As is known to all of us, Beijing Opera is one of the most important opera styles in China. It is an art on the stage which has about 200 years' history. It is not only a treasure of the Chinese nation but also a cultural symbol of China. Similar to western operas, Beijing Opera is a combination of singing, dancing, martial arts, music and literature, so it is also called the "Oriental (东方的) Opera" by western people.

    Beijing Opera uses special imagery in creating the characters. All roles are divided according to sex, personality, age and profession and social status. Hangdang is the general term for role in Beijing Opera. There are four types of roles in Beijing Opera today. They are sheng, dan, jing and chou. The sheng is the male protagonist (主角), the dan the female protagonist, the jing (painted face) a male supporting role with a different characteristics, and chou (clown) a comic or negative figure. Each kind of role has their own face-painting and dressing to indicate their identities.

    The Opera's performance requires not only the gentle voice but also the proficiency (熟练) of martial actions. A successful opera actor must suffer from the tough practicing period. In the old time, the children of poor families were sent to the opera group in order to earn a living. While now, the real opera artists are well respected by opera lovers.

    Mei Lanfang, one of the most remarkable performing artists in Beijing Opera, was born in Beijing into a poor family. His life was bitter and he had no opportunity to go to school, so he went to the troupe (戏班子) when he was 8 years old to learn Beijing Opera. Mr. Mei was on the stage when he was 11 years old to perform the plays of Beijing Opera. He has been an opera actor for more than 50 years, performing hundreds of traditional plays and over 30 modern plays. He portrayed many bright and lifelike female figures on the stage and became the model in Chinese Beijing Opera and even within the entire artistic circle.

Have you ever seen the treasures at Sanxingdui?

The number one divine tree (神树) is one of the most famous of them. It includes three parts: a base, the tree itself and a dragon. The base is made to be like a mountain, rising on three sides. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The dragon is winding (弯曲) its way down to the mountain. The divine tree is divided into three levels. There are three branches on each level. And each branch spreads in two directions. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Some people think the Number one divine tree is the tree Fusang in the book "Classic of Mountains and Seas". It describes there live nine birds carrying the sun from east to west in Fusang tree. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Every day, one bird takes off from the Fusang tree in the east and flies to the Ruomu tree in the west.

It's said that there are in total of ten birds. But on the divine tree there are only nine, so where's the tenth? There are two different ideas. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} However, most people believe the tenth bird isn't there because it is its turn to fly west, carrying the sun.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Maybe they wanted to use it to connect heaven and earth. They wanted to reach higher and communicate with the gods. At the same time, they hoped to receive gods'ideas.

Are you free on the weekend? Why not go to the cinema and watch the movie Big Hero 6? I'm sure you will love Baymax. 

Baymax is a white robot. He is tall and big. His two small eyes make him look so cute. Baymax is a friendly robot. He is kind to everyone. When you see his sweet smile（微笑）, you will feel warm and happy. 

Baymax is also a medical robot. He can help people with all health problems. If people don't feel well, they can go and see them. He will help them and make them feel better. 

Baymax is a great robot, too. When he puts on the red clothes, he can fly high and fight. 

In our school, all students have their favourite subjects. But students in different grades like different subjects.

In Grade Seven, students' favourite subject is always Chinese, because it's their mother tongue. They like PE and music, too. Students at this age like playing sports. Why is music welcome? Because most of them think music is relaxing.

In Grade Eight, some students like maths very much. But they aren't very good at maths, because maths in Grade Eight is a little difficult. They also like science and geography. They can learn a lot from science, and they seem(似乎) to go around China in geography classes.

In Grade Nine, English is some students' favourite subject. It's useful. Students often talk with friends in English. They also watch English movies to learn English.

Last Friday morning, we had a Chinese lesson. Our teacher asked us a question, "Who is the best {#blank#}1{#/blank#} in Chinese history?" Many students said Confucius.

 Confucius was born over 2,000 years ago. His father died (死) when he was only 3 and he had to work to {#blank#}2{#/blank#} his mother. Young Confucius studied very hard. He visited many famous teachers to get {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . When he was thirty, he became a teacher. He taught about 3,000 students, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Chinese people say he was a great thinker(思想家). And many of his students were great thinkers, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} .

 Now people still {#blank#}6{#/blank#} him and love him after so many years. Why? Because his ideas help {#blank#}7{#/blank#} in our everyday life. His most important ideas are to be kind to others.

 Confucius said young people should be，{#blank#}8{#/blank#} to the old people. Brothers and sisters should love each other. If someone makes mistakes, we should{#blank#}9{#/blank#} them out. The ideas are always famous {#blank#}10{#/blank#} China. People in many other places welcome them too. They think his ideas make the world a better place. We should learn from the great thinker.

 That's really an important lesson!

 Robots become a bigger part of daily lives, like in teaching, taking care of us, and even being our friends. Today, designers are considering how to get humans to trust robots. They pay special attention to voices, accents(口音), and dialects(方言) that robots use.

 Imagine a"robot voice" in your head. Maybe it sounds like a robot from science fiction movies or TV shows. It could be robotic, unnatural, and sound like a boss. Nowadays, however, machines are starting to talk more and more like real people.

 Here comes a question. Do people like robots that speak with a standard accent, or with accents and dialects from their own region? Some people think robots with standard accents sound smarter. But other researchers say robots with accents and dialects might feel more friendly and comforting. They might even seem more trustworthy(值得信任的).

 To find out more, a group of researchers in Germany did a study. They wanted to know how people feel about robots based on the dialect they use. Katharina Kühne and her team asked 120 Germans to watch a video of a small robot called Nao. Nao spoke in either standard German or the Berlin dialect.

 After watching the video, the researchers asked the participants(参与者) which robot they thought was more trustworthy. Most people liked the robot that spoke in standard German, but not everyone did. If the participants spoke the Berlin dialect well and often, they thought the robot that spoke it was more trustworthy.

Kühne's team knows there are many other factors that could influence how people feel about   robots, like how they look, if the voice sounds like a man or a woman, and the meanings behind different dialects. But their study still gives us a good idea of how language can change the ways we interact with and think about robots. The results of this study can help make robots that meet the needs of people from all kinds of backgrounds.