1 . Maaseik, a city in Belgium, has opened an exhibition of about 200 relics and treasures of the Tang Dynasty(618 AD - 907 AD), showing China’s golden age of ancient civilisation (文明) .

The exhibition, which opened on May 11 and will continue until Oct. 20, is part of the city’s effort to create a centre of Chinese culture. Belgian Princess Mathilde formally announced the beginning of the exhibition, titled: China’s Golden Age: Treasures from the Tang Dynasty”.

The items, including gold plates and silver wares for royal families, Tang Dynasty tri-colour glazed figurines (小雕像) of women and paintings, have recently been on exhibit in the Dutch city of Assen.

All of the exhibited items are from Shaanxi Province, China. Its provincial capital Xi’an was the most populous (人口众多的) city in the world and once the capital of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang period is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilisation-requal to, or better than that of the earlier Han Dynasty(202 BC-220 AD), a golden age of Chinese culture.

Several years ago, said Dirk Verlaak, vice-mayor of Maaseik, his city and Assen teamed up to host history and culture exhibitions of China’s first two imperial dynasties, the Qin (221 BC-207 BC) and the Han. The Chinese relics and treasures attracted 350, 000 visitors in Assen and 190, 000 in Maaseik.

“Westerners don’t know much about China’s ancient civilisation and history, and we hope the new exhibition in Maaseik can attract more visitors,” said Verlaak.

3 . Dongba，literally meaning "wise man"，plays a major role in Nakhi people's lives and culture. They are intellectuals with wide _______, covering fields like music, dance, classics, writing, history, painting, medicine and fortunetelling.

Li Xiuhua learned Dongba papermaking from his father He Zhiben, a famous master of Dongba culture after marrying He Yonghong at 22, and became the only female inheritor (继承人) of the national-level intangible _______ heritage. Dongba paper, which is used to _______ Dongba scriptures (经文) and draw pictures for the Nakhi people, is a kind of _______, ethnic handmade paper. The material for making the paper is _______ resistant to insects, so Dongba paper is bug-proof (防虫的) and can be _______ for a very long time.

He and Li couple make about 7,000 pieces of paper each year in their spare time, _______ work on the farm and in the house that keeps them busy, and part-time tour guide work. They _______ less than 20,000 yuan from papermaking each year, almost enough for the tuition fees for their two kids _______ in the town, but far from the whole household expenses.

__________ papermaking doesn't bring in much money, His family __________ the tradition and keeps making the most __________ Dongba paper totally by hand. They take __________ in teaching other villagers and visitors everything about Dongba culture, from papermaking to Dongba characters.

Li and He have long dreamed of __________ a private Dongba culture museum but they __________ have enough money to do so.

Li won't give up her dream of __________ Dongba culture. Many people try to __________ her to use the modern way to make paper. Li knows it can cut __________. However, as a member of a Dongba family, Li will never __________ their tradition for money. Li will try her best to set up their museum. Li knows it's hard，but she's __________ in the future.

4 . The American Thanksgiving holiday is on Thursday. Many people will get together with family members for a big meal. It is a time to celebrate family, friends and everything there is to be thankful for.

But some people do not look forward to spending a lot of time with their family. It can be stressful. Family members can start arguments with each other. Some people at the meal may have conflicting (冲突的) political beliefs. Conflict can even find its way into the kitchen, where all the cooking takes place. There is a saying called “too many cooks in the kitchen.” This means that sometimes, if many people are trying to do a project together, it does not turn out as well as it could have if only one person were in charge. That is why people are offering Thanksgiving survival ideas on Twitter.

Rick Irwin had one. “Say that you’re letting the dog out and use it as an excuse to disappear for several hours.” Tracy Brooks had a suggestion for limiting Thanksgiving dinner responsibilities. She wrote: “Be the last to arrive and the first to leave.”

Since there is so much food at the Thanksgiving meal, Christine Turner suggested forgetting about your diet and wearing loose clothing. But, one fitness expert said people do not have to give up on their diets during the big meal. They can prepare foods that have few calories (卡路里). For example, they could bake some foods instead of frying them in oil.

But other people are looking forward to the holiday. Sara Marie Brenner wondered why people need to “survive” Thanksgiving, at all. She wrote: “I enjoy the holiday.”

5 . In the United States, it is important to be on time , or punctual , for an appointment , a class, a meeting, etc. However, this may not be true in all countries. An American professor discovered the difference while teaching a class in a Brazilian (巴西的) university. The two-hour class was scheduled to begin at 10 A.M. and end at 12. On the first day , when the professor arrived on time, no one was in the classroom. Many students came after 10:30 A.M. Two students came after 11 A.M. Although all the students greeted the professor as they arrived, few apologized for their lateness.Were these students being rude? He decided to study the students’ behavior.

The professor talked to American and Brazilian students about lateness in both an informal and a formal situation:at a lunch with a friend and in a university class, respectively.He gave them an example and asked them how they would react, If they had a lunch appointment with a friend,the average American student defined lateness as 19 minutes after the agreed time. On the other hand, the average Brazilian student felt the friend was late after 33 minutes.

In an American university, students are expected to arrive at the appointed hour.In contrast, in Brazil,neither the teacher nor the students always arrive at the appointed hour.Classes not only begin at the scheduled time in the United States,but also end at the scheduled time.In the Brazilian class, only a few students left the class at 12:00;many remained past 12:30 to discuss the class and ask more questions.While arriving late may not be very important in Brazil , neither is staying late.