The animated film Chang An has become a surprise hit, earning     1     impressive 600 million yuan at the box office of the Chinese mainland within just ten days of its release. It has appealed to audiences of all ages, who     2    (enthusiastic) recite poetry alongside the characters on screen, taking them on a fantastic journey. This film not only identifies with the Chinese people but also allows the world     3    (explore) the rich tradition of Tang poetry and the “Chinese Poetry Universe.”

The story centers around the deep friendship between poet Gao Shi and the romantic poet Li Bai, offering a brief look into the glorious history of the Tang era,     4     is known for its economic prosperity and cultural advancement. The 48 Tang poems     5    (feature) in the movie present a view of the most excellent poets of that time as well as their political ambitions and ideals. These poems transport audiences     6     sandy deserts to mist-filled regions along the Yangtze River.

Chang An is undoubtedly a masterpiece that shows the unique     7    (characteristic) of Chinese culture to the world. In China, poets and their poems     8    (consider) national treasures. These poems describe not only the historical changes of a dynasty, but also     9    (people) understanding of the world. The film has raised the audiences’ awareness and enhanced their love and     10    (believe) in Chinese culture.

For thousands of years, people have told fables (寓言) in     1     attempt to teach a lesson or to pass on wisdom. Fables were part of the oral tradition of many early cultures with the well-known Aesop’s fables     2    (date) to the sixth century, B.C. Yet, the form of the fable still has values today, as Rachel Carson says in “A Fable for Tomorrow.”

Carson uses a simple, direct style common to fable. In fact, her style, as well as tone (口吻), seemingly     3    (satisfy) the children. “There was once a town in the heart of America, where all life seemed     4    (enjoy) peaceful co-existence with is surroundings.” Her fable begins, with some familiar words    5     (adapt) from many age-old fables. Behind the simple style, however, is a serious message intended for everyone.

Different from traditional    6    (approach), Carson’s story ends with an accusation instead of a moral. She reminds people     7    the environmental dangers facing society, and she delivers the lesson     8     people must take responsibility for saving their environment.

The themes of traditional fables often deal with simple truths about everyday life. However, Cason’s theme is a more weighty warning about environmental destruction.     9    is likely that a simple lyric form that has been passed down through the ages can still be     10    (benefit) today to draw attention to important truths.

Yours，

Li Hua

9 . The Internet, search engines, virtual worlds. Have you ever got the feeling that you’re living in a science fiction?

Well, indeed you are.

For more than a century, inventors have been driven to create what sci-fi writers have imagined long before. Buck Rogers inspired a generation of scientists excited about space exploration. Ray Bradbury predicted home-theater systems. William Gibson dreamed up the Internet while writing Neuromancer on a typewriter. Not long after him, Neal Stephenson predicted virtual worlds in his 1991 novel Snow Crash. One of his readers was Philip Rosedale, who loved it so much that he wanted to build a virtual world based on it.

By the late 1990s, technology caught up to the novel, and Rosedale built the virtual world Second Life based on the “Metaverse” from the novel. With 1 million active users, Second Life offers virtual shops, bars, houses and even virtual television studios with virtual celebrities (名人) on virtual talk shows.

“I think it is pretty much what I imagined,” Stephenson says. “I just shoot for the stars, while he makes great things happen.”

But Snow Crash is a dark book. The world in the novel is filled with criminals, violence and environmental problems.

“Science fiction not only puts stars in our hands, it also helps us see the meaning of our work,” Philip Rosedale admits. “It makes it possible for us to see what all of our efforts could eventually lead to.”

In fact, most science fiction authors admit that their work is usually cautionary (警示性的). “While the inventors are rushing ahead and excited about this possibility or that possibility, we’re always standing there warning, ‘Hang on just a second. Let’s think about this a little more’” author William Gibson says. “But most of them will ignore you because they think they already know all things about any given hot topic of the day. But if you can convince them that you’re talking about a planet millions of miles away and hundreds of years in the future or the past, you can actually get them to examine more closely what’s going on right now.”