I attended the Naadam Festival in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region this year. The festival,     1     includes horse racing, wrestling and archery, falls on the     2     (four) day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, usually     3     (last) for three days.

I went to the games early with my friend   and found that many people     4     (make) preparations for the events. I was told that the festival had been popular with Mongolians for     5     (century). After the opening ceremony, the wrestling competition began,     6     (follow) by the archery and my favourite horse races.     7     my surprise, the riders were all children and I was concerned about their     8     (safe). My friend told me not     9     (worry) as they had been riding horses all their lives. Then I began to understand what “Horses are at the heart of Mongolian culture” meant.

Having been back home, I felt really tired,     10    it was worthwhile to celebrate the festival with my friend.

Ms. Guli is from Australia. In 2012, she decided to focus on     1     (help) the world face its water problems. Ms. Guli said that when she saw a river that had dropped by 20 feet within six     2     (year), she realized she needed to do something.

She started a group called “Thirst” that had taught over 500,000 people in China different ways     3     (save) water. Ms. Guli also began running. Running was not easy for her. When she was younger, her back was badly hurt. Doctors thought she might never run again. She started swimming, then biking, and     4     (final) running again.

In November, Ms. Guli ran the New York Marathon, the first of the 100 marathons planned for     5     (she) Running Dry project. But after 60 marathons, doctors discovered that Ms. Guli had broken     6     bone in her leg. She decided to walk the marathons rather than run them. That meant spending about 9 to 12 hours     7     (walk) instead of five hours running.

But after 62 marathons, doctors told her that she would damage her leg     8     she didn’t stop. Ms. Guli finally agreed to stop running.

One thing is certain. Even if she     9     (hurt) her leg, Ms. Guli will continue working to let us know how     10     (importance) it is to change the ways we use and save water.

For many years, people have been worried that one day, robots could take their jobs. Now, it    1     (seem) that it may start happening.

ChatGPT is     2     AI chatbot, which is the fastest-growing app based on a    3     (power) language processing model. It had 100 million active users just two months after     4     (it) start. Experts started to worry that the latest chatbots could harm the careers (事业) of anyone who works with information, does research or writes reports. Chatbots are very creative, and can do things that we thought only humans could do. So an increasing number    5     users see this as a business chance. They will start using a chatbot as a staff member that may    6     (compare) to a newly employed graduate in terms of its ability to think. Chatbots work very fast, without     7     (request) a break or pay, and for business people, that’s     8     (extreme) important. Some UK law companies have already realized it     9     started using chatbots to write legal (法律的) letters or provide ideas for legal matters.

However, one of the biggest     10     (problem) with ChatGPT is that it doesn’t know the actual truth about the world — it simply learns information from various resources (资源) but cannot decide on its own what is true or false.

Japan said on Tuesday that it had decided to    1    (gradual) release tons of treated wastewater from the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant (福岛第一核电站) into the ocean,    2     (describe) it as the best solution to dealing with the leftovers (残留物) from the Fukushima nuclear accident, one of the    3    (serious) in the world.

The    4    (decide) ends years of debate over how to deal with the water,    5    is enough to fill more than 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“The Japanese government ignores concerns and strong opposition both at home and abroad. Such an    6    (responsilble)act not only directly harms the interests of the people in Japan’s neighbouring countries, but    7    threatens the global marine environment and international public health security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Greenpeace(绿色和平组织)criticized Japan’s plan and said there are other solutions that should    8    (censider). “    9    than using the best available technology to store and process the water    10    the long term, they have chosen the cheapest solution, damping the water into the Pactfie Ocean.”

People in Bangladesh and India are struggling as they face serious flooding caused by early heavy rains. The floods     1     (cover)roads, bridges, and entire villages so far.     2     (million)of people have been left helpless by the floodwaters. The flooding in Bangladesh is the     3     (bad)in nearly 20 years. The United Nations(UN)says that the flooding has affected at least 4 million people in Bangladesh. The floods have hit the districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj     4     (especial)hard. In these areas, about 2 million people were left cut off from areas nearby.

The flooding     5     (cause)by heavy rains. Two rivers     6     run near Bangladesh’s border with India, the Surma and the Kushiara, hit the highest water levels ever recorded. The government has made the     7     (decide)to close almost 600 schools. Some are to be closed because of flooding. Others will be turned     8     emergency shelters. Bangladesh is a low-lying country, and often has floods.     9     same is true for parts of India. But normally, most flooding happens later in the year. Scientists say that because of the climate crisis, extreme weather     10     (include)heat waves, severe storms, heavy rains, and flooding is becoming far more common.

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.

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.

I’m not usually a big risk-taker. I like to make plans and stick to them,    1    is exactly what I intended (打算) while travelling New Zealand. I’d planned    2    (catch) a long and scenic bus ride from Franz Josef to Wanaka.

Soon after we set off, the driver announced that we’d make a quick detour (绕路) to drop off a couple of    3    (passenger) at the skydiving (跳伞) centre. He joked that any last-minute requests to skydive could follow them. My friend    4    (turn) to me with a smile and said, “Let’s go skydiving today.”

It had been something we were    5    (interest) in, but I had never tried to skydive before. With the chance laid out in front of me, I    6    (simple) couldn’t refuse.

    7    (look) down from the plane, I was very nervous.    8    an instructor’s guidance, I jumped out the door at 16,000ft. That minute of free-fall over the Southern Alps was    9    most eye-opening moment.

You really never know what experiences are waiting for you if you take the risk and change    10    (direct). While I never did get to enjoy that scenic drive, I truly believe this moment changed my attitude towards travel for the better.

A Lifelong Journey, a TV series     1    (adapt) from writer Liang Xiaosheng’s novel has been a huge hit on TV and online. Some famous actors, such as Lei Jiayin, Song Jia, and Yin Tao, join in the show, which     2    (focus) on the ups and downs of Zhou’s family over five decades. It is set in the 1970s so it’s not     3    (surprise) that the family has to deal with lots of social changes. The show explores themes of family, friendship and romance. Many viewers describe the show     4     a time machine reflecting how we get here.

Painting a picture of ordinary Chinese people living in the changing times, the novel won the writer Liang, the 10th Mao Dun Literary Award, one of China’s top literary     5    (award). Millions of people have been touched by the family’s story,     6     makes readers find out what lies deep in their hearts.

Translating such a series of stories to the small screen had been     7     challenge for scriptwriter Wang Hailing. “    8    (frank) speaking, it is very difficult,” Wang said. “The lives of the three siblings (兄弟姊妹) are telling the story of a small family. But when we consider the bigger picture, the country     9    (it) is made up of millions of such small families.” According to Cheng Wu, producer of A Lifelong Journey, a deep sense of responsibility inspired him     10    (produce) the best adaptation of the work.