The 74-year-old art historian Mimi Gates has     1     (enthusiastic) participated in the conservation of the Dunhuang relies for years. When speaking about     2     topic, she goes from the cultural and historical background of the caves to the vivid details of certain paintings there.

Looking back, Gates says     3     changed her life was the decision to visit Asia when she was young. She found herself     4     (attract) to Asian culture, and decided to start with China as her primary interest. She paid her first visit     5     Dunhuang in 1995 and “had a brief glimpse of the     6     (great) of Dunhuang”. The Dunhuang grottoes are a 1,600-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site     7     (comprise) about 500 caves and a large collection of Buddhist art. She was invited to return in 2009     8     (present) a paper at a conference there. Spending a few days there, Gates visited the caves whenever she had free time.

When Fan Jinshi, the then-head of the Dunhuang Research Academy,     9     (visit) the US to raise funds for the protection of the site, Gates suggested setting up a foundation     10     accepted Fan’s offer to help organize and chair the foundation, for it was such a spectacular site and so important to humanity in her mind.