Abing, a folk musician who was born in the city of Wuxi in 1893. He played music that could touch the     1     of people. His ErquanYingyue (Moon Relected on     2     Spring) has become one of China’s national treasures. Abing’s     3     musical skills made him very known during his lifetime. By the end of his life, he could play more than 600 pieces of music. Many of these were     4     by Abing himself. It is a pity that only six pieces of music     5     were recorded for the future world to hear, but his     6     continues to this day.

Today, Abing’s Erquan Yingyue is a piece which all the great erhu masters play and praise.     7     sad beauty not only paints a picture of Abing’s own life but also makes people recall their deepest wounds from their own sad or     8     experiences.

Luo Wei was born in Guangzhou. He is a    1    pianist in Shanghai. He likes expressing his love through his piano. His music is really fantastic    2    it is just about common lives in Shanghai. He has written more than 100 “love letters” for his city. They are all piano pieces.

Luo's musical journey started when he was a little child．His parents took his music career    3    .“They did not believe in shortcuts (捷径), and so did I. When I was not having classes in school. I would spend most of the free time    4    the piano,” he said quietly.

He wrote his first piano piece on a rainy day when he was feeling sad, lonely and helpless.“I just love riding on the streets    5    for something interesting. I love watching    6    singing in the trees in summer, and fallen leaves lying on the floor in autumn. All these are good for my piano pieces. People will find that Shanghai is a good place to live through    7    music.” he said.

Many people began to love his music when they heard it for the    8    time.“Your music is the sunshine in my life. It makes my life much    9    and more beautiful.” a listener wrote in a letter to Luo Wei.

Luo Wei says he    10    to write more good music for people. In this way, he can bring Shanghai to the world.

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15th, 1452 in a     1     Italian town. He is considered as one of the     2     painters of all time. He is still famous today because of the Mona Lisa and other well-known     3    . However, not many people know he was also an engineer and an inventor.

Da Vince was interested in science and art, and he was a pioneer in many areas. He     4     plans and pictures and wrote about his many ideas in his diaries. Since he died on May 2nd, 1519, people have been learning     5     his diaries. They included plans for an adding machine bridges as well as drawings of musical instruments, flying machines and machines for wars, such as guns.

Since many of da Vince’s inventions were far ahead of (超前) their time, they were only     6     hundreds of years later. Because he couldn’t test them, not all of his plans worked out as well as he wished. However, some of his ideas worked well. For example, one of his bridges was     7     built 500 years later after it was drawn, Flying machines like helicopters     8     very common now.

Some think da Vinci wanted to keep his ideas secret as he wrote his diaries in code (密码). Others think it was just easier for him to write this way     9     he was left-handed. Da Vinci’s diaries can only be read with a mirror because everything is written backwards (倒着地). As it took some time to     10     the diaries, they were published (出版) more than 150 years after his death.

Xiong Chuanfa has been blowing sugar figurines (吹糖人) for over twenty years. It is a Chinese traditional folk (民间) art     1     a history of over 600 years.

Every morning, Xiong     2     the sugar and drives to different markets to start his magic show. He heats (加热) the     3    , pulls off a little to make a ball and blows it into different shapes.

People are interested in     4     skills. To draw young people much     5     to the art, he also stops by colleges. Many college students are     6     by the art, waiting in line for hands-on experience. Among them, Simon, a foreign student, couldn’t help having a try.

    7     it looked easy, he found it difficult to make it. Thanks to Xiong’s help, Simon     8     finished a horse. Simon was deeply moved after learning about the art. “I just can’t believe the traditional folk art can be kept so well here. I     9     it.”, he said.

This art has been passed down for four generations (代) in Xiong’s family. His 6-year-old son often blows sugar     10    , just like what he used to do as a child. “We will pass on the intangible heritage,” said Xiong.

Paper cutting is one of the most popular decorative Chinese handicrafts. And it is also one of the     1     folk art forms in China. Making the cutting together with the family is a popular way of celebrating the Lunar New Year and welcoming the spring.

In rural areas, paper cutting is traditionally a handicraft for women. In the past, every girl was supposed to master     2    . And brides (新娘) were judged by their skills. Paper cuttings are used as decorations, and they are     3     made with red paper. Red is the most popular color in Chinese culture.

Paper cuttings are popular because of the expression of wishes and hopes. Wishes for wealth, health     4     longevity (长寿) are shown through paper cuttings. For example, during the Chinese New Year, the character “Fu” is pasted upside down     5     the door. It expresses people’s wish for the coming of “Fu”.

It is easy to learn     6     to make paper cuttings. And required tools are simply a piece of paper and a knife or a pair of scissors. But to master this art is not easy at all because it requires much effort, practice, craftsmanship and imagination.