May Day is not only a time for people     1     (enjoy) a long holiday break, but also an occasion to show respect for Chinese workers who work hard and constantly devote themselves     2     keeping the nation running and moving forward. And the farmers who help safeguard China’s “rice bowls” are worthy of special     3     (appreciate).

Despite     4     ( have ) only about nine percent of the world’s arable (可耕的) land, China feeds around one-fifth of the global population. As     5     result, China has placed a high value on agricultural development and rural revitalization (振兴) and has been     6     (active) promoting smart farming.

Over the last few years, significant changes     7     (take) place in the management and marketing of agriculture in China. A new generation of farmers is using     8     (advance) agricultural machines, agronomy (农学) technologies, artificial intelligence, 5G and the Internet of Things as     9     (they) “farm tools”, which not only improve field management but also increase sales of agricultural products. In addition, an increasing number of farmers,     10     are knowledgeable in digital and Internet technologies, have been using live streaming e-commerce to sell local specialties online while sharing their rural life.

With joint efforts, China’s agriculture is expected to have a promising future.

According to historical records, the well-known historian Sima Guang from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) used a part of a round wood     1     his pillow throughout his life. This unique pillow had an unusual function.     2     Sima Guang moved a little during his sleep, his head would slide down off the pillow, causing him to wake up     3     (immediate) and continue his studies. This particular type of pillow came to be known as an “alarm pillow”.

The Chinese word for “pillow”, zhentou,     4     (believe) to be created by Cao Cao, a famous strategist and ruler during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). One night, while Cao Cao was reading in his tent and     5     (become) sleepy, there was no extra space useful to place several books stored in wooden     6     (box). In response (回应), a servant momentarily placed the books at one side of the bed, upon     7     Cao Cao fell asleep quickly, experiencing a deep and restful sleep.     8     (impress) by the comfort provided by this short-term arrangement, the servant then created a padded (有垫的) headrest using soft materials, copying     9     shape of the wooden box that held the books. When Cao Cao asked about the name of this new item, the servant referred to it as “headrest bedding”. Cao Cao     10     (late) named it zhentou, and from that point on, the use of pillows became popular among the common people.

Distance learning is a form of education in     1     the main elements include physical separation of teachers and students during instruction and the use of     2     (variety) of technologies to facilitate student-teacher and student-student communication. Since its introduction, distance learning     3     (focus) on nontraditional students, such as full-time workers, military personnel, and nonresidents or individuals in remote regions who are     4     (able) to attend classroom lectures.

However, distance learning has become a (n)     5     (establish) part of the educational world, with trends       6    (point) to ongoing growth. In U. S. higher education alone, more than 5.6 million university students were enrolled in at least one online course in the autumn of 2009, a significant growth     7    1.6 million in 2002. Students of all ages, around the world, were forced into distance learning in early 2020     8     the global coronavirus pandemic resulted in a widespread     9     (close) of many schools. Videoconferencing software such as Zoom gained greatly from this development. Zoom became one of the most popular services of its kind, one of the most downloaded applications worldwide, and     10     household word. Teaching and the student-teacher relationship were fundamentally changed.

During the 2023 Lanzhou International Marathon, all eyes were on the elderly couple—Hu Yingfu, 86, and his wife Wang Zhangmin, 77. Many doubted their ability to finish the race,     1     Hu completed the half marathon in two hours and twenty minutes.

Against initial struggles, Hu found a way to motivate himself by counting electric poles while running. “The distance between each electric pole is 50 meters. I run as fast as I can, passing a dozen or so poles.” said Hu.     2     (gradua), his endurance improved, along with his physical condition.

The couple’s love for running started as a way     3     (improve) their fitness, but it quickly became a passion, They participated in a national athletics event     4     the elderly in 2004,     5     (mark) their first-ever national competition. To their surprise, Wang achieved     6     impressive result—the fourth place.

Since then, the elderly couple have become regular     7     (participate) in national athletics events, consistently winning medals, and they     8     (recognize) as well-known figures in the running community.

With a     9     (combine) age of 163, the couple have participated in over 100 marathon races nationwide, whose impact has motivated     10     (count) young individuals to become part of the running community.

On the second floor of the Zitong Art Gallery, 43-year-old Jiang Xiaoqi n is working on her painting in a studio,     1     doubles as part of an exhibition hall. She draws some yellow from her palette (调色板) and tips it on her canvas (画布) before stopping     2     (check) if it is too thick. Now and then, she stands back a pace or two, takes a survey of her painting and then     3     (decide) whether to apply more.

Around her are five other men and women,     4     (stand) in front of their respective easels (画架) and working on their own paintings. They look exactly like those     5     (profession) artists that one would meet in an art academy.

Only they aren’t. They are farmers from Dujing village, the administrative seat of Zitong township, Chun’an county     6     East China’s Zhejiang province.

Starting to learn painting only three years ago, Jiang has already made     7     name for herself. Indeed, she is     8     (warm) known as “Sister Corn” for her corn-themed paintings and artistic     9     (creation), especially after her oil painting-titled Corn, unsurprisingly — was sold for 7,500 yuan at a special exhibition     10     (hold) in Shanghai in 2020 featuring 61works by Zitong’s farmers.

The brief outline takes us to the beginning of the twentieth century,     1     now we’ll have a closer look at Beijing’s housing conditions during that time.

At the beginning of the century, living conditions for the majority of working people in the East Beijing were very basic indeed. Houses were crowded closely together and usually very badly     2     (build), because there were no regulations. But the poor and       3     (need) were attracted by the possibility of work, and they had to       4     (house). It was the       5     (available) rather than the conditions of the housing that was the major concern.

Few houses had electricity at this time. So other sources of power were used, like coal for the fires       6     heated perhaps just one room. Of course, the smoke from these contributed a great deal       7     the air pollution for which Beijing used to be famous.     8     (luck), Beijing is not like what it used to be. It’s     9     cleaner than before and we can breathe safely.

A tiny, damp, unhealthy house like this might well be occupied by two full families, possibly including several children, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Can you imagine a big family     10     (live) in so little room like that?