Protecting friendship

For the last 50 years, giant pandas from China have captured the hearts of people in the US.

A “Pandaversary Night” party was    1    on Aug 24 at the Chinese embassy (大使馆) in Washington,    2    the 50th anniversary of giant pandas’ arriving in the US capital. And the Smithsonian’s National Zoo expects the panda craze to last for several more years.

“Giant pandas are worthy ambassadors. They have much longer tenures (任期) than each of the Chinese ambassadors here, and they have many more fans than us,” Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said at the reception. “Year by year, giant pandas have become an icon of mutual    3    and friendship between the two peoples. In particular, the arrival of Xiao Qi Ji (Little Miracle) two years ago has brought us a happy surprise.”

He was referring to the cub’s birth in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic,       4    with the deterioration of China-US bilateral relations to its lowest point in four decades.

The ambassador noted that the number of giant pandas in the wild in China has increased from several hundred 50 years ago to more than 1,800, which meant the species is no longer “endangered”, thanks to unrelenting (持续的) efforts at protection and conservation.

“But sadly, ‘panda-huggers’ are endangered. Now they need protection and conservation,” he said, in    5     to China-US relations, with hawkish (强硬的) US politicians increasingly seeking to “outcompete” China by    6    the country as a challenger or even a threat to the US.

“China’s approach to panda diplomacy has    7     to serve more of a tool to project soft power”, New York Times said in a recent article.

In addition to Xiao Qi Ji, another panda – Kung Fu Panda – was also made in the US. “I still remember a/an    8    from it: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it’s called present!” Qin declared. “At present, we get together to cherish the wonderful gift of the panda. We need more pandas, and we also need more ‘panda-huggers’.”

“I’m absolutely    9    to 50 more years of giant panda care and protection, so I look forward to working with our colleagues in China, as we are     10    about the future for our giant panda program,” said Brandie Smith, director of the National Zoo.

Route 66, the historic highway known as “America’s Main Street”. The 2, 400-mile, two-lane road, completed in 1932, passed through eight states and three time zones between Chicago and Los Angeles. Historically,     1     with gas stations and dusty little American towns, Route 66 was the road to the    2    land, California.

When it was established in 1926, it was a beacon of progress at the    3    of the automobile age. It became the path to a better life in the 1930s for Okies (流动雇农)    4    the Dust Bowl (沙尘暴). It served troops in the 1940s as their convoys(车队)prepared to enter World WarⅡ. It reached its pop culture peak in the 1950s and 1960s as the icon of the American road trip. It was immortalized in song and was even the    5    of a popular television show.

“Following the publication of ‘Route 66: The Mother Road’ in 1990, I was often asked if I was surprised by all the attention my book received from the news media and the public,” says Michael Wallis, co-founder of the Route 66 Alliance. “My early response was that I was not surprised since I knew there were many others who knew that the historic highway was not only alive and well but that at least 85 percent of the Mother Road was still    6    for travelers to enjoy.”

”However, it was not long before my attitude changed, as I    7    the unprecedented increase of interest in Route 66 across the nation and, in time, around the world. Those numbers have    8    continued to spiral upward. I know that the future of Route 66 is not only assured but glowing as bright as a band of neon (霓虹).”

Small communities are seeing new life as tourists and road-trippers    9    for the old two-lane passage to get a sense of what they were missing on cruise control. Route 66    10    eight states, from the cornfields of Illinois to the beach in California. Oklahoma has over 400 miles within its borders, more than any other state. The road also is known as the Will Rogers Highway, after the Sooner State’s most famous son.

Pirates had existed for as long as man had sailed the seas. In the 1600s, the sight of the Jolly Roger would     1     fear into the hearts of even the bravest seamen, and it was at this time that they truly began to rule the     2    .

The colonisation of the New World and the birth of the slave trade meant that the oceans were crowded with richly loaded merchant (商人) ships, and many men and women turned to a life of     3     on the high seas. And what a life it was! A bottle of rum (朗姆酒) at breakfast, and a day spent stalking ships and trading spoils in pirate havens.

These hives (聚居地) of villainy, hidden away on islands in the Caribbean and Indian Oceans, served as     4     sites for attacks on enemy outposts and merchant ships. Here, pirates could repair their ships away from the watchful eye of the Navy, while taverns and gambling halls provided welcome     5     for pirates who had spent months at sea.

Over the years, pirates’ lives became easier and even more lucrative. Sailors knew these bandits were skilled, well-armed, and willing to     6     it all— the chance of winning a battle with them was slim. Ships that did put up a fight were shown no     7    , so their best option was to raise the white flag and surrender.

However, as the problem of piracy grew, merchant communities began to take     8     into their own hands, arming and equipping ships at their own expense to protect commerce. These ships,     9     by ‘privateers’, were licensed by the crown and could attack any enemy ship. Over time, the line between privateer and pirate became unclear.

In a world where native populations were being wiped out or bound in chains, pirate life     10     freedom and democracy. It’s easy to see why many found it hard to resist the spoils of the Golden Age of Piracy.

Wuhan is a city with both an ancient history     1     a thriving(繁华的) present. Historic relics tell the city’s long history dating     2     3,500 years. In the period of PreQin (770 B.C.--221 B.C),it     3     the land of the State of Chu and the cradle(发源地)

Starting here,    4     followed the great Yangtze River of the brilliant Chu Civilization. and lake network to expand businesses throughout the entire country. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)， Hankou became one of the four best-known towns in the country. For centuries, Wuhan has been the center of trade and transportation in     5     China. Today it is     6     important center in central China and a feature of Yangtze River cruises(航行) for sightseers and businessmen     7     from Sichuan to Shanghai or Hong Kong.

The uprising voice of the Revolution of 1911 was     8     here firstly. The revolution aimed to overthrow the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) and establish the Republican     9     government, is one of the     10     events in modern China.