Every March 8th is International Women’s Day, which, in China,    1     (call) “Three Eight Women’s Day”. This day is a celebration of women’s contributions     2    the economic, political and social fields and their great achievements.

On the United Nations’ website     3     ( introduce) International Women’s Day, the origin of International Women’s Day on March 8th is attributed to a series of major events in the women’s movement in     4     early 20th century..

International Women’s Day     5     (be) a key point in the movement for women’s rights. In Chinese culture, it implies older women and women who aren’t     6    ( educate), so Chinese women     7     (general) reject being called “women”. Gradually, women’s day has got new names, such as “Girls’ Day”, “Goddesses’ Day” and “Queens’ Day”.

It is stated in the Chinese law that if March 8th is a working day, employers need to give female     8     (employ) half a day off. On March 8th every year,     9     in physical or online stores, merchants hold various promotions to stimulate consumption with the ads of “pampering (宠爱) women around them “or” women pampering     10     (they).”

The city of Rio de Janciro opened its world-famous carnival on 20 April. It     1     (postpone) for two months because of Covid-19 in Brazil, which is the first country     2     (celebrate) the carnival in the world. It was smaller     3    usual because of the pandemic.

Each year a “carnival monarch”    4     (know) as King Momo is chosen to start the party. Following carnival tradition, Rio’s mayor    5     (excite) presented a giant “key to the city” to 2022’s King Momo, “I proudly announce the greatest show on Earth is back."

Rio’s carnival usually takes place in late February. The festival features celebrations with lots of dancers in    6     (colour) costumes. This year one of the biggest     7     (parade) took place on 23 April in the Sambadrome stadium. The parade features samba schools     8     (compete) against each other for prizes. Each group of dancers has a theme — for instance, one samba school showed their respect    9    the famous Brazilian singer Elza Soarea,    10     died earlier this year Carnival signifies the return of normal life. There’s no greater triumph than that.

Amsterdam is a city with an estimated 800,000 bikes within the capital. In contrast, the city has     1     population of only 750,000 —     2     (little) than the number of bikes. About 490,000 bicyclists take to streets and ride more than 2 million kilometers each day.

Amsterdam is one of the most important centres of bicycle culture with special     3     (facility) for cyclists such as bike paths and bike racks.     4     (compare) to other transportation in the city, bikes are cheap, fast and clean while also offering health benefits. Bikes also take up     5     (relative) little space.

Over 60% trips in the inner city     6     (make) by bikes and 38% of trips by bike overall in the greater city area.

Amsterdammers ride a wide     7     (various) of bicycles, including the traditional Omafiets to anything from modern city bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes, etc. Many tourists also discover Amsterdam by bike,     8     is the typical Dutch way. One of the benefits of bicycle riding is that in the city centre, driving a car is discouraged,     9     (park) fees are expensive,     10     many streets are closed to cars or are one-way. Bicycle traffic, in fact traffic in general, is quite safe.

As a tribute (致敬) to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the    1    (brave) of the People's Volunteer Army of China(CPVA) during the Korean War (1950-53), The Battle at Lake Changjin    2    (release) on September 30.

71 years ago, the CPVA entered North Korea for battle. Under extreme freezing conditions, the troops could not keep up with supplies, wearing only thin cotton clothing and living on frozen potatoes. Ill-equipped    3    the CPVA were, they wiped out an entire world-class equipped regiment (团) of American troops with    4    (fear) spirit and iron will.

It was a turning point in the Korean War and and    5    (lay) the foundation for victory. But for a lot of reasons, the story had never been told until this year    6    the epic war was brought to the screen by famous Chinese filmmakers Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam. The cast also brings together A-listers such as China's    7    (lead) actors and idols Wu Jing, Jackson Yee, Zhu Yawen, Li Chen, Hu Jun and Duan Yihong.

The    8    (high) anticipated war-epic film rocketed to 1.012 billion yuan at the Chinese box office on Saturday, just three days after    9    (it) release on Thursday. With a score of 9.5 out of 10 on China's major movie rating platform Maoyan, the 176-minute movie is proving to be    10    satisfying pleasure for audiences.

The Phantom of the Opera (《歌剧魅影》)     1     (perform) in the theaters around China these days. Audiences are excited to watch the classic musical in Chinese. But some are more excited about the show’s star, Ayanga (阿云嘎),     2     only appears in certain performances.

Musicals often use famous performers     3     (bring) in crowds. These “big names” have “star power”. People love them just because of who they are.

Some audiences get annoyed when they are hoping to see a star but don’t, not     4     (realize) the stars may only do certain days or not perform in the afternoons. This can leave some audiences feeling cheated. Every star needs     5     break sometimes, and that’s why there are B and C casts (阵容) . They do the show when the main actors can’t. Sometimes, they are for planned performances and may make a difference    6    the show.

Some audiences will     7     (special) go to see B casts. They might know and like the actors in     8     (it). But for audiences who don’t know it’s a B-cast day and hope to see their favourite star, they can get upset.

For UK musical singer David Matthews, a musical shouldn’t need a star to sell the show,     9     the right star can make a great show even     10     (good).

The 78th United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution (决议) on Friday, officially     1     (announce) the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, as a UN floating holiday. Experts said the move shows the     2     (significance) influence of Chinese culture and will contribute     3     the promotion of the Global Civilization Initiative.

The Lunar New Year not only bears the ideas of peace and harmony     4     (value) by Chinese civilization but also carries the common values of humanity such as family harmony and harmonious coexistence between humans     5     nature.

The reason why the Lunar New Year can pass national borders and is increasingly welcomed by many countries     6     (lie) mainly in the rich cultural heritage of China and the driving force of globalization. As the world’s second-largest economy, China’s cultural elements have spread alongside its economic influence. In the trend of globalization, people’s interest in diverse cultures is     7     (gradual) increasing, and the Lunar New Year has become a major means for people     8     (communicate) and connect.

Therefore, the official     9     (recognize) of the Chinese New Year as a UN holiday fully reflects an emphasis on the inheritance and innovation of civilization,     10     will promote exchanges and mutual learning among diverse world cultures and actively embody the UN’s values of diverse and inclusive cultural ideals.

As the nationwide college entrance examination, or gaokao, got underway on Wednesday with the record number of participants     1    (take) the test, business, big and small, seized the opportunity to cater    2     the needs of students and their families and rake in profits.

ZengJin,     3     runs a bakery in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, is selling a special variety of moon cake to wish examinees luck. It features the Chinese characters “Zhuangyuan”. In ancient China, the characters    4    (refer) to a candidate, who finished it at the top of the national-level recruitment exam for officials.

Zeng said she sold more than 300     5    (box) of cakes for around 17,000 yuan($2,389) in the two weeks leading to the gaokao. “My customers think it’s a perfect gift to extend to well wishes to     6     examinee.”

The examination this year is the first since China optimized its covid-19 response measures. A record 12. 91 million examinees have signed up     7    (participate) in the gaokao year, according to the Ministry of Education. It will last between two and four days, depending on the location.

For most Chinese students, the gaokao is high-stakes exam that determines their    8    (academy) futures and careers. The opportunity is used by business to promote their products and services. As there is a     9     (grow) demand for things that can cushion the stress of preparing for the prestigious exam.

On online shopping platform Taobao, a number of stationery brands have launched gaokao kits，    10     (package) in red and printed with the blessings, each kit priced at around 15 yuan, has 13 items including pens, pencils, erasers and the geometry tools. Data from the flagship store of the popular brand M&G stationery on Taobao showed that it had sold more than 70,000 such kits over the past month.