Zhao Wenying, a 65-year-old woman from Zhejiang Province, recently became the world’s oldest person     1     (pass) the professional Rubik’s Cube (魔方) B-level exam. She also holds the world record for a person over the age of 60 to solve the Rubik’s Cube blindfolded (蒙上眼睛的).

Before retirements Zhao was a math teacher. After she stopped working, she began to solve the Rubik’s Cube as     2     hobby. As a green hand，Zhao learned a little     3     (slow) at first. Yet she was determined to get good     4     it. She found some online courses and spent more than four years     5     (learn) to solve the Rubik’s Cube by herself.

Later, she learned how to do it blindfolded. “When I first learned to solve it blindfolded, I was     6     (curiosity) about how other people did it. I just thought if they could do it, I could too,” Zhao said. Then she found a professional to teach her. Though it is difficult for people in     7     (they) 60s to learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube blindfolded, Zhao did her best to learn the     8     (skill). During her learning process, she used up four notebooks in all.

“Everyone     9     (have) a dream and you must realize your dreams through hard work. While realizing dreams is a moment, following dreams is a process     10     happiness truly lies,” Zhao said.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese government has adopted the most effective measures regardless of great economic losses     1     (cause) by the precautionary measures, Chinese people have been actively participating in the nationwide fight     2     the virus. Under     3     leadership of the government, the spread of the virus has been     4     (successful) controlled.

However, by the end of last year, more than 270 million people     5     (infect) with the virus globally. We have all realized the fact     6     working together is the best solution to pull through the crisis. In other words.     7     the virus cannot be controlled in other parts of the world, the result we have achieved will be affected. To deal with such a pandemic, there is no denying that     8     (strengthen) the cooperation between different countries is of no delay. Therefore, the Chinese government has made great     9     (contribution) to the world by sending medical teams abroad and donating medical supplies. We believe that by joint efforts we are bound     10     (win) the war.

Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine on October 6^th, 2015. Her research led to the discovery of artemisinin,       1     has led to improved health for thousands of people and has saved millions of lives.

As a     2    (commit) and patient scientist, in 1967, she     3     (choose) to discover a treatment for Malaria. She and her team examined over 200 old medical texts and evaluated 280,000     4    (plant) . Although their project often got     5    (stick), Tu Youyou would not acknowledge defeat. Instead she continued to analyzing the medical texts again. After     6    (fail) more than 190 times, the team finally succeeded in finding a substance that worked     7    using a lower temperature to draw out the extract from the sweet wormwood in 1971. To make sure that artemisinin was successful, they even tested the medicine on     8    (they).

According to Tu Youyou, the discovery was a team effort. It is indeed     9    honor for China’s scientific research and Chinese medicine    10    (spread) around the world.

My fiancé (未婚夫) and I were engaged in December 2019 and     1     (plan) to get married within six months. Well, in March 2020, my fiance was laid off due to COVID. Now we were down to one income,    2     (face) the fear of a virus that was taking the world by storm. Our elderly parents were in isolation, and some of our family     3     (force) to deal with the fear and uncertainty as they were considered     4     (be) “essential workers.” We made     5     decision to be the hope and hands and feet of Jesus during the toughest times that we all have faced. We posted on our social media page that we wanted to provide a meal     6     first responders and essential workers, and our friends could join us by volunteering or making donations. We were flooded with people     7     were feeling helpless and wanted to do something     8     were not sure what to do. Together, we were able to make a big difference! So many areas of life being     9     (positive) affected! Fast forward a year later, and that effort and act of     10     (kind) opened the door for us to open a restaurant!

An ancient culture dating back more than 5,000 years proved China’s early exchanges with other societies, experts say.

Experts believe the Majiayao culture had a close     1    (connect) with other various cultures. They put it forward at a recent meeting     2     was held in Gansu Province. With more than 5,000 years of history, it plays an important role in the development of the Chinese civilization (文明). This culture spread to Central Asia through     3     is now China’s Xinjiang Province,     4    (bring) rice from China to the west.

Swedish expert Johan first     5    (investigate) cultural sites in 1924. In the 1940s, Xia Nai named the sites after the Majiayao, with painted pottery (彩陶) as     6    (it) most special feature. Some experts point out that the Majiayao culture     7    (obvious) shares similarities with the cultures of some parts of the Black Sea. People from these cultures used pottery     8    (make) human head sculptures.     9     addition, some Central Asian features also appeared on the painted pottery of the Majiayao.

Actions     10    (take) to protect the Majiayao culture by building museums, organizing meetings and doing more research so far.

I was very excited when, last week, my friends and I decided to spend     1     (we) weekend in Belgium.

The first place we went to was Brussels. Brussels is such     2     beautiful city, although I thought it seemed rather small to be a capital city. We visited the statue of the weeing boy (撒尿小孩铜像), the great town hall and, of course, we did not forget     3     (visit) the famous Belgium chocolate shops.

One enjoyable part of my afternoon was     4     (certain) eating a real Belgium waffle (华夫饼). We found that you can't go far without     5     (come) across waffles in Brussels. They're for sale in shop windows, on the menu at restaurants and are sold by sellers on the side of the street.

In the evening we     6     (go) out for a meal with other people on the trip; it was good fun getting to know other students     7     were experiencing living abroad for the first time. After the meal we     8     (take) to a bar to taste some of Belgium's famous beer.

On the Sunday we visited the city of Anvers. The city is famous     9     its fashion   museums. These museums were     10     (interest) and they really showed the differences in fashion over the years. After this little trip, it was time to return home.