Socializing with my friends online is my life. The moment I wake     1     I check through all my social networking     2     (app), reading my emails and posting updates. I have 500 friends online and I live with several roommates, but I feel lonely. It seems that I have an active social life,     3     (attend) parties and playing sports, but I’m absent-minded because I     4     (strong) obsess over my phone.

Social networking     5     (be) the master of my life. Though sometimes I set deadlines    6     (tear) myself away from my phone, I fail again and again. Spending so much time socializing online. I always feel     7     (depress) and alone. As a result, I can’t finish what I should do in my real life.

It is common that at parties or at a family holiday, most members fix their eyes on their phones,     8    they think is normal rather than rude.

What is most worrying is that it is     9     (possible) to drop my phone. I need it for my studies because my teachers and classmates need to contact me. It is     10     problem that we are so close but really so far.

On Nov. 3, 2022, the Mengtian lab module of China’s Tiangong space station carried out a crucial transpositioning operation,     1     (mark) the completion of the Chinese station’s in-orbit assembly.

The lab module is about 17.9 meters long and     2     (weigh) more than 23 metric tons. It has 32 cubic meters of inner space, which can     3     (use) by astronauts. The spacecraft consists     4     four sections-a crew working compartment, a payload section, an airlock cabin and a service module.

Liu Guoning, deputy chief designer of the scientific cabinet system, said the scientific experiments     5     will be carried out inside the Mengtian are expected to enable scientists to conduct cutting-edge studies     6     get world-class findings.

In 2022, China launched two new crewed spaceships-Shenzhou XIV and Shenzhou XV respectively on June 5 and Nov. 29. On Nov. 30, the six Chinese astronauts from the two missions marked a     7     (history) moment as they met inside the Tiangong space station. It was the first time that six Chinese were in a space station at the same time and the first in-orbit gathering of two Chinese     8     (crew).

After accomplishing many “firsts” during their six-month space station mission, three Chinese astronauts on board the Shenzhou XIV manned spaceship returned to Earth     9     (safe) on Dec.4. The Shenzhou XV astronauts are scheduled     10     (stay) in orbit for six months to carry out a number of assignments.

South Koreans have enjoyed their first close-up look of new baby giant pandas at a name-revealing ceremony that is also     1     early celebration of the 100 days since the twins’ birth.

What to name the twin sisters was widely discussed among netizens after they were born on July 7 in theme park Everland. The names were     2     (ultimate) decided on through two public voting     3     (procedure). One is named Rui Bao, which means wise treasure, and the other is Hui Bao or shining treasure. Half a million panda lovers helped choose their names with a handful of lucky fans     4     (invite) to the ceremony. “They are even     5     (cute) in real life than they appear on screen,” said a college student in attendance.

The baby pandas,     6     have just begun teething and crawling, are very healthy. Everland has shared videos documenting the pandas’ growth online. The twins’ birth has gained 640,000 views since it     7     (upload). “This feels like a great opportunity to call for better     8     (preserve) of pandas,” said Donghee Chung, head of the park’s zoo. Chung noted that between 40% and 50% of panda births result     9     twins.

Everland said it would monitor the twins’ health     10     (determine) when the twins are ready to be open to the public.

Zhang Jiacheng has lived his life in a village for more than sixty years. Zhang spends his days     1     (look) after his apple farm. His work is     2     (entire) physical, including planting and watering trees and picking fruit. Now his work, though, is sort of different from the one     3     it used to be: Livestreaming (直播).

When I visit Zhang’s land in mid-September,     4     66-year-old farmer is preparing to pick up apples in his fields. The branches (树枝)of his apple trees     5       (weigh) down by red delicious fruit.They can produce 30,000 kilograms of apples each year.

    6       (help) the villagers make their fortune, the government began offering free courses in 2013 to teach villagers how to use the internet to enlarge their businesses. Over 20,00 people have attended     7     (class) covering different topics from e-business to livestreaming.

“Before taking the livestreaming class, I was making 4,000 to 5,000 yuan per year,” Zhang says. “Now,     8     makes me excited is that I can earn 200,000 yuan each year.”

To be frank, the change is     9     (surprise) and tells us the advantages of using technology to connect farmers in the country and other workers with more people.

Now, using social media such as Taobao’s livestreaming, Pinduoduo, Douyin, these workers can help sell their crops across the country, which contributes     10     the developing of the villages.

As darkness falls on Chengiyuan village in northwest China, the spotlight shines on 83-year-old Jing Tingyou as his nightly show begins. The skilled shadow puppet (皮影) master takes center stage behind a white curtain, skillfully     1     (move) his puppets. Having devoted over six decades     2     the art of shadow puppetry, Jing is     3     expert in his field. He sets up his stage in a cave house in Gansu province’s Huanxian county. On the left side of the puppet master sits his younger brother, 73-year-old Jing Tingxiao,     4     accompanies him on a four-stringed instrument. They come from Huanxian, the birthplace of Daoqing shadow play, an important form of Chinese shadow puppetry. The Daoqing form     5     (be) more than 10,000 years since its first appearance, which     6     (include) on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006. The Jing family band, to which the brothers belonged, was established in 1903 and is one of the most prestigious shadow puppet     7     (band) in Huanxian. During its heyday in the 1960s, Daoging shadow puppetry attracted many enthusiasts. However, with films and television series gradually     8     (become) the dominant source of entertainment in the late 1980s, its     9     (popular) became weaker and many performers moved on to other jobs.     10     the Jing brothers kept going and there has been a recent turnaround since Huanxian launched a string of projects to boost the art form. This ancient intangible cultural heritage is finding new vitality.

Earthquake in northwestern China kills at least 118 people

An overnight earthquake killed at least 118 people in a cold and mountainous region in northwestern China,     1     the country’s state media reported on Tuesday. Search and rescue     2     (operate) were underway in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai provinces. The earthquake left more than 500 people injured,     3    (severe) damaged houses and roads, and knocked out power and communication lines.

The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck in Gansu at a relatively shallow     4    (deep) of 10kilometers just before midnight on Monday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

By mid-morning, 105 people had been confirmed dead in Gansu and another 397 injured, including sixteen people     5     critical condition. Thirteen others were killed and 182 injured in Qinghai in an area north of the epicenter (震中), according to state media. Another 20 were missing in Qinghai after     6     (bury) in a landslide, according to the China News Service.

The earthquake     7     (feel) in much of the surrounding area, including Lanzhou, the Gansu provincial capital, about 100 kilometers northeast of the epicenter.

The rescue work was proceeding in     8     orderly manner. Tents, folding beds     9    quilts were being sent to the disaster area. At least 4,000 firefighters, soldiers and police officers were dispatched (派遣) in the rescue effort, and the People’s Liberation Army Western Theatre set up a command post     10     (direct) its work.

Carrying the Flame of Inspiration

Excited, proud, and even a little emotional, I experienced a rush of different feelings when I passed the flame of the 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou,     1     capital city of Zhejiang province, on Saturday as one of the 600 torchbearers (火炬手).

Although from different backgrounds, we 600 torchbearers all have something in common: Our deep respect for the para sports movement and the spirit in     2     these sports are contested. The flame that I carried was passed on by the first torchbearer of the relay, powerlifting Paralympic and world champion Tan Yujiao. The Rio and Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist is     3     (particular) proud to attend the Asian Para Games at home, both as a torchbearer and an athlete.

“My heart is just like the flame right now. I used to be a kid with     4     (disability) who could not even attend our school’s PE classes, and now I’m a para athlete who is aiming at     5     (break) my own world record. Life presents me with the     6     (tough) tests, and I have lived my life in the most beautiful way,” said Tan.

When I was informed that I     7     (choose) for the honor, I asked myself one simple question: What will I actually pass through the flame? I think my fellow torchbearer Tan summed it     8     better than I could: “What I hope to pass on is the spirit of the para athletes that enables them     9     (fight) against all odds to win and chase excellence. I also want to pass on their positive energy, their     10     (confident) and strength.”

China’s first home-grown large cruise (航行) ship, the Adora Magic City, completed its official     1     (deliver) this Saturday. The large cruise ship,     2     is 323.6 meters long and weighs 135,500 tons, has 2,125 guest rooms, 22 unique restaurants and bars and can accommodate 5,246 people. Tickets for its first voyage, beginning on Jan 1, 2024,     3     (sell) since Sept 20. For passengers, the Adora Magic City promises     4     variety of entertainment choices, from movies to music shows, and even a musical drama in its 1,000-seat theater.

    5     (build) such a large cruise ship is not an easy task.     6     addition, it requires advanced technology and an excellent approach to manufacturing. The Adora Magic City, with its delicate design and over 25 million     7     (part), is a fine example. More than 30 countries worked together     8     (create) the ship. Therefore, The Adora Magic City is more than just a ship.     9     (obvious), it is also a symbol of China’s technological advancement in shipbuilding, and shows China’s open attitude and willingness in international cooperation. This achievement in shipbuilding will     10     (strength) China’s role as a major player in the global cruise industry.

Primary school students in Changsha, Hunan province have started to learn the Changsha dialect(方言) in an elective course     1     (new) offered by the school this semester.

More than 20 third-grade students from the Affiliated Primary School of Hunan Normal University have signed up     2     the course. A dozen language     3     (professor) at universities are teaching the course.

Apart from listening, speaking, reading and     4     (write), students will also gain knowledge about the culture behind the dialect, according to Luo Xinru, a Chinese language professor at Hunan Normal University and one of the teachers of the course.

The Ministry of Education     5     (start) the National Language Resource Protection Project in 2015 to protect its language resources. The country has established     6     largest language resource database in the world, according to the ministry.

“Dialect protection is the future trend and different dialects     7     carry diverse culture and value should not and will not disappear,” she said,

Dialect is a valuable language resource and should     8     (protect). “We do not expect all children     9     (take) the course to learn perfect Changsha dialect,     10     they should understand the importance of different dialects and perhaps be willing to div e into the research and protection of them as they grow older.”

Several years ago I started riding a bike. At first, I thought it was only a short ride. But as I built up my strength, my friends inspired me     1     (try) some longer trips. The first one to come along was a 150-mile journey, an event held every year that raises money to fight cancer.

When I signed my name, the idea seemed fantastic. It was to support a worthy cause when we went for the distance. And I trained with great excitement. But as the time for the ride approached, I didn’t really want to bike all those miles for two days straight.

The ride began on a Sunday morning in the Georgia countryside. There were a number of strong riders. For the first few hours, I felt wonderful. There were not many     2     (vehicle) on the way. But by the end of the day, my energy had run     3    . I was sure I would give up before I reached the destination.

As I was getting to the top of hill, the sunset which looked so     4     (admire) kept me going for a few minutes more. I said to myself, “So far half of the distance     5     (cover) by me. That is enough.” Then in the distance, I saw a lone (单独的) rider riding very slowly. I noticed that the person looked different in some way, but I couldn’t tell the reason     6     that person was different. I managed to catch up. There she was, riding slowly but steadily, with a determined smile on her face. Then I kept up     7     her and found that she had only one leg. In my view, she can be regarded as a     8     (represent) of people with strong determination.

My focus changed at that moment. I’d been doubting my body for a whole day. But now I knew-it wasn’t the body, but the will that would help me reach my goal.

It rained all the second day. I never saw the one-legged biker again, but I pushed on without complaining. And at the end of the day, still feeling strong, I     9     (eventual) completed the 150th mile. Now it seems that I have been     10     (addict) to such a kind of event.