Clothing, mainly featuring the color red, is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year because it was once believed     1    red could scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. Then why does red have this miracle power?

According to tales and legends, the beginning of the Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast     2    (call) Nian, which would eat villagers, especially     3    (child). For many years, poor villagers lived in fear,     4    (wish) the first day of the year would pass as soon as possible. Then a god visited and told them to put red paper     5    their doors and to set off firecrackers to scare away     6    beast. The villagers then     7    (understand) that Nian was afraid of the color red. From     8    on, red became the most popular color during the Spring Festival. Now, red represents many other meanings such as happiness, prosperity, warmth, virtue,     9    (true) and sincerity. So if you are invited to a Chinese friend’s during the Spring Festival, you are     10    (high) advised to wear red clothes.

The people living in the Appalachian Mountains are sometimes called hillbillies(乡下人). The first settlers there came from the province of Ulster in Ireland, and they     1     (bring) their folk music with them. This music,     2     (mix) with the blues(布鲁斯音乐), became hillbilly music.

Later,     3     hillbilly music became more popular, it     4     (call) country music. Country songs are often sad stories of love and broken hearts. In the 1920s, people listened to country music on the radio. Not all country people were farmers. Many worked in the factories. They also loved country music, and it became     5     music of the working class.

During the 1930s, America had many economic problems. Workers expressed their troubles     6     (use) the folk music of the time. Folk songs are like country songs but they are     7     (tradition) and more serious.

During the 1950s, folk music gained its     8     (popular) again. Martin Luther King wanted to improve     9     (life) of African Americans. He led several marches to change the laws in the USA. The marchers sang old folk songs like We Shall Overcome.

In the 1960s, many people were     10     the war in Vietnam. Folk singers like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez wrote anti­war songs and other songs about the problems of American society. Folk music continues to be the most political of all music in America.

As people across the country watched the launch of China’s Shenzhou-14 spaceship closely,    1    pen floating in the capsule (太空舱)    2    (catch) the attention of many people.

The pen was produced by Shaoguan Shengyi Stationery Co., Ltd., which is a pioneer in     3    (make) pens used in outer space.

The space pen is different    4    a common pen. A common pen can neither withstand the influence and vibration (震动) experienced by the spaceship during rocket launch (发射) nor write    5    (proper) in an environment of outer space: The pen    6    (have) a head made of special materials to make it possible to write in outer space. The ink within the pen is also a special liquid with high viscosity (黏性), making writing stick to surfaces closely instead of flying off as dangerous    7    (drop). What’s more, the head    8    is less sharp than the head of a normal pen can be safely used in the cabin.

A space pen developed by the company    9    (send) into space aboard the Shenzhen-10 spacecraft in 2013, making China the    10    (two) country in the world able to independently produce a pen usable in space.

In a world that is full of different kinds of colors, red quite stands out. In China, people call this color China Red,     1     has become a quite popular expression     2     (catch) the world’s attention.

This expression fully shows Chinese people’s special love for red. So why are the Chinese really fond of it? One reason     3     (lie) in the color’s rich meaning in Chinese history and     4     (tradition) culture. In ancient China, red     5     (regard) as a symbol of health, energy, happiness, hope and so on. Now red things can be     6     (common) found across the nation, for example red lanterns. People can find red lanterns across China, especially during     7     (festival) and holidays. During the Spring Festival, people will see red lanterns hanging on     8     front gates of houses and stores, trees, etc. Besides red lanterns, things     9     Spring Festival couplets (对联) and invitations are also often red.

In a word, red is popular in China and it’s more than just a color. It carries the rich culture of this nation. And you’re welcome     10     (feel) and discover it in China.

Recently some Western companies, including H & M and Nike, have come under fire due to their boycott(抵制) of cotton     1     (produce) in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

A statement based     2     false information from H & M made Chinese people angry. They argued that these large companies profit off of Chinese     3     (consumer) while defaming(诋毁) the country. Such arguments led to the     4     (create) of “I support Xinjiang cotton” campaign popular on Sina Weibo. On China’s major e-commerce platforms including Taobao and JD.com, all products and search results related to H & M     5     (clear). Wang Yibo,     6     was previously a brand ambassador(大使) for Nike, has pulled out of his deal. And he’s not alone. Many     7     celebrities(明星) joined him to voice the objection.

China is the world’s second-largest cotton producers     8     Xinjiang accounts for nearly 90% of the country’s cotton output.     9    , the increase in China’s cotton production and the     10     (grow) textile industry are making some in the west nervous, said Xinhua.