Lhakpa Dondrub, 22, was born with a genetic disease, which affected his     1     (grow), leaving him about I meter in height, and confined him to a wheelchair, but it hasn’t stopped him     2     (pursue) his dream to become a photographer.

“When I was a child, I liked to observe the change of light through a window. It was     3     (amazing) beautiful. After learning photography, I know it is all about light and     4     to catch it through the lens (镜头),” says the young man. “What’s more, my perspective is lower than others, and I hope     5     (record) the unique light in life from my view,” he adds.

Born into a farming family in a village in Lhasa, Dondrub     6     (adopt) by relatives after his mother died. In 2017, he entered the Lhasa care center for people with physical challenges,     7     he found his passion for photography and video editing. In 2021, he left the care center and found a job in a     8     (profession) enterprise, being responsible for taking photos for customers.

For Dondrub, photography is not only     9     means of making a living, but also a driving force and an expression of life. When he has time, he takes a camera to snap photos of animals and people along the ancient Barkhor Bazaar. He hopes that one day he     10     (be) able to take photos on Beijing’s Tian’anmen Square.

The brief outline takes us to the beginning of the twentieth century,     1     now we’ll have a closer look at Beijing’s housing conditions during that time.

At the beginning of the century, living conditions for the majority of working people in the East Beijing were very basic indeed. Houses were crowded closely together and usually very badly     2     (build), because there were no regulations. But the poor and       3     (need) were attracted by the possibility of work, and they had to       4     (house). It was the       5     (available) rather than the conditions of the housing that was the major concern.

Few houses had electricity at this time. So other sources of power were used, like coal for the fires       6     heated perhaps just one room. Of course, the smoke from these contributed a great deal       7     the air pollution for which Beijing used to be famous.     8     (luck), Beijing is not like what it used to be. It’s     9     cleaner than before and we can breathe safely.

A tiny, damp, unhealthy house like this might well be occupied by two full families, possibly including several children, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Can you imagine a big family     10     (live) in so little room like that?

Located in Lichuan, Hubei proince, Tenglong Dong is one of the world’s largest caves. The cave     1     (list) as the 74th longest cave of the world and the third longest in China with a length of 53,210m. The cave offers extraordinary big passages and one of the     2     (tall) cave entrances on earth, 74m high and 64m wide. The cave     3     (it) is a huge passage, only slightly smaller than the entrance.

The cave is entered at one point by a huge river,     4     (call) Qingjiang River, a branch of the Changjiang. This river first drops     5     almost 10m high waterfall, right before it enters the cave. Here a path was built about 20m above the water,     6     (enter) the river cave. The water deepens and calms down, while it is narrowed by the cave     7     (wall).

The first written mention of the cave is from the Qing dynasty. The cave was     8     (original) named Dong Po or Shui Dong     9     means Water Cave, probably in the meaning river cave. It was renamed     10     the unique name Tenglong Dong, after a Chinese evergreen about flying dragons (龙). And of course, there are mountains in the cave, caves in the mountains.

As one of the three major drinks in the world, tea is also the most consumed drink after water on earth. Since tea trees     1     (discover) thousands of years ago, the drink has become closely integrated with daily life and has developed into     2     unique culture.

How could such a little leaf from nature generate such great power? An ongoing exhibition     3     (focus) on tea culture manages     4     (explorer) the answer by offering visitors a comprehensive view of the drink.

The World of Tea: Special Exhilition of Tea Culture takes place at the Wu Men Exhibition Hall of the Palace Museum from September 2 to November 30 in Beijing. It displays 555 items       5     (attach) to tea culture, many of     6     are representative collections of 30 cultural institutions and museums at home and abroad.

Furthermore, it also provides insights into a cultural phenomenon’s origins, evolution and     7     (remark) achievements while emphasizing how it has acted as a unifying thread connecting diverse regions and fostering the integration of various ethnic groups. Using tea as a medium, it displays the essence of Chinese tea culture, and also embodies the Chinese philosophical     8     (pursue) of unity between heaven and humanity.

Wang Guangyao, director of the show and also a researcher at the Palace Museum, says, “We want our audience to     9     (complete) lose themselves in the show by setting     10       interaction spaces.”

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is one of the most important     1     (festival) celebrated in China and other East Asian countries. It falls     2     the 15th day of the 8th lunar month on the traditional Chinese calendar. On that night, the moon is     3    (bright) and fuller than any other night. Enjoying the beauty of the full moon on this day     4     (be) a long standing traditional Chinese custom for centuries.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a big day for Chinese people,     5    will go back home and have dinner with their families. The roundness of the full moon expresses people’s desire for a wholesome happy family. After the dinner, friends and family usually get together     6     (enjoy) the moonlight and moon-cakes.

Eating moon-cakes is     7     important custom during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Due to the different diet habits in different regions, moon-cakes vary in taste.     8     (general), traditional tastes include fillings of five kernel, egg yolk, jujube paste and bean paste. Now there are new tastes like ice cream and durian.

    9     the taste of moon-cakes is changing, the symbolic meaning of the full moon remains unchanged and the Chinese custom of eating moon-cake and     10     (long)for reunion during the Mid-Autumn Festival will never fade away.

For five years, the most famous clock tower in Britain was hidden behind an ugly fortress of scaffolding (脚手架) for restoration. This summer, a sound familiar     1     Londoners for more than a century and a half will again ring out across the British capital — Big Ben is back.

The clock tower stands tall over the Palace of Westminster     2     houses the British Parliament (议会). It is officially known as the Elizabeth Tower but commonly called by     3     nickname of the enormous bell in the belfry (钟楼): Big Ben. The bell’s bong is     4     (instant) recognizable to Britons.

The size of Big Ben,     5     (weigh) a little over 15 tons, is impressive, as is the complexity of a clock mechanism based on the most     6     (advance) technology available to its 19-century creators. Nobody had ever attempted     7     (build) a clock that size to the accuracy demanded.

During the restoration, the clock was serviced for the first time since it started ticking in 1859, when crowds lined the streets to greet Big Ben’s    8     (arrive). More than 3500 parts     9     (remove) from the 316-foot tower, including much of its iron roof. Now freshly     10     (paint), the tower stands as a monument to what can be achieved by modern restoration.

Bigger, better games

The 19th Asian Games,     1     (host) in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, attracted worldwide attention. Despite     2     (delay) for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers said the sporting extravaganza returned in style, with the opening ceremony     3     (attract) a total of 503 million views.

Although based originally on the format for the Olympic Games, the Asian Games boast     4     (region) sports with distinct Asian characteristics, including dragon boat racing, kabaddi (a team contact sport), sepak takraw (kick volleyball) and kurash (a folk wrestling discipline). Singh, the acting OCA president, said     5     is important for the Games to attract young people with the addition of new, action-packed events     6     appeal to this audience, such as breaking (break dancing) and e-sports, which     7     (include) in the Hangzhou Games. “For young people, the Asian Games showcase the Olympic values of teamwork devotion respect and friendship. They let people unite to feel the value and thrill of     8     (compete) and cooperation.”

Zhou Jinqiang, a vice-minister of the General Administration of Sport of China, said: “The sports at the Asian Games have strong Olympic elements, and are     9     great opportunity for Asian countries and regions to display their cultures and traditions. The variety of sports at the Games is the best testimony to the inclusiveness     10     diversity of Asian sports culture.”