In Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, food is usually eaten with    1    (chopstick).

Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also    2     (make) of plastic or mental. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic.    3    (true) elegant chopsticks might be with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods    4    metal to create special designs.

Five thousand years ago, Chinese people probably cooked their food in large pots,    5    (use) branches to remove it. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with branches     6    gradually turned into chopsticks.

Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, who lived     7    551 to 479 BC, influenced the     8    (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and     9    (be) too violent for use at the table.

Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, most people traditionally eat     10    their hands.

Imagine     1     (fly) down a mountain at 70, 80, even 90 miles per hour. Ski racing is not for the faint of heart. It takes a rare     2     (combine) of skill and courage.

Consider then Ralph Green. He does it with one leg. “He’s hard at work, towards his goal of becoming     3     Olympic champion. More     4     (specific), a Paralympic champion.

“This winter Ralph and     5     (dozen) of other athletes will train for a spot on the United States’ Disabled Ski Team and the chance     6     (compete) in the Paralympic Games.

“We have people that ski visually impaired, with a guide in front of them. We have paralysed athletes who ski in     7     you call a mono-ski (单板式滑雪板). We have people that ski with one arm or someone like me that skis with one leg.”

Green grew up in Brooklyn and he     8     (lose) his leg in an accident.     9     Green is broken in body, he is firm in spirit.

“Don’t be afraid to be different. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.” And Green is speaking from experience. “I never thought I could have an impact     10     somebody else’s life.”

The Chinese language has become increasingly popular in the world. More British students chose to take Chinese tests than German in this year’s A levels, showing a great     1     (curious) about the ancient Asian language.

This is the first time that Mandarin     2     (overtake) German at A levels, a British public exam taken by high school students,     3     (make) it the third most popular language in the UK.

A total of 3,334 candidates chose Mandarin     4     their foreign language, up 8.6 percent from 2017,     5    around 3,058 took German A­level, down 16.5 percent year on year.

French and Spanish still remain the most popular foreign languages. The German language     6     (follow) by Russian and Polish.

According to the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban), as of 2017, some 100 million people, excluding native speakers, use Chinese     7     (global), while the number of Chinese teaching centers has surpassed (超过) 70,000.

South Korea has a larger population of Chinese language learners     8    any other country in the world with the number estimated at around 10.6 million. Last year alone, over 170,000 people     9     (sign) up for Chinese language tests, like the HSK,     10    full name is Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi in Chinese.

The United Nations in 2010 suggested a Chinese Language Day which falls on April 20th each year to celebrate cultural diversity as well as to promote the equal use of all official languages.

According to a report released by the United Nations, there were 815 million undernourished（营养不良的）people in the world in 2016. Yet, 1.3 billion tons of food     1    （waste）every year around the world， which is about one-third of all food produced each year, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

    2    （get）a better understanding of different countries’ food waste problems, the Economist Intelligence Unit recently surveyed 34 nations according to their food system sustainability（可持续性）. According to the report，France topped the list of food sustainability，followed by Japan and Germany.

The    3    （perform）of these countries is largely related to their policies to deal with food waste. For example，France was the first country to pass laws to ban（禁止）food waste. In France, it's illegal for supermarkets to throw away    4    （sell）food, and French restaurants must provide doggy bags for people's leftovers.

Germany is trying to deal with the problem by reforming expiration dates（到期日）. “We found in our study that many people believed they should throw away products    5    the `best before' date has expired,” Martin Kranert, chair of Stuttgart University's waste management department, told Deutsche Welle. “This is not at all case, and such a lack of knowledge is the first thing     6    has to change.”

Some countries are still falling behind when it comes to     7    （prevent）food waste, however. For example, the United Arab Emirates wastes the most food, with each of its citizens throwing away about 1,000 kilograms every year     8    average.

China has been working hard to reduce food waste. In early 2013, the country's Clean Your Plate Campaign started,     9    （encourage）people not to waste anything on their plate.

“If people are more aware of the amount of food waste they produce and everyone plays a role in reducing their personal food waste, we can do     10    （well）as a community,” Joyce Chan from the Foodlink Foundation, a Hong Kong charity dedicated to reducing food waste, told China Daily.

As is     1     (know) to all, the Olympic Games are the most important events in the world. They were first held in ancient Greece     2     776 BC. And the events were named after the city Olympia. Slaves and women could not be allowed to take part in the ancient Olympics, and the     3     (athlete) were all from the same country.

In 1896,     4     first modern Olympics opened in Athens, the capital city of Greece. From then on, the Olympic Games     5     (take) place every four years. Athletes from the whole world can take part in the     6     (importance) events, whether they are men or women. The five rings on the Olympic Flag stand     7     five continents and the union of the whole world.

China didn't become a member of the modern Olympics until the 1950s. And in 1984, Xu Haifeng became the first Chinese that won an Olympic gold medal in shooting. With the     8     (develop) of China, Beijing finally succeeded in     9     (hold) the 2008 Olympics, during which the five Fuwa mascots     10     (deep) impressed the whole world.

When Michael Jordan's feet left the ground, time seemed     1    (stand) still. The player who became known as “Air Jordan” changed basketball with his graceful moves and jumps. Jordan's skills were     2    (impress), but the mental strength that he showed made him unique. In the final seconds of a game, Jordan always seemed to find a way to win.

Jordan says that the secret     3     his success is learning from his     4     (fail). Losing games taught him to practise     5    (hard) and never give up. In life, Jordan has learnt to share his success with others. The Boys and Girls Club which he started in Chicago has been helping young people since 1996.