The youth version of The Peony Pavilion (《牡丹亭》) successfully entered the stage of the Spring for Chinese Arts at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.

The Peony Pavilion,     1     cultural treasure of the world, was written by China’s Ming Dynasty playwright and writer Tang Xianzu, who is compared to William Shakespeare. And Kunqu Opera,     2     (combine) songs performed in the Suzhou dialect, graceful body movements, martial arts and dance, was     3     (origin) born in the region of Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. It was listed as one of the representative     4     (work) of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2001.

Kunqu Opera uses a seemingly endless     5     (vary) of gestures to express specific emotions and has distinguished itself by its rhythmic patterns. It also has a major impact     6     all the more recent forms of opera in China, such as Peking Opera.

    7     excites the organizing committee is that The Peony Pavilion     8     (attract) a growing young audience since its first performance in Beijing. Up to now, Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center,     9     aim is to emphasize the inheritance, promotion, development and popularization of traditional Chinese culture and arts, has also held many exhibitions related to traditional drama, and established the Peking Opera inheritance class     10     (popularize) the traditional art to children.

Something significant is happening to the world population-it is aging. The median(中位数的)age of an American in 1950    1    (be)30-today it is 41 and is expected    2    (increase)to 42 by 2050. For Japan, the    3    (number)are more striking-22 in 1950, 46 today and 53 in 2050. In 2015, one in 12 people around the world were over 65；by 2050, it will be one in six.

This aging of the population is driven    4    two factors. The first is declining birthrates, which means old generations are large    5    (compare)to younger generations, and so, on average, the population becomes    6    (old)than before. This is    7    (particular)true in the US. The second reason is that people are living longer. A child born in the US today has    8    very realistic chance of living beyond 100 and needs to plan accordingly.

People tend to focus on the first factor. However, greater attention should    9    (place)on longevity(长寿). It isn't just that people are, on average, living longer. It's also that they are on average healthier    10    more productive for longer. Therefore, they can work for longer, consume more and in general be a boost to the economy.

Named after the ancient city of Chang’an in Shaanxi province, which     1    (serve) as the capital of the Tang Dynasty for over 280 years, the epic film spans 168 minutes — the longest runtime of any Chinese animated movie — and brings to life some of the most iconic figures in Chinese literary history. Since     2     release on July 8, the movie has earned a rating of 8.2 out of ten on Douban, solidifying its position     3     one of the most acclaimed animated blockbusters (大片) of the summer season.

Despite Li and Du     4    (feature) in many movies and TV shows, the movie employs an unconventional perspective, starting with the memories of Gao Shi,     5    (relate) the ups and downs of Li’s life, one of the country’s most beloved poet. Interweaving the personal     6    (fate) of these figures, the film vividly presents the magnificent scenes of the Tang Dynasty. It showcases the bustling streets of ancient Chang’an, the     7    (energy) and prosperous city of Yangzhou, as well as the harsh and snowy borderlands in northwestern China.

The movie also beautifully captures the free-spirited nature of the Tang Dynasty. For instance, in the national civil service examination, the     8    (high) achievers are granted the privilege to ride magnificent horses and pick the most exquisite flower from any residence in the capital city.     9    (addition), poets would visit local taverns (酒馆),     10     they would enjoy foreign dancers’ fascinating movements and melodious singing, while tasting wine and crafting verses of poetry.

It’s common to see a barista (咖啡师) create coffee art, but it’s a whole different ball game doing the same thing with tea. Han Zheming,     1     80-year-old Shanghai resident, has managed     2     (perfect) the skill, creating tea art in cups, or dian cha (点茶) in Chinese, which used to be a routine during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Over the past decades, he     3     (use) tea and spoons to create nearly 200 patterns     4     (base) on ancient paintings.

It’s also his intention to bring the old ritual back to modern life and have more people appreciate     5     (it) charm. Dian cha in modern brewing enhances the taste of tea, Han says. ‘‘It is similar     6     the foam on top of a cup of coffee, except that it is made of tea rather than milk.”

Chinese tea culture started to enjoy     7     (popular) during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and flourished throughout the Song Dynasty,     8     tea had become a necessity for almost everyone, from nobles and scholars to common people, just like other important items, such as rice, oil and salt, as suggested by Song politician and thinker Wang Anshi.

    9     (total) different from the method of brewing tea during the Tang period, in the Song Dynasty, the popular way of having tea was through dian cha. The action of pouring hot water over fine powdered tea is called dian, hence the name dian cha, which     10     (list) as an intangible cultural heritage of Runzhou district, Zhenjiang city, Jiangsu province, in 2019.

I'm not sure     1     is more frightened, me or the female gorilla(大猩猩）that suddenly appears out of nowhere. I'm walking on a path in the forest in the Central African Republic. Unexpectedly, I'm face-to-face with the gorilla, who begins screaming at     2     top of her lungs. That makes her baby scream, and then a 400-pound male appears. He screams the

    3    (loud)of all. The noise shakes the trees as the male beats his chest and charges toward me. I quickly lower myself, ducking my head to avoid     4    (look) directly into his eyes so he doesn't feel    5    (challenge).

My name is Mireya Mayor. I'm a     6    (science)who studies animals such as apes and monkeys. I was searching     7     these three western lowland gorillas I'd been observing. No one had seen them for hours, and my colleagues and I were worried.

When the gorillas and I frightened each other, I was just glad to find     8    (they) alive. True to a gorilla's unaggressive nature, the huge animal     9    (mean)me no real harm. He was just saying: "I'm king of this forest, and here is your reminder!" Once his message was delivered, he allowed me     10     (stay)and watch.

“A barbecue restaurant owner I know told me to come back on Monday, so as to leave the weekends to out-of-town visitors,” said Huang Yang, a native of Zibo city in Shandong province     1     works outside his hometown. He recently returned home for a visit and wanted to have some barbecue,     2     he failed to find seats in four different restaurants.

Thanks to social media recommendations, Zibo has     3    (wide) spread on Chinese social media platforms. Videos on sites such as Xiaohongshu show thousands of people traveling to the city to try its local barbecue, which they say     4    (wrap) in a pancake and has a “distinct taste”.

Taking advantage of the barbecue craze, Zibo has gone all out to promote local tourism resources, while     5    (work) to ensure the safety of visitors and the quality of tourism products. To provide visitors     6     a happy experience, market regulators have carried out inspections on barbecue restaurants to ensure food safety.     7     number of patrol (巡逻) personnel has been increased to ensure visitors’ safety. The local government has released a map of barbecue joints and added 21 new bus routes     8    (make) urban transportation easier. The latest promotion has given visitors free     9    (admit) to scenic spots as long as their destination is Zibo. According to data from on-demand service platform Meituan, Zibo has seen an 800 percent increase in accommodation bookings for the upcoming holiday     10    (compare) to 2019, ranking first in Shandong province in terms of growth rate.