Falling on December 7 this year, Major Snow, also known as “Da Xue” in Chinese, is the     1     (three) solar term of winter. As its name implies, Major Snow reflects the phenomenon of precipitation,     2     (indicate) the time and intensity of snowfall.

Plum blossoms usually flower in mid-to-late December in some southern cities of China, and sometimes bloom even     3     (early). The plum blossom, along with the pine and bamboo,     4     (consider) one of the Three Friends of Winter.

In some areas, eating lamb is excellent for nourishing the body, promoting blood circulation and providing protection     5     the cold. In     6     (add), people often eat lotus (莲花) root,     7     can clear away heat in the chest and prevent dryness-heat.

During Major Snow, it is suggested that people     8     (keep) their feet clean and dry, wash and massage their feet every day     9     (stay) healthy, and try to reduce outdoor activities. Also, drinking a bowl of warm porridge in the morning is     10     excellent way to nourish the stomach.

Any visitor to the Chinese Culture Week at the University of Tehran would be amazed by the tea, food, Chinese knots (中国结) and traditional paper-cutting artworks     1    display, all produced by Iranian students of Chinese language.

“Chinese knots     2     (believe) to bring good luck and act as charms (护身符) that protect people against evil spirits,” said Zeinab Ghafourian, a 19-year-old student     3     (study) Chinese at the Confucius Institute of the University of Tehran, on Nov. 28.

Chinese Culture Week,     4     was held at the hall of the institute from Nov. 25 to 29, seeks     5    (introduce) Chinese culture to more Iranians. Ghafourian said that one of the reasons why she chose to study Chinese was that she had been interested in East Asian cultures since childhood. “In     6    (add), Chinese films have become more popular. The people of both countries enjoy many cultural commonalities, as they were culturally and     7     (economic) connected via the Silk Road in the past,” she said.

More importantly, given Iran’s good ties with China, mastering Chinese offers relatively competitive employment prospects on the Iranian job market     8     (compare) with other languages.

“Each of the students here is     9    window onto China, helping the Iranians have a more realistic picture of the country     10    improving relations between the two countries,” said Hamed Vafaei, the Iranian director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Tehran.

Calligraphy is a special kind in China fine arts. The history of Chinese calligraphy is     1     (probable) as long as that of China itself.

Among the most outstanding calligraphers in ancient China     2     (be) Wang Xizhi, Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, and Liu Gongquan,     3     are famous for creating their own styles.

The tools for a calligrapher are a brush, paper, an ink stick and an ink stone, commonly     4     (know) as the “Four Treasures of the Study”. There are different types of brushes. White goat hair, black rabbit hair and yellow weasel hair brushes are the main ones. The ink stick is a special pigment (颜料) used for traditional Chinese calligraphy.     5     most famous ink stick is Hui Mo, made from pines that grow on Huangshan in Anhui Province. While paper comes     6     a great many varieties, Xuan paper, produced in Xuancheng,     7     (consider) the best for Chinese calligraphy. Inkstones have been divided into four categories: Duanshi inkstones, She inkstones, Taohe inkstones and Chengni ceramic inkstones. All of them are very     8     (benefit) for writing.

By     9     (handle) the brush and ink skillfully and carefully, an     10     (art) can produce many different varieties of calligraphic styles and forms.