No doubt you’ve enjoyed a delicious chai latte at your local coffee shop, but do you know where your drink comes from? Chai, an aromatic beverage enjoyed worldwide, has a history as rich and diverse as its flavour profile.     1     (originate) from the Indian subcontinent, chai has evolved over centuries. In this journey through time, we explore the fascinating history of chai.

We can trace the roots of chai back to ancient India. The earliest form of chai was     2     mixture of herbs and spices. As trade routes flourished, so     3     the exchange of exotic spices, which eventually found their way into this ancient medicine.

The Silk Road played a core role in the evolution of chai. The spices used in chai became valuable commodities     4     (trade) along these routes, influencing the recipes and flavours of local brews.

In the 19th century, the British East India Company wanted to establish dominance in the trade. Part of this involved     5     (bring) tea to India. Tea plants had been growing in the wild in the Assam region of India for a long time, of course, but typically tea was viewed as a herbal medicine rather than a recreational beverage.

The East India Company introduced tea to India as a recreational drink, and soon the drink was adapted to Indian tastes,     6     milk, sugar and various spices added. This cultural exchange gave birth to a unique fusion—masala chai.

After India’s independence, chai became deeply rooted in the land. Street vendors and small tea stalls became cultural hubs     7     people from all walks of life gathered to discuss politics, share stories, and savour a hot cup of chai. Chai’s accessibility and affordability made     8     a democratic beverage, breaking down social barriers and fostering a sense of community.

In recent decades, chai has gone beyond its cultural origins and become a global phenomenon. Its distinctive flavour profile, combining the richness of black tea with the warmth of spices and milk,     9     (capture) the taste buds of people around the world. Chai latte has become a popular choice in coffee shops and cafes, adapting to different tastes     10     maintaining the essence of its Indian heritage at the same time.

Dazhai, a village     1     (surround) by mountains on all sides in Guangxi's Longsheng autonomous county of various ethnic groups, which boasts around 66 square kilometers of terraced (梯田形的) fields that have been cultivated for around 2,300 years,     2     (attract) tens of thousands of visitors every year. Its terraced fields follow     3     landform of the mountains, at heights ranging from 300 to 1,200 meters above sea level. So far, from swiftly flowing river valleys to mist-covered mountains, dense forests and steep cliffs, wherever there is water and soil, terraces     4     (dig).

Those in Dazhai are important     5     (representative) of Longji terracing, a well-known type of terrace that can be found all over the county. The highest tier (层) has more than 1,100 levels,     6     (wind) from the foot of the mountain to the top, creating a magnificent landscape     7     resembles a staircase to the clouds. The largest terrace is no more than an acre     8     size, while the smallest only accommodates a handful of rice seedlings (秧苗).

Longji terraces are based on an environmental practice that focuses on harmony between humans and nature     9     the dynamic balance of forests and fields. They are not just beautiful landscapes but also carriers of Zhuang and Yao culture.

Longji terraces are an important model of ancient Chinese water     10     (manage) and agricultural civilization that has been passed down to the present day. Visitors can appreciate the way the Zhuang and Yao ethnic groups have farmed the terraces and how ancestral farming methods have been preserved.

“Only when I take the needle out and touch the silk thread, I feel     1    (full)comfortable,” says Zou Yingzi, an inheritor of Su embroidery(刺绣), an ancient craft that originates from the garden city of Suzhou in Jiangsu province.

The day before the interview,     2     53-year-old woman worked more than 10 hours, until late into the night, on a large piece of Su embroidery. A piece measuring around half a meter can take her months     3    (complete). From Zou’s mother to her grandmothers, all the women in her family are good at needlework, particularly Su embroidery, which features rich stitches(缝针)and the creative use     4     silk threads dyed in various colors.

Su embroidery has a history of more than 2,000 years. A piece of fabric with silk embroidery     5    (find) from a tomb in the area showed that the craft dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period(770-476 BC). In ancient times, needlework was a must-learn skill for women,     6     had to make clothes for their families. It was a tradition that mothers should make wedding clothes with exquisite(精美的)embroidery for their     7    (daughter).

Zou     8    (recall)that, when she was little, her grandmother was busy every day, making wedding clothes and quilts for granddaughters. At the age of 6, she started to help her mother to make Su embroidery items, all of which     9    (sell)to support the family.

She had a dream to become a     10    (paint). Now, the needle helps her to realize that dream.

During the May Day holiday, many Chinese people went out for travel,     1    (show) the potential of the country’s holiday economy. Guangzhou and Chongqing were among the top domestic (国内的) cities in terms of consumer    2     (popular). In the meantime, Thailand, Japan and South Korea became some of the     3     (hot) overseas destinations during the five-day holiday.

Aside from traditional popular destinations, county tourism has developed into a new fashion and brought in new vitality (活力) into the tourism market. The tourism growth rate of small counties and towns is higher. Data from Alipay showed that many young     4     (generation) chose to go to attractions in small towns. Yili in Xinjiang, Yanbian in Jilin, Diqing and Pu’er in Yunnan have seen the largest year-on-year increase in cross-regional payments.

Tourists’ continuous enthusiasm for domestic travel is also proved by other factors, such as the number of short videos     5     (publish). During the holiday,     6     total number of posts on WeChat video accounts increased. Among them, scenic spots like West Lake     7     (become) popular destinations for video account users recently. Concerts, art exhibitions and other cultural activities have also played a significant role     8     improving cultural and tourism consumption. Cities such as Changzhou, Hefei, Beijing, and Yantai received high attention during this time period,     9     drove growth in local hotel, transportation, and dining services.

Furthermore, the inbound (入境的) tourism market is further heating up as visa-free policies and easy payment services provide     10     (convenient) for foreigners traveling to China.

Honking cars, blasting stereos and babbling neighbors are     1     (whole) affecting people’s daily life: consider it all part of the symphony that plays daily on New York City streets. Everyone knows the city is loud, and a losing war against noise     2     (wage) for a long time. Now they have a new weapon     3     (invite) to many citizens: noise cameras.

The cameras     4     (pair) with a sound meter to detect noise of at least 85 decibels (分贝) from a source 50 ft or more away have recently been fixed on certain streets in Manhattan’s wealthy Upper West Side. It’s part of a program run by the city’s department of environmental protection.

However, Erica Walker, who studies the joint     5     community noise and health, believes most noise   comes from poor city planning rather than individual bad actions, and that noise cameras are merely Band -Aids for a more systemic issue. Actually,     6     (far) research still needs to be done on the economic effects of noise cameras. The public is supposed to zero in on the dangers and economic costs of noise pollution     7     can blight some proceeds and urge that appropriate actions     8     (carry) out.

On the other hand,     9     lecturer at Columbia University expressed concern about the surveillance (监视) capabilities of noise cameras. “It is being tried for the possibility     10     (leak) privacy still. Does this present a   privacy risk for residents of the city? ” she held the question.

Vertical Farms: Is the sky really the limit?

At a hyper-controlled indoor farm in industrial South San Francisco, four robots carefully transfer seeds from barcoded trays into 4.5-meter towers that then are hung vertically (垂直地) inside a 445 sq metre grow room. Workers in branded jumpsuits     1     (inspect) the greens for imperfect produce, but there is almost     2    . Then the pesticide-free product is packaged and put on a truck     3     (deliver) to a local market where the customer becomes the first person to touch it. With the world’s population expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, most of     4     will be living in cities, experts say a 70% increase from current levels of global food production will be needed. But agricultural land is     5     short supply thanks to the climate crisis and urbanization.

Indoor farming raised more than $1 bn in 2021, exceeding the combined funding in 2018 and 2019. But critics say the massive energy costs     6    (need) to run vertical farms and greenhouses make the practice far less eco-friendly than their branding suggests.

Designed to produce yields hundreds of times larger than traditional outdoor farming, vertical farms occupy spaces such as buildings or shipping containers while using 70 to 95% less water     7     they can recapture and recycle rather than waste it due to poor irrigation (灌溉) or evaporation. Products are fully traceable from seed to shelf, stay fresher longer and there’s little risk of bacteria, infected animal faces (粪便) or     8    (have) to transport them long distances in trucks and planes.

Entrepreneurs like Irving Fain, CEO and founder of Manhattan-based Bowery Farming, say that they’re gathering knowledge about plant growth and agronomy (农学) that     9     take traditional farmers outdoors hundreds of years to accumulate. The possibilities raised by vertical farms have also captured the imagination of a number of large venture capitalists and private equality funds. “While it is still too early to tell     10     these high-tech, high-rise growing machines will become a real estate asset class in their own right, some investors are starting to take a serious look at vertical farming as a possible new asset category.” said Fain.

We Britons have about 60 words for happiness: blissfulness, ecstasy, pleasure, delight...The list is as varied as it is surprising, given that we only just scraped into the top 20 happiest countries in the world this year. Finns, who     1     (name) the happiest nation for the sixth year running, are either onnellinen or iloinen. The latter roughly translates as joyful or glad: you might be iloinen that you’re heading off on boliday. Onnellinen, on the other hand, speaks to the notion of being content with your life,     2     describing a fleeting feeling.

In the decade     3     the first World Happiness Report was released in 2012, four countries have held the top position: Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and now Finland. It’s based on an evaluation in which respondents are asked to assess the overall happiness of their current lives on a scale of one to 10.

For the fourth year running, the UK has slipped down the global happiness rankings,     4     (drop) two places to number 19. Even more worryingly, however, the 2022 global Oracle happiness report for the UK specifically found that nearly half of Britons have not felt true happiness in two years. We’re currently behind the US, Israel, New Zealand and Luxembourg, but mercifully ahead of the likes of Afghanistan and Lebanon-currently the two     5     (happy) countries in the world. This persistent decline in British contentment is concerning.

    6     (find) out what we miserable Britons can leam from the Finns, I went to Lake Saimaa — a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Helsinki —   to take part in a masterclass in happiness. It is a resort designed around taking things slowly. Each villa has its own sauna (桑拿浴),     7     (set)in a fragrant pine forest.     8     many friends rightly pointed out, how could anyone not be happy here?

In many ways, though, my admittedly luxurious stay revealed to me     9     the Finns approach happiness for everyone. There’s no doubt they have got a lot of things right — their love of saunas, for one. Known for their health benefits, saunas are fantastic for calming the mind. And with     10     estimated 3 million saunas for a population of just over 5.5 million, they are certainly integrated into everyday life.