I am not     1     outgoing student and I was a little     2    (confuse) on my first day to school. I wondered if I could make a good first     3    (impress)and make any friends     4     can talk to me.     5    (luck), my teacher was helpful, and he recommended I     6    (sign) up     7     a club where I could make many friends. I know     8    (study) hard is never fun,     9    , I find     10     necessary for me to try my best and get prepared for university or whatever else comes in the future.

Chinese fans seem to have special meanings in Chinese culture. I’ve     1    (receive) a number of them as gifts from my Chinese friends. The fans are very pretty. You may have noticed that almost all female figures in     2     (tradition) Chinese paintings carry a silk fan. In the movies of     3    1930s and 1940s, fans are a very visible article for Shanghai women.     4    (usual) the structure of the fans is made of sand wood and the faces are made of silk or paper. Because the fans always have sweet smell, women     5     use them appear even more attractive. Fans are probably one of the most appropriate     6    (expression) of noble female.

Men also use fans. But these fans are quite often much     7    (big). Men’s fans often use valuable materials for that structure and the faces are always     8    (paint) with plants or landscapes. As a result     9    open-door policy, fans have become popular again not for people to use at home,     10     as a gift for foreigners. I heard westerners appreciate these gifts. As fans are small, inexpensive and typically Chinese, many people like to use them as gifts from the overseas trips.

Shanxi Party chief has owed the    1    (remark) achievements in socioeconomic development the northern province has made over the past decade to its     2    (apply) of instructions from central authorities, and to its adaptation of those instructions to the actual conditions of the province.

The past decade has marked a watershed (分水岭) in the province’s development, as its coal-based economy—still a key driver and accounting for 29.2 percent of national coal production last year—becomes increasingly powered by different economic engines, including industries such as the manufacture of    3    (advance) equipment, semiconductors and new materials, as well as big data and green industry. 

    4     the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shanxi’s GDP increased by 9.1 percent last year,    5    (make) it the third-fastest of all provincial-level regions. Only 2 percentage points of that growth was coal-related.

By making improvements to     6    (it) business environment and governmental services, Shanxi has been able to attract 365 high-tech enterprises, start three national-level research platforms and encourage some 1,400 researchers and professionals     7    (settle) there since last year. 

At present, Shanxi produces 34.46 percent of its electricity from wind, solar energy and other non-fossil sources, and     8    quality of its air and water has markedly improved. These changes were key in attracting 39.9 million tourist visits to the province’s well-protected historical sites last year, at a time     9     national tourism    10    (hit) hard by outbreaks of COVID-19.

In Diaoyu city, an ancient castle in Southwest China’s Chongqing, a special tour was conducted recently with a focus on damaged walls, old stones and ordinary-looking locations, rather than the photogenic spots     1     (normal) favored by tourists.

Ten people from four     2     (family) were invited to the new archaeology-themed study tour,     3     was organized by Chongqing’s institute of cultural relics (文物) and archaeology. The tour was designec     4    (bring) the cultural relics more vitality (生机) and develop the interest of participants in study ins history and archaeology     5     (office) data shows that Chongqing has about 26,000 immovable cultural relics and over 1.48 million movable ones. By the end of 2021, there had been 108 million state-owned cultural relics.     6     total number of world heritage sites in China had reached 56,     7     (rank) second in the world.

Other than the study tour, Chongqing has promoted the charm of history and culture, such as opening the country’s first archaeology-themed café     8     starting an immersive (沉浸式的) and theatrical experience in a historic structure.

Chongqing     9     (bring) 10 more historical sites into the range of archaeological tourism in the future. These tourist attractions     10     (expect) to inspire the interest of teenagers in history and archaeological culture.

The “Chuanbei Big Puppet (木偶) Show” in Nanchong, Sichuan Province,     1     (list) as an item of national intangible cultural heritage since 2006. And     2     makes this traditional performance so special is the use of life-sized puppets.

The art dates back over 300 years, and 82-year-old Li Siyuan is a     3     (recognize) master of his trade.

You can’t     4     (simple) rely on your hands to perform the big puppet show. Footwork is needed as well. The puppets, through the control of puppeteers, can dress up, light     5     candle, and even perform magical face-changing shows. Each puppet is at least 1.8 meters tall, and weighs over 20 kilograms.     6     takes skill and effort to really control them well.

“The traditional puppet, along with the ability     7     (control) it, is fast becoming a rarity in China. So,     8     (pass) this dying cultural heritage from one generation     9     the next is becoming a real challenge,” noted Li.

The good news is that the big puppet show in Nanchong is slowly gaining     10     (accept) and popularity among younger generations. Masters like Li Siyuan hope this age-old art and tradition can thrive in the modern era.

When it comes to building their dream home, people have a lot of different ideas. However, some people decide to avoid    1    (tradition) architecture, and build something completely different, for instance, a container house. That’s exactly what designer Will Breaux did and now he’s a proud     2    (own) of a house built out of shipping containers. His new home is located on McGowen Street in Houston. The containers are piled on top    3    each other to create a three-story house.

Breaux wanted to build his own house since the early 2000s, however, for a long time he struggled     4    (find) someone who would design the kind of house he wanted, so eventually Breaux decided to do it     5    (he). Breaux got the idea of a container house many years ago. Why containers? “Shipping containers are strong, fireproof, long-lasting, hurricane resistant, and have common characteristics,” Breaux explains.

However, the man,     6     is not a professional builder, had little knowledge of     7    it would take to build his dream house. But he was determined to do everything he could.

After long hours spent    8    (learn) everything about constructing a house out of shipping containers, Breaux possesses     9     impressive 2, 500-square-foot house. Now the house is     10     (full) furnished (装修) and looks just like Breaux had imagined it.

Chinese calligraphy (书法) is an art form that    1    (involve) the skilled and deliberate use of brush and ink to create beautiful and expressive characters.

The origins of Chinese calligraphy can be traced back thousands of years to the Shang Dynasty, making it one of the     2     (old) continuous artistic traditions in the world. Its evolution is accompanied with the development of the Chinese writing system,     3     consists of thousands of characters, each with its own artistic structure and stroke order (笔顺).

Calligraphy in China    4    (regard) as one of the highest forms of artistic expression. It is not only a means of communication     5     a way to develop one’s character, discipline, and spirituality. The practice of calligraphy requires     6    (patient), concentration, and a deep understanding of the balance between empty space and solid forms.

Different styles of calligraphy have emerged throughout history, each with its own distinct characteristics and artistic conventions. The most famous    7    (style) include regular script (kaishu), running script (xingshu), cursive script (caoshu), and seal script (zhuanshu).

Chinese calligraphy has a profound influence     8     other art forms, such as     9    (paint), poetry, and seal carving. It is often considered as an important part of the Chinese traditional culture, where scholars and artists would gather in a     10    (culture) salon to appreciate and discuss calligraphic works.

Zibo city has recently gone viral (走红) on Chinese social media for its local specialty food, Zibo barbecue. An owner     1     the local stand Dazui barbecue said that his sales on Saturday alone could reach 12, 000 yuan and 80 percent of the     2     (customer) were tourists from other cities. Another stand owner said that barbecue went viral because of some local young people     3     shared their experience on social media with pictures and videos. The local government also took advantage of the Zibo barbecue trend     4     (bring) more tourists to the city. In order to encourage people to come to the city, Zibo set up a     5     (special) customized “barbecue map”, and added 21 new barbecue bus lines. The barbecue from Zibo is unique     6     offers a distinctive dining experience. It has a small stove on each table. When the skewers (串肉扦)     7     (serve), customers will process them themselves and wrap them in a thin pancake, usually with a spring onion     8     (add). The immersive experience of making customized “Zibo barbecue” offers a sense of     9     (participate) and leisure time for diners. The sudden popularity of Zibo barbecue and its fame on the Internet is a combination of several factors. First and foremost, the city refreshes itself after the COVID-19 epidemic. The promotion on social media also plays     10     role in this.

My hometown Zibo, a once glorious and later faded     1     (industry) city, went viral online in late March. But it was not until I went back and saw the visitors rush to open-air barbecue stands (摊位)     2     I realized Zibo had truly turned     3     a new tourist destination.

On April 28, I went to the Badaju market, a popular local market     4     (consist) of a main street heading from north to south with two east-west lanes crossing it. As I passed through the cars     5     (park) around the Badaju area, I noticed that the cars     6     (be) not only from other cities in Shandong but also from other provinces. Some people were enjoying local snacks, talking and laughing. Others were filming the slowly moving crowd in     7     (excite) to share their pleasure on social media platforms.

Haiyue Longgong, a barbecue market,     8     (build) in April. I went there and found it was even more crowded than I had expected.

“Not just for the mouthwatering barbecue, perhaps     9     makes this old town attractive is that all Zibo people work together to     10     (sincere) provide the guests with the best food and scenery and to leave visitors some pleasant memories,” a visitor said.

The company     1     which Larry worked was to have a newly-made robot called Tony     2    (experiment) with by his wife Claire at home.     3     the first sight of Tony, Claire felt     4    (alarm). She thought it was absurd that a robot should look so     5    (human), with his     6    (smoothly)hair, deep voice, tall and handsome body. For as long as three weeks, Tony wanted to help her to dress, which made Claire     7    (embarrass) and she refuse him. But she was glad that Tony could make her home     8    (elegance), give her a new haircut and change her makeup. To improve her home, he could also write out a list of things for her to buy. And finally Tony helped Claire win the victory to be     9    (envy) by those ladies like Gladys who Claire     10    (fall) in love with Tony--a robot!