The Dunhuang Academy recently showed its latest digital achievement—a digitalized version of the Library Cave.

As the 17th cave of the Mogao Grottoes(石窟), the Library Cave     1     (discover)in 1900 in Dunhuang City, a city in the northwest of China’s Gansu Province,     2     around 60, 000 rare cultural relics dug out. Since then, more than 10 countries     3     (take) away about 40, 000 pieces from the site. To protect the cultural relics, digital technology is used     4     (perform) 3-D modeling of the cultural relics and reproduce some of the relics     5     have been lost overseas. By     6     (visit) the website “Digital Dunhuang”, people can view the images of the cultural relics in the cave.

The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, are a 1,600-year-old UNESCO world heritage site.     7     idea of digitalizing Dunhuang was put forward in the late 1980s. The following decades have seen much     8     (develop) and numerous achievements in digital preservation (保存).

At present, the “digital Dunhuang project” has     9     (successful) completed the digital collection of over 300 grottoes. Its digital platform, launched at the end of 2022, shares about 6,500     10     (create) works with people around the world.

My name is Nassra, a second-year student at Tanzania Institute of Accountancy as well as an artist of 22 years old. My journey through art has led me to become     1     environmentalist.

What we usually consider waste may be useful when we think about it in a different light. Discarded (丢弃的) or waste items provide plentiful but largely     2     (ignore) resources for us artists to give them a second life or share their story. Items such wine bottles, wood, and more can have a beautiful second chance as a piece of art. As an artist, I would     3     (frequent) look for reusable materials that offer fresh ideas of creating something new.

In my hands, glass bottles, plastic bags, and other waste items that would otherwise end up     4     (float) in the sea become a form of     5     (sustain) art. My art highlights the degradation of the world and surprises people     6     its originality.

People     7     buy this type of art find the work attractive for its artistic value. But motivating them to contribute to the planet’s welfare     8     (be) my lifelong dream. I also want to take this opportunity to encourage environment     9     (conserve) through DIY project and recycling. This really gives a chance for individuals     10     (witness) the brilliance that the world offers.

Parts of the Middle East are some of the     1     (hot) inhabited places on Earth. Temperatures in Abu Dhabi can climb to over 50℃. Air conditioning is seen as a (n)     2     (necessary), and people tend to spend a lot of time indoors.

But people here haven’t always had air conditioning, and an ancient Arabic architectural cooling technique has made a comeback.

Mashrabiya refers to the latticed (格子状的) screens often     3     (see) in Islamic architecture that keep buildings cool without     4     (complete) blocking light. They are designed     5     (encourage) a wind and offer a spot of relief from the heat within a building. The idea is essentially to stop direct sunlight     6     (land) on a building’s outside.

That’s     7     inspired the design of Al Bahar Towers, a 25 story building wrapped in more than 1,000 hexagonal (六边形的) shades with built-in     8     (sensor) that allow them to respond to the sun’s movements. When the sun hits the shades, they unfold like an umbrella to keep away from the heat.     9     these measures, the outside of such a building in Abu Dhabi could reach as high as 60℃.

So far the technique     10     (help) reduce the building’s need for air conditioning by 50%. Cool, huh?

Layue is regarded as a preparatory phase for the upcoming Spring Festival. It is the     1     (twelve) month of the traditional Chinese calendar.

    2     (fall) on January 18 this year, Laba Festival was traditionally     3     occasion to honor their ancestors, and pray to deities, heaven, and earth for a good harvest and good luck. The last lunar month is called “la” in Chinese, and “eight’’ is pronounced “ba” in Chinese. This is     4     the name of the festival comes from. The custom     5     this day is to eat Laba porridge, cooked with a mix of eight ingredients, as eight is a     6     (fortune) number in Chinese culture.     7     (it) recipe varies across China depending on regional availability. Nowadays,     8     (boil) with sugar for at least four hours, Laba Porridge is regarded as a nutritious food. Distribution of Laba porridge at Yonghe Lamasery (雍和宫) in Beijing is one of the most famous activities. Today, waiting     9     (eager) in queues at the temples, people     10     (expect) to not just share a bowl of porridge, but be a part of the tradition and share the joys and expectations of the coming year.

The lion dance is a     1     (tradition) dance performed during Chinese New Year. It is     2     (wide) believed that it will bring good luck.

Two dancers dress up as the lion. One dancer holds the large head of the brightly colored costume and the other dancer is the body. The dancers have to be very fit as they perform lots of moves. They dance to music     3     (play) by drums, gongs and cymbals. A performer     4     is dressed as a laughing Buddha sometimes joins the lion dance. He     5     (wear) a longrobe (袍子) and teases the lion with a fan to make it perform tricks.

People will often hang the head of a lettuce (生菜) from ceilings or doorways. The lion will go in search     6     these. Sometimes, red envelopes with money inside     7     (hide) in the lettuce. The lion pretends to eat the lettuces and money. The     8    (leaf) are then thrown into the crowd for good fortune. The lion dance ends with       9     message of good luck written on a scroll, unfolding from the lion’s mouth. Firecrackers are set off     10     (frighten) away any evil beings.

Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang province, welcomed nearly 3.05 million visitors,     1     (gain) 5.91 billion yuan of tourism income during the three-day New Year holiday.

The trend was then enlarged on social media where influencers (网红) highlighted that many “southerners”, who     2     (refer) to as “little potatoes from the south”, flooded into the city’s ski resorts and bathhouses. The phrase is associated with the     3     (remarkable) distinctive light-colored jackets and lovely hats that tourists from southern China typically wear when traveling to the north, as well as their relatively     4     (short) figure compared with local’s. Though     5     (criticize) online for being stereotypes, locals clarified that it reflected a genuine sense of goodwill and friendship.

Apart     6     the iconic Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, tourist spots introduced varieties of new attractions, such as hot balloon rides and bonfire parties. On Central Street,     7     struck the tourists most was the organized parades featuring the Oroqen (鄂伦春族),     8     ethnic minority from the region.

To facilitate the     9     (consume) of Harbin’s popular frozen pears, the city has even introduced frozen pear platters (摆盘), making it more convenient for tourists to taste the delicacy.

“You can get the incomparable snow experience and service in Harbin,     10     the temperatures can drop to -35℃,” a tourist said.