The Silk Road is in fact a     1    (relative) recent term. These ancient roads had no particular name until the mid-nineteenth century; Baron Ferdinand von Richthoften named the trade and communication network the Silk Road. Since then the term     2     (accept) globally.

In the nineteenth century, a new type of travellers stepped onto the Silk Road: archaeologists and geographers, enthusiastic explorers who were eager     3    (look) for adventure. Researchers who came from many countries travelled through the Taklamakan Desert,     4    is now in Xinjiang, to explore ancient sites along the Silk Road,     5    (lead) to many discoveries and studies, and most of all, a renewed interest     6     the history of these routes.

Today,many historic     7     (build) and monuments still stand, marking the passage of the Silk Road through hotels, ports and cities. What’s more, the long-standing legacy of this     8     (impress) network is reflected in a large number of cultures, languages, customs and religions that have developed for many years along these routes. The passage of merchants and travellers of many different nationalities resulted not only in commercial exchange,    9     in a widespread and continual process of cultural interaction. Obviously, it     10     (become) a driving force in the formation of diverse societies.

【推荐3】Around the year 1000 A.D., some people from Northwest India began to travel westward. Nobody knows why.    1     they left their homes, they didn’t settle down any more, but spent their lives     2    (move) from one to another. Their later generations were called the Romany people of Gypsies (吉普赛人). There’re Gypsies all over the world, many of     3     are still traveling with no fixed homes. There are about 8,000,000 of them, including 3,000,000 in the Eastern Europe. Gypsies sometimes have     4     hard time in foreign countries because they are different. People may be afraid of them, look down     5     them, or think that they are criminals (罪犯). The Nazis treated the Gypsies     6    (cruel), like the Jews, and nobody knows how many of them     7    (die) in Hitler’s death camps. Gypsies have     8     own language, Romany. They like music and dancing. Traveling is of great importance to them, and many Gypsies are unhappy when they have to stay in one place. Because of this, it is difficult     9     Gypsy children to go to school, so Gypsies are often unable to read and write. In some places, the educational authorities try to arrange special traveling schools for Gypsy children, so that they can get the same education     10     other children.

Wandering sounds, irregular rhythms and a carrier of gentle emotions. This is the musical language of guqin, a seven-string instrument    1    (bear)in ancient China.

The earliest piece of guqin in China, unearthed in Hubei province,    2    (date)back to the Zhou Dynasty. The body of a guqin is made of wood and the strings of silk. Unlike its    3    (seeming) simple appearance, making a guqin is extremely demanding.    4    outstanding piece can take from two to five decades to craft. The tone of a guqin is quiet, distant, pleasant and    5    (charm).

The guqin has been embraced by musicians for centuries, the most popular one    6    (be) Yu Boya in the Spring and Autumn and Waring States periods. As he played his guqin in mountains, a woodcutter named Zhong Ziqi passed by. No sooner had he heard the music    7     he understood it. This deep understanding formed a strong bond    8    them. This is the famous tale behind the masterpiece, Flowing Water, High Mountains,    9    has been passed down through generations. It is also considered as the most marvelous    10    (compose) in Chinese guqin music.

Singles’ Day falls on November 11^th every year in China,     1    is recognized as a day for people who have no girlfriend or boyfriend. Couples and lovers have Valentine’s Day in celebration of their love, but how about the singles? There must be     2    day they can celebrate even without a partner. That’s    3    people created Singles’ Day.

On Singles’ Day many singles choose to say goodbye to their single lives,     4    (attend) date parties, and some people even decide to get    5    (marry) to strangers.    6    this day has recently become more of a time for shopping, because many shops online will give customers great discount (打折)    7    (promote) their goods. More and more people are    8    (will) to shop online to get what they want, and I am one of them. I just can’t help buying things    9    I need them or not.    10    (honest) speaking, some of things that I bought have been put aside forever in my closet.

【推荐3】The lion is a special animal to Chinese people. A pair of stone lions, a male and a female, are     1     (common) seen in front of the gates of traditional buildings.

The lion     2     (regard) as the king in the animal world so it represents power. The stone lions are also used to indicate the ranks of     3     (official).

It is interesting to note that China had no lions originally. The earliest stone lions were sculpted     4     the beginning of Eastern Han Dynasty (25~220 AD) with     5     introduction of Buddhism into ancient China. In the Buddhist faith, the lion,    6     can protect the Truth and keep off evils, is considered a holy animal of nobleness and dignity. In Chinese folk tales, the lion has become a symbol of     7     (brave), power and good luck.

It was also popular     8     (decorate) bridges with sculpted stone lions for the same reason. The     9     (well) known of this is the Lugouqiao ( also as Marco Polo Bridge ),    10     (build) from 1189 to 1192. A famous proverb says, “The lions on the Lugouqiao are uncountable.”