It’d be hard to look at pictures of Fenghuang Ancient Town without feeling drawn to the place. Lying in the southwest of Hunan province, the scenic town     1     (regard) as one of China’s most attractive places.

Fenghuang Ancient Town is     2    exceptionally well-preserved ancient town and it features unique ethnic(民族的) languages, customs, arts and many     3     (impress) architectural remains of Ming and Qing styles. The careful     4     (select) of the town site, layout (布局) planning and construction have made wonderful use of the mountain landscape and the water flow    5     (create) a harmonious relationship between human residence and nature. Over 200 ancient residential buildings, some 20 large or small streets and ancient town gate towers are well preserved there. They have given a full display of the intelligence and wisdom of those ancient    6     (architect).

Another element    7    makes Fenghuang unique is its ethnic makeup. Many local residents, both historically and in the present, belong to either the Miao or, Tujia minority. As such, the local architecture, like the typical stilt houses (吊脚楼)    8    (be) unique within China.

Fenghuang Ancient Town has also received modern additions. Every night, the town’s buildings are    9    (beautiful) lit it up, with tourists wandering through the streets    10     fun.

While many Chinese cities are experiencing freezing cold, spring lingers at the Dounan Flower Market in Kunming, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

A sea of blossoms, including lotuses, roses and sunflowers, is ready to go on     1     journey across the nation, decorating shopping malls, conference halls     2     the cozy corners of people’s homes

About 30 years ago, the Market was just a street with roadside stalls selling flowers, but today it has become Asia’s     3     (large) fresh-cut flower trading market. Its flowery beauty reaches more than 40 countries and regions, with the export value hitting 520 million yuan in 2021,     4     (rank) first nationwide. Yunnan’s fresh-cut flower growing area     5     (total) 21,700 hectares that year.

This is a market for all people, where everyone can buy their favorite flowers     6     the lowest price. It springs to life around 5 am every day. The wholesale trading session normally ends by 9 a.m. Packaging and delivery companies have     7     (branch) in Dounan and they can ensure quick delivery of the flowers. Live streaming on Douyin     8     (try) actively nowadays. The channels gain     9     (popular) but it is also quite exhausting.

Nevertheless, staying busy is     10     many flower sellers love.

This weekend a marathon took place in Salzburg, the city in     1     I’m currently living. I’ve never run for more than half an hour so I’m     2     (amaze) that some people manage to keep going for over four hours!

Running is     3     (difficulty) because you have to motivate yourself to keep going—it’s more solitary than a team sport. I used to get really out of     4     (breathe) while running and it didn’t feel good at all! Now I     5     (actual) enjoy going for a jog along the river in Salzburg,     6     (feel) my muscles working and breathing in the fresh air.

    7     (challenge) exercise is always rewarding. Hiking is fun because all     8     hard work, walking uphill, comes at the beginning of the day. Then at the top of the mountain you can enjoy the view and some well-earned chocolate! At the end of the day, you feel like you     9     (achieve) something.

This just shows that perseverance pays off —     10     you work hard, you can succeed.

In the rich and diverse Chinese traditional culture, hairpins (发簪), or “fazan” in Mandarin, stand out as elegant    1     (symbol) of heritage and beauty. Once playing    2    essential role in the daily clothing of ancient Chinese, they are now making a remarkable comeback among modern youth,    3    reflects a renewed passion for traditional culture.

Hairpins in ancient China were not    4     (mere) tools for holding hair in place; they were actually artworks, representing the wearers’ social status and personal taste.    5     (make)from a variety of materials and often decorated with    6     (detail) designs of flowers, birds, or dragons, these hair accessories   (配饰) carried profound cultural meanings and aesthetic (美学的) values.

In the past several years, amidst the fast-paced life of technology and globalization, a growing number of young Chinese    7     (rediscover) the fascination of the hairpin and offered it new meaning. This time it is not just about fashion; it’s an opportunity for them    8     (preserve) their cultural identity.

Modern designers are also breathing new life into the traditional hairpin, mixing ancient designs with contemporary aesthetics to appeal    9    the younger generation. These hairpins are not only worn with traditional hanfu dresses but have also found their way into everyday modern wardrobes,    10     (serve) as a unique bridge between the past and the present.

Rain is pouring down today, and it brings back sweet memories of our dog, Bambi.

Like all dogs, she was full     1     energy and wonder. Our boys described that she looked just like     2     young deer, Bambi, in the movie they had watched recently. The name     3     (fit) her perfectly at that time.

Bambi also had all the fine physical characteristics of the German Shepherd. She was strong, yet gentle and shy. She wouldn’t stop     4     (play) with my boys until they were completely tired.

When Bambi was almost two years old, a full-grown dog, she became quite protective of us, never failing to watch my     5     (child). She would sit in front of the front door, and managed     6     (drive) away many welcome and unwelcome guests.

Once, our washing machine was broken and a repairman     7     (call) to come to fix it. As he went close to our front door, Bambi jumped up     8     barked loudly to him.     9     (lucky), the babysitter and boys returned from their walk at that time and rescued the poor     10     (scare) repairman from our guard dog.

Wearing Hanfu and sitting in front of a Chinese zither (筝), Peng Jingxuan, a young Chinese student, moves her fingers gently along the strings on a street in Paris, France.

Peng has shared more than 200     1     (origin) videos online, with the most popular one featuring the theme song of the movie A Chinese Ghost Story viewed over 16.61 million times. “I love how she’s representing her culture in a     2     (set) where people are not familiar with it. You can tell she’s proud of her background and her music,” one of her fans commented.

Chinese zither (筝), or guzheng, is an ancient musical instrument with 21-26 strings and a length of 1.63 meters. Peng     3     (fall) in love with it when young and has been practicing it for years. Hardly finding Chinese instruments     4     (play) on the streets in Paris, she took along her guzheng     5     began her street performances to sharpen her skills. The more she performed, the more she felt a greater sense of responsibility     6     (spread) Chinese music and culture.

Considering her audience’s     7     (unfamiliar) with Chinese songs, Peng made adaptations, for     8     she received positive responses. She also performed Western pop songs that local people could relate     9    , entertaining them with beautiful melodies in a     10     (refresh) style.

Insect numbers have decreased by half in some parts of the world due     1     climate change and intensive agriculture (集约型农业), a study has found.

Lead researcher, Dr. Charlie Outhwaite of University College London, said     2     (lose) insect populations could be harmful not only to the natural environment, but also to human health and food security,     3     (particular) with losses of pollinators (传粉昆虫).

However, scientific data gives     4     mixed picture, with some types of insects showing sharp declines, while others are staying steady. In the latest study, the researchers pulled together data on the range and number of nearly, 20, 000 insect species, including bees, ants, etc, at 6,000 different     5     (place).

In areas with intensive agriculture and severe warming, insect numbers     6     (reduce) by 49% so far and the number of different species by 27%, compared with untouched areas       7     have avoided the most severe effects of climate change, according to the research     8     (publish) in Nature. But the researchers said there was some cause for hope in that setting aside areas of land for nature created a shelter for insects, which need shade     9     (survive) in hot weather.

“Some     10     (care) management of agricultural areas such as preserving natural habitats near farmland, may help ensure vital insects can still grow well,” said Dr. Charlie Outhwaite.

Heading off to the train station straight after work on Friday, checking in     1     least eight tourism attractions in one day for three continuous days, hopping on a late-night train and returning to work or lectures at 8 o’clock the next morning — the travel practice of visiting as many sights as possible within the     2    (short)period of time is known as “Special Forces” style tourism. Lately, the style     3    (become)a popular trend among China’s young tourists,     4    (allow)them to make the most of their short holiday breaks.

Last May Day witnessed the peak of this intense travel practice, as the number of tourists reached a record high of 200 million. The hashtag(标签) “Young People’s Special Force Style Tourism during May Day Holiday” enjoyed more than 3. 3 million     5    (view)on China’s largest micro-blogging site Weibo.

Many people flocked to the online space to share     6    (they)experiences of “Special Force” style tourism including two vloggers,     7     documented the three-day climbing experience of Wuyue. During the trip, they covered a distance of 4,600 kilometers with less than 10 hours of sleep.

This     8    (physical)demanding travel becomes a trend because of a video showing a group of university students travelling to the Tibetan capital Lhasa by taking an old-fashioned train. Although     9     entire journey took them 54 hours with only hard seats available, students     10    (see)to be in high spirits chanting “Youth is priceless, and hard seats take us straight to Lhasa!”

Representing wisdom, power, and wealth, dragons are respected and honored in Chinese culture, which are said     1     (scare) away evil spirits and bad luck. In ancient times, when there was no rain for a long time, people not only prayed     2     rain with a dragon dance,     3     prayed against insect attacks after planting.

If you’ve seen a Chinese New Year parade (庆祝游行), you’ve probably seen a colorful dragon     4     (wind) its way down the street. The dragon dance,     5     time-honored traditional folk activity in Chinese culture dating back to the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago,     6     (observe) during festive celebrations much like the lion dance. Dragon dances can be performed in different ways with dragon costumes of different colors.     7     (specific), as many as 9 to 15 dancers use long poles to guide the dragon’s head and snakelike body, the tricks of     8     are often jumps or moves that make the dragon turn in     9     (variety) of ways.

The culture of dragon and lion dances has spread beyond China to southeast Asia, and even to some regions with significant Chinese communities in Europe, America, Australia, and New Zealand. It has become a     10     (substance) symbol of Chinese culture.

After several decades of development, Chinese cultural industries, such as online literature and video games, have created products     1     enrich global culture with creativity, imagination and local elements, appealing to both domestic consumers and those from overseas.

China’s video game industry, after three decades of development,     2     (evolve) into a competitive player in the international market, especially in the section of mobile games, driven by the Internet and     3     (technology) advancements.

According to CNG, overseas revenue from games independently developed in China had risen from $11.6 billion in 2019     4     $16.4 billion in 2023, achieving a four-year CAGR of 9.04percent. This growth is primarily attributed to the advantages of Chinese companies in mobile game development and operations.

With the widespread adoption of smartphones     5     the development of mobile Internet technologies, mobile games have become a major part of the global gaming market.     6     (depend) on the leading technology and extensive     7     (experienced) in this area, Chinese gaming companies have     8     (successful) launched a series of popular game products in both domestic and overseas markets.

In 2023, Genshin Impact became the     9     (popular) Chinese game in overseas markets. By the end of last year, it had garnered about $5 billion, and players from overseas contributed more than 60 percent of the total, according to data from analytics company Sensor Tower and App Magic.

Since     10     (it) launch in 2020, Genshin Impact has won the best mobile game award in 2021and the player’s voice award in 2022 at the annual The Game Awards — often dubbed as the “Oscars” of the global gaming industry, while being nominated for the best ongoing award four times.