For thousands of years, people have told fables (寓言)     1     (teach) a lesson or to pass on wisdom. Fables were part of the oral tradition of many early cultures, and the well-known Aesop’s fables date to the     2     (six) century, B. C. Yet, the form of the fable still has values today,     3     Rachel Carson says in “A Fable for Tomorrow.”

Carson uses a simple, direct style common to fable. In fact, her style and tone (口吻) are seemingly directed at children. “There was once a town in the heart of America,     4     all life seemed to enjoy peaceful existence with its surroundings,” her fable begins,     5     (borrow) some familiar words from many age-old fables. Behind the simple style, however, is a serious message     6     (intend) for everyone.

    7     (difference) from traditional fables, Carson’s story ends with an accusation instead of a moral. She warns of the environmental dangers facing society, and she teaches that people must take responsibility     8     saving their environment.

The themes of traditional fables often deal with simple truths about everyday life. However, Carson’s theme is a more weighty     9     (warn) about environmental destruction. Carson proves that a simple literal form that has been passed down through the ages can still     10     (employ) today to draw attention to important truths.

The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It     1     (build) originally to protect the city     2     the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible       3     (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.

We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.

After     4     (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what     5     (good) than to ride on a piece of history!

We     6     (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky     7     did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all     8     way around the Xi’an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and     9     (watchtower) to take pictures or just to watch the local people going about their     10     (day) routines.

I've always loved the ocean. In the    1     (seven) grade,I started volunteering at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. I was upset to learn that many sea animals eat plastic garbage,     2     (think)it is food.

I decided to do something     3     (educate) people about this problem. I held presentations at schools to teach kids about plastic waste. I wanted to reach businesses too. I decided that if I learned of a company    4     used a lot of plastic, I'd send it an email urging it to cut back.

One day, I saw a commercial for a health-care company. People in the ad were using plastic straws （吸管）.   I found the contact information of the company    5     emailed its president. I told him how     6     (harm) plastic could be to the environment and asked him to consider using more eco-friendly options. I was so    7     (excite) when he wrote back to me.He said he would make sure that the company cut its use of plastic straws in half.

I kept going. Whenever I heard of businesses using plastic, I'd send an email. One of the biggest companies I wrote to     8     (be) Alaska Airlines Paris. A company     9     (represent) wrote back and told me the airline was switching over     10     plastic to paper cups on all of its 1,200 daily flights.

Although parks of all sizes and types exist at any level, the national parks, in particular, tend     1     (catch) our attention because of their large size and variety. They are     2     (treasure) of American heritage (遗产). How did the national park system come about? On a cool, starry night in mid-September 1870, four men relaxed before a campfire along the Firehole River in     3     is now northwestern Wyoming. They     4    (be) part of a 15-member exploring party that had spent almost five awesome weeks in witness of the natural beauties there.

What should     5    (do) with such a beautiful place? They wondered out loud. This area, with     6     (it) unique and breathtaking natural beauty, must be well preserved     7     all people of the nation to enjoy — as a national park. They all agreed and vowed (承诺) to promote the idea at the     8     (complete) of their journey. Their promotional work paid off. Two years later, 18 years before Wyoming became a state, Yellowstone became the first national park in the United States and the world. Yellowstone was the     9     (large) United States national park — 2.2 million acres — until Wrangell-Saint Elias in southern Alaska,     10     became a national monument in 1978, took the honors as a national park in 1980 with 12.3 million acres.

To understand a painting, we’re taught to look for color, composition, and light. But how can a painting     1     (appreciate)by someone who’s blind? Through touch, the one thing gallery signs tell you not     2     (do). John Olson, a former     3     (photograph)and his team turn paintings into fully textured 3D models.

The tactile(可触知的)paintings work as a way to show art to     4     blind because we don’t see with just Our eyes: We see with our brains. Research in the field of neuroplasticity-the brain’s adaptability-shows that the visual cortex(大脑皮层)is made active by touch. Blind people recognize shapes with their     5     (exist) senses, in a way similar to that of     6     (sight )people, says Ella Striem-Amit, a Harvard scientist.

Luc Gandarias, who’s now thirteen, went blind suddenly     7     age seven. When he felt a 3D version of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” he     8     (notice)her smile right away. ”I can actually feel what you see when you look at it,” he said.

For Luc, this means     9     (independent). "The feeling of being able to see it     10     to form my opinion is like breaking down another wall as a blind person.”

A music concert “Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems” jointly performed by iSING! Suzhou and the Philadelphia Orchestra was staged at Kimmel Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia on Jan. 6.

Another concert featuring Tang poetry was    1    (successful) held at the Lincoln Center in New York on Jan. 7. Fifteen iSING! Suzhou singers from 10 countries led by Liao Guomin performed songs    2    (write) by young composers from 6 countries. The songs included many well-known    3    (poem) from the Tang Dynasty, such    4    Luo Binwang’s Singing of Goose and Li Bai’s Quiet Thoughts by Night.

The iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival    5    (set) up in Suzhou in 2014 as China’s first international vocal (声乐) art festival. Over    6     past eight years, the festival has attracted outstanding young singers from all over the world, spread    7    promoted Chinese and classical music, and enhanced cultural exchanges between China and the West, becoming a cultural card for Suzhou to go    8    (globe).

The performances were also held to commemorate(纪念) the    9     (fifty) anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s China tour in 1973. The Philadelphia Orchestra, as the first American orchestra    10    (visit) China, bridged the two nations in the field of culture.

Every year during the Spring Festival, a small village east of Beijing puts on a special show. It’s about-15°C, and a man dressed in a straw hat and sheepskin coat    1           (throw)spoon after spoon of heavy molten iron(铁水) at a massive，icy wall.The collision(碰撞)between the 1,600℃ liquid metal and the frozen brick creates a waterfall of sparks(火花)    2    (fall) over him, equally beautiful and dangerous.

This is a performance    3    requires extraordinary courage, skill and strength. Known as Da Shuhua, it has a history of 500 years in Nuanquan, a highly-developed steel town.Da Shuhua translates literally into “beating down the tree flowers,”    4    agricultural activity of hitting fruit trees to stimulate growth.

In ancient times, fireworks weren’t always    5    (wide) affordable. So people in Nuanquan made use of scrap iron and developed Da Shuhua as a way    6    (celebrate) festivals.As a result,they brought firework displays    7    a whole new level.

Today,Da Shuhua has become more popular than ever,due to    8    (ban)on fireworks to reduce air pollution in some parts of China. Every year, this unique firework display attracts tons of people in spite of the freezing cold weather    9    draws attention for its protection. Since 2021,it    10    (list) as an intangible cultural heritage of China.