The umbrella is a very common object. It keeps the 1and the sun off the people. Most umbrellas can be folded up(折叠) so it is 2 to carry them.

    However, the umbrella was not always as 3 as it is now. In the past, it was a symbol of importance. Some African countries still use umbrellas in this 4. Someone carries an umbrella and walks behind the king or important person.

    Umbrellas have a long history. People in different parts of the world began to 5 umbrellas at different times. The Chinese had them more than 3,000 years ago. From there, umbrellas 6 to India and Egypt. In Greece and Rome, 7, wouldn't use them. They believed umbrellas were only for women.

    England was 8 the first country in Europe where common people used umbrellas against rain. The weather there is very 9 and umbrellas are very useful.

     Everybody uses umbrellas today. The next time you 10 one, thinking that for centuries only great men and women used them, you'll feel you are the important person, too.

    It is Sunday morning. Sam wants to visit his friend. On his way to his friend's home. He is very tired. So he stops his car and wants to take a nap(打盹).

    A man walks to Sam´s car and knocks(敲)on the window. "Excuse me. sir. "He asks." What time is it now?"

    Sam doesn't have a watch. He looks at the clock of his car and says. ”8:15”.  The man says," Thanks."

    After a short time, another man knocks on his window. "Sorry, sir. But do you have the time?""8:25". Sam say says and he is a little angry(生气的).  The man thanks him, too.

    "I really want to take a nap." Sam thinks. Then he takes out a pen and writes" I don't know the time." on the paper. And he posts(张贴)it on the window.  But soon another man sees it and knocks on the window. "Sir. sir? It's 8:45 now. "

I was once a fat girl. I weighed 336 pounds and looked as big as my fridge. I was never 1 it. But one day I had a medical examination（体检）. The doctor told me that I was having heart trouble. It 2 me up. I began to feel nervous. Then I decided to do something!

In a year and five months, I3 104 pounds. What a great thing I did ! I didn't have any expensive food, medical treatment（治疗）or camp-style（训练营式的）exercise. What was the secret to my success?

First I looked through the Internet for do-it-yourself 4 that people could follow on losing weight. Of course I saw countless(无数的) ads which tried to get me to buy their products. But I bought nothing. The only thing I did was to change my bad 5 . The following are what I have done. You can try these. Stop drinking something with too much sugar in it. Refuse(拒绝)sweet cakes. Eat green vegetables. Use only vegetable oil. Never eat after 6:30 pm. Also, do light exercise for 15 to 20 minutes five days a week. 

Then I kept doing what I should do. People sometimes say, "You don't need to tell me 6 to do. I know it already!" But the fact is that knowing what to do and doing what you know are totally7 . The important thing is to know what to do and then just keep doing it. 。

 Five young girl students at Shanghai Theatre Academy have become famous online by singing pop songs to the tunes (曲调) of Beijing Opera. 

 Li Wei, a young man, likes to watch the students' videos. He said, "Thanks to them, I have got a better understanding of my parents' deep love for Beijing Opera. 

 The students, mainly roommates from Room 416 at the academv are known on the Internet as the"416 girls". They have put their singing on short - video platforms (平台) since 2019. 

Over the past three years, the students have gradually won a large number of fans. In one of their videos, which has been watched more than 50 million times and received 2. 5 million"likes", they sing the pop song Tan Chuang to a Beijing Opera tune. 

 Young people such as the"416 girls"have increased audience (观众) numbers for Beijing Opera, which has a history of more than 200 years. 

 Guo Jing, 27, a primary school teacher, has about 2. 5 million followers on the Douyin short - video platform. In her videos, she performs ancient songs while dancing to Beijing Opera movements, or discusses interesting stories about the art form. 

"I want to be one of the best art vloggers, and I see it as my task to shorten the distance between art and life. "Guo said. 

 Pan Yan, a leader of the China Performance Industry Association, said, "Beijing Opera has a special charm (魅力) that people can sense without having to understand it. Audience experience the art form's beauty by watching short videos, and they also spread news and knowledge about Beijing Opera after watching videos. "

 Mr. and Mrs. George and Olivia Ransom bought an old house, and were spending time fixing it up. The walls needed painting and the wooden floorboards(地板) needed replacing.

 One day, they pulled (拉) up some old floorboards and were surprised to see a case under the floor. They pulled it out, dusted it off and opened it. It was full of old newspapers from the year1977. George and Olivia were interested to read the news stories at that time. But as they took the newspapers out, they noticed a black box at the bottom of the case. It was locked.

Then Olivia remembered that there were some old things in the kitchen. There was a cup with old keys in it. She ran to get the cup, took out the keys and tried them in the lock. One of them opened it!

 The box was full of jewellery (珠宝). There were necklaces and rings of silver and gold. Olivia and George were amazed. Who put the jewellery there, and why? Who did it belong to?

 George remembered a story in the old newspapers. He quickly found it again and they read it together.

"That name— Jensen, said George. "It's familiar to me— why?"

"It's the old lady who sold the house to us!" replied Olivia. "Her name was Mrs Jensen. She told us her husband died in 1978 and he was a jeweller."

"That's strange," said George. "I wonder, was there really a jewellery theft? Or did Stanley Jensen hide the jewellery under his own house? But why...?"