remember no other word in this whole essay, remember this one: 祖国 [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin]. Look at it: 祖国 祖国 祖国 祖国. It means \"motherland\", and once you know it, you will see it everywhere. \r\n\r\nThe title of this speech is: 爱我中华\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n祖国 - [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Motherland\r\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\r\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\r\n爱祖国 (also 爱国) - [pinyin]ai4 zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Love the motherland, a patriot\r\n待遇 - [pinyin]dai4 yu4[/pinyin] - Treatment, pay, wages\r\n前程 - [pinyin]qian2 cheng2[/pinyin] - Future career prospects\r\n帝国主义者 - [pinyin]di4 guo2 zhu3 yi4 zhe3[/pinyin] - Imperialist\r\n回击 - [pinyin]hui2 ji1[/pinyin] - Counterattack\r\n战场 - [pinyin]zhan4 chang3[/pinyin] - Battlefield\r\n抛 - [pinyin]pao1[/pinyin] - Toss, throw away, abandon\r\n边疆 - [pinyin]bian1 jiang1[/pinyin] - Borders, borderlands\r\n硝烟 - [pinyin]xiao1 yan1[/pinyin] - Gun smoke\r\n尸横遍野 - [pinyin]shi1 heng2 bian4 ye3[/pinyin] - Corpses strewn over a plain\r\n荧屏 - [pinyin]ying2 ping2[/pinyin] - TV screen\r\n健儿 - [pinyin]jian4 er2[/pinyin] - Meaning both \'top athlete\' and \'heroic warrior\'\r\n夺得 - [pinyin]duo2 de2[/pinyin] - Seize by force\r\n冠军 - [pinyin]guan4 jun1[/pinyin] - Champion\r\n争光 - [pinyin]zheng1 guang1[/pinyin] - Win a prize, win an honor\r\n武装 - [pinyin]wu3 zhuang1[/pinyin] - To arm (someone)\r\n报效 - [pinyin]bao4 xiao4[/pinyin] - Return a kindness by doing a service\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\r\n\r\n今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\r\n\r\n有两句话“生我者父母，养我者<strong>祖国</strong>．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\r\n\r\n每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样<strong>爱祖国</strong>的人，放弃好的<strong>待遇</strong>，放弃好的<strong>前程</strong>，就是给那些瞧不起中国的<strong>帝国主义者</strong>一个有力的<strong>回击</strong>，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\r\n\r\n每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上<strong>战场</strong>为祖国，<strong>抛</strong>头颅，撒热血保卫<strong>边疆</strong>．一次次<strong>硝烟</strong>过去，战场上<strong>尸横遍野</strong>，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \r\n\r\n每当在<strong>荧屏</strong>上中国的奥运<strong>健儿</strong> 在比赛中<strong>夺得冠军</strong>时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您<strong>争光</strong>了！“  \r\n\r\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识<strong>武装</strong>自己长大以后<strong>报效</strong>祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nRespected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \r\n\r\nThe topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\r\n\r\nThere are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \r\n\r\nOn every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialists who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \r\n\r\nIn every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \r\n\r\nEvery Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red flag, in their hearts they are shouting: \"Motherland, I won this honor for you!\" \r\n\r\nWe can\'t cast our blood on the battlefield like those warriors, we can\'t build the motherland as the great men did... right now we must study well, use our wisdom and knowledge to arm ourselves so that after we grow up we can return with our service the kindness our motherland has done us, we should be like Premier Zhou [Zhou EnLai], read books so that China may rise up! Be an ambitious person.  \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Love Our China: A Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 21:50:45', '2011-11-30 02:50:45', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/948-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(955, 1, '2011-11-29 22:00:24', '2011-11-30 03:00:24', '', 'Chinese Practice Texts - Advanced Chinese Patriotic Speech ', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111228', '', '', '2011-11-29 22:00:24', '2011-11-30 03:00:24', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20111228.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(956, 1, '2011-11-29 22:01:13', '2011-11-30 03:01:13', '', 'Simplified Chinese Practice Texts - Patriotic Chinese Communist Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111228-inline', '', '', '2011-11-29 22:01:13', '2011-11-30 03:01:13', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20111228-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(957, 1, '2011-11-29 21:55:03', '2011-11-30 02:55:03', '[two_third]\r\nWelp, you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this. This transcript of a student\'s classroom speech reads like a political call-to-action and includes rousing images of bloody soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. This might be upper intermediate level reading, but I\'m classifying it as advanced, as the sentence structure really isn\'t very straightforward, and there are quite a few new words. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, country first, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\r\n\r\nIf you remember no other word in this whole essay, remember this one: 祖国 [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin]. Look at it: 祖国 祖国 祖国 祖国. It means \"motherland\", and once you know it, you will see it everywhere. \r\n\r\nAnother interesting word here is 帝国主义者, which means \"imperialist\". If you ever have plans to use your Chinese skills to read old Maoist textbooks, you\'d better remember that one as well. It also contains a useful grammar point: 主义者 is equivalent to the English suffix \"ist\", as in \"imperial-ist\". 主义, without 者, is equivalent to the \"ism\". So 帝国主义 is \"imperialism\". This can be applied to other words, such as 女权主义者 (feminist) and 女权主义 (feminism), and 理想主义者 (idealist) and 理想主义 (idealism). \r\n\r\nThe title of this speech is: 爱我中华\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n祖国 - [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Motherland\r\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\r\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\r\n爱祖国 (also 爱国) - [pinyin]ai4 zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Love the motherland, a patriot\r\n待遇 - [pinyin]dai4 yu4[/pinyin] - Treatment, pay, wages\r\n前程 - [pinyin]qian2 cheng2[/pinyin] - Future career prospects\r\n帝国主义者 - [pinyin]di4 guo2 zhu3 yi4 zhe3[/pinyin] - Imperialist\r\n回击 - [pinyin]hui2 ji1[/pinyin] - Counterattack\r\n战场 - [pinyin]zhan4 chang3[/pinyin] - Battlefield\r\n抛 - [pinyin]pao1[/pinyin] - Toss, throw away, abandon\r\n边疆 - [pinyin]bian1 jiang1[/pinyin] - Borders, borderlands\r\n硝烟 - [pinyin]xiao1 yan1[/pinyin] - Gun smoke\r\n尸横遍野 - [pinyin]shi1 heng2 bian4 ye3[/pinyin] - Corpses strewn over a plain\r\n荧屏 - [pinyin]ying2 ping2[/pinyin] - TV screen\r\n健儿 - [pinyin]jian4 er2[/pinyin] - Meaning both \'top athlete\' and \'heroic warrior\'\r\n夺得 - [pinyin]duo2 de2[/pinyin] - Seize by force\r\n冠军 - [pinyin]guan4 jun1[/pinyin] - Champion\r\n争光 - [pinyin]zheng1 guang1[/pinyin] - Win a prize, win an honor\r\n武装 - [pinyin]wu3 zhuang1[/pinyin] - To arm (someone)\r\n报效 - [pinyin]bao4 xiao4[/pinyin] - Return a kindness by doing a service\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\r\n\r\n今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\r\n\r\n有两句话“生我者父母，养我者<strong>祖国</strong>．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\r\n\r\n每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样<strong>爱祖国</strong>的人，放弃好的<strong>待遇</strong>，放弃好的<strong>前程</strong>，就是给那些瞧不起中国的<strong>帝国主义者</strong>一个有力的<strong>回击</strong>，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\r\n\r\n每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上<strong>战场</strong>为祖国，<strong>抛</strong>头颅，撒热血保卫<strong>边疆</strong>．一次次<strong>硝烟</strong>过去，战场上<strong>尸横遍野</strong>，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \r\n\r\n每当在<strong>荧屏</strong>上中国的奥运<strong>健儿</strong> 在比赛中<strong>夺得冠军</strong>时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您<strong>争光</strong>了！“  \r\n\r\n我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识<strong>武装</strong>自己长大以后<strong>报效</strong>祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nRespected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \r\n\r\nThe topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\r\n\r\nThere are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \r\n\r\nOn every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialists who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \r\n\r\nIn every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \r\n\r\nEvery Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red flag, in their hearts they are shouting: \"Motherland, I won this honor for you!\" \r\n\r\nWe can\'t cast our blood on the battlefield like those warriors, we can\'t build the motherland as the great men did... right now we must study well, use our wisdom and knowledge to arm ourselves so that after we grow up we can return with our service the kindness our motherland has done us, we should be like Premier Zhou [Zhou EnLai], read books so that China may rise up! Be an ambitious person.  \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Love Our China: A Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '948-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-11-29 21:55:03', '2011-11-30 02:55:03', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/11/29/948-revision-7/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2144, 1, '2016-11-11 02:38:59', '2016-11-11 07:38:59', 'Holy gun smoke and armaments, Batman - you can\'t get more forcefully patriotic than this kid\'s classroom speech, which reads like a political call-to-action and includes rousing images of bloody soldiers, strong Chinese athletes and Chinese workers throwing off the yoke of imperialist might. \n\nThere\'s a saying in the third paragraph that makes no sense in English, only in Chinese. The saying is: \'国家国家，有国才有家\'. This translates to \"Country, country, have country, then home.\" Doesn\'t mean much, does it? But we must examine the structure of the sentence to see that this is actually a play on words. The word for \"country\" is 国家.  国, by itself, means \"country\" or \"kingdom\". 家, by itself, means \"home\" or \"family\". Put them together, and you get the complete, proper word for \"country\". So the author is first saying the word \"country\" twice (国家国家), then the second part means \"the word country is made up first of the character for country, THEN then character for \'home\'\", in other words, \"you must have a country before you can have a home or family\". This seems to also insinuate that \"country should come before family\".\n\nThere are two proper nouns in here your dictionary may not have, the first being 钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin]. This guy was an engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry. The second: 詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - was a railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance. \n\n<h3>The Motherland</h3>\n\nIf you remember no other word in this whole essay, remember this one: 祖国 [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin]. Look at it: 祖国 祖国 祖国 祖国. It means \"motherland\", and once you know it, you will see it everywhere. \n\n<h3>The enemy</h3>\n\nAnother interesting word here is 帝国主义者, which means \"imperialist\". If you ever have plans to use your Chinese skills to read old Maoist textbooks, you\'d better remember that one as well. It also contains a useful grammar point: 主义者 is equivalent to the English suffix \"ist\", as in \"imperial-ist\". 主义, without 者, is equivalent to the \"ism\". So 帝国主义 is \"imperialism\". This can be applied to other words, such as 女权主义者 (feminist) and 女权主义 (feminism), and 理想主义者 (idealist) and 理想主义 (idealism). \n\n<h3>More martial vocab</h3>\n\n武装 - [pinyin]wu3 zhuang1[/pinyin] - To arm (someone)\n硝烟 - [pinyin]xiao1 yan1[/pinyin] - Gun smoke\n边疆 - [pinyin]bian1 jiang1[/pinyin] - Borders, borderlands\n回击 - [pinyin]hui2 ji1[/pinyin] - Counterattack\n战场 - [pinyin]zhan4 chang3[/pinyin] - Battlefield\n夺得 - [pinyin]duo2 de2[/pinyin] - Seize by force\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxuewunianjizuowen/2011-08-18/1313632636230846.html\">You can find the original here</a>\n\n[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n1) 敬爱的老师，亲爱的同学们: 大家好！\n\n2) 今天我演讲的题目是“爱我中华“\n\n3) 有两句话“生我者父母，养我者<strong>祖国</strong>．“ “国家国家，有国才有家．“ 我爱我的祖国，胜过爱我的一切！\n\n4) 每当阅读起爱国书籍，看到<strong>詹天佑</strong>，<strong>钱学森</strong>等这样爱祖国的人，放弃好的待遇，放弃好的前程，就是给那些瞧不起中国的<strong>帝国主义者</strong>一个有力的<strong>回击</strong>，他们用行动大声的说:“ 祖国，我爱您！“\n\n5) 每当看起爱国电影，看着英雄战士上<strong>战场</strong>为祖国，抛头颅，撒热血保卫<strong>边疆</strong>．一次次<strong>硝烟</strong>过去，战场上尸横遍野，那些快要死了的战士好象在说: “ 祖国，你永远在我心中！“ \n\n6) 每当在荧屏上中国的奥运健儿在比赛中<strong>夺得</strong>冠军时他们总是露着灿烂的笑容，身为祖国儿女的他们感到无比的自豪．升国旗时，他们流出滚滚热泪，望着五星红旗，心中在呼唤: “ 祖国，我为您争光了！“  \n\n7) 我们不能像勇士那样血撒战场，不能像伟人一样建设祖国．．．．．．我们现在应该好好学习，用智慧和知识<strong>武装</strong>自己长大以后报效祖国，大家要像周总理那样，为中华之崛起而读书！做一个有志向的人.\n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\n1) Respected teacher, dear classmates, hello! \n\n2) The topic of my speech today is \"Love Our China\".\n\n3) There are two sayings, \"My mother and father birthed me, my country raised me.\" And \"Country, country, you must have a country before you have a home.\" I love my motherland, it surpasses everything that I love! \n\n4) On every patriotic work, we see Zhan TianYou, Qian XueSen, and similar patriots, who gave up good pay, gave up good career prospects, to forcefully fight back against the imperialists who looked down on China. They used their actions to say loudly, \"Motherland, I love you!\" \n\n5) In every patriotic movie, we see heroic soldiers who lost their heads and sprinkled their blood on the battlefields for their motherland to defend our borders, and when the gun smoke cleared, the battlefields were littered with corpses. It\'s as if those soldiers who were about to die said, \"Motherland, you are forever in my heart!\"  \n\n6) Every Chinese Olympic athlete on the TV screen who seizes the championship in a competition is always smiling brilliantly, as sons and daughters of the motherland, they feel matchless pride. When our flag is raised, hot tears roll down their cheeks as they gaze at the five-starred red flag, in their hearts they are shouting: \"Motherland, I won this honor for you!\" \n\n7) We can\'t cast our blood on the battlefield like those warriors, we can\'t build the motherland as the great men did... right now we must study well, use our wisdom and knowledge to arm ourselves so that after we grow up we can return with our service the kindness our motherland has done us, we should be like Premier Zhou [Zhou EnLai], read books so that China may rise up! Be an ambitious person.  \n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Essays] 爱我中华 - Love Our China', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '948-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-11 02:38:59', '2016-11-11 07:38:59', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/948-autosave-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2145, 1, '2016-11-05 00:06:34', '2016-11-05 04:06:34', '', 'Chinese Practice Texts - Advanced Chinese Patriotic Speech', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'closed', '', 'love-our-china-chinese-speech', '', '', '2016-11-05 00:06:42', '2016-11-05 04:06:42', '', 948, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/love-our-china-chinese-speech.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0);
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(960, 1, '2012-01-02 07:00:09', '2012-01-02 12:00:09', 'A short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. In this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \r\n\r\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩穿上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，舔了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 浩浩仰起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈顺口说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 于是浩浩低下头，对着小狗的耳朵说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”突然他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子脱了下来，套在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> “妈妈，还差两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> “差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> “狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> 话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、红着脸、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都光着两只脚啦！” \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Mama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Hao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t it wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> So Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> Not long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> \"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> \"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> Before he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet!\"\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Short Stories] 小狗穿鞋- Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'little-dog-wears-shoes', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:41:34', '2016-11-05 05:41:34', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=960', 0, 'post', '', 32),
(2195, 1, '2016-11-05 01:41:34', '2016-11-05 05:41:34', 'A short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. In this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \r\n\r\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩穿上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，舔了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 浩浩仰起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈顺口说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> 于是浩浩低下头，对着小狗的耳朵说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”突然他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子脱了下来，套在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> “妈妈，还差两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> “差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> “狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> 话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、红着脸、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都光着两只脚啦！” \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Mama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Hao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t it wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> So Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> Not long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> \"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> \"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> Before he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet!\"\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Short Stories] 小狗穿鞋- Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:41:34', '2016-11-05 05:41:34', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/960-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2194, 1, '2016-11-05 01:40:12', '2016-11-05 05:40:12', 'A short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. In this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \r\n\r\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩<strong>穿</strong>上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，<strong>舔</strong>了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 浩浩<strong>仰</strong>起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈<strong>顺口</strong>说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> <strong>于是</strong>浩浩<strong>低下头</strong>，对着小狗的<strong>耳朵</strong>说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”<strong>突然</strong>他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子<strong>脱</strong>了下来，<strong>套</strong>在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> “妈妈，还<strong>差</strong>两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> “差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> “狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> 话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、<strong>红着脸</strong>、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都<strong>光</strong>着两只脚啦！” \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Mama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Hao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t it wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> So Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> Not long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> \"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> \"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> Before he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet!\"\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Short Stories] 小狗穿鞋- Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:40:12', '2016-11-05 05:40:12', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/960-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(1763, 1, '2016-10-31 03:49:35', '2016-10-31 07:49:35', 'A short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/20120102-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise\" title=\"Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \r\n\r\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n<strong>1)</strong> 妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩<strong>穿</strong>上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，<strong>舔</strong>了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> 浩浩<strong>仰</strong>起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈<strong>顺口</strong>说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> <strong>于是</strong>浩浩<strong>低下头</strong>，对着小狗的<strong>耳朵</strong>说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”<strong>突然</strong>他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> 不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子<strong>脱</strong>了下来，<strong>套</strong>在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> “妈妈，还<strong>差</strong>两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> “差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> “狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> 话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、<strong>红着脸</strong>、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都<strong>光</strong>着两只脚啦！” \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n<strong>1)</strong> Mama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\n<strong>2)</strong> Hao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t it wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\n<strong>3)</strong> So Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\n<strong>4)</strong> Not long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n<strong>6)</strong> \"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n<strong>7)</strong> \"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\n<strong>8)</strong> Before he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet!\"\r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Essay] 小狗穿鞋- Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-10-31 03:49:35', '2016-10-31 07:49:35', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/10/960-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(963, 1, '2011-12-01 14:29:32', '2011-12-01 19:29:32', '', 'Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-12-01 14:29:32', '2011-12-01 19:29:32', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/12/01/960-revision-3/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(964, 1, '2011-12-01 14:32:15', '2011-12-01 19:32:15', '[two_third]\r\nThe Chinese title of this story is: 小狗穿鞋\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n祖国 - [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Motherland\r\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\r\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\r\n爱祖国 (also 爱国) - [pinyin]ai4 zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Love the motherland, a patriot\r\n待遇 - [pinyin]dai4 yu4[/pinyin] - Treatment, pay, wages\r\n前程 - [pinyin]qian2 cheng2[/pinyin] - Future career prospects\r\n帝国主义者 - [pinyin]di4 guo2 zhu3 yi4 zhe3[/pinyin] - Imperialist\r\n回击 - [pinyin]hui2 ji1[/pinyin] - Counterattack\r\n战场 - [pinyin]zhan4 chang3[/pinyin] - Battlefield\r\n抛 - [pinyin]pao1[/pinyin] - Toss, throw away, abandon\r\n边疆 - [pinyin]bian1 jiang1[/pinyin] - Borders, borderlands\r\n硝烟 - [pinyin]xiao1 yan1[/pinyin] - Gun smoke\r\n尸横遍野 - [pinyin]shi1 heng2 bian4 ye3[/pinyin] - Corpses strewn over a plain\r\n荧屏 - [pinyin]ying2 ping2[/pinyin] - TV screen\r\n健儿 - [pinyin]jian4 er2[/pinyin] - Meaning both \'top athlete\' and \'heroic warrior\'\r\n夺得 - [pinyin]duo2 de2[/pinyin] - Seize by force\r\n冠军 - [pinyin]guan4 jun1[/pinyin] - Champion\r\n争光 - [pinyin]zheng1 guang1[/pinyin] - Win a prize, win an honor\r\n武装 - [pinyin]wu3 zhuang1[/pinyin] - To arm (someone)\r\n报效 - [pinyin]bao4 xiao4[/pinyin] - Return a kindness by doing a service\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩穿上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，舔了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n浩浩仰起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈顺口说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n于是浩浩低下头，对着小狗的耳朵说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”突然他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子脱了下来，套在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n“妈妈，还差两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n“差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n“狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、红着脸、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都光着两只脚啦！”\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩穿上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，舔了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n浩浩仰起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈顺口说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n于是浩浩低下头，对着小狗的耳朵说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”突然他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子脱了下来，套在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n“妈妈，还差两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n“差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n“狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、红着脸、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都光着两只脚啦！” \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-12-01 14:32:15', '2011-12-01 19:32:15', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/12/01/960-revision-4/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(965, 1, '2011-12-01 14:44:16', '2011-12-01 19:44:16', '[two_third]\r\nThe Chinese title of this story is: 小狗穿鞋\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n祖国 - [pinyin]zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Motherland\r\n詹天佑 - [pinyin]zhan1 tian1 you4[/pinyin] - Railroad engineer who constructed the first Chinese railroad built without foreign assistance\r\n钱学森 - [pinyin]qian2 xue2 sen1[/pinyin] - Engineer, considered the father of Chinese rocketry\r\n爱祖国 (also 爱国) - [pinyin]ai4 zu3 guo2[/pinyin] - Love the motherland, a patriot\r\n待遇 - [pinyin]dai4 yu4[/pinyin] - Treatment, pay, wages\r\n前程 - [pinyin]qian2 cheng2[/pinyin] - Future career prospects\r\n帝国主义者 - [pinyin]di4 guo2 zhu3 yi4 zhe3[/pinyin] - Imperialist\r\n回击 - [pinyin]hui2 ji1[/pinyin] - Counterattack\r\n战场 - [pinyin]zhan4 chang3[/pinyin] - Battlefield\r\n抛 - [pinyin]pao1[/pinyin] - Toss, throw away, abandon\r\n边疆 - [pinyin]bian1 jiang1[/pinyin] - Borders, borderlands\r\n硝烟 - [pinyin]xiao1 yan1[/pinyin] - Gun smoke\r\n尸横遍野 - [pinyin]shi1 heng2 bian4 ye3[/pinyin] - Corpses strewn over a plain\r\n荧屏 - [pinyin]ying2 ping2[/pinyin] - TV screen\r\n健儿 - [pinyin]jian4 er2[/pinyin] - Meaning both \'top athlete\' and \'heroic warrior\'\r\n夺得 - [pinyin]duo2 de2[/pinyin] - Seize by force\r\n冠军 - [pinyin]guan4 jun1[/pinyin] - Champion\r\n争光 - [pinyin]zheng1 guang1[/pinyin] - Win a prize, win an honor\r\n武装 - [pinyin]wu3 zhuang1[/pinyin] - To arm (someone)\r\n报效 - [pinyin]bao4 xiao4[/pinyin] - Return a kindness by doing a service\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\nMama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\nHao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t he wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\nSo Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\nNot long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n\"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n\"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n\"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\nBefore he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, his face was read, and he picked at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet! \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩穿上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，舔了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n浩浩仰起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈顺口说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n于是浩浩低下头，对着小狗的耳朵说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”突然他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子脱了下来，套在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n“妈妈，还差两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n“差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n“狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、红着脸、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都光着两只脚啦！” \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-12-01 14:44:16', '2011-12-01 19:44:16', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/12/01/960-revision-5/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
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(967, 1, '2011-12-01 15:12:27', '2011-12-01 20:12:27', '', 'Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20120102-inline', '', '', '2011-12-01 15:12:27', '2011-12-01 20:12:27', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/20120102-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(968, 1, '2011-12-01 15:03:28', '2011-12-01 20:03:28', '[two_third]\r\nA short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nIn this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \r\n\r\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this story is: 小狗穿鞋\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n穿 - [pinyin]chuan1[/pinyin] - To put on, wear\r\n舔 - [pinyin]tian3[/pinyin] - To lick\r\n仰 - [pinyin]yang3[/pinyin] - To look up, face upwards\r\n顺口 - [pinyin]shun4 kou3[/pinyin] - To say smoothly, without thinking about it\r\n于是 - [pinyin]yun2 shi4[/pinyin] - And so..., thus\r\n低下头 - [pinyin]di1 xia4 tou2[/pinyin] - To lower one\'s head\r\n耳朵 - [pinyin]er3 duo5[/pinyin] - Ear\r\n突然 - [pinyin]tu1 ran2[/pinyin] - Suddenly\r\n脱 - [pinyin]tuo1[/pinyin] - To take off (clothes, shoes, etc.)\r\n套 - [pinyin]tao4[/pinyin] - To cover something, encase\r\n差 - [pinyin]cha1[/pinyin] - Be deficient, be missing, a discrepancy\r\n红脸 - [pinyin]hong2 lian3[/pinyin] - To blush, to turn red\r\n光 - [pinyin]guang1[/pinyin] - Bare, empty, none\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩<strong>穿</strong>上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，<strong>舔</strong>了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n浩浩<strong>仰</strong>起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈<strong>顺口</strong>说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n<strong>于是</strong>浩浩<strong>低下头</strong>，对着小狗的<strong>耳朵</strong>说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”<strong>突然</strong>他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子<strong>脱</strong>了下来，<strong>套</strong>在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n“妈妈，还<strong>差</strong>两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n“差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n“狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、<strong>红着脸</strong>、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都<strong>光</strong>着两只脚啦！” \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nMama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\nHao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t he wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\nSo Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\nNot long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n\"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n\"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n\"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\nBefore he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-12-01 15:03:28', '2011-12-01 20:03:28', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/12/01/960-revision-6/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(969, 1, '2016-11-05 01:41:21', '2016-11-05 05:41:21', 'A short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. In this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \n\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \n\n<hr />\n\n[one_half]\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\n<strong>1)</strong> 妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩穿上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，舔了舔浩浩的鞋。\n\n<strong>2)</strong> 浩浩仰起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈顺口说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\n\n<strong>3)</strong> 于是浩浩低下头，对着小狗的耳朵说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”突然他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\n\n<strong>4)</strong> 不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子脱了下来，套在小狗的两只前脚上。\n\n<strong>5)</strong> “妈妈，还差两只脚呢！”\n\n<strong>6)</strong> “差什么两只脚？”\n\n<strong>7)</strong> “狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\n\n<strong>8)</strong> 话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、红着脸、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都<strong>光</strong>着两只脚啦！” \n</div>\n[/one_half]\n\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\n<strong>1)</strong> Mama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \n\n<strong>2)</strong> Hao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t it wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \n\n<strong>3)</strong> So Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\n\n<strong>4)</strong> Not long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\n\n<strong>5)</strong> \"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \n\n<strong>6)</strong> \"Which two feet are missing?\" \n\n<strong>7)</strong> \"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\n\n<strong>8)</strong> Before he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet!\"\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[Chinese Short Stories] 小狗穿鞋- Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '960-autosave-v1', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:41:21', '2016-11-05 05:41:21', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/12/01/960-autosave/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(2193, 1, '2016-11-05 01:39:42', '2016-11-05 05:39:42', '', 'Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'closed', '', 'shoes', '', '', '2016-11-05 01:39:48', '2016-11-05 05:39:48', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/shoes.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(970, 1, '2011-12-01 15:12:34', '2011-12-01 20:12:34', '[two_third]\r\nA short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/20120102-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise\" title=\"Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder\" />In this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \r\n\r\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this story is: 小狗穿鞋\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n穿 - [pinyin]chuan1[/pinyin] - To put on, wear\r\n舔 - [pinyin]tian3[/pinyin] - To lick\r\n仰 - [pinyin]yang3[/pinyin] - To look up, face upwards\r\n顺口 - [pinyin]shun4 kou3[/pinyin] - To say smoothly, without thinking about it\r\n于是 - [pinyin]yun2 shi4[/pinyin] - And so..., thus\r\n低下头 - [pinyin]di1 xia4 tou2[/pinyin] - To lower one\'s head\r\n耳朵 - [pinyin]er3 duo5[/pinyin] - Ear\r\n突然 - [pinyin]tu1 ran2[/pinyin] - Suddenly\r\n脱 - [pinyin]tuo1[/pinyin] - To take off (clothes, shoes, etc.)\r\n套 - [pinyin]tao4[/pinyin] - To cover something, encase\r\n差 - [pinyin]cha1[/pinyin] - Be deficient, be missing, a discrepancy\r\n红脸 - [pinyin]hong2 lian3[/pinyin] - To blush, to turn red\r\n光 - [pinyin]guang1[/pinyin] - Bare, empty, none\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩<strong>穿</strong>上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，<strong>舔</strong>了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n浩浩<strong>仰</strong>起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈<strong>顺口</strong>说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n<strong>于是</strong>浩浩<strong>低下头</strong>，对着小狗的<strong>耳朵</strong>说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”<strong>突然</strong>他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子<strong>脱</strong>了下来，<strong>套</strong>在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n“妈妈，还<strong>差</strong>两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n“差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n“狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、<strong>红着脸</strong>、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都<strong>光</strong>着两只脚啦！” \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nMama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\nHao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t he wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\nSo Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\nNot long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n\"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n\"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n\"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\nBefore he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-12-01 15:12:34', '2011-12-01 20:12:34', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/12/01/960-revision-7/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(971, 1, '2011-12-01 15:12:51', '2011-12-01 20:12:51', '[two_third]\r\nA short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes. <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/20120102-INLINE.jpg\" alt=\"Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise\" title=\"Simple and Easy Chinese Childrens Stories for Reading Exercise\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" class=\"imgborder alignleft\" />In this story, the name of the young boy is 浩浩 [pinyin]hao4 hao4[/pinyin], and you\'ll see those two characters a lot. You\'ll also see in several places that characters are sometimes doubled up. When writing is intended for young children, you\'ll often see characters repeated twice. For example, while 小狗 means \'dog\', 狗狗 might be equivalent to \"doggie\" - it\'s essentially baby-talk. \r\n\r\nThere is one difficult little clause in this text, which is: 扯着衣角. Let\'s examine it piece-by-piece. 扯 [pinyin]che3[/pinyin] means to pull at something. 着 [pinyin]zhe5[/pinyin], in this instance, means \"ing\", or \"while doing\". So we\'ve now got \"Pulling at...\". Then there\'s 衣 [pinyin]yi1[/pinyin], meaning \"clothing\", so we now have \"Pulling at clothing...\". And finally 角 [pinyin]jiao3[/pinyin], corner. So the sentence reads \"Pulling at clothing corner\", or in better English, \"Pulling at the corner of his clothes\". \r\n\r\nThe Chinese title of this story is: 小狗穿鞋\r\n\r\n[/two_third]\r\n[one_third last=last]\r\n<div class=\"postintro\">\r\n<h4>Click to Listen</h4>\r\n穿 - [pinyin]chuan1[/pinyin] - To put on, wear\r\n舔 - [pinyin]tian3[/pinyin] - To lick\r\n仰 - [pinyin]yang3[/pinyin] - To look up, face upwards\r\n顺口 - [pinyin]shun4 kou3[/pinyin] - To say smoothly, without thinking about it\r\n于是 - [pinyin]yun2 shi4[/pinyin] - And so..., thus\r\n低下头 - [pinyin]di1 xia4 tou2[/pinyin] - To lower one\'s head\r\n耳朵 - [pinyin]er3 duo5[/pinyin] - Ear\r\n突然 - [pinyin]tu1 ran2[/pinyin] - Suddenly\r\n脱 - [pinyin]tuo1[/pinyin] - To take off (clothes, shoes, etc.)\r\n套 - [pinyin]tao4[/pinyin] - To cover something, encase\r\n差 - [pinyin]cha1[/pinyin] - Be deficient, be missing, a discrepancy\r\n红脸 - [pinyin]hong2 lian3[/pinyin] - To blush, to turn red\r\n光 - [pinyin]guang1[/pinyin] - Bare, empty, none\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_third]\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div id=\"chinesetext\">\r\n妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩<strong>穿</strong>上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，<strong>舔</strong>了舔浩浩的鞋。\r\n\r\n浩浩<strong>仰</strong>起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈<strong>顺口</strong>说了一句:“你去问它吧。”\r\n\r\n<strong>于是</strong>浩浩<strong>低下头</strong>，对着小狗的<strong>耳朵</strong>说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”<strong>突然</strong>他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”\r\n\r\n不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子<strong>脱</strong>了下来，<strong>套</strong>在小狗的两只前脚上。\r\n\r\n“妈妈，还<strong>差</strong>两只脚呢！”\r\n\r\n“差什么两只脚？”\r\n\r\n“狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢......”\r\n\r\n话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、<strong>红着脸</strong>、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都<strong>光</strong>着两只脚啦！” \r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\nMama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao\'s shoes. \r\n\r\nHao Hao looked up, and naively said: \"Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn\'t he wear shoes?\" Mama smoothly said: \"Go and ask it.\" \r\n\r\nSo Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog\'s ear said: \"Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?\" Suddenly he loudly shouted, \"Mama, doggie said he\'s cold, it nodded its head at me!\"\r\n\r\nNot long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog\'s two front feet.\r\n\r\n\"Mama, there are still two feet missing!\" \r\n\r\n\"Which two feet are missing?\" \r\n\r\n\"Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet...\"\r\n\r\nBefore he\'d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: \"The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet! \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', 'Little Dog Wears Shoes', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '960-revision-v1', '', '', '2011-12-01 15:12:51', '2011-12-01 20:12:51', '', 960, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2011/12/01/960-revision-8/', 0, 'revision', '', 0),
(972, 1, '2011-12-03 16:20:08', '2011-12-03 21:20:08', '', 'Advanced Chinese News Articles Translated in English - Practice Reading Chinese Headlines', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111203', '', '', '2011-12-03 16:20:08', '2011-12-03 21:20:08', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20111203.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(973, 1, '2011-12-03 16:21:04', '2011-12-03 21:21:04', '', 'Advanced Chinese News Articles Translated in English - Practice Reading Chinese Headlines', '', 'inherit', 'open', 'open', '', '20111203-inline', '', '', '2011-12-03 16:21:04', '2011-12-03 21:21:04', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/20111203-INLINE.jpg', 0, 'attachment', 'image/jpeg', 0),
(976, 1, '2012-01-07 07:00:23', '2012-01-07 12:00:23', 'This news story covers a new government initiative to help protect women from sexual harassment (性骚扰 - [pinyin]xing4 sao1 rao3[/pinyin]) by providing special women-only taxis in the capital city Kuala Lumpur (吉隆坡 - [pinyin]ji2 long2 po1[/pinyin]). \r\n\r\n<h3>According to who?</h3>\r\nHere, as usual, we see the two news words that you see in just about every article, 据 [pinyin]ju4[/pinyin], meaning \"according to\", as in \"According to reports...\", and also 称 [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin], meaning \"to state\", as in \"Our sources state...\" or \"The Prime Minister stated today that...\". I know I keep harping on 称 every time the word comes up in a news post, but I can\'t stress strongly enough how often you\'ll see this word in the newspaper - it\'s in just about every article, and once you know what it means, news reading becomes that much clearer. This is news-specific language, so you\'ll also hear radio and TV news anchors say it a lot, but you won\'t often see or hear it elsewhere. \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n1) 马来西亚推出50辆女性专用出租车 大受欢迎\r\n\r\n2) 在马来西亚，女性常常成为抢劫、<strong>性骚扰</strong>和其他暴力行为的受害者。<strong>据</strong>法国媒体11月30日报道，为了更好地保护女性免受暴力侵害，马来西亚首都吉隆坡上周末推出了50辆只搭载女性的“女性出租车”。\r\n\r\n3) 这些车的挡风玻璃顶端标有“女性出租车”字样，司机也是女性。与吉隆坡几家出租公司合作发起该项目的马来西亚妇女、家庭和社会发展部<strong>称</strong>，希望将“女性出租车”数量增加到400辆左右。\r\n\r\n4) 此举受到了当地女性的热烈欢迎。“这项举措当然很好，我们乘车时会感到更加安全。”26岁的办公室文员纳西尔说。不过，有的女司机担心男性乘客会因此流失；也有人担忧“女性出租车”的标志可能会使驾驶这种出租车的女司机成为袭击目标。\r\n\r\n5) 马来西亚此前还曾推出粉红色女性专用火车车厢、只载女乘客的女性专用公交车，以免女性受到性骚扰等伤害。除了马来西亚，墨西哥、埃及、伊朗等国都曾推出女性专用出租车。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) Malaysia Unveils Special Taxis for Women Only to Warm Welcome\r\n\r\n2) In Malaysia, women often become the victims of robberies, sexual harassment and other violent acts. According to a November 30 French media report, in order to better protect women from violence, last weekend the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur released 50 \"women\'s taxis\" which will only transport women.  \r\n\r\n3) The top of the windshields of these taxis show a sign reading \"women\'s taxi\", and the drivers are also women. the project is a cooperation between several of Kuala Lumpur\'s taxi companies and the project initiator, Malaysia\'s Department of Women, Family and Community Development, who said that they hope to increase the number of \"women\'s taxi\'s\" to 400.   \r\n\r\n4) This has received a warm welcome from the local women. \"This act is of course very good, we can feel safer getting into a taxi,\" said 26-year-old office worker Na Xi Er (proper name). However, some female taxi drivers worry about the loss of male customers, and some people are concerned that because of what the \"women\'s only taxis\" symbolize, the female drivers will become the target of attacks.\r\n\r\n5) Before this, Malaysia has already released pink women-only train carriages, as well as buses that only carry women, in order to [help women] avoid suffering harm from sexual harassment. Besides Malaysia, Mexico, Egypt, Iran and other countries have already unveiled women-only taxis. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[News in Chinese] Malaysia Unveils Special Taxis for Women Only to Warm Welcome', '', 'publish', 'open', 'open', '', 'news-malaysia-unveils-special-taxis-for-women-only-to-warm-welcome', '', '', '2016-11-04 23:43:54', '2016-11-05 03:43:54', '', 0, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/?p=976', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(2138, 1, '2016-11-04 23:43:54', '2016-11-05 03:43:54', 'This news story covers a new government initiative to help protect women from sexual harassment (性骚扰 - [pinyin]xing4 sao1 rao3[/pinyin]) by providing special women-only taxis in the capital city Kuala Lumpur (吉隆坡 - [pinyin]ji2 long2 po1[/pinyin]). \r\n\r\n<h3>According to who?</h3>\r\nHere, as usual, we see the two news words that you see in just about every article, 据 [pinyin]ju4[/pinyin], meaning \"according to\", as in \"According to reports...\", and also 称 [pinyin]cheng1[/pinyin], meaning \"to state\", as in \"Our sources state...\" or \"The Prime Minister stated today that...\". I know I keep harping on 称 every time the word comes up in a news post, but I can\'t stress strongly enough how often you\'ll see this word in the newspaper - it\'s in just about every article, and once you know what it means, news reading becomes that much clearer. This is news-specific language, so you\'ll also hear radio and TV news anchors say it a lot, but you won\'t often see or hear it elsewhere. \r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n[one_half]\r\n<div class=\"chinesetext\">\r\n<h3>Chinese text</h3>\r\n1) 马来西亚推出50辆女性专用出租车 大受欢迎\r\n\r\n2) 在马来西亚，女性常常成为抢劫、<strong>性骚扰</strong>和其他暴力行为的受害者。<strong>据</strong>法国媒体11月30日报道，为了更好地保护女性免受暴力侵害，马来西亚首都吉隆坡上周末推出了50辆只搭载女性的“女性出租车”。\r\n\r\n3) 这些车的挡风玻璃顶端标有“女性出租车”字样，司机也是女性。与吉隆坡几家出租公司合作发起该项目的马来西亚妇女、家庭和社会发展部<strong>称</strong>，希望将“女性出租车”数量增加到400辆左右。\r\n\r\n4) 此举受到了当地女性的热烈欢迎。“这项举措当然很好，我们乘车时会感到更加安全。”26岁的办公室文员纳西尔说。不过，有的女司机担心男性乘客会因此流失；也有人担忧“女性出租车”的标志可能会使驾驶这种出租车的女司机成为袭击目标。\r\n\r\n5) 马来西亚此前还曾推出粉红色女性专用火车车厢、只载女乘客的女性专用公交车，以免女性受到性骚扰等伤害。除了马来西亚，墨西哥、埃及、伊朗等国都曾推出女性专用出租车。\r\n</div>\r\n[/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink=\"SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION\"]\r\n1) Malaysia Unveils Special Taxis for Women Only to Warm Welcome\r\n\r\n2) In Malaysia, women often become the victims of robberies, sexual harassment and other violent acts. According to a November 30 French media report, in order to better protect women from violence, last weekend the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur released 50 \"women\'s taxis\" which will only transport women.  \r\n\r\n3) The top of the windshields of these taxis show a sign reading \"women\'s taxi\", and the drivers are also women. the project is a cooperation between several of Kuala Lumpur\'s taxi companies and the project initiator, Malaysia\'s Department of Women, Family and Community Development, who said that they hope to increase the number of \"women\'s taxi\'s\" to 400.   \r\n\r\n4) This has received a warm welcome from the local women. \"This act is of course very good, we can feel safer getting into a taxi,\" said 26-year-old office worker Na Xi Er (proper name). However, some female taxi drivers worry about the loss of male customers, and some people are concerned that because of what the \"women\'s only taxis\" symbolize, the female drivers will become the target of attacks.\r\n\r\n5) Before this, Malaysia has already released pink women-only train carriages, as well as buses that only carry women, in order to [help women] avoid suffering harm from sexual harassment. Besides Malaysia, Mexico, Egypt, Iran and other countries have already unveiled women-only taxis. \r\n[/hide-this-part][/one_half]', '[News in Chinese] Malaysia Unveils Special Taxis for Women Only to Warm Welcome', '', 'inherit', 'closed', 'closed', '', '976-revision-v1', '', '', '2016-11-04 23:43:54', '2016-11-05 03:43:54', '', 976, 'http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2016/11/976-revision-v1/', 0, 'revision', '', 0);
