1 . Exhausted, Jia Ling ate five packs of chocolate cookies alone at night by her bed after wrapping up filming for her new film YOLO that day. “Recalling that moment, I felt so great, like a tired soldier claiming the spoils of war,” she said.

By then, she had lost an incredible 50 kilograms, and her entire image had changed. The chubby (胖乎乎的), round and cute comedian Jia Ling was gone, replaced by a cool, muscular warrior.

Audiences were shocked by her appearance on Chinese New Year’s Day, Feb.10, when the film was first released. Jia had kept everything so secretive, avoiding public appearances for a year, that her new look was only revealed when she appeared on the big screen. Conversations about her high-intensity weight loss training, along with her courage and determination, have become trending topics across China, propelling the film’s box office earnings.

YOLO, which stands for “you only live once,” is the theme Jia aims to tell in her new film. The story follows an overweight, depressed woman who becomes isolated from society. However, after meeting a boxing coach and taking up the sport, she begins to regain her passion and finds her way in life. The filming was divided into five stages. Jia had to gain 20 kilograms at first for the role, moving on to the final stage when she lost a significant amount of weight and became muscular. This method mirrors what some Hollywood stars, such as Christian Bale, have done, but Jia’s effort is jaw-dropping and takes it to an even more extreme level.

Yet, the film’s core goes beyond physical transformation. “This film is not about weight loss, nor is it much about boxing. It’s a film that tells the story of how a kind person finds her true self and learns to love herself,” Jia said.

8 . I had a wonderful Easter (复活节) when I was four years old. On Easter morning, there was a _________ to find Easter eggs.

“We will get an egg, right?” I asked my mom. “Yes, of course,” she replied, with a _________ smile.

The staff member in charge of the hunt _________ that when she yelled “Go”, the hunt would begin. “Get ready!” the staff member yelled. “We are starting in 3…2…1…GO!”

Kids rushed across the lawn (草坪), _________ from one tree to another searching for the plastic Easter eggs filled with candy. Ten minutes passed but I had nothing to _________. I looked across the lawn and saw the other kids _________ holding up their plastic eggs and knew my chance of finding even one egg was getting _________. Just then my mom pointed to a tree across the lawn. “Look! There’s one!”

A shiny blue plastic egg was resting on the ground _________ the base of the tree. I looked up at my mom in _________. However, instead of smiling back at me, she was turning to the left, in the __________ of another mom. The two moms were alternating (交互的) between __________ at each other and at what appeared to be the last Easter egg.

I hadn’t seen my mom run before that day. She had been born with __________ knees and when she was in elementary school she had worn special shoes to __________ a foot problem.

The other mom also ran toward the shiny blue egg. In one last __________ of speed, my mother reached the tree, bent down and __________ the egg. “Yay! I got an egg!” I shouted in excitement.

10 . It’s easy for consumers to buy food and drinks like a bowl of hot rice and coke online or from neighbourhood shops, but for astronauts such things were impossible in the past.

Members of China’s Shenzhou manned space flight last year, however, were able to enjoy such food, thanks to Joyoung, a Chinese firm. Joyoung created a mobile space kitchen for the astronauts. A drinking water machine, an air heater and a soybean milk maker were all accessible in the kitchen through a smart app. Tang Hongbo, who was a member of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft, said in the news that during his three month trip, he could eat hot food with just half-hour efforts, a contrast to the past when similar attempts required several hours. If we had time, we would also use equipment to eat homemade yogurt. We could also control the equipment in the space kitchen through mobile phone apps,” he said.

In the past, most foods couldn’t be directly heated in a microwave oven in the space. Conduction equipment often caused uneven (不均匀的) heating. An astronaut had to spend as long as four hours to heat some vegetables in the space kitchen. To solve the problem, Joyoung has developed equipment that gives out hot air to heat vegetables in a 360-degree way. That enables astronauts to eat steaming-hot fish-flavoured pork and Gongbao chicken, a spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish.

Besides Joyoung, a group of companies, including Xiaomi Corp and Huawei Technologies, have contributed their technologies to the development of the space station. A vacuum (真空) cleaner enabled haircuts on the spacecraft possible. NOLO VR, a Chinese virtual reality manufacturer, has helped astronauts develop an experimental equipment through which laboratory technicians on the ground can see and experience what astronauts are doing in the space.