1 .

Maki Kaji, a Japanese man, was known as the Father of Sudoku. Mr. Kaji was a puzzle (智力游戏) lover who helped turn Sudoku from a simple number challenge into a game played around the world.

Mr. Kaji started Japan’s first puzzle magazine with the help of his friends GOTŌ Yoshibumi. Over the years, Mr. Kaji’s company Nikoli has published many puzzles and books. But Sudoku is probably the puzzle most people think of, when Mr. Kaji is mentioned.

Sudoku is a number puzzle with nine rows and nine columns (列). Each row and column must have all of the numbers from 1 to 9. The same rule goes for each of the smallest 9-square boxes that make up the larger puzzle.

Mr. Kaji found the game in 1984, and it was called Number Place. He loved the puzzle, but didn’t like its name. He wanted to create a Japanese name for it. Mr. Kaji ended up renaming it—“Sudoku”, which means “single numbers”.

After beginning printing Sudoku in his magazine, Mr. Kaji decided to see if other publishers in other countries were interested. However, at that time, they all said no. It took Mr. Kaji around ten years to make Sudoku start showing up in other magazines. Now millions of people play Sudoku. People even compete in a Sudoku world championship every year.

Sudoku isn’t just popular—it’s also a huge money-maker, bringing in millions of dollars. But Mr. Kaji never made much from it. He said he promoted (推广) the puzzle for fun, not for money.

Mr. Kaji believed the secret to making a great puzzle was to keep the rules simple, so that anyone could play and have fun. He said discovering a new puzzle was like finding treasure. It is this spirit that makes people all over the world who loves Sudoku thank him for his work and honour him as a true lover of puzzles.

In ancient times, children didn’t have smart phones, iPads or computers to enjoy themselves. I    1    , they came up with interesting games to play in the childhood. Here are some of     2    .

Playing stone bombs

During the Qing dynasty, kicking (踢) a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and kids often played it in winter to keep w    3    . Stones were made into small balls and then kids kicked them.

Playing hide-and-seek (捉迷藏)

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the world. There are two ways to play: cover a child’s eyes     4     other kids run around to make fun of him or, more commonly, some kids hide and one child must try to     5     them.

    6     shadow plays (皮影戏)

Watching shadow plays was very popular during the Song dynasty. Shadow puppets (木偶) were made from the leather of donkeys (驴皮). There was light behind a large white     7     on the table, the player controlled puppets and told stories. People could see the movement from the other side of the screen.

Playing diabolo (空竹)

Diabolo passed down to common people during the Ming dynasty. It’s made     8     wood and bamboo, and is empty in the center. Throwing and catching the high-speed turning diabolo on ropes always makes a sound.

“Rock, paper and scissors” is a typical game which gave us     1     memory in our childhood. It’s said that people played it     2     2000 years ago in China. Today, people play it     3     the world. In Indonesia, it’s known as “ant, person, elephant”. People in Singapore play “bird, stone, water”. People use different hand     4     in different countries. But the instruction of the game is the same all over the world.

Many people think “rock, paper, scissors” is all about luck. But the game is not always accidental. A 2014 study in China     5     two key patterns in the way people played. The fact is that the winner always repeat his winning hand gestures.

So what’s the best way to win this game? Expert players not only think about their next move, but also what their players’ next move might be.

6 . Do you know the idea of game literacy (素养)? Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate and learn about the world. Game literacy on the other hand means people are able to access (接触), understand, critically evaluate (批判性地评价) and even create games.

On Feb 13, a report on video game literacy among young Chinese people was released by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association (CADPA).

The report showed that Chinese teenagers’ game literacy has improved, with the overall score reaching 81.38 out of 100. For example, more than 60 percent of teenagers can identify (识别) whether the information in games follows historical facts or reality. And 55.3 percent can recognize bad information. Over 75 percent of teenage gamers also have a strong awareness (意识) of the negative impact (负面影响) of games, and have a sense of self-control while playing games. They have limited their playing time to three hours a week.

Still, there are gender (性别) and regional gaps (地区差异) in game literacy. Boys, who are usually more interested in games, have better game literacy than girls. Teenagers in first-and second-tier cities perform better than the students in rural areas. Another problem is that teenagers are short of awareness of how to protect privacy (隐私). It’s easy for them to share personal information with other gamers.

To improve the situation, experts suggest highly promoting the idea of game literacy. It’s necessary for family, school and community to work together. They can combine (结合) literacy education with family, schools and public activities. More attention should be paid to less-developed areas to bridge the game literacy gap as well.

8 . During the old times, children didn’t have smart phones, iPads or computers to play. They thought of interesting games to play in their childhood.

●Stone (石头) balls

During the Qing Dynasty, kicking (踢) a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in the winter to keep warm. Children made stones into small balls and kicked along with feet.

●Flying kites

Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood (木), not paper. These days, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite, which each is very special. The swallow-shaped kite is the most popular Beijing style.

●Hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the country. There are two ways to play: Cover a child’s eyes and ask him to catch the other kids while the other kids run around him. Or, more commonly, the children hide (躲) and one child must try to find them.

●Watching shadow plays (皮影戏)

The closest thing to watching a film or television for fun during the old times was going to see a shadow play. The artists manipulate puppets (操纵木偶) behind the screen, telling stories with music. During the Qing Dynasty, shadow play art was the most popular, and was played for every important time.

Some students take part in the game and they shout loudly, “One, two, one, two…”

    1     Yes, it’s a tug-of-war (拔河).

Tug-of-war is a team sport. It first came into being 2, 400 years ago in China.     2     But in other countries, their tug-of-war game is a little different from ours. They have eight men for each team while we may have the game between two sides with equal (相同数量的) men or women players.     3    

For a tug-of-war game, we need a long thick rope (绳子).     4     There is a white line in the middle of the field. Then players of two teams try to pull the center of the rope to their own side. The winning team is the one that pulled (拉) the other over the line.

    5     It lasted until 1820. It isn’t an Olympic event now, but people in many countries like playing it very much.