The Battle at Lake Changjin has made the China’s top-grossing (票房最高的) film. The development mirrors the advances of Chinese films in both quality and     1    (popular) in recent years.

Set during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it tells the story of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (CPVA) fighting bravely in     2    (freeze) weather in a vital campaign at Lake Changjin in 1950. Most of the winter uniforms     3     (intend) for the CPVA never arrived, leaving the soldiers with canvas (帆布) shoes and little more than thin cotton scarves to wrap     4     (they) in. Many people showed respect for the heroes     5     lost their lives. It also received millions of favorable reviews and clicks on several of the     6    (country) most popular social media platforms.

The landscape of China’s box office is now much different from what it was years ago — in the early 2010s and earlier — when many of the yearly top earners     7    (be) Hollywood titles. With a steady improvement in quality, domestic titles now account     8     a large majority of China’s yearly box-office income. The Battle at Lake Changjin even remained the highest-grossing title of the year     9    (global). A report shows that 42 percent of Chinese moviegoers made their first movie theater visit of 2022 during the Spring Festival holiday,       10     The Battle at Lake Changjin II was their first choice.

An animated short film, based on the book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, is coming to Apple TV+ on December 25. It is about a boy who     1     (lose) and afraid but gets comforting     2    (wise) from animals he meets as he looks for his home.

British illustrator(插图画家) and artist Charlie Mackesy, the author of the book, co-wrote and co-directed the film. He said the     3    (origin) inspiration for his book came from drawings he made and sent to friends. He put them in a book     4    more people could enjoy them, and it became     5     bestseller.

The story’s lesson, such as “Asking for help isn’t giving up. It’s refusing to give up,” didn’t come    6     Mackesy all at once. “I just kept drawing and writing and they emerged(出现),” he said. “I think we all have things deep within us if we dare to listen.” Mackesy said that at first he didn’t think the book had enough in it     7    (become) a film, but there ended up being too much. “We had to carefully select     8     we felt was important and keep the gentle pace,” he said.

There are many important messages in the film, but there are some specific ones Mackesy would like kids to take away from it. “I hope very much that it helps children feel good about themselves,     9    (love), and enough as they are,” he said. “I hope it inspires friendships and shows that the greatest things in life     10    (be) kindness and love.”