Since the pre-Qin period, Chengdu    1    (be) an important cultural town in China. But    2    really sets the city apart, culturally, is its opera. An important aspect of Sichuan Opera is    3    magic of “face changing” where vividly coloured masks are changed within the blink of an eye. In opera gardens and tea houses across the town, audiences    4    (want) a glimpse of the local culture love to drink tea while listening to Sichuan Opera and watching face changing.

It is believed that “face changing” has its roots in evolution. Early humans needed survival strategies to avoid fierce animals and foreign    5    (invade). Often, aggressive facial gestures and non-verbal cues were part of it. The Sichuan Opera is said    6    (bring) this range of emotions on stage.

Once the performance starts, the actor keeps pulling down one mask after    7    in swift movements to convey different emotions.    8    (astonish), no matter how close one is    9    the stage, they just can’t tell how the masks change.

In fact, the different kinds of characters and personalities that Sichuan Opera brings alive can    10    (find) among common people. This is why its emotions will continue to resonate with people for a long time.

An 84-year-old man from the small city of Zigong in Sichuan Province has gained     1     (popular)on social media after his granddaughter quit her job and set out to help him realize some of his wishes on his wish list, attracting millions of views online.

The short videos     2     (post)to Douyin—the Chinese version of TikTok—show 25-year-old Wan Minghui taking her grandfather to visit Beijing in September, a former wish of him and his wife,     3     passed away six years ago.

The elderly man was interested in many things on his journey, from the number of tunnels     4     how large the airport was.

He can be seen in the videos leaving their hotel in Beijing at 2 a. m.     5     (attend)the national flag-raising ceremony and waiting     6     (patient)in a long line. Holding a photo of his wife, Wan's grandfather     7    (sing)the national anthem(国歌)and wiped away tears.

At many of his listed     8    (destination)in Beijing, he was photographed with his wife's picture, which he brought along to make himself feel as if she were traveling with him. Many touched netizens commented that his smile showed his inner feeling.

The videos under the titles “Fulfilling Grandpa's 100 Wishes” and “Taking Grandpa for Travel ”have been viewed more than 100 million times,     9     (receive)more than five million likes and a long list of comments, including praise for Little Wan, best wishes for her grandfather       10     discussions about the meaning of life.

Written during the Period of Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period (ca. 479 BC-221 BC), the book, the Analects (论语)    1    (consider) among the most representative works of Confucian thoughts, and still has     2     great influence on Chinese culture and East Asia.

The Analects was     3    (probable) written over a period of 30-50 years.     4    (start) during the Spring and Autumn Period, the work of     5    (collect) and organization of Confucian teachings was possibly completed during the Warring States Period.     6    , the exact date of publication     7     the complete work is unknown. In China, the work has been by many believed to have been written by Confucius     8    (he), but it has so far been unable to find a     9    (rely) source, partly because of the disastrous book burnt by the First Emperor Qin Shi-Huang in 213 BC.

The chapters are grouped by     10    (theme) of the Analects, but do not develop a structured discussion. Some scholars concluded’ that the book was not written by a single author, but is the collective work of several people.

When thinking about careers, professional advancement, or even job hunting, we usually attach    1    (important) to the so-called “hard skills”, meaning skills     2     are directly connected to our ability to perform a particular task or do a certain job. These skills can be evaluated or measured, as they are the results of     3    (we) degrees, certificates, specialized knowledge, continuing education, vocational (职业的) training, and so on.

“Soft skills”, on the other hand, are harder    4    (measure) than “hard skills”, as they usually do not come from a degree or specialized training,     5     from life experience, personality, and attitude. They     6    (call) “people skills” as they    7    (typical) relate, in some forms, to how we deal or interact with other people. For example; Are we able to motivate and lead people? Can we communicate well with others?

Some commonly    8    (mention) soft skills would include creativity, teamwork, written and verbal (口头的) communication, management leadership, flexibility, and organization. These types of skills are vital, as they help to form     9    well-rounded person. They can provide a     10    (compete) edge in a job search. Soft skills are relevant to every industry or job, because people are always the key, in one way or another.

Chinese teenage sensation(引起轰动的人) Quan Hongchan produced three perfect 10-point dives and won the Olympic women’s 10 meters platform gold medal on Thursday. Her performance illustrated China’s     1     (strong) in the sport.

China     2     (claim) gold in all of the women’s diving events since the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Quan, 14 years old, is the     3     (young) Chinese athlete in Tokyo. She admitted that she didn’t expect to win, as the Tokyo Olympics is her first time to compete overseas.

Quan made     4     (limit) splashes(飞溅) when diving into the pool. As     5     result, she made three perfect 10-point dives. When asked how she managed to do it, she said the team director just asked her to sleep early before the test.   “My parents told me not to be nervous.     6     doesn’t matter whether I get a medal or not. Just be myself. Those words really helped me,” Quan added, saying she planned to eat latiao, a popular Chinese street snack, to celebrate the win.

Thursday’s result means Quan became the second youngest woman     7     (win) a gold medal in the women’s 10 meters platform. Her predecessor(前辈) Fu Mingxia gained success     8     the age of 13 at the Barcelona Games in 1992. Her performance was met with cheers from onlookers(观众),     9     (include) Shi Tingmao and Xie Siyi. They are athletes     10     won their own diving golds in Tokyo.

A man and his son were going through the forest hills. Suddenly, the boy tripped     1     a stone and screamed     2     (painful), “Aah!” Surprisingly, he heard the same voice from the mountain, “Aah!” With     3     (curious), the boy shouted, “Who is this?” And the same voice replied,“Who is this?”He got angry,     4    (shout)again.“You are stupid!” And again came the same reply, “You are stupid!”

    5     (annoy) by this, the boy asked his father, “Father, What is going on? Who is this?” The father replied, “Son, pay attention”. The father shouted, “You are very nice”. And the voice had the same    6    (respond), “You are very nice!” The father again shouted, “Thank you”. And the voice     7     (repeat). The son became     8    (confused), waiting for his father’s explanation.

The father explained, “Son, this is     9     truth of the life,     10     is a reflection of your actions. Whatever you will give to others, you will receive the same in return.”

Antarctica is one of the hardest-to-reach places on Earth. But a recent report shows ships     1    (sail) to Antarctica have connections to ports around the world. That greatly raises the chance that plants or animals     2    the outside could invade (入侵) this protected area.

Invasive species are animals or plants that arrive in a place where they don’t normally live. When invasive species     3    (bring) to a new place, they can often spread quite quickly, which can force out other plants and animals that live there     4    (natural).

In other parts of the world, invasive sea animals and plants have caused trouble after     5    (they) arrival. They often came     6    (attach) to the outside of ships. The conditions in Antarctica are tough, and many animals could never live there. But scientists worry whether the species     7    live at the North Pole and are already used to extremely cold conditions could survive in Antarctica. As the oceans warm, even     8    (many) kinds of plants and animals may be able to survive there.

The report makes several     9    (suggestion) for improving the situation. One idea is for ships to be coated in a special covering that makes it hard for invasive species to stick to them. Ships without this kind of coating could be cleaned regularly. Moreover, countries could require ships to have an     10    (inspect) or some other proof that they aren’t carrying invasive species before they leave the port.

During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics man-made snow was widely used. Due to the fact     1     the area gets little natural snow, this was the first time the Winter Olympics had taken place on almost 100% artificial snow.

21 cities     2    (host) the Winter Olympies since 1972. However, just one of them will have a climate suitable     3     winter sports by the end of the century.

As the planet warms and the weather becomes increasingly erratic (无常的), natural snow is becoming less reliable for winter sports,     4     forces venues (场地) to depend more on artificial snow. But it comes at a cost: man-made snow needs many resources,     5    (require) huge amounts of energy and water to produce in a climate that’s getting warmer and warmer. Athletes also said that the sports     6    (they) became more difficult and less safe when man-made snow was involved.

Traditionally, snow-making has relied     7    (heavy) on snow guns and temperatures at or below freezing. To adapt to warmer temperatures and lower elevations (海拔),     8     different approach needs to be taken.

Making snow demands much energy and water. And with 1.2 million cubic meters of snow     9    (need) to cover roughly 80, 000 square meters of competition area, the water demand at this year’s Winter Olympics was massive.

Now, it becomes more and more common to use artificial snow at winter sports     10    (event). That’s true even in places that used to have a lot of snow naturally.

Last month, I went to China to travel. While     1     (do) some research about the trip, I discovered that Chengdu had the pandas, so I decided to go there.

On my sixth day, I finally had a chance     2     (visit) the pandas! I didn’t go to the famous panda reservation in Wolong, but to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding directly, which is much     3     (close), because I had heard that people might not see the pandas in Wolong but I wanted to be sure to see these cute fellows. At 7:30 a.m. I     4     (join)a group of five fellow panda     5     (fan) and we set off. My friends,     6     had visited the pandas before, told me about     7     active the pandas were, always playing around. However, all we saw them doing was sleeping and eating. I thought they must be tired, because most of them     8     (bare) moved. A few minutes later, a     9     (sleep) panda came down     10     his tree house to the ground. He was absolutely lovable.

I came to Guangxi to attend my university roommate's wedding, and I was     1     (terrible) grateful for the invitation as it gave me an opportunity to live with the locals,     2     is always one of the most attractive parts of a journey for me.

Although shared bikes are sweeping the country, Guangxi people still have a     3     (prefer) for electric bikes.

Each day, during the rush hour, the army of electric bikes is usually     4     (dramatic) than that of cars and cab drivers, forcing them to a halt (停止移动).

As I walked through the city of Liuzhou, I     5     (surprise) by the incredible sight of an army of helmet - wearing people riding electric bikes of different colors.

“Yes, the electric bike troop is one of our local     6     (feature). I rode one to high school years ago     7     yesterday I got on my electric bike to bring details of my wedding,” said the bride, glad that I was able to get a glimpse of this street scene.

“It could be because of the hot and humid weather     8     the local people choose this way     9     (get) around,” she said. “Trust me, if you can't afford a car here, buy an electric bike.     10     (ride) a bike on the street is a very bad idea when the weather gets hot.”