In ancient times, silk from China found its way overland to India, the Middle East and Rome, along what became known as the Silk Road. A trading route across the sea was also     1     along the coasts of the Indian Ocean centred around Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Here, merchants from China and many other places met to     2     trade deals, which also led to more     3     of each other’s cultures. Over the centuries, further trading allowed more exploration of the regions to the west of China, as     4     in Du Huan’s Record of My Travels in the eighth century.

Later, the Ming Dynasty further     5     relations with these regions. Between 1405 and1433, seven large fleets sailed west on voyages of trade and exploration. These fleets were a sight to behold and were in a league of their own at that time. Under the     6     of Zheng He, they set sail from the South China Sea across the Indian Ocean to the mouth of the Red Sea, and then to the east coast of Africa. African     7     families sent gifts such as giraffes as gestures of friendship in     8     for gold, silk, and spices. Although China     9     from further expeditions after 1433, these land and sea routes remained     10     channels between other cultures for centuries.

3 . Are you happy with your appearance?     1    

“Almost all the girls with single-fold eyelids (单眼皮) in our class have had double eyelid operations,” Zeng, a Senior 2 student from Chengdu, told Xinhua. Zeng had the same surgery done this summer.     2    

From popular photo-editing apps to plastic surgery (整形手术), it seems that large eyes, pale skin and a skinny body are the only standard for beauty these days. But can following this standard really make us feel good about ourselves?

    3     . According to Huxiu News, over six in ten girls choose not to take part in certain daily activities, such as attending school, because they feel bad about their looks. As much as 31 percent of teenagers avoid speaking up in class because they worry that others will notice their looks.

“Many teenagers are upset about their appearance because they believe in unrealistic standards of beauty,” experts say.       4     Seeing all these things can make anyone believe that they’re too dark, too fat, too short, or too tall.

However, trying to live up to strict standards can make us feel anxious. What troubles us is not just our “imperfect” looks, but the fact that we criticize ourselves too much.

    5     Plus-size models are being featured in some fashion shows. All of us should be just as confident as they are.

4 . In the United States, most of our electricity comes from power plants(发电厂) that burn coal and oil.

There are two big problems with using these things for electricity. First. their supply is limited(有限的). Second, burning them causes pollution. So to make sure we always have power and to keep our planet clean, we must find other ways to make electricity.

Some people think that wind power is our best choice. First, there will always be more wind. Also, wind power does not pollute the environment. Best of all, we don’t have to search for wind.

Today, less than 1 percent of our electricity comes from wind. But scientists have been developing better wind machines. As a result, wind power is getting more popular in this country.

Yet wind power may not keep growing so quickly in years to come. Why not? Many wind turbines(风力涡轮机)are needed to make much electricity. So wind-power companies try to build wind farms but are competing(竞争)with other uses for the land. A wind farm is a group of turbines placed close together in an area with frequent winds.

In places where companies try to build wind farms, people think that lines of turbines are ugly. Noise from turbines often troubles people. Also, turbines kill birds that fly into them.

Wind-power supporters disagree. They think the sight of wind turbines is lovely. They point out that people have gotten used to living near noisy highways. They say ways can be found to keep birds away from turbines.

In today’s world, we need clean and unlimited power sources more than ever. Unless a better power source comes along, people may just have to accept wind power as a part of their lives.

6 . When Marco was a boy, he tried everything to get his father’s love and attention. He studied hard to get good _____and tried to behave well. He was shy and shorter than the other boys. Besides, his father was________and had little time for him. Except for his________for housework after school, there was no communication. Marco felt very_____.

One day, his maths teacher called him that some young teenagers were signing up for a public speaking_______. She thought Marco should give it a________. She firmly believed he could perform on stage like other kids. Feeling her strong trust, he agreed to________the contest.

All winter, Marco took a bus to________twice a week in another city, where the competition would take place. He was taken by a strong________he never felt before. Finally, the big day arrived. His father, and yes, his maths teacher, were present. When he stepped onto the stage and began to speak, he felt________at home. He was funny, and acted very naturally. He won! He noticed his father’s eyes were________— he was so proud. It was then that his father________he should pay more attention to the child.

As the winner, Marco’s name was________in the local papers. He knew this was the________of his new life. It all happened because of a phone call, from one who________him.

8 . When you are a kid, gaining a best friend forever can happen in a single play date. But when you grow up to be an adult, making and maintaining friendships gets harder. So how much quality time (优质时光) do you need before that stranger becomes your friend? A new study recently found that, on average, it takes about 50 hours with someone before you consider them a casual (感情不深的) friend, about 90 hours before you become real friends, and about 200 hours to become close friends.

The study’s author Jeffrey Hall, a communications professor, invited adults who are eager to make friends to take part in two experiments — people who had just moved to a new city in the past six months and college freshmen. He asked them to rate and track the degree of closeness and time spent together with a new person. “Results suggest that the chance of changing from casual friend to real friend is greater than 50% after around 80-100 hours together,” said Hall.

The study found that the amount of time spent talking together, or the fact that you spent time at school or work with them, was unrelated to friendship closeness. “It is really easy to spend a lot of time with people as they are routinely in the same place at the same time as you,” Hall said. “However, my study shows you can have workmates you spend hundreds and hundreds of hours with and still not develop a friendship.”

You do not need to become best friends with your workmates to develop meaningful relationships with them. But for those of us hoping to change from “girl who I eat lunch at work with” to “friend I can depend on,” Hall suggests that you need to take the relationship out of the workplace for it to become a friendship. The participants who did activities outside of work with someone, such as being invited to have lunch in their home, were more likely to develop deeper relationships with them.