The world-famous art museum Musée d’Orsay    1     (house) some of the best-known Impressionist     2     (paint) of the 19th century. When I     3     (wander) there and laid eyes on the masterpieces, mostly I    4     (strike) by the works of the two Impressionists Claude Monet and Pierre·Auguste Renoir. Monet,     5     works were greatly inspired by nature, brought the same water lily pond’s beauty to the canvas in    6     unique way, using different colors and styles. Renoir preferred to paint scenes of everyday life with little clear detail. All in all, Impressionists focused     7     everyday subject matter,     8     (employ) free brushwork and colors to create far     9     (little) realistic works. Impressionism has had a     10     (last) influence on both the Post-Impressionists and modern art.

2 . Rather than indulge in smartphones and games, Zhang Yixuan prefers to spend his summer vacation walking in nature, encountering little creatures like shrimps and crabs. The 17-year-old went viral on Sina Weibo recently for his knowledge of biology, which led him to discover a new species of freshwater crabs of the genus (属) Sinolapotamon in 2022.

As his father, who was born in a rural area, loved catching fish and crabs himself at an early age, Zhang was always taken outdoors by his parents to explore as much as possible and observe little creatures quietly without any disruptions (打扰).

Now a grade 12 student at Yulin High School, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Zhang has dozens of “living treasures” that he has collected from the outdoors, including insects, fish, shrimps and crabs. “This one is a species of Nanhaipotamon that I caught in a mountainous area,” said Zhang, pointing to a vibrant (色彩鲜亮的) crab moving its amusing eyes around. “You can see it just shed (蜕去) its shell.”

There is also a row of empty bottles and jars in Zhang’s room to store his specimens (标本). “I can notice the slight differences between two shrimps, and then I take them back to my room for further observation,” said Zhang.

It is the microscope his father bought him that makes the bedroom look more like a mini biology lab than anything else. It’s a place where Zhang can devote himself to identifying shrimps or observing crabs day and night. With the help of his microscope, Zhang immerses himself in decoding (解码) the natural world. Sometimes he spends hours simply examining a piece of fish scale (鱼鳞), the leg of a crab or the antenna (触角) of an insect. He often works so late that his parents have to force him to go to bed.

“I’m often amazed by what I see while placing these tiny and fragile (脆弱的) things under the microscope. No matter how humble an insect is, each life is so delicately and uniquely structured,” said Zhang.

6 . Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28. Although he lived over 2,000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today.

Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn’t give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

Today, people still follow Confucius’ lessons. He told us that we all have something worthy to be learned. “When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them.”

He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. “All study but no thinking makes people puzzled. All thinking but no study makes people lazy.”

Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. “A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others.” he said.