The sweet business of sugar painting甜美的糖画事业
作者: 刘同功主题语境:非遗传承 篇幅:345词 建议用时:7分钟
1 In the ancient Guwenhua Street in north ChinasTianjin Municipality, Zhang Fuhai slowly stirs abox of sugary liquid, scoops (用勺舀) some outand paints Peppa Pig on a stone board.
2 “The waves and the delicate lines of the pigbody need to be done by slowly moving thewrist,” Zhang said as he moved the scoop, slowly dripping the liquid to form the outline.“Whenever there is a turning point, you need to stop a little to make sure the linesflow smoothly.”“ I can create almost anything,” Zhang said.“ Flowers, birds, fish andbugs, I am familiar with all of them.”
3 Using hot liquid sugar to create a variety of figures from famous dramas or operas, tosimple animals, sugar painting is a traditional art that is especially popular amongyoung children in China.
4 Zhang, in his seventies, is an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage in TianjinsHongqiao District. The sweet business was inspired by Zhangs father, who was also asugar painter.“ When I was a little boy, the children in the courtyard would beg my fatherfor sugar paintings,” Zhang recalled.
5 At the age of 9, Zhang began to imitate the flowers and bugs his father painted, andwould even try to create sugar paintings himself.“ I thought it was fun, but I neverexpected to become a sugar painter myself.”
6 “The liquid sugar is made of honey and crystal sugar and dries very quickly, so itsnecessary to visualize the design first,” he said. Zhang said that while sugar paintingsneed to be vivid, it is also important to precisely plan the entire structure and the size,as well as the figures ability to hold themselves together. “The paintings need tobe good‑looking and solid,” he said. Zhangs paintings are very innovative. So far, hehas created close to 200 sugar painting styles, and he updates all the styles every oneor two years.
7 “Few young people are interested in learning sugar painting,” Zhang said.“ I hope theyounger generation can pay more attention to the intangible heritage; it will sweetentheir lives, I promise.”
Reading
Check
1. Which part of the body plays a key role in sugar painting?
A. The palm. B. The wrist.
C. The finger. D. The arm.
2. What does the underlined word“ inheritor” in paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Someone who masters a unique skill.
B. Someone who creates something new.
C. Someone who follows an old tradition.
D. Someone who seeks commercial benefit.
3. What does Zhang stress in paragraph 6?
A. The trends in sugar painting.
B. The techniques in sugar painting.
C. The main designs in sugar painting.
D. The materials used in sugar painting.
4. What is Zhangs major concern at present?
A. The younger generation lacks interest in sugar painting.
B. The market value of sugar paintings has been dropping.
C. It's hard to come up with popular sugar painting styles.
D. It's hard to keep sugar paintings for a longer period of time.
Language
Study
Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text
“The liquid sugar is made of honey and crystal sugar and dries very quickly, so it'snecessary to visualize the design first,” he said. 他说:“糖浆是由蜂蜜和冰糖制成的,干燥得非常快,所以有必要先构思设计。”
【点石成金】本句中,so连接的两个分句之间是因果关系;在第一个分句中,第二个and连接两个并列的谓语成分。
Ⅱ. Text‑centered chunks
turning point 转折点
make sure 确信
be familiar with 对……熟悉
be popular among 受……欢迎
beg sb for 向某人乞求得到……
at the age of 在……岁时
be made of 由……组成
hold...together 把……聚拢起来