Sometimes referred to as the Thailand Water Festival, Songkran is an annual event that marks the     1     (begin) of the Thai New Year. It’s the     2     (large) celebration throughout the whole country.

The festival kicks off     3     April 13 and usually lasts three days though festivities can start early or end later in some cities. The holiday’s main focus is about moving forward — in fact, the word Songkran comes from a phrase in     4     Sanskrit language that means “passage of the sun”.

Water plays a major role in the festival.     5     (symbolical) it washes away the previous year so people can get ready for the next one.

Many families wake up early during Songkran and visit Buddhist temples,     6     they bring offerings such as food and listen to monks as they preach. People sprinkle clean or scented water over statues of Buddha to represent purification and good fortune. Younger     7     (visit) also pour water on the hands of elderly relatives and friends     8     (show) their respect and ask for blessings in the coming year.

Honoring family traditions and     9     (religion) practices are important, but so is having some fun. Outside, Songkran     10     (celebrate) with street parties featuring loud music and a giant friendly water fight!

A concert was co-staged by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra last week in Suzhou in east China’s Jiangsu Province.

In 1973, the Philadelphia Orchestra made its historic China tour,     1     marked a thaw(破冰)in the China-U.S. cultural exchange before the normalization of     2     two countries’ diplomatic relations.

“We     3    (perform)Jasmine Flower since our first visit in 1973, “ said Ryan Fleur, executive director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. ”We try to demonstrate how we care about the     4     (friend)with the Chinese people. “

The association between the Philadelphia Orchestra and Suzhou began in January this year, when a concert     5    (organize) by the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre, the Philadelphia Orchestra and other institutions     6    (hold) in New York City and Philadelphia     7    (celebrate)the Lunar New Year. Themed ”Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems, the concert brought the Tang Dynasty(618-907)back     8     life with ancient poems interpreted by international     9    (musician).

The resonance (共鸣) of this theme was further deepened during this     10    (late) trip when members of the orchestra visited a temple in Suzhou where some Tang poems were written, an experience that deeply touched their hearts.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Sugar painting, one symbol of traditional Chinese art, uses hot liquid sugar to create objects on a marble (大理石) or metal surface. As     1     unique art form in China, it is said to go back around 600 years ago to the Ming Dynasty. Over time, its charm is gaining more     2     (recognize) and attention.

    3     is so breathtaking about sugar painting is its production process. With hot sugar poured from a small in spoon onto a flat surface, the outline of the figure     4     (draw) with a thick stream of sugar. Then     5     (relative) thinner sugar is added to support the outline and fill in the figure of the body in     6     (combine) patterns, supported by a wooden stick. The painter has to work quickly     7     (make) sure he gets every shape just right before the sugar cools down.

Today the chance to appreciate this classic art form is much     8     (small) than it once was, but it still has the power to amaze     9     (tourist) who come across talented street artists who make these amazing creations. Hopefully, sugar painting, whether it serves as a delicacy     10     an artistic treasure, will continue to last for generations.

The audience and viewership for this year’s Spring Festival TV gala, which was aired on Feb 9, Lunar New Year’s Eve or Chinese Lunar New Year, both reached record     1    (high), according to ratings statistics.

    2    (support) by ultra-high-definition production, the gala was telecast on TV screens, public large screens, and mobile devices. A total of 250 million people watched the live streaming of the show via     3    (they) mobile phones with the total views reaching 420 million, up by 37.97 percent and 57.58 percent,     4     (respective), compared with 2023. The China Global Television Network (CGTN) worked with over 2,100 media organizations in about 200 countries and regions to live broadcast or report the show in 68 languages,     5    (result) in over 1.5 billion instances of viewing,    6     increase of 12.69 percent year on year.

This year, the gala, in addition     7    Beijing, had four branch venues. Audience enjoyed a diversity of local cultural elements from those places, such as folk     8     (music) instruments and folk dances.

Since its broadcast in 1983, the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala     9     (become) an essential part of celebrations in the country to greet the Chinese New Year. As a major entertainment during Lunar New Year’s Eve, the gala marks the joyous moment     10     families gather together to celebrate.

China is a country with a rich cultural heritage (遗产)     1     (stretch) back thousands of years. However, with the passage of time and other factors such as natural disasters and wars, many of its cultural treasures have been damaged or destroyed. In recent years, China has used technology to protect its cultural heritage through digitalization so that it can     2     (preserve) for future generations to enjoy and study.

One of the most notable     3     (example) of China’s digital preservation effort is the Dunhuang Mogao Cave Project, the goal of which is     4     (create) a digital profile of the Mogao Caves with the help of 3D scanning and virtual reality software. Another example is the Palace Museum Project. Through the use of technology, the Palace Museum is now able to showcase the relics to visitors from all around the world     5     risking damage to the precious artworks.

Digital technology has the potential to aid in the restoration of damaged artworks. A 3D printing technology enabled Chinese researchers to recreate the cultural relics, including ancient Buddha statues and     6     bronze (青铜) lion from the Qing Dynasty.

    7     (additional), China’s digitalization of cultural heritage has been instrumental in research and education. The digital achievements have enabled researchers to study the artworks in greater detail     8     ever before.

Digitalization has made cultural heritage more     9     (access) to the public, particularly to people living in rural areas     10     would otherwise be unable to visit these sites in person.

The inhabitants in Zhanglang Village in Yunnan Province, all of the Blang ethnic group, who build their houses in the forest,    1    (maintain) traditional methods of growing and making tea for generations.

The village has almost no access to public transportation,     2    its isolation has allowed it to maintain much of its original culture. Locals also continue the ancient rituals of praying to and warshiping the God of Tea.

Zhanglang’s younger generations have followed    3    their parents’ and grandparents’ footsteps,    4    (stay) in the village to grow and process tea. By using different processing methods, the leaves from one tree can be turned into multiple types of tea, two of    5    are white tea and pu’er tea.

Warm and humid Yunnan provides    6    great climate for tea growth and some tea trees in the province are more than 1000 years old. Their continued    7    (present) is evident of the long history of tea growing in Yunnan.

79-year-old Su Guowen has spent decades working to protect old tea trees and guiding villagers    8    (plant) tea in a more organic way. He    9    (star) in the video used by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to apply for the inscriptions onto UNESCO’s intangible heritage list. In the video, he said, “We have taken care of the tea trees, forests and ecology as    10    (care) as we take care of our eyes.”