As China’s coffee and tea markets are both developing quickly, new-style, tea-based drinks have become a new trend for young people. One such product is mixing traditional Chinese tea with coffee, which     1     (be) a popular refreshment option in Hong Kong for long.

To follow the market, tea chains including Hey Tea, CoCo and Chabaidao, are continuously launching new products     2     (feature) Chinese tea or other Chinese cultural elements. During the 2023 Spring Festival holiday, these tea chains all     3     (see) increased sales.

For young customers, new tea products have become a window through     4     they can understand and learn about traditional tea culture. They may also develop an interest in traditional tea drinking, especially because young people are now having a preference     5     a healthier lifestyle: less sugar and lower calories.

Shen Dongmei, a researcher focused on tea culture, says, “Coffee drinking is more about office culture, while tea drinking suits a     6     (great) number of occasions.” She notes that it’s suitable for both personal and group     7     (consume), and can be drunk quickly     8     enjoyed for a whole afternoon.

“Tea has more cultural features. Young people enjoying new tea drinks is     9     reflection of cultural confidence,” she says. Experts also suggest that tea chains adopt a new direction in traditional tea drinking     10     (satisfy) the diverse needs of younger customers.

A new branch of the Palace Museum is expected to rise on Beijing outskirts over the next few years to better showcase the     1     (museum) cultural relics.

After nearly a decade of preparation, construction of the new branch     2     (begin) last December. Located in Xiyehe, a village in Haidian District, the new branch will cover more than 100, 000 square meters, including     3     exhibition space of over 60, 000 square meters for cultural relics and more than 35, 000 square meters for relic     4     (restore).

At present, over 1. 86 million cultural relics     5     (house) in the museum. However, only about 10, 000 pieces are able to be displayed every year due to limited exhibition spaces     6     outdated offices.

Du Haijiang, deputy director of the Palace Museum, briefed the public on the project in an interview with CCTV on January 26th,     7     (explain) that calligraphy works and paintings couldn’t be put on display during rainy seasons, in winter or summer, because of strict temperature and humidity requirements. Some silk and cotton artworks     8    (current) cannot be exhibited at all for lack of the necessary environment.

On completion of the new branch, it will be possible     9     (display) between 20, 000 and 30, 000 individual relics each year. The new venue will be a modern exhibition space     10     multiple functions to provide relic preservation, repair work, and visitor services.

Eating Chinese food can be beneficial for your health. Chinese dishes are often packed with vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy grains like rice and noodles, which     1     (make) them a great source of vitamins nutrients, and other essential     2     (mineral).

Chinese food is also     3    (relative) inexpensive, making it a great option for eaters. Many dishes can be easily customized to meet dietary restrictions or preferences, and takeout options make it easy     4    (enjoy) a delicious meal without spending much time in the kitchen.

Chinese food is often thought of as a single type of cuisine,     5     there are actually many different regional variations. Cantonese cuisine     6    (characterize) by light and flavorful dishes that often contain seafood while Szechuan dishes are known     7     their spicy (辛辣的) flavorings. Hunan cuisine is typically     8    (heavy) than others, incorporating ingredients like chilies and garlic.

In conclusion, eating Chinese food can be a nutritious and economic way to get a variety of flavors and textures on your plate. With a little bit of research and knowledge, you can enjoy all the delicious flavors of Chinese cuisine in     9     healthy and safe way. So don’t be afraid to explore the world of Chinese food and discover all the     10    (wonder) tastes it has to offer!

Our brain is changing     1    (constant). Adults lose thousands of brain cells every day as part of the natural aging process. But here is good news. Scientists used to think that lost cells couldn’t     2    (replace), but the latest research shows they were wrong. Adults even generate new brain cells well into their eighties. However, that doesn’t happen     3    its own. You have to help this process along.

The brain     4    (account)for just 2 percent of total body weight,     5    it requires up to around 20 percent of the body’s blood supply. Why? Blood carries oxygen and sugar, which are the fuels     6    (need) to keep all brain cells working. Blood circulation also removes harmful substances.

In short, good circulation is vital to brain health. If you’re suffering from brain fog or finding     7    hard to concentrate, poor circulation is probably to blame.

What can we do? One option is     8    (take) a walk. Exercise can boost the circulation of blood to the brain. That is why exercise has been linked with more new ideas and greater     9    (creative). Next time you hit a mental block, do your brain a favor and go for a walk near your office. When you get back to your desk, make sure you’re sitting up straight with your shoulders back and your neck long. That’s by far the     10    (simple) way of keeping blood flowing to your brain.

Nut carving, known as Hediao in Chinese, generally refers to two kinds of carvings that use the fruit’s pit (核), like peach pits, and walnut (核桃) as the raw material.

It gained popularity in the Song Dynasty, and by the Ming Dynasty, the art form     1    (make) very high achievements, with many of the rich and high officials considering     2     fashionable to wear a piece of nut carving around. The ancient artists left their accomplished skills on those small     3    (work), which featured human figures, various birds and beasts, and even lines of poems.

The hardest thing about nut carving is     4     each piece of the raw material is different in texture (纹理) and flexibility. By looking at the textures on the surface of a walnut, a seasoned carving artist can basically tell whether the piece can     5    (use) for carving. In carving the artwork, the artist should first have     6     basic blueprint in his mind according to the textures on the surface, and then make adjustments when meeting any     7    (hide) holes in the pits or walnuts. The whole carving process     8    (constant) requires reconsideration and creation, and there is no established pattern to follow.

    9    (be) a good nut carver, one needs not only the basic skills in painting, calligraphy, and carving, but special materials, knives, good observation, flexible fingers, unique ideas, and exceptional     10    (patient).

The Year of the Rabbit fell, with Chinese New Year     1     (arrive) on January 22 in 2023.

After gathering countless audiences’ favorite     2     (option) and through systematic and informative big data research, the 2023 Spring Festival Gala official logo and mascot (吉祥物) image, “Tu Yuanyuan,” was born. It is the first intellectual property (知识产权) mascot     3     (develop) through big data analysis in the 40-year history of the Spring Festival Gala.

The overall image     4     (base) on the characteristics of the Chinese white rabbit and combines the aesthetic (审美的) style of gongbi,     5     careful realist technique in Chinese painting, and then completed using 3D modeling technology.

In Chinese culture, rabbits are quiet, smart and agile (敏捷的). Many Chinese idioms speak of these features. For example, people often say dongruo tuotu     6     (praise) people for moving     7     (quick). Jiaotu sanku means that a smart rabbit always has many holes,     8     makes it hard for people to find it. The rabbit also stands for the moon. People used to believe a rabbit was living on the moon. The rabbit is called the Jade Rabbit or the Moon Rabbit. It is the pet of the moon goddess Chang’e.

Rabbits can have a lot of babies in a short time. In this way, people in the past also saw the rabbit     9     a good sign. They believed     10     (have) more children could bring them good luck and happiness.

Less than a century ago, patients requiring a blood transfusion (输血)     1     (be) in a race against time. There was no     2     (organize) network for people to donate blood, and because blood was difficult     3     (preserve), there was no way to store it for future use. Patients had to find their own blood donors before it was too late.

In 1937, after inventing a technique for preserving blood for up to 10 days, physician Bernard Fantus set up     4     nation’s first “blood bank” at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital. At about the same time, surgeon Charles R. Drew figured out a method for separating plasma (血浆)     5     whole blood, and found that if whole blood wasn’t necessary, blood transfusions could be     6     (successful) performed with plasma alone. Plasma could be dried for long-term storage in blood banks. As World War II     7     (break) out, Drew and the American Red Cross launched a program to collect donated plasma in the U.S. and ship it to Britain, essentially     8     (create) a national system for blood donation. During the war, he worked with the Red Cross to set up “bloodmobiles” — mobile blood donation centers     9     made sustaining blood banks more     10     (practice).

“I have been very happy over the past 10 years. Living in the midst of the woods and lush greenery makes me feel     1     (relax). People here are very friendly and life is beautiful.” That’s how Yuan Hui, 34, described his past ten years as a volunteer teacher in a remote mountainous region of Hubei province.

Upon his graduation from Nanjing University, one of the top universities in China, Yuan     2     (offer) a job at a company in Nanjing. Surprisingly, he rejected it and then traveled more than 1,000 kilometers to Jiangjiawan village in Hubei’s Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture (县), desiring     3     (realize) his dream of becoming an     4     (educate).

He intended to become a different kind of teacher and make his classroom fun and informative.     5     , he did not want to be a full-time teacher as he thought that not having a full-time contract (合同) with a school would give him more freedom to try new teaching styles.

Yuan has made his classes unusual and interesting by using methods     6     were different from the common teaching approach. For example, when he taught a poem about a swordsman, he brought a plastic sword to class and urged the students to give fencing (击剑) performances while     7     (recite) the poem. The whole class then decided which student was the best swordsman.

In addition to teaching academic subjects, Yuan focuses     8     the all-around development of his students.     9     (Encourage) by Yuan’s story, several university students     10     (come) to the village to teach during their summer vacations since 2016. The conditions at local schools have improved considerably.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important festival for Chinese people after Spring Festival, and     1     (celebrate) throughout China for thousands of years. Foshan City celebrates it with a grand parade (游行) called “Foshan Qiuse”, which     2     (literal) means autumn colors of Foshan.

The origins of the Foshan Qiuse Parade date back     3     the Jin Dynasty (266-420). Back in ancient China, people from various sectors in Foshan would join in a gathering     4     participants showed off their skills and talents. Later the event was named “Qiuse” in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644),     5     (indicate) that it was held during the autumn season.

Major activities at this event include     6     (display) of folk crafts and artist performances. Over time, these activities developed into a parade that     7     (march) across the city. Nowadays, the annual Foshan Qiuse Parade proceeds 3.5 kilometers, with thousands of participants of all ages.

Foshan Qiuse has a strong fan base in the region and beyond. Each year, the streets of Foshan are crowded with     8     (excite) people eager to get a glimpse of the brilliant floats (彩车) that pass by in the parade. In recent years,     9     organizers of Foshan Qiuse have invited hundreds of people from all walks of life to join in the celebration, making the event a bridge     10     (strengthen) bonds with people throughout the world.

When it comes to the Chinese great literature, Journey to the West is certainly on the list. It is one of the most famous fantasy     1     (story) in China. Wu Cheng’en, a gifted writer in Ming Dynasty,   created the fantasy story,     2     (inspire) by real historical events.

In the story, a Buddhist monk named Xuanzang travels more than 10,000 kilometres on his pilgrimage (朝圣之旅) to India     3    (attain) Buddhist sutra (佛经). At the foot of a mountain shaped like five fingers, Xuanzang frees a monkey named Sun Wukong,     4     has great magic power and masters 72 methods of transformation. Wukong, as Xuanzang’s first disciple (徒弟), is righteous and brave. Unlike conventional heroes, he departs from tradition and fights for     5     (free). His tag is, “Hey, I’m coming!” He helps Xuanzang accomplish the goal with Zhu Bajie, monk Sha Wujing and White Dragon Horse, after     6     (go) through eighty-one adventurous experiences. With virtues and shortcomings, every character shines. In the journey, they come across     7     large number of difficulties, like battling with wicked monsters, evil humans and even themselves.

What the book conveys     8     (include) kindness, trust, bravery, teamwork, tolerance and so on. The story is well known for vivid and attractive plots, appealing     9     readers of all ages. To our delight, it has been made into TV series and films     10     (success). So if you are tired when reading the book, you can take a break to enjoy the screen.