Narrow alley,broad minds

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An about 2-meter-wide alley,or “Liu Chi Xiang” in Chinese,now attracts floods of visitors in East China's Anhui Province.It has a household ancient story hidden behind it,which vividly explains the essence of tolerance and non-contention widely esteemed in China.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty,one of his ministers,Zhang Ying,received a letter from his family back in his hometown of Tongcheng City in Anhui one day.From the letter,Zhang learned that his family quarreled with their neighbor Wu and Wu's family over the two sides'house boundary.Zhang's family wrote the letter hoping that Zhang,a high-ranking official in the imperial palace,could force the Wu family to make aconcession.

However,Zhang wrote a poem back saying,“Writing a letter from home miles away,just for a wall.All that fuss over one meter or two.Looking at the ten thousand-mile-long Great Wall.Long gone is its builder Emperor Qin Shi Huang.”His reply enlightened the family members as the wall was merely a temporary structure.It was the close relationship with their neighbors that mattered.

They decided to move their wall about one meter back for their neighbor.In turn,the Wu family was deeply touched by their generosity and retreated another meter backward when building their wall.It created an about two-meter-wide narrow “alley” between the houses.

More than 30 decades later in modern China,Tongcheng has become a national historical and cultural city,a statement released by the State Council said on Nov.12.Among all the valuable historical sites in the city,the narrow alley is one of the most renowned attractions.It serves as enlightenment,inspiring people to observe public morals and cherish harmony,especially in disputes and conflicts.

Many locals still live in tiny houses next to each other and share walls with their neighbors.Inevitable problems like noise and division of responsibility when it comes to a broken wall are commonplaces.

Zhang Yun,Party Secretary of Liuchixiang Community,also a descendant of Zhang Ying,has drawn on his ancestor's wisdom in mediating such daily disputes.“A good neighbor is better than a brother far away.I always cite the ancient story of my ancestor to persuade them to make compromises for each other,”said Zhang Yun.

Reading Check

1.Which word best describes Zhang Ying's way to deal with the problem?

A.Wise.

B.Clumsy.

C.Humorous.

D.Puzzling.

2.What does the underlined word “concession” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A.Joke.

B.Fortune.

C.Compromise.

D.Difference.

3.What can we learn from the last paragraph about Zhang Yun?

A.He is a descendant of Emperor Kangxi.

B.He often talks with his neighbors about his ancestor's story.

C.He inspires people to cherish peace.

D.He always uses his ancestor's wisdom to deal with daily problems.

4.What's the text mainly about?

A.Conflicts between neighbors.

B.A housing problem.

C.Tolerance in daily life.

D.Styles of different houses.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

It has a household ancient story hidden behind it,which vividly explains the essence of tolerance and non-contention widely esteemed in China.它背后隐藏着一个家喻户晓的古老故事，这个故事生动地阐释了在中国广受推崇的宽容和不争的本质。

【点石成金】hidden是过去分词作后置定语，修饰a household ancient story；which引导的定语从句也修饰a household ancient story，其中which在从句中作主语。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

miles away千里之外

in turn反过来；转而

serve as起到……的作用；充当……

inspire sb to do sth激励某人去做某事

when it comes to sth当谈及……时