The Silk Road

The routes

For centuries,the Silk Road was the most important line of communication connecting modern day Xi'an with the Middle East and Europe,today one area in particular is associated most closely with the name of the Silk Road.This area is Xinjiang in Northwest China,through which two major routes of the Silk Road passed on the northern and southern side of the Taklamakan desert.

The name

The Silk Road got its name in the 19^th century when a German geographer identified it as the route through which the Romans got their silk from China.However,silk wasn't the only thing that passed along the Silk Road;anything that had buyers was traded along the road.Goods were traded from market to market passing through many hands before they reached their final destinations.

Buddhism

The Silk Road was not just the route through which goods were carried.It was also important for the exchange of ideas.Buddhism from India entered China along the Silk Road and had a huge influence on Chinese culture.Greek art styles were popular along the Silk Road and gave Buddhist statues in Northern India classical Western faces.These styles from Northerm India were also found in Xinjiang.

The people

One of China's famous monks,Xuan Zang,followed the Silk Road in the 6^th century to collect Buddhist scriptures from India.Around 600 years later,one of Europe's famous travellers,MarcoPolo,entered China along the Silk Road.Both Xuan Zang and Marco Polo left detailed records of their journeys along the Silk Road.

The Silk Road today

Today, the Xinjiang Autonomous Region remains an international crossroad where traders from surrounding countries,and tourists from all over the world regularly meet.Trade in precious stones,food,drinks,crafts,art,and of course,silk,contimues,too.

    There are many kinds of music in the world, pop music, classical music, folk music and so on. Do you know country music? It's a traditional kind of music from the southern states of America. I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired. The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields.

    Country music usually talks of everyday life and feeling. It's like the spirit of America, easy to understand, slow and simple.

    Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers. They talk about love, crops or death. The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties.

    But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.

    When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.

    John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song Take Me Home, Country Roads is well-known and people still play it today.

    I come from America and I have lived in China for six years. I like Beijing Opera very much. I think Beijing Opera is very interesting. I can learn a lot about Chinese history from it.

    In Beijing Opera, we can often see faces in different colors. For example, Bao Zheng always has a black face and Guan Yu always has a red face in Beijing Opera. Do you know why? Now let me tell you something about the art of Beijing Opera facial paintings(脸谱).

    In Beijing Opera facial paintings, different colors are for different people. For example, a black face is for fair(公正的) people. A red face

is for brave (勇敢的) people. A white face is for bad people.

Give water, save lives

A bottle of water may not seem like much to you, but thousands of bottles will be of great help for people who live in drought-hit(遭受旱灾) areas in China.

Since last autumn, there has been very little rain in Southwest China. Some places, especially in Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, have experienced a serious drought. Crops (庄稼) died, the land cracked(裂开), and wells (井) and rivers dried up. More than 20 million people are having difficulty in finding safe drinking water.

After learning about the drought, many people around the country helped by giving water, money and other things.

Last week, every member of the Communist Youth League (共青团员) and Young Pioneers(少先队员) were encouraged to give one bottle of water to the drought-hit areas. Students in primary schools and middle schools quickly joined the activity. In Yuhua Primary School in Xi' an, 900 students bought over 1,000 bottles of water with their pocket money. They also wrote their wishes on the bottles.

The serious drought has also made students realize the importance of saving water. Students from Nanshan Middle School in Huizhou, Guangdong went on the street to tell people to take part in water-saving activities.

"I've heard that some children in drought-hit areas don't have enough drinking water. They have to drink muddy ( 含有泥土的 ) water. I feel really sad about that," said one student. "I decide to take a shower twice a week instead of every day to save water," he said.

If you want to go shopping, think about how much money you can spend for new clothes.Think about the kind of clothes you really need.Then look for those clothes on sale.

There are labels (标签) inside all new clothes.The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes.The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash it in cold water.The label on a coat may say "dry clean only". Washing with water may ruin (损坏) this coat. If you do as the directions on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best.Many clothes today must be dry cleaned.Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check to see if they need to be dry cleaned.You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed with water.

You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made.Well-made clothes last longer.They look good even after they have been washed many times. However, clothes that cost more money are not always better made.They do not always fit better.Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.