ZHENGZHOU—Pingdingshan University in Central China’s Henan province has found more than1,000 ceramic (陶瓷) balls used in a golf-like ball game in ancient China. The university make the     1     (discover) while     2     (sort) out its ceramic collection.

The relics are related to an ancient game called “Chuiwan” in Chinese,     3     shares various features with modern golf, such as knocking balls into holes using sticks; and is     4    (wide) known as the ancient “Chinese golf”.

Most of the balls arc about 5 centimeters in diameter. The relics date back to as early as the Tang Dynasty,     5     more than l,800 such balls made in the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties.

“This is the first time that China     6     (find) so many Chuiwan balls, providing important materials for     7     (refer) when it come to studying the origin and development of the ball game.” said Cui Lequan, a researcher.     8     (locate) between the two ancient capitals of Luoyang and Kaifeng, the Pingdingshan area boasted a highly     9     (develop) porcelain handicraft industry in ancient times.     10    was likely a large production base for Chuiwan balls, said Cui.

China’s Edward Gaming(EDG)team earned their first-ever League of Legends World Championship title with     1     3-2 win over South Korea in the League of Legends(Lol)World Championship final on Sunday.

The finals     2     (hold)in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, and were watched by millions of fans in China via streaming and social media. When the Shanghai EDG team defeated the defending champion South Korea DK, Chinese netizens started to celebrate     3     (enthusiastic)on social media and in the real world.

League of Legends is an online multiplayer video game developed and published by Riot Games in 2009     4     a team of players has to battle against the opposing team by gaining more strength through the accumulation of     5     (item)and experience over the course of the game.

Asian countries, such as South Korea and China, are the fastest-growing markets for esports. In 2020, the market size of esports games in China amounted     6     approximately 147 billion yuan, according to Statista.

    7     China has imposed(推行)strict supervision on the gaming industry,       8     (restrict)minors from playing games for more than three hours a week, it encourages the development of esports. Shanghai is one of the most     9     (ambition)cities to become the center of the esports industry in China. At the end of November 2018, Shanghai became the first city in China     10     (adopt)a registration system for e-sports athletes.

Winter Solstice (冬至)

Winter Solstice, also     1    (know)as Midwinter or Winter Festival, means the     2    (arrive) of winter.

Winter Solstice is the 22nd in the present system of solar terms, but it was in fact the first one to     3    (create) and observed by people in ancient China. They     4    (believe) that from Winter Solstice, the next cycle began. Winter Solstice, therefore, was regarded as the     5    (begin) of a new year,     6     explains why Winter Solstice was not only set as a solar term, but has also been observed as     7     important festival.

The winter season starts in most areas in China from the day on. But because     8     its huge land area, the climate differs greatly from place to place. For example, the night time temperature during this period in northeast China drops to as low as -20℃ , while it is still around 10℃ in some places in South China like Guangzhou.

Eating dumplings on Winter Solstice is a tradition in northern China. Compared with dumplings, sweet dumplings (tangyuan) are even     9    (popular) for locals in southern China. In     10    (they) mind, the round shape of sweet dumplings symbolizes the reunion.

The ancient capital Xi’an in Shaanxi Province     1     (hold) the National Games a short time ago. As the capital of 13 dynasties throughout Chinese history, Xi’an has never been far from sports. Starting from the Western Zhou Dynasty     2     the Tang Dynasty, the city has held many sports events.

Sumo (相扑),     3     ( know) as Japan’s “national sport’’, actually originated in ancient China. Sumo     4     (call) jiaodi or jiaoli in ancient times. Ancient jiaodi was performed by athletes with ox horns, wrestling with each other imitating wild oxen.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, jiaodi was     5     (high) favored by emperors. It is said     6     Emperor Muzong of the Tang Dynasty watched jiaodi performance every     7     (three) day. In the Tang Dynasty, jiaodi was part of military training and a kind of entrainment and athletic sports.

There were even specialized wrestling teams in Tang royal court,     8     brought jiaodi masters nationwide. Wrestling was also popular among folk people, and according to historical records, wrestling     9     (compete) was usually organized twice each year, in spring and autumn by turns.

In 1991, a Tang Dynasty figurine (雕像) with a pose of wrestling was unearthed at a tomb in Tangjinxiang County of Xi’an City. The strong figure, half naked, bare feet,     10     (wear) a triangle pants, is ready to attack.

Science fiction pioneer and writer Wu Yan won this year’s National Outstanding Children’s Literature Award for his     1     (late) work China Orbit. The book focuses on the development of the Chinese aerospace (航空航天) industry, and it     2     (inspire) by the planning and preparation for China’s first but canceled     3     (man) spacecraft, “Shuguang 1”, also known as Project 714, during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

    4     (part) based on Wu’s own experiences in the 1970s, the book is a     5     (combine) of reality and fiction, and in some ways his own memoir (回忆录) was added     6     the science fiction. This innovative and unique writing method     7     (make) the book stand out and has even stirred up a debate on how     8     (categorize) it. Is it science fiction, popular science, children’s literature, or aerospace literature?

His fellow science fiction writer Liu Cixin, author of The Three Body Problem, believes China Orbit is too complicated to be classed under a single category. He speaks highly of China Orbit as     9     unique science fiction novel     10     vividly shows a child’s real-life experience in a military camp of a specific era.