Data from an e-commerce platform show that searches     2     dragon-related goods via its online marketplace have reached 23 million.    3     is said that since January, goods with dragon-themed elements, such as daily necessities, alcohol and gold jewelry,     4    (prefer) by consumers.The purchasing excitement is expected to     5    (huge) boost consumer confidence and improve the recovery of consumption．

Purchases by the post-1990s and post-2000s generations accounted for nearly 55%, while consumers in Guangdong province, Beijing, Jiangsu province in that order,     6    (be) the top three spenders on dragon-featured items.Because the dragon is an important symbol of Chinese traditional culture     7     good luck, Chinese consumers are expressing their hopes for     8     better life in the new year.

“Brands should capitalize on traditional Chinese culture to launch more innovative     9    (product),” a research fellow said,     10    (stress) that Spring Festival is the traditional festival Chinese people attach the most importance to, and it’s also a peak season for consumption.

The Chinese zodiac, also known as Sheng Xiao or Shu Xiang, is a     1     (repeat) circle of 12 years. Each year     2     (represent) by an animal. Chinese New Year 2024 is a year of the Loong.

Chinese Zodiac Loong is the     3     (five) of the 12 zodiac animals, following the Rot, Ox, Tiger and Rabbit. People born in the year of the Loong — an animal no one knows if it existed in real world—are enveloped in mystery, and very charming.

Back in the pre-Qin period over 2,200 years ago, there was already the Chinese zodiac signs theory. So it is     4     (reason) that Chinese Zodiac years are in agreement with the beginning of Chinese Lunar New Year. If you have an idea of Lunar Calendar, you will know     5     Chinese zodiac year often starts from late January and ends in middle February of the next year.

Therefore, to see what your Chinese zodiac animal is,     6     to confirm whether you are a Loong, you need to change your Gregorian calendar birthday to Lunar Calendar of the year you were born. For example, if you were born     7     February 16, 1988 (a year of the Loong), the Lunar New Year’s Eve, which was very close to Loong year, but you are a Rabbit.

    8     is also worth mentioning is that if two people were born in the different Loong years, they may have very different     9     (personality), and horoscope, due to the Five Elements, which are Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Each element     10     (come) in a 60-year cycle.

Chinese holidays and festivals are quite different     1     holidays and festivals in other countries. We have many     2     (tradition) festivals and national holidays such as Chinese New Year (or the Spring Festival), the Lantern Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. The     3     important one for the Chinese is the Spring Festival. It is     4     January 1st (lunar calendar). On the Eve of the Spring Festival, all family members have a big     5    (dinner) together and eat dumplings for good luck. The Lantern Festival is on January 15th (lunar calendar). It makes the end of the Spring Festival. People watch lantern shows and eat Tangyuan on this day. Qingming is also     6     (call) Tomb-sweeping Day, usually comes on April. It is a day for the living to show love and respect to their dead friends     7    relatives. People sweep the tombs (墓碑) and put food and wine in     8     of the tombs. The Dragon Boat Festival is on May 5th (lunar calendar). It is a day to commemorate (纪念) Qu Yuan, a great poet in ancient China. People eat rice dumplings (Zongzi) and     9     (watch) Dragon Boat races. The Mid-Autumn Festival is on August 15th (lunar calendar). On this day, people watch the moon     10     eat moon cake.

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。

Driven by a great passion for guqin,     1     is an ancient Chinese instrument, Li Xiangting, a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing     2     (devote) nearly 70 years to mastering and promoting it since his first encounter with it.

In 1958, Li became the only gugin major in the Traditional Chinese Instruments Department. Given that guqin was     3     (relative) unknown, Li was often ignored. Everyone considered it out of date,     4     he thought it deserved an important position and was determined to make it     5     (appreciate) by everyone.

In order to introduce it     6     a global audience, Li innovated while honoring the instrument’s rich traditions. Later, he also produced teaching videos,     7     (publish) books, and released albums, significantly boosting the instrument’s     8     (popular).

In the following years, more enthusiasts and musicians like Li worked on the art. With     9     (they) efforts, the UNESCO recognized the art as an intangible (非物质的) heritage of humanity in 2003. Moreover, his daughter, Li Pengpeng, has followed in her father’s footsteps,     10     (serve) as an ambassador in promoting traditional Chinese culture.

The dragon, or loong in Chinese, is the only imaginary creature among the 12 Chinese zodiac signs (生肖). It has been present in legends for thousands of years, and     1    (recognize) as a national totem (图腾) and has a long-held spiritual importance in Chinese culture.

According to the legends, the dragon is capable of changing     2    (it) size and visibility at will. It can be found flying through the clouds on the spring equinox (chunfen), or    3    (hide) in water on the autumn equinox (qiufen). Its     4    (mystery) powers—particularly its control over rain—     5    (be) central to agricultural society. The lucky creature was historically associated with the East,    6     used as a symbol to represent imperial power, explaining the significance of the dragon in Chinese culture.

Dragons can be found throughout ancient Chinese art. The jade Jue dragon from the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology     7    (date) back around 7,000 years to the Neolithic period between 5,500 BC to 5,000 BC. It is     8     object from the late Hongshan culture period. It has a large head, with pointed ears and protruding (突出的) jaws. Jue objects are widely believed to be the earliest     9    (image) of the dragon, and archaeologists have supposed that the image could     10    (original) have been based on a pig, bear or even a silkworm.

A group of dancers performed the traditional Chinese Puning Yingge folk dance in London last Saturday     1    (celebrate) Chinese New Year and offer people a cultural feast.

    2    (hold) a pair of short sticks, the performers, with their faces painted, jumped and swung the sticks     3    (skillful) while walking and dancing, all to the sound of drums, gongs, and shouts. The 16 dancers come from the Chaoshan region of South China’s Guangdong province, the place     4     the dance originated, and traveled to England to spread     5    (wish) of good fortune in the Year of the Dragon to people in the United Kingdom.

The Puning Yingge dance, which is listed as national intangible cultural heritage in China, dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and     6    (consider) the dance of warriors because of its close association     7     the classic novel about Chinese heroism Water Margin. Through a     8    (combine) of opera, dance, and martial arts, the dance evokes(唤起)the fighting spirit of the characters in the story, said Chen Laifa, a nationally     9    (recognize) inheritor(继承人)of the Puning Yingge dance and leader of the team of performers.

Many members of the dance team are not full-time performers,     10     ordinary people who earn their living by doing a range of jobs, including car detailing, running online stores, and managing small businesses, Chen said.

Harmony is a core value of China’s Hehe culture, which is    1     (wide) appreciated in modern Chinese society.

The term “Hehe” (和合)     2     (consist) of two Chinese characters that have the same pronunciation but different meanings: the first means harmony, and the second means convergence. In short, Hehe culture involves    3     (seek) common ground while reserving differences, and it means harmonious coexistence and coordinated development. Liuchixiang, a 2-meter-wide alley in Anhui’s Tongcheng City, is a location in China    4    has its own story of harmony.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi over 300 years ago, high-ranking official ZhangYing received    5    letter from his family in Tongcheng, his hometown. In their letter, they told Zhang that they had quarreled    6    property boundaries with their neighbor, Wu, and asked for help.

Zhang replied to their letter with a poem: “A letter is written, just for a wall.     7    it moves a meter, what harm is done? The Great Wall still stands tall today, yet    8    (go) is its builder, Emperor Qinshihuang.”

Enlightened by his reply, the Zhang family decided    9     (bring) their walls back by approximately one meter. Deeply moved by their generosity, the Wu family also brought their walls back by a meter, and the two households created a 2-meter-wide alley between their homes for passersby.

The alley is now a popular    10     (attract) that is traversed daily by locals.