Tu Youyou, aged 85, is a medical scientist at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. she has just become the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel prize, for helping discover artemisinin, a new kind of medicine known as "Qing-hao-su" in Chinese in 1971 and dihydroartemisinin, used also to treat malaria(疟疾).

    The discovery of "Qing-hao-su" and its use in treating malaria are regarded as the most important breakthrough(突破) in tropical medicine in the 20th century. It is also a major health improvement for people in developing tropical countries in south Asia, Africa, and South America.

    This is the first time her work has been widely recognized in China, and it also marks the first time China has won a Nobel prize in the sciences.The last time a Chinese national won a Nobel Prize was in 2012, when Mo Yan got the literature award.

    Tu also received several medical awards in the past including the 2011 Lasker Award in Clinical Medicine for the same achievements.Tu was the first native Chinese who was educated and works in China to win the Lasker award, too.

B

    Alice was now in a long dark room with doors all round the walls, and she could not see the white rabbit anywhere.

    She tried to open the doors, but they were all locked (上了锁的). "How will I get out again?" she thought sadly. Then she saw a little glass table with three legs, and on the top of it was a very small gold key. Alice quickly took the key and tried it in all the doors, but she couldn't open any.

    Then she saw another door.The door was only forty centimetres high. The little gold key unlocked this door easily, but Alice couldn't get through it—she was much too big. So she lay on the floor and looked through the open door into a beautiful garden with green trees and bright flowers.

    "I'd like to be out there—not in this dark room. Why can't I get smaller?" It was already a very strange day, and Alice was beginning to think that anything was possible.

    After a while she locked the door again, got up and went back to the glass table. She put the key down and then she saw a little bottle on the table. Round the neck of the bottle was a piece of paper with the words "DRINK ME" in large letters.

    "It can be dangerous to drink the liquid(液体) in the bottle," she said. "What will it do to me?" She drank a little bit very slowly. The taste was very nice and very soon Alice finished the bottle.

    "I think I'm getting smaller and smaller every second, " she said. "And now, " she said happily, "I can get through the little door into that beautiful garden."

    She ran at once to the door. Then she remembered that the little gold key was back on the glass table. She ran back to the table for it, but she was now much too small! The key was high above her, on the top of the table. She tried very hard to climb up the table leg, but she couldn't do it.

    At last, tired and unhappy, she got angry with herself. Soon she saw a little glass box near her on the floor. She opened it, and found a very small cake with the words "EAT ME" on it.

    Nothing could surprise Alice now.

    Can you write down a Chinese word being read to you? Sometimes it can be difficult when you find the word is not included in most dictionaries.

    Lu Jialei, 14, from Hangzhou Foreign Language School, won the CCTV Chinese Character (汉字) Spelling Contest on Oct 18^th, 2013. About 160 people competed. The host read a word to the contestant, explained its meaning and gave sample sentences. The contestant was required to write down the word.

    Winning the contest was a “surprise” to Lu. “I was not the smartest one,” she said. “But I paid attention to details.” To prepare for the contest, she and her teammates studied the Modern Chinese Dictionary for 10 days. There are more than 56,000 entries (词条) including characters, words and phrases in it. She also had a secret weapon. She studied how Chinese characters were formed.

    “When others paid attention to the plot of a story, she looked at how authors use words and sentences to express themselves,” said Su Yunsheng, Lu's Chinese teacher. Su is happy to see students like Lu find the beauty of Chinese language.

    “Besides using something Chinese and having Chinese traditional festivals, learning to write Chinese characters is also an important part of inheriting (传承) Chinese culture,” said Su.

    More than 2,000 years ago, a favourite wife of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty died of illness. The emperor missed her so much that he didn't want to do anything. One day, a minister (大臣) saw children playing with dolls. The shadows on the floor were interesting. The smart minister had an idea.  He made a puppet of the favourite wife and painted it. As night fell, he asked the emperor to watch a puppet show behind a curtain. The emperor was very happy and became interested in it. In this way, puppet shows began.

    Shadow puppets were first made of paper, later from the hides of donkeys (驴皮). That's why their Chinese name is "pi ying". Shadow puppet plays were very popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties in many parts of China.

    Today, shadow puppet plays face extinction like other traditional art forms such as Nuo Drama. We should do something to protect them. Shadow puppet plays in Shaanxi are the most famous. The Academy Gate Cultural Street in Xi'an is a wonderful place for you to choose shadow puppets. Here you can choose from hundreds of figures (人物) in different sizes and poses(姿势).

    The story of the fall of Troy is one of the oldest stories in history. It dates back to around 800 BC, to a poem written by a man called Homer. The poem is called The Iliad(《伊利亚待》). Ilium is the Greek name for Troy.

The story is a myth(神话), but many believe the city of Troy actually existed. Some people have thought it was in modern Turkey. Others have suggested it may have been in central Europe, northern Europe or even England.

    You could write a long book on all the paintings, music and stories about Achilles. His name is used for many things. Since 1744, about nine Royal Navy warships have been named after him, for example.

    A Trojan horse is a saying that now means something that seems friendly, but is actually a trick to hurt you. Some kinds of computer virus (病毒) are now called Trojans. An Achilles heel means a person's main weakness. The Achilles tendon(腱) is a medical name for part of your heel at the back

    Nick, 13, is tall and strong. He is good at running. Two weeks ago a new student came. His name is David. He is thin and short. He plays soccer well, and he can run very fast. Larry told Nick about it. Of course, Nick did not believe it.

    "Why not have a race with him?" said Larry.

    "Good idea!" said Nick. "I'll have a race with him after school."

    After school, Nick went to the playground. He did some warm-up exercises for half an hour, and got ready for the race. He was sure that he could win it. Larry had to take part in a club activity that afternoon, so he could not watch the race between Nick and David.

    That evening Larry went to see Nick. They began to talk about the afternoon race. Nick's grandmother heard them in the next room. She came in and asked, "Which place?"

    "The second place," answered Nick.

    His grandmother was very happy to hear that, and asked, "Which place did David win, then?"

    "The last but one."