Cinemas may be dying. But the high end is thriving.

The box office has a bad case. Worldwide takings last year were a quarter below their peak. Americans, who went to the cinema more than five times each in 2000, last year went     1     (few) than three times. As streaming services keep audiences     2     (glue) to the small screen, theatre chains including Cineworld, the world’s second-largest, have gone bankrupt.     3     the biggest of the big screens are thriving.

IMAX,     4     screens are as large as 38 metres wide with denture-rattling (震感十足的) sound systems, had worldwide box-office takings of $1.1 bn last year and its biggest-ever haul in America. The luxury-cinema trend is not limited to America. IMAX’s share of the international box office     5     (rise) from 1.7% in 2019 to 2.1% last year. CGV,     6     South Korean chain with branches across Asia, has rebranded its multiplexes (多厅影院) as “cultureplexes”, offering music, gaming and     7     (dine) alongside films.

Theatre operators must hope audiences are     8     (hunger) for these add-ons, especially when this year’s movie menu is limited. Ever since strikes last year in Hollywood, they     9     (delay) titles, including Mission: Impossible and Avatar sequels, to 2025.

Successful cinemas will treat a trip     10     the movies as the rare luxury.

Have you ever experienced one of the earliest movies? It boasts star-studded ensembles (乐团), undergoes rapid transformations in the blink of an eye, and even includes special effects, music and     1     (perform), all without the aid of machines or computers.

Utterly relying on hands, the ancient Chinese art of shadow play is a tradition with a history     2     dates back 2,000 years, and it’s also a representative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity     3     (recognize) by UNESCO.

Last month, two prominent online celebrities, Nanxiang Buaichifan and Jiuyue, shared videos documenting their journey to learn how to perform shadow puppetry that     4     (receive) over 20 million views so far on social media platforms. “Some romance may have long faded,     5     we can use traditional techniques passed down through the generations to create a romance     6     (belong) to today’s world, which is marked by hardships and complexities,” Bilibili content creator Shujiangyuan wrote, commenting on Jiuyue’s video.

The two celebrities dedicated a month     7     learning the art from scratch, beginning with the basic skills of handling cowhide (牛皮革). The challenge of mastering this millennia-old technique within such a short time initially seemed like mission     8     (possible). Fortunately, they were lucky enough to learn from     9     best — Dang Feihua, a 23-year-old inheritor of the shadow puppetry tradition. Dang says that the duo took their apprenticeships     10     (serious). “Jiuyue has a foundation in painting, so she learned quickly, while Nanxiang Buaichifan, having experimented with various crafts, also caught on swiftly,” he says.

With the worldwide celebration of the Chinese New Year, traditional Chinese cultural forms such as the Yingge Dance (Dance of Heroes) and dragon and lion dances have once again attracted widespread attention.

As the Chinese New Year is increasingly celebrated     1     (global), it has brought its traditional celebrations elsewhere and seen people of other countries join the festivities. This Spring Festival, a team of Yingge dancers from South China’s Guangdong Province     2     (invite) to the UK, bringing an exciting performance to London’s Burlington Arcade     3     (celebrate) the Chinese New Year.

Literally     4     (translate) as the “Songs of Heroes” dance, Yingge Dance is an old folk dance     5     originated from the Chaoshan area of South China’s Guangdong Province. Dressed in colorful costumes, performers wave wooden sticks in their hands while     6     (dance) in orderly formations to the music.

Based on the stories of the 108     7     (hero) of Liangshan Mountain from the classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh (《水浒传》), this is     8     folk art combining a variety of forms, from martial arts and Chinese operas to dance.

From a centuries-old art form to a magnum opus (杰作) of Chinese tradition worldwide, the     9     (popular) of Yingge Dance on the streets of London during the Spring Festival was a success     10     terms of traditional Chinese folk art sailing overseas.

Word came that the annual school sports meet would take place next Friday through Saturday. At the exciting news, the whole class burst into cheers. Without any hesitation, we set about making     1     (arrange) for the grand gala for us students.

With the sports meet approaching, we could hardly concentrate on our daily routine. Every day, we spent much of our spare time     2     (talk) about the weather for fear that the sports meet might be postponed again. Then finally came the big day, when the sports meet was held as     3     (schedule). The sports meet was pretty impressive. One of the highlights     4     (be) the parade before the start of the race. Students were marching past the podium with slogans high up in their hands, while spectators were screaming    5    (crazy). Shortly after the parade was over, the race started. Well known for running in junior high school, I     6     (recommend) to enter for the 3000-meter running race, representing my class.

Time was ticking away. Before I knew it, it was my turn to step onto the track. But all of     7    sudden, I felt a bit panicky. As I hadn’t received any training recently, I puffed and panted halfway. I was about     8     (quit) when my classmates cheered me on all the way. Anyway, I made it to the finishing line. Unable to earn a single point for my class, I was     9    low spirits. However, my friends came over and encouraged me to cheer up. It was their encouragement    10    helped heal the pain of failure.

Now two weeks have passed, but the memory still stay fresh in my mind. Disappointed as I am, I never regret taking part in the race. After all, being part of the sports meet is what I really care about.

Lǎozìhào refers to the old and famous shops, which have always been reliable and trustworthy and still enjoy     1     irreplaceable position in people’s minds since long time. Not only do they represent high quality and good reputation, they have also become an indispensable part in     2     (people) daily life.

These famous and time-honored shops, eg, Quanjude and Tongrentang,     3     (locate) in Qianmen, the center of Beijing, all have represented the highly developed     4     (commerce) culture of old Beijing.

But these shops are more about businesses; they are also a historical and cultural phenomenon. He     5     has never tasted a roast duck will regret his whole life--such common sayings have made Quanjude a     6     (represent) of Beijing. Many other similar two-part allegorical sayings among the folks have also     7     (vivid) revealed the very characteristics of these old shops.

Nowadays, with the rapid development of economy and fierce competition in modern society, some Lǎozìhào shops have been keeping pace     8     the times and carrying forward their brands through continuous reforms and innovations. That’s why they    9     (stand) the test of time and survived in competition, while some others have faded into the history due to their inability     10     (adapt) to the rapid changes in modern social life.

After four days of wonderful performances, the 7th China Quanzhou International Puppet Festival     1     (come) to an end on December 12 in 2023 in Quanzhou, south China’s Fujian Province. The festival,     2     was held in the hometown of Chinese string (线) puppetry (木偶制作艺术), showed the high-level skills of Quanzhou’s puppetry artists, leaving audiences     3     (amaze).

In China, string puppetry is     4     important form of traditional theater that originated in Quanzhou during the Han Dynasty.     5     (actual), having been passed down over thousands of years, more than 700 traditional plays about folk beliefs and customs have been protected.

Each puppet is equipped with 8 to 16 strings, while more complex performances may require up to 36 strings. The strings     6     (divide) into several groups according to human movements, and all the actions are controlled by the hands of the puppetry artists.

To master string puppetry, skilled     7     (way) to perform puppets are not enough. Puppeteers also need to have rich life experiences     8     (understand) the emotional world of the characters to help bring the puppets to life.

On May 20, 2006, Quanzhou string puppetry was added     9     the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list (非物质文化遗产名录).

As the hometown of string puppetry, Quanzhou was also the first city in China to hold an international puppet festival and succeeded in     10     (host) six sessions in 1986, 1990, 2000, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

My parents tried to talk me out of it when they heard about my plan     1     (cycle) alone across western China.     2     I didn’t change my mind. Even though I lived in China for six years, mostly in Beijing, I really felt like I     3     (understand) very little of the country before. So I decided to go on     4     one-month journey to discover more.

China is so safe. I never had a moment     5     I found I was in danger. Wherever I went, there was always a phone signal and even mobile payment. One of the best parts of the whole experience was Chinese people. I met people from different ethnic     6     (minority) across China. I once got to attend a local wedding, and a girl even lent me a     7     (tradition) dress for the day.

The food was     8     (definite) another highlight of my journey. I tasted local food in every place I went to. My favorite was the cuisine of Sichuan, a province     9     (know) for its spicy flavors and interesting dishes. By the end of my journey, I had wanted to keep going.

If anyone had an interest in traveling in China, I would highly recommend     10     (go) by bike!