Christopher Reeve

He was born     1     25 September, 1952 in New York. He found his passion in     2    (act) and starred in his first school play at eight. He starred in four Superman     3     (film) from 1978 to 1987.

He realized that his roles in films     4     (give) him the opportunity to be a real-life superman and gained a reputation for raising     5    (aware) for good causes. In 1995, he was thrown off his horse and broke his neck. He had no     6    (move) or feeling in his body at all. He felt     7     he had lost all hope. He even thought of ending his own life, but he     8     (eventual) found the will to live with the help of his wife, his family and his friends. He undertook an intense exercise programme and managed     9     (return) his film career. On 10 October, 2004, he passed     10    .

About 200,000 students in the US are learning Chinese, starting “Mandarin Fever”.

“Chinese grammar is not difficult     1     (learn) and its word order is very similar     2     English. But the writing system and tones are the     3     (hard) part of the language”, said Adam Murray, an American who went regularly to Chinese lessons     4     only Mandarin was spoken. Kracke, whose Chinese name is Li Xiaoyu, learned from a Chinese teacher how to play guzheng, a Chinese stringed musical instrument,     5     (hope) that she could get to know more about the Chinese culture. Nicholas Goldring, a graduate of a university in Texas,     6     (make) it his life goal to master Chinese since he was a child.

During 2023 Chinese New Year, an event     7     (mean) to help foreigners understand and have     8     good grasp of Chinese language and culture attracted many foreign     9     (participate).

In today’s world, many issues cannot be avoided around China. This is     10     Mandarin is widely learned all over the world.

Chinese green tea: A mouthful of cool summer

China, home of most of the world’s tea, also has a series of customs    1    (concern) tea making and tea choice according to the seasons.

In the summer, the most recommended one is green tea, for     2     character is “cold” in traditional Chinese medical theories, suitable    3     (relieve) the restlessness caused by hot summer. Below are just some examples of these green teas:

    4    (produce) in Wu county in East China’s Jiangsu province, the tea got its name for its curled     5     (leaf) that look like snail shells.

Different than other tea, leaves of Lu’an Melon Seed, without buds or stems, are picked    6     (separate) from each branch. Produced in Lu’an city in Anhui province, the tea has the fragrance of orchid flowers.

In a popular TV-drama Treading on Thin Ice (Bu Bu Jing Xin), which     7     (air) in 2011, Taiping Houkui was often mentioned by the     8     (four) Prince who later became Emperor Yongzheng (1691-1731). In fact, the tea appeared in 1859, more than 100 years later after the emperor’s death. Grown in Anhui province, Taiping Houkui was one of the ten most well-known Chinese teas and was given     9     a gift to the 37th US President Richard Nixon     10    he visited China in 1972.

On March 27, the final match between Team Qiandongnan and Team Zunyi at “Village Basketball Association” or “Village BA” basketball tournament     1     (hold) in Taipan Village, Taijiang county, Southwest China’s Guizhou province.     2     (organize) by local residents, this event has gained     3    (popular) over the years and draws a large crowd of spectators and participants alike.

For this year’s     4    (prize), the winners received national intangible cultural heritage Miao silver hat and local agricultural products. The first runner-up won a Tajiang sturgeon (鲟鱼) and a wooden dragon boat. The     5     (two) runner-up won local agricultural products such as “Sansui sesame duck” and embroidery pieces.

During traditional festivals such as Chixin Festival     6     falls on the sixth of June in the Chinese lunar calendar, local villagers will organize basketball competitions to celebrate a good harvest. The bonus gifts are agricultural products     7     (include) rice, fish and duck.

There were no superstar players, no advertising, and no tickets. But     8     single match among ordinary villagers could attract over 10, 000 people to sit in the stands. The cumulative number of views on live-streaming platforms reached hundreds of millions. Apart     9     free entrance to the game, the village has also set up more parking lots and snack streets in surrounding areas. Taipan Village     10     (go) through a major renovation (恢复活力) for boosting tourism in the past few years.

Last week, we were walking in the campus       1     we       2     (notice) a poster saying that there       3     (be) an English drama contest a few days later. Realizing the contest     4    (be) around the corner, we       5    (sign) up for the event immediately. We     6     (try) our best to practice and I thought we       7    (get) the first in the contest. We went to the office to turn       8     our English teacher for help. She     9    (offer) us a lot of valuable suggestions and told us to put our heart into it and we     10    (win).

Their eyes fixing on their Chinese Tai Chi master, some children in Zimbabwe closely follow a series of martial arts (武术) movements     1    (perform) in a slow and gentle manner

From primary students to adolescents,     2     group of Tai Chi enthusiasts enjoy the power of concentration     3     the guidance of their instructor, Zhu Wei. Zhu,     4     is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctor, teaches Zimbabweans Tai Chi, apart from providing medical assistance.

Tai Chi is     5     (deep) rooted in Chinese traditional cultures, including martial arts, TCM, traditional Chinese philosophy etc,     6     (stress) a mind-body connection by gentle movements, meditation (冥想) and deep breathing. Tai Chi is widely recognized as a practice that is     7    (benefit) to both our physical and mental health. Besides, it can improve children’s physical     8     (strong) and develop a sense of self-worth and self-confidence.

Since the 19^th century, the Chinese     9     (understand) the health benefits of Tai Chi,     10    its popularity has grown steadily. At present, Tai Chi is practiced in almost every corner of the world with more than 300 million participants.

Here is a little tale about the Chinese zodiac     1    (know) as Shengxiao, and     2    the rat became the first sign.

Legends tell us there was a great race between the     3    (animal) to decide the order of the lunar calendar. The finish line laid on a vast river, but the cunning rat hitched a ride on ox’s shoulder, singing a song to make a go faster, and got to     4    opposite bank without even     5    (get) his feet wet. Just before the finish line he quickly jumped off and slipped ahead to take first place. Diligent ox came second while     6    (speed) tiger and rabbit in third and fourth. Parting the clouds, brave dragon flew into fifth with small snake moving just behind. They     7    (follow) by horse and sheep, two kind and modest animals who each let the other go first. Monkey had fallen behind but made up ground to come     8    (nine), while rooster, dog and pig killed the last three places. With the race over and the places     9    (decide), the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac came     10    being.

A powerful 7.8 earthquake struck large areas of southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday. At least 2,300 people were killed.     1     number of dead and injured will likely increase as rescue workers continue to search through the remains of     2     (destroy) buildings.

The earthquake was centered 23 kilometers east of Nurdagi in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. It struck at 4:17 in the morning local time. Many aftershocks     3     (hit) the area since the first quake.

On the Syrian side, the affected area includes rebel-controlled territory,     4     buildings have already been weakened from fighting in the country’s civil war.     5     (patient) including newborn babies were taken out of medical centers.

In Turkey, people tried to escape from affected areas by car, slowing efforts of emergency teams trying to enter the areas.     6     (religion) buildings in the affected areas were opened to provide shelter for people     7     (able) to return to damaged homes in the cold winter weather.

Monday’s powerful earthquake was felt as far away     8     Cairo, Egypt. People living in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut,     9     (awaken) by the quake. And in Syria’s capital Damascus, locals rushed into the street     10     (fear) the collapse of buildings.

The early 1400s     1    (be) a glorious era in Chinese history. During this time, the Yongle Emperor wanted to develop harmonious relations with the overseas neighbors. Zheng He, one of the most     2     (influence) explorers, took charge of the task. One of the states     3    (mention) in the historical records was Boni (present-day Brunei), a small kingdom in South-East Asia. There is     4    (prove) that China established very good relations with this state a long time ago:one of its kings was buried in Nanjing during the early Ming Dynasty, and there is a     5    (fascinate) legend about the king.

In 1405, on behalf of the emperor, Zheng He sailed the oceans     6     his first voyage. His fleet     7    (load) with gifts to the neighboring countries and regions. In 1407, he travelled to Boni,     8     strengthened the friendly relationship between     9     two countries. In the subsequent year, the King of Boni paid a friendly visit to China. He was accompanied by more than 150 people. The records show that the visitors were astonished by     10    rich and technologically advanced the Ming Dynasty was.

As an ancient story goes, there was a family in China’s Shanxi Province that could hear someone crying in their courtyard every night. They followed the sound,     1     found nothing. One day, a member of the family discovered     2     unusual plant 500 meters away from their house. He     3     (dig) five feet into the ground to find the root of the plant that looked like a human body. This plant is called ginseng.

Ginseng has a     4     (benefit) effect on our health according to the account in the book, Materia Medica,     5     (write) by Li Shizhen. And according to Chinese Pharmacy Dictionary, ginseng is used for     6     (treat) many kinds of diseases. Chinese people believe the roots of ginseng can function     7     a wonderful medicine.

Ginseng likes a cool and moist environment and prefers loose sandy soil. In China, it grows mainly in     8     (province) of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. But many varieties of wild ginseng having been suffering habitat     9     (lose) in recent years, leaving them endangered.     10     (lucky), China has taken effective measures to protect Changbai Mountain and other ginseng nature reserves to help with the recovery of the herb. Chinese herbal medicine is an important part of Chinese culture.