Archive for January 31st, 2009

Chinese Conversation – lesson 338

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

山姆:我考试时也会紧张。
安:但是你考得那么好。你甚至连公务人员考试都考上了。
山姆:你也考得不错啊。你的随堂测验一向都考高分。
安:随堂测验比考试的压力来得小。
山姆:而且你一直是团体活动的领袖。
安:只可惜我太老了不能参加新式联招,新式联招会把那些算进去。
山姆:只要放轻松就会考得好。
安:不一定。还记得高中入学考试吧?

Sam: I get nervous during tests, too.
Ann: But you do so well. You even passed the civil service exam.
Sam: You do well, too. You always had top scores on daily quizzes.
Ann: There’s less pressure when taking a quiz than an exam.
Sam: And you were always the leader of group activities.
Ann: Too bad I’m too old for the new exams, where that counts.
Sam: Just relax and you’ll do fine.
Ann: Not necessarily. Remember the high school entrance exams?

(Source: wwenglish.com)

Chinese Culture – Magician Couple: Yao Jinfen and Qin Mingxiao

Saturday, January 31st, 2009
Magician Yao Jinfen

Mrs. Yao Jinfen and Mr. Qin Mingxiao are both famous magicians in China nowadays and standing directors of China’s Association of Acrobats.

 

They entered the field of magic in 1960s and learned the art from China’s noted magic master Yang Xiaoting.later,they w orked hard and made great brokethrough from traditional acrobatics. Their audacious attitude helped them to creat many works with novel styles and form their own performing style.

 

In the pursuance of the same career, Yao Jinfen and Qin Mingxiao got married. In the past several decades, they visited different parts of China and many countries around the world, and their magic performances were well received by the audiences.

 

Yao Jinfen during a performance

In 1984, both of them were accepted as members of the International Association of Magicians and won a medal of International Magician for they outstanding achievements in the art of magic. This was the first international medal won by Chinese magicians.

 

With years of efforts and rich experience, Yao Jinfen and Qin Mingxiao joined hand with the Beijing Dancing and Singing Troupe and staged a novel, unique large-scale special performance of magic. The performance not only kept the characteristics of the oriental traditional magic but also absorbed essence of Western modern magic. Accompanied by dances, the performance became a masterpiece of magic performance in the world.

Source: chinaculture.org