Pondering while wandering in Suzhou苏州行思

颜唯蓁

傳承旧事物，创造新事物，这就是文化自信对“我”的真正意义。

1About eight years ago， I moved from Taiwan to Su-zhou. Before I came to the city， my imagination pictured a place full of stone bridges， meandering （蜿蜒的） riv-ers， and traditional buildings， but when I arrived， what I saw was totally different.

2What I saw were modern buildings in industrial parks featuring streamlined outlooks. Designed in uni?que but simple geometric figures， new skyscrapers stood everywhere. My fascination peaked when I visited the new Suzhou Museum.

3The building was designed by the world?famous architect Ieoh Ming Pei. In this de-sign， he portrayed what Suzhou was like in his eyes. When I went into the museum， sun-light shone brightly through the roofs made of glass. Modern exhibition halls are built with materials that are novel. Black， gray， white and brown are the colors that can mainly be seen in the interior designs， which look simple but modern. I walked out of the building， and there were traditional Suzhou gardens with many ponds， where koi （锦鲤） in red and orange were swimming beneath my feet when crossing the stone bridges. Artificial hills and traditional pavilions had been built. The building perfectly blended traditional Chinese aes-thetics with Suzhou's customs and humanity was presented.

4I realized that the new Suzhou Museum is a great example of the wonder of the combi-nation of the old and the new. It is also the perfect answer to the question whether we should tear down old buildings and replace them with new ones. The combination of tradi-tion and modernity lets us see the charming history of the city and the potential in its mod-ernization. The method of preserving ancient architecture reflects our attitude toward Chi-nese culture and conserving history.

5By observing Suzhou's unique architectural style， I learned to appreciate the value of our traditional culture and to seek opportunities so that our cultural roots thrive in modern times. The expansion and blooming of traditional culture roots sheds light on our modern development. To inherit the old and to create the new： That is how we sustain our cultural confidence and help people all over the world to understand and benefit from our tradi-tions. Understanding my own culture， appreciating my own culture， developing my own cul-ture and letting my culture shine in this world of diversity and creativity： This is what cul-tural confidence truly means to me.

ReadingCheck

Ⅰ. Choose the best answers according to the textB655FA99-B6E6-4F79-8B06-359F9941843D

Inference 1. Why does the author mention the new Suzhou Museum？

A. To prove a theory. B. To define a concept.

C. To develop the theme. D. To provide the background.

Vocabulary 2. What does the underlined part “tear down” probably mean in para?graph 4？

A. Put down. B. Cut down.

C. Pull down. D. Turn down.

Inference 3. What is the author's attitude towards the traditional culture？

A. Unclear. B. Objective.

C. Hopeful. D. Intolerant.

Gist 4. What is the purpose of the text？

A. To point out the importance of museums.

B. To encourage people to pay a visit to Suzhou.

C. To show the architecture style of Ieoh Ming Pei.

D. To call for the development of our own culture.

Ⅱ. Discussion

Do you agree with the author's attitude towards cultural confidence？ And how to establish your own cultural confidence？

LanguageStudy

Complete the following phrases according to the text

1. 充滿 be_________of 2. 工业区_________park

3. 拆毁________down 4. 阐明___________light on

5. 文化自信 cultural________ 6. 世界各地 all_________the worldB655FA99-B6E6-4F79-8B06-359F9941843D