China is one of the earliest countries to adopt coins. The round coin with a square hole, which had been used for more than 2,000 years, had     1     extremely far-reaching impact upon some countries and regions of Asia. Before the     2    (appear) of coins, people bartered (物物交换) trade. For instance, a sheep was traded for a bag of rice. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there appeared copper coins in the shape of a knife, spade and circle but they were     3    (cost) and hard to produce. In the year of 221 BC, with the whole country     4    (unify), Emperor Qinshihuang adopted a round coin with a square hole in the middle as currency. Such coins should be held together by a string and carried     5    . In 621, Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty adopted coins called Kaiyuan Tongbao. From then on, coins     6    (name) after the dynasty code. This system continued until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,     7     is more than 1,000 years.

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, 16 merchants of Sichuan Province     8    (joint) issued the earliest paper currency in China,     9    (make) China the earliest country to use paper currency. Today, ancient Chinese currency     10    (become) a precious collection.

The Monkey King, also     1     (know)as Sun Wukong, is the main character in the traditional Chinese book Journey to the West. The image of the Monkey King has been taken into the     2     (heart) of Chinese people and is one of the important symbols of Chinese culture. Because of his amazing     3     (intelligent), he gains great powers.

The Monkey King is not just a normal monkey. He is a brave, clever, wise and interesting monkey. In fact, he sometimes does not even look like a monkey. This is     4     he can make 72 changes, turning himself     5     different animals and objects.     6     (fight) evil souls, the Monkey King uses a magic stick. Sometimes he can make the stick so small that he can keep it in his ear. At other times, he is able to make it big and long. The Monkey King’s image appears     7     (frequent) in Chinese culture, not only in literary work,     8     in different entertainment forms, such as movies, TV shows, cartoons, and games.

Chinese children are excited when they see him. They are also interested in reading about him because the clever Monkey King keeps fighting to help     9     weak and never gives up. Sun Wukong has become a classic image in Chinese culture. His image     10     (represent) the spirit of courage and never giving up. At the same time, the story of Sun Wukong also inspires people to have the courage and wisdom to face all kinds of challenges and difficulties in life.

Stretching from east to west for over 60 kilometers, Songshan Mountain is acclaimed in folklore (民俗学) as the “origin of all mountains”. Its well-preserved angular rock shapes     1    (form) by three violent movements in the earth’s crust, and the most recent happened 570 million years ago,     2     the Himalayas and the entire Qinling Range were submerged under the sea.

However, it is the 1,529-year-old Shaolin Temple,     3    (locate) in a mountain forest near Dengfeng, and its style of kung fu that have left the biggest impression on the world. Today, Shaolin Temple attracts     4    (rough) 7 million Chinese and international tourists and martial arts enthusiasts every year.

While the area is famous around the world for Shaolin Kung Fu, it is also becoming known for other cultural     5    (aspect) including Chan Wu Yi, which combines Zen meditation, kung fu and traditional Chinese medicine, and has been promoted by Master Shi Dejian for 30 years.

In 1994, Master Shi Dejian, under the     6    (guide) of his teacher, started the restoration of the academy’s damaged buildings     7    (study) and promote Chan Wu Yi. Eleven years later, with Shi Dejian     8    (work) as its director, the Songshan Chan Wu Yi Research Institute was established. “It has become     9     normal part of our lives to practise internal cultivation, and     10     can be said that Chan Wu Yi is our basic way of life.” he said.

A “White Box” Digital Transition Model for Education

Liu Xinsheng, a student in a rural school in Zibo, Shandong province,     1     the English teaching resources are limited, has been learning English through a small terminal (终端机) on a     2     (day) basis.     3     textbook-sized smart terminal, nicknamed “white box”, has become the most important tool for improving Liu’s English-speaking skills.

Technology enhances education and     4     (bridge) the gap effectively in educational resources between rural and urban areas. Students in the school can not only correct their     5     (pronounce) but also receive real-time feedback. Additionally, after submitting assignments through the device, they immediately receive corrections for certain tasks.

The AI-enabled rural education in Linzi district is just an example of how Zibo is     6     (true) promoting a digital transition in its education sector. By the end of last year, 97 percent of primary and secondary schools in Zibo     7     (complete) the digital transformation, with 295 schools establishing smart campuses     8     (equip) with multimedia classrooms.

Sun Yingtao, head of the Zibo Bureau of Education, said that     9     (ensure) that children enjoy high-quality education is the original intention of promoting digital education. “Digital education in Zibo has just begun and there are still many new situations, problems and challenges to deal     10    . In the future, we will accelerate the innovation of digital education application prospects and make every effort to strengthen the city’s digital education ecosystem,” Sun said.

Thousands of years ago, Chinese characters appeared on animal bones and silk before they     1     (write) on paper. But now many     2     character has a “new container” in the modern age. 

Recently, a research team, drawing every little bit of     3     (inspire) from Xunzi, an outstanding Confucian philosopher during the late Warring States Period (475-221 BC), has rolled out Xunzi, a large language model (LLM) and Xunzi Chat in association with a leading ancient Chinese text publisher. When     4     (ask) why, the team leader explained, “Characters  set invertical layout (竖版), the absence of pausing and punctuation are all holding readers back.”     5     (create) Xunzi the LLM, the team first did a lot of research. Since2013, they’ve sweated     6     (heavy) to digitize Chinese classics like the SikuQuanshu. “The hard work involves a large-scale pool of two billion Chinese characters,     7     has laid a solid foundation for the LLM.” Their efforts seem to have paid off. Currently, Xunzi the LLM can translate, punctuate     8     understand some ancient Chinese texts. The model can help us mine for more information hidden in our cultural legacy and find unnoticed models and connections.

The team have shared the LLM on GitHub and other websites,     9     (allow) users to download and use it for free. They’re committed to the philosophy of making the data and model     10     (access) globally.

The earliest written record of noodles is found in a book dating back to the Eastern Han period (25-220). Noodles     1     (make) from wheat became a famous food for the people. The oldest     2     (evident) of noodles was from 4,000 years ago in China. A team of archaelogists reported finding n earthenware bowl     3     contained 4,000-year-old noodles at the Lajia archaeological site. These noodles     4     (say) to resemble lamian, a type of Chinese noodle.

There are over 1,200 types of noodles     5     (common) consumed in China today. Wheat noodles in Japan were adapted from a Chinese recipe as early as the 9^th century. Innovations continued, such as noodles made with buckwheat were developed in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (1392-1910). Ramen noodles, based     6     southern Chinese noodle dishes from Guangzhou but named after the northern Chinese lamian,     7     (become) common in Japan in the 1900s.

The first concrete information on pasta products in Italy dates back to the Etruscan civilization, the Testaroli. The first noodles appear much later, in the 13^th or 14^th centuries, and there is     8     popular legend about Marco Polo     9     (bring) the first pasta back from China. Modern historians do not give much credibility to the story and rather believe the first noodles were imported earlier from the Arabs. Pasta has taken on a variety of shapes, resulting from     10     (region) specializations.

In a specially designed theater in Hangzhou, New Dragon Gate Inn is brought to life by a Shaoxing Opera performer, Chen Lijun, an actress who rises to fame recently.

Adapted from the 1992 classic martial arts film of the same name, the presentation successfully     1     (capture) the interest of a younger audience by blending traditional Chinese opera with modern theater models and dramatic concepts since its release.

Upon leaving the theater, these audience members feel a sense of satisfaction that prompts them to willingly share short clips of the performance online. Initially, most of the audience     2     (be) regular opera lovers. But gradually, more     3     (traditional) theatergoers, many of them young people, began attending with the special love for this traditional show and Chen Lijun.

Born in a modest family in Zhejiang Province, she showed talent and interest in performing arts. At     4     tender age of eight, she was crazy about Shaoxing opera, and that marked the beginning of her lifelong passion for this traditional art form.     5     (help) achieve her potential, her parents enrolled her in local opera school,     6     she received rigorous training under the guidance of skilled teachers.

    7     her undeniable talent, Chen encountered numerous roadblocks along her journey. Traditional Chinese opera, Shaoxing opera     8     (include), has faced a decline in     9     (popular) in recent years. As a result, Chen also had to confront the challenge of revitalizing interest in the art form.     10     (luck), her hard work eventually paid off, winning her numerous awards. Her success tells us that success is not simply handed to us; it is something we must strive for day after day with unwavering determination.

When you travel in China, you can simply stick to popular attractions. But it can’t be     1     better choice to turn to Chinese food, where you can get bathed in truly authentic local culture.

Chinese food and the differences between Chinese and Western diets are both things that spark the     2    (curious) of most who visit China. You might even be surprised to learn that some of the Chinese dishes in America were     3    (specific) created to suit Western tastes. Moreover, when traveling through China you’ll most likely take notice of a few differences in the way food     4    (eat). For example, soup in the West is generally consumed     5     the start of a meal, while the Chinese prefer to enjoy their soup at the end.

You might also notice some distinct differences in meal preparation and cooking     6    (technique), which you may ignore when dining out in or ordering takeout from Chinese restaurants back home.

Cooking classes now     7    (become) an increasingly popular activity among those     8    (show) an interest in learning more about China’s culture through its cuisine. If you’re looking to take it a step     9    (far), keep an eye out for cooking classes held by residents in their own homes,     10     you can try your hand at cooking in the Chinese way.

Ancient China covered a vast and ever-changing geopolitical landscape,     1     the art it produced over three thousand years is, unsurprisingly, just as varied. Still,     2     continuous technical developments, and the influence of foreign ideas, there are certain qualities inbuilt in Chinese art.

Among these essential qualities, a love of nature, a belief in morality, and an interest in viewing the subject from various respects     3     (include). An important difference between China and many other ancient cultures is     4     many Chinese artists were not professionals but amateurs who were also scholars. Art, throughout most of China’s history, was meant to express the artist’s good character and not merely be an     5     (interpret) of his practical artistic skills.     6     (natural), there were professional artists too, employed by wealthy officials     7     (decorate) the walls and insides of their fine buildings. Of course, there were, too, thousands of workmen     8     (make) precious materials into objects of art for the few who could afford them.

Chinese art remained highly influential throughout     9     history of the country, inspiring greatly that of its neighbours in East Asia. And the worldwide appreciation of its achievements, especially in carving, painting, and building     10     (continue) to this day.

In the ancient Shuowen Dictionary, trust is defined as a combination of sincerity and reliability,     1     (emphasize) the importance of keeping one’s word. This concept was     2     (deep) valued in ancient China, with many proverbs highlighting the significance of integrity in personal and professional relationships. CaoCao, the     3     (rule) of the Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period, embodied (体现) this spirit of trustworthiness, which played a crucial role in his ability     4     (draw) numerous heroes to his side.

During the Three Kingdoms era, a time     5     (mark) by division and conflict among the states of Wei, Shu, and Wu, loyalty was a prized yet rare commodity (商品). Cao Cao’s relationship     6     Guan Yu shows his understanding of trust and respect as foundational     7     (element) of leadership. After capturing Xu Province, Cao Cao encountered Guan Yu. Guan Yu’s surrender (投降) to Cao Cao, under the condition     8     he would leave once he learned of Liu Bei’s whereabouts, presented     9     unique challenge. Cao Cao’s acceptance of these terms, and his subsequent efforts to win over Guan Yu, demonstrate a strategic approach to leadership that     10     (value) talent and honours personal loyalty.