China is     1     (wide) known for its ancient civilization     2     has continued all the way through into modern times, despite the many ups and downs in its history. There are many reasons why this has been possible, but one of the main factors has been the Chinese writing system. At the beginning,     3     (write) Chinese was a picture-based language. It dates back several thousand years to the use of longgu-animal bones and shells on    4    symbols were carved by ancient Chinese people.

Yu Rong, a Chinese artist, thinks of a new way to introduce     1     ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by     2     (combine) Chinese paper-cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi papercuts over western-style pencil sketches (素描)    3     (create) typical presentation of Chineseelements (要素), which turns out to be a     4     (success) and impressive breakthrough.

Hua Mulan,     5     story has been told by generations in China, was a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). As a devoted daughter, she dressed herself as a man to serve in the army     6     place of her father. Mulan’s character, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude towards fame and fortune, made     7     (she) one of the most respected historical Chinese heroines. Mulan’s story has been adapted     8     (frequent) in modern media. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which     9     (consider) a great success by critics and the public right after its release.

To better tell the story, Yu Rong takes inspiration from her several     10     (visit) to sites of ancient battles and Henan Province’s Yu Opera. After years of preparation she finally makes this extraordinary work.

Following the success of his first non-profit library in Hangzhou, singer-songwriter Gao Xiaosong is opening a second reading room in Nanjing.

Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province, a city with a history dating back more than 2,000 years and the ancient capital of six    1    (dynasty), was named the City of Literature by UNESCO—    2    first city in China to be awarded the title.

On November 1l, a new library opened    3     the foot of Nanjing’s Ming Dynasty (1368—1644 ) city walls, which have witnessed the passing of centuries. Like the first library     4    (open) in 2018 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, the Nanjing Library as well as its     5    (collect) of 40,000 books is free to the public. To ensure a    6    (peace) reading experience, 500 admissions are allowed each day via online appointment.

The first Xiaosong Library, which     7    (design) by famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando, has been such a great success that we often see appointments for     8    (book) out weeks in advance.

At the opening ceremony for the Nanjing Library, Gao said while he only planned to open around six Xiaosong libraries nationwide, opening one in the city was a must: “Just like growing vegetables, you need     9    (plant) them in fertile (肥沃的) soil suitable for farming. Libraries should be established    10    many scholars live. Nanjing is this kind of city.”

If you stop a random person on the street in China, there’s     1     pretty good chance that their surname would be either Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu or Chen.

That’s because those are the five most common surnames in China. There are a few reasons for this: China is less racially diverse than countries such as the US,     2     quantities of minority groups increase surname diversity. It also     3     (have) to do with language. You can’t just add a stroke to a Chinese character     4     random and create a new surname, like the way you can add a letter to an English name. But there’s also another factor at play: technology. China’s digital revolution has     5     (dramatic) transformed daily life, and many of these systems rely on a     6     (limit) list of standardized Chinese characters. To try to address this, experts have increased the database from 32, 000 characters to 70, 000 characters. They’re still working to expand it     7     (include) more than 90, 000 characters.

“The culture of surnames     8     (pass) down in our country for thousands of years with a deep and broad influence,” said the Ministry of Public Security. By the Song Dynasty, a book called the Hundred Family Surnames     9     (list) several hundreds of the most common surnames, had become a classic text taught to children. Chinese surnames are central to people’s     10       (identity); they hold origin stories, reveal historic patterns of migration, and represent a direct tie to a person’s ancestry and heritage.

I will never forget my first assignment as a foreign reporter in Brazil to cover the Rio Carnival. It is one of Brazil’s largest cultural     1     (event), drawing up to two million tourists to Rio every year.

I was out on the streets on the first day of the Carnival,     2     (arm) with my camera and notebook, ready to do some work. Being there     3     (be) a constant assault(冲击)on my senses. Hundreds of people were singing and dancing,     4     Brazilian samba music filling the air. I wandered. fort hours, from one block party to another. At one point, someone offered     5     (trade) me an alcoholic beverage(饮料)and-a golden feathered headdress for my camera. I`m still not sure why, but I agreed to the deal. It was     6     (probable) a question of getting swept up in the Carnival spirit. Unfortunately, my boss did not accept this     7     (explain), so I had to pay for     8     new camera in the end.

It was worth it, though. I still have that golden headdress, as     9     reminds me of those unforgettable days. The Rio Carnival is without doubt something     10     everyone should add to his or her bucket list.

In 1991, Beijing musician Wang Wei went on a tour, when he become fascinated by the shakuhachi, a kind of Japanese bamboo flute (笛子).     1     (late), he found out that the shakuhachi     2     was called chi ba in Chinese, was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

    3     (astonish) and ashamed of how he was ignorant of the country’s rich musical tradition     4     a professional musician, Wang started learning and researching on Chinese musical instruments made of bamboo. He has found that among the 90 wind instruments identified by the Chinese Music Dictionary, 47 are made of bamboo.

During the past three     5     (decade), the talented musician traveled around the country to find     6     finest materials for making bamboo instruments. The small balcony in Beijing has become his studio for instrument making.

He also gathered a group of musicians to form the country’s     7     (one) bamboo orchestra. While realizing his     8     (expect), Wang is also proud that the orchestra’s birth and development are also an effort of     9     (protect) the environment Bamboo is among the fastest growing plants on earth, gaining 1.2 meters every day under appropriate conditions. Since 2002, the State Forestry Administration     10     (try) to replace the use of wood with bamboo to protect the environment.

Many people may think the Forbidden city, or the Palace Museum as it’s also called, is     1     old-fashioned museum.     2    , in recent years, the museum has been working hard     3     (promote) Chinese cultural heritage among the young people.

The museum’s online store now offers special cultural and creative     4     (product). For example, in 2014, it    5     (begin) to sell earphones that look like the necklaces worn by ancient officials,     6     even brought in about 1 billion yuan a year.

Last year, a documentary     7     (call) Masters in the Forbidden City became popular online. It is about the people    8     job is to repair the relics in the museum. Many of these workers are very young and some are even    9     their 20s.

Some other museums across the country, such as the National Museum of China,     10     (inspire) by the Palace Museum’s efforts in the past few years and are working on similar projects of their own.

In the USA the high school graduation ceremony is of great     1    (important). 12th-grade students, or seniors, who are about 17 or 18 years old, look forward to     2    (attend) this event.

The graduation ceremony itself takes place at the end of May or beginning of June,     3     usually includes music, awards, and a guest speaker. After the speeches, students walk to the front of the room to receive their diplomas from the headmaster. Students start preparing for graduation a long time     4     it happens. They order rings designed     5    (especial) for their class.

    6     tradition is to have their photographs taken. These photographs are used for the class yearbook, which is a     7    (print) book about all the students in the school. Students have special cards called announcements printed to send to friends and relatives to tell them about their graduation. The cards often include     8     invitation to the ceremony. If you receive it, you should send a present     9     money to the graduate. A few weeks before the ceremony, the students     10    (measure) for the cap that they will wear at the ceremony. After the ceremony, families usually have graduation parties for friends and relatives. It’s a day and a night that high school seniors remember for a long time.