In China, the twelfth month of lunar year is called “La month,” and the     1     (eight) day of the twelfth lunar month is “Laba Festival”,     2     is a traditional Chinese holiday to worship the ancestors and deities and pray for harvest and good fortune.     3     most popular tradition on the festival is     4     (make) and eating Laba porridge, which serves as a symbol of good fortune, long life, and fruitful harvest.

The festival is also a day     5     people put garlic in vinegar to pickle for more than 20 days before the Chinese New Year. The Laba garlic will     6     (eat) on Chinese New Year’s Day as a special festival dish. There are many other     7     (custom) on Laba Festival. For example, people in Yi County, East China’s Anhui Province, eat Laba tofu     8     that day. In Xining City, Northwest China’s Qinghai Province, locals eat wheat kernel rice boiled with beef and mutton. In northern Shanxi Province, people     9     (usual) eat Laba noodle soup. In some areas, a custom of eating ice is preserved. Apart from     10     (prepare) the dining table, families throughout the country undertake a thorough house clean on this day, sweeping out the old in preparation for the New Year.

Few people I know seem to have much desire or time to cook. Making Chinese     1    (dish) is seen as especially troublesome. Many westerners     2     come to China cook much less than in their own countries once they realise how cheap     3     can be to eat out. I still remember     4    (visit) a friend who’d lived here for five years and I     5    (shock) when I learned she hadn’t cooked once in all that time. 

While regularly eating out seems to     6    (become) common for many young people in recent years, it’s not without a cost. The obvious one is money; eating out once or twice a week may be     7    (afford) but doing this most days adds up. There could be an even    8    (high) cost on your health. Researchers have found that there is a direct link between the increase in food eaten outside the home and the rise in     9    (weigh) problems. 

If you are not going to suffer this problem, then I suggest that the next time you go to your mum’s home     10     dinner, get a few cooking tips from her. Cooking food can be fun. You might also begin to notice the effects not only on your health but in your pocket.

A 50-minute drive northwest of downtown Beijing, pops up a village,     1     houses a shadow puppetry troupe (皮影戏剧团) and a theater, Beijing Long Zaitian Shadow Puppetry Theater.

Shadow puppetry    2     (see) as the prequel (前篇) to film and animation in China. In2011, the art landed a spot on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Besides performances    3    (create) by light and shadow, performers must master multiple skills as the plays combine painting, carving, opera    4    literature. However, due to low income and a small market, few young people are willing    5    (learn) shadow puppetry.

This particular troupe, however, stands out from the crowd: Average performer age is only 25. Moreover, of the 300 performers it has trained over the years, many are under 1. 4 min    6     (high).

In 2006, Wang Xi, inheritor of Beijing Western-School Shadow Puppetry,     7     (establish) the troupe in Beijing, and     8     first four very short persons joined her two years later. After a four-month training, they picked up basic performance skills and started working in the theater.

In 2021, the team designed Winter Olympics-themed shadow puppets. The puppets were gifted to foreign athletes during the Games. The troupe also staged    9    (variety) plays introducing ice and snow sports through fairy tales.

”We are lucky to have these people. They have been devoted    10    the inheritance of shadow puppetry for over a decade, “Wang Xi said.

Chinese weddings are as much about the happy couples as they are about their families. The weddings are     1     (impress) affairs that focus on blessings of happiness. The date of the wedding ceremony is chosen not     2     chance. Many couples carefully choose a favorable date     3     (bring) success to their marriage. The ceremony can last anywhere from four hours to three days,     4     depends on how many Chinese wedding traditions are observed.

The Chinese wedding invitation is     5     (typical) red with a golden Double Happiness symbol, with dates for the wedding and names of the couple     6     (include) inside.

While Chinese wedding traditions have modernized, the journey to pick up the bride     7     (be) still a lively affair. It can involve     8     use of firecrackers, playing drums, or even a lion dance.

Another vital tradition, the Chinese tea ceremony (Jing Cha),     9     (perform) at Chinese weddings to show the new couple’s respect, gratitude, and     10     (appreciate) for their parents’ love and effort in raising them. A red tea set with a Double Happiness symbol is used for the tea ceremony.

It is a big challenge    1     ( find ) and keep the right balance between progress and the protection of cultural sites.       2     , big challenges can sometimes lead to great     3     (solution). When the Egyptian government made a proposal to build the Aswan Dam, they were faced with     4     (variety) problems, including destroying an important part of Egypt’s    5     (culture) heritage. As a result, the government turned to the United Nations for help in1959.A committee     6    (establish) to limit damage to the Egyptian buildings and prevent the     7     (lose)of cultural relics. Finally, a document was signed and the work began in 1960.Temples and other cultural sites were taken down piece by piece, and then moved and put back together in a safe place. When the project was completed, it was considered a great success.

Not only had the countries found a path to the future     8    did not run over the relics of the past, but they had also learnt that    9     was possible for countries to work together to build a better tomorrow. Therefore, if a problem seems too difficult for a single nation, the     10     (globe) community can sometimes provide a solution.

A visually-challenged man from Beijing recently hiked (徒步) 40 days to Xi’an, as a first step     1     (journey) the Belt and Road route (路线) by foot.

On the 1,100 kilometer journey, the man Cao Shengkang,     2     lost his eyesight at the age of eight in a car accident, crossed 40 cities and counties in three provinces. Inspired by the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation     3     (hold) in Beijing, Cao decided to cover the route by hiking as a tribute (致敬) to the ancient Silk Road.     4     friend of his, Wu Fan, volunteered to be his companion during the trip.

Cao and Wu also collected garbage along the road, in order to promote environmental     5     (protect). Cao believes this will make the hiking trip even more     6     (meaning). The two of them collected more than 1,000 plastic bottles along the 40-day journey.

In the last five years. Cao     7     (walk) through 34 countries in six continents, and in 2016, he reached the top of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s     8     (high) mountain.

Now, Cao has started the second part of his dream to walk along the Belt and Road route. He flew 4, 700 kilometers     9     Xi’an to Kashgar on Sept. 20,     10     (plan) to hike back to Xi’an in five months.

Music is one of the most     1     (power) things in my life. Listening to music can help to motivate me in trying time. When younger, I     2     (have) no great love for music as I do now. I mainly listened to what my parents were listening to. Whether I was in the car, the house,     3     anywhere else there was sure to be some Beatles, or Buddy Holly constantly playing in the background. Now as I’m     4    (old), I enjoy it for the reason that it allows me to remember my childhood.

I believe music has the power     5     (express) all sorts of emotion. The song “A little bit longer” by Nick Jonas is     6     an emotional and inspiring song that when I hear it, I always come close to     7     (drop) down tears, especially when I watch it being played live. The effect     8     music can have on our emotions is great, as it can bring people to floods of tears or bursts of     9     (laugh).

I believe music affects people in many ways. To me, music is     10     (extreme) important in my life. I think it brings me closer to my friends and family.

When in 1984 I. M. Pei, then the most sought-after architect in America,    1    ( present) his plans for a 70-foot glass pyramid in the l8th-century courtyard of the Louvre, the general     2     (react) was anger. Because Mr. Pei was Chinese-American, he    3    ( apparent) had no understanding of the Louvre, or Paris, or France.

However, these remarks did not annoy him. With quick enthusiasm and wide smiles, he took them. He had been asked to design    4    new entrance for the museum and,    5    everyone's surprise, instead of adding on some concrete block, he had created a great welcoming space: put a winding staircase underground and capped it with a ray of light,    6     did not hurt the old facades (外墙).

When he was a child, his imagination    7    ( shape) by his family’s ancient gardens at Suzhou in Jiangsu. There, he would wander winding    8    ( path ) through fantastic rocks towards pavilions (亭子),unconsciously    9     (absorb) the beauty of the surroundings.

Mr. Pei built a hotel complex at Fragrant Hill outside Beijing, after returning to China in 1974. He regarded this as a chance    10    ( bring) the Chinese away from their dull eastern European blocks and back to the domestic traditions they had lost.