The Chinese character fu is a necessity in the Spring Festival celebrations. It expresses people’s best wishes for the coming new year. It’s recorded that people have     1     practiced this tradition since the Song Dynasty.

The character fu can be pasted (粘贴) either normally     2     upside down, because in Chinese, the “reversed fu ” and “fu arrives” sound similar to each other, both being pronounced as “fu dao le”.

There is a     3     about the origin of pasting the “reversed fu”. Zhu Yuanzhang, the     4     emperor of the Ming Dynasty, once used the character fu as a secret signal to punish (惩罚) a family for insulting (冒犯)     5     wife, Empress Ma. To avoid the disaster, the kind-hearted Empress Ma ordered every family in the capital to paste the character fu in front of their doors before the sun     6     the next day. Everyone followed her order, but one family posted the character upside down, because they couldn’t read or write.

The next day, when the emperor ordered his soldiers to check, they     7     the character fu everywhere, including the upside-down one. The emperor was very     8     and immediately ordered his palace guards to punish the family who had pasted the character differently.

Realizing the situation was not good, Empress Ma said to the emperor, “That family knew that you were coming to     9     them today so they pasted the character upside down on purpose (故意地). Doesn’t it have the same meaning as fu arrives?”

After hearing this, the emperor immediately set the family     10    . From then on, people began to paste the character fu upside down for the purpose of hoping for luck and honoring Empress Ma.

A girl told her mom everything was going wrong for her, and that she failed exams     1     often that she wouldn’t like to study at all. After hearing the daughter’s words, the mother thought of a good way     2     (cheer) her daughter up. “I will make a delicious cake for you,” said the mom. She walked into     3     kitchen, and the daughter followed. When the mom     4     (prepare) the ingredients (材料), the daughter sat against the kitchen door, watching her mom. Her mom asked, “My dear, would you like a piece of cake?” The daughter replied     5     (happy), “Sure, Mom! I love cake!” “All right,” the mom said, “drink some of this cooking oil.”

The daughter felt     6     (surprise) and said, “What? I won’t do that!” “How about some raw (生的)     7     (egg)?” asked the mom and the daughter answered, “No way!” “How about some flour (面粉)?” “No, Mom! I will fall ill!”

With a smile, the mother     8     (explain), “All of these things are uncooked and taste bad, but if you put     9     (they) together, they will become a delicious cake. Life works in the same way. When we complain there are so many difficulties, we don’t realize that these terrible events can also bring us     10     (succeed). Having a great day also means getting a great cake! Keep the hope and one day your day will be a piece of cake!”

The oil-paper umbrella has a history of over 1,000 years in China. There are different     1     (story) about the invention of the umbrella in China. The most popular one has something to do with Lu Ban. It’s said that once he and his wife visited the West Lake. It started raining suddenly. His wife said, “Let’s have     2     competition. Before sunrise tomorrow, the one who comes up     3     a good way to visit the West Lake even on rainy days will be the winner.” Lu Ban     4     (think) it was easy. He collected some tools and materials. Then he spent the whole night     5     (build) pavilions (亭子) around the lake. He was quite proud of his work.

The next morning,     6     Lu Ban talked about his achievements and felt proud, his wife held something unusual in her hand. It could be opened into a round shape. Lu Ban was     7     (surprise). He found that the object, made of silk and bamboo, could be opened and closed     8     (easy). It was light, beautiful and easy to carry. Lu Ban said, “You win. Your invention can protect us from rain better.” So the umbrella     9     (invent).

Later, people began to use paper, which was     10     (cheap) than silk. To make the umbrella water-proof, people brushed a kind of oil on the surface. So the oil-paper umbrella appeared.

A 16-year-old girl from Changsha, Hunan Province, successfully reached the top of Mount Qomolangma on Monday morning. She has become the youngest Chinese female to conquer (征服) the world’s     1     (high) mountain from the southern slope. Xu Zhuoyuan is a first-year high school student in Hunan. On April15, she left Changsha for Nepal. On April 21, she began her trek (徒步旅行) from Lukla. On April 28, she arrived     2     the base camp and started her training.

At 10 p.m. Beijing time on Sunday, Xu started trekking from Camp 4 at an altitude (海拔) of 7,950 meters on the southern slope of Mount Zoolagnia. After a hard and     3     (tired) 10-hour climb, she successfully reached the top of Mount Qomolangma.

Xu Zhuoyuan’s father, Xu Jianglei, was the     4     (one) person from Hunan Province to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma. Influenced by her father, Xu Zhuoyuan has been exploring remote (偏远的) areas with him     5     she was very young.

Although she was young, Xu Zhuoyuan has already climbed five mountains over 5,000 meters in China. When she was 12 years old, she     6     (brave) said on Hunan TV, “I will climb Mount Qomolangma.” Four years     7    , she made her dream come true.

Xu Zhuoyuan has rich     8     (climb) experience, but she has been under going (接受) professional training to conquer Mount Qomolangma. Last year, she climbed Mount Muztagata, which     9     (stand) 7,546 meters.

“Human beings are small in the face of nature. We should respect nature and get closer to Mount Qomolangma,” said Xu Zhuoyuan. After finishing her university     10     (study), she hopes to continue climbing.

Mum and I were just going out when it began to rain. We had to stay at home, and I felt quite     1     (bore). Mum got     2     idea. She suggested teaching me to make dumplings. I thought it could be fun, so I said OK. Mum cut the meat and cabbages into small pieces     3     (quick). Then she showed me     4     to mix them with salt and oil. “Mixing is the most important of all the     5     (step)” she said. I also made some other preparations with her help. When everything was ready, Dad came back home     6     his office. Together the three of     7     (we) wrapped the dumplings. At last, we     8     (cook) them. They were so delicious that I ate     9     (many) than twenty. That was the     10     (one) time I learned to make dumplings. It was enjoyable.