“The Chinese Bridge contest was an important experience in my life,” said Aya Ibrahim,     1     Egyptian girl. She was awarded the top prize in the Chinese language final contest in Cairo     2     (conclude) in May 31th. “Through the stage of the     3     (compete), I gained knowledge and improved my capabilities,” said Ibrahim from Cairo University,     4     she was studying Chinese.

The girl with seven other contest winners     5    (receive) by the Chinese ambassador to Egypt and shared their stories of learning Chinese. Ibrahim said she joined in diverse Chinese activities at the Confucius Institute at Cairo University, such as     6     (recite) Chinese poetry, singing Chinese songs and dancing Chinese dances. She added that most     7     (important), learning the Chinese language had changed her     8     a confident and socialized person with a far     9     (broad) vision. The Egyptian girl’s wish is     10     she will have the opportunity to complete her post-graduate studies in China.

3 . Dad and I loved baseball and hated sleep. One midsummer ________ when I was nine, we drove to the local park with our baseballs and gloves.

The park was ours for about two hours. Then a young mother pushed her stroller (婴儿车)towards us. When she approached, Dad ________ leaned over the stroller, waved and gave the baby his best smile. The mother stared at him for a second, then ________ . Looking at her back, Dad covered his face with his hands and walked to the car. “Let’s go,” he said. “I’m feeling ________ .”

A month earlier, Bell’s palsy (贝尔氏麻痹) had paralyzed (使瘫痪) the right side of his face. He could ________ drink from a cup without spilling onto his shirt. And his smile was gone. I began understanding that our sunrise park visit was his ________ to avoid stares.

By the time I entered fourth grade that September, his smile hadn’t still ________ So I made a secret ________ : I would avoid ________ of any kind. It’s ________ for a fourth grader to do so. Classmates called me Frowny the Dwarf (皱眉小矮人). My teacher accompanied me into the doorway, asking what was wrong. I told her all and said: “Breaking the promise I had made myself was ________, as I couldn’t stand my Dad suffering ________ ”. Then my teacher ________ Dad. I never ________ what they discussed. But after school that afternoon, I saw Dad waiting for me, holding our gloves and ball. For the first time in months, we went to the park for a ________ . Sundown came quickly, but Dad and I threw balls into the night happily. We had catching up to do.

4 . From online to offline, the popularity of the song “The Lonely Brave” can be called “the most dazzling(炫目的)ethnic style” among elementary school students. What is the magic of “The Lonely Brave”?

“The Lonely Brave” itself is the Chinese theme song of the cartoon “League of Legends: Battle of the Two Cities”. The song is sung by Eason Chan, written by Tang Tian and composed by Qian Lei. Tang Tian has been fond of music and writing since she was a child. When her talent was gradually recognized, unluckily, in 2012, she was diagnosed with stage III nasopharyngeal cancer. Instead of yielding, she actively cooperated with the treatment. In November 2021, Tang Tian wrote the song for her idol Eason Chan.

Two students from a primary school in Wuhan, Hubei, played the song on the piano, arousing many onlookers, and slowly everyone sang along. The video went viral(传播)as soon as it was posted on the Internet. Then, a video of a drum player in Guizhou was also circulated on the Internet.

What exactly is this song that has conquered tens of thousands of children? Let’s see what the children have to say.

“I like the last line of the lyrics(歌词), who said that those who stand in the light are heroes, and if there is no flash, those who are unknown are not heroes?”

“The lonely brave people are those who are not afraid of hardships and risk their lives to cut thorns for others or themselves. They dare to fight and fight against fate.”

“After listening to the song, I thought of the delivery boy. Go? Is it worthy? This ragged cloak(披风). Fight? Fight! With the humble dreams, they all play the role of ordinary people in their lives and try to fight for their dreams.”

The lonely hero in everyone’s heart is different, but they are all those who shine in the dark without expecting anything in return.

5 . Alex Spektor was nervous. He was in Poland near the Ukrainian(乌克兰的)border to meet his twin sons, Lenny and Moishe, for the first time. The boys were just 10 days old, born prematurely. Because of the war, his under-sized babies required oxygen and constant monitoring. Spektor had no clue how he would get them home to Chicago safely.

Then he heard about Bryan Stern. The navy veteran(退伍军人)ran the non-profit Project Dynamo, which sent all unpaid volunteers like Stern into war zones to rescue Americans and allies trying to flee. When Spektor reached out to him, Stern recognized just how serious the situation was for Lenny and Moishe. Saving the twins would require more than a fast car. The precious “cargo”(货物)had to be monitored and watched continuously by medical staff. Stern would follow in his car to navigate the various checkpoints and live fire.

Then there was an added wrinkle: baby Sophie, another baby who needed to be rescued. Born two days after the boys, she was even more fragile than the twins. This was quickly becoming the most difficult rescue Project Dynamo had faced.

Saving Lenny, Moishe, and Sophie was proving tougher. They found themselves under fire as soon as they left for the border. At the Polish border, Spektor waited with his phone, anxious for updates. Around 11 p. m., more than 13 hours after they left the hospital in Kyiv, Stern texted Spektor: “We’re at the border”. A few hours later, Lenny and Moishe were in their father’s arms. Soon, all three babies were resting in a Polish hospital. Stern, who served in multiple war tours and was awarded a Purple Heart, told Today: “It was by far one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done.”

6 . An Introduction to Three Short Films

Ink of the Mongolian

Director: Rabelo Santos Luiz Aline (Brazil)

Producers: Wang Jing, Zhang Xu

The film captures the director’s meeting with Mr. Bao Jinshan, the Mongolian calligrapher from Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, describing his great talent with the writing brush, the paper, the inkstick, and the inkslab, the four treasures of calligraphy. A worker, an apprentice, a teacher and a preserver of the ancient Mongolian language, Mr. Bao has dedicated the work of a lifetime to this great form of art and communication, calligraphy.

Big Scissors, Small Scissors

Director: Sarah Choi (ROK)

Producers: Qin Yue, Wu Jie

Zhao Meiling is a renowned artist in Ordos, China, who is passionate about preserving the rich 5,000-year tradition of Chinese papercutting art. She learned the craft from her grandmother, and now, she is eager to pass on her techniques to her granddaughter, Jing Han. Big Scissors, Small Scissors is a heart-warming short documentary about the love between a grandmother and her granddaughter, and their mutual love for papercutting.

The Southern Wind

Director: Gilson Junior

Producer: Yang Xilin

In this 10-minute film, we present the Shiwan pottery (陶器) culture over thousands of years through the daily life of an experienced artist, Li Xingbao, shooting how he made a pottery bottle. From the lines of “The Stone Bay Pottery, the First in the World” in the Record of Ming Dynasty Poetry Summary, we seem to feel the Shiwan pottery scene, but with the passing of time, the glory of those days has been replaced by the machine. Through this shooting of the ancient stove, I hope you can not only see the craftsmanship of the experienced craftsmen, but also look back at the representative cultural crystallization (精华) of the ancient ancestors carved in the pottery.

Scan the QR code to view the films on QQ or Youtube.