Shen Kuo was an excellent scientist of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was an all-round scholar of astronomy, literature, physics, chemistry, calendars, geology, meteorology     1     medical science. He was also an outstanding engineer and excellent military strategist. He even made a great contribution     2     art and literature. So Shen Kuo was well known for being     3    (knowledge) in ancient China.

Meng Xi Bi Tan, Shen Kuo’s famous scientific work,     4    (complete) between 1086 and 1093. In the book, he wrote a lot about the animals and plants he had seen when     5    (travel) through the country, such as giant clams in the South China Sea, crocodiles in Chaozhou, Chinese wolfberries in the northwest of China and jerboas in the desert of northern China. The book also introduced     6    (method) of killing insect pests.

Shen Kuo pointed out in Meng Xi Bi Tan that human beings had pharynxes(咽)and larynxes(喉), with pharynxes for food and larynxes for ventilation (换气). He also     7    (have) great knowledge about fossils(化石). When visiting the Taihang Mountain,     8     is located in Shanxi Province, he discovered fossilized seashells and noted the presence of stones like those often     9    (find) on the seashore, leading him to conclude that Shanxi had been located by the sea in the distant past.

Meng Xi Bi Tan was     10    (wide) regarded as an important scientific work in ancient China.

China’s men’s table tennis team beat the Republic of Korea, winning the men’s team title at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou. Table tennis legend Ma Long played     1     the third singles player to win the decisive victory for China. It     2     (be) 17 years since Ma Long first represented China in the Asian Games and won the gold medal in the men’s team.

He is now 35-year-old, but he shows no sign of age when     3     (compete) against other athletes. And his moves remain aggressive (侵略的). With great efforts, he finally managed     4     (achieve) the victory. It added a fifth Asian gold to Ma’s trophy cabinet (奖杯柜), which also     5     (include) an all-time record of five Olympic gold medals and 25 world championships titles dating back to 2006. He really set     6     example for athletes all over the world.

However,     7     is a pity that he had to bid farewell (告别) to the Asian Games at the post-match press conference (新闻发布会) because of his age. Ma wrote on his micro blog, “Love can last a long time. I’m     8     (extreme) grateful to my teammates and all the fans at the scene. It’s you     9     encourage me to go on. I’ll never forget all these good Asian Games     10     (memory). Keep going for the Chinese team!”

The Sixth Silk Road International Cultural Expo opened in Dunhuang, Gansu Province on Wednesday.

Since its start in 2016, the expo    1    (aim) to foster cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and countries along the Silk Road. The year 2023 is     2    (particular) significant as it marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has helped promote the various cultures of countries and regions    3    (participate) in it, strengthen communication and bring prosperity to the people.

    4    (theme) “Connecting with the World：Cultural Exchanges and Mutual Learning”，the two-day event seeks     5    (explore) the essence of the silk road culture, promote civilization exchanges and the preservation of cultural heritage. More than 1, 200 representatives    6    over 50 countries and regions and international organizations are taking part.

More than 2, 000 years ago, Dunhuang became an important crossroad on the Silk Road     7    ancient Chinese civilization and other civilizations in Asia and Europe met and traded. The city holds immense cultural and historical importance as    8    major stop along China’s Ancient Silk Road.

Hu Changsheng, Party secretary of Gansu, said, “Exchanges and mutual learning bring    9    (diverse) to civilization. The host of the expo aims to    10    (far) strengthen cultural exchanges and friendship among different countries and regions, SO as to drive common development and prosperity.”

The minority of Red Yao is one of the ethnic minorities in China, living in north of Guilin. Guangxi Region, especially on Longji Rice Terraces(梯田). One of the     1    (big)Yao festivals is the Clothes Drying Festival, which falls     2     the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. In practice, women lay out all their traditional costumes under the sun. This serves the double purposes of disinfection and allowing the ladies to show off     3     they have. If it rains, they will spread their costumes indoors,     4    (leave)the door open.

That day, local Yao people took their clothes outside their house to dry and seek fortune. Later,     5    (dress)in their treasured costumes, they showcased how to make traditional clothes, performed group weddings and gave other unique performances as a way     6    (attract)tourists.

Yao people in the area     7    (observe)the festival for centuries. Tradition has it that the celebration ceremony is held between the famous terraced rice     8    (field)in this area.

The celebration continues into night     9     reaches its height when the people light up their doorways under the starry sky. In addition, fireworks are set off.

The celebration varies     10    (slight)from place to place. In Guiping County nearby, Yao people stand in squares waving their hands to the sun and express their admiration at dusk.

Print is a medium for mass communication, which has enabled     1     (artist) to be known and familiar     2     a wider audience.

The Prints-A Riot of Colors, an exhibition     3     (feature) some 130 prints created by generations of Chinese artists, the oldest one of     4     dates back to the 1930s, opened on Monday at the Guardian Art Center in Beijing. An online auction (拍卖) of most of the showpieces held by China Guardian Auctions is running with the exhibition.

    5     (divide) into five sections, the long-running show is aimed     6     (offer) art collectors and the general public alike an opportunity to learn about China’s modern, contemporary print art and     7     (far) explore the market value of prints, according to Liu Zehui, the person in charge of the show.

In 1931, the famous writer and social activist Lu Xun     8     (support) the New Woodcut Movement in Shanghai. He promoted the modern woodcut, which was popular in the West but still     9     essential Chinese form whose techniques reached maturity during the Tang Dynasty, as the most     10     (access) and efficient vehicle for circulating new revolutionary thought among the masses.

Delicate, bright, and soft to the touch, the silk has passed the way throughout China’s history. No one can be     1     (exact) certain of its origin. But the humble ancient Chinese people credited their own wisdom to Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor (the legendary ancestor of Chinese people), as     2     inventor of sericulture (养蚕).

Like all kinds of art on the vast land of China, the style and texture (质地) of silk are also various. Hangluo from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is known     3     its airy and thin texture, while Yunjin from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, an expensive cloth,     4     (represent) China’s silk technique at its peak.

Yunjin is best made by hand on large machines, in a complex procedure     5     contains more than a hundred steps. Even the most     6     (experience) workers can only make a few centimeters a day. Time, patience and skill all play an important role in its beauty.

In the Western Han Dynasty, with Zhang Qian     7     (open) up the routes to the western regions, silk was highly praised in countries of Central Asia, later extending     8     (it) reach to other parts.

In the hands of Chinese artists, the thinnest string can make pictures of great possibilities and the     9     (soft) material can pass through thousands of years. As one of the many     10     (wonder) of ancient China, silk is not only a type of cloth, but also a cultural symbol and a representation of elegance and grace.