1 . Derek Paravicini is lucky to be alive. Born three and a half months early, he weighed only 0.6 kilograms and almost _______ three times while he was in hospital. _______, Derek’s early birth left him with some disabilities — he is blind; he can’t tell left from right; he can _______ count to ten.

Yet Derek is a _______ talent. The 41-year-old remembers every one of the thousands of pieces of music he has ever heard and can play them without _______ on the piano — even if he only heard the song once. years ago. Because he is blind, he cannot _______ music. All of the music he plays is in his _______. His brain has been described as a perfectly programmed musical _______. When he hears a chord with ten notes in it, he can even _______ all ten, while most professional musicians can only recognise about five.

Derek was two years old before his family discovered his ________. When he was given an old keyboard, he ________ his family by reproducing the songs he had heard outside. His family then arranged for him to go to a school for the ________ where he met a university professor who helped him to ________ his musical talent.

By the age of nine, Derek had ________ at a large concert hall in London with a famous orchestra, Since then, he has appeared on TV shows and travelled the world ________ performances. He has recorded his own CDs and there is even a book about his life.

2 . Joao Carlos Martins is a famous pianist and conductor. However, his career has been ________ and his life has taken him in many different ________.

As a teenager Martins began to perform in concerts. But in his late twenties, he had to ________ after badly breaking his arm. It was really a terrible time. He couldn’t look at a piano or ________ listen to music. ________, he decided to become the manager of a boxer, who won the world championship later. This ________ Martins to take up the piano and practise much harder. Six years later, he gave his first concert at the Carnegie Hall, which was the most ________ moment of his life. He performed in concerts for years before he had to quit because of the unbearable ________ in his hands caused by too much ________.

Martins, in his forties, became a politician. However, he couldn’t stand this ________, so once again, he went back to the piano. All was going well until something unexpected ________ while leaving a concert. He ________ a serious brain injury and lost all the movement in his right hand. Again, with great ________ he played just with his left hand. Years later he lost the use of the left hand and ________ himself a conductor. Now, in his late seventies, Martins is still taking ________ to work and has conducted over a thousand concerts.

3 . As the saying goes, “Interest is the seed of everything”. Since childhood, Cantero had been living with football that had a _________ effect on her. She had always loved football as well as art, and fortunately she found a way to _________ the two things.

Lili Cantero prepared a new colorful show of her works to take to the World Cup in Qatar. The 29-year-old artist was famous for _________ soccer shoes for stars. Her new artworks included shoes and balls with pictures and designs. Many of them were _________ by the Middle Eastern nation, Qatar, and especially its capital Doha brought her lots of _________ ideas. The city welcomed national teams from the world to _________ in the World Cup.

Cantero _________ sent a pair of shoes to Argentine star Lionel Messi. The shoes had fancy details with black and white image of the _________ and his family. She didn’t know if Messi would even receive the shoes. But _________, she received a photo of Messi holding them. That marked a turning point in her__________. Then her colorful designs __________ other stars. She even met a famous former Brazilian star and gave him a pair of __________ and a football showing a kiss his mother had given him after winning an award in 2005.

In Qatar, Cantero planned to show eight footballs with designs that showed her __________ for eight countries winning the World Cup, thinking that they were __________ of the admiration of all. Finally, the footballs were the centerpiece of the World Cup exhibition, while the boots were presented within three-dimensional __________ looking like the stadiums that Qatar built for the World Cup.

4 . When Shao Tianshuai was 14, her dance teacher told her she had expressive eyes and an oval face, which were best suited for Kunqu Opera. She didn’t pay much ________to the comment until her mother __________ her to give the opera a try.

In 2001, Shao _________ for the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater in Beijing and came out with flying colors. The theater company is the only ________ platform in northern China devoted to Kunqu, an existing form of Chinese opera with a history of around 600 years.

Kunqu Opera, like many traditional Chinese operas, is _______ from one generation to another through singing demonstrations. It takes years to ________ basic skills, only after which performers can try and build their own _________.

“This type of opera was on the edge of decline (衰退) and the theater only had a dozen performances a year before I applied there,” says Shao. “However, the UNESCO tag gave the art a ________ life. The opera received government support and attracted the attention of young audiences.”

Usually, she performs her regular shows. ________, she arranges training for young performers and ______ on creating new pieces. She notes that two-thirds of the performers in the company are young, which injects energy to the theater founded over six decades ago.

Now, at 36, she is one of the leading ________ of Northern Kunqu Opera Theater and gives ________ 100 performances a year. Shao says, “In order to build up a young fan base, we use social media platforms and create original Kunqu Opera pieces, which ________   young people without changing the __________ of the art.”

“The heartwarming part is that so many young people like Kunqu Opera performances, whether online or offline. They are ________ to learn and explore, and as actors we cannot ask for more,” says Shao.

5 . Mariah Reading is an environmentalist, who grew up with an early appreciation for nature. While studying art at Bowdoin College, she saw the vast amounts of_______from her painting and sculpture classes. She began to seriously consider her footprint as a(n)_________“How can I paint landscapes if I’m _________them?” she thought. Then she started using the refuse as her canvas (画布).

After graduation, Mariah travelled throughout the country,_________ rubbish to bring to her studio. One day, a_________ hubcap (轮毂盖) she found by the side of the road gave her a new ___________ . She noticed the half hubcap had cracked off to_________the line of the mountain range that she was in. So she_________ the mountain landscape on it and held it up in front of the real _________ and took a photo. It became the first in her __________ series.

Over the years, she has painted more than 100 pieces of rubbish and photographed her transformations__________matching real-life landscapes. It’s like __________ new life into forgotten objects. Her practice__________the principle of “leaving no trace” by __________ painting with sculpture and photography.

Mariah hopes people see themselves and their own habits __________ into her works and make small changes in their everyday lives.

6 . Armenian musician Astrid Poghosyan ________ great pride in the Chinese name she picked for herself, Ma Xingxing. The given name “Xingxing.” literally meaning ________ is inspired by her Armenian first name, while the surname “Ma” is taken from Ma Chao, a famous ________ from China’s Three Kingdoms Period（220-280 AD）.

Poghosyan always puts all her ________ into the projects in which she is involved, whether they are offline or online events,________she believes that every little effort will help her realize her ________ dreams. “I believe music knows no borders, and that cultural exchanges via music are especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Having studied and worked in China for 12 years, Poghosyan has now become a real China hand, versed in the country’s language and culture. Such a multicultural background has ________ helped her good at her current job because she knows how to use the ________ of a multicultural background in her work.

Her ________ for Chinese culture, including Jackie Chan movies and stories of Mulan, helped her ________ the difficult language-learning process. As she gradually ________ herself in the Chinese language and culture, she also started to make Chinese friends and ________ the vibrant city life of Shanghai.

“Since I first came to Shanghai, I have always been ________ by the kindness and friendliness of the people here. Even when I couldn’t speak Chinese, in the first days, everyone I met gave me a big ________, whether they were sanitation workers on the streets or cashiers in convenience stores. Their smiles have made me feel the ________ of the city.” she said.

7 . At just 21 years old, Nija Charles is one of today's most popular songwriters.

She has been ________ with Beyonce, Jay Z, Cardi B, and many other today's popular music artists. Their works have been ________ . And she was even included in three Grammy nominations（提名）.

But just a few years ago, Charles was only a（n） ________ in the crowd. She was ________ in a musical family. "My dad is a DJ. My mom is a dancer," Charles ________ . "So growing up in this family, I was always ________ by music and crazily chased after musicians."

Charles said she first ________ music at age 13, when she asked her mom for a mini keyboard because she was ________ to produce. "So she got one for me, and I started tapping on the keys," she said.

Charles continued to learn music at New York University, where she'd make songs in her dormitory and post them online. Soon she was ________ in flying across the country on weekends, performing on stage and then studying at school.

"It was tough for me. There were some classes I ________ had to skip. But yeah, it was must time management and 1 had to ________ and finish my homework before I got on the plane or I'd finish the ________ on the plane. I wrote songs during the weekend. I made sure I studied hard so I could finish ________ that year," she said.

Talking about her success, Charles said, "It's ________ that my favourite artists are now the people I cooperate with. Several years ago, I was at their ________ but now I'm in the studio with them."