2 . I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief at a Chinese funeral.

My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried sadly at her desk. Somehow, we got through the day’s work. The next day was the funeral.

Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy (悼词) and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: “There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven.” Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute, weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Men and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man’s mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. She almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral stunned at the outpouring of emotion.

In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more releasing to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.

Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting (哀悼) at the funeral had been restrained (克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it’s the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.

    1     the most prosperous and powerful dynasty in the history of China’s feudal (封建的) society, the Tang Empire (618-907) was so famous in the world that foreigners call the overseas Chinese people “the Tang people”, the areas     2     they live “Chinatowns” and the clothes they wear “Tangzhuang” (Tang suit) .

    3    (refer) to as “Tangzhuang”, the Tang suit has two     4    (various) in Chinese culture. One is the authentic (真正的) Tang-era clothes developing from hanfu,     5    (give) a free, easy and elegant impression;     6     other is the Manchu male’s jacket developing from magua of the Qing Dynasty. A typical design of a Tang suit     7    (use) the Chinese characters, such as Fu (meaning happiness in Chinese) and Shou (meaning long life in Chinese) to express good fortune and best wishes, which are     8    (extreme) popular among Chinese people because of the cultural connotation (涵义).

The Tang suit is an important part of traditional Chinese culture. Nowadays, an increasing number of young Chinese people tend     9    (have) Tang suits on their big days. Moreover, Tang suits     10    (wear) by overseas Chinese people during the Spring Festival each year, attracting many foreigners to wear them out of curiosity.

6 . It was May 17,2015, and Brian, then 36, had been out of communication distance since the 13th. Brian climbed the hill next to his temporary camp and scanned his hand-held radio, hoping to catch a signal. Realizing search planes would have a hard time spotting him, he, for the first time since losing contact, felt a strong sense of hopelessness. In the distance, a wolf howled and Brian howled back. Then he made his decision: if he was ever going to see his family again, he’d just have to start walking.

On May 17, Brian decided to make his move, filled his bag with necessary things, picked up his gun and started walking though it was raining. Brian walked well into the night, making his way about 15 miles until he couldn’t walk anymore. But the next stretch was harder, the land hillier. Keep climbing, he’d tell himself, and you’ll see a hunting shelter just over the hill top. Then he’d make it to the top only to see another hill. To make matters worse, his core body temperature was falling below the usual level as a result of being in severe cold for a long time, putting his life at risk. For the first time, he began to panic. He knew if he didn’t move quickly, he’d die.

Three days into his voyage on foot, with little water, he was becoming dangerously dehydrated. Falling and lying on the ground, Brian dreamed of his family as if hearing his daughters constantly laughing. Suddenly, Brian sat up. “I want to see my wife, I want to see my kids grow up”, he thought, rising to his feet. “I’ll start walking.”

Brian moved on with heavy steps. About five miles from Repulse Bay, he spotted radio towers — the first sign of a community. He struggled forward until he saw a shelter at the top of the hill. With the last of his energy, he climbed up and broke in, where he slept solidly for 12 hours. The walk into town the next day was easy. Brain arrived at 5:30 am on May 20.

Today, safe at home, Brian still gets emotional remembering the welcome he received. “Everyone was very happy everywhere I went,” he says.

Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a day of education about environmental problems, and Earth Day 2020     1     (fall) on Wednesday, April 22 — the holiday’s 50th anniversary. The holiday is now a global celebration that’s sometimes extended into Earth Week, a full seven days of events focused on green living.

    2    (elect) to the U. S. Senate (参议院) in 1962, Senator Gaylord Nelson was determined to convince the federal government that the planet was     3     risk. In 1969, Nelson developed the idea for Earth Day after     4     (inspire) by some teaching activities     5     were taking place on college campuses around the United States.

Denis Hayes, a young activist who had served as student president at Stanford University,     6    (select) as Earth Day’s national coordinator (协调者), and he worked with     7     army of student volunteers and several staff members from Nelson’s Senate office     8    (organize) the project.

The first Earth Day was effective at raising     9     (aware) about environmental problems and transforming public attitudes. Earth Day kicked off the “Environmental decade with a bang,” as Senator Nelson later put it. The theme of Earth Day 2020 is “climate action.” EarthDay.org hopes it will be the     10     (large) volunteer event in history.

9 . Everyone knows a power nap feels good, but do you know that power naps fit right into your normal sleep or wake cycle? And, if done right, they can really help you get through the day.

We are built to nap

Our bodies have an inside timekeeper called the circadian rhythm. The term “circadian” comes from the Latin words meaning “about (circa) a day (diem)”. It is based on 24-hour light/dark cycle and allows your body to keep with the light/dark environment. The circadian rhythm helps you fall asleep and wake up. It changes during the day, as shown in the picture.

Keys to power napping

Your body’s circadian rhythm falls and rises throughout the day. With the largest fall in the afternoon, your body becomes more tired during this time. That is to say, in the afternoon, you are designed for napping.

In studies, a nap lasting a quarter can do the most help in school performance and thinking ability. It helps you to concentrate on your class and reduce stress without affecting your ability to fall asleep at night. As for when to start, the best answer will be around 2:00 pm according to the variation of circadian rhythm.

In addition to the length and the timing, there are other ways you can make the most of your power naps:

Try deep-breathing or another relaxation technique as you start.

Choose a quiet, darkened location. A sleep mask may help.

Lie down or sit in a comfortable chair.

Listen to soft music or white noise.

Try a bit of stretching and walking around to refresh after your nap.

A music concert “Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems” jointly performed by iSING! Suzhou and the Philadelphia Orchestra was staged at Kimmel Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia on Jan .6.

Another concert featuring Tang poetry was     1    (successful) held at the Lincoln Center in New York on Jan.7. Fifteen iSING! Suzhou singers from 10 countries led by Liao Guomin performed songs     2    (write) by young composers from 6 countries. The songs included many well-known poems dating     3     the Tang Dynasty, such as Luo Binwang’s Singing of Goose and Li Bai’s Quiet Thoughts by Night.

The iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival     4    (set) up in Suzhou in 2014 as     5     (China) first international vocal (声乐) art festival. Over the past eight years, the festival     6    (attract) outstanding young singers from all over the world, spread     7     promoted Chinese and classical music, and enhanced cultural exchanges between China and the West, becoming a cultural card for Suzhou to go     8    (globe).

The performances were also held to commemorate (纪念)     9     fiftieth anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s China tour in 1973. The Philadelphia Orchestra, as the first American orchestra     10    (visit) China, bridged the two nations in the field of culture.