On Thursday, the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Beijing     1     (reveal) that archaeologists had discovered two sunken ships in the depths of the South China Sea. It offered tangible evidence of commercial and     2     (culture) exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

The latest underwater archaeological     3     (explore) carried out by the National Center for Archaeology have     4     (significant) uncovered important artifacts. In addition to the shipwrecks, a variety of artifacts, including pottery, porcelain and ironware, have been unearthed, most of     5     were made in kilns (窑炉) in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, known as China’s “porcelain capital.” The precise locations of the shipwrecks and the associated cultural relics     6     (determine) through the use of oceanographic technology and underwater investigations involving manned submersibles, which conducted 41 dives throughout the year, as confirmed by Song Jianzhong,     7     researcher at the National Center for Archaeology.

The Ming Dynasty’s No.1 shipwreck,     8     (measure) 37 meters long and 11 meters wide, has yielded 543 artifacts, suggesting it sailed from Fujian or Guangdong to Southeast Asia trade centers like Malacca. The No. 2 shipwreck dates     9     the rule of Emperor Hongzhi and measures about 21 meters long and 8 meters wide. A total of 36 artifacts have been found on it, porcelain and pottery     10     (include).

Shadow puppetry (皮影戏) was very popular in many parts of China during Tang (618—907) and Song (960—1279) dynasties. In the past, shadow puppets (木偶)     1    (make) of paper sculpture (雕刻), later from the leather of donkeys or oxen. That’s why their Chinese name is pi ying, which means shadows of leather.

More than 2,000 years ago, a favorite wife of Wu Emperor of the Han Dynasty died of illness. The emperor was very sad at the     2    (lose) of his wife. One day, a minister (大臣) happened to see children playing with dolls where the shadows on the ground were lively. Inspired     3     this scene, the smart minister hit upon     4     idea. He made a cotton puppet of the emperor’s wife and painted it. As night fell, he invited the emperor     5    (watch) a puppet show behind a curtain,     6     attracted the emperor deeply, and he took to it from then on. This story     7    (record) in the official history book is believed to be the start of shadow puppetry.

Shadow puppetry wins many good     8    (comment) of audiences with its good music, fine sculpture, cheerful color and lively performance. The design of the figures follows     9    (tradition) moral evaluation (道德评价) and aesthetics. The audiences can tell a figure’s character by     10    (see) his mask.

5 . 阅读下边短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的适当形式。

2024 is “The Year of the Dragon” on the Chinese lunar calendar. But     1     that’s the proper translation of the iconic mythical symbol of China or not has aroused     2    (heat)debate.

The Western concept of dragon is not consistent with     3     of the Chinese dragon. Influenced by Greek mythology, the dragon is often the keeper of treasure. For Europeans, dragon is usually a monster     4     (keep) distances away from people. With four legs and two huge black wings, they can spit fire or even poison gas out of their mouth. Contrary     5     the evil image of European dragons, Chinese dragons symbolize     6    (strong) and goodluck. In Chinese legends, dragons were appointed head of the four seas, rulers of weather and water. Those born in the year of the Loong are believed     7    (be)interested in the world and willing to give a helping hand.

The differences in perception of the mythical creatures in China and the West     8    (root)in their different cultural values. What is important is that as we enter     9     new lunar year, people     10    (global)appreciate the cultural values embodied in such Chinese symbols as Loong.

Curly the robot beats athletes at curling

A robot has beaten top-class humans at the sport of curling (冰壶运动). Klaus-Robert Muller at the Berlin Institute of Technology in Germany and his workmates built the robot,    1    (call) Curly, to master the sport.

In curling, players slide heavy stones down an icy path towards a target (宫垒). Players compete in two teams of four, with most players    2    (take) turns to “throw” a stone or to use brooms (冰壶刷)    3    (sweep) the ice in front of a moving stone. Points are given for stones closest    4     the centre of the target and a team wins by having the highest score.

Curly won three out of four     5    (match) against top-class South Korean women’ s curling teams. The robot throws stones, but doesn’t sweep.

Placed on wheels, the robot has     6     long neck with a video camera to check     7     stones are. Curly’s     8    (power) learning program takes into consideration the position (位置) of other stones and the state of the ice when deciding the next moves. Once the game     9    (begin), Curly continuously learned how to improve on    10    (it) earlier moves, based on the errors it had made.

The earliest Chinese kites     1     were made of wood were called muyuan (wooden kites) They date as far back as the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) at least two thousand years ago. After the     2     (invent) of paper, kites began to be made of this new material, paper, and this paper kite is called zhiyuan.

The method of making a kite can be divided into three parts. Firstly, use thin bamboo strips (条)     3     (make) a kite frame (框架), and according to taste, kites can have     4     (attract) shapes like a dragonfly, a swallow, a centipede or a butterfly. Secondly, glue paper onto the framework. The paper     5     (require) to be thin. Finally, decorate the kites     6     colorful paintings and ribbons.

Although the basic method remains the same, styles of kite making are presented     7     (different) in every place. The kites in the “World Kite Capital” of Weifang in Shandong Province are well known for     8     (they) fine materials, painting, sculpture and flexible flying movement. One of these kites, which was over 300 meters long and in the shape of a centipede with a dragon’s head, won the     9     (one) place in the International Kite Festival held in Italy. This kite is now shown in the Weifang Kite Museum. Every year, the World Kite Festival will be held there and is expected to draw many fans with a love for     10     (fly) kites.

On the last day of 2023, Heilongjiang government released a thank-you letter,     1     was published by several local media outlets.

“We thank you for your heartfelt     2     (enthusiastic) in your visits to Heilongjiang... You    3     (bring) joy and life to this land so far. It’s so great to have you here.”

At Harbin Ice and Snow World,     4     famous ice-and-snow theme park in Heilongjiang, tourists gathered to count down toward 2024,     5     (surround) by more than 1,000 ice and snow sculptures.

Besides the ice-and-snow sculptures, a diverse range of winter     6     (activity )were available for visitors to enjoy. Ice slides were among the most popular activities. Many didn’t mind     7     (wait) long for these slides, the longest being 521 meters     8     length.

    9     (addition), bicycles on ice and hot air balloons that allowed visitors     10     (appreciate) the magic world from above also attracted long lines of visitors.

Foreign guests from     1     (participate) countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) spoke highly     2     Chinese cultural relics, after they     3     (pay) a visit to the Sanxingdui Museum in Sichuan Province on Sunday. The guests,     4     are also representatives of the first Silk Road Global News Awards winners, agreed on promoting     5     (culture) exchanges in future cooperation.     6     (discover) in the late 1920s, the Sanxingdui site was considered as the     7     (large) ancient kingdom site from the pre-Qin period in Southwest China. In 1986 and 2019,     8     total of eight sacrificial pits were discovered at Sanxingdui. They held     9     (near) 20,000 precious cultural relics     10     they made the site one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in modern times.