Hiking the Longii Rice Terraces(梯田)in southern China is something I would recommend for everyone to add to their bucket list. The name     1     (literal) means “Dragon’s Backbone” due to the fact that the rice terraces look just like a dragon’s scales, while the mountain’s summit resembles the backbone.

During my visit to Guilin, I decided     2     (set) out on a three-day hike through the famous Longji Rice Terraces. Known as the “Dragon’s Backbone”, the terraces were a spectacular sight as they stretched across the green hills in complicated patterns     3     (look) like ripples of water.

The hike took me through small villages set     4     the beautiful landscape. Local farmers were busy tending to the terraced rice fields that     5     (farm) for over 1, 000 years. Along the paths, I passed orange groves and met friendly locals     6     offered me fresh lychees.

At night, I stayed in simple home-stays run by farming families. Over multicourse meals- featuring local specialties like sticky rice, I learned     7     (much) about the terraces and village life. The feeling of community spirit and connection to the natural environment was unique.

Reaching the hike’s end after three full days, I felt a profound     8     (appreciate) for these ancient agricultural wonders carefully     9     (build) into the landscape by generations of families. The Dragon’s Backbone terraces provided me with unforgettable mountain views     10     cultural insights into rural China.

Introduction to English as a Second Language Teacher’s Book

One of the earliest-known inventions is the bow and arrow, which is still used throughout the world today, 15,000 years     1     it was first invented. Of course, these days, the bow and arrow     2     (use) mainly in sporting events, but in some places it is still a means of killing animals for food.

In western Asia, another extremely important invention was born — the ability to produce pots. As long as 6500 years ago, people were producing pottery, mostly plain and without designs, but the technique has changed little since.

Some people say that the wheel is the single most important invention. Early examples from about 5000 years ago have been found in the forests of Europe. Around 1500 years later, the Phoenicians used sand, limestone and sodium carbonate to produce     3     else which we would be lost without-glass.

How many things do you lock with a key every day? Doors, cupboards? The car? We really don't think much about them,     4     we? Well, the first example of a lock and key dates back to 2750 years ago, in Assyria. This is a lock on a large wooden door in the palace of Sargon II.

Another amazing invention, which we probably take for granted these days, is the skill of knitting       5     first appeared in the Roman Empire, some 1700 years ago. The     6     (early) examples are knitted socks!

Eye glasses developed from just one lens in a frame, like a simple magnifying glass, way back in the 13th century. In about 1290, the idea to put two lenses in a frame to sit on the nose was developed in Florence. And, believe it or not, the modern contact lens is 120 years old! 

Time flies and we spend a lot of time     7     (check) how much time we have left! This would be impossible     8     clocks and watches,     9     are all around us: on walls, on our wrists, on our PCs, and even on our mobiles and iPod’s. The first pocket watch was invented by Thomas Tompion (1639-1714) in England 330 years ago, and his watch — face design, with two (and sometimes three) hands moving around a single dial,     10     (remain) largely unchanged in all that time.

Delicate strokes (笔画), carved onto wood, with ultimate precision. This is woodblock printing,     1     ancient printing technique that has promoted human civilization.

Certain people are believed     2     (bring) Buddhism into China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), when there was a strong need to produce a large number of Buddhist scriptures (经文), and copying by hand could not meet the     3     (rise) demand. Ancient Chinese craftsmen thus came up with a novel way to create printed works massively. Hence came the     4     (origin) version of woodblock printing.

Traditional woodblock printing can be divided into four major steps: writing, engraving, printing, and binding. With each step then sub-divided into several procedures,     5     takes roughly 30 steps to produce a woodblock print. Characters and images     6     (carve) to produce raised areas or lines, which calls for skilled hands.

The Buddhist scripture Diamond Sutra, the “earliest dated printed book”, can only be seen in the British Library,     7     a lot of Chinese treasures are stored. It is just one example of ancient works of art that not only tells the     8     (wise) of our ancestors, but also is a witness     9     the pursuit of beauty by Chinese craftsmen throughout centuries.

The invention of writing gave life to great thoughts, but it was the invention of printing     10     made knowledge a shareable fruit for all humankind.

Through travelling you can enjoy beautiful views and     1     (broad) your horizons. In summer, you’d better get on a cruise (乘船游览) ship in the city of Chongqing which will take you to the Three Gorges, for those ordinary ships are usually too     2     (crowd). Near Yunyang, at the steep edge of the hills     3     (stand) the famous Zhang Fei Temple     4     (surround) by trees. Because smoking     5     (forbid) in the cabins, you have to go to the deck to smoke,     6     you can enjoy the beautiful scenery. You can see some fishermen     7     the distance. First, you will go through the Qutang Gorge, which narrows to 350 feet. Then you will sail through the Wu Gorge and the Xiling Gorge. However,     8     impresses you most may be the Daning River in Wuxi County. There is immense     9     (mountain) land on both banks of Yangtze River with only small areas of flat     10     (plain).

The lantern fair in Zigong, Southwest China’s Sichuan province, boasts a history of more than 1,000 years.     1     (mark) the Year of the Dragon, many of the lanterns show the Chinese sign of the zodiac (生肖), but there are also     2     wide variety of other lantern designs to meet different needs. Visitors     3     prefer traditional lanterns can find lanterns with flowers and birds, and legendary figures, while lanterns with modern patterns such as cultural     4     (trend) and online games are gaining popularity among young people.

In addition to the     5     (elegance) craftsmanship, modern technologies such as 3D printing and artificial intelligence have also been used to make the lanterns     6     (nice) and more vivid. The lantern show is also accepting the concept of environmental protection. A set of lanterns     7     (feature) the famous Chinese statue “Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow” from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) was created by using different kinds of waste materials, including tires and plastics to form its outside decorations.

This year’s show will not come to an end     8     July 31. The sets of lanterns     9     (update) to keep up with other traditional Chinese festivals, such as the Dragon Boat Festival. Visitors can also enjoy folk arts, and Chinese music performances during     10     (they) lantern-viewing tours.

In the course of economic development, there comes a time     1     the old must give way to the new.     2     (keep) balance between progress and the protection of cultural sites can be a great challenge. In the 1950s, the Egyptian government wanted     3     (build) a dam. However, the project led     4     protests, because the water from the dam would likely damage a number of cultural relics. So the government turned to the UN for help. A committee     5     (establish) to deal with the challenge and the experts investigated the issue, conducted tests and made a     6     (propose) to save the cultural relics.

    7     (final), the work began in1960. The temples and other cultural sites were taken down piece by piece and then moved and put back together again in a new place. Over the next 20 years,     8     (thousand) of engineers and workers rescued countless cultural relics. In 1980, the project ended,     9     was considered a great success. It shows that if a problem seems too difficult for a single nation, the global community can sometimes provide a     10     (solve).