The Laba Festival is regarded as one of the traditional Chinese     1    （festival).It is celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth month of Chinese lunar calendar,     2    (refer)to the traditional start of celebrations for the Chinese Spring Festival. "La" in Chinese means the 12th lunar month and "ba" means eight.

Legends about it also vary, one of     3    holds that over 3,000 years ago sacrificial rites(祭礼）called "La" were held in the twelfth lunar month when people offered their preys(猎物）    4    the Gods of heaven and earth. The Chinese characters for prey and the twelfth month were interchangeable then, and ever since "La"     5    (use) to refer to both. Since the festival was held on the eighth day of the last month, people    6    (late) added the number eight ( "ba" in Chinese), giving     7    (we) the current Laba.

Traditionally, the Laba rice porridge is also of great     8    (important). The porridge must be boiled for many hours and then offered as a sacrifice to ancestors. It was also a time for the ancient Chinese    9    (pray) to heaven and earth that there would be     10    abundant harvest. Many people hoped for good luck as well for the coming year.

This year’s National Day holiday was a special one, as it not only coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it also was the     1     (one) vacation after the country brought the COVID-19 pandemic     2     control.

For people in Wuhan, who     3     (experience) a total lockdown of the city during the Spring Festival holiday due to disease prevention restrictions, this eight-day holiday was of particular     4    (significant). It was before the holiday     5     a flash mob performance was staged at Wuhan’s train station. Participants included students, teachers, station workers, doctors, journalists and folk artists,    6     gathered at the station and sang the song My Homeland. It is     7     a popular song that almost all people in China know the lyrics. The train station, which was an empty shell during the     8     (bad) of the outbreak, is filled with thousands of passengers     9     (travel) to and from the capital of Hubei province.

Wuhan’s city government said it had planned more than 140 events, including exhibitions and carnivals,     10     (bring) joy to the lives of residents and tourists during the holiday.

Dragon boat racing, a traditional activity celebrating Duan Wu, also known     1     the Dragon Boat Festival, is enjoying a revival thanks to the     2     (popular) of rowing events and cultural tourism. The sport     3     (begin) in Zigui county of Yichang city in Hubei province. This was home to Qu Yuan, a poet in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). The festival commemorates his death. Over the past 2,000 years the race     4     (develop) into a sports event. It has now attracted younger generations--college students, for example--     5     (join), breathing new life into the historic custom. For young people, the team game is good for both     6     (they) physical and mental health. They are not only trained to be strong     7     united with other people. Also, it’s a good way to experience the traditional Chinese culture.

Dragon boat racing also brought a travel boom to Zigui county,     8     was named as the “hometown of the Chinese dragon boat”. Its well-preserved boat racing     9     (tradition) are also highly praised. The county, rich in history and folk customs, has been developed into     10     popular destination for travelers. The festival has also become a cultural, sports and cuisine gala for people from home and abroad.

As the communication between China and Britain is becoming    1    (increasing)frequent, the differences between them    2    (cause) a heated discussion in the past few years.

Firstly, table manners are the essential procedure in everyone’s daily life. We get used to    3    (use) chopsticks while Englishmen use knife and forks. It’s not polite to burst into laughter when eating in Britain,    4     indicates you don’t respect others.    5    the contrary, we laugh and talk during a meal. What’s more, in Britain, we have to wander along the left side of the road, but traffic in our country keeps to the right. In addition, for Chinese students,    6    they have experienced in studying is an    7    (organize) learning style. Students are required to follow a clear plan.    8    (compare)with Chinese education, British education is     9    flexible and imaginative. Students there are encouraged to discuss the subject they want to learn. Last but not least, in China, “thank you” is not frequently used between friends and family members while “thank you” is widely used in Britain.

There is no sense in debating which is better. We owe these manners    10     a long history, so you should do as the Romans do.

Chinese characters evolved (演变) from pictures and signs, and the art of calligraphy developed naturally from this special writing system of Chinese characters. By    1    (use) a brush to write Chinese characters, calligraphers can express their thoughts, feelings, and personalities in a point or a line,    2    Chinese   calligraphy is also called the art of lines. The Chinese saying “The handwriting reveals(透露) the writer” is     3    (direct) related to calligraphy. It means people are often judged by their handwriting.   The written characters show the calligrapher’s way    4    (understand) life.

Practicing calligraphy helps    5    person to achieve relaxation and inner peace. In the past, children    6     (train) at an early age to practice writing. Great attention is paid    7    calligraphy today with exhibitions and     8    (compete) among both the young and the old from many walks of life. To learn calligraphy, one will need a brush, ink, paper, and ink stone, which are commonly    9    (refer) to   as the Four   Treasures   of Study. Although calligraphy uses Chinese words as the vehicle of expression, one does not have to know Chinese to appreciate its beauty.   As Chinese culture spreads throughout the world nowadays, calligraphy is becoming       10    (popular) than ever before.

Cave No.12 of the Yungang Grottoes (石窟), the 1,500-year-old masterpieces of Chinese Buddhist art, has been recently “moved” to the Zhejiang University Museum of Art and Archaeology by 3D printing technology,     1     (bring)the grottoes to the wider world.

Cave No.12,14 meters deep,11 meters wide and 9 meters high, also known     2     the Music Cave, was carved with rich images of heavenly figures and     3     (music)instruments from home and abroad. These figures represented the     4     (early) royal symphony orchestra (乐团) in ancient China.

The researchers     5     (overcome)many difficulties since August 2016.First,the project team spent three months laser-scanning (激光扫描) the cave and took 55,680.     6     (photo) of it.     7     (ensure) successful printing, a special 3D printer was tailored for the project. Then,     8     came after 3D printing was the coloring process, during which the images in the cave     9     (expect) to be covered with proper materials and colors. After eight months of coloring, the staff finally completed the replica cave. Experts believe that the completion of the project marked technical breakthroughs and     10     very important step forward in digital protection and inheritance of cultural heritages.

7 . 语法填空

A 63-year old Chinese grandpa’s traditional carpentry skills are delighting tens of millions of viewers online as he creates woodwork    1     glue, screws (螺丝钉) or nails.

The Chinese master carpenter, Wang Dewen,    2     (know) as “Granda Amu” on YouTube, has been   nicknamed the modern day Lu Ban,     3     famous Chinese structural engineer during the Zhou Dynasty, thanks to his vast carpentry knowledge. His most popular video, which shows him making a fantastic arch bridge, went viral on the platform last month,    4     (gain) more than 42 million views. Grandpa Amu follows an ancient Chinese mortise and tenon (榫卯) technique    5     no glue or nails are involved in the entire process of building the arch bridge.

Grandpa Amu has also made several    6     (wood) toys for his grandson using the same technique. He created    7    looked like the China pavilion (展馆) from the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Among all the items, a walking Peppa Pig and a bubble blowing toy are his grandson’s    8    (favorite).

The master carpenter    9    (draw) over 1.18 million subscribers so far on YouTube. Grandpa Amu insists that he is not an internet celebrity    10    just an ordinary farmer.

China, which     1     (recognize) widely as the hometown of tea, gains a big reputation of tea planting, strict tea etiquette (礼节) and unique tea drinking     2     (habit). Tea drinking in China has a history of more than 5,000 years,     3     (date) back to the Shennong era. Tea ceremony has been into    4     (exist) since ancient times. It is the     5     (early) traditional etiquette of the Han nationality in China to offer tea    6    guests. Until now, a cup of tea is always made for guests when they come. A tea party is not only simple and money-saving, but also elegant and formal. The saying “gentleman’s friendship is as light as water”,     7    water refers to tea, indicates a kind of deep friendship. The Han people also have various customs of giving tea as a gift. Every summer in ancient Hangzhou,     8     capital city of the Southern Song Dynasty, each family cooked a new tea called Qijia tea,     9     (primary) together with fine fruits of various colors. Then the tea would be presented to relatives and friends. This custom is putting two green fruits in the tea cup, namely olives or kumquats,     10     (show) the meaning of good luck and happiness.

Thirty years ago, an elderly Canadian couple undertook a unique project with the purpose of helping Canadians have a better understanding of China     1     (base) on how the Chinese view themselves and the issues they face.

Their efforts resulted     2     the birth of a 1985 book, Understanding China Through Cartoons. They     3     (official) donated it to China on June 10, 2019.     4     (promote) knowledge about China among Canadians, they     5     (found) the Society for a Better Understanding of China in the early 1970s,     6     is now noted as the Canada-China Friendship Society.

The elderly couple     7     (be) determined to gift China with it as their admiration for Chinese culture – a role dating back thousands of years.

“China is the only nation that has been able to maintain its cultural     8     (grow) for thousands of years,” the husband said.

In fact, communication has been     9     best way to promote each other’s understanding and trust. We need     10     (many) people like the elderly Canadian couple as well as more institutions like the Canada-China Friendship Society.

For you,the “Clear and Bright” day that falls in every April might be no more than just another holiday — the fact that it comes with three days off school matters to most students       1       more than the fact that it is part of the 24 solar terms.

But the UNESCO has recognized the importance of the 24 solar terms. This ancient system that Chinese people have used to keep track of the time of year       2     (add) to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on Nov 30.

For starters, you may have heard your mom say: “The sanfu days are almost over. The heat won’t be here for long.” The sanfu days are a period of time that     3     (fall) in summer, somewhere     4     Minor Heat (in July) and Autumn Equinox (in September). The coldest days, or the sanjiu days, are similar. They cover the 27 days     5     (follow) Winter Solstice.

In some places, solar terms guide people’s lives through special foods,     6     (culture) events and healthy living tips. For example, people from northern China are in the habit of eating dumplings on the day of Winter Solstice. And on Start of Autumn, some people treat     7     to a big feast, especially of meat, something they call “putting on autumn weight”, or tieqiubiao.

But no matter     8     differently people celebrate the 24 solar terms, they have been here for a long time and could last forever.

According to Chinese writer and academic Yu Shicun, unlike many other examples of intangible cultural heritage – Peking Opera and Chinese Zhusuan, for example – the solar terms are neither regional (地域的) nor a type of art or skill. Instead, the system is a philosophy of time,     9     applies to everything. And this means they are     10     (likely) to die out.