International Friendship Day is a day when friends show     1    (appreciate) for one another.

In 1919, International Friendship Day     2    (found) by Hallmark. It was intended to be a day for people     3     (celebrate) their friendship by sending each other cards. By 1940 the market had dried up, and finally, it died out completely. In April 2011, the United Nations     4    (official) recognized 30th July as International Friendship Day, although most countries still celebrate it     5     the first Sunday of August!

On International Friendship Day, taking a trip together to celebrate is an excellent way to make the day all about each other. You can visit places     6     you first met or go to wherever you promised each other to go. With so many people     7    (live) such busy lives, however, not everyone can plan a big day out for each other. But that’s what makes International Friendship Day such a     8    (wonder) time. Best friends understand that life often gets in the way, so they won’t be upset if there’s no big celebration in their honor. Moreover, with     9     rise of social media, we become more     10    (connect) than ever before, so International Friendship Day just gives everyone the chance to get together.

As one of the three traditional dyeing (染色)     1     (technique), batik (蜡染) is a folk art     2     has been passed from generation to generation by the ethnic groups in the southwest of China. Today, it is still popular     3     some ethnic groups, such as the Buyi, the Miao and the Tujia, who     4     (be) fond of using the technique for decorating coats, dresses, skirts, quilts, blankets, sheets, handbags     5     so on.

A batik craftsman uses a wax knife     6     (make) of copper to apply hot liquid wax on a white piece of cloth for     7     (draw) geometric patterns or symbolic flowers, birds, fish, insects, etc. Next the cloth is soaked in a vat (缸) of indigo dye (blue as the major color). After that, the dyed cloth     8     (put) into boiling water to remove the wax and then it is rinsed to get the final product with patterns on it. Batik     9     (general) involves two colors only—blue and white. Nevertheless, it has a vivid, simple and layered look,     10     (display) a distinctive ethnic style.

6 . What makes a calligrapher(书法家)one of the best of all time? The answer can be found in Weidu Fu, written by Zuo Si, an ancient Chinese writer. He wrote: “Accumulate in the way the clouds gather, and release as smoothly as the rain drops.” The description properly summarizes the way Chen Hailiang presents his calligraphy momentum(气势)on paper in a gentle, relaxed manner. It has led to the 55-year-old being considered one of the leading calligraphers of his generation.

Chen has received many accolades, including several Lanting Awards, the highest prize in the field of calligraphy.“Still, I have room to achieve maturity, even at my age,” he said at the opening of his one-man exhibition, Artistry of Original Strokes, running at the National Art Museum of China through Tuesday.

On show are more than 90 pieces of work, displaying Chen’s various works. There are self-composed poems and couplets, as well as copies of some famous, historical calligraphic masterpieces. It offers a glimpse of Chen’s efforts with different styles of calligraphy and his mastery of the cursive script (caoshu).

His accomplishments are grounded in years of hard work. “If someone truly wants to be a professional in the field,” Chen says, “they should at least practice eight hours a day. I sometimes practice much longer than that, and for the rest of the day, I write and read about calligraphy, or articles on the relationship between calligraphy and other forms of Chinese art.”

Liu Heng, a famous scholar of the China Calligraphers Association, says, “ Chen has achieved a technical brilliance, but he is far from being content with copying the styles of those great artists. He has been trying to establish his own style, and he has done it.”

Nowruz, also known as the Iranian New Year or the Persian New Year, is a holiday     1     (wide) celebrated in Asian countries like Iran. The holiday is believed to have been celebrated since 555 BC. But it was not until 2010 that the United Nations General Assembly officially     2     (recognize) it as a holiday.

Being     3     holiday marking the first day of spring and the renewal of nature, Nowruz usually falls around March 20th on the Gregorian calendar. As with most     4     (holiday), it comes with its own set of traditions. They include the “Haft Sin” table,     5     is made up of seven symbolic items starting with the Farsi letter “S”, all representing a     6     (vary) of hopes for the new year, including health, wealth and prosperity. People also welcome the new year     7     sparkling (闪亮的) homes and new clothes. They visit friends and neighbors and share meals and host parties. Communities come together     8     (celebrate) the beginning of spring and do so in hopes they will be surrounded by healthy and clean surroundings in the new year.

Nowruz plays a significant role in     9     (strengthen) the ties among peoples. Its traditions reflect the ancient and     10     (culture) customs of the civilizations of the East and West, and they’ve influenced those civilizations through the interchange of human values for thousands of years.

10 . The day following Thanksgiving — commonly referred to as Black Friday — has become one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the United States.

It is believed by many that the term Black Friday comes from the concept that businesses operate at a financial loss, or are “in the red,” until the day after Thanksgiving, when massive sales finally allow them to turn a profit, or put them “in the black.” However, this is untrue.

A more accurate explanation of the term dates back to the early 1960s, when police officers in Philadelphia began using the phrase “Black Friday” to describe the mess that resulted when large numbers of suburban tourists came into the city to begin their holiday shopping and, in some years, attend Saturday’s annual Army-Navy football game. The huge crowds created a headache for the police, who worked longer than usual as they dealt with traffic jams, accidents, shoplifting, and other issues.

Within a few years, the term Black Friday had taken root in Philadelphia. City businessmen attempted to put a prettier face on the day by calling it “Big Friday.”

In more recent years, Black Friday has been followed by other shopping holidays, including Small Business Saturday, which encourages shoppers to visit local retailers, and Cyber Monday, which promotes shopping online. Giving Tuesday has also appeared to encourage charitable donations.

Historically, Black Friday has yet another meaning, one unrelated to shopping. In 1869 Wall Street financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempted to corner (垄断) the nation’s gold market at the New York Gold Exchange. On Friday, September 24, the government’s control caused their plan to fall apart, making thousands of Americans lose all their money.