Fairy-tale ice sculptures attract hundreds of thousands of tourists into China’s Harbin.China’s annual Ice and Snow Festival, with     1     (it) fairy-tale ice sculptures, opened on Friday, drawing large crowds of tourists who walked carefully over the     2     (slip) ice and snow. This year the ice park covers 810, 000 square meters with 250, 000 cubic meters of sculptured ice     3     (harvest) from the nearby frozen Songhua River, and lit up at night with colourful lights.

The sculptures, some of     4     were a-few-storey-high, featured Chinese style buildings and bridges, fairy-tale castles, towers and one modeled after Beijing’s Temple of Heaven. All of them left a deep     5     (impress) on the visitors.

The festival’s marketing vice director Sun Zemin told Reuters the average number of people visiting the park daily has increased     6     (significant) to around 30,000 this year. Over the past few days, the festival park     7     (receive) more than 163, 200 people,     8    (generate) 46. 18 million yuan ($6 45 million) in income, nearly six times higher     9     a year ago. That helped draw some 3.05 million tourists to the city during the same period, and Heilongjiang’s Culture and Tourism Department called the tourist boom     10     “ice and snow miracle” in Harbin this winter.

A black slate (石板), an alloy steel needle and decades of practice are     1     Li Yahua needs to create the perfect Huihe stone shadow carving work of art. With her left hand     2     (gentle) leaning against the mirror-like stone to support the heavy chisel (凿子) she’s holding in her right hand, the artist creates a black-and-white landscape by intensively chiseling dots in various sizes and density on the stone.

    3     (difference) from traditional Chinese art types that emphasize the beauty of lines, stone shadow carving highlights the size and     4     (deep) of dots.

“We use an alloy steel needle to chisel white dots to create images on a polished and smooth black slate,” Li explained, adding the pressure     5     (use) to chisel them was the key to getting the carving right.

“On an A4-paper-size black slate, we need to chisel about 100 million dots     6     (create) an image,” she continued, adding it would take 7 to 20 days to complete the work depending on its level of complexity.

Born into a family of stone carvers, stone and alloy steel needles     7     (be) Li’s best friends since childhood and the sound of chisel     8     (knock) on the slate is the soundtrack to her life.     9     56-year-old has devoted nearly 40 years to the craft. For her, shadow carving is about preserving history, culture and art,     10     recording the stories of the times.

Sooner or later, you all have to face big decisions regarding your ambitions and your future roles in society. That might mean selecting school subjects that will lead to     1     fulfilling career or it might mean deciding what kind of job you think will suit you.

    2     (luck), you aren’t restricted(限制) to a choice between academia and the workplace. You might decide to follow a vocational(职业的) course,     3     (get) a qualification(资格) in business, for example. Or you might consider doing in an apprenticeship(学徒工作) and working for an employer who will train you     4     (do) a specific job.

When making decisions, don’t forget to put your hearts into your     5     (strong). You can get a sense of what academic area you are stronger in,     6     (base) on your success in assessments.

Dig a little deeper to find out what combination of personality traits(特征) and skills are involved in your past success, and which can     7     (apply) to other areas. Online personality tests which try to match you to a particular job can help you to focus     8     your interests.

Consulting parents and other people as well as gathering information about different options     9     (be) important too. Although it may be possible to change your mind at a later stage, there’s no doubt     10     life is easier if you get it right early on.

Do you believe that art can change our world? In a study     1    (conduct) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), researchers found that people with an active interest in the art contribute more to society than those with little or no interest in     2    . That means if you sing, dance, draw, or act, and especially if you watch others do so, you’re     3    (likely) to be socially responsible, tolerant and altruistic (无私的).

Kelly Leroux, an assistant professor at UIC who takes charge     4     the study, says, “Our data analysis has found a high correlation between the arts and altruistic actions—like donating blood,or doing favors for a neighbor,     5     place the interests of others over the interests of self,” she said. “    6     this, people who have interests in the arts are more willing to take part in activities, such as volunteering.”

Because the financial crisis still lasts, arts budgets     7    (reduce) very soon. However, this policy will take such important benefits away from students. Just as LeRoux says,     8     policymakers are worried about a decline in community life, the arts should not be disregarded as     9     effective means to promote social     10    (responsible).

Should Children Have Smart Phones?

Today, it is common for children to use smart phones every day. Smart phones are very useful for communicating and doing tasks. However, smart phones can also cause unwanted     1     （consequence）,especially when used by young children.

Smart phones are convenient not only for children,     2     for the rest of family members as well. With them. parents always know the real-time location of their children. Smart phones can also promote better interactions with friends, regardless     3     their locations. They're useful when children are doing their homework and need     4     （assist）. Children can get some information that can help them to understand learning materials more quickly and     5     （well）.

But parents should provide correct guidance on how to use smart phones     6     （proper）. Without parental guidance, children can spend more than five hours each day     7     （use）smart phones. Teenagers tend     8     （waste）nearly eight hours a day on their phones. Addiction to smart phones may cause lower academic grades. Frequent use of smart phones may affect the quality and quantity of sleep,     9     can lead to weakened immunity（免疫力）, reduced focus and depression（抑郁症）.

Therefore, without proper guidance, parents shouldn't allow children to use smart phones for a long period of time. Only when children want to communicate with friends and do research for learning projects, can they     10     （give）smart phones.

In an effort to fight against global warming, Purdue University engineers have created the whitest paint that can keep surfaces cooler than the formulation(配方)that the researchers had     1     (previous) shown.

The new whitest paint formulation reflects up to 98. 1% of sunlight compared with the 95. 5% of sunlight     2     (reflect) by the researchers' previous white paint and sends heat away from a surface at     3     same time.

Two features give the paint its extreme whiteness. One is the     4     (paint) high concentration of a special chemical,     5     is used to make photo paper white as well. And the second feature is that the barium sulfate particles(硫酸钡粒子) are all different     6     size in the paint. How much each particle scatters(散射) light     7     (depend) on its size, so a wider range of particle sizes allows the paint to scatter more of the light from the sun.

The extreme whiteness also means that the paint is the     8     (cool) on record. Using high-accuracy temperature reading equipment, the researchers have shown that the paint can keep surfaces 19℉ cooler than their surroundings at night and cool surfaces 8 ℉ below their surroundings under strong sunlight during noon hours, The researchers hold a firm     9     (believe) that coating buildings with this paint will one day cool them off enough     10    (reduce) the need for air conditioning.

“Father of hybrid rice”, Yuan Longping died of illness at 13:07 p.m. in     1     hospital in Changsha of Hunan province.

He     2     (cultivate) the world's first high-yielding hybrid rice strain in 1973,     3     was later grown on a large scale in China and other countries to substantially raise output. Yuan once said he had two dreams — to “enjoy the cool under the rice crops taller than men” and that hybrid rice could     4     (grow) all over the world     5     (help) solve the global food scarcity(短缺). Everyone knows that he is the Savior(救世主),     6     he said he is an old farmer who has grown rice all     7     life, and he would keep working unless he could no longer see or walk.

On September 19, 2020, Yuan Longping sent his best wishes to the youth and shared his eight word     8     (success) experience: knowledge, sweat, and opportunity. “Knowledge is the foundation. Sweat is the practice,” he said. “Inspiration is a spark of thought. Everyone has a spark of thought so don't give it up.” He also said “Chance favors the     9     (prepare) mind!” in English.

Our best way    10     (mourn) is to cherish every grain in the bowl and every day without starvation.