When Zhang Lingshan was a child, she would watch the Chinese period drama Palace on television, attracted by the characters’ ancient clothing. She didn’t know what these beautiful clothes     1     (call)—only that they were from some     2     (distance) past. “They looked fairy-like, dreamy,” she said. “I was     3     (complete) drawn by the beauty of these clothes, and then eventually came to understand the culture of Hanfu, and I liked it more and more.”

Now aged nineteen and     4     (live) in Beijing, Zhang is     5     member of China’s growing “hanfu movement”—a renaissance (复兴) of the ancient clothing traditionally worn by ethnic-majority Han Chinese before the Qing dynasty. Tight-knit Hanfu communities and university clubs often meet for themed activities. Zhang and her friends sometimes visit places with ancient architecture, like Beijing’s Forbidden City,     6     emperors once lived, to take     7    (photo) in costume and post them on social media. They have more than 20,000 fans who often ask them     8     more pictures.

Nowadays, Hanfu is seen as a way     9     (celebrate) Chinese culture and improve national self-esteem. In the past few years, Hanfu clubs and social media platforms     10     (help) to bring the Han clothing back under the spotlight. “It’s the confidence of the younger people, the confidence of the country,” said Christine Tsui, a fashion columnist and researcher in Shanghai.

Traditional Chinese culture is beginning to capture the attention of the world. Kung fu,       1     (special), has had a great effects     2     the millions of people who first learned about China through it. From that, they may come to China and learn about some other     3     (aspect) of this culture. Other Asian nations have long known about the     4     (great) of ancient Chinese culture. Their own cultures are     5     mix of native ones and those Chinese characteristics. Korea and Japan long ago adopted Confucianism, something that continued today even as it     6     (challenge)by pop culture. This strength comes from the ideas     7     (give)in the Four Books of Confucianism, which built upon the ideas of an even     8     (much)ancient period codified (编纂)in the Five Classics. From them, the West learns     9     is uniquely Chinese, for example, feng shui. So far China has taken steps     10     (further) this spread of its culture by establishing Chinese Cultural Centers in such places as the United States and Europe.

The first Edinburgh International Festival     1    (hold) 71 years ago. Its first big success came in the following year     2    an adaptation of The Thrie Estaites was performed. From then on, the Festival has     3    (gradual) grown to become one of the most popular arts festivals in the world. As the founders of the Festival believed, the Festival programs have enriched the     4    (culture) life of Britain and even Europe.

The Festival focuses on the fields of music, art, dance and theatre.     5    (bring) together the best artists from around the world, the Festival has earned     6    good reputation (名声), which has done much to draw the visitors’ attention     7     the various shows that take place all over the city.

Each year during the summer     8    (month), Edinburgh becomes the world’s Festival City. It is the huge range of artistic events, performances and exhibitions that     9    (make) Edinburgh unforgettable. It makes you feel that there is always something else happening around the corner which you are missing and on any given night of the Festival, you can choose     10    (watch) "The Girl on the Sofa", a play by Joan Fosse, and the opera Parsifal, among many other options.

I was honored to be invited by Nadim to his sister's wedding in India. The wedding ceremony took place in a brightly     1     (decorate) hotel room. There were hundreds of guests, all     2     (dress) up in formal, colourful clothes. A few traditional customs made a deep     3     (impress) on me. One was the bridegroom's entrance on a beautiful white horse. Another was the part     4     Nadira’s father proudly led his daughter through rows of seats to her husband.

The Rio Carnival was very impressive, too.     5     (experience) the spirit of the Rio Carnival for myself I went to a street party. I could see a group of around 20 Brazilian dancers and a band in fancy costumes     6     (stand) in the street. Some of them carried flags,     7     blew in the wind. Then there was an     8     (explode) of bright colours and lively music, and the group jumped into action. The band started playing an energetic samba beat, the dancers twisted and turned, and the crowd began to cheer, clap and sing. I was so caught up in the party fever     9     I hardly noticed five hours fly by!     10     an amazing first day in Rio!

Chopsticks, or kuaizi in Chinese, are a pair of small equal-length sticks, usually made of wood, used for eating. We Chinese eat     1     chopsticks. It is believed the first chopsticks     2     (develop) over 5,000 years ago in China. The     3     (early) evidence of a pair of chopsticks made out of bronze was excavated (出土) from the Ruins of Yin near Anyang, Henan province, dating back to roughly 1,200 BC. Chopsticks,     4     are roughly the same in size throughout China, can be made of a wide range of     5     (material), including bamboo, wood, plastic, silver and gold.

Chopsticks play     6     important role in Chinese food culture. Chinese chopsticks are usually 9 to 10 inches long. They are round on the eating end which represents heaven, and the other end is square which stands for earth. This is because     7     (maintain) an enough food supply is the greatest concern between heaven and earth.

There is an old Chinese custom making chopsticks part of a girl’s dowry (嫁妆), since the pronunciation of kuaizi is similar     8     the words for “quick” and “son”.

Chopsticks are     9     (frequent) used in daily life. They have become more than a kind of tableware and have established a set of etiquette (礼仪) and customs of     10    (they) own.

Festivals have a wide range of origins (起源). However, no matter how     1     (difference) they seem, the spirit of     2    (share) joy, gratitude and love is common. Of all the     3     (tradition) festivals, the harvest festival is one of     4     most popular festivals, which is celebrated after all the crops have been gathered in. At the same time, though customs play a significant role in festivals, they can change over time. For example, some Chinese cities no longer allow people     5    (light) firecrackers(鞭炮), as they can increase air pollution. These days, festivals are becoming more and more commercial (商业的), with businesses take advantage     6     celebrations. Online shopping websites and social media have made     7     much easier to spend more on gifts. People have divided opinions on it. All in all, festivals reflect people's beliefs and attitudes     8     life. They are occasions     9     let us spend time with family. If you study festivals     10    (careful), you will find different cultures have a lot in common.

The annual Water Splashing Festival of the Dai ethnic minority falls during the New Year period of the Dai Calendar. It is the most important festival    1     (observe) by the Dai ethnic people of Xishuangbanna Prefecture.

The festival lasts for three days . The first two days'    2    ( activity ) are concentrated on the banks of the Lancang River. On the first day, a grand    3    (celebrate) marks the beginning of the festival.

An outdoor market is set up    4    locals go for New Year shopping . Artists create sand carvings on open space close to the market. A dragon boat race    5     (hold) on Lancang River     6     (ring) out the old year in the afternoon. At night, the banks of the river are    7     (colorful) lit, and locals float river lanterns on the river.

The third day, the climax of the festival, is reserved for water splashing. On that day, the Dai put on their    8     (new) and best clothes , and then assemble at the local temple . Water is regarded by the Dai as a symbol of goodwill among people . Therefore , splashing a fellow human being with water during the Water Splashing Festival ,    9    a close neighbor or a fellow villager , or even a stranger , is    10    expression of the desire for good luck and prosperity to that person.

The Yangko Dance is a traditional Chinese folk dance     1     (create) by the farmers when they worked in the rice fields     2     (hundred) of years ago. Many Chinese people like the dance and take it     3     an important method of relaxing, no matter when there is the Spring Festival or when there are some special     4    (celebrate).

Before the Yangko Dance starts, the music     5     (perform) and a rhythm to follow. As the dance content comes from special folk legends, men and women performing the dance are dressed in     6     (color) costumes and necessary props are used.

During the dance, the dancers are wagging their body and walking at     7    exaggerated (夸张的) pace to present old stories to the audience in a new style. The dance also shows     8     (they) happy mood and life. While the dancers are dancing on the ground, there is usually a big crowd around them,     9     (appreciate) and sharing the feelings of the dancers there.

During the busy farming season the dancers work in the fields,     10     when the lunar New Year comes around they put on their costumes to perform the Yangko Dance, ushering in the new year and carrying on an age-old tradition.

There is a common expression in the English language     1     (refer) to a blue moon. When people say something happens “ only once in a blue moon”, they actually intend to indicate the     2     (frequent) of it. This expression has been around for at least a century and a half; there are references to this expression that     3     (date) from the second half of the nineteenth century.

The expression “a blue moon” has come to refer to     4     second full moon occurring in any given calendar month. A second full moon is called a blue moon not because it is     5     (particular) blue or is any different in hue (色彩)     6     the first full moon of the month. Instead, it is called a blue moon because it is so rare. The moon needs a little more than 29 days     7     (complete) the cycle from full moon to full moon. Because every month except February has more than 29 days, every month has at least one full moon, except February, which has a full moon     8     there is a full moon at the end of January and another full moon at the end of March. It is on the occasion     9     a given calendar month has a second full moon that a blue moon occurs. It happens only three or four     10     (time) in a decade.

In the third century BC, the full stop (句号)or period     1    ( introduce) by Greek literary critic Aristophanes of Byzantium. It is used     2    (show) the end of a sentence. However, the full stop has a different meaning to teenagers and those in their early 20s,     3    interpret it as sign of anger. And there is a reason for that.

The younger generation has grown up using the texts as their primary means of communication. When sending messages ,they tend to break up their thoughts by sending each one as     4     separate message, instead of using a full stop. They feel the full stop once     5    (use) in traditional texting is not essential at all because the message is now ended just by sending it.

David Crystal, one of the world's leading language     6    ( expert) , argues that the usage of full stops is being revised in a really fundamental way. In his book, he says that the full stop has become an emotion marker that     7    ( remind) the receiver that the sender is angry or     8     (annoy).

Though the full stop has taken on a different meaning to the younger generation, specialists noted that it is important to take language environment     9     account. For example, using full stops in an email is     10     ( perfect) acceptable and is not considered rude.