Did you know many adults sit for more than nine hours a day? Whether it’s working at a desk, sitting in a car,     1     lying on the sofa watching TV, we have     2     much more sedentary (惯于久坐不动的) lifestyle than our parents and grandparents did. The question that this raises is: what is it doing to our bodies?

The news isn’t good. If you live a sedentary lifestyle, you have a     3    (high) chance of being overweight, having diabetes or heart disease, and experiencing depression and anxiety. A study carried out in the 1950s     4    (compare) bus drivers with the conductors,     5     walked around the bus selling tickets. It showed that drivers were twice as likely     6    (have) heart attacks than the more active conductors. In fact, prolonged     7    (sit) has been connected with a number of different conditions. If you sit all day, you burn far fewer calories than someone with a more active job.

One possible answer to this problem is for desk workers     8    (use) standing desks, to spend at least part of a day on their feet. Other experts point out that standing all day can also have negative     9    (impact), such as leg or back pain, recommending that if people do want to use standing desks, they should     10    (gradual) increase the amount of standing time. They also point out that walking is a better choice because it burns far more calories than standing.

Yu Rong, a British Chinese artist, thought of a new way to introduce     1    ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by     2     (combine) Chinese paper-cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi paper-cuts over western-style pencil sketches (素描)    3     (create) typical presentation of Chinese elements, which turns out to be a     4     (success) attempt. Hua Mulan,     5     story has been told by generations in China, was a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). She dressed herself as a man to serve in the army     6     place of her father. Mulan’s character, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude towards fame and fortune, made     7     (she) one of the most respected historical Chinese heroines. Mulan’s story has been adapted     8     (frequent) in modern media. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which     9     (consider) a great success by critics and the public right after its release.

To better tell the story, Yu Rong took     10     (inspire) from her several visits to sites of ancient battles and Henan Province’s Yu Opera. After years of preparation she finally made this extraordinary work.

Born in 1874 in Ireland, Shackleton left school at 16 and then joined the NW Shipping Company,     1     (become) a master mariner in 1898. Before captaining     2     ship Endurance, Shackleton accompanied Robert Scott     3     the Discovery expedition and also led the Nimrod expedition, both of     4     went to Antarctica. Although the Endurance expedition was a failure, there was no     5     (lose) of life, thanks to Shackleton’s     6    (bravery) rescue mission. Shackleton     7     (celebrate) as one of the world’s greatest     8     (explorer), and the Endurance expedition story is said by many     9     (be) the greatest rescue mission of all time. It makes people reflect on     10     the characteristics of courage and perseverance can help to deal with the situations of great adversity.

Beyond     1     (anticipate), in the past few months, A. I-based image generators like DALL-E 2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion have made it possible for anyone     2     (create) unique, hyper-realistic images just by typing a few words into a text box. These apps, though new, are already     3     (surprise) popular. It’s still too early to tell     4     this new wave of apps will be influential enough to rob     5     (art) of their jobs. What seems clear, regardless     6     this, is that these tools are already being put to use in creative industries. Sarah Drummond, a service designer in London, started     7     (use) A.I.-generated images a few months ago to take the place of     8     black-and-white sketches she did for her job. She acknowledged that A.I. image generators had limitations. They aren’t good at more complex sketches, for example, or     9     (make) multiple images with the same character. And like the other creative professionals, she said she didn’t think A.I. designers     10     (replace) human illustrators outright.

Pan Yuzhen, a master of embroidery (刺绣), was embroidering flying butterflies and flowers with her back     1     a window, saying, “Foreigners are so fond of our embroidery products     2     they even queue up just to buy one for their families. I never     3    (think) the traditional skills handed down by my ancestors would become so marketable abroad.”

“As you can see, Miao embroidery is not only the     4    (proud) of our Miao people, but tha tof our Chinese people,” Pan said,     5     wants to pass her embroidery skills down to the younger generation, hoping that they can continue to promote the unique skills. Now, almost all families in Taijiang County together with Pan     6    (involve) in the Miao costume business.

Zhang Yanmei, Pan’s daughter, having difficulty     7    (walk) like normal people, has taken over her mother’s business and helped her run a clothing processing plant. Zhang also serves as the chairwoman of an association for the     8    (physical) disabled, helping them to grow special plants used for dyeing (给……染色) cloth and instructing some of them     9    (complete) Miao embroidery orders. Today, the Miao embroidery industry has become     10     major distinctive industry in Taijiang County.

In the 1950s, the Egyptian government wanted     1     (build) a new dam across the Nile,     2     led to protests. Faced with the big challenge, the government had to turn     3     the United Nations for help.

A committee     4     (establish) to prevent the loss of cultural relics. They asked for contributions from different    5     (department) and raised funds within the international community. After investigating the issue and     6     (conduct) several tests, they made a proposal that temples and other cultural sites     7     (take) down piece by piece, and then moved and put back together in a place where they were safe from the water.

Over the next 20 years, thousands of engineers and workers rescued 22 temples and countless     8     (culture) relics and fifty countries donated nearly $80 million to the project. The project was     9     great success, and proved that big challenges can sometimes lead to great solutions. The countries learnt that     10     was possible for them to work together to build a better tomorrow.