Thousands of years ago, Chinese characters appeared on animal bones and silk before they     1     (write) on paper. But now many     2     character has a “new container” in the modern age. 

Recently, a research team, drawing every little bit of     3     (inspire) from Xunzi, an outstanding Confucian philosopher during the late Warring States Period (475-221 BC), has rolled out Xunzi, a large language model (LLM) and Xunzi Chat in association with a leading ancient Chinese text publisher. When     4     (ask) why, the team leader explained, “Characters  set invertical layout (竖版), the absence of pausing and punctuation are all holding readers back.”     5     (create) Xunzi the LLM, the team first did a lot of research. Since2013, they’ve sweated     6     (heavy) to digitize Chinese classics like the SikuQuanshu. “The hard work involves a large-scale pool of two billion Chinese characters,     7     has laid a solid foundation for the LLM.” Their efforts seem to have paid off. Currently, Xunzi the LLM can translate, punctuate     8     understand some ancient Chinese texts. The model can help us mine for more information hidden in our cultural legacy and find unnoticed models and connections.

The team have shared the LLM on GitHub and other websites,     9     (allow) users to download and use it for free. They’re committed to the philosophy of making the data and model     10     (access) globally.

Popularity of learning Chinese language has been growing rapidly in Cameroon, Western and Central Africa. The number of students who speak Chinese in Cameroon     1     (increase) greatly in recent years. Many Cameroonian students are     2     (interest) in learning Chinese to develop better career skills.

“We have nearly 20,000 Chinese learners, whether in primary, secondary or higher education. In all of Africa, Cameroon is the country with the     3     (high) number of Chinese language learners. We have nearly 200 secondary schools     4     can provide Chinese courses,” a Cameroonian official told Xinhua News Agency recently.

“Now four other state universities have     5     (formal) applied to offer Chinese courses. In 2008, only one state university awarded (授予) the Chinese language degree in the country,”     6     official said. He stressed that nearly 300 Cameroonians co-trained by the University of Maroua and the Confucius Institute (孔子学院) now choose     7     (teach) the Chinese language in schools nationwide.

Demand for the Chinese language is growing because Cameroonian trade with China has been skyrocketing.     8     is difficult to find someone who has learned the Chinese language is still unemployed in Cameroon, which is not the situation for other     9     (language).

After their     10     (graduate) in China, Cameroonian students choose to continue studying in China or work in Chinese-related areas in Cameroon.

Zhang Ying, head of WeChat Pay, introduced that WeChat Pay is beginning to attempt the launch of “WeChat Palm(手掌) Payment”, during the 2023 Open Class PRO     1     (host) by WeChat last night.

According to the     2     (introduce), in the future, users can bind (绑定) their membership cards, transportation cards, etc. to their palms     3     (achieve) “one palm to rule them all”. They can consume, pass through and verify their identity without carrying a phone,     4     is extremely convenient. 

Now this feature     5     (attract) businesses to jointly develop the technology continuously. Although the official arrange time has not been announced, given WeChat’s speed, it is highly likely     6     we will be able to use palm payment this year. According to previous tests, users only need to register palm information on palm-scanning devices and link it to their     7    (privacy) WeChat account. They can complete payments directly by     8     (scan) their palms when consuming offline, solving the embarrassing situation of difficult-to-use face-scanning offline. 

Moreover, in terms of principle, palm pattern recognition should be     9     (easy) than facial recognition, and     10     degree of individual difference is relatively large, making it more secure.

Having known that you have difficulty     1    (improve) your English, I    2    (write) to offer you some     3    (suggest).

First of all, you should be aware     4    the importance of reading ability and then do as much as    5     (possibly). While coming across some     6    (familiar) words in reading, you’d better not refer to the dictionary     7    (frequent) but guess the meanings from the context. In addition, you can surf some useful English forums,     8    you can have     9     opportunity to get some useful learning resources and experience more real English culture.

I do hope these suggestions will be of benefit to you. I’m looking forward to    10     (you) early reply.

Yours,

Li hua

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.

This is a true story about something that happened to me last summer. I was spending the holiday    1    (happy) with my family at a beach in the south of England. I was very    2    (interest) in exploring the local area, so one morning I    3    (wake) up early and set off along the quiet road. In my eagerness to discover the local area, I forgot     4    ( tell ) my parents where I was going.

It was a hot, sunny morning and I soon felt thirsty, but I was determined to challenge    5    (me) by walking to the highest point. I’m a good walker and so I pushed my way up the hill, although it was quite hard work. At the top, I saw many birds    6     (fly) around their nests(鸟巢). Feeling curious, I left the road and moved towards the nests. Aha, there were some baby birds in the nest. “If I take     7     picture of the baby birds, will I be attacked?” With     8    (butterfly) in my stomach, I held my camera up and pointed it at the birds.

Just then, one of the birds made a loud noise. I was so surprised     9    I dropped my camera! I didn’t have time to worry     10    it, though. To protect their nests, the birds started to fly at me one by one to make me go away. I rushed back down the hill. Near the bottom of the hill, I heard a car engine. It was my mum’s car! I jumped in and shut the door, looking at her in panic.   “Go! Go! Go!” I shouted. I spent the rest of the summer saving up for a new camera.

Sometimes we may hear from people that English is difficult     1    (learn). I never thought about this until a small question from my little son changed     2    (I) mind. He asked me whether ham was a hamburger,     3     reminded me that there is no egg in eggplant. What a crazy language English is!

Here     4     (be) some examples that make learners     5    (confuse). We can sculpt a sculpture and paint a painting, but we take a photo. We can travel in the car but on the train. And     6    (speak) of home, homework and housework don’t refer     7     the same thing.

What’s more, the meanings of some words don’t follow our logic. Why are “hard” and “soft” an opposite pair while “softly” and “hardly” are not? Why are “shameless” and “shameful”     8    (behavior) the same?

No matter     9     crazy English is, it is certain that the language was created by people and therefor it reflects their     10     (creative).

As the saying goes, “Laughter is the best medicine.” In troubling times, good humour is in need more than ever. Doctors and medical staff are including it in     1     (they)care treatments. One product of this kind is the healthcare clown around the globe. There is even     2     organization that sets standards. The European Federation of Healthcare Clown Organizations     3     (found)in 2011. It says, “Healthcare clowns,     4     make contact through humour, bring moments of happiness to children and some adults with illness or special needs.”

After a COVID-19 ward opened in Jerusalem, one healthcare clown decided to help patients by     5     (use)her humour. She wanted to reduce the patients’     6     (anxious)and improve their health. She enjoyed working alongside doctors and said, “     7     (obvious), the doctors take care of the body and we come in and take care of the soul.”

Healthcare clowns are carefully chosen. Professional     8     (performer)have to receive special training before working with children in the healthcare environment. “I can see up close the effect the clowns have     9     sick children. I could not see a world without them. It’s necessary for the public     10     (realize)the role of healthcare clowns,” a doctor said.

Most of my friends have never been to China. I have been lucky enough to make at least thirteen trips there, some on business, others for     1    (please). When in China, I had the opportunity to eat in a lot of different restaurants,     2    (range) from the large and fancy to the small and pedestrian.     3     I really miss, and can’t get here in Canada is the Chinese street food.

Years ago, while working in Beijing, my route to the office took me though a hutong and I always passed a man making food on a cutting board. The man had a large bowl of white dough from which he would break off a piece that he rolled into a ball a little     4    (large) than a golf ball. This he then flattened into a “waffle” about ten centimeters across and went on     5    (cook) on the hot top of an oil barrel, turning the “waffle”     6     constantly. An egg, sometimes two, would be spread over this together with     7    (chop) onions and some sort of spices. The whole thing     8    (serve)in a paper wrapper. I would take two of these, brew a cup of coffee and have an     9    (absolute) delicious breakfast.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I will ever again have the privilege of travelling to China     10    the street food treats will have to live on only in my memory.

Jason Porter is one of my closest friends. I still remember the first time I met him. He was giving a speech in front of the whole class, with everyone bursting out    1    (laugh). I assumed that he might be    2    optimistic and popular boy in the class. My family had to move to this new small city in order to manage    3    (financial). Having lost all my old friends, I felt shy and lonely at my new school. There were 60 students in the new class, most of    4    weren’t very interested in a shy new boy. However, Jason was quite kind to me and invited me to participate in various activities,     5     we became good friends soon. Although we both had lots of    6    (shortcoming), we trusted each other and shared personal matters. We could see the important part we play    7    the lives of each other. Whenever either of us     8    (knock) down by difficulties, we cheered up each other to go on till we felt    9    (exhaust).

After graduation, we entered different colleges, but we have been keeping in touch. That’s true friendship. I will cherish    10    forever.