九年级初中英语阅读范文 第3课.docx

九年级初中英语阅读范文 第3课Guardian of BirdsAfter an old man calls out a few times, some silver pheasants will fly out of the forest to get together. This wonderful scene can be found in Ziyun Village, Fujian Province. The old man is Yang Meilin.Yang, nearly 80 years old, lives inthe village. Apart from his daily farm work, Yang also plays an important role in protecting the silver pheasants. So how did the old man meet these endangered birds? Back in 2012, one day, when Yang was feeding chickens in his farmhouse, several silver pheasants suddenly flew in and searched for food. Instead of driving away these birds, Yang guided them into the forest and fed them. After that, in order to keep them from being disturbed while eating, Yang often called them out to feed them at a certain place, rain or shine. In the beginning, only three or four silver pheasants responded to his call, but as Yang spent time with them, more and more silver pheasants would join the feeding. Day by day, Yang was familiar with some of them, and even built a deep friendship with them. Now, Yangs story with silver pheasants has drawn a lot of attention online. Many bird lovers from around the country come to the village to see and take photos of the silver pheasants. They think Yang is a great guardian of them. But for Yang, taking care of them is just a part of his daily work. He hopes to continue protecting them. “They are very close to me, like my family. I cant leave them, even for a day,” Yang says.Festivals in the Modern AgeFestivals have always been an important part of life and culture. In the modern age, new festivals have appeared over time. Some of the new festivals come from other parts of the world; some appeared just because of the interesting meanings of the dates.International Womens Day, International Museum Day and International Nurses Day are currently celebrated around the world. These are mostly days for a specific group of people or a specific field. These festivals didnt start in China, but we celebrate them in a Chinese way. For example, many Chinese students call International Womens Day “Girls Day” or “Queens Day”. On this day, they have an interesting practice. They come up with interesting activity ideas, such as doing make-up or dressing up in Hanfu.Other new festivals include 520 Day, Eating Day (May 17th), Cute Day (October 10th) and Double 11 Day. 520 is a short form of the day of May 20th. In Chinese, it sounds a lot like “I love you” and 517 sounds like “I want to eat”. And the Chinese words for October 10th look like the Chinese word “萌(meng)”, which means “cute”. Double 11 Day is also known as Singles Day, because the date November 11th or “11.11” is all about the number “1”. So Double 11 Day is about “single”. People in China have celebrated Double 11 Day for a few years. And it is now one of the biggest shopping days in the world.For many young people, new festivals seem to be a lot more interesting than the old ones. But whether they are old or new, festivals always offer a great excuse for us to take a minute and appreciate life with our loved ones.