Beijing Hutong

“大胡同三百六，小胡同如牛毛”，这句话真说出了北京的一大特点。北京的胡同，星罗棋布，传递着古老的生活和文化气息。

While the rest of the city is crowded and noisy， several old men are sitting in their ancient hutong drinking tea and playing chess. This is a typical day in a Beijing hutong.

Beijing hutongs have a very special place in the rich history of Beijing. While visiting them， you can get a feel of its traditional lifestyle and culture.

According to experts， the word hutong originated from （起源于） the Mongolian language， meaning “well （井）”. In ancient times， people preferred to get together and live around wells. So the original meaning of hutong should be “a place where people get together and live.” There are other explanations， too.

No matter what hutong exactly means， it is commonly agreed that hutongs first appeared in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty， there were about 29 hutongs. The number increased during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Nobody knows exactly how many hutongs there are in Beijing today. But one thing is for sure—if we connected all the hutongs together， it would even be longer than the Great Wall！ If you come to Beijing， don’t forget to visit Beijing hutong！ You must enjoy yourself！

跟踪练习：

1. Beijing hutongs have a ______ place in the rich history of Beijing.

A. crowded

B. noisy

C. typical

D. special

2. You can learn ______ while visiting them.

A. how people drink tea

B. when people play chess

C. why people sit together

D. hutong’s traditional lifestyle and culture

3. Paragraph 3 mainly tells us ______.

A. how hutong was built

B. when hutong first appeared

C. the original meaning of hutong

D. what people in ancient times liked to do

4. If we connected all the hutongs together， it would even be______ than the Great Wall.

A. shorter

B. longer

C. more famous

D. more beautiful

5. People can know ______ from the underlined sentence in the last paragraph.

A. Beijing hutong isn’t famous

B. visiting Beijing hutong is free

C. Beijing hutong is worth visiting

D. visiting Beijing hutong is meaningless

Keys：1—5： DDCBC