主题语境:人与自我 篇幅:368词 建议用时:7分钟

1By day,53-year-old Wang Liuyun is a cleaner in an office building in Beijing's Xicheng District.At night,though,she returns to her tiny home in a village and enters a world of paintings.

2At 16,the native of Loudi,Hunan Province,dropped out of high school because her family could not pay her tuition fees.After,she took every opportunity to learn about the outside world via the radio and newspapers.At the age of 20,she took classes to learn about agronomy,earning money by planting trees.Wang worked many jobs,including salesperson,seamstress and cleaner later.

3At the age of 50,she came into contact with painting through free classes she attended while working part-time jobs in Fujian Province.However,her husband was unhappy because friends and relatives in their hometown made fun of Wang learning how to paint.In response,he visited her and tried to persuade her to quit the classes and return home because he didn't want people to think his wife was a joke.Wang refused and insisted on finishing the classes.

4Last year,Wang came to Beijing and found a job as a cleaner.She is pleased that she came because she has found a sense of belonging.Her husband works as a security guardin the capital,and the two of them can earn a combined 4,600 yuan per month.They live in a rented room in Anjialou Village,Chaoyang District.Apart from a bed and basic household items,the room is filled with paintings and artistic equipment.

5Every day,Wang works from 6:30 am to 7:00 pm.During her 90-minute lunch break,she devotes 30 minutes to eating and spends the rest of time painting.She also finds time to paint after work.“I do the cleaning job to feed the body,while reading and painting feed my soul,”she said.She has received offers for her paintings,and she charges 300 to 800 yuan for each one,depending on how much work was involved.

6When asked about her future,Wang said she would work in Beijing for several years to save enough money to see China's mountains and rivers.Tibet,Xinjiang,Sichuan,Yunnan...she dreamed of those faraway places when she was young,and she still wants to visit them all.

Reading Check

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

When asked about her future,Wang said she would work in Beijing for several years to save enough money to see China's mountains and rivers.当被问及她的未来时,王说她将在北京工作几年,存到足够的钱去游览祖国的山河。

【点石成金】本句中的When引导的是一个时间状语从句,省略了主语和be动词。said后面是一个省略了that的宾语从句。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

drop out退出;退学

take every opportunity to do sth抓住每一个机会去做某事

come into contact with与……接触

make fun of取笑

in response作为回应

try to persuade sb to do sth试图说服某人做某事

insist on doing sth执意继续做某事;坚决要求做某事

apart from除了……外(都);此外