On one level, the photos are intimate family portraits: an art dealer surrounded by his collection of ceramics, or a fishing family with objects mostly related to cooking. On another level, the pictures capture the social change that is taking place in China. The four most sought-after items in 1950s for newly married couples were a sewing machine, a bicycle, a watch and a radio. By the 1980s the stuff people longed for was quite different: a TV, a washing machine, a rice cooker and a fridge. In some pictures, the sewing machine was pushed to the back, which shows it's no longer as desirable as it used to be.
In other photos, luxury items are on display: a BMW car and a flat-screen TV feature in the portrait of film director Zhang Yuan. Since brand names and consumer goods already flood China's cities, will these soon reach the more remote parts of the country and become more prominent in Mr. Huang's snaps? Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the project, and Mr. Huang plans to visit the same families to see what has changed. "In the last 10 years, China has seen such a fast rate of growth, I want to go back and see what the effects have been on their lives," he says.
Which new goods will appear in the next batch of pictures? And which will no longer feature because they've become a thing of the past?
Quiz 測驗 True, false or not given? Photographer Huang Qingjun convinced 14 families to pose for him.
False. He convinced families from 14 different provinces to pose for him.
Find six words in the article that can mean 'things'.
Objects, possessions, belongings, stuff, items, goods.
Which word in the article means 'that people want'?
Sought-after.
According to the article, which item was much more desirable in the 1950s than in more recent decades?
A sewing machine.
Why is Mr. Huang planning to revisit the families next year?
Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the project, so Mr. Huang wants to see how things have changed.
Glossary 词汇表 possessions擁有物 belongings所屬物品（家什），財產 the object of目的 a portrait肖像 to capture捕捉 sought-after想得到的 a sewing machine縫紉機 stuff圓物品，東西 a washing machine洗衣機 desirable理想的；人人都想要的 luxury items奢侈品 a flat-screen TV平板電視 brand names名牌 consumer goods消費品 goods物品 batch一批 a thing of the past已經是過去的事了
