When referring to Emei, you may think of the Emei clan(峨眉派) in Jin Yong’s wuxia novel. But     1     interests 24-year-old Ma Zhaolingyun is Emei martial arts (武术).

Emei martial arts originated     2    Mount Emei at least 3,000 years ago. It includes 68 schools and 2, 638 practice skills and methods and     3     (list) as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in China in 2008.

During the more than 10 years, Ma     4     (love) showing off the skills learned in her daily life with everyday items like feather dusters and brooms     5     (include) into her performances.

In 2020, Ma became     6    Internet celebrity for publishing a video in which she performed Emei martial arts on her way to take out the trash,     7    brought her a large number of followers on the short video platform Douyin.

However, Ma didn’t seek     8     (popular) to make money. “    9     (pass) on traditional martial arts is the priority,” said Ma. To attract more people, Ma and her team have worked tirelessly to promote Emei martial arts in     10     (create) ways. For example, she has included modern elements like games and fashion shoots in her videos.

“Beautiful traditional Chinese culture is all around us. I hope that my videos will rekindle (重燃) people’s passion for traditional culture,” Ma said.

On Nov.30 1835, Samuel Clemens was welcomed into the world. Little did his parents know, their son Samuel would one day     1     (know) as Mark Twain — one of the most     2     (fame) writers in America. In 1839, the Clemens family moved several     3     (mile) east to the town of Hannibal,     4     was a growing port city that     5     (lie) along the bank of the Mississippi. Samuel’s father was a judge and he built two-story frame house. As a youngster, Samuel was kept indoors because of poor health. However,     6     the age of 19, he seemed to recover and joined     7     rest of children in the town outside. He then attended a private school in Hannibal.     8     (unfortunate), his father died of illness when Samuel was 12. Later, Samuel left school and     9     (become) a printer and editorial assistant. It was then that young Samuel found he enjoyed     10     (write).

“What do you call traditional medicine that works?” “Medicine.” This old joke contains more than a milligram of truth. For example, Tu Youyou,a Chinese chemist,    1    (begin) testing the sweet wormwood used in local herbal remedies    2    a cure for malaria (疟疾). But not every folk cure is so closely examined.

Over 1.7 billion people, most    3    (live) in the world’s poorest countries, are affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDS). These often lead to    4    (disable) and place a heavy burden on health-care systems. They are    5    (bad) equipped to deal with them. They    6    (refer) to as “neglected”. A study published in 2009, in International Health, estimated that they received only 0.6% of the money given by rich countries to poor ones for health purposes.

A team put a crude sample on    7    they were working through two rounds of chromatography. Their analysis revealed (揭示)    8    oil which proved effective at killing trypanosome parasites. For many researchers, that would have been the cue for a trip to the patent office.     9    for Dr Osei-Safo the point is not to make a refined pharmaceutical, but rather    10    (direct) those who are ill towards the best treatments available from herbalists.

Memory loss has to be one of our biggest     1     (fear). Names, words, facts and faces — nothing is spared.       2     (lucky), research has shown that it is possible to train the brain to protect our memories.

    3     (challenge) your brain could be one way of preserving your memories — through the value of commercial brain training app is debatable; some experiments seems to show that while people may become a master of the games on     4     (they) screen, the improvements fail to transfer to daily life. But other, more traditional activities — like learning a musical instrument or a second language — do seem to have some     5     (protect) benefits, at least on short-term memory. Ideally, it is probably best     6     (keep) your brain active throughout your life, well before you begin to approach old age.

Exercise and a healthy diet are also thought to offer some protection against memory loss. So can     7     active social life — since regular contact with other people is also thought to excite our brains. Ensuring that you regularly get a good might’s sleep     8     (help) too.

Of course, nothing can guarantee health and vitality in old age     9     these few simple measures might give you the best possible chances     10     protecting your mind as you age.

It is necessary and important for us students     1     (balance) study and relaxation . You see, National Day     2     (come), and I’ll make good use of the time to relax. Also, I come to realize that if I can rest well, I will be able to study     3     (effective) when I come back to school.

High school students are under increasing pressure to study     1     (long) hours than even before. They spend over 8 hours a day     2     (study) at school, some of whom even have to attend extra     3     (class) in their spare time. This greatly affect their health, which make their parents and teachers concerned.

In early 2022, the Ministry of Water Resources in China planned to invest 800 billion yuan building water management projects during the year. But the country     1     (see) the funds reach 823 billion yuan by the end of September.

Last year, the large-scale development played a significant role in ensuring stable home fund     2     promoting employment. Over 2. 5 million workers     3     (employ) in the development, including almost 2.1 million people from rural China. People also noted the     4     (remark) growth in funds it raised for water management projects. Almost 1. 16 trillion yuan was collected across the country last year, 44 percent more than 2021. Over 203.6 billion yuan was raised     5     government bonds, roughly 1.5 times that of the previous year. Over 37.9 billion yuan was invested     6     (expand) and renovate (翻新) 529 medium and large-scale irrigated areas in 2022. Thanks to the     7     (invest), over 10,000 kilometers of irrigation channels were built or renovated.

During the rare drought in the Yangtze River Basin last year, the complete systems in many of those irrigated areas functioned     8     (efficient) in reducing the impacts of the drought and reducing losses. Such irrigated areas guaranteed water supply to 11.3 million hectares of farmland in     9     (strike) regions. Despite the drought, the basin saw     10     good harvest of grain.

The Chongyang Festival     1     falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.

The festival is based on the theory of Yin and Yang, the two opposing (全然不同的) principles in nature. Yin is feminine (女性的), negative principle, while Yang is masculine (男性的) and positive. The ancients believed that all     2     (nature) phenomena could be explained by this theory. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day     3     the two Yang numbers meet. So it     4     (call) Chongyang. Chong means double in Chinese. It is hard     5     (say) when these customs were created. Chongyang    6     (be) an important festival since ancient times.

The Double Ninth Festival is usually perfect for outdoor     7     (activity). Many people go hiking and climbing in the country, enjoying Mother Nature’s final burst of color before she puts on her dull winter cloak. Some will carry a spray of dogwood (茱萸). But,    8     (slow), the custom of carrying a spray of dogwood during the Double Ninth Festival is     9     (die) out and many people, especially young people in the cities. The custom evolves into     10     (it) present form, when people go climbing to get some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

Palace Museum at 600: Old Palace, New Vitality

An exhibition titled “Everlasting Splendor: Six Centuries at the Forbidden City“ was held at the Palace Museum in Beijing to celebrate its 600th birthday. With more than 450 cultural relics and historical photos     1     show, the exhibition brings history to life     2     allows visitors to better appreciate the cultural charm of the palace.

The Forbidden City was completed in 1420 and     3     total of 24 emperors lived and worked there. In many people’s eyes, its beauty lies in the palace complex, being an    4     (extreme) precious and splendid artwork. With more than 70 palaces of various sizes and over 9,000 rooms, it is one of the     5    (large) and most complete existing wooden structures in the world. It is also mysterious, because ancient Chinese philosophies were integrated into its design and     6     (construct). However, the sense of mystery     7     (fade) gradually since it was transformed into the Palace Museum in 1925.

The Palace Museum is now a world-famous museum     8     more than 1.8 million artifacts are collected. Recently, it has become a real “online celebrity” on the Internet. Creative products     9    (inspire) by aspects of the museum, such as make-ups and folding fans, have gone on sale viae-commerce platforms.

    10     (witness) China’s history, it has to some extent shaped the mental world of the Chinese people. But nowadays it has become a brand-new cultural symbol.

A long time ago, a father was old and sick. He did not have much time to live, and he wanted     1     (give) his sons a good lesson before he died.

Recently, he noticed that his sons     2     (fight) among themselves and seemed unable to agree on anything. The old man feared what would happen after his     3     (die). He was afraid that his sons would begin to argue. “They will disagree about everything,” He thought. “Soon they     4     (be) enemies, each going his own direction.”

He called his sons together in his room. “Bring     5     (I) a bundle (束) of stick,” he asked his servant (仆人). Soon enough, a thick bundle of sticks arrived, tied     6     (close) together. One by one, he gave the bundle to each son, and asked him to break the bundle. One son after another pulled and twisted (拧) with all of his strength (力量),     7     the sticks would not break. The old man smiled and ordered his servant to untie the bundle of sticks. He handed one stick to each son and said, “Now break the stick.”

The old man smiled and ordered his servant to untie the bundle of sticks. He handed one stick to each son and said, “Now break the stick.” Of course, the single stick     8     (break) in two easily. The old father looked at his sons. “Do you understand this lesson?” he asked.

Each son, being intelligent,     9     (understand) the meaning at once. Alone, it is easy for one of them to be harmed. But together, they are strong and can’t be harmed even     10     great forces (势力). That’s the meaning of the sticking together. In unity, there is great strength.