Beethoven is regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of music. In     1    (he) twenties, he began to lose his hearing, but he continued to write music. Inspired by his     2     (struggle) with deafness, he produced more than 130     3     (amaze) music works, including his Symphony No. 9 D minor.

In February 1824, he added the final notes to the score. The famous     4     (nine) symphony was completed. He signed his name     5     (proud) and imagined how people would respond when they heard it     6     the first time.

Before the performance, the backstage atmosphere at a very famous theatre in Vienne was tense. As he walked out onto the stage, the audience did not hesitate     7     (applaud) loudly. The theatre’s musical director joined him and together the two men took charge of the orchestra.

At last, the audience     8     (shock). It was not until one of the singers turned him to face the audience     9     the great man realised his symphony was     10     success.

Changxing Baiyelong dance is a     1     (character) dragon dance popular in Lincheng town, Changxing county, Huzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province. Baiyelong, which     2     (literal) means “a dragon made of a hundred lotus leaves”,     3     (inspire) by a local legend about a dragon born in a lotus pond.

The dance, which is usually performed by a team of 17 people during temple     4     (festival), is a customary practice that     5     (represent) the wishes of local residents for a prosperous year, both for their families and their motherland.

In 1957, a Baiyelong dance program took home     6     gold award at the sixth World Youth College Students Festival     7     (hold) in Moscow in 1957. In April 2004, Changxing set up a training base     8     (restore) the traditional art and established a government-backed troupe in June 2005. A year later, Changxing Baiyelong dance was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list. In 2023, the Changxing Baiyelong dance was selected     9     a warm-up performance for the Asian Games’ opening ceremony and it made an immediate impression on hundreds of millions of TV viewers.

“We hope that this dance,     10     has been performed in Changxing for over 200 years, can be presented to the whole world in a brand-new way on the stage of the Asian Games,” said Gu Keni, the general director of the program.