The Mid-Autumn Festival is an important festival in China. On this night, the moon is at its     1     (bright). Friends and family usually gather together     2     (enjoy) the moonlight and moon cakes.

The festival’s origin goes back to ancient times. Chinese people would get together on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month     3    good rice harvest. This was the time     4    crops and fruits were mostly available and the weather was pleasant. Nowadays, there are different     5     (celebration) during the festival, and there are performances that children enjoy. One feature of this festival is the fantastic lantern displays (展览). And     6     (make) your own Chinese paper lantern is also easy. There are also traditional Chinese pastries (油酥点心),     7     fillings are generally made of red beans, lotus seeds or egg yolks.

Moon cakes     8     (change) a lot since they came out, and you no longer have to stick with the traditional flavors or fillings. When lotus seeds, beans or salted egg yolks don’t suit you, try some new flavors! These     9     (offer) in markets around the world     10     there is a large Asian population. New flavors come out every year, so check out what’s in store this year!

Long Chenchen, the mascot for China’s upcoming Dragon Spring Festival Gala,     1     (release) recently, with a lot of design details showing the aesthetics of Chinese cultural elements.

    2     (celebrate) the year 2024, “Long Chenchen” has been designed as a cute yet lively dragon, colored orange and red and with a pair of doll eyes. The     3     (seem) cute-looking dragon takes inspiration from Chinese archaeological discoveries. The design of its nose was inspired by a dragon-shaped jade item that was discovered in the Erlitou Ruins,     4     major site in Luoyang, Central China’s Henan province that witnessed the rise and fall of the Xia and Shang dynasties. The fire shape pattern on its shoulder was inspired by a bronze piece with cloud patterns dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period,     5     multiple materials appeared and social changes were underway.

    6     receiving many likes, the mascot has also sparked criticism. Some netizen doubt the dragon character might have been synthesized (合成) by artificial intelligence.     7     (admit) that it has some “imperfections”, CMG, a design studio said it was created by designers “one stroke after another” and that “all the details about the dragon, including its patterns, colors and face, have been revised by designers through a lot of versions.”

Along with such verbal     8     (explain), a short video showing the design team working on the mascot has been posted on Sina Weibo by CMG. The media group’s response to the character’s design has become a     9     (trend) topic on Sina Weibo and has been viewed by more than 200 million netizen. “    10     it was created by AI or human beings, I think the mascot has successfully delivered the spirit of the dragon.” one netizen posted on Sina Weibo.

Among various types of papers, Xuan paper, also known as rice paper,     1     (hold) an importance place. Originating more than 1500 years ago, the traditional craft of making Xuan paper     2     (include) on UNESCO’s the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

Today, top-quality Xuan paper is still produced in Jingxian County thanks     3     the mild climate, abundant rainfall and crystal-clear streams. These     4     (condition) provide a favorable environment for the blue sandalwood (檀香) tree and rice growing,     5     (offer) the materials needed to make the best Xuan paper.

The traditional process of making Xuan paper by hand is extremely time-consuming and demanding,     6     consists of more than 100 steps including collecting, leavening (发酵), whitening, screening, and sunning. The entire process may take more than two years     7     (complete). The skills to make the paper are     8     (high) difficult and have been passed down through generations from masters to apprentices.

The thinnest Xuan paper may be as thin as a cicada’s (蝉) wing. Super-sized Xuan paper can measure 11 meters in length and 3.3 meters in width. It is noteworthy that besides the     9     (remark) craftsmanship, the specially designed tools and machines employed during     10     process, such as the fine screen used to drain (滤干) the fibers, also possess profound cultural connotations and great technological value.

Nelson Mandela,     1     on July 18, 1918, is the first black president of South Africa. He studied law after he     2     (enter) university. Then in 1952 he set up a law office     3     (help) poor black people. Because of his fight against the government and anti-black laws, he     4     (sentence) to five years of hard labour. After that he     5     (form) ANC Youth League. Fighters from ANC began to blow up the buildings in 1963 and he was sentenced     6     life   imprisonment on Robben Island. Twenty-seven years     7     (late), he was freed by the white government. In 1993 he was made President of the South Africa and the government by and     8     the black people was     9     (final) set up.

Nelson Mandela was     10     (real) a great man!