China International Culture Association, a key sponsor of “Happy Chinese New Year”, called for rabbit-themed mascot (吉祥物) design for the Year of the Rabbit,     1     started on Jan. 22, 2023, according to the traditional Chinese calendar.

The     2     (collect) design went through four stages of evaluation, and the winner was told at the end of 2022. “Happy Chinese New Year” is known for     3     series of cultural activities held in numerous countries     4     (introduce) the lunar New Year culture and bring the joys of Chinese New Year to everybody throughout the world. The Year of the Rabbit is considered as one of the     5     (lucky) signs of the Chinese Zodiac (生肖). It is traditional Chinese     6     (believe) that the Chinese Rabbit will live a long, peaceful life filled with beauty and love.

The design competition     7     (hold) for the first time to create a memorable and     8     (cultural) fresh experience for the globe. The interested     9     (party) could check out details and know more information at https://ishijue.com/, the official website     10     the competition.

In the world today, there are about a billion cars traveling on the roads and each of these cars    1    (produce) 0.12 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. That means each year around 120,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide is released into the air.    2    (stress) this problem, Car Free Day was created. It not only brings public attention to the problem of car    3    (pollute) but also encourages people to give up driving on the day and find another form of transportation.

Car Free Day is a holiday that originated in France and it falls    4    September 22. It is a day    5    people leave behind their cars from 5:00 am to 7:30 pm and take other forms of transportation. It was largely a    6    (symbol) act at first, but so far, it    7    (spread) to 46 countries and over 2,100 cities in the world.

The best way to celebrate this holiday is by leaving your car parked in your driveway or your garage on this day. Instead of    8    (use) your vehicle, think about riding    9    bike, walking and taking public transportation on the day. Besides, you can also    10    (active) encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Chinese silk is well known all over the world. It is considered as     1     symbol of the origin of civilization. According to legend, a teenage girl in China,     2     saw metamorphosis (蜕变) of a special kind of caterpillars (毛毛虫), did something even more     3     (amaze) — she invented silk! She is Ancest or Lei.

One day, she noticed quite a few caterpillars taking small     4     (bite) of the leaves. A few of them had formed translucent cocoons (半透明的茧) around     5     (they). One by one the cocoons grew thicker so Lei couldn’t see through them. They were like eggshells, but smaller and even     6     (strong). She kept wondering     7     was going on inside. Lei started to open them and they turned into bundles of threads. Lei knew that the threads in spider (蜘蛛) webs were strong, but she wondered if the threads from these cocoons were strong enough     8     (make) into cloth. After testing, her doubt was removed.

Later, Lei concentrated     9     figuring out how to make cloth from the cocoon threads. Eventually, Lei invented silk, and the caterpillars     10     (call) silkworms since then.

Tai chi is a centuries-old Chinese martial art and an internationally popular form of exercise. It is a series of postures (姿势) and motions that develops one’s     1     (strong)and flexibility through careful, flowing movements and focused breathing. Each posture     2     (slow) transforms into another, and we gradually need to shift our weight     3     (maintain) balance. At the end, we return to the starting position: in other words, all of the movements     4     (connect) in an endless, continuous flow.

The practice of tai chi is rooted in     5     (tradition) Chinese philosophy, particularly the ancient concept of yin-yang. The tai chi symbol, or taijitu,     6     (show) yin and yang together: yin symbolizes the dark, female force in nature,     7     yang represents the bright, male force. Yin cannot exist without yang, and yang cannot exist without yin. Tai chi aims to achieve balance     8     opposites in life: yin and yang; soft and hard; mind and body, and so on. At the heart of tai chi is the concept of qi,     9     generally translates as “vital energy”. The different exercises help move the qi through your body,     10     (produce) positive effects on one’s mental and spiritual health.

Finding yourself at the doorway of any temple or ancient building in China, you may encounter    1    attractive but seemingly odd piece of wall, only    2    (slight) larger than the entrance itself. You would be forgiven for thinking this is just the remainder of another building, with the rest lost to history, as was my initial assumption the first time I    3    (spot) one. However, the reality is far more fascinating.

Out of    4    (curious), I asked around, bothering friends for information, and was finally able to get not only the name, but also the purpose of these walls. Zhaobi, or spirit walls, have a long and storied history, with archeological evidence    5    (date)from 3,000 years ago. Zhaobi could be found outside the entrance of various buildings. They    6    (reserve) for only the highest members of society once. Seeing zhaobi outside a building would let passersby know this was the residence of someone of extreme importance, while protecting the privacy of    7    (it) residents.

In more modern times, zhaobi,    8    (adopt) by companies that practice fengshui, still exist.     9    zhaobi can help bring them good luck is questionable. But what can be said for sure is that these structures, like any other in history, stand    10    the development of Chinese history.

Kong Qiu (Confucius)    1    teacher was Laozi, is considered to be one of the greatest    2    (scholar) of China. Kong Qiu said that Laozi was like    3    dragon hiding in the clouds. Ho learned from Laozi all his life     4    could not understand all his great    5    (wise). Laozi believed that people should learn from as well as keep a harmonious relationship    6    nature. Once beside a river, he told Kong Qiu a saint (圣人) should are like    7    (flow) water which gives life to others but does not fight with others. The reason    8    a saint can make     9    (true) great achievement is that he makes no error and nobody hates him. So far, his brilliant work    10    (translate) into many foreign languages.