The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival was celebrated with a dragon boat race on Saturday in Cape Town, South Africa.

Also known     1     Duanwu, the festival is a traditional Chinese holiday     2     (observe) on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar.     3     holiday honors Qu Yuan, a poet and politician in the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475 B. C. — 221 B. C.). He drowned himself in the Miluo River after he was wronged for his well-intended advice to the king. The festival is celebrated with dragon boat races and the     4     (consume) of sticky rice dumplings called zongzi.

This year’s dragon boat race was the second event of     5     (it) kind held in Cape Town, following the success of last year’s celebrations. Set against the background of the beautiful Table Mountain, the race featured 10 teams competing in various     6     (category), including 100-meter, 500-meter and the popular tug-of-war competitions.

Igsaan Salie, chairperson of the Cape Town Dragon Boat Association, said that the dragon boat race     7     (perfect) combined Chinese culture with South African features. “Personally,     8     I have enjoyed most about dragon boating is seeing 20 people     9     (face) the same direction working toward a united goal,” Salie said. “It is a great team sport and an opportunity for us     10     (enjoy) the natural beauty of Cape Town while being on the water.”

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi held a launch event for its first electric vehicle (EV) model, the Speed Ultra 7 (SU7), in Beijing on Thursday. It marks the smartphone giant’s entry into the     1     (compete) and challenging Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) market.

The SU7 series will be launched in nine different colors, at a price starting from215,900 yuan ($29,866) and mass     2     (produce) is expected to start in the first half of 2024.

Customers and analysts had previously estimated that the SU7     3     (be) priced at 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.     4     (start) from Monday, the SU7 series has been on display in 59 stores across 29 cities in China, a staff member at the store told the Global Times, adding that people have been crowding     5     the showroom to see the car.

China’s NEV market has become the world’s biggest market     6     carmakers are ramping up (增加) efforts     7     (improve) technological capabilities amid (在……中) an ongoing price war. Meanwhile, Chinese NEV manufacturers are expanding overseas. About 19.5 percent of EVs purchased in Europe last year     8     (make) in China and this is on track to reach a quarter in 2024.3.29.

It’s still unknown whether Xiaomi’s ambition to fulfil its auto business dream will succeed. However, analysts believe     9     will drive innovation and progress in NEV technology, and help promote the expansion and market penetration (渗透) of NEVs by attracting more consumers, and increasing     10     (aware) and recognition of NEVs.

There are some famous caves “Grotte de Niaux” in the Pyrenees Mountains called Niaux in a small village. These caves contain paintings     1     (draw) between 12,000 to 30,000 years ago by some human     2     (being).

Many caves which contain prehistoric paintings are no longer     3     (access) to the public, because the carbon dioxide     4     is breathed out and the effects of the strong artificial lights that the paintings are lit up with quickly reduced     5     quality of the paintings. However, “Niaux Cave” is an exception. By     6     (limit) the number of people allowed in the cave at a time and the artificial light used to brighten the paintings, the paintings in Niaux     7     (preserve) well up to now so that visitors can see them. We can see bison, goats and deer     8     (clear) painted onto the walls as though they had been done yesterday.

Many people believe that these paintings were created     9     religious reasons, while others believe they showed the everyday life experiences of the men and women who lived in these caves all those years ago. Maybe we will never know for sure why those cave men were far     10     (good) at drawing than we are!

China has rich cooking traditions that have lasted thousands of years. A number of Chinese dishes and cooking styles enjoy     1     good reputation (声誉) at home and abroad. But none of them have received world-class official     2     (recognize). China tried to get Chinese food on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage Items in 2011,     3     failed. Now the Chinese Cuisine Association is having another go. Will any Chinese food make     4     onto the list this time? The result     5     (announce) in November.

    6     (appear) on the list, a dish must have deep cultural and social meaning, UNESCO said. This, experts say, is something Chinese cuisine is rich in.     7     (actual), many important dates in China are connected with food. Spring Festival celebrations, for example, start with a bowl of “eight treasure” congee on the     8     (eight) day of the 12th lunar month. It’s followed by the preparation and     9     (eat) dumplings on Lunar New Year’s Eve and Lunar New Year’s Day. Then on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, people finish their celebrations by eating yuanxiao, or rice balls.

Chinese cooking and cuisine no longer serve only as nutrition. They have become a     10     (significance) part of Chinese culture and civilization.

Acupuncture (针灸) is     1     ancient Chinese medicine-based approach to     2    (treat) a variety of diseases by triggering specific points on the skin with needles. Since Qin dynasty, the Chinese     3     (alleviate) pain and treated illnesses through acupuncture. This practice originates from the discovery     4     pricking specific points on the body with stone needles could ease pain and symptoms, which is in line     5     the philosophy that facilitates the     6     (harmony) coexistence of humans with nature.

According to Records of the Grand Historian, authored by Sima Qian about 2,100 years ago, Bian Que, a highly skilled doctor during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), was famous for having saved a prince from death by using needles     7     (stimulate) the Baihui acupoint (穴位) on the head of the unconscious man. Bian Que’ cure   was so effective that the prince and the whole royal family became his     8     (regular).

Ancient Chinese believed that the human body was filled with a(n)     9     (visible) life-giving force which they called ‘qi’ and when the qi was flowing well and going to all the right places inside a person’s body, then he would experience good mental and physical health. Today, many people volunteer to become a     10     (license) practitioner (从业人员) for acupuncture, an effective therapy to help address a variety of health concerns.