The audience and viewership for this year’s Spring Festival TV gala, which was aired on Feb 9, Lunar New Year’s Eve or Chinese Lunar New Year, both reached record     1    (high), according to ratings statistics.

    2    (support) by ultra-high-definition production, the gala was telecast on TV screens, public large screens, and mobile devices. A total of 250 million people watched the live streaming of the show via     3    (they) mobile phones with the total views reaching 420 million, up by 37.97 percent and 57.58 percent,     4     (respective), compared with 2023. The China Global Television Network (CGTN) worked with over 2,100 media organizations in about 200 countries and regions to live broadcast or report the show in 68 languages,     5    (result) in over 1.5 billion instances of viewing,    6     increase of 12.69 percent year on year.

This year, the gala, in addition     7    Beijing, had four branch venues. Audience enjoyed a diversity of local cultural elements from those places, such as folk     8     (music) instruments and folk dances.

Since its broadcast in 1983, the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala     9     (become) an essential part of celebrations in the country to greet the Chinese New Year. As a major entertainment during Lunar New Year’s Eve, the gala marks the joyous moment     10     families gather together to celebrate.

A Lifelong Journey, a historical drama which records China’s great transformation over 50 years,    1     (earn) widespread applause, shattering records and becoming the most-watched TV series on State broadcaster China Media Group within the past five years. The TV series consisting of 58 episodes is     2     huge hit on TV and online,     3    (adapt) from Liang Xiaosheng’s novel In the World. The novel     4    (win) the writer Liang the 10th Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2019, one of China’s top literary awards. Millions of people have been touched by the family’s story, revealing and reacquainting readers with     5     lies deep in their hearts.

The TV series paints a picture of ordinary Chinese people living in the changing times.     6    (start) in the late 1960s, the story follows the ups and downs of three siblings from a worker’s family and explores the themes of family, friendship, and romance in a bittersweet story. What strikes a chord with viewers are its vivid details bringing them back to old times. Many viewers describe the show     7     a time machine to drift into the past, reflecting     8     we got here, the TV series also     9    (successful) gives viewers an insight into the lives of ordinary Chinese     10     (citizen) who have turned a country in poverty into the world’s second-largest economy.

A realistic drama A Lifelong Journey has become a huge hit on TV and online recently.    1    (focus) on the ups and downs of Zhou’s family over five decades, it has caused nostalgia (怀旧) among many viewers. With the drama    2     (release) on China Central Television and streaming platform iQiyi on Jan 28, its viewership is    3    (steady) on the rise. Many viewers issued a    4    (describe) of the show that it was like a time machine to drift into the past, reflecting how they got here.

Adapted    5    Liang Xiaosheng’s award-winning novel of the same name, the show explores themes of family, friendship and romance in a bittersweet story. Set in    6    1960s, it’s not surprising that the family has to deal with lots of social    7    (change). like the restart of Gaokao, the country’s Reform and Opening-up, the boom of Xiahai and the nation’s anti-corruption campaign. Following the lives of Zhou’s family, the Grama gives viewers an insight into the ordinary Chinese who have turned a country in    8    (poor) into the second largest economy in the world.

The show’s director Li Lu,    9    became well known for his anti-corruption series in the Name of the People in 2017, said “China    10    ( witness) dramatic changes over the past five decades and it is time to create such a drama to remember the past.”

The farming-themed reality show Become a Farmer has taken Chinese social media by storm, shining a spotlight on agriculture—an essential part of Chinese culture. The word “farming”, however, may be entirely unfamiliar     1     many young urban Chinese.

To connect these individuals with the agricultural industry, the 50-episode variety show tackles the topic by asking 10 young men from various fields     2     (taste) farm life. During the 190 days, the cast members     3     (they) engaged in diverse tasks such as sowing, fertilizing (施肥) and harvesting. They started with limited resources and gradually     4     (build) their lives almost from nothing. The     5     (influence) show that not only entertains but also educates is an interactive reality program     6     (present) in a documentary style.

Yang Changling, chief director of the program, said the show’s intention is to showcase     7     practice of farming and to enhance the audience’s understanding of agriculture and raise awareness of food     8     (secure) by sharing these young people’s experiences and stories of personal growth.

One view er said, “The distinctive program has enlightened me on the process of cultivating a grain of rice.     9     watches the program will realize what it takes to grow grain. I won’t waste food anymore.” Another said, “I don’t deny     10     (amaze) by the advanced modern agricultural technology and I feel sorry for the back-breaking work of farmers who establish deep roots in the land but only rely on the weather for their harvest.”

A seminar (研讨会) was held in Beijing recently. According to its report, the Chinese TV series     1    (adapt) of Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Problem, the first Asian novel to win the Hugo Award, has gained popularity overseas.

Statistics show that     2     series has gained a rating of 7.9 out of 10 on the foreign review company IMDb and has accumulated 5 million views on YouTube, one of the     3    (popular) video platforms in the world.

Gao Changli, director-general of the TV drama department at the National Radio and Television Administration, said that the drama contains a lot of thoughts and knowledge     4    (inspire) by China’s traditional philosophy and culture,     5    (offer) a distinctive edge for homegrown tales in the world’s sci-fi landscape. He also mentioned that the drama has been     6     preparation and production for seven years and has done a good job of bringing to life the typical     7    (scene) described in the novel.

Producers have also revealed that currently they     8    (produce) Three-Body Ⅱ: The Dark Forest,     9     is the second episode in Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. Meanwhile, more quality works will be produced to     10    (positive) publicize Chinese culture in the overseas markets.

Up to now, the two episodes of Three Bodies released     1     (gain) more than 100 million views on the website. The latest animated (动画的) adaptation of China’s award-winning sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem has become a quick hit online, adding to the list of popular     2     (domestic) produced animations.

    3     (Call) The Three-Body Animation, the 15-episode series is based on the second book of Liu Cixin’s trilogy (三部曲) and has gained praise from fans online after     4     (release) on Dec.10. The “Three-Body” series is Liu’s best-selling science-fiction trilogy,     5     has since gained a massive following home and abroad. Due to the growing desire     6     the sci-fi type in China, Liu’s works have been adapted into various     7     (form), including animations, games, films, and TV series.

A previous animation based on the “Three-Body” series also appeared as a hit when released in 2020. In the same year, the movie, The Wandering Earth, based on Liu’s short story of the same name,     8     (become) one of the most profitable movies in China, and the sci-fi movie lovers elected     9     the most influential one of the year. One global streaming platform is also releasing     10     adaptation of the “The Three-Body Problem” series next.

A Lifelong Journey, a TV series     1    (adapt) from writer Liang Xiaosheng’s novel has been a huge hit on TV and online. Some famous actors, such as Lei Jiayin, Song Jia, and Yin Tao, join in the show, which     2    (focus) on the ups and downs of Zhou’s family over five decades. It is set in the 1970s so it’s not     3    (surprise) that the family has to deal with lots of social changes. The show explores themes of family, friendship and romance. Many viewers describe the show     4     a time machine reflecting how we get here.

Painting a picture of ordinary Chinese people living in the changing times, the novel won the writer Liang, the 10th Mao Dun Literary Award, one of China’s top literary     5    (award). Millions of people have been touched by the family’s story,     6     makes readers find out what lies deep in their hearts.

Translating such a series of stories to the small screen had been     7     challenge for scriptwriter Wang Hailing. “    8    (frank) speaking, it is very difficult,” Wang said. “The lives of the three siblings (兄弟姊妹) are telling the story of a small family. But when we consider the bigger picture, the country     9    (it) is made up of millions of such small families.” According to Cheng Wu, producer of A Lifelong Journey, a deep sense of responsibility inspired him     10    (produce) the best adaptation of the work.

The word “toad” (癞蛤蟆) would be very easy in an English-language spelling bee, but not in a nationally televised contest in China.

In Chinese, toad has three characters that are made up of 46 individual strokes(笔画). Yu Shuang,     1     8-year-old contestant, quickly wrote the characters on a screen that     2     (project) her effort on a big display above her head. When she finished, one of three judges hit the bell signaling a correct answer.     3     the other two didn’t agree,     4     (point) out that the young girl had missed a single dot in the third character.

Yu wasn’t alone. The show tested a group of adults in the audience, just 30% of     5     could write toad correctly.

Since the first show on a minor TV channel about educational programming, the “Chinese Characters Dictation Competition”     6     (explode) in popularity. The show shied to a Friday evening time on CCTV 1, even challenging the popularity of the country’s most     7     (watch) shows, including China’s version of “The Voice”.

Its creator, Guan Zhengwen said, “The hope is     8     the show could arouse people’s     9     (enthusiastic) for the language, which is one of the most spectacular treasures of Chinese civilization and the fifth big invention the Chinese people have given to humanity. The so-called four great inventions from China     10     (typical) are lite das paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing.