Heritage professionals     1     (stress) the role of technology in the protection of cultural heritage at this year’s first deputies’ passage interview on March 5, 2024, just before the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress.

Despite progress     2     (make) in the protection of the Yungang Grottoes, protection with greater use of technology is still     3     they need, said Hang Kan, a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, who is also a researcher with the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

According     4     Hang, the Yungang Grottoes from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) had a huge cost in human, material and financial resources. A consolidation (整合) project on the     5     (danger) rock bodies was carried out for decades and ended in recent years. But the protection efforts may     6     (destroy) as the grottoes were carved in a Jurassic sandstone formation with complex geological conditions, and are threatened by weathering and water leakage.

He mentioned two technological     7     (measure) adopted in the protection of the grottoes were awarded at national-level scientific conferences, and they will intensify technological investment in the research of cave deterioration and     8     (develop) of protective materials in future work.

“Yungang Grottoes are a treasure of traditional Chinese culture,” said Hang. “We will give priority to protection and add more technological measures     9     (protect) them. We will continue to promote the research, display and utilization of the grottoes, do     10     good job in the inheritance of the cultural heritage so that more people can feel the charm of traditional culture.”

Due to temperature rise and safety concerns, the     1     (huge) popular Harbin Ice and Snow World dropped its curtain on Thursday evening.

Since opening on December 19, 2023, the winter wonderland     2     (draw) record-breaking visitor numbers from around the country and the world, with around 30,000 visitors to the park every day, nearly double pre-pandemic records.

Crowded with people on the last opening day, the winter wonderland became a paradise where both adults and children were immersed in a     3     (joy) atmosphere. Right before closing, the saxophone tune of “Going Home” gently echoed (回响) in the park,     4     many tourists wandering about. Children were spotted     5     (rush) to the gate of the giant ice slide, anxiously asking, “Do we have time for one more round?”

The recent temperature rise and windy weather have worried the park’s management about the safety of tourists. According to videos posted by visitors, some ice sculptures can be scratched and marked by nails. Local residents     6     are familiar with the matter warned that snow sculptures do not melt (融化) inch by inch     7     rather could suddenly collapse.

The Ice and Snow World     8     (build) by thousands of craftsmen every winter in Harbin with care and     9     (affect). Despite widespread unwillingness     10     (link) to the park’s closure, it’s an example of how ice and snow art represents the beauty of disappearance.

I’ve seen my share of wildfires’     1    (destroy) on communities, but in more than eight years of covering these disasters as a photojournalist, the scene over Hawaii was one of     2     worst.

Based in Las Vegas, I’m used to being sent to wildfires in other places. I flew to Hawaii on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning, I was in a helicopter     3    (fly) over Lahaina, a normally busy west Maui town that draws     4    (visitor) from all over the world.     5    struck me the most was the lack of color of the burned earth sandwiched between the shiny blue ocean and deep green-brown mountains in the distance.

No plants or signs of life in sight. Just gray. Street after street was nothing but ruins. It was hard     6    (imagine) the scenic town that was once here.

One sight     7    (make) me worried and provided a clue of the serious damage of approaching fire: burned vehicles on the road along Front Street. They weren’t parked on the side of the road. They were     8    (obvious) abandoned in a big hurry. What happened     9     their owners? Did they escape or were they     10    (kill)?

4 . 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。

The “Three Mountains (Fragrant Hills, Jade Spring Hill and Longevity Hill) and Five Gardens (Jingming Garden, Jingyi Garden, The Summer Palace, Changchun Garden and Yuanmingyuan)” are important landmarks in Beijing that represent its rich cultural and historical heritage.     1     (original) used as leisure retreats for the imperial family, these sites are now treasured for their     2     (nature) beauty and cultural significance.

Unfortunately, many valuable cultural items     3     (house) in these locations were lost due to damage caused by Western colonialist forces. However, a recent project has recreated 69 long-lost cultural relics in digital form,     4     are now being displayed to the public. This achievement is the result of cooperative efforts involving many volunteers from both home     5     abroad. Scholars and artists     6     (study) in France, as well as overseas students,     7     (contribute) valuable information about these scattered (分散的) relics.

The project has created a digital museum that showcases these cultural relics in seven different     8     (category). With technologies like virtual reality, visitors can have     9     unique and up-close experience of appreciating these items.     10     (reach) a wider audience, the digital museum team is also organizing offline touring exhibitions.

Foster homes play     1     crucial role in providing a safe and nurturing environment for     2    (pet) awaiting adoption. According to a report, many pet shelters and rescue organizations require foster homes to accommodate homeless pets. Unfortunately, due     3     a decline in volunteers, several pet shelters have had to shut down,     4    (lead) to an increase in homeless pets. Meanwhile, more pets are being surrendered by owners     5    are either too ill to care for them or unable to afford their upkeep.

    6    (address) this issue, the Arizona Humane Society in Phoenix     7    (introduce) a convenient drive-up service up to now. Volunteers interested in fostering pets can simply send a text upon arrival, and shelter staff will promptly bring the necessary paperwork to their car, promoting the foster process.     8    (current), there are 345 pets from the shelter benefiting from foster care. However, the need for pet fosters persists nationwide. If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to contact a pet shelter     9    rescue organization near you. Welcoming a furry companion into your home is a     10    (reward) experience, as pets bring immense joy and fulfillment to people’s lives.

The Shenzhou XVI crew returned to Earth on Tuesday morning,     1     (conclude) a historic five-month mission.

The spaceship’s reentry capsule, carrying mission commander Major General Jing Haipeng, Colonel Zhu Yangzhu and Professor Gui Haichao,     2     (touch) down at 8:11 am after flying nearly 12 hours on its return journey.

After safety checks outside, the astronauts     3     (carry) out and placed on chairs in front of the capsule, and they shared their     4     (experience) with a reporter in a live program.

Jing said they were excited to “return to our motherland” and that the orbital stay inside the Tiangong space station was     5     “very cool journey”. He said his teammates performed     6     (excellent) during the mission, they got along very well     7     one another and together managed     8     (honor) their commitment to the motherland and the people. Zhu,     9     is China’s first spaceflight engineer in space, said they coordinated well in successfully completing various tasks. Gui, the country’s first civilian astronaut     10     first payload (载荷) expert in space, said that each day of the mission was busy and memorable.

On May 2, 2023, the China Cultural Centre in Malta hosted a Traditional Chinese Medicine Workshop     1     (lecture) by Zhang Min, a specialist from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre at the University of Malta. The workshop,     2     provided insights (深刻见解) into the diverse range of traditional Chinese medicine treatments available and how they can benefit physical and mental health, was very informative.

Traditional Chinese medicine     3     (be) an important part of Chinese culture and has been practiced in China     4     over 2,000 years focusing on the balance and harmony of the body, mind and spirit. “Traditional Chinese medicine has low side effects, if used     5     (correct) it will provide immediate results,” Zhang said.

Besides, the audience     6     (invite) to taste rose tea, which is another form of traditional Chinese medicine    7     (solve) digestive (消化的) problems. “The     8     (believe) in the curing properties of certain foods and herbs (药草) is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and has been passed on from generation to generation. Traditional Chinese medicine is also enjoyed by even     9     (many) people outside of China,” said Yuan Yuan, director of the China Cultural Centre in Malta.

“    10     is exciting to see the cultural exchanges between China and Malta in the field of traditional Chinese medicine,” Yuan said.

Emojis are widely used in our daily lives and have become     1     important way of communication. The first emojis were created in 1999 by Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita,     2     worked on a mobile Internet platform     3     (call) i-mode. Kurita attempted to develop a simple way for people     4     (express) emotions in short text messages.

As emojis gained     5     (popular), they faced a significant technical hurdle (障碍) : early emojis could not     6     (send) across different mobile platforms, since there was no standardized encoding (编码). This issue was resolved in 2010 by the Unicode Consortium, an organization responsible     7     maintaining a standardized encoding of text and symbols across platforms. This allowed for cross-platform communication and continued expansion in emoji usage worldwide.

Given     8     (they) origins in Japan, many early emoji characters were reflective of Japanese culture. As they’ve spread     9     (global), new characters have been added to account for cultural differences and provide a more universal means of communication. Users must also consider cultural sensitivities when     10     (communicate) via emojis, as certain symbols can have hugely different meanings across different cultures.

Tea comes from China, and Chinese tea culture has a long history. Now, enjoying a nice cup of tea is a habit around the world. Not only is drinking tea a     1    (relax) moment, but tea is an endless drink with so many different types to get, each with     2    (it) own unique flavor (味道). But if you’re a tea-time beginner and find yourself just     3    (put) an old tea bag in hot water and steeping (浸泡)     4    (simple) and carelessly, you could be missing out on tons of flavor and the chance to experience the moment of tea-drinking     5    (happy). There are a few important     6    (thing) that can affect the taste of tea, including the types of tea, the water temperature, and the steeping time. To make a cup of perfect tea, firstly, instead     7     tea bags, you’d better prepare loose-leaf tea     8     has a strong and lasting flavor. Loose-leaf tea also produces generally     9    (little) rubbish than tea bags. Secondly, you should start with fresh water and not let the water get too hot. Remove the water right when it     10    (start) boiling for the best flavor. Finally, set a timer and start steeping according to the suggested time on your tea’s packaging.

The humor effect is a cognitive bias (认知偏差) that causes people to remember information better when they regard it as humorous.

For example, when students     1     (teach) a new concept in a humorous way, such as through a funny story, they’re generally more likely to remember that concept, compared to if they learn it in a non-humorous manner. Information that has the same effect     2     concepts includes words, sentences, pictures, and     3     (mix) information, such as cartoons and videos.

Humor has various other benefits besides improving memory.

Humor reduces negative emotions, such as     4     (angry) or anxiety, which people might experience when processing certain information.

Humor     5     (lead) to increased interest. Adding humor to the information that you’re presenting can make it more interesting and appealing to others. For example,     6     (advertisement) that use humor receive more attention from people.

Humor, when     7     (proper) used in the right circumstances, can improve other people’s impression of you. For example,     8     (include) humor in a speech can positively impact the way in     9     listeners understand the speaker. Similarly, using humor can improve people’s impression of your warmth     10     competence, especially when you combine it with negative information that you need to tell.