Musical for the new era

    Some of the world's most famous movies, like The Sound of Music（《音乐之声》）and Singin' in the Rain(《雨中曲》), are musicals. These are both very old movies, though. It seemed as if musicals had gone out of fashion.

    But La La Land, a new musical by US director Damien Chazelle, 32, had made the genre(类型) popular again. “Brilliantly written and directed, La La Land gives movie musicals life in the 21^st century,” Peter Travers wrote for Rolling Stone.

    Starring US actor Ryan Gosling, 36, and actress Emma Stone, 28, the movie was released in Chinese mainland on Feb14. Set in the colorful world of Hollywood's film and music scene, the two characters-a jazz musician and an actress-sing and dance their way to love.

    It has made history as the first film to win seven Golden Globe(金球奖) awards. It has also been nominated(提名) for a record-equaling 14 Oscars.

    Other popular movies of today are often about violence(暴力),war, drugs(毒品) or politics. Thanks to Chazelle's creative style, original music and wonderful location(地点), La La Land has a light feel that will put you in a good mood.

    The opening scene, when hundreds of people in a traffic jam start singing , “will be studied and swooned(着迷) over for years to come,” according to Travers. “The very fact that it doesn't have a strong political message, but is still good enough to win awards, is what makes La La Land so unusual,” Nicholas Barber, wrote for the BBC. “It is intimate(亲切的) and personal and magical.”

    In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what 'keeping up with the Joneses' is about, It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.

    The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.

    It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

    Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life--style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series (系列) of short stories, He called it 'Keeping up with the Joneses' because 'Jones' is a very common name in the United States.' Keeping up with the Joneses' came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand's series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

    People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are 'Jonses' in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

House fires cause many deaths each year and a large number of these fires are unfortunately set by children.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Kids must understand that they'd better not play with fire. You should keep matches and lighters out of their reach.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} The main job of such an alarm is to protect you while you're asleep. You should have a smoke alarm outside each bedroom and on each floor of your home. You ought to have two plans for getting out of your house if there is a fire and practise these plans in the dark with your family.

A smoke alarm warns you of the danger. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Take action immediately. When you come to a closed door, check it with the back of your hand. If it feels hot, there may be smoke or fire behind the door, so take care. Once you are out of your house, call the fire department from a neighbor's house. If a family member or a pet is caught inside, you shouldn't go back in. Firemen know how to perform rescues safely.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Change the batteries at least once a year. You should use the test button each month to see if the alarm and batteries are still working. A smoke alarm lasts about ten years. You ought to change it even if it seems to be working.