Maze Fist, also known as Mi Zhong Quan, is a traditional martial art from China. It     1     (know) for its clever footwork and advanced techniques.

Maze Fist masters use complex footwork     2     involves constantly changing directions and angles,     3     (make) it hard for opponents to predict and attack. They are also skilled at tricking opponents with tricky movements and mis-directions. Besides its     4     (effective) in fighting, Maze Fist also focuses on developing the mind and body. In fact, apart     5     improving physical strength, endurance and coordination, Maze Fist trainers also build discipline and concentration when practising.

Deeply     6     (root) in Chinese culture and history, Maze Fist represents Chinese martial arts’ wisdom and philosophy, emphasizing the balance between body and mind. Practicing Maze Fist leads to personal growth and self-improvement.     7     (master) Maze Fist, one needs dedication and continuous practice. It not only provides just a means to defend oneself but also     8     (promote) one’s self-discipline, respect, and humility. And it offers both     9     (practice) self-defense skills and a path to personal growth. All in all,     10     you are interested in martial arts or want an all-round approach to well-being, Maze Fist ensures you a rewarding experience.

There is a Chinese story of an old man in his 90s working with his family to remove mountains to connect the outside world     1     others’ doubts. The story has inspired the Chinese to unite and overcome difficulty with     2     (determine) and hard work.

The story became a reality in Lin County, Henan Province in the 1960s. A 1,500-kilometer-long waterway along the cliffs (悬崖) of the Taihang Mountains     3     (build) by the local people within 10 years, bringing precious water from the Zhanghe River in the bordering Shanxi Province to the drought-hit area.

Initially, finding drinking water was     4     headache for residents: People had to fetch water from five kilometers away every day.     5     (ease) this area’s water shortages, the local government decided to construct a canal across the mountains,    6    construction was a remarkable engineering achievement.

People tied ropes around their waists and     7     (hang) off cliffs, drilling holes in rock, and then dug canals with simple tools. From February 1960 to July 1969, they leveled 1,250 mountain tops and dug 211 tunnels (隧道),    8     (remove) 22.25 million cubic meters of earth and rocks.

Their efforts gained multiple     9     (benefit). It was the canal that     10       (dramatic) changed the life of the local people, irrigating (灌溉) 36,000 hectares of land and solving water supply difficulties to some 567,000 people. Their deeds have been hailed (称颂) as the “spirit of the Red Flag Canal.”

The Analects of Confucius (《论语》) records the words and deeds of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius,     1     (write) somewhere between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago. It     2     (highlight) the political and moral ideas of Confucius and Confucianism.

Ren is a core concept in the book adopted by Confucius with original meaning of loving others.     3     (represent) a high moral standard, it includes all virtues. Confucius stresses that self-discipline is     4     must for practicing the rules of propriety (礼) and achieving ren.

Society has developed greatly and huge changes     5     (occur) as well after the birth of the Analects of Confucius. Nevertheless, it contains lots of ideas beyond the passage of time, some of     6     are still relevant today. For example, Confucius analyzes the relationship between learning and thinking by saying that learning without thinking leads to confusion while thinking without learning ends in puzzlement. Besides, the Analects of Confucius also     7     (vivid) shows the images of Confucius’s students. Zi Lu is straightforward, Zi Gong is smart, and Yan Hui is mild and capable. Confucius insists on treating students     8     individuals to achieve full potential, which is     9     (consist)with some of the modern educational thoughts.

The Analects of Confucius is a fine example of world literature, and the publication of its     10     (version) in various languages will further enhance cultural exchanges between China and the world.

5 . The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American tradition that dates back to an immigration (移民) wave in the 1900s. The Italian American tradition of the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” has appeared in movies and recently in the hit show The Bear. But talking of the origin, you’ll get many different answers. The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a dear tradition to many Italian Americans who enjoy at least seven different seafood dishes on Christmas Eve.

A vast majority of Italian immigrants to the United States were from rural Southern Italy at the turn of the 19th century. They came to America because there were jobs from building railroads to skyscrapers. Friends and families found success and brought their loved ones to the U.S. Some say fish was chosen for the Feast because it was plentiful for impoverished families in Southern Italy. Others say the sea represented Italian Americans’ connection between their old and new homes.

Writer and director Robert Tinnell made a comic in 2004 about his experience with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, which he later made into a 2019 movie. Growing up in North Central West Virginia, he fondly remembers his great grandmother organizing the Feast. After she died, his grandfather and other men in the family took over. That particular manly activity is something that the first Italian immigrants would have also performed out of necessity: men came to America first, without their wives and daughters.

However, knowledge about where to shop, when to prepare, how to cook, the history behind the meal and family traditions soon became the responsibility of mothers to pass down to their daughters, says Di Giovine, a professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. They are also likely the ones who have the final say in making changes to recipes. Over time, families often adjust the menu to make things easier, cheaper, more abundant, and more accommodating of dietary restrictions.

The southern mountainous area of Anhui province is home to old villages that seek to burst with new vitality. Among them, Xidi and Hongcun villages,     1     (declare) by UNESCO to be World Heritage sites in 2000 for their outstanding preservation of ancient rural architecture, welcome visitors who come to appreciate     2     (they) distinctive Huizhou-style houses and a full display of the Hui culture. They feel as if immersed in a traditional Chinese ink painting.

This level of preservation could not be achieved     3     the participation of generations of local residents. In the old days, street dealers     4     (forbid) from letting their shoulder poles(肩担)touch the ground in order to protect the bluestone laid on all the streets and alleys here.

    5     a local folk rhyme(民谣)says, “One is not lucky to be born in Huizhou. At 13 or 14 he is kicked out of his hometown to make     6     living.” It indicates     7     hard the people of Huizhou once struggled. So far, some customs have remained and newly integrated with tourism,     8     (offer) glimpses into the lives of the ancient Huizhou people. “This symbolizes the     9     (combine) of intangible with tangible cultural heritage.” A local official says. He also suggests that the old villages explore and find their own unique and marketable themes to fully showcase their     10     (culture) charm.

8 . In China, tea has become an important part of everyday life for thousands of years. As the tea-processing methods and tea culture have evolved over the years, tea sets have also changed to meet the practical and cultural needs.

During the Tang Dynasty(618~907AD), tea leaves were traded across the country and Asia. For the convenience of transportation and storage, tea leaves were pressed into bricks. To prepare tea, drinkers had to cut them into small pieces and boil them in heat-resistant teapots.

By the Song Dynasty(960-1279), drinkers started to turn the hard bricks into powders (粉末) that could be whipped (搅打) in a cup with boiled water. This whipped tea is most commonly associated with Japanese tea ceremonies today.

By the 1500s, tea bricks gave way to the form of rolled leaves. This innovation led to the invention and use of teapots as we know them today. These teapots originally came from the Yi Xing region of China and were soon copied throughout the world. Then Japanese teapot-makers moved the handle from the side to the top of the teapots.

Tea finally reached Europe in the 1600s, along with the necessary tea sets made in Japan and China. As English teapot-makers began to adapt the tea sets to their country men’s tastes, they eventually added a handle to the tea bowl because of the English habit of drinking hot black tea, which was consumed at higher temperatures. The size of teacups also grew to accommodate milk and sugar in their tea.

By the early 1900s, innovations in tea drinking became an American affair. The most revolutionary one was the tea bag, which was accidentally commercialized by Thomas Sullivan. He had been sending customers tea wrapped in silk bags. Rather than take the leaves out of the bags, as Sullivan intended, the customers put the bags into their teapots instead. Not only did the tea bags push the teapot back to the sidelines of tea service, they were also too large for teacups and led to the modern practice of drinking tea from mugs.