I learned a few lessons from a street dog yesterday evening.

I was eating something at a roadside vendor (摊贩)     1     a dog came and sat beside me. He looked     2     me and waited for my charity (施舍). I finished     3     (eat) and the dog was still waiting (first lesson: don’t lose hope). Then I went to a shop and came back with     4       bag of bread and some bananas. Now I had bread in one hand, banana in the other. But the dog was still waiting     5     (patient), not coming over to either of     6     (me) hands (second lesson: don’t force people for what you want).

And finally when I     7    (start)feeding it, the dog was waiting every time for me     8     (put) the bread in its mouth. I could see that it was hungry but it was taking care of my hand. The dog was waiting so that its teeth wouldn’t cause     9     (some) harm to me (third lesson: take care of it; it takes care of you).

Moved by my     10    (kind), the vendor invited me to have dinner with him!

Shaanxi kuaiban is a    1     (tradition) Chinese form of storytelling in the Shaanxi local language to the strong regular repeated sound of bamboo clappers. On June 10, 2021, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism     2     (recognize) a new group of 325 national intangible (非物质的) cultural heritage items in Beijing, increasing the list established in 2006 to 1,557 items. Shaanxi kuaiban,     3     can date back to the late Qing Dynasty (1644 — 1911), has been included. It can     4     (perform) by a group or alone. With one or two pairs of kuaiban of different sizes in hand, the performers speak in the local language while    5     (tell) stories, which are usually about sufferers or heroes.

Shaanxi kuaiban is     6     popular that there are many professional artists and performers in China. According to its performers, the art was originally used by farmers     7     (share) their knowledge and earn money.     8     time going by, more and more people perform Shaanxi kuaiban in different particular events — for example, at festival celebrations,     9    (party) and art shows. Supported by the government, it has been one of the     10     (good) art forms in Shaanxi and has been introduced to local schools as part of their art education.

There is no question that afternoon tea is popular in Britain. And it has     1     (certain) changed a lot over the last two hundred years. These days afternoon tea     2     (enjoy) by many, but most of all it’s a way for chefs (厨师) to express their creativity and add some new     3     (change) to the British tradition.

The custom of afternoon tea     4     (begin) with Anna Maria, the 7th Duchess of Bedford around 1840. At the time,     5     was usual for people to take only two main meals a day: breakfast and dinner (around 8 pm) and Maria is said to have complained (抱怨) of     6     (get) hungry during the late afternoon. So, the solution for the Duchess was a pot of tea and a light snack taken privately in her bedroom during the afternoon. She then started to invite friends     7     (join) her in her rooms at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire and the tradition became popular within fashionable society.

Basic afternoon tea includes finger sandwiches, scones (司康饼) and cakes on a plate, all washed down by a pot of tea set in either a lovely garden     8     a good hotel. But nowadays, it has become     9     artistic experience.

“In recent years, we have seen chefs getting more adventurous with their afternoon tea menus. Most still stick to the     10     (tradition) afternoon tea of sandwiches, scones and cakes but let their cooking skills go to town with delicious new sandwich fillings and flavoured (有添加味道的) breads,” said Afternoon Tea. co.uk managing director Keith Newton.

A team made up     1     eight members has created an AI painting project. The creative concept gives robots the power     2     (create) art using colors, canvas and a paintbrush.

The AI painting project features a robot     3     (inspire) by human artists — it has a robot arm that holds the paintbrush to bring new art to life through paintings     4     are not generated at will, but rather based on a set of     5     (concept) that the AI technology uses to create art. To do so, one or multiple values     6     (give) to the AI robot to generate a picture through a collection of brush strokes (画笔笔触).

The images created by the robot are based on the evaluation standard of “most like the presented concept”. The robot arm then uses the paintbrush and colors to create art. It currently works with both acrylic paint (丙烯颜料)     7     watercolors and mixes the colors with water as well.

The team believes that the paint strokes, colors, and images produced by AI have the potential to lead the world into a new category of art     8     (full) created by machines. Going forward, the team is in the process of     9     (design) a visual feedback system that will allow the robot to see the painting in progress, making human intervention (介入) and co-creation     10     (possibility).

Did you ever wonder who invented Legos? When you learn about the Lego story, you will be     1     (surprise)! Like many great inventions, the story is not just one of great idea     2     one of hard work and determination. The story starts off in Denmark. Ole Kirk Christiansen was a carpenter,     3     was having a hard time with business. To make matters     4     (bad), his wife, the mother of four kids, died. To make his kids happy and look for new ways to make money, he started to make wooden toys. His sons helped him with his business. He had expected that he toys     5     (sell) well but the result was disappointing.

Ole thought his toys needed a new name, so he chose the name “Lego”,     6     (mean) “play well” in Danish. Soon his toys became popular. Unluckily, his workshop caught a big fire one day and burned     7    the ground. Everything was destroyed! Ole almost gave up. But he knew his kids were relying on     8     (they) father for food. So he started to make plastic toys. He then got the idea     9     (develop) a “system” of toys that would build kids’ imagination and     10     (create). He made it. He decided to stop making wooden toys and centre only on the connected plastic toys. Now kids around the world enjoy Lego toys.

According to legend(传说), the Chinese abacus (算盘)    1    (invent) by the Yellow Emperor, the father of Chinese civilization(文明). The earliest known written document of the Chinese abacus dates back     2    the 2^nd century BC.

According to UNESCO: “ Zhusuan is widely used in Chinese life and     3     important symbol of traditional culture,     4     (provide) a strong sense of cultural identity(认同). It has been handed down through generations by two traditional     5    (method) of oral teaching and self-learning. Training in abacus-based mental arithmetic (心算) is thought     6    (improve) a child’s attention span, memory and mental capability(ability).”

In 1946, a competition was staged between an abacus expert(专家)     7    the most advanced electric adding machine of the time. The expert won --- the abacus was     8    (fast) than the machine in all cases, except for multiplication(乘法) of large numbers.

Today, it contributes to the advancement(progress) of calculating technique, cognitive schemas(认知图式), educational psychology(心理学) and intellectual (智力的)     9    (develop). It also has a far-reaching influence on    10    (difference) fields of cultural creativity, including folk customs, language, literature, sculpture and architecture.