I’ve always been attracted by the     1     (beautiful) of Chinese culture and its long history. When we first arrived in China, my friend Tony and I expected a big city     2     (fill) with modern buildings, busy streets and a crowded transport system. But we were pleasantly surprised.

The thing     3     impressed us first was the space. Yes, Beijing is indeed huge, but its wide streets and green spaces made every area feel less crowded. Tian’anmen Square was the perfect example of this. The Forbidden City was     4     (surprising) clean and well protected. Everywhere we looked, there were people     5     (tidy) and cleaning, which really left an     6     (impress) of national pride. We     7     (concern) that few people would speak English, even in Beijing. But we found     8    common for Chinese people to know a few words of English. The most exciting part of our visit was riding around in the sunshine and exploring     9     city on bikes.

It was great     10     (experience) Beijing’s landmarks in person after admiring them for so many years. This was our first visit to China, but certainly not our last.

I visited the Musée d’Orsay, which is a world-famous art museum     1    (house) in an old railway building in Paris.

    2     (wander) through the Impressionist gallery, I appreciated masterpieces.Two of the greatest Impressionist painters that     3     (make) the deepest impression on me were Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Monet was    4     (great) inspired by nature. It’s said that about 250 paintings by Monet including the famous piece Blue Water Lilies feature     5     same water lily pond, but all are in different colours and styles.Renoir preferred to paint     6    (scene)of everyday life. I    7    (strike) by the small areas of light across his 1876 masterpiece Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette. It was the    8     (similar)of the paintings     9    impressed me deeply. 

The Impressionists’ vision has inspired and influenced a lot of     10     (paint).

While famous foreign architects are invited     1     (lead) the designs of landmark buildings in China such as the new CCTV tower and the National Center for the Performing Arts, many excellent Chinese     2     (architecture) are making great efforts to take the center stage.

Their efforts have been proven     3     (fruit) . Wang Shu, a 49-year-old Chinese architect,     4     (win) the Pritzker Architecture Prize,     5     is often referred to as the Nobel Prize in architecture, on February 28, 2012. He is the first Chinese citizen to win this award.

Wang serves as head of the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art (CAA) . His office     6     (locate) at the Xiangshan campus of the university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Many buildings on the campus are his original     7     (create) .

Wang’s works show a deep understanding of modern architecture and     8     good knowledge of traditions. Through such a balance, he had created a new type of Chinese architecture, said Tadao Ando, the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize.

“Today, many Chinese people are learning Western styles and theories rather than focusing     9     Chinese traditions. Many people tend to talk about traditions without knowing     10     they really are,” said Wang.

Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman     1     (perform) a spacewalk. Wang’s dream of becoming an astronaut was inspired by Yang Liwei’s 2003 space flight. “Now China has its first man in space. When will our country have its first woman?” thought Wang,     2     (work) then as a fighter pilot.

Born in a small village in Yantai, Shandong Province in 1980, Wang has been     3     (active) participating in long-distance running since primary school. In 1997, Wang, a high school student,     4     (encourage) to apply for the pilot recruitment (征募) program by her classmates. It was with her strong build and ability to stay calm under pressure     5     Wang passed all tests successfully.

In 2010, Wang became an astronaut. However, the joy of being selected did not last long as the cruel training began. In the first year, Wang could not get the top level in the high-G training, during     6     she had to bear eight times the force of gravity (重力). Wang improved her performance by doing extra strength exercises every day. At last, Wang realized her space dream in 2013 as part of the Shenzhou-10 mission. During her mission, Wang taught China’s first live physics lesson from space. In 2020,     7     team of Chinese university students majoring     8     aerospace, art, architecture and music translated cosmic (宇宙的) rays into music. They said they had watched Wang’s live space lecture when they were teenagers.

During the next few months, Wang and her teammates will carry out scientific     9     (experiment) and do spacewalks. Wang is     10     (confidence) that they will complete this mission.

Lucy Black recently became the youngest person to travel to every country in the world. By the age of 23, she has visited all the countries in an effort to challenge     1     (she) and push the limits of     2     she believed was possible for a female traveler.

Lucy     3     (primary) used planes, boats, and trains to get around. It was not all plain sailing and there were many difficulties Lucy met, arranging visas to enter some countries     4    (include). But the challenges     5     (outweigh) by the memorable experiences on her way. “There’re so many incredible experiences that can come out of traveling alone because you are more open to the connections with the     6     (local) than you would be in a big group,” she said.

Lucy had the pleasure of meeting     7     range of people and experiencing different cultures. But the most     8     (value) experience of all was discovering a new sense of independence, she said.

For Lucy, nothing beats traveling, which she described     9     her favorite part of being alive. “    10    I would be lying if I said I was enjoying taking a long time to recover from all the wear and tear I have done to my body over the past three years,” she added.