Bridges made out of living roots (根) of trees have been put forward for UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The root bridges are in the Meghalaya region of northeast India. The region gets a lot of rainfall and is one of the wettest     1     (area) on Earth. That creates     2     number of lakes, rivers and waterfalls,     3     (make) it difficult to build roads. However, for hundreds of years the local Khasi people have been trying     4     (they) best to grow root bridges across rivers and streams to make it much     5     (easy) for them to move around the area.

The bridges     6     (build) by stretching (延伸) the roots of living trees over the river and winding them around bamboo structures to guide them in the right     7     (direct). The roots can take up to 20 years     8     (grow) into a complete bridge.

The India government has suggested Meghalaya’s root bridges should be added     9     the UNESCO World Heritage List.     10     means they will be recognized officially. They will attract more tourists and money to the area, just like Egypt’s pyramids (金字塔) or the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Morningstar Khongthaw from Meghalaya said, “We want to spread this knowledge so that future generations will benefit.”

TV Drama Puts Spotlight on Ancient Tea Art

A Dream of Splendor, a 40-episode TV drama     1    (broadcast) on Tencent Video platform, has become a hit recently. The series features China’s traditional tea acrobatics(技巧), which is also one of the intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产)     2    (item) in China.

Chinese tea culture has witnessed a long history     3     the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It flourished throughout the Song Dynasty,     4     the popular way of having tea became dian cha—a kind of tea art. It is     5     delicate technique that starts from pouring hot water over fine powdered tea to make it mushy(糊状的). Then more hot water is added slowly while the tea is     6    (constant) stirred by hand with a bamboo stick to create froth(泡沫), which can be used     7    (draw) patterns on the surface of it. This action of pouring hot water is called dian, giving this art the name dian cha, while the art of using water to draw on the tea is called chabaixi.

This old practice not only makes drinking tea more     8    (enjoy), but also enhances the taste of it. It’s common to see coffee art in modern society,     9     tea art is relatively little-known. This popular TV series brings this intangible cultural heritage to more audiences and     10    (spread) traditional Chinese tea culture.

England became England, the land of English-speaking people, at the beginning of the Middle Ages.     1     that it had been the home of Iron Age Tribes known as Celts, and for a time, part of the Roman Empire. Then beginning in the 400s AD, tribes from the north, known as the angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes,     2     (move) in.

The most famous leader of this time period in England was Alfred the Great. Alfred lived in Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons, which     3     (locate) in the southern part of England. He was a good leader     4     made his kingdom stronger. He created a system of defenses (防御),     5     (call) burhs, across the country. He reorganized the army so that his men     6     have time to fight and time to farm. Alfred’s efforts protected his people from the Vikings and allowed Wessex to grow. Eventually the rulers of Wessex would rule all of England.

Alfred also made other improvements. He made laws for his people. He encouraged learning and translated several important books     7     his Saxon language. This was     8     modern people think of as the start of the language we call English today.

Two important pieces of literature from that time period are the anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Beowulf, both     9     (write) in old English. Old English lasted through most of the Middle Ages. Middle English came in during the late Middle ages and modern English began about the time of the renaissance.

England and English got their names, not from the Saxons, but from one of the other tribes, and Angles. The original name of England must have been     10     like Angle-land (only in old English of course).