1.As a great poet in ancient China,Qu Yuan wasextremely knowledgeable. After the capital of Chuwas seized by the Qin army,angry and desperate,QuYuan drowned himself in Miluo River. Legend has itthat the day Qu Yuan drowned himself was on May5th on China's lunar calendar. To commemorate Qu Yuan,on that day each year,people holddragon-boat racing and eat rice dumplings. Holding dragon boat racing is to scare fish away;feeding fish with rice dumplings is to stop them from eating Qu Yuan's body. Adopting the formof folk ballad,Qu Yuan created a new poetic form called “the songs of Chu”in Chu dialect. QuYuan wrote many wonderful poems,among which Li Sao is the most famous. His works arecharacterized by beautiful language and fancy imagination.

参考翻译：屈原是中国古代伟大的诗人，非常有学问。楚国都城被秦军攻破后，他悲愤绝望，跳进汨罗江自杀。传说屈原投江的日子是中国的农历五月初五，人们为了纪念他，每年的这一天都要赛龙舟、吃粽子(rice dumpling)。赛龙舟是为了把鱼吓走;包粽子喂鱼是为了让鱼不要去吃屈原的尸体。屈原采用楚国方言，利用民间歌谣的形式，创造出一种新的诗歌形式，叫做“楚辞”(the songs of Chu)。他写了许多优秀的诗篇，以《离骚》(Li Sao)最为著名。他的作品语言优美，想象奇特。

2.The terra-cotta warriors and horses are sacrificialobjects in the shape of soldiers and horses.The pitof terra-cotta warriors and horses is the one buriedwith the First Emperor of Qin,the size of which isequal to 50 basketball courts.It is interesting thatalmost every Chinese person can find for his/her face a corresponding “mould” in the terra-cotta warriors and horses.Someone once described the terra-cotta warriors and horses in thisway, “There have already been seven wonders in the world, and the terra-cotta warriors andhorses can be as the eighth.You can never say you have been to China without visiting thecotta warriors and horses.The Museum of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses of Emperor QinShiHuang is the largest ancient military museum in China.The terra-cotta warriors and horsescount as one of the greatest discoveries in the world archaeological history.

兵马俑(terra-cotta warriors and horses)即制成兵马形状的殉葬品(sacrificial objects)。兵马俑坑是秦始皇陵的陪葬坑(pit)，其面积有50多个篮球场那么大。一个有趣的发现是:几乎我们每个中国人的容貌都能在古老的兵马 俑中找到“模子”。有人曾这样描述兵马俑，“世界上有七大奇迹，兵马俑的发现可以说是第八大奇迹。不看兵马俑，不能算来过中国。”秦始皇兵马俑博物馆是中 国最大的古代军事博物馆。秦始皇兵马俑是世界考古史上最伟大的发现之一。

3.Yet few people know what books can giveus.Most commonly we come to books with blurredand divided minds,asking of fiction that it shall betrue,of poetry that it shall be false,of biographythat it shall be flattering,of history that it shallenforce our own prejudices.If we could banish allsuch preconceptions when we read,that would be anadmirable beginning.

然而，很少有人从书中去了解读书可以给与我们什么东西。通常，我们在读书时思路不清，心怀抵触，要求小说应该真实，要求诗歌应该虚假，要求传记应该吹捧，要求史书应该执行我们的各种偏见。如果读书能够摒除所有这些先人之见，那将是值得赞赏的开始。