Heritage professionals     1     (stress) the role of technology in the protection of cultural heritage at this year’s first deputies’ passage interview on March 5, 2024, just before the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress.

Despite progress     2     (make) in the protection of the Yungang Grottoes, protection with greater use of technology is still     3     they need, said Hang Kan, a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, who is also a researcher with the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

According     4     Hang, the Yungang Grottoes from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) had a huge cost in human, material and financial resources. A consolidation (整合) project on the     5     (danger) rock bodies was carried out for decades and ended in recent years. But the protection efforts may     6     (destroy) as the grottoes were carved in a Jurassic sandstone formation with complex geological conditions, and are threatened by weathering and water leakage.

He mentioned two technological     7     (measure) adopted in the protection of the grottoes were awarded at national-level scientific conferences, and they will intensify technological investment in the research of cave deterioration and     8     (develop) of protective materials in future work.

“Yungang Grottoes are a treasure of traditional Chinese culture,” said Hang. “We will give priority to protection and add more technological measures     9     (protect) them. We will continue to promote the research, display and utilization of the grottoes, do     10     good job in the inheritance of the cultural heritage so that more people can feel the charm of traditional culture.”

What comes to your mind when you think of Beijing? The Forbidden City? Tian’anmen Square? The Temple of Heaven? All these famous landmarks     1     (locate) along the central axis (中轴线). As the best-preserved core area of the old city of Beijing, the central axis is now under     2     (consider) for UNESCO’s World Heritage status.

The central axis refers     3     the “line” that separates the eastern and western parts of Beijing. At 7.8 kilometers long, it runs from Yongding Gate in the south to the Bell Tower and Drum Tower in the north. Construction began in the Yuan Dynasty, and continued during the Ming and Qing     4     (dynasty).

The central axis, like the backbone of Beijing,     5     (smart) organized the palaces, temples, markets and streets in ancient times. It shows the traditional Chinese concept of     6    (respect) the center. This stressed the     7     (important) of imperial power, as the royal palace would be in the central spot. Other important buildings were placed around it. It also shows traditional Chinese ideas like harmony between man and nature and following order. It runs from the south to the north, the same as the direction of a meridian (子午线). The ritual (礼乐) culture     8     started from the Zhou Dynasty stressed balance, symmetry (对称) and order. There are lots of symmetric buildings along the axis. The Forbidden City is the most well-known palace     9     (build) along the central axis.

The central axis is more than     10     material relic. It is also a continuation of the traditional Chinese city layout concept.

4 . Yin Ruins Museum is made up of buildings that stand in a park-like setting in Anyang, Henan Province. The park marks the location of Yin Xu, the ancient capital of the Shang Dynasty. The museum’s buildings have been given the appearance of ancient structures. That makes them fit in tastefully with the surrounding landscape and provides a suitable setting for the cultural relies it displays. These were all unearthed through archaeological digs at the site itself as far back as the 1920s.

Exploration is still ongoing and new archaeological treasures are periodically discovered. The buried relics of Yin Xu form the biggest archaeological site in all of China. Yin Xu once covered an area of about 24 square kilometers and was divided into several different districts, including a palace district, a civil residence district, a workshop district and a tomb district.

Many of the cultural relics that were unearthed during archaeological digs such as bronzes, carved jade objects, pottery, lacquerware and oracle bones are now on display at the museum. A four-legged bronze cauldron(大锅)that was discovered at the site in 1939 is perhaps the single most famous relic that was unearthed from Yin Xu. It was at first known as the Simuwu Ding but is now known as the Houmuwu Ding. It is now on display at the National Museum of China in Beijing but you can see a replica(复制品)of it at Yin Ruins Museum.

Most people that have heard of Yin Xu across the world, however, connect the site with the discovery of the oracle bones with mysterious ancient inscriptions on them. It is believed that farmers in the area had periodically discovered such bones as far back as the Han Dynasty.

As with any other cuisine, appearance, smell and taste are extremely important in enjoying Chinese food. Besides these basic elements, however, there is something unique     1     Chinese cuisine. One of them is the importance of texture (口感). The Chinese appreciate a far     2    (wide) range of textures in their food than most Westerners,     3    (include), for example, slippery, chewy and bouncy textures. Chinese people enjoy using their teeth and tongue to feel food, such as chicken feet and duck tongues. If you want to deepen your     4    (appreciate) of Chinese food, it     5    (recommend) that you order some chicken feet to appreciate what your teeth and tongue are doing while you eat them.

Another element of Chinese cuisine is the art of cutting. So you might like to consider the way that the ingredients are cut     6     how this affects the way they look on the plate. If your meal has been ordered by a Chinese person or someone else who is knowledgeable about the food, you might also notice that there is     7    (probable) a soup that is intended to provide     8     pleasing contrast to the more strongly flavoured dishes. You might also notice that there is at least one lightly flavoured vegetable dish,     9     will help to create a balance d meal that will leave you     10    (relax) afterwards.

7 . Disagreements have arisen in Northern France after many ancient standing stones were damaged to make way for a new hardware chain(五金连锁店).

About 39 stones, dating back at least 7,000 years, were removed from the site, which sits on one of Europe’s most famous prehistoric attractions, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. “The site has been damaged,” local archaeologist Christian Obeltz told AFP.

Carnac, often described as “French Stonehenge”， is famous for its spreading fields of large tall stones. The stones are arranged in long, straight lines and, according to the Carnac Tourist Office, it is the largest collection of this type of standing stone in the world. The two main sites alone, at Menec and Kermarjo, house nearly 3,000 standing monuments covering over 4 miles.

The purpose of this ancient curiosity is still unknown. Many believe it may have had something to do with religion, while others think it could have served as a farming calendar. One idea even suggests that the stones are connected to a sad event that happened to a Roman army.

The Regional Office of Cultural Affairs for Brittany, which is responsible for protecting the cultural monument, made a statement on disagreements over building the store on Wednesday. “Given the uncertain and non-major character of the remains, damage to a site of historical value has not been established,” the statement said. However, Obeltz mentioned that there hasn’t been enough research in the area to decide whether the stones were historically important.

News of building the store has caused a storm of angry comments on social media, with many expressing their thoughts on the loss of the ancient stones. “Poor Carnac! The commodification(商品化) of the world prepares the man without memories,” said Philippe de Villiers, France’s former Secretary of State for Culture.

“In Carnac,39 standing stone monuments survived Julius Caesar, World War I and World War II. But not Mr. DIY!” the Twitter account Dom Revolution wrote.

China’s deep, rich history is on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art in the US state of Ohio, with rare paintings and precious artifacts (手工艺品) collected from several famous Chinese museums and private collections worldwide. The exhibition, Six Dynasties of Chinese Painting, will run until Sept 1, 2024 at the museum, known     1     having one of the largest and most     2     (distinguish) Asian art collections in the West. It covers six dynasties up until the modern era and presents a wide range of    3     (subject), including landscapes, animals, birds and flowers, along with religious and historical themes.

The museum said it acquired the paintings from the museum’s founding in 1913 to the most recent additions, “demonstrating a continuous     4     (commit) to Chinese painting, a field that has always been the strongest asset (财产) of the Chinese collection”.

The museum’s general Chinese art collection spans more than 5,000 years. Some of the most important paintings     5     (be) from the Song (960—1279) to Qing dynasties(1644—1911). The museum said it is trying to showcase the “highest level of Chinese artistic accomplishment”. This includes bamboo carvings, bronzes, sculptures, paintings, calligraphy and furniture. It also has paintings, Buddhist sculptures and textiles (纺织品),    6     (describe) as “works of international significance”.

The curators are     7     (continuous) updating their Asian art to reflect the rich traditions and continuing artistic developments of China.

William Griswold, the museum’s director and president, worked with exhibition curator Clarissa von Spee to highlight works from all over     8     globe, especially Asia.    9     (draw) people’s attention to Chinese art was a central mission for Sherman Lee,     10     was former director of the museum. He was in charge of the museum from 1958 to 1983. He established a large proportion of the institution’s Chinese painting collection.

10 . Dreaming of dragons

Dragons share similar origins in both East and West. The year 2024 celebrates the year of the dragon,    1    But it is a sacred (神的) one that Chinese people have been crazy about for thousands of years, Chinese even claim themselves as the “descendants of the dragon”.

This is largely the same case in the West.    2    They frequently appear in legends, novels and other forms of entertainment, such as Sleeping Beauty and Dungeons & Dragons.

What may be surprising, however, is that dragons share similar origins despite different cultural explanations.    3    One of the earliest archaeological pieces of evidence of dragons can be traced back to the carved jade figures in China, unearthed at the sites of the Hongshan Culture, dating back more than 5,000 years. These jade carvings resemble snakes curled into a “C” shape, The Penguin Book of Dragons, a Penguin classic about 2,000 years of dragon legends, also notes that in the ancient world, dragons were often described as very large snakes.

But why are dragons so fascinating to people? This question was explored by Carl Sagan, a famous scientist, in a book called The Dragons of Eden.    4    He believed that people created dragon stories out of a human need to combine scientific observation of reality with an unreasonable fear for predators (捕食者).

Although dragons look different in Eastern and Western culture, they play a similar role in stories around the world, These stories can inspire hope and guide people towards a better life.    5    In the West, dragons are usually seen as evil (邪), but they also appear in the Bible many times, where they are used in stories that teach important lessons.