Studying abroad in Amman, Jordan, was a life changing experience for me. There were so many challenges and cultural norms I     1     (expose) to. I needed to be familiar with new surroundings and cooperate     2     people from different cultural backgrounds. Fortunately, everyone I met there was understanding and welcoming. Prior to     3     (go) abroad, I applied through International Studies Abroad (ISA), and they were enormously helpful.

Studying abroad enabled me to see things from new angles and learn more about cultures around me.     4     the whole, studying abroad can help     5     (strength) your abilities in cross­cultural communication and improve your general competence.

The Chinese began to accept Western medicine as early as the beginning of 20th century,     1    Chinese medicine is still in doubt among Western people. To them, Chinese medicine, like ancient China, is mysterious and beyond     2     (believe).

Chinese medicines, most of them     3     (be) originally natural herbs, are made through having these materials simmered, roasted, or fried without having specific standards. This is the main reason for     4    they’re not recognized internationally. Chinese medicines usually appear in     5     form of pills, tablets and most commonly herb teas. They are used     6     account of their power in aid of recovery and they tend to produce long­term effects. They might be     7     (slow) in curing the patient of the disease, but they have less serious side effects even if     8     (take) frequently, for each medicinal herb is prescribed (开处方) for the benefit of the patient, causing no harm to the liver or the kidneys.

It is obvious that no matter how strange they may seem to Westerners, Chinese medicines     9     (use) for thousands of years and prove to be extremely effective. It’s up to us     10     (promote) the precious heritage.

If you’re walking through Boston     1     a rainy day, you might just see poems appear before your eyes. They are written on the sidewalk. The first poems were installed (安置) in 2013    2    (celebrate) the start of National Poetry Month, and since then many more poems     3    (add). Created using special materials, the poems are unseen during dry, sunny weather,     4     they appear like magic once raindrops start falling from the sky.

The poems were chosen by Boston’s famous poet Danielle Georges. “I wanted to choose poems that convey (传递) positive energy, like    5     (kind), joy and gratitude, ”Georges said. “All the poems     6     (fix) currently are written in English. But new ones will be added in the languages being spoken throughout Boston, including Portuguese, French and Spanish.”

“It’s a public art project     7     is meant for everyone. I think this is a     8     (wonder ) way to bring poetry to the people.     9    ( hopeful ), in the next two years everyone in Boston     10    ( come ) across a poem in their daily lives at least once or twice a month, ” Georges added.

7 . There are many interesting stories about Chinese fans in historical records, novels, and legends.    1    He was a famous military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. And there are also stories about the plantain fan belonging to Princess Iron Fan, a fictional character in the classic novel Journey to the West.

    2     For example, men of letters preferred folding fans, military strategists preferred feather fans, girls of noble (贵族的) families liked circular fans while ordinary people usually used palm leaf fans.

The reason why fans evolved into artwork was largely related to men of letters, who liked to paint or write poetry on fans, and gave them to their friends as gifts.    3    That eventually led to fans becoming artwork.

It has been popular to draw fans or write poems about fans, and paint or write on paper fans. There is a story about Wang Xizhi, known for his Chinese calligraphy. Wang once saw an elderly lady selling fans. The business was not so good. She looked very upset, so Wang decided to help her.    4    On seeing Wang’s calligraphy on those fans, people all competed to buy them, which sold out very quickly.

It has been popular to paint on fans since Tang Dynasty. Artwork on fans is also a unique type of Chinese painting. As space is limited, the painters pay close attention to the composition on the half-circle fan.    5    

For thousands of years, Chinese people never stopped innovating fan design, and adopted different materials such as bamboo, paper, bones. They made fans of many shapes, such as circular and square shapes.

    1     (我想邀请你加入) us for a visit to the nearby nursing house next Saturday for the Double Ninth Festival.

    2     (根据安排), we’ ll    3     (花一整个下午包饺子) and doing the cooking with the old people there. We’ll also give a performance to them,     4     (希望使他们开心) . If you are able to come with us, please let me know.

I do hope you will accept my invitation     5     (如果你方便的话). Looking forward to your early reply.

Yours,

Li Hua