1 . My husband and I just spent a week in Paris.    1    So the first thing we did was rent a fantastically expensive sixth-floor apartment the size of a cupboard. It was so tiny that we had to leave our suitcases in the hallway.

The place wasn’t entirely authentic, though. Unlike a normal Parisian apartment, the plumbing (水管) worked.     2    Our building even had a tiny lift with a female voice that said, “Ouverture des portes,” in perfect French. That is the only French phrase I mastered, and it’s a shame I don’t have much use for it.

Parisians are different from you and me. They never look lazy or untidy. As someone noted in this paper a couple of weeks ago, they eat great food and never gain weight.     3     French strawberries do not taste like cardboard. Instead, they explode in your mouth like little flavor bombs.

    4     On our first morning in Paris, I went around the corner to the food market to pick up some groceries. I bought a handful of perfectly ripe small strawberries and a little sweet melon. My husband and I agreed they were the best fruit we had ever eaten. But they cost $18!

In France, quality of life is much more important than efficiency.

You can tell this by cafés life. French cafés are always crowded.    5    When do these people work? The French take their 35-hour workweek seriously — so seriously that some labor unions recently struck a deal with a group of companies limiting the number of hours that independent contractors can be on call.

3 . Besides “wow” and “great”, what else would you say when flying over the Earth in space? Samantha Cristoforetti, the first Italian female astronaut in space, posted several lines of a famous ancient Chinese composition on Twitter to share her joy.

She first wrote in Chinese, and then attached an accurate translation of the lines in both Italian and English to help more people understand. “Looking up, I see the immensity of the cosmos; bowing my head, I look at the multitude of the world. The gaze flies, the heart expands, the joy of the senses can reach its peak, and indeed, this is true happiness,” it says. Two days before she landed on Earth, the beauty of space and Chinese literature resonated on her Twitter account. Before long, her posts went viral on Twitter with thousands of retweets, likes and replies.

The text she quoted is from the Preface to Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion,a Chinese calligraphy masterpiece by Wang Xizhi (303-361) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420). She also attached three photos taken in space of China’s Bohai Bay and the day-night view of Beijing. “The poem and views are both magnificent as well as healing. If everyone could enjoy the same sight, a lot of pain in the world would be ‘dissipated’,” one user comments.

As the first Italian female astronaut in space, Cristoforetti carried out her first space mission on Nov 23, 2014. In 2022, she started the second mission in April and returned to Earth on Friday night after a 127-day stay in orbit.

Cristoforetti has also been active in Sino-European cooperation in the field of manned spaceflight. She was a working group member with Chinese counterparts to define and implement cooperation in the field of astronaut operations. When not traveling for work, she is an eager reader and has a great passion for languages. Speaking clear Chinese, Cristoforetti once told the media that the teams from China and Europe were working very well together in the field of astronaut training.

8 . Every month, Zhang Lingling holds a party with her friends in a KTV room. At the party, all the people wear hanfu—a type of dress worn by the_________ Han people—and sing songs that are _________ by traditional instruments or inspired by ancient poems. “I’m _________ by the clothes, songs and games based on traditional culture. I’m not buying the items just because they are Chinese—they just satisfy my aesthetic needs,” she_________ China Daily.

Like Zhang, there are many young people who have a_________for traditional Chinese culture. _________ the reason behind this fascination with traditional culture, Ji Fangfang, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it’s_________traditional culture is the best way for young people to_________their national identity.

_________some prefer inheriting (继承) traditional Chinese culture, others are creating on it to be more__________to the young generation. Pop culture__________ Yu Yang is one of them. When he made a (an) __________of products featuring the ancient God of Fortune, the god wore __________ Chinese shoes and a cap, and had a microphone in his hand. “Pop culture is a __________ language. I hoped more people would accept and love my work and __________Chinese culture through my art pieces,” he said in an interview with China Daily.

Traditional Chinese culture has become increasingly popular among youths, who are taking greater interest in historical and cultural sites and relics     1    Museum(the Forbidden City), the Sanxingdui cultural artifacts(second millennium BC objects found at the Sanxingdui archaeological site in Sichuan province)and the representation of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes through virtual reality.

Guochao, meaning “national trend”, is a manifestation(表现)of culture     2    (distinguish) by a combination of Chinese cultural elements and modernity. It is related to the development and sale of cultural products and promotion of the cultural industry. Surprisingly, this trend     3    (fuel) by the younger generation’s interest in traditional Chinese culture.

As symbols of Chinese tradition, the priceless antiques and magnificent paintings in the Palace Museum, and the awe-inspiring caves, ethereal(空灵的；优雅的；超凡的)murals(壁画)and amazing statues     4    make up the Mogao Grottoes have attracted visitors from around the world.

However, sometimes tourism and the endless stream of visitors do more harm than good to historical and cultural sites     5    their fragile environs(周围环境)and invaluable but delicate treasures they are a repository of.

With advanced technology     6    (make) its way to more and more museums, the authorities are taking innovative measures to preserve the historical and cultural treasures displayed there. For example, many museums are using digital technology to attract more visitors.

This has prompted     7    increasing number of people, especially youths, to learn more about traditional Chinese culture. In particular, digital technology—along with virtual reality, and high-definition videos and photographs—is being used     8    (offer) tourists a virtual tour of the murals, caves and statues of the Mogao Grottoes.

Many used to believe     9    digital technology imperils traditional cultural expression. But the fact is, digital technology allows people access     10    information and visuals without having to take the “trouble” of visiting the real site. Through data transportation, it facilitates effortless reproduction of the original without any loss of quality. No wonder digital technology is regarded as the epitome of creativity.