The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture (雕塑) Festival, which     1     (official) opened on January 5 and will run through next month, has turned the city into a wonderland.

Last year, more than a million visitors     2     (attract) to Harbin to see the huge sculptures     3     (create) from huge ice blocks and tons of snow by artists from 12 countries.

In the weeks     4     (lead) up to the latest festival, hundreds of workers spent hours cutting blocks of ice from the nearby Songhua River. Each piece weighed up to 1,554 pounds     5     almost 261,500 m³ of ice were cut and transported on the spot.

When the ice and snow sculptures are lit up by thousands of lanterns, they are very     6     (impress), with the giant main sculpture measuring 108 feet in height and over 325 feet in     7     (long). From fantasy castles and creatures     8     entertainments of iconic monuments, the incredible ice and snow sculptures allow the public to relive     9     (they) childhood. Many visitors say it is     10     once-in-a-lifetime experience for them!

By observing the sky, the ancient Chinese divided the sun’s annual motion     1     24 equal sectors, with each     2     (be) the basis for one solar term. The 24 Solar Terms (节气) start from the “Beginning of Spring” and end with the “Major Cold”.

As early as Shang Dynasty, our ancestors set the first four major solar terms,     3    marked the four seasons. Later they evolved into eight. It was not until the Western Han Dynasty that the present 24 Solar terms were     4     (complete) established and officially adopted by the government.

The     5     (long) of the 24 Solar terms was based on the movement of the sun, and their names     6     (choose) according to the changes in temperature, climate     7     other aspects of human life. They still serve as an instruction for farmers, guiding their     8     (agriculture) practices during certain periods of the year. Common people follow the calendar     9     (watch) for weather changes and live a healthy life.

Each lunar month contains two solar terms, and each solar term has some customs. In 2016, the 24 Solar Terms were included on UNESCO’s Representative List of     10     Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In 1991, Beijing musician Wang Wei went on a tour, when he became fascinated by the shakuhachi, a kind of Japanese bamboo flute(笛子). Later, he found out that the shakuhachi,     1     was called chi ba in Chinese, was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty (618—907).

Astonished and ashamed of how he was     2     (ignore) of the country’s rich musical tradition as a     3     (profession) musician, Wang started learning and researching on Chinese musical instruments made of bamboo. He has found that among the 90 wind instruments     4     (identify) by the Chinese Music Dictionary, 47 are made of bamboo.

During the past three       5     (decade), the talented musician traveled around the country     6     (find) the finest materials for making bamboo instruments. The small balcony at his home in Beijing has become his studio     7     instrument making.

He also gathered a group of musicians to form the country’s first bamboo orchestra. While     8     (realize) his expectation, Wang is also proud that the orchestra’s birth and development are also an effort of protecting the environment. Bamboo is among     9     fastest growing plants on earth, gaining 1.2 meters every day under appropriate conditions. Since 2002, the State Forestry Administration     10     (try)to replace the use of wood with bamboo to protect the environment.

Stephen Wiltshire, a British architectural artist, is known for his ability     1    (draw) a landscape from memory after seeing it just once.

Stephen Wiltshire was born in London in 1974. Aged three, he was diagnosed with autism (自闭症)．He had no language and lived     2    (entire) in his own world. Actually, it was not until at the age of nine     3     he learned to speak fully. Aged five, Wiltshire was sent to Queensmill School in London,     4     he expressed interest in drawing. He communicated     5     the world through the language of drawing, first animals, then London buses, and finally buildings.

Wiltshire can look at a subject once and then draw     6     accurate and detailed picture of it. He frequently draws entire cities from memory,    7    (base) on single, brief helicopter rides. In May 2005 Wiltshire produced his     8    (long) ever memory drawing of Tokyo on a 64. 8­foot­long canvas (帆布) within seven days following a helicopter ride over the city. Since then he     9    (draw) Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, London and many other cities.

Today, Stephen Wiltshire’s works have gained worldwide popularity and are held in a number of important     10    (collect)．