It is a special cross-country race. The competitors’ vehicles are made     1     fruits and vegetables like carrots, eggplants, grapefruits, pumpkins and oranges. They are the creations of pupils from the Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School.

According to Chen You, the science class teacher,     2     (base) knowledge had been taught within 6 classes to students before they drew sketches and     3     (choose) vegetables to make a food car.

Although students were encouraged     4     (design) their cars together with parents, all the cars should be made in the class. After     5     (bring) piles of ingredients as well as tools the children began their innovation. Some cut the carrot slices to make them round, and some others assembled (组装) their car components together.

In addition to the     6     (compete), students are required to reflect on the     7     (difficulty) they encountered making their vehicles,     8     things they have learned from the activity and the improvements they think the course can make.

    9     touched the teachers most was the unity and friendship among the children. For example, although the contest was fierce (激烈的), students felt     10     (excite) for the champion car as if they themselves had stood out, and when a girl’s car fell apart their friends comforted her and helped reassemble the car.

Here’s one more reason to get up and exercise! A newly     1     (publish) study in JAMA Neurology has found that walking about 10,000 steps per day     2     (help) lower the risk of developing dementia (痴呆症). In fact, 4,000 steps a day is enough     3     (decrease) dementia risk by one-quarter, according to the study.

Furthermore, people who walk with “purpose”—     4     a pace of over 40 steps a minute —     5     (be) able to cut their risk of dementia by 57 percent with just about 6,000 steps a day. “It is a brisk (轻快的) walking activity, like a power walk,” study co-author Borja del Pozo Cruz told CNN.

Even people     6     walk about 3,800 steps a day at any speed can cut their risk of dementia by 25 percent, the study found. Such a number of steps would be enough for     7     (beginner), especially those who usually sit for a long time each day.

“There is evidence     8     physical activity can enhance (提高) dementia     9     (prevent) among the general population,” Del Pozo Cruz said. “We thought that by providing specific stepping recommendations, people would pay more attention to physical activity, as steps and walking are something everyone understands     10     require very little resources.”

A total of 29 provincial regions have started or made plans to reform the national college entrance exam or gaokao,     1     (offer) more options to students taking the critical test, the Ministry of Education said on September 15.

Wang Hui, director of the ministry’s Department of College Students Affairs, said 14 provincial regions have already implemented(实施) gaokao reforms. Seven regions will     2     (official) implement them in 2024, while eight others will do so in 2025.

Before the reforms, high school students     3     (divide) into liberal arts(文科) and sciences categories, in     4     the former needed to answer questions related to politics, history and geography in the gaokao while     5     latter concentrated on physics, chemistry and biology. Now, students can choose any three of these six subjects     6     (test) on.

High school and university officials said they think the changes encourage students to learn more about the different subjects and     7     education officials have made progress in testing students based on their abilities.

To ensure fairness in the national college entrance exam, the ministry has cancelled the bonus-point system(加分政策) considerably for students     8     exceptional ability in the sciences and sports.

Athletes, winners of academic Olympiads, including in math, physics, chemistry and biology, winners of science     9     (competition), provincial model students and students who     10     (undertake) exceptional moral deeds, are no longer being granted extra points in the gaokao.

At age 12 years, four months and 25 days, Abhimanyu Mishra has become the world’s youngest chess Grandmaster (GM). He won his third GM norm at a tournament in Budapest. Abhimanyu’s win has broken a 19-year-old record held by Russian Sergey Karjakin,     1     was 12 years and seven months old when he     2     (win) the title.

Abhimanyu lives in the United States with his parents. His father introduced him to chess     3     Abhimanyu was just two and a half years old. By the time he was five, he was already beating much older opponents(对手). At the age of seven, Abhimanyu was traveling for tournaments. He made history by     4     (become) the youngest National Master in the US at the age of nine. He also became the youngest International Master (a level below GM) ever at age 10 years, nine months, and three days. As can     5     (expect) from a chess genius, Abhimanyu has     6     excellent memory and remembers old games in perfect detail. He can play fast and thinks on his feet.

    7    (surprising), Abhimanyu’s sports idol(偶像) is not a chess player but swimmer Michael Phelps. The Indian Express newspaper reported that Abhimanyu’s other     8     (interest) include karate and video games.

Grandmaster is a title     9     (award) to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Grandmaster is the second     10     (high) title a chess player can gain. It’s a title held by a chess player for life.

The Internet started in     1     1960s as a way for government researchers to share information. Computers then were too large and heavy     2     (move) and in order to make use of information in any computer, one had to either travel to the site of the computer or have computer tapes     3     (send) through the traditional postal system.

Another reason     4     the birth of the Internet was the heating up of the Cold War. The Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik satellite made the USA consider ways that information could still be shared even after an attack. This led to the     5     (appear) of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network),     6     eventually developed into the Internet. ARPANET was a great success but membership     7     (limit) to certain research organizations. In response to this, other networks were created to provide information sharing.

January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Before this, the     8     (variety) computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other. A new communication protocol (协议) called Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was founded. This allowed different     9     (kind) of computers on different networks to “talk” to each other. ARPANET and other networks     10     (official) changed to the TCP/IP standard on January 1, 1983, hence the birth of the Internet.

Walking is great for weight loss, but the benefits go far beyond from higher energy and better mood to stress relief, creativity boost, and more. Whether you’re just having a down day or a down life, taking     1     walk can lift your mood especially when you go outdoors.

Money for a gym membership, home exercise     2     (equip), workout clothes and shoes     3     (add) up a lot. But it doesn’t have to. Walking requires     4     (absolute) nothing but still provides great health benefits. And     5     it can save is not only on things, but also on healthcare. Those who exercised regularly saved much money when it came to healthcare costs compared to those not meeting the minimum weekly exercise requirements.

Sleeping a solid eight hours a day     6     (be) one of the most important     7     (thing) you can do for your health. But sometimes that’s easier     8     (say) than to do. Thankfully, a fast walk may be all you need. People who exercise regularly, including walking, fall asleep more quickly, sleep     9     (long), and have better quality sleep. Walking is also good for your brain. When you walk, your foot’s impact     10     the ground sends pressure waves through the arteries (动脉) that increase blood flow to the brain.

Some holidays are so much fun that they catch on outside of their culture. The most obvious example is     1    (probable) Christmas,     2     is celebrated by people around the world. Similarly, in recent years, the Dragon Boat Festival     3     (move) beyond China to become an international holiday celebrated by people who may know little about the holiday's origins.

The Dragon Boat Festival is one of three major Chinese holidays, along     4    the Spring and Moon Festivals. Of the three, it is possibly the oldest,     5     (date) back to the Warring States Period in 227 B.C. The festival commemorates Qu Yuan. Despairing over corruption at court, Qu threw himself into a river. People jumped into their boats and tried in vain     6     (save) him. Then, hoping to distract hungry fish from his body, the people scattered rice in the water.

Gradually, the story of Qu’s death transformed into the traditions of racing dragon boats and eating zongzi — a kind of rice     7     (wrap) in bamboo leaves. The races have certainly captured the     8     (imagine) of people from all over the world. Every spring there are nearly 60 dragon boat races, which     9    (hold) outside of China in cities from Vancouver to Sydney, from Gdańsk, Poland to Cape Town, South Africa.

So what is it about the Dragon Boat Festival that appeals to foreigners? “It’s     10    unusual sport,” says one racer from Germany. “There's such great team spirit in a dragon boat team – everybody feels like we’re doing something special.”