In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the China Flower House offers a wide range of lifelike artificial flowers and plants     1    (import) from China, enticing everyone entering the shop with their appealing colors, designs and diversity.

“Pakistani people love to decorate their houses, offices, gardens, wedding parties and other events     2     these beautiful Chinese flowers and plants made from polyester.     3    (literal), no one can tell whether these are real or fake from their shape and texture,” said Muhammad Abbas.

“Besides     4    (they) attractive appearance, these products, made from high-quality material,     5     (be) easy to maintain without any trouble and cost-effective. There is no fading of colors, and they look fresh and pretty all the time. These are basic     6    (feature) that home and event decorators are in love with,” he said.

Abbas said, “I     7    (involve) in the business for the last 20 years, and never witnessed a decrease in demand and sales of Chinese flowers and plants,     8    (add) that Chinese manufacturers’ abilities in upgrading the quality and designs to meet the demand of local customers are exceptional.”

Naseem Zadi said, “I have come to buy flowers for my newly-built house,     9     I wishes to decorate. Many people do not have enough time on their busy schedules to take care of real flowers or plants and the artificial ones look lovely     10     attractive.”

Huangshan Maofeng is a kind of green tea. It is produced throughout the Huangshan region of Anhui Province. This region    1    (have)a temperate climate and receives plenty of rainfall. The soil is deeply layered and made up of the yellow earth typically found in mountainous regions,    2    makes this area suitable for the growth of tea trees.

Huangshan Maofeng    3    (create) by a teahouse in Anhui Province in the Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty. Later, each year, during the Qingming period,    4    (picker)would climb high mountains in the Huangshan region     5    (collect) fat leaves and bud points, which were then fried and baked. They named the tea made from this practice Huangshan Maofeng.

Huangshan Maofeng must be picked    6    (careful). The picking standard for top-grade Huangshan Maofeng is to pick one bud and one leaf just before it’s about to unfold. After    7    (pick), the fresh leaves will be separated to ensure that all of the leaves are of high quality and    8    all of the buds are similar in size. Then they will be spread to dry out.

In order to ensure the quality and keep the    9    (fresh)of the tea, it is recommended that the tea leaves should be picked in the morning and processed in the afternoon,    10    picked in the afternoon and processed at night.

Hawthorn (山楂) trees or bushes are a familiar sight in the UK, where they are often found     1    (plant) along the edges of fields or used as garden boundaries. In May, they produce     2    (bunch) of white flowers, followed by fresh red berries.

    3     its name suggests, the plant has large thorns (刺),     4    (make)it possible for self-protection. Both the flowers and the berries can be used     5    (medical) and are a traditional remedy (疗法) for heart conditions.

The use of hawthorn as a herbal medicine to protect the heart can be traced back for centuries. Its use     6     modern times dates from an Irish physician, who used it to treat heart diseases. This doctor guarded his secret remedy closely, and it was not until after his death that his remedy was examined     7    (find) how it worked. And it turned out to be an active ingredient made from the bright red berries of hawthorn.

Hawthorn is now a popular heart remedy throughout Europe. It can help to protect the blood system that feeds the heart. Hawthorn can also contribute to mild chest pains     8    (relieve). Some specialists suggest it may also     9    (apply) to reduce the extra fat in the blood system.

Hawthorn is regarded as one of the     10    (safe) herbal medicines and although side-effects such as sweating and tiredness have been reported, they are extremely rare.

The Amazon rainforest is home to a great     1    (various) of plant life; however, its soil is    2       (surprising) poor in nutrients. In fact, the soil in the region cannot support agriculture for more than a few years. If a scientist is shown a report     3    (list) the nutrients of that soil, he or she will probably think that only desert plants can survive in it! Then why is the soil so poor in nutrients? For one thing, the rainy season has     4     impact on the soil. In this season, the water level can rise to more than 12 meters.     5     the water goes away, it takes away the nutrients in the soil. For another thing, due to the Amazon’s hot climate, it is difficult for the soil     6    (build) enough nutrients. Dead plants and animals     7    (break) down more quickly. The nutrients are soon taken in by the roots of the plants deep     8     the ground. As a result, most of the forest’s nutrients are locked up in the plants     9    (them), thus allowing them to grow at a(n)    10    (believable) speed.

Indoor plants add color and warmth to the home. Many houseplants     1    (be)easy to grow, but they must be given appropriate care.

The very first thing to consider when     2    (select)a houseplant is where you want to put it. Then match the space and lighting with the plant’s requirements. Do you have a big spot by a     3    (sun)window or a small space with little light? Next ask     4    (you)whether you are looking for a plant with beautiful green leaves     5     a flowering plant. Some flowering houseplants are seasonal while others will bloom year after year.

Watering properly is one of     6     most important parts of indoor plant care. Room temperature and tap water should be fine for most indoor plants, but remember not     7    (water)too much at a time, otherwise they will     8    (certain)get drowned.

Some plants grow well in warm, humid environments, while others prefer hot, dry climates. Of course, your home can’t be everything to every plant, but if you can take plant’s needs into     9    (consider), you can make sure that your plants are living     10     their ideal environment.

This scene at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics amazed the world. Fireworks     1     the shape of the “Guest-Greeting Pine“ made the world feel the enthusiasm of an open China. The “Guest-Greeting Pine”, named after its shape like a person    2    (wave) to welcome visitors, is one of the landmarks on Mount Huangshan, which     3    (sit) in the south of Anhui Province.

As a UNESCO natural and cultural heritage site, Mount Huangshan is also a global geopark characterized by a Mesozoic granite landscape. This     4    (drama) landscape includes formations of natural stone pillars, strangely-shaped rocks, waterfalls, caves, lakes and hot springs, formed by    5    (it) complex geological history. Its magnificent natural scenery of massive granitic stones and ancient pine trees is often    6    (far) enhanced by cloud and mist effects.

Mount Huangshan boasts 72 peaks, among    7     Lianhua Peak, Guangmingding Peak and Tiandu Peak are the three main peaks, with    8     altitude(海拔) of over 1, 800 meters. In Mount Huangshan, there are more than 200 cloudy days in a year. When the water vapor rises or the fog does not disappear after the rain, it     9    (form) a sea of clouds, presenting a fairyland landscape.

As a famous traditional mountain in China, Mount Huangshan bears profound historical and cultural     10    (mean) with ancient buildings, ancient pedals, cliff stone carvings, etc. , and has bred the “Huangshan Painting School” of Chinese landscape painting.

With high yield and superior quality, Chinese hybrid rice varieties have been introduced around the world,     1     (benefit) more people. The export of China’s hybrid rice technology started many years ago. In 1979, China provided hybrid rice seeds to another country for the first time, and 40 years later, in     2     (real), China’s hybrid rice has been planted in dozens of countries in the world.

In the past 40 years, Chinese scientists     3     (devote) to providing assistance to many other countries. China has trained more than 14,000 hybrid rice professionals for more than 80 developing countries through international training courses. This technology has spread     4     more and more places in the world so far.

Yuan Longping,     5     cultivated the world’s first high-yield hybrid rice strain not only earned respect from Chinese people but also the global community. His hybrid rice research has been     6     (entire) saving millions of people from hunger. Yuan’s dream was     7     (solve) the global food shortage and promote hybrid rice around the world. China has achieved     8     great wonder, feeding nearly one fifth of the world’s population with less than nine percent of the world’s total land. And China is     9     (will) to contribute to global food security and calls for joint efforts to end global hunger and poverty.

It     10     (believe) that Yuan’s dream will come true one day.

Hua Weiguang,     1     retired teacher from Tongliao, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is a photography enthusiast.

A decade ago, the arrival of tree planters     2     (catch) Hua’s attention and the photos of the tree planters     3     (take) by Hua are evidence of the     4     (remark) transformation of the land. In those photos, hats, scarves and goggles, for the workers fighting desertification, are basic necessities to protect them     5     the wind and sand. There was no way to avoid the brutal summer heat in the land so the workers had to lie down on the ground or curl up in the narrow shade of their cars to cool off. And they also had to eat their lunch amid the blowing sands, taking in the small pieces of sand with their food.

“    6     we don’t fool the tree, it won’t fool you. You take it     7     (serious), and then it behaves in the same way to you. You put efforts to make it live, and the tree lives up to your     8     (expect),” the planters say.

China’s forest resources have increased by over 70 million hectares in the past decade,     9     (rank) first in the world. One tree after another, a green Great Wall has been built. Brush by brush, a green field     10     (paint) over the yellow sandy land up to now.

Malaindrano is a giant baobab (猴面包树) tree that is hollowed out (使成中空) for the storage of water,     1     (exist) in the village of Ampotaka in Madagascar. Malaindrano means “he who hates water”,       2     this baobab doesn’t hate water at all. It is so big that many people believe it has never been     3     (complete) filled. Even semi-full, the trees are vital for storing water in one of Madagascar’s driest regions. Also known     4     bottle trees because of their unique thick trunks, such baobab trees form a network of     5     (nature) water tanks. Using them has allowed people to live in a place where rain is rare, and where the little rain that falls     6     (absorb) quickly by the soil.

Lack of rain can lead to a lack of food. In the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of people     7     (die) because of extreme drought. This forced the locals to come up with an idea: hollowing out baobabs     8     (store) water when it is abundant. A large baobab has the     9     (able) to store about 14,000 litres of water. Today, some 20,000 people live in the region, many of       10     rely on the tree water for around a third of the year.

Rick Howells is the arborist (树木栽培家) for the Shade Tree Commission in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He manages the care of all of the trees in the city,     1    (include) the trees that line the streets.

Trees can make a city prettier, sure. But that’s not    2    (they) only advantage, Howells explained. Trees can save lives by absorbing (吸收)    3    (pollute) from cars and   factories. Trees can also help slow climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, one of the main    4    (cause) of climate change. In cities, trees provide a home    5    birds and bees. They also offer a calming effect on the community. That is one reason why there    6    (be) less crime in tree-lined areas.

“Trees must be trimmed (修剪) and, if they are diseased, cut down so that they don’t become a risk to the community. It isn’t     7    easy task,” Howells said. “You have to know types of knots (结) for the ropes and    8    (difference) kinds of rigging (索具).” Rigging equipment is tied to trees so that they can be trimmed and cut    9    (safe).

To Howells, taking care of trees isn’t just a job. It’s also a hobby. He loves trees and    10     they bring to a community. “If you take good care of a tree,” he said, “everything around it becomes beautiful, too.”