The race to the South Pole was between Captain Scott and the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Captain Scott left London to begin his journey to Antarctica on 1 June, 1910. On his way to Antarctica, he received a message from Amundsen     1     said he was going south, too. Then the race began.

To get prepared for their journeys the next year, both teams organised their food     2     (base) during the polar summer of 1910～1911. Then came the total     3     (dark) of the polar winter. The two explorers waited     4     (anxious) for spring. The first to leave was Amundsen, who set off on 8 September, 1911, with teams of dogs     5     (pull) the sledges. All his men were on skis. Because of this, he made rapid progress. On 1 November, Scott left and soon     6     (have) problems. His two sledges broke down and then the horses had difficulties with the snow and the cold. As     7     result, Scott and his men had to push the sledges     8     (them). So, when Scott and his four team members finally arrived at the Pole, they were shocked to see the Norwegian flag there. They realised that they had failed to win the race.

Then, they prepared for the return journey. It was one of the     9     (bad) in the history of exploration. They had to face 800 miles of hard pushing. They were soon very tired and what was worse, they were running out     10     food. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it to their food base. The news of Scott’s death was really shocking. But the great courage shown by Scott and his team members made them heroes.

The 39th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival will take place from March 22 to April 14. This festival, together with the annual Shanghai International Arts Festival,     1     (be) an important platform for communication between artistic institutions from home and abroad.

The festival will feature 66 productions, most of     2     are concerts. Pianist Kong Xiangdong will play Ode to the Red Flag, which     3     (compose) by Lyu Qiming in 1965, at the concert. The concert will help audiences to have     4     further understanding of the musical heritage.

The closing production will be a joint production     5     (make) by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Como Opera House in Italy. The plan for the collaboration was     6     (eventual) realized five years after it was proposed in 2019. As an integral part of the event, a mini festival will take place,     7     (highlight) the musical exchanges between China and France,     8     celebration of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism in 2024.

Xin Lili, director of Shanghai Ballet, says that they will introduce young dancers to take the leading role of The White Haired Girl. “The production witnessed the early     9     (develop) of ballet in China. We have had many generations of artists performing it. If a dancer can take on the leading role in the White Haired Girl,     10     is likely that they can play any other character well in a Chinese ballet production”.

The Internet is good for many millions of things. In today’s     1     (connect) world, it’s hard to imagine once again living in a world without the Internet. Of course, there are still libraries     2     you can get information or photo-printing stores in which you can order pictures, but the Internet has made the way we live our lives much faster than it     3     (be) in the past.

Along with the good comes the bad, though. If you’ve never thought of the Internet as a possibly-dangerous place, you need to be aware that, just like in the real world, there are some people who intend     4     (use) the Internet to harm you. Therefore, it’s important to learn how to stay safe when you’re online.

First, you should never give out the following types of information online: your full name, your address, your phone number, your birth date or your password. Of course, you will have to provide these things when you order things online, but be sure you’re dealing     5     an honest online shopkeeper.

Second, choose email addresses, screen names, and passwords     6     (careful). Make sure they don’t uncover personal information about you. For example, don’t use your real name as your screen name! Passwords should also be nearly     7     (possible) to guess.

Third, if you feel like you’re being cyberbullied (网络欺凌), whether via email, a social media website, or in a chat room online, be sure to report     8     (they) to an adult.

Finally, remember that the Internet is a large place, but it has a way of     9     (spread) things around very quickly. If you wouldn’t want a friend or parent to see something, it’s probably something you shouldn’t post from     10     beginning!

The Asian Para Games is the largest multi-sport event for the disabled in Asia. Up to now, the organizers     1     (host) it three times successfully. The torch relay for the fourth Asian Para Games     2     (official) started on Thursday in the city of Hangzhou in East China’s Zhejiang province, with many torchbearers     3     (run) along a relay route on the first day.

The launch ceremony kicked off     4     Thursday morning at Xiushui Square near the lake of Qiandao,     5     must-see tourist site in Hangzhou’s Chun’an county. The torch was relayed in the counties of Jiande, Tonglu, Fuyang and Xiaoshan along the Xin’an, Fuchun and Qiantang rivers, which all have world-class cultural tourism     6     (attraction). The torch finally arrived at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center to light up the main torch tower on Sunday.

Athlete Tan Yujiao,     7     was the first torchbearer among a total of 600 torchbearers, told the reporters on Thursday that she felt extremely honored and excited     8     (hold) the heavy torch.

As 188 torchbearers were representatives with a disability, intelligent bionic (仿生学的) hands and legs as well as intelligent guide dogs     9     (use) during the torch relay.

“We wish to convey the idea that technology can be much     10     (convenient) to the lives of disabled people,” said Du Zuofeng, deputy (副的) commander of the Hangzhou Asian Para Games Torch Relay Command Center.

A farming-themed reality show has taken Chinese social media by storm. The show,     1     (name) Become a Farmer, highlights the importance of agriculture in Chinese culture. Many young urbanites (城市居民), however, may be unfamiliar     2     the word “farming”.     3     (bridge) this gap, the 50-episode program invites 10 young men from diverse backgrounds to experience life on the farmland. This show aims to provide insights into farming     4     (activity) and modern agricultural production.

Yang Changling, chief director of     5     program, said it intends to show farming through a documentary approach. By sharing these young people’s experiences and personal growth stories, it hopes to deepen the audience’s understanding of agriculture and raise the     6     (aware) of food security.

Wu Han, the producer, said the show aims to promote traditional Chinese farming culture while     7     (strengthen) communication between urban and rural residents (居民).     8     (additional), cast members document their experiences through vlogs,     9     contents vary from building a hen house to digging up fresh bamboo shoots.

In one vlog, 27-year-old Jiang Dunhao recalled helping with the birth of lambs, writing on Weibo: “A newborn lamb struggled to stand, but after resting, it gathered its strength and finally     10     (rise).”

Become a Farmer has emerged (为人所知) as an influential show that not only entertains but also educates, which has becomes a hit.

During the peak (高峰的) holiday travel period beginning in spring, tourists booked all 16 rooms of the village home run by Paden Chodron, a 39-year-old member of the Tibetan ethnic group.

“The tourists are mostly young people, many of     1     are part of tour groups. They want to know about our     2     (tradition) lifestyle, like planting highland barley (青稞) and harvesting mushrooms. We also learn about their homes and their life,” Paden says.

He and his wife Baima Quzhen made their dream of starting a family hotel a     3     (real) ten years ago.     4     (locate) in Zhaxigang village in Lunang town in Nyingchi, Southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, the couple’s hotel is now one of more than 50 households in the village getting good returns from improved highways and the nearby airport. The roads and communications have improved greatly,     5     (help) them open up to the outside world. More and more tourists are drawn to the beautiful environment and ethnic attractions of the area. Paden says his family enjoys     6     annual income (收入) of 100,000 yuan, tourism and farming included.

The Zhaxigang village successfully uses its ethnic heritage, natural attractions and connectivity     7     (develop) the important industries of tourism and animal feeding. Last year it     8     (give) several national-level honors.

As is reflected by residents like Paden, so far our Chinese government’s powerful and effective measures     9     (enable) local communities to be in line     10     the country’s increasing focus on shared and inclusive growth.

When referring to Emei, you may think of the Emei clan(峨眉派) in Jin Yong’s wuxia novel. But     1     interests 24-year-old Ma Zhaolingyun is Emei martial arts (武术).

Emei martial arts originated     2    Mount Emei at least 3,000 years ago. It includes 68 schools and 2, 638 practice skills and methods and     3     (list) as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in China in 2008.

During the more than 10 years, Ma     4     (love) showing off the skills learned in her daily life with everyday items like feather dusters and brooms     5     (include) into her performances.

In 2020, Ma became     6    Internet celebrity for publishing a video in which she performed Emei martial arts on her way to take out the trash,     7    brought her a large number of followers on the short video platform Douyin.

However, Ma didn’t seek     8     (popular) to make money. “    9     (pass) on traditional martial arts is the priority,” said Ma. To attract more people, Ma and her team have worked tirelessly to promote Emei martial arts in     10     (create) ways. For example, she has included modern elements like games and fashion shoots in her videos.

“Beautiful traditional Chinese culture is all around us. I hope that my videos will rekindle (重燃) people’s passion for traditional culture,” Ma said.

In 1974, farmers happened to unearth the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, which is filled     1     more than 8,000 statues of life-size soldiers. Now, a new theory     2     (suggest) that the statues have been inspired by Greek art. Researchers have even presented DNA evidence     3     (back) it up.

”We now have DNA evidence that close contact existed between the first emperor’s China and the west before the formal opening of the Silk Road. This is far     4     (early) than we formerly thought,“ says Li Xiuzhen, a researcher at a museum in Xi’an. ”The theory that the Chinese were interacting with Greeks or at least Greek culture at such     5     early date is not unbelievable.

“Although the Silk Road between China and Europe was     6     (official) established in the 3rd century AD, Romans were already wearing Chinese silk even during the rule of the First Emperor of Rome,” says Lukas Nickel, chair of Asian Art History at the University of Vienna. “I can even imagine the Chinese artists see some     7     (example)of Greek art, which made its way into Asia after Alexander the Great,     8     army in the 4th century BC fought all the way to present-day India. Before the     9     (appear) of the soldiers, China did not have a tradition of     10     (produce) life-size statues. The change indicates they may have had some outside influence or help.”

On Nov.30 1835, Samuel Clemens was welcomed into the world. Little did his parents know, their son Samuel would one day     1     (know) as Mark Twain — one of the most     2     (fame) writers in America. In 1839, the Clemens family moved several     3     (mile) east to the town of Hannibal,     4     was a growing port city that     5     (lie) along the bank of the Mississippi. Samuel’s father was a judge and he built two-story frame house. As a youngster, Samuel was kept indoors because of poor health. However,     6     the age of 19, he seemed to recover and joined     7     rest of children in the town outside. He then attended a private school in Hannibal.     8     (unfortunate), his father died of illness when Samuel was 12. Later, Samuel left school and     9     (become) a printer and editorial assistant. It was then that young Samuel found he enjoyed     10     (write).

Thirty Buddhist cultural relics have been returned to the Chinese mainland     1     Taiwan.

Most of the relics were believed to     2     (steal) from Shanxi province before being taken overseas. They were transferred to the National Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday,     3     (mark) the largest return of lost relics to the mainland from Taiwan in recent years.

Thirteen of the returned pieces, including the heads of broken Buddhist images and painted sculptures of Buddha,     4     (show) at the National Museum of China on Monday.

In March 2016, Hsing Yun, the     5     (found) of the United Association of Humanistic Buddhism association, and his followers escorted (护送) the lost head of a 6th-century Buddhist stat ue to Beijing and donated it back to the mainland. At the donation ceremony in 2016,     6     was also held at the National Museum of China, Hsing Yun promised     7     (bring)more lost items back.

He died about a year ago.

“Hsing Yun established     8     outstanding example for people to safeguard Chinese cultural relics,” Sun Yeli, minister of culture and tourism, said at the museum on Monday. “Again, we see his unfulfilled wish get realized.”

Sun said comprehensive studies of the relics will be soon launched. Related exhibitions will also be organized to allow people on     9     sides of the Strait to benefit from the fruits of the joint protection of cultural relics.

“Cultural communication has always played an     10     (extreme) crucial role in enhancing people-to-people connectivity across the Strait and strengthening our links,” Sun said.