day 30mission: Grandma’s village

mission: Grandma’s village

Retell an anecdote and an explainer you hear once, prepare for five minutes, read a reflection aloud and answer two questions in a row, two and a half minutes each: the test’s own timings.

words to say

• 种植 zhòngzhí · to plant, grow (crops)
• 绿化 lǜhuà · to green (plant trees and grass)
• 民宿 mínsù · guesthouse, B&B
• 家园 jiāyuán · home, homeland
• 土壤 tǔrǎng · soil
• 改造 gǎizào · to transform, renovate
• 建设 jiànshè · to build, construct; construction
• 植物 zhíwù · plant

a passage to retell

• A city family had never seen a sky full of stars. One weekend they drove out to the countryside specially, to look at the stars properly for once. After dark the family sat in a courtyard and opened a stargazing app on their phones. They looked at the stars on their screens and discussed them all evening. Just then the village had a power cut, and their phones happened to run out of battery too. With no choice, they all looked up. The little son stared for a long time, then asked: “Why is this screen so big?”
• In autumn, many people sweep leaves away as soon as they see them on the ground. In fact, leaves lying on the soil are very good for plants. That’s because the leaves are like a blanket: in winter they keep the soil warm and moist. Lots of small insects also spend the winter living under the leaves. In spring the leaves slowly rot into the ground and become food that plants need. So experts advise leaving one corner of the garden where you don’t sweep up all the leaves.

a passage to read aloud

老人们常说：“前人种树，后人乘凉。”小时候，我不太明白，一个人为什么要种一棵自己也许等不到它长大的树。直到有一年，我在一个小山村看见几位老人种植树木。他们弯着腰，把土壤翻松，把种子一颗一颗放进去，动作很慢，却十分认真。有的老人已经七八十岁了，手上全是泥土，脸上却带着笑。

我问其中一位老人：“这些树变成大树，要等几十年吗？”他笑着说：“也许要三十年吧。到那时候，我早就不在了，可是村里的孩子会在树下读书、玩。”那一刻，我忽然懂了：有些事情不是为了自己，而是为了那些我们永远见不到的人。原来，种树的人心里装着的，是很多年以后的春天。