小球转动大球
What was ping-pong diplomacy?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
有一句话叫“小球转动大球”。小球是乒乓球，大球是地球。这是什么意思呢？
一九七一年，日本有世界乒乓球比赛。那时候，中国和美国已经二十多年没有来往了。
有一天，一个美国年轻球员上错了车，上了中国队的车。车上很安静，没有人跟他说话。这时候，中国有名的球员庄则栋走过去，送给他一件礼物，是一张有中国山水的画。很快，很多报纸上都有了两个人的照片。
几天以后，中国请美国的乒乓球队来中国看看。这是二十多年来，第一次有美国球队来中国。
一九七二年，美国总统尼克松也来到了北京。一九七九年，两个国家有了正式的关系。
一辆车，一件礼物，让两个国家走近了。所以，人们把这件事叫“乒乓外交”。
你喜欢打乒乓球吗？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 球 | qiú | ball |
| 意思 | yìsi | meaning; idea |
| 已经 | yǐjīng | already |
| 错 | cuò | mistake; fault; wrong; mistaken |
| 跟 | gēn | to follow; heel |
| 走 | zǒu | to go; to leave |
| 过去 | guòqu | (in the) past; former; to go over; to pass by |
| 画 | huà | to draw; to paint; painting; picture |
| 快 | kuài | fast; quick |
| 让 | ràng | to yield; to give way; to let (someone have) |
| 所以 | suóyǐ | so; therefore |
| 打 | dǎ | to hit; to beat |
Questions
那个美国球员上错了车，他上了谁的车？
The American player got on the wrong bus. Whose bus was it?
庄则栋送给美国球员什么礼物？
What gift did Zhuang Zedong give the American player?
几天以后，中国请美国球队做什么？
A few days later, what did China invite the American team to do?
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 3 · What was ping-pong diplomacy?. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 球 and 意思 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 小球转动大球 on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “What was ping-pong diplomacy?”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 球 (qiú, ball), 意思 (yìsi, meaning; idea), 已经 (yǐjīng, already), 错 (cuò, mistake; fault; wrong; mistaken), 跟 (gēn, to follow; heel), 走 (zǒu, to go; to leave). Say each one, the class says it back, then ask for its meaning with the word covered. The rest are in the handout’s table.
Listen 10 min
Play it read aloud from mandarinthewild.com/library/read/what-was-ping-pong-diplomacy: once with the text face down, once reading along. Students tap any word there for its meaning.
Read and check 10 min
Students read it alone, then answer the 3 questions on the handout. Go through them together; the answers and the line that proves each are on the teacher’s page.
Use it 10 min
In pairs, each student writes two sentences of their own, one with 球 and one with 意思, and reads one to the class.
Homework. Students read it again at home and Review its words. Put it in a free class (mandarinthewild.com/teachers/class) and you see who read it.
English (for the teacher)
There is a saying: “The small ball turns the big ball.” The small ball is a ping-pong ball, and the big ball is the Earth. What does it mean?
In 1971 Japan hosted the World Table Tennis Championships. At that time China and the United States had had no contact for more than twenty years.
One day a young American player got on the wrong bus: the Chinese team’s bus. It was very quiet on the bus, and nobody spoke to him. Then the famous Chinese player Zhuang Zedong walked over and gave him a gift, a Chinese landscape picture. Soon photos of the two of them were in many newspapers.
A few days later, China invited the American table tennis team to come and see China. It was the first time in over twenty years that an American team had come to China.
In 1972, US President Nixon came to Beijing too. In 1979, the two countries established formal relations.
One bus, one gift, brought two countries closer. So people call it “ping-pong diplomacy”.
Do you like playing ping-pong?
Answers
- A. 中国队的车: 一个美国年轻球员上错了车，上了中国队的车。
- C. 一张画: 送给他一件礼物，是一张有中国山水的画。
- C. 来中国看看: 中国请美国的乒乓球队来中国看看。