Passage One
A draft of the amendment, submitted by the National People’s ConGREss(NPC) Standing Committee to the NPC session on Monday, calls for private property not to be encroached upon and says that the State should add compensation to the current law that“the State has the right to expropriate urban and rural land”.
Xia Bing, a lawyer with a Shanghai-based law firm, says, “It is a substantive breakthrough in
By 2003, per capita GDP had reached US$1,000.
More and more, Chinese have bought or are planning to buy houses and cars, which are coming to be regarded as modern necessities.
The economic boom has brought a change in people’s thinking: there’s pride in getting rich through hard work in a lawful way.
By the end of last November,
“The practice of encouraging the private sector but avoiding reference to it in the law doesn’t sit well with the private sector,” says Lian Xisheng, a legal scholar at China University of Politics and Law.
This will be the first time in New China that capital goods, property, and invisible capital such as intellectual property rights will have Constitutional protection.
The draft also includes the Three Represents, which emphasize that the Communist Party represents the fundamental interests of the majority of the people.
Also, protection of human rights will be written into the Constitution.
Article 33 of Chapter Two of the Constitution will be altered to say, “The State respects and protects human rights.”
Wang Zhaoguo, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee, says that “this principle is adopted by the Party and the State to respect and protect human rights. Writing it into the Constitution will provide a legal guarantee for its implementation.”
Zhu Guanglei, a professor of law at
“Just 20 years ago, human rights were still regarded as a ‘capitalist notion’ here, but now they will have a place in the fundamental law,” he says.
“This development shows what a GREat leap forward China has made in human rights protection over the past two decades,” Zhu adds.
The amendments were proposed by the CPC Central Committee last October and adopted by the NPC Standing Committee in December.
They need a two-third consenting majority of the nearly 3,000 NPC deputies to be approved. It is currently in the middle of a 10-day annual session in
A vote has been scheduled for Sunday, March 14.
Questions:
1. What does the phrase “a breakthrough in
2. The increase in private property results from________.
3. Where can we find the item for human rights protection in the Constitution?
4. How did people think of human rights 20 years ago?
Passage Two
For more than 100 years, beautiful teapots made of Yixing’s signature zisha clay have drawn tea lovers from around globe.
But now it seems that this peaceful
“I don’t know much about zisha clay,” says Ding, in his characteristic low voice.
Ding, who won the Amway Santinique National Snooker Championship with the Dream team on Sunday in
One can find nothing about him to indicate that he has headlined the World Snooker League, edging out several high-profile players.
The teenage star made history early last month in
His defeat of world No. 16 Joe Perry of
Ding was selected for Wembley and other major international tournaments because of his impressive amateur record. His trophy collection includes the Asian Games title, as well as World and Asian under-21 championships.
But the real shocker came as Ding defeated current World No. 1 Mark J. Williams in
“Ding has GREat natural ability. I would say he’s of world top eight material,” says Pang Weiguo, a veteran Chinese snooker player who has also had professional outings in Britain. “The pro tour will give him the experience to turn that potential into reality.”
Although Chinese mainland players have been a rarity in this sport, players like
Ding began playing at the age of eight, initiated into the sport by his father, a former vendor who moved into the snooker club business after his son’s early successes.
Ding began participating in senior events even before his height equalled that of a cue. But it was not long before his adult opponents found themselves incapable of defeating the quiet boy.
Ding’s solid performance so far has attracted a GREat deal of business interest as well.
First Advice, a British sports agency, has come to an informal aGREement with Ding, footing the bill for his expenses in
Back home in
“The future of cue sports in China, to some extent, depends on Ding’s generation. I still remember when he was brought to me at the age of 11. I could tell that he was a boy of extraordinary caliber,” says Pang.
Ding’s favourite player is Ronnie O’Sullivan—the ill-tempered world No. 2 who is a former alcoholic and drug addict. However, there are differences:“I appreciate his game, but I’m not thinking of becoming another O’Sullivan,” he says.
Questions:
1. How well did Ding Junhui play?
2. From the sentence “Chinese mainland players have been a rarity in this sport”, we learn that________.
3. Why are so many companies interested in him?
参考答案: Passage One
1. A change for the better.
2. reforms and opening-up
3. Article 33 of Chapter Two.
4. People took it as a “capitalist notion”.
Passage Two
1. He defeated the world No. 16 and No. 1 players.
2. this sport is not popular in
3. Because he is a promising young player.
