In life, we are     1    (like) to be on the go all the time. We’re sometimes taught that if we’re not busy working, we’re wasting our life or not     2    (achieve) anything. I used to believe that for most of my life. It took a mental breakdown(精神崩溃) for me to realize that slowing down is one of the healthiest things     3     one can do for the mind, body and spirit.

During my time of recovery, I was a bit shaken at first. It’s not easy     4     (stop) your routine(惯例) for a while. I wanted to be working every day so my family and friends wouldn’t see me as a     5    (disappoint).

I started to meditate(冥想),     6    (remain) in a silent and calm state for a period of time. This gave me     7     clear mind and heart. I would then write down daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. Reading     8     every day brought me closer and closer to my true-life purpose.

There were plenty of moments when I sat in     9    (silent). I almost forgot how calming it is to listen to the world around me, and to hear the birds singing.

In conclusion, slowing down     10    (help) me to live in the moment instead of rushing through life with no purpose or direction.

Qian Zhongshu was a Chinese scholar and writer, known for his wit and erudition (博学). Despite failing in mathematics, Qian     1     (success) entered the Department of Foreign Languages under Tsinghua University in 1929 because of his     2     (excellence) performance in Chinese and English languages. In Tsinghua, he met his wife Yang Jiang, who was to become     3    successful playwright and translator, and     4     (marry) her in 1935. In the same year, Qian received government sponsorship     5     (promote) his studies abroad. Together with his wife, Qian headed for the University of Oxford in Britain. After     6     (spend) two years at Exeter College, he received a bachelor of literature. He studied for one more year in the University of Paris in France, and he didn't return to China     7    1938.

Qian lived in Shanghai from 1941 to 1945,     8    was then under Japanese occupation. At that time he devoted     9     (he) to writing and many of his works were written or published then. A collection of short     10     (essay), Writing in the Margins of Life, was published in 1941. His most celebrated work Fortress Besieged appeared in 1947. On the Art of Poetry, written in classical Chinese was issued in 1948.

The question of     1     invented the computer cannot be answered with a single name. Throughout history, many different people have helped in the development of this     2    (value) machine.And many date the first important     3    (invent) to the fourth century BC when the abacus was developed.

It could be said that the first computer     4     could store programs was the 1949 Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator.It     5    (create) by Maurice Wilkes.From this point forward, many developers helped to make various types of computer.

In the early 1970s, many skilled inventors     6    (include) Bill Gates, Steve Jobs，and Steve Wozniak did much to develop personal computers in the form of PCs and Apples. By the 1990s, ownership of PCs became common as production (生产) grew     7    (expensive) than before. Also, with the development of technology, the size of these machines became smaller so that they could     8    (easy) be used in homes.

There is no doubt     9     there are so many thinkers and inventors who helped to develop the computer.There are even legal battles (斗争) over who should be considered as the primary inventors. As     10     matter of fact，it is their joint (共同的) efforts that led to the development of this most useful machine.

I’m here today to share a good lesson with you. It is a true story about a student     1    studied in Germany.

After years of hard work, this student graduated with     2     (amaze) achievements. Everyone was sure that he was going to get a good job easily and have a bright future. But to his surprise, he was not even given the chance for     3    interview! The third time he     4     (refuse), he couldn’t help     5     (telephone) the company to ask why they didn’t want him. The answer was simple. “We don’t offer jobs to dishonest people in Germany.”

You might wonder what was wrong. The truth is, shortly after he     6     (arrive) in Germany, this clever student found that     7    was easy to avoid buying subway tickets in this country. So in order to save money, he often went in the subway without a ticket. As a result, he had been caught without a ticket many     8     (time).

From this story, we learn that we may get short-term benefits in dishonest ways,     9    the truth will come out sooner or later and the cost is high. So remember:     10     (honest) is the best behavior.

Li Bai and his romantic poetry

Li Bai's love of reading and travelling from an early age contributed to his romantic style. He started studying the classics     1     he was only five years old, and was reading ancient philosophers of different schools at the age of ten, including Confucianism and Taoism. By reading books of all kinds, from legends to historical stories, he     2     (familiar) himself with classical Chinese culture, and more     3    (important), he acquired the wisdom of previous generations.

    4     (drive) by a burning desire for adventure and travel, Li Bai left home and started to travel around in his early twenties. His footsteps covered almost     5     whole country. During his travels, he visited famous mountains and great rivers,     6     (encounter) different customs and practices. These travelling experiences also nourished his love of nature and inspired him     7     (write) numerous poems in the romantic style.

Li Bai's romantic style was also deeply rooted in the social and historical context in which he lived. Li Bai grew up in the most     8     (glory) period of the Tang Dynasty, a time of economic boom and social     9    (stable). This open and tolerant atmosphere allowed Li Bai the liberty to develop a free and unconstrained personality,     10    , in turn, had a huge impact on his poetic production.

How to read a poem

Poetry is a combination of "sound" and "sense". More than any other type of literature, it usually implies a deeper meaning     1     the words on the page. So, how to reveal this hidden dimension?

First, follow your ears. While you may ask "What does it mean?" as you begin reading a poem, it is     2     (good) to ask "How does it sound?" Even if its true meaning appears to be your grasp, you can always say something about     3     the poem sounds when you read it aloud.

Second, approach the poem as if you     4     (be) an explorer in an unfamiliar landscape. As you explore the poem, you will begin to see images in your mind. As you     5     (slow) explore your surroundings, you will start to dig up clues that give you     6     greater understanding of the poem.

Third, if you are still struggling     7    (interpret) the meaning of a poem even with much painstaking effort, just have some patience. You cannot really understand a poem that you have only read once.

Finally, remember that you do not have to fully understand a poem to appreciate     8    . You might need to abandon logical thinking to discover its true inner beauty.

Poetry's combination of "sound" and "sense"     9     (make) you see the world in a new way and allows you to go beyond normal     10     (real) for the everlasting beauty.

Qingming Scroll

Zhang Zeduan's Qingming Scroll is a masterwork of Chinese art. Painted on a five-metre-long silk scroll, it offers an important insight into life in China in the 12^th century. It is commonly believed that the city     1     (describe) in the painting is Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. The ancient has survived the test of time     2     (remarkable) well, and is currently housed in th Palace Museum in Beijing.

The scroll consists of three main sections. The first section presents a peaceful scene of rural life near Bianjing,     3     (feature) crop fields, a river winding through the landscape, and farmers hard at work. The second section shows the riverbanks and central bridge alive with activity     4     boats sail in and out of Bianjing. Civilians can also be seen     5     (walk) through the city gate in both directions. The third and final section     6     (picture) life inside the city itself. Here, hundreds of people from all walks of life, including butchers, hairdressers and government officials, can be seen going     7     their daily business. The     8     (combine) of these three sections gives the viewer an idea of what life was like for the people of Bianjing.

Zhang's amazing artistic technique is apparent all across the scroll. Using ink on silk, he creates     9     (reality) images of scenery, buildings and people, and displays a remarkable mastery of perspective. The most impressive aspect of the painting,     10    , is probably Zhang's precise brushwork.

Beethoven: a remarkable life

Symphony No. 9 was Beethoven’s last major piece of music in a vast body of works written throughout his remarkable life. As a     1     (gift) child, Beethoven was pushed by his father to study music day and night. Not long after, he began     2    (appreciate) for his piano performances. By the time he was a teenager, he had already enjoyed a reputation as     3     wonderful young musician. Many important figures in the music world, including the brilliant musician Mozart, started making     4     (predict) about Beethoven’s extraordinary future. However, life took a sharp turn. In his late twenties, Beethoven suffered one of the     5     (bad) possible twists for a musician: he started to lose his hearing.

The loss of his hearing deeply     6     (depress) Beethoven. He was so upset that, at first, he wanted to keep it a secret. Even in his darkest moments, however, Beethoven never abandoned hope.     7     his hearing loss, he was determined to find a way to continue living a life full of music. He used a variety of hearing aids to try to increase the amount of sound he could take in. When     8     (compose) music at the piano, he would put one end of a pencil in his mouth and place the other end against the instrument so that he could feel the notes.     9     Beethoven was able to continue composing music, it became     10     (increase) difficult for him to perform in public. When Beethoven presented Symphony No. 9 in Vienna in 1824, it was his first time on stage in over ten years.

Understanding culture through music

Last night, I watched a performance of Butterfly Lovers, a piece that really deserves     1    (hear).

The music took me through the twists and turns of a classic story about a young couple     2     (tear) apart by their families. When the two lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, first meet, the music is light and pleasant, as if     3    (whisper) to the audience. It is followed by a fast and cheerful section which represents their three happy years of school. Then the music gets dramatic with     4    (heavy) notes and that is when the lovers are separated     5     Zhu's father forces her to marry another man. Angry and sad, Liang falls and dies. Zhu weeps     6     (bitter) over the loss of her love. Overcome with sorrow, she jumps into his grave. Finally, during     7     most exciting part, the music takes a softer turn and ends on a bittersweet note, telling us how the couple transform     8     butterflies and fly away to be together forever.

Butterfly Lovers combines Chinese and Western musical elements: it     9    (play) on Western instruments such as the violin, but more significantly, much of the music has its roots in Chinese Yue Opera. This unique     10     (combine) made me realize that music is indeed a universal language.

Eating in China

The mouth-watering hot pots of Sichuan are as famous overseas as they are in China, and the hot flavour is enough to heat up a cold midwinter evening or to let loose rivers of sweat on a summer afternoon. I gave it my     1     (one) try last night, together with a few local friends! As the soup bubbled slowly over a gas burner in the middle of the table, its surface     2    (cover) with a beautiful layer of chillies, Sichuan peppers, spring onions and red oil.     3     (slow) at first, and then faster and faster, we tipped plates of fresh meat, fish and vegetables into the pot. The hot flavour quickened our     4     (laugh) and conversation, making the meal the perfect way to relax with friends.

Sichuan hot pots are perfect for the damp, foggy climate     5     which they were invented. They are believed     6    (start) off in the late Qing Dynasty as a way for boatmen on the Yangtze River to keep warm during the cold and wet winters. In the beginning, the delicious dish was made simply by     7     (boil) vegetables, chillies and Sichuan peppers in water. Over time, it     8    (expand) to include multiple options of soups, vegetables, meats and sauces, appealing to people of different tastes.     9     I love best about Sichuan hot pots is that they offer a great opportunity to socialize with friends since a meal can last for hours. I instantly became     10     big fan of Sichuan hot pots and I’ll soon be back for more!