户口是什么？
What is hukou in China?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
在中国，几乎每家都有一个小本子，叫“户口本”。本子上写着家里每个人的名字、生日和他们住在哪里。这就是“户口”。
户口有什么用？在中国，你的户口在哪个城市，常常会影响你的生活。比如，孩子上学的时候，很多城市要先看家里的户口。
为什么这很重要？因为很多人从农村或者小城市来到大城市工作。他们在这里住了很多年，有了工作，也有了孩子，可是户口还在老家。所以，有的孩子要回老家上学，和爸爸妈妈分开。
这几年，很多中小城市已经让大家更容易拿到当地户口了。可是在北京、上海这样的大城市，拿户口还是很难。
中国人见面的时候，常常会问：“你是哪里人？”你觉得，一个人是哪里人，是看他出生在哪里，还是看他住在哪里？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 每 | měi | each; every |
| 生日 | shēngrì | birthday |
| 这样 | zhèyàng | like this; this way |
| 用 | yòng | to use; use; usefulness |
| 城市 | chéngshì | city; town |
| 常常 | chángcháng | often; frequently |
| 影响 | yíngxiǎng | influence; effect; impact; to influence; to affect |
| 生活 | shēnghuó | life; to live |
| 比如 | bǐrú | for example; for instance; such as |
| 先 | xiān | first; in advance |
| 重要 | zhòngyào | important |
| 或者 | huòzhě | or |
English (for the teacher)
In China, almost every family has a little booklet called the “hukou book”. It lists the name and birthday of everyone in the family, and where they live. That is the “hukou”.
What is a hukou for? In China, which city your hukou is in often affects your life. For example, when a child starts school, many cities first look at the family’s hukou.
Why does this matter? Because many people come from the countryside or small cities to work in big cities. They live there for years, find work and have children, but their hukou is still in their home town. So some children have to go back to their home town for school, apart from their parents.
In recent years, many small and medium cities have made it easier to get a local hukou. But in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, getting a hukou is still very hard.
When Chinese people meet, they often ask, “Where are you from?” What do you think: is where someone is from about where they were born, or where they live?