2021-2022学年度第17期总第854期
Dancing through time (P5)
北京中学  李萍
Lead-in 
Watch the video
What can you see in the video?
What do you know about flower-drum dancing?
 
Pre-reading
Free talk
 What do you know about flower-drum dancing?

  The flower-drum dance is popular in the area of Bengbu City and Huainan City along the Huai River. It integrates folk arts, such as dancing, singing, gong and drum playing, and playlets together, and is famous for its vivid rhythms, passionate atmosphere, elegant poses, fine performances, and artistic charm.
  The flower-drum dance is very popular with audiences. During the time of traditional festivals, temple fairs, slack seasons in farming, or plentiful harvest times, people will dress up, light up lanterns, beat gongs and drums and festively dance and sing. When many performance teams meet together for a joint celebration, a grand event will take place. Since China opened up to the world, the flower-drum dance has been promoted to become a splendid "oriental ballet" among world art circles.

  
Predict
What do you expect to know from this passage?
 
Read for gist
Keeping the drum beat
 Read the passage and check whether your expectations are met:
 
Read for details 
Read the passage and complete the table.
 
 
 
Think and share
1. Why do people work hard to promote flower-drum dancing?
Because flower-drum dancing is the treasure of Chinese traditional art forms, which is also the crystallization of Chinese people’s wisdom. Every Chinese has the responsibility to pass down the art and keep the spirit of the Chinese nation in their hearts. 

2. What will you do to help promote Chinese traditional art forms?
Although I’m a teenager who was born in the millennial era, I should also take the responsibility to pass down our traditional art forms. I have learned to play some art forms like erhu. I will call on more people in my community to protect and pass down Chinese traditional art forms. 

Creative writing
Suppose your foreign teacher is keen on Chinese traditional art and you are going to introduce one of our traditional art forms to him or her. Please finish the introduction based on the following requirements:
    What is its name?
    When was it created?
    How is it performed?
    Why is it performed?
    What does it always show?
    What will you do to promote it?

Language study
1. It is still popular with local people, known for its lively movements and gentle music. 
该句中，known for its lively movements and gentle music是过去分词短语做定语，相当于定语从句，修饰主语it.
be popular with: 受......的欢迎
e.g. The square was popular with the tourists because of its cafes and surrounding buildings. 

2. In 2007, the Haian flower-drum dance was included in the list of art forms that make up Jiangsu’s provincial (省级的) intangible (非物质的) cultural heritage. 
2007年，海安花鼓被列入江苏省非物质文化遗产名录。
该句中，that make up Jiangsu’s provincial intangible cultural heritage为定语从句，先行词为art forms.
make up: (1)组成；构成 The people or things that make up something are the members or parts that form that thing.
e.g. Women officers make up 13 percent of the police force.  

(2)编造；虚构 If you make up something such as a story or excuse, you invent it, sometimes in order to deceive people.
e.g. I think it's very unkind of you to make up stories about him. 

3. Worrying the art may become lost, Yang spent five years studying the history of the dance and recorded its movements in detail.
由于担心这门艺术可能会失传，杨培杰花了五年时间研究这门舞蹈的历史，并详细记录了它的动作。
该句中，worrying the art may become lost是现在分词短语，在整句中做原因状语，相当于Because he was worried the art may become lost. 
spend time doing sth. 某人花费时间做某事
e.g. I have spent many years as a lawyer helping people start businesses. 
in detail: 详细地
e.g. We examine the wording in detail before deciding on the final text.

4. Nowadays, Yang focuses on promoting the dance among all age groups, especially the young.
如今，杨培杰致力于在各个年龄段，尤其是年轻人中推广这种舞蹈。
focus on: 聚焦于，集中于
e.g. Each exercise focuses on a different grammar point. 
每个练习各有不同的语法重点。
promote: (1) to help something to develop or increase 促进，增进
e.g. Learning by doing promotes critical thinking. 
(2)促销；推广；推销 If a firm promotes a product, it tries to increase the sales or popularity of that product.
e.g. The band has gone on tour to promote their new album.

5. To make it easier for kids to learn, we break down difficult movements into several simple ones. 
为了让孩子们更容易学习，我们把困难的动作分解成几个简单的动作。
该句中，to make it easier for kids to learn为动词不定式做目的状语。
break down: (1)分解；将......分成若干部分 To break down something such as an idea or statement means to separate it into smaller parts in order to make it easier to understand or deal with.
e.g. These rules tell us how a sentence is broken down into phrases.  
(2) （机器或车辆）出毛病，损坏 If a machine or a vehicle breaks down, it stops working.
e.g. The machine might break down at this busy hour.