22.为中华之崛起而读书

Lesson Twenty-Two

Reading for the Rise of China

1.The new school year has begun.In the self-cultivation class, President Wei of Shenyang Dongguan Model School raised a serious question to the students, “Why do you study?”

2.“For my father.”

3.“For understanding truth.”

4.“For bringing honor to the family name.”

5.Some people simply answered.

6.A student has been sitting there silently, thoughtful.

7.President Wei noticed him and he gestured to calm everyone down and asked the student to answer by name.

8.The student stood up and replied clearly and firmly, “reading for the rise of China!”

9.President Wei was cheered by his answer!

10.He never thought that a 12-year-old child should have such ambition and mind!

11.With eyes open wide, he said, “Say it again, why are you studying?”

12.“Reading for the rise of China!”

12.President Wei heard and praised with joy, “Great!

13.For the rise of China, those who have the will should emulate this student!”

14.Who is this he?

15.He is Zhou Enlai, the first prime minister of the People’s Republic of China.

16.Zhou Enlai was born in 1898.At the age of twelve, he left his hometown Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, and came to Shenyang in Northeast China with his uncle who went home to visit relatives.

17.As soon as he arrived in Shenyang, his uncle told him that some places in Shenyang were leased territories of foreign people.Zhou Enlai was warned not to play in these places casually, and should walk around if he had to go through these places, because there’s no room for argument.

18.Young Zhou Enlai was puzzled and asked, “Isn’t that our place in China?

19.Why can’t you go?”

20.“China is too weak!”

21.Uncle sighed and said nothing more.

22.Twelve-year-old Zhou Enlai certainly couldn’t fully understand what his uncle said, but the words “China is too weak” and his uncle’s depressed expression made him unforgettable.

22.On a Sunday, Zhou Enlai asked a classmate to enter the concession without telling his uncle.

23.This area was really quite different from other places.In this place, the streets were bustling with foreigners with yellow hair, white skin and big nose.

24.When Zhou Enlai and his classmates looked around, they suddenly found a group of people in front of the patrol bureau.

25.They went over and saw a woman crying in the crowd.

26.After asked, they learned that this woman’s relatives were run over by foreigners’ cars.She originally expected the patrol bureau to give her backing and punish this foreigner, but the Chinese patrol officers reprimanded her instead of punishing the foreigners who caused the accident.

27.All the surrounding Chinese people clenched their fists, but this is in a foreign concession.Who dares to do anything?

28.What they could do was only to soothe this unfortunate woman.

29.At that time, Zhou Enlai really realized the seriousness of the words “China is too weak”.

30.How can we save our motherland and people from suffering and humiliation?

31.This problem has been burning in Zhou Enlai’s mind like a fire.

32.Therefore, when President Wei raised the question of why to study in self-cultivation class, he had a resounding answer of “reading for the rise of China”.