英语课外阅读材料(大一下)

1
The cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women; the male version is the changshan. It is known in Mandarin Chinese as the qipao or chipao, and is also known in English as a mandarin gown.
The modernized version is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such was popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions changed, the basic cheongsam design changed too, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.
A frog (sometimes referred to as a Chinese frog) is an ornamental braiding for fastening the front of a garment that consists of a button and a loop through which it passes.
“旗袍”在英语中有一个固定的词，不过是一个loanword，外来语，写做cheongsam，是从广东话Cantonese里来的。

我们也可以拼写为qipao或者chipao：
旗袍是中国一种紧身的连衣女子服饰，男子的被称为长衫。

英语中也用mandarin gown来表示这种服饰。

清朝时候的旗装是很宽松的，1900年之后，在上海，旗袍的样式发生了改变：
现代版的旗袍很贴身，更能显出女子的身材，为上流社会的女性所推崇。

旗袍的式样也跟随西方时尚而变化，出现了高领无袖、喇叭状袖子和黑色蕾丝泡泡镶边的款式。

到上世纪四十年代，旗袍已经有很多种不同材质和配饰。

旗袍和长衫的那种标志性小立领被称为mandarin collar，a short unfolded stand-up collar
style，而旗袍的那种盘扣被称为frog，或者Chinese frog，frog在这里不是青蛙的意思哦，意为一种用细绳做的扣饰：
盘扣是一种装饰性的编织状扣子，用来扣住一件衣服的前襟。

2
A Bite of China, a mouth-watering late-night documentary television series featuring delicious Chinese food, has attracted countless viewers, and moved many to tears.
Given its subject matter and time slot, A Bite of China was initially considered a "weak player" on TV. Surprisingly, the documentary became popular immediately after airing, and has made viewers go beyond thinking about delicacies.
"Man is what he eats," said Ludwig Feuerbach. From its very beginning, A Bite of China is not just a documentary about food. "The scenes of digging for bamboo shoots, hanging hams, catching fish using a net, opening a steamer filled with white steamed buns, and pulling wheat dough into thin strands for noodles move us to tears. What a lovely China!" a viewer said.
A Bite of China is a serious documentary providing a unique view of Chinese as well as the relations between people and food and between people and society from the perspective of food.
舌尖上的中国，一档使人垂涎欲滴以中国美食为主题的深夜档电视系列节目，吸引了无数观众的目光，使得许多人潸然泪下。

由于它的主题以及播放档期，舌尖上的中国一开始被认为是电视节目中的“弱者”。

令人惊喜的是，这部纪录片一经播出，便立即变成了热门，也使得观众的思考超越了食本身。

“人吃什么，就成什么”，Ludwig Feuerbach这样说道。

从它的诞生伊始，舌尖上的中国就不仅仅是一部有关食物的纪录片。

“那些挖竹笋、晾火腿、撒网捕鱼、打开装满了白馒头的蒸笼以及把面团做成细面条的种种镜头让我们感动，让我们落泪。

中国多可爱啊！”一个观众说到。

舌尖上的中国是一部严肃的纪录片，从美食的角度，以独特的视角展示了中国人，也展示了人与美食以及人与社会的关系。

3
Originally a form of local theatre, Peking Opera spread all over the country and then became the national opera of China.
About 200 years ago, the Qing Emperor Qianlong toured in southern China and developed an interest in the local operas. On his 80th birthday, he let local opera troupes come to Beijing to perform for him. Some remained in Beijing after the celebration. The ones from Anhui and Hubei were incorporated with the palace opera -Kunqu Opera, which formed the Peking Opera.
Peking Opera combines stylized acting with singing, dancing, musical dialogues, martial arts, colorful facial make-up and artistic costumes.
Female roles are "Dan", male roles are “Sheng”, and clowns are “Chou”. Each role, according to their sex, age and disposition, is characterized by different designs of facial make-up. So the audience can easily tell what kind of character an actor is performing. Facial make-up, costumes and head - dresses are wonderful works of traditional art.
京剧本来是一种地方性的戏剧表演形式，由于它传遍中国大江南北，深受群众欢迎与喜爱，所以就慢慢演变成了代表中国艺术特色的全国性戏剧。

大约在200多年前，清朝的乾隆皇帝在南巡时，对地方上的戏剧产生了浓厚的兴趣。

于是，在他80岁生日的时候，下旨传召了很多地方上的戏剧表演团来京为他祝寿。

部分戏剧表演者在表演结束后，就留存了北京。

这些来自安徽与湖北的表演家将昆曲与宫庭戏剧相结合，逐步演变和发展成了后来响誉中国的“京剧”。

京剧表演融合唱、念、作、打等多种艺术表现形式，辅以五彩缤纷的服装道具以及化妆。

在京剧中，女性的角色被称做“旦”，男性的角色被称做“生”，小丑被称做“丑”每个角色都会依照他们的性别、年龄及个性，在脸上画不同的脸谱。

这样，观众可以很容易地分清这些演员所扮员的角色是什么样的性格。

化妆、服饰、行头—这些都是令人称奇的艺术品。

4
Officials say the islands of Tokelau in the South Pacific Ocean have become the world’s first territory totally powered by the sun. The move is expected to save money and ease the environmental burden of depending on imported fossil fuels.
New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister released a statement about The Tokelau Renewable Energy Project. Murray McCully said Tokelau’s three main atolls, or islands, now have enough solar capacity to meet all of their electricity needs. He said until now, Tokelau has been one hundred percent dependent on diesel for producing electricity. That, he said, has burdened the country with heavy economic and environmental costs.
Each atoll received its own solar power grid system. New Zealand officials estimated the cost of the project to build the three solar grids at around seven million dollars. The last of the grids was completed earlier this month.
关有官员表示，南太平洋的托克劳群岛已经成为世界上首个完全由太阳能发电的地区。

此举有望节省资金，减轻依赖进口化石燃料对环境的负担。

新西兰外交部长默里·麦卡利（Murray McCully）就托克劳的可再生能源项目发表了一份声明。

麦卡利表示，托克劳的三个主要珊瑚岛目前已经拥有足够的太阳能发电量来满足他们所有的电力需求。

他说，在此之前托克劳一直完全依赖柴油发电，这使得该国背负了沉重的经济和环境成本。

每个珊瑚岛都获得了自己的太阳能电网系统。

新西兰官员估计建设这三个太阳能电网项目的成本在700万美元左右。

本月初完成了电网的最后一部分。

5
Almost three quarters of councils have already reduced street lighting in their area, or are considering doing so.
英国近3/4的市政部门已经或正考虑削减当地的路灯照明。

The blackouts are being rolled across thousands of streets in rural
areas, suburbs（郊外） and city centers in almost every county in the UK, despite concerns from residents and police that the moves will lead to an increase in traffic accidents and crime.
In total, 98 out of 133 local authorities who responded to a survey said were scaling back street lighting, or were looking into doing so.
Every county council which took part in the survey said they were reducing lighting or planning to do so, as did local authorities in several major cities, including Cardiff, Sheffield, Edinburgh and parts of London.
Conversely（相反地） , those that said they had no plans to change were mostly small councils, many of which have responsibility only for lighting in off-road areas, such as parks, car parks and footpaths.
The schemes to reduce street lighting involve either switching some off altogether or installing new lamps are automatically dimmed or turned off during "quiet" periods, late at night. In some schemes, technology is being installed which will allow CCTV operators monitoring streets to dim or brighten lights according to the need.。