Local     1     (official) in Beijing promised to further protect the city’s cultural heritage, in particular the narrow streets known as hutongs.

Hutongs are     2     (common) found in the cities of North China, but they are in danger. Beijing is currently believed to have fewer than 1,000 hutongs, most of     3     are near the Forbidden City. Only 60 years ago, the number of the hutongs     4     (be) 3,250.

“Every year more than 100, 000 people visit the Forbidden City during the National Day holidays. The visits put pressure on     5     protection of cultural relics,” said Huang Yan, director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning,     6     (add) that hutongs should be protected from human damage.

The government concentrated     7     how the protection plans were carried out and how the management of cultural heritage worked. Wang Shaofeng, head of the Xicheng District Government, said the area has 182 cultural relics, and many of them were built as far back as the Yuan Dynasty. The district of Xicheng has 1.28 million residents in     8     (it) 57 square kilometers of land. “The most efficient way is to decrease the local population to reduce the possibility of causing harm to the heritage,” Wang said. “Each community has been required     9     (report) the status of its cultural heritage.” No one knows for sure how many hutongs     10     (leave) in the coming 100 years.

China is known for its brilliant civilization that     1    (continue) since the ancient times despite the many ups and downs in its history. It is     2    (wide) accepted that one of the reasons has been the Chinese writing system.

Several thousand years ago written Chinese was only symbols     3    (carve) on animal bones or shells. During the Shang Dynasty, these symbols became a well-developed writing system in a     4    (various) of forms. This, however, changed in the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Qin Shihuang united the seven major states into one unified country     5     the Chinese writing system began to develop in one direction. That writing system was     6     great importance in uniting the Chinese people and culture.

Written Chinese also serves as a vital way     7    (connect) China’s present with its past. People in modern times can learn about the ancient Chinese by reading their classic works or     8    (appreciate) Chinese calligraphy.

Today, with China playing     9     greater role in global affairs, the Chinese writing system has established     10    (it) as a window through which more and more international students can access China’s culture and history.