Of all the traditional festivals, the harvest festival can     1    (find) in almost every culture. This important agricultural festival     2    (take) place after all the crops have been gathered     3    . People celebrate to show     4     they are     5    (gratitude) for the year’s supply of food. In ancient Egypt, the harvest festival was celebrated during the springtime—the Egyptian harvest season. It featured a parade and a great feast with music, dancing, and sports. Today, in some European countries, people decorate churches and town halls     6     flowers and fruit, and get together     7    (celebrate) over     8     meal. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in China,     9    (family) gather to admire the     10    (shine) moon and enjoy delicious mooncakes totally worth it.

The winter solstice(also called Dongzhi) occurs when one of the Earth’s poles has its maximum tilt(倾斜) away from the Sun. Although the winter solstice    1    (it) lasts only a moment, the term sometimes refers to the day on     2    it happens. The date of the winter solstice    3    (vary) from year to year, and can fall anywhere    4    December 20 and December 23. It was very important because the people were economically dependent on monitoring the progress of the seasons. It’s when the sun reaches its    5    (far) southward point for the year. At this solstice, the Northern Hemisphere(半球) has its longest night of the year.

Since the 18th century, the term “midwinter” has sometimes been used with the winter solstice, although it carries other meanings as well.    6    (tradition), in many regions, the winter solstice    7    (see) as the middle of winter, but in some countries and calendars, it marks the    8    (begin) of winter.

As most are aware, daylight hours grow shorter as the winter solstice approaches, and begin to slowly    9    (length)afterward. For people living in the southern hemisphere, the South Pole is pointing towards the Sun,    10    (make) it summertime “Down Under”. And regardless of where you live, the solstice happens at the same moment for everyone on the planet.

Because there have been so many different styles of Western art, perhaps the best way     1     (understand) Western art is to look at the development of Western painting over the centuries. During the Middle Ages, the purpose of Western art was     2     (teach) people about Christianity. This began to change in the 13th century with Giotto di Bondone. His paintings are set apart from other paintings by their     3     (reality) human faces and deep emotional impact. Painters concentrated     4     (little) on religious themes during the Renaissance.     5     important breakthrough was the use of perspective by Masaccio and another innovation was the use of oil paints. As for subjects, the emphasis     6     (increase) shifted from religious themes to people and the world around us. Photography was invented in the mid­19th century, after     7     paintings were no longer needed to preserve what people and the world looked like. Hence, impressionism     8     (emerge) in France. The name came from the painting by Claude Monet     9     (call) Impression, Sunrise. After Impressionism, subsequent artists began to ask what they would do next. What they attempted to do was no longer show reality,     10     instead to ask the question, “What is art?”

The world’s biggest kite, shaped like a dragon and stretching over 280 meters,    1    (fly) high on Sunday in the skies over the Chinese city of Weifang. The city in the eastern province of Shandong is     2     birthplace of kites and home to the Weifang International Kite Festival since 1984.

The highlight of this year’s edition was the “Chinese Giant Dragon”, four meters in    3    (high) and 3.6 meters in width and is the widest of its kind in the world. “It took 28 experienced workers 48 days to design and complete the kite. Fifty-five people    4    (require) to fly it,” said Zhang Huagang, general manager of Weifang Tianshun Kite Productions and one of the kite makers.

According to Zhang, the giant dragon kite,    5    (use) traditional Chinese techniques, “refers to our nation’s wishes for prosperity and fortune”. The kite festival, now in its 38th edition, opened on Friday     6    the presence of hundreds of amateurs and professionals,     7     flooded to the city from near and far to display their creations at the event.

This year’s festival features a record 1,628 kites in     8     (vary) forms by 500 participants     9     (divide) into 188 teams from over 31 provinces and regions from across the country.    10    (addition), a 1000-drone demonstration attracted more than 100,000 viewers.

【推荐3】阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Acupuncture (针灸), an ancient Chinese medical practice that is     1     deep cultural significance, has been the therapy(疗法) for countless patients for thousands of years. Before modern medicine appeared, the ancient Chinese used stone tools     2    (ease) the pain. Gradually, this practice changed into a comprehensive and influential medical system,     3    (shape) the root of acupuncture.

Acupuncture is an     4    (effect) treatment that aims to promote the body’s self-regulating functions. Its health-friendly principles are in line with the philosophical concepts of traditional Chinese medicine,     5     emphasis is on the balance of bodily functions, overall well-being etc.     6    (practice) of traditional Chinese medicine vary in forms. Needle insertion, one of the most common and well-known methods,     7     (conduct) by inserting needles into specific points on the body that channel vital energy(the qi), in order to unblock the flow of energy, restore our body’s yin and yang balance, and     8    (complete) awaken its inborn potential to recover.

Looking beyond China, acupuncture is a global therapy. Over the years, acupuncture     9    (see) notable advancements in scientific research and modern medicine. It is now a mainstream option for certain diseases     10     complementary(补充的) treatment for a variety of other illnesses.