Following the success of his first non-profit library in Hangzhou, singer-songwriter Gao Xiaosong is opening a second reading room in Nanjing.

Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province, a city with a history dating back more than 2,000 years and the ancient capital of six    1    (dynasty), was named the City of Literature by UNESCO—    2    first city in China to be awarded the title.

On November 1l, a new library opened    3     the foot of Nanjing’s Ming Dynasty (1368—1644 ) city walls, which have witnessed the passing of centuries. Like the first library     4    (open) in 2018 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, the Nanjing Library as well as its     5    (collect) of 40,000 books is free to the public. To ensure a    6    (peace) reading experience, 500 admissions are allowed each day via online appointment.

The first Xiaosong Library, which     7    (design) by famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando, has been such a great success that we often see appointments for     8    (book) out weeks in advance.

At the opening ceremony for the Nanjing Library, Gao said while he only planned to open around six Xiaosong libraries nationwide, opening one in the city was a must: “Just like growing vegetables, you need     9    (plant) them in fertile (肥沃的) soil suitable for farming. Libraries should be established    10    many scholars live. Nanjing is this kind of city.”

The Olympic Games are the biggest sports meeting in the world,     1     include two kinds, the Summer and the Winter Olympics. Both of them     2     (hold) every four years. All countries can take part     3     their athletes reach the standard for the games. Women are not only allowed to join in     4     play a very important role. A special village     5     (built) for their competitors to live in, several stadiums for competitions, large     6     (swim) pools, a gymnasium as well as seats for those    7     watch the games. It’s a great honour     8     (host) the Olympic Games. The olive wreaths have     9     (replace) by medals. But it’s still about being able to run faster, jump higher and throw     10     (far).

The official medals of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games    1    (display) on October 26th. The organizing committee introduced the medals-called tong xin,     2    means togetherness that day.

The medals are inspired by yu bi, a Chinese jade artifact     3    (date) back 5, 000 years. A total of five of this kind of jade have been unearthed from a tomb up to now.

Each medal     4    (have) carvings of the Olympic rings on one side. The rings represent the pursuit of unity     5    harmony, and they also represent the Olympic values of solidarity and inclusiveness. Carvings of cloud patterns, an element     6    (use) on the torch of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, snowflakes and ice markings fill the outer rings.     7    other side of the medals has the Beijing 2022 emblem at the center. Visually, it looks quite plain at first glance, while details such as the carving of clouds and snowflake patterns as well as the uneven surface have made it     8    (special) than expected, according to the committee.

Gaining     9    (inspire) from jade for a second time honors the Chinese capital’s unique position as the first city    10    (host) the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Beijing-based Xiaomi shipped     1     (many) smartphones worldwide than Apple during the second quarter of this year,     2     (go) beyond the iPhone maker for the first time, according to a report. Xiaomi was responsible for 17 percent of all smartphone shipments during the April through June period, while Apple shipped 14 percent, according to the report    3     market analyst Canalys. Meanwhile, South Korean giant Samsung held onto the No.1, with 19 percent of shipments.

The report comes as Apple pushes high-end devices like the iPhone 12, some of     4     come with sticker prices of more than $ 1,000. Xiaomi, by contrast, sells phones that are 75 percent cheaper than iPhones and 40 percent cheaper than Samsung devices, giving    5     company a leg up in the developing world, according to Canalys research manager Ben Stanton.

Though Samsung held onto the top in the second quarter,   Xiaomi appears to be gaining    6    (popular) on and on. The Beijing-based company’s worldwide shipments increased by 83 percent year-over-year rapidly     7     (compare) to 15 percent at Samsung and 1 percent at Apple.

“Xiaomi already has its sights set on the next prize-taking the place of Samsung     8     (become) the world’s largest dealer,” said Stanton. “Xiaomi is growing its overseas business     9     (quick),” Stan-ton said, adding that its shipments increased more than 300 percent year-over-year in Latin America and 150 per-cent in Africa.

This is not the first time a Chinese phone maker    10     (win) Apple. Shenzhen-based Huawei went beyond Apple in smartphone sales for the first time in 2018.

Finding and keeping the right balance between progress and the     1    (protect) of cultural sites can be a big challenge. Big challenges, however, can sometimes lead    2     great solutions. In     3    1950s, the Egyptian government wanted to build a new dam across the Nile in order     4     (control) floods, produce electricity, and supply water to more     5     (farmer) in the area. But the proposal led to protests because water from the dam would likely damage a number of temples and destroy cultural relics. After     6     (listen) to the scientists who had studied the problem, and citizens     7     lived near the dam, the government turned to the United Nations for help in 1959.

A committee     8    (establish) to limit damage to the Egyptian buildings and prevent the loss of cultural relics.     9    (final), the work began in 1960.

When the project ended in 1980, it was considered a great success. Not only had the countries found a path to the future that did not run over the relics of the past, but they had also learnt that it was possible for countries to work together to build a     10     (good) tomorrow.

At the time they were created, the Impressionist     1    (paint) were controversial, but today they are accepted as the beginning of     2     we call “modern art”. This is because the Impressionists encouraged     3    (art) to look at their environment in new ways. There are scores of modern art styles, but     4     the Impressionists, many of these painting styles might not exist. On the one hand, some modern art is abstract; that is, the painter does not try to paint objects as we see     5     with our eyes, but instead concentrates     6     certain qualities of the object,     7    (use) color, line and shape to represent them. On     8     other hand, some paintings of modern art are so realistic     9     they look like photographs. These styles     10    (be) so different. Who can predict what painting styles there will be in the future?

Car makers are spending a lot of money on electric cars. In the future, electric cars will replace petrol cars.     1     (environmental) believe this will reduce the amount of CO2 put into the atmosphere. A big problem for electric cars is charging the batteries. Some batteries in today's electric cars can take up to 12 hours     2     (charge) fully. However, a company says it has created a new battery that people can charge     3     just five minutes. This is the same amount of time it takes to fill a tank of gas with petrol. The new batteries     4     (develop) by the Israeli company StorcDot.

The new batteries could     5     (total) transform driving. They would mean electric cars would be able to travel as far as petrol cars. Many people with electric cars today suffer from     6     stress caused by worrying about the batteries     7     (run) out of electricity. A Store- Dot spokesperson said:“You're either afraid that you're going to get stuck on the highway, or     8    you're going to need to sit in a charging station for two hours.” The new batteries would end this     9     (anxious). “We're at the point of achieving a revolution in the electric vehicle charging experience. It means the switch from petrol cars to electric cars will happen much     10     (fast)” said the man.