In classes, your teachers will talk about the topic that you are studying. The information they provide will be important for you to know when you take tests. So you must be able to take good written notes from what your teachers say.

    Here are three stages(阶段) of taking notes and what you should do during each stage.

    1） Before Class   Review your notes you have taken before you come to class. This will be good for remembering what was covered. Get you ready to understand new information your teacher will provide.

    2） During Class   Pay your attention to what your teacher is saying and "the signal words" that tell you what your teacher is going to say. It is important to write them down in your notes. Examples of signal words are "The important point……" and "Remember that……", and so on. Be sure to write in your notes the information that your teacher repeats or writes on the blackboard. Write quickly so that you can include all the important information in your notes. Do this by writing abbreviations(缩写） such as "med" for medicine, using symbols such as "%" for percent, and writing short sentences.

    3） After Class   Rewrite your notes to make them more complete and accurate (准确的) by changing abbreviations into whole words, symbols into words, and shortened sentences into longer sentences. Use them to answer your questions. If necessary, ask your teacher for help.

Information Card

阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。

Chinese Culture

    While China is almost the same size as the US in area, it is home to about 1.3 billion people. It has a special culture with a very long history.

    Chinese Food

    Food plays an important role for Chinese families. Different foods have special meanings. The most obvious(明显的) difference is that Chinese people eat their meals with chopsticks. One of the main foods in Chinese culture is rice. Tea is a favorite drink and it is popular in the market.

    Chinese New Year

    The Chinese calendar(日历) is called a lunar(阴历的) calendar. It is not the same as the one used in the US. New Year's Day is in late winter. It is also called the Spring Festival. It has a big celebration of letting go of the old and bringing in the new. It has special foods and traditions. For example, sweeping the floor before New Year's Day sweeps away all the old year's bad luck.

Chinese Zodiac(生肖)

    The Chinese zodiac, known as Sheng Xiao, follows a twelve-year cycle(循环). Each year is named for an animal. These animal signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. For example, the year that begins in 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

    Chinese Language

    Chinese is a complex(复杂的) language. Chinese writing developed almost 4,000 years ago and may even be older. Chinese writing has thousands of characters. A character represents(代表) a word and also a meaning. Unlike English, there are no spaces in Chinese writing. Besides Standard Chinese, or Putonghua, Chinese people speak six other forms of the language, and there are many kinds of dialects(方言).

Street Markets Around the World

    There are many ways of shopping. You can shop by telephone, by post or through your home computer, but for many people, the most exciting way to shop is also the most traditional—at a street market. You can find markets anywhere in the world. Here are four of them:

    There are many "floating markets" in Asia; perhaps the most unusual(非同寻常) is in Thailand(泰国), at a place called Damned Saduak. It's open from six in the morning to the noon every day. People sell fresh fruit from their boats.

    Many Belgians(比利时人) say that the Grand Place is the most beautiful square in the world. It's the home of a colorful flower market. It's open every day except(除了) Monday. On Monday, instead of(替代) flowers, there's a wonderful bird market.

    One of the world's famous markets is in Mexico City(墨西哥城)—the Sonora Market. You can buy toys, birds, herbs(草本) and medicine. There're all kinds of things. It's open every day from early in the morning till late at night.

    In England, on Saturday and Sunday thousands of young people from all over London travel to the Camden Market—it's the place to go for street fashion, CDs and tapes. Many people also go there for fun.

    On May 5^th, 2017, at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China's first Homemade jet airliner(喷气式客机), the C919, took off successfully for the first time. It has taken about ten years for the scientists and researchers to make this Chinese dream come true. It's a pride of the whole nation. So far, more than 23 countries have already ordered 570 C919 planes from China. But we still have a long way to go before the C919 carries passengers by 2020.

    What's more, China is working on the new high-speed trains with the highest speed of 400km/h. It will be ready by 2020. Many countries, especially the ones in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, are planning to build high-speed rail lines or to improve their railways with the help of China.

    China has made great progress in both science and technology. And it makes a great contribution(贡献)to humans，too. All of these are changing the daily life of Chinese people，even of the people around the world.