The History of Cartoon Film

    There are very few limits (限制) about cartoon films. If you can draw something, you can make it 1 on the cinema screen (银幕). The use of new ideas and modern computer programs means that cartoons are becoming exciting again for people of 2 ages.

    By 1970, the cinema world had decided that 3 were only for children.

    But soon after that, one or two 4 had some new ideas. They proved (证明) that it was 5 to make films which both grown-ups（成年人）and children could enjoy.

    However, not every cartoon film was successful. The Black Cauldron, for failed mainly because it was too 6 for children and too childish.（幼稚的）for grown-ups. Film makers 7 from this mistake, and then cartoons were 8 by both children 9grown-ups. And the film companies could make much 10.

    Do you like watching cartoon films?

    Dragon Boat Festival is 1. It is a holiday 2 a long history. We all have a 3 during Dragon Boat Festival. Because Dragon Boat Festival is a(n) 4 and interesting festival in China. It comes in the 5 lunar (农历) month around the middle June.

    People celebrate it 6 many ways. One of them is to have dragon boat races. Dragon boats are 7 and special. More than ten people 8 on a boat. They often get everything ready 9 the race comes. They practice more because they want to have 10 results. Lots of people come to 11 and enjoy the race.

    In some cities, it is a festival for the 12. Children 13red and yellow strings (线). With these, they think they will get away from the ghosts. Parents buy sweets and other delicious food 14 their children. They usually get together to 15 a big dinner on that day.

    What must you 1when you receive a present for your birthday? You should sit down and write a thank-you letter. The sentence "Thank you." is very important. We use it often. We2when someone gives us a drink, helps us pick up things, hands us a letter, lends us a book, or gives us a present.

    3important word is "please". Many people always forget 4it. It is not polite to ask someone to do something5 saying "please". We use it when we 6 something too. It may be a book or a pencil, more rice or more tea. It may be used in the classroom, at home, at the bus stop or in a shop. We have to say "please" to make each other 7.

    We have to 8to say "sorry" too. When we hurt someone, we have to say we are9. When we tell a lie and feel sorry, we use10 word "sorry". When we forget something or break something, we use the word "sorry" too. "Sorry" is a word that can make people forgive mistakes.

    Jazz is a type of music. Some people say that jazz is America's only true art form. That's because it began here. Hundreds of years ago, black people worked as slaves (奴隶) and made up songs to pass the time. It wasn't called jazz then, but the way the slaves were playing and singing music was special.

    The music of America's black people began to be called jazz in the early 1900s.

    What makes jazz special is improvisation (即兴创作). That means making the music up on the spot (当场). No music in front of you. No long discussion with other people in your band.

    "It's free. It's beautiful," says Geoffrey, a sixth-grader at Stratford Landing Elementary School. Geoffrey is such a good musician that he has performed at the Kennedy Center.

    Geoffrey says, "It's easy to express your feelings through jazz. You are more focused on being creative and using your imagination in jazz. "

    Washington DC is a very important place in the history of jazz. It has a famous jazz piano player: Duke Ellington.

    Born in Washington in 1899, Ellington as a child wanted to play baseball instead of the piano. But his parents played the piano, so he started playing the piano when he was seven years old.

    In 1920, he played small shows at the Howard Theatre. When he was 24, he moved to New York, but he didn't forget his hometown. He called his band the Washingtonians and later he returned to perform at the Lincoln Theatre.

    Laughter is natural for people. We start to laugh at about four months of age. We start to laugh even1 we start to speak.

    Laughter connects us with others. We laugh more when we are with other people. It's difficult to pretend to laugh. Laughter is2. When people pretend to laugh, most people know it's not real.

   When do people laugh?

    Only 10 to 20 percent of laughter is about something3. Most laughter is about being friendly with other people. Most laughter says, "I don't want to4 with you. I want to be friendly with you." This kind of laughter brings people together.

    We often laugh when we feel nervous. In movies, there is often a joke at an exciting moment when everyone feels nervous. It is usually a(n)5 joke, but we laugh a lot. Our laughter helps us6.

   Why doesn't everyone laugh at the same joke?

    Not everyone has the same sense of7. Some people think a joke is funny, but other people don't think so. People have different ideas about what is funny.

    Our idea of what is funny changes with8. For young children, the world is new. They are interested in many things, so they laugh9. Teenagers often laugh to protect themselves. Adults laugh at themselves and other people with similar problems. They laugh at things that give them stress. Our10 for laughter change gradually.

Imagine （想象） walking into a movie theater without being greeted by the smell of popcorn. It's hard to believe, isn't it? For many people, popcorn goes hand in hand with movies. They can't have one without the other. But 1  did this happen?

The 2  between the two is younger than you may think. In the mid-1800s, popcorn was already a popular snack in America. Vendors sold it on the 3  . People, especially kids, loved this street food. In the early 1900s, vendors started to sell popcorn 4  movie theaters.

However, theater owners didn't like popcorn. They believed it would make the experience of watching a movie 5  enjoyable. Eating it would make too much noise during the silent movies.

Later, when movies added sound, the 6  noise problem went away. More and more people went to the movies. Some of them even secretly（秘密地） took popcorn into the theaters. Later, more movie theaters 7  . Some of them agreed people to eat popcorn while they were watching movies.

In the 1930s, the theater owners found that people didn't need to buy popcorn from street vendors. Because popcorn was 8  to make, they could make and sell it themselves. They did that and the smell of popcorn drew more people to their theaters. The 9  made a lot of money, and people enjoyed themselves at the movies.

Today, popcorn is still an important part of the movie-going experience. Roles, a man who once ate three bags of popcorn, said, "People come to theaters sometimes just for the 10 . They don't even care what is playing!"