Do you know spring rolls? Spring rolls,     1     name is a translation of the Chinese chun juan, are     2     variety of filled, rolled dim sum found in East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine.

In China, the past spring rolls were regarded as a seasonal food     3     (eat) during the spring. They started as a pancake rolls stuffed with the new season’s spring vegetables. Nowadays, spring rolls can be enjoyed throughout     4     year and they are usually served as an     5     (amaze) starter for parties.

Fried spring rolls are generally small. They can be sweet or salty; the former are often filled     6     red bean paste (红豆馅) and the latter are typically prepared with vegetables. Non-fried spring rolls are usually     7     (big) than the fried ones. Unlike fried spring rolls, non-fried spring rolls     8     (make) by filling the wrappers with many different pre-cooked ingredients.     9     (tradition), they are food for the Cold Food Festival and the Tomb Sweeping Day in spring     10     (remember) ancestors.

Spring Festival is an important traditional festival in China, which has many unique     1     (custom). Here are three readers’ accounts, who shared their experiences and views about it.

Tom Jenkins spent Spring Festival with his host family in Nanjing. A week before the festival, the house was cleaned     2     (thorough). His host mother said this was     3    (sweep) away the dirt of the past year. Next, the Chinese character Fu     4     (attach) upside down to the front door to welcome happiness. At the night before Spring Festival, they sat together to enjoy a big dinner.

For Xu Gang, he usually plans his trip home weeks before Spring Festival as it is difficult to book train tickets or flights.     5     (surround) by Shanxi accents on the train, he knows that he is heading home. When he arrives home, his parents will tell him     6     has been happening. It’s great to be back together with the family and talk of old times.

To Li Yan, who has been     7     (retire), the joy of a family     8     (gather) is the most important. She and her husband get ready for their children’s homecoming early. The house buzzes     9     activities when everyone comes home. The children run around     10     (play) and the adults talk about the past year. They also have fun making jiaozi, a sign of wishes for health and happiness in the coming year.

Bian Lian is the art of face-changing. Performers wear bright, dramatic costumes including vividly colored masks and move    1     quick, rhythmic music. As they move, the performers’ faces change quickly from one mask to next.

The art of Bian Lian,     2     (originate) in Sichuan, is one of the most well- known subgenres(子类) of Sichuan opera. The face-changing    3     (do) for many purposes, sometimes    4     (indicate) a change of emotion of the character, such as fear, anger, love etc; and sometimes the face-changing indicates context as well.

The subject matter of Sichuan opera is    5     (wild) varied. Different performances bring out the different     6     (strength) of the opera itself and Bian Lian. Observers may see the Nightmare of Shi Haivu, partly a love story and partly a ghost story,     7     the face changing will reflect fear and love. Opera- goers might also see the Golden Snake’s Wild Dance, or the Cuckoo Song, which will have more of a musical and    8     (humor) focus.

Many observers compare it less to an operatic performance and    9     (much) to magic. Both Chinese opera goers who are familiar with the cultural context    10     the observers who are unfamiliar with Chinese history or traditions usually feel awe and wonder about the speed and number of face changes. Bian Lian is undoubtedly the most mysterious art of the Sichuan opera.

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day falling on the last Saturday of April is an annual event organized     1     (promote) Tai Chi and Qigong across the world.     2     it started in 1999, the movement has witnessed people in over 80 countries taking part in its celebrations.

The first form of Tai Chi as apractical tradition     3     (document) in Northern China in the 17th century,     4     the most widely recognized form was the “Yang style” spread by Yang Luchan in the 19th century. In the 20th century, Tai Chi’s various methods were standardized, helping it gain     5     (wide) recognition. The event that inspired World Tai Chi & Qigong Day took place in Kansas City, Missouri in 1998, where the local Tai Chi club held a public exhibition     6     (aim) to spread the Chinese martial arts (武术). Gradually, the event     7     (catch) people’s interest, beginning in other American cities and eventually spreading worldwide by 1999.

The goals of the event today are to educate the world about the medical and spiritual benefits both arts offer, and the benefits of including    8     (tradition) Chinese ideas in health, education etc. These are taught through events ranging from educational seminars     9     exhibitions. By doing so, the movement helps encourage     10     (cooperate) that goes beyond geopolitical borders.

Lately, 16 Chinese online novels have been added to the collection of the British Library,     1     include My Heroic Husband, The Era of the Earth, Great Power, Heavy Industry, The Wisdom of the Great Song Dynasty, Mystical Treasures, and The Road to Revival.     2     (cover) themes of science fiction, history, reality and fantasy, these works are considered the classics of Chinese online literature from the past 20 years. More information about the 16 works can    3     (find) on the British Library’s website. Printed versions are available to borrow at the library.

One of the largest research     4     (library) in the world, the British Library houses more than 170 million items, including the     5     (culture) relics of different civilizations from throughout history. In the Chinese collection, people can find more than 450 Chinese oracle bones dating back over three millennia     6     the Shang Dynasty and the Diamond Sutra, the world’s     7     (early) dated printed book.

The library usually selects works     8     (base) on popularity or by considering    9     item’s value. In recent years, Chinese online literature     10     (attract) an increasing number of readers from overseas.

March 14 is right around the comer, and math learners know     1     that means. It’s Pi Day, a holiday honoring one of math’s most famous constants (常量): pi.

The number pi, or π, is equal to the circumference (圆周长) of a circle     2     (divide) by the circle’s diameter (直径). That comes out to about 3.14159. This is true for circles of all sizes, from     3     (penny) to pizzas to planets. Pi’s value is often rounded to 3.14. That’s why Pi Day     4     (celebrate) on March 14. It’s also why one Earth-sized planet orbiting another star every 3.14 days is nicknamed “Pi Earth.”

But the exact value of pi is     5     (actual) impossible to write out. Last year, a     6     (power) computer calculated pi to record-breaking 62.8 trillion (万亿) figures. And in 2005, one 23-year-old used clever mental tricks to recite nearly 68,000 of those figures from memory. No one, though, will ever get to     7     end of pi.

Historians aren’t sure when people first     8     (discover) the concept of pi. But it’s been known in some form     9     almost 4,000 years. Ancient Greeks and Babylonians knew estimates of it. The Egyptians may have used pi     10     (build) the pyramids. And still today, pi is used in just about all math involving circles.

The popular Chinese documentary (纪录片), Masters in the Forbidden City, has amazed the world by showing the wonderful     1     (skill) of cultural relic restoration (文物修复) masters in China. These restorers of ancient books use their love to piece together China's 5,000-year-long history.

In recent years, more young Chinese     2     (apply) themselves to history and ancient book restoration due to growing     3     (confident) in Chinese culture. Huang Jin,     4     28-year-old ancient book restorer, joined the Ancient Book Restoration Center at the Nanjing Library because of his interest in history. The center has 12 people on staff. Except that several restorers are     5     (experience), the rest of the restorers    6     (be) all in their 20s and 30s.

    7     fact, the actual restoration of ancient books is difficult and boring. And even a slightly damaged book can take up one day to restore just 10 pages,     8     means it usually takes a month     9     (repair) a single ancient book. Though the job may be     10     (stress), Huang Jin said it was also full of fun as he felt like talking with famous ancient figures.

Ink is one of the most significant contributions made by Chinese ancestors to Chinese culture and indeed to world civilization. Hui ink is one of the     1     (wonder) of our ink production, produced in the form of ink sticks,     2    are ground on an ink stone to provide ink of the right consistency for purpose.

Hui ink sticks have distinct features and unique production techniques. The history of their     3     (develop), and the science behind the different types mean that Hui ink has played     4     important role in the history of Chinese ink manufacture. There are many advantages in the use of top quality Hui ink in     5    (tradition) production; for example, some are “as firm as a jade(玉), distinct in texture(质地) and always durable” . Some ink sticks have become an art form in themselves, beautifully     6    (carve), with their own cultural value.

Hui ink     7     (date) back to the Tang Dynasty and reached     8     (it) top during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Among the four ink producers during the Qing Dynasty, two (Wang Jinsheng and Hu Kaiwen) came     9     Jixi County. These were typical of those who inherited the traditions of Hui ink production during the Qing period and subsequently the Republic of China and make it to the     10     (good) of the techniques. Nowadays their descendants(后裔) continue to preserve their traditions in the local production of Hui ink.

Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor     1     (regard) as the common ancestors of Chinese nation. Huaihua     2     (meaningful) has historical and cultural relations with Yan Emperor, Yellow Emperor, Chinese culture, Chinese agriculture and TCM.

Yan Emperor is also known as Shen Nongshi, Lie Shanshi. As the latest     3     (academy) report shows that about 5500 to 6000 years ago, he was born in the current Lianshan area, Huitong county, Huaihua city,     4     the leader of a tribe. He guided people making farm tools, planting many kinds of corn, and running the market for     5     first time. He planted hemp and then made it into cloth, so that people can wear clothes. He made musical instruments, so that people can play music. He made pottery,     6     enables people have a better life. He inherited the Fuxi Eight Trigram and then created the Lian-shan I Ching—Book of     7     (change). Yan Emperor was also the     8     (found) of the tea ceremony. He tasted hundreds of herbs and created the traditional Chinese medicine. It was said that Yan Emperor tasted a toxin herb,     9     (cause) his death finally. In honor of his great contribution to Chinese agriculture and traditional Chinese medicine, people used to call him “Shen Nongshi”, i.e., God of Agriculture. Because of his fire morality, he was greatly honoured,     10     (refer) to as Fire-God.

It was the first time for Tom Jenkins to spend Spring Festival in China with his host family. Spring Festival is     1     (high) valued by every Chinese family. Preparations began a week before the festival. First, the house was cleaned from top to bottom. Next, the Chinese character Fu    2     (attach) upside down to the front door. People believe that when Fu is put upside down, happiness arrives.

Xu Gang usually starts planning his trip home weeks before Spring Festival     3     it is difficult to book train tickets or flights. When he gets home, his parents will tell him     4     has been happening — who has got     5     (marry) or had children or gone away to university. When he was a kid, Spring Festival was all about firecrackers, sweets and     6     (decorate). As he gets older, coming home is the most important part of it.

Li Yan and her husband are both retired. Weeks before Spring Festival, they think about what the children would like to eat and what dishes need     7     (prepare). They always have jiaozi as they mean something special on this occasion — they are     8     sign of people’s wishes for health and happiness in the coming year.

Throughout history, some of the     9     (origin)customs have changed, but the spirit of the festival — the spirit of family —    10     (keep).