Dream of the Red Chamber, an impressive masterpiece in Chinese literature, will be staged as     1     original ballet show by the National Ballet of China(NBC)this coming Friday, according to the troupe at a media event.

Considered as one of the four great classical     2     (novel) of Chinese literature, the Dream of the Red Chamber, through the perspective of Jia Baoyu,     3     (narrate) a story about the fall of his large wealthy family and     4     (he) complex relationship with Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. It shows the beauty of women and complicated ancient Chinese society from all angles,     5     has a far-reaching influence and world-renowned reputation.

The ballet dance drama will present this Chinese classic novel through a romantic Western-style narration,     6     (offer) a visual feast with carefully designed winter snow stage setting and the costumes of the characters. By integrating Chinese silk into the ballet skirts, the designer Yang Donglin commits himself     7     achleving a “combination of Eastern and Western aesthetics (美学)”.

“You can imagine     8     appealing it is to see the use of Western ballet to tell a classic Chinese story,” chief choreographer Tong Ruirul told the Global Times on Thursday.

“NBC has     9     (remarkable) adapted this wonderful classic into a ballet. It’ll definitely help the story gain much     10     (wide) recognition around the world,” commented Zhang Qingsban, President of Chinese Society of Dream of the Red Chamber.

【推荐3】Charlie Chaplin, born in a poor family, showed an     1     (astonish) talent as a performer as soon as he could walk. His father died when he was young, leaving his family even     2     (badly) off. Later, he wrote, directed, produced and     3     (star) in a series of funny movies. He grew popular for his charming character, the little tramp,    4     was a homeless man with a moustache, large trousers, worn-out shoes, a small round black hat and a walking stick. This character was a social     5     (fail) but could make people laugh even when they felt depressed, as they could feel more content     6     their lives. He was loved for his optimism and determination to overcome all difficulties. Take The Gold Rush for example. Chaplin and his friend expect     7     (find) gold but they have not been     8     (fortune). Instead, they are caught in a small house, where they are hungry and have to eat boiled leather shoes. His subtle acting is so convincing     9     you will believe it is one of the best meals he has ever had. No one was ever     10     (bore) watching him make terrible situations funny. Charlie Chaplin was a great actor who could always inspire people with great confidence.

Max Vernon Mathews has been called the father of computer music. In 1957, Max Mathews wrote a computer program     1     enabled a computer    2     (produce) sound and play it back. His computer program     3     (call) Music. The science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke visited Bell Laboratories in the 1960s. He heard a computer sing the song Daisy Bell on programs developed by Max Mathew and other engineers. Clarke noted this technology in his book 2001: A Space Odyssey, which    4     (make) into a movie later. Mathews continued creating other versions of the Music program. He became     5     (interest) in how computers could help musicians outside recording studios. He hoped that laptop computers    6     (consider) serious instruments one day.

Many artists draw with pens and brushes, but few “paint” with knives. Wang Jing, a woman from Shenyang city in northeast China’s Liaoning Province,     1    (work) on this novel artform for 27 years.

In 1995, Wang was inspired by an     2    (accident) cut by a knife on a piece of red paper, which left a white line.     3    (use) knives and paper, she then completed a painting of a pair of peacocks.

Unlike traditional paintings, onto which colors are “added”, “knife painters” apply varied pressure on the paper in different directions     4    (create) different colors and tones.

The novel art form was known to few people just after Wang created it. Even Wang herself was not expecting to make     5     something big at the beginning. But thanks to her huge interest in the art form, she has carried     6     it for the past 27 years. Wang has completed hundreds of paintings about Chinese culture, figures, landscape, flowers and birds, of which her favorite is a 2.8-meter-long painting     7     shows 20 lifelike egrets (白鹭).

“Painting on paper with knives needs careful     8    (treat) and each line in the painting is as thin as a hair. Once the marks are left on the paper, they cannot     9    (cover), so it requires the painter to be     10    (complete) concentrated on the work,” said Wang.