The dragon, a famous beast born from fantasy,     1     (exercise) a hold on people’s imagination over centuries. In traditional Chinese culture, a dragon is a symbol of luck, power and high status. They can cause weather changes and bring rainfall to the fields     2     (ensure) rich harvests. Therefore, to symbolize their power, ancient Chinese emperors decorated their clothes     3     dragon patterns. Many Chinese view the dragon as a national symbol,     4     (proud) referring to themselves as “descendants of the dragon”.

    1     February 10, the first day of the Year of the Dragon, the crowd in a public square in London burst into cheers. Sixteen dancers performed the Chaoshan Yingge dance, a traditional Chinese folk dance     2     (celebrate) Chinese New Year. In the Chaoshan region of Guangdong province,     3     the dance originated, people believe it brings good luck for new year. This performance     4     (attract) millions of tourists since 2023.

4 . Guy Noble, one of Australia’s most famous conductors, who conducted the touring concert “East Meets West”, said he’d like to learn more about Chinese music. “I’m impressed by the history and the beauty Chinese music has,” he’s said in an interview recently.

“East Meets West” concert tour in Australia was resumed this year after being postponed twice due to the pandemic. It was hosted in Canberra last Saturday, bringing audiences some well-known Chinese and Western pieces such as Jasmine Flower, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, and The Yellow River.

While it was called “East Meets West”, music from China and the West with the same themes was brought together. Chinese singer Ya Fen and Australian singer Victoria Lambourn performed a duet (二重唱) Hope Betrayed, which was inspired by the Chinese classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions. Noble said he loved the duet as it showed completely different singing styles: traditional Chinese opera style and Western opera style. “They’re not exactly the same, but they came together,” he said.

Having been a professional conductor for more than 20 years, Noble called music an international language. He noted that most music at the concert was about love, which was also an international language. He also spoke highly of some Chinese musicians, such as pianist Lang Lang who he thought has inspired many kids in China to learn music.

Noble admitted his knowledge of Chinese culture was limited. He said that conducting the Canberra concert was “an experience that I’ve enjoyed”, which made him more interested in discovering the background and history of the music, as well as the stories behind it. Noble is ready to create more things that can involve dance or calligraphy or some of the other aspects of Chinese culture, and put them together with music.

China has a large number of global cultural heritage(遗产) sites     1     (recognize) by UNESCO. Over the past decades, great efforts    2     (make) by the country to preserve them. These cultural heritage sites enrich our daily lives in countless ways,     3    we experience them directly or through the medium of a connected device. We believe that China    4     (apply) modern technologies to the restoration and preservation of more cultural heritage sites in the years to come.

Mid-Autumn Festival, or Mid-autumn Day, is the second grandest festival in China after the Chinese New Year. It is named so for that it is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month,     1     is always in the middle of the autumn season in China.

The day is also known as the Moon Festival. In Chinese culture, full moon     2     (symbolize) reunion, so that they reunite with their families     3     celebrations. They worship the moon together, appreciate the moon together, enjoy reunion dinner and even share one mooncake     4     (celebrate) the reunion.

World Book Day falls on April 23 every year in memory of William Shakespeare. It celebrates the     1     (wonder) and mysterious (神秘的) power of books. Different countries have different ways to celebrate World Book Day. For children in the UK, it is a big day     2     they dress up as their favorite characters from books. They spend the day reading books, telling stories and doing lots of fun things. In Australia, the government sends new books to schools on World Book Day and encourages parents     3     (read) together with their children.