This weekend a marathon took place in Salzburg, the city in     1     I’m currently living. I’ve never run for more than half an hour so I’m     2     (amaze) that some people manage to keep going for over four hours!

Running is     3     (difficulty) because you have to motivate yourself to keep going—it’s more solitary than a team sport. I used to get really out of     4     (breathe) while running and it didn’t feel good at all! Now I     5     (actual) enjoy going for a jog along the river in Salzburg,     6     (feel) my muscles working and breathing in the fresh air.

    7     (challenge) exercise is always rewarding. Hiking is fun because all     8     hard work, walking uphill, comes at the beginning of the day. Then at the top of the mountain you can enjoy the view and some well-earned chocolate! At the end of the day, you feel like you     9     (achieve) something.

This just shows that perseverance pays off —     10     you work hard, you can succeed.

Rain is pouring down today, and it brings back sweet memories of our dog, Bambi.

Like all dogs, she was full     1     energy and wonder. Our boys described that she looked just like     2     young deer, Bambi, in the movie they had watched recently. The name     3     (fit) her perfectly at that time.

Bambi also had all the fine physical characteristics of the German Shepherd. She was strong, yet gentle and shy. She wouldn’t stop     4     (play) with my boys until they were completely tired.

When Bambi was almost two years old, a full-grown dog, she became quite protective of us, never failing to watch my     5     (child). She would sit in front of the front door, and managed     6     (drive) away many welcome and unwelcome guests.

Once, our washing machine was broken and a repairman     7     (call) to come to fix it. As he went close to our front door, Bambi jumped up     8     barked loudly to him.     9     (lucky), the babysitter and boys returned from their walk at that time and rescued the poor     10     (scare) repairman from our guard dog.

An old man called Li Yubao living in a remote rural area asked his grandson on the phone what gifts he wanted for     1     Spring Festival. His grandson said a word. He     2     (hear) the word “Pegga” for the first time, when he talked with his grandson through the cellphone. He didn’t know what Pegga was. So grandpa Li began an interesting journey     3     (discover) what Pegga was.

Grandpa Li asked his neighbors,     4     nobody around knew the answer. Grandpa Li didn’t give up. He continued     5     (ask) more people in the village     6     (patient). He got a brief answer from a local woman,     7     used to work in the city. She explained to him that “Pegga” was a pink pig in the cartoon. With     8     (imagine), he created a pink “Pegga” model made     9     irons and steels. It amazed his grandson. Although the Pegga made by grandpa Li was not the exact one, his family     10     (member) were moved deeply. They all loved the gift “Pegga”.

The 39th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival will take place from March 22     1     April 14.

“This is the     2    (old) music festival in China. It is     3     important platform for the communications of artistic institutions at home     4     abroad, and has witnessed through the past decades the     5    (develop) of the music and dance scenes of Shanghai,”     6    (say) Xa Yujing two days ago, Party secretary of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and ArtsCircles.

This year the festival will feature 66 performance     7    (production), 57 of     8     are concerts and nine dance shows.

The opening concert, taking place at Shanghai Symphony Hall on March 22, is a gala event     9    (show) outstanding Chinese compositions in celebration of the 75th birthday of the People’s Republic of China. The closing production,     10    (present) at Shangyin Opera House on April 14, will be a joint (联合的) production of The Barber of Seville by Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Como Opera House in Italy.

There are many Chinese musicians on the internet     1     (sing) the song The Wind Rises, which was     2     (original) written and performed by Japanese singer-songwriter Takahashi Yuu.

From pop stars like Greeny Wu Tsing-fong     3     children performing the song a cappella, numerous artist have attempted     4     (present) the song in their own way. In November 2020, a video of four young students from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music,     5     play traditional Chinese musical instruments: pipa (plucked lute) , guzheng (Chinese zither) , erhu (two-stringed fiddle) and dizi (Chinese flute), performing the song on the helipad of a skyscraper in Chengdu, Sichuan province,     6     (share) on social media.

Within three hours     7     the release, the video had been viewed more than 2 million     8     (time) on short-video sharing platform Douyin. In 24 hours,     9     video had notched up over 10 million views on social media.

Because viewers expressed their interest in the video, which combined the beautiful ballad     10     aerial views of Chengdu, the team released more videos in a series under the title “Crazy Folk”.

Door gods are supposed to keep evil spirits from entering. The custom originated during the Tang Dynasty when the Emperor honored two loyal generals     1     having their portraits painted on the door, due to their     2     (brave) in fighting intruders (入侵者) and evil spirits.

There are two types of door gods: martial door gods and literary door gods. Martial door gods are usually loyal generals or great fighters     3     (picture) in life-size figures, wearing full battle armor (铠甲) with weapons in hand.     4     (common) seen door gods of this type include “Shenshu and Yulu,” “Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong,” “Zhong Kui”, “Guan Yu” and “Guan Sheng”.

The literary door gods, inner door gods or civil door gods as they were named as well, are     5     a civil nature, based on scholar-official figures or     6     (history) scholars. The door god’s picture will be painted on the doors inside the courtyard, hence going with the visitor when     7     (enter). Literary door gods can also     8     (find) on inside room doors. Popular characters of this genre are the “Fu, Lu, and Shou” or the historical scholar “Dou Yujun”,     9     five sons all passed the civil service examinations     10     (become) great officials.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式

According to a new study, tai chi,     1     slow-moving form of martial arts, can help slow cognitive decline and protect against dementia (痴呆). The study     2     (find) that people who practiced a simplified form of tai chi twice a week for about six months improved their score in a test,     3     (call) the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, to measure cognitive function. Based on the result, “if you’re able to keep doing tai chi two or three days a week on a routine basis, you’re going to get extra years     4     you hit that decline into dementia,” the study author Dr. Eckstrom says. Her theory on why tai chi is     5     (effect) is that it combines the memorization of the movements, known as forms, almost like a dance choreography. “So, you’re getting the physical     6     (active), plus, the memory piece,” she says.

Mary started tai chi at age 75 and says her practice helps her feel grounded and enables her     7     (let) go of stress. “It’s become an important part of my life,” Van Cleave says. In terms of a cognitive boost, she thinks tai chi helps with concentration. “I’m more conscious of trying to do one thing     8     a time,” she says.

Many     9     (study) have shown that practicing tai chi can help prevent falls and improve balance in older adults, and the benefit is greatest for people     10     keep up a regular practice over time.

The tourism phenomenon     1    (cause) by Harbin, in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, shows no sign of fading. Recently, the ice city     2    (lead) to fierce competition among tourism authorities in several cities. More     3    (interesting) , the video of the leaders of local tourism dancing with performers has entertained millions of netizens (网民) .

Diligent     4    (effort) that were made by Harbin     5    (attract) tourists to the city were heads of local tourist joined by netizens across the country, who discussed about the exceptional skills possessed by their own office, all to achieve similar success in their own cities.

Starting from January 9th     6     January 12th, the official account of the Department of Tourism of Henan Province has seen     7     increase in the number of videos being posted, with more than 30 clips released per day. So the tourism authorities in Shanxi and Shandong provinces find     8     a must to promote their tourism resources on social media. Winter, the     9    (tradition) tourism off-season, draws new tourism fever,     10     shows the fast tourism development in China.

Hangzhou is a city lying in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.     1     (be) an important southern stop of the Grand Canal that goes to Beijing, the city of Hangzhou is just     2     wonder and must-see scenic place to tourists.

As one of China’s seven ancient     3     (capital), Hangzhou has a history of more than two thousand years. It     4     (describe) by Italian traveler Marco Polo as the finest and most luxurious city in the world. The large number of scenic areas in Hangzhou can satisfy everyone’s     5     (curious). The West Lake scenic area,     6     contains over 60 cultural relic sites and several attractions of natural beauty, is no doubt the most famous. Taking a walk by the lake, you’ll feel the     7     (peace) atmosphere of the city and better understand its time-honored fame as “Heaven on Earth”.

Traveling to Hangzhou is also a chance     8     (experience) the happy and relaxing lifestyles of local people and enjoy delicious Hangzhou’s dishes, like the Beggar’s Chicken, West Lake Fish and Dongpo Pork. At night, the city     9     (have) much to offer. Choosing a tea-house overlooking the West Lake for a pleasant chat over a cup of tea is sure to make you feel     10     (total) relaxed and refreshed.

Nanjing is a city that has played an important role in Chinese history for thousands of years. Nanjing     1     (name) the capital city first in 229 AD during the Three Kingdoms period. It has been a capital city many times. It’s a place that is relatively unknown     2     foreigners yet very popular with local tourists.

When Dave and I got the chance     3     (travel) to it, we jumped at it. We hadn’t known anything about Nanjing before going, but hearing that it was a popular destination from Shanghai, we were excited to explore it. It turns out that Nanjing is one of our favourite     4     (place) to visit in China.

We first went to Nanjing Niushoushan Cultural Park. A trolley (电车) took us to the top of the mountain     5     we could view the immaculate(圣洁的) Buddhist Palace that was built into the side of the mountain.     6     (open) in 2015, it is an example that proves the traditional and the modern can co-exist.

But soon we     7     (realize) that a real treat was inside the palace when we took the escalator (自动扶梯) 6 stories underground to see the Thousand-Buddha Hall. With a height of 28 metres, the golden hall is     8     (impress).

We highly recommend     9     (take) a full day to explore the Niushoushan Cultural Park to visit all the sites on the mountains. And do remember visiting the Usnisa Palace is     10    must.