1 . It is always said that China is the homeland of tea, which has a very long history of tea.     1     However, unlike the western custom of using a convenient teabag, Chinese go to a lot of effort and time to prepare good tea for their guests, using tea leaves, natural spring water and a special kettle etc. to create worldwide famous tea culture. Tea is not just a drinkable beverage(饮料), but also a taste of Chinese traditional culture and inheritance(继承) of spirit. Unsurprisingly, there are various tea leaves in China.     2    

➢Color

    3     Good green tea leaves have jade green with fresh vitality. Twisted pan green tea shows glossy gray green. If some of the tea leaves have dry, dark and brown colors, it means it is old tea. If the leaves have mixed, large contrast colors, it is believed that the tea is mixed with yellow leaves, old leaves and even old tea, which does not live up to the standard of good tea.

➢Flavor(味道)

New tea is extremely clear and transparent with strong aroma(芳香), while old tea is characterized by brown color and weak fragrance. Take green tea and black tea for example, new green tea tastes a little bitter first, and then the fresh sweet taste begins to surface gradually, leaving a long and memorable after taste in mouth.     4    

➢Place of origin

There is great gap of quality among various places of origin.     5     For example, it is well-known that Yunnan produces the best quality Pu'er tea and premium Oolong tea can be found within Fujian Province.

4 . Have you ever worked on holidays?I spent my last Christmas Day working the whole day!

Due to the nature of my job,I had to go back to my_________ and spent my whole Christmas Day there.Of course,it _________ no good! Surely you will get sad when almost all of your friends are either resting at home,watching TV,listening to music,_________ watching movies in the cinema,and you are the only one that is not _________.The feeling is really bad.And I really did not feel like getting up and going to work in the morning.But I _________ went to work.I am a responsible guy.Since the arrangement was like that,I _________ it.

Of course,there is something _________ about working on Christmas Day and most public holidays.First of all,since I had no plan to go out,or do any _________ activities on that day,I most likely would _________ the day at home playing computer games.So why not go to work and __________ some extra money?It makes sense to me.Besides,it is a holiday for almost the whole world.It __________ most of my company’s offices in other countries would probably not be working,__________ those in China and Japan as Christmas is not a holiday for people there.Less users,less problems,meaning less __________ for us to do.And the best part is the office is ours! I can __________ my laptop(笔记本电脑) to the office,watch movies,play games,and at the same time,get my extra __________! Well,what do you think of working on holidays then?

5 . There was a time an event would not begin without a photographer.“I remember the days when event organizers would even delay a show if the photographer was running late,” says Balachandra Raju,a photographer of Sathyam studio,a still surviving photo studio in India’s southern city of Chennai.

Photo studios are facing extinction in the digital age.But as they struggle to continue doing the business,one research project is looking at ways to preserve their legacy(遗产) by digitizing archival(档案的) pictures.

The project,funded by the British Library,visited around 100 photo studios across the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu and digitized 10,000 prints.Many of the photos were taken between 1880-1980,and they ranged from pictures of families and famous stars to weddings and funerals.“The digital archive will be useful for those interested in history,” Said Zoe E Headley,one of the researchers.Ramesh Kumar,another researcher on the project,called it a “gold mine” for photographers.“The research we’ve done also highlights production techniques used before digital photography arrived in our cities and towns,” he said.

However, the researchers would often find old photos piled on top of one another in the storage room of a studio.“No one had bothered to clean them,” Kumar said,adding that many photos had been damaged due to the hot and wet weather in Tamil Nadu.

The owner of Nallapillai studio in central Tamil Nadu said he spends about 20,000 rupees (￡230;$310) each month to run the studio that was founded by his great grandfather almost 150 years ago.To survive in this digital age has been a struggle.“Many customers don’t book us for special events anymore,” he said,adding that they had all got smartphones to do the job.“I’m not sure if photo studios will exist five years from now,” he said.But this is why,according to Mr Raju,this archival project is so important.

China is a big old country and it has a history of more than five thousand years. We are proud of    1     (it) culture and part of the culture even influences the world    2     (great), for example, the thought of Confucius. As Chinese economy develops very fast and plays     3     important role in the world, more and more     4     (foreign) learn Mandarin (普通话) in Confucius institutions. The Chinese traditional culture can be tested by the time. It unites the whole nation and no matter     5     kind of disaster comes, we will fight together for the country’s future. Today, many young people lose     6     (faithful) in traditional culture and they are crazy     7     the western culture. They follow the western fashion,       8     (think) we are the old style. But someday, they     9     (realize) they are wrong     10     (abandon) traditional culture.

Most people relate "You are what you eat." To healthy eating. It     1    （actual）refers to personality, character, and culture, Chinese cuisine is a case in point. When introduced to America, it     2    （change）to suit American tastes, which tells us Americans like trying new foods.

Later, I visited China and     3    （experience）authentic Chinese food. In Beijing, we ate in a restaurant where the chef treated us to dinner     4    （consist）of Sichuan peppercorns. It was wonderful but what was even more important was the friendship. In Shandong Province, we had     5    （boil）dumplings with vinegar. I found making dumplings is always an affair with the whole family. In South China and central China, I experienced local dishes from Guangdong's elegant dim sum to the     6    （exception）stewed noodles in Henan. Through food, Chinese people everywhere show friendship and kindness. At     7    minimum, the kinds of food     8    （consume）by local people tell us what they grow in their region, what kinds of lives they lead, and     9    they like and do not like.

All in all, culture and cuisine go hand     10    hand, and if you do not experience one, you can never really know the other.

8 . Children’s Games in Ancient China

Unlike the children nowadays, the children during ancient times didn’t have smartphones or computers to entertain themselves.     1    . Let’s take a look.  

Kicking stone balls

During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of China, and it was often played in the winter to keep warm. Stones were carved into small balls and kicked along with feet.

Flying kites

Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite.     2    . For example, the swallow-shaped kite is a well-known Beijing style.  

Playing hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. Even nowadays, many children like playing it. There are two ways to play. One way is covering a child’s eyes while other kids run around to tease him.     3    .  

    4    

The closest thing to watching a film or television for entertainment during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists manipulate puppets behind the screen, narrating stories and accompanied by music.

Setting off firecrackers

Firecrackers have a history of more than 2, 000 years. It is said that there was a beast named “Nian” in ancient China.     5    . After gunpowder was invented, it gradually replaced the bamboo joint cracker. Crackers are still set off during the Spring Festival to symbolize auspiciousness (吉祥).

It is obvious that the various festivals are times of     1     (happy), fun and excitement, not of sadness. They have many origins.  

Some are     2     (religion) and some are seasonal. Easter is an important festival for Christians all over the world. People are thankful because their food     3     (gather) for the winter and the agricultural work is over. Some festivals are held     4     (honor) or satisfy and please the dead. In Japan a festival is called Obon. They have lamps on and play music     5     they think this will help the dead back to Earth. The Dragon Boat Festival honors the famous ancient     6     (poem), Qu Yuan. Columbus Day is in memory     7     the arrival of Columbus in the New World. India honors Mohandas Gandhi who helped gain India’s independence from Britain. And     8     most energetic and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and to the     9     (come) of spring, such as the Lunar New Year, on which people get together to eat, drink and have fun with each other.  

No matter what the reason is, festivals are always times for great feasts with lots to eat, special and often new clothing to wear and     10     (general) lots of fun.

10 . I always remember one Christmas when we_________outside of town. My elder brother had a job in a different city_________he always made it home to celebrate the holidays. During the few days before Christmas Day, we experienced a violent snowstorm with powerful winds. It was so_________that the country road was almost impassable.

The day before Christmas was more_________than I had ever imagined. My elder brother was stuck at a stranger's home where he had been_________to stay overnight because of the storm. The person was kind enough to let him stay until morning. But, the_________was that he couldn’t get his car to start and there was no assistance available.

So, my dad and I_________. We were lucky enough to make it to where my brother was_________. After his car warmed up, he thought it was much wiser to head back to his place rather than try and make it home for Christmas. So we headed in_________direction.

The drive back got even worse. We got stuck in a huge snowdrift. A(n)__________had to be made. We placed a shovel（铲子）about ten feet behind the car to__________anyone else that there was an obstruction（障碍物）ahead.

We left the cars in the snow, wrapped blankets around our heads and__________on top of the snowdrifts. We made it about a mile up the road to a neighbor's farmhouse where we__________for the next mile walk home. We all made it safely home that night.

Christmas was very__________that year. It didn’t matter if there were__________or not under the tree the next morning. We each got our gift—the gift of life, home with our family safe and sound. What better gift is there? None.