“Cold the iron chains spanning over the Dadu River,” Chairman Mao Zedong wrote in a poem, describing the do-or-die battle which took place on the Luding Bridge. The Bridge,     1     (measure) 103.67 meters in length and 3 meters in width, is located in Sichuan Province, which was     2     (original) built in 1705 during the Qing Dynasty. Near the Luding Bridge considered a historical landmark    3     (stand) a museum, in front of which there is a bronze statue of the soldiers whose spirit makes the bridge a household name.

Over 80 years ago, the bridge was crucial to the survival of the CPC-led Red Army during the Long March because if the soldiers had failed to dash through the Luding Bridge then, the Red Army might have been wiped out. Upon their     4     (arrive), the Red Army found only thirteen heavy iron chains    5     (leave) across the river. With no time to waste, one by one the Red soldiers ventured forward to risk their lives and of those who offered    6     (they), thirty were chosen. Though several soldiers fell into     7    fast-flowing river,the others crawled along the wood boards they had laid until they finally took control of the east bank .

Probably never before had people seen fighters like these-men for whom soldiering was not just a rice bowl,     8    a mission. They astonishingly accomplished    9     seemed like a task impossible and their    10    (courage) spirit will always stick in our mind.

“Touching   China”, a TV show created by CCTV1, has brought many characters to the national audience so far,     1     (involve) famous stars, wise scholars, ordinary   people and the senior party officials. Each character has a spiritual power that makes the audience feel powerful.

Xiao Kane is one of the Top Ten     2     (figure) of the year 2024, and her behavior has inspired countless Chinese people.

Xiao Kane,     3    eye-impaired (眼睛受损的) singer from Hong Kong, China, graduated from the Music Departmet   of the   Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a post-90s generation who had her eyeball     4     (remove) due to eye cancer at the age of   three months. But she holds the belief     5     a man is born useful. She is the first person     6    eye disease admitted to the Music Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Royal Academy of Music in the UK.By the age of 20, she     7     (win) over 70 music competition awards.

For many years, although she is    8     (physical) disabled, she   often   participates in charity performances to raise funds, and even goes to poor     9     (mountain) areas to volunteer without fear of hardship. And her dream is     10    (open) some music schools that can accommodate different students and contribute to different children in our country.

Anyone visiting Tibet and exploring its culture would visit the temples to view the colorful and educational Tibetan Thangka (唐卡) paintings. They are traditionally painted on either cotton or silk, with     1     (loose) woven cotton being the most common. The paintings usually show religious scenes, as indicated by their name, Thangka,     2     (mean) “recorded message” in Tibetan.

The Tibetan Thangka is     3     art form that originated in Nepal and was brought to Tibet later. The Thangka paintings were developed over the centuries from the early murals (壁画) that can be seen in     4     is titled “Library Caves”, such as the Ajanta Caves in India and the Mogao Caves in China.

The Mogao Caves were previously a storage place of many Tibetan paintings on cloth, including the earliest surviving Thangka dated to be from around 780-848 AD     5     the region was under Tibetan rule. Historians note that between the 14th and 15th century, Tibetan paintings     6     (integrate) many elements from the Chinese murals.

The Thangka painting is not a flat creation but consists of a painted picture panel, over which a fabric is mounted, and then over which     7     (lay) a cover, usually silk. It is the nature of     8     (delicate) that makes Thangkas prefer dry places     9     (prevent) the quality of the silk from being affected by wetness. When they are not in use, they remain rolled up, with coverings on the back and front to protect the painting.     10     (keep) in this way helps Thangkas last for a very long time.

Now, you can travel back 3,000 years to see what life was like in a capital city of the Shang Dynasty at the new building of the Yinxu Museum in Anyang, Henan province.     1     (feature) incredible artifacts, the new museum is open to the public. With     2     exhibition space of 22,000 square meters, the expanded museum is the first national major archaeological museum     3     (present) the comprehensive Shang civilization.

Nearly 4,000 items or sets of cultural relics are on display in the museum, about three-fourths of which have never been publicly exhibited before. The Yinxu Ruins, listed     4     a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006, are of earthshaking     5     (significant). For example, the oracle bone inscriptions (甲骨文)     6     (discover) at the site helped to extend recorded Chinese history to nearly 1,000 years earlier than     7     (previous) believed.

    8     catches your eyes most in the museum is Ya Zhang Niu Zun, a life-like buffalo-shaped exhibit piece. Also on display     9     (be) the oracle bones called “The Prince’s Diary”, which record the life of a prince in the Shang Dynasty. “Through this diary, we can see his life is relatable to today’s teenagers. Some cultural elements rooted in daily life have remained unchanged. This cultural continuity is inherited (继承), and the     10     (spirit) core of a nation remains constant,” said archaeological researcher Yu Chenglong.

Weifang nut carving dates back to the Qing Dynasty, during     1     a craftsman (手艺人) named Wang Dayan spread the skill to the local people. Due to the strict carving skills and its rich artistic content, Weifang nut carving     2     (list) as a national intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) in 2008.

A successor named Tan Wanhai, has studied nu t carving for the past 25 years. He was deeply impressed by a master piece     3     (inspire) by an article about a boat nu t carving. “In just a 5-cm peach pit (核), you can see a boat     4     (carry) five different people, who are all vividly (生动地) shown,” said Tan.

Yet,     5     48-year-old craftsman also admitted that the journey of bringing this kind of masterpiece to life is not a smooth sailing. “Each peach pit has     6     (it) own unique texture (纹理) like human fingerprints,” Tan said, adding that craftsmen have to study   each peach pit     7     (design) their artwork carefully. Craftsmen also need to have a wide knowledge of arts when it comes     8     carving nuts.

In recent years, Weifang nut carving artworks have been     9     (wide) welcomed by people in China. This     10     (popular), in turn, has also attracted many people to learn the skill of nut carving.

The fourth season of the travel reality show HAHAHAHAHA aired on Tencent’s video platform on Saturday,     1     (offer) viewers a catching glimpse (一瞥) into the travels of actors Deng Chao and Chen He, pop idol Lu Han, comedian Wang Mian, former soccer player Fan Zhiyi, and rapper Dong Baoshi as they take on an     2     (adventure) journey through Laos.

The show,     3     is different from tradition, explores abroad for the first time,     4     decision made by director Wang Zhengyu as a means     5     (improve) the artists’ creativity.     6     previous seasons crossing China’s various places, from the northern city of Mohe to Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the new environment promises to stir up inspiration and excitement among the performers.

“Laos people are welcoming to Chinese visitors,” Wang reflected on the kind help during the filming. “Our time in Laos offered a good understanding of     7     the Belt and Road Initiative has brought     8     (opportunity) and changes there.”

Building upon the previous three seasons, Wang notes the harmonious relationship among the five members. “At     9     (it) main feature, the reality show     10     (serve) as a source of relaxation and enjoyment for viewers.”

Short-form videos, which gained popularity on the Chinese platform Douyin, have given rise to a new trend in entertainment: ultra-short (超短) dramas.     1     (tailor) to our fast-paced lifestyles, ultra-short dramas are far more likely to attract people to try them out than traditional television series. In the past, committing     2     a show meant investing upwards of 40 minutes, but with ultra-short dramas, only a few minutes is enough for     3     taste.

Despite the initial success of ultra-short dramas, Chinese authorities     4     (tighten) regulations and intensifying monitoring on them. Currently, most of these ultra-short dramas revolve around clichéd (陈词滥调的) romantic plots, often     5     (feature) a wealthy individual getting together with a poor person. This narrative trend bears the potential     6     (shape) young minds’ perceptions of reality and their approaches to real-life challenges.

What’s equally concerning is     7     ultra-short dramas are designed to catch the viewers’ attention with bite-sized runtimes. In a world dominated by smartphones,     8     attention spans are already declining, frequent     9     (expose) to ultra-short videos can only worsen the issue.

It’s natural for us to seek entertainment. But it’s also worth pausing to consider the consequences     10     diving into ultra-short dramas.

Wing Chun is a southern Chinese kung fu style descends from Shaolin Kung Fu. It has the distinction of having been founded by two women, Ng Mui and Yim Wing-chun.

The Wing Chun style is known for placing     1     (emphasize) on technique rather than strength. This style also calls for practitioners to stay relaxed while     2    (fight), allowing them to achieve a kind of softness or flexibility. This relaxed flexibility gives Wing Chun fighter     3     special kind of strength that allows them to bend, not break, just like bamboo.   

Legend has it that Wing Chun founder Ng Mui was living at Shaolin Temple     4     it was attacked and destroyed by Qing dynasty forcers. Surviving the attack, she escaped     5     the border area between Yunnan and Sichuan. There she met a young woman     6     (name)Yim Wing-chun, who     7     (final) became one of her top students. She taught Yim an improved version of Shaolin Kung Fu, known as Wing Chun now. This new martial art     8     (spread) and grown into different branches over the past two hundred years.

Ip Man, featured in the eponymous (同名的) hit films,     9    (be) a notable practitioner of Wing Chun style martial arts. He also taught the Wing Chun style to his student, Bruce Lee, who would go on to act in the beloved Hong Kong kung fu movies     10     helped make Chinese martial arts famous around the world.