Chinese cultural elements commemorating (纪念) Tang Xianzu,     1     is known as “the Shakespeare of Asia,” add an international character to Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare’s hometown.

Tang and Shakespeare were contemporaries and both died in 1616. Although they could never have met, there are common     2     (theme) in their works, said Paul Edmondson, head of research for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. “Some of the things that Tang was writing about     3     (be)also Shakespeare’s concerns. I happen to know that Tang’s play The Peony Pavilion (《牡丹亭》) is similar in some ways     4     Romeo and Juliet.”

A statue commemorating Shakespeare and Tang was put up at Shakespeare’s Birthplace Garden in 2017. Two years later, a six-meter-tall pavilion,     5     (inspire)by The Peony Pavilion,     6     (build)at the Firs Garden, just ten minutes’ walk from Shakespeare’s birthplace.

Those cultural elements have increased Stratford’s international     7     (visible), said Edmondson, adding that visitors walking through the Birthplace Garden were often amazed     8     (find)the connection between the two great writers.

    9     (recall)watching a Chinese opera version of Shakespeare’s play Richard III in Shanghai and meeting Chinese actors who came to Stratford a few years ago to perform parts of The Peony Pavilion, Edmondson said, “It was very exciting to hear the Chinese language     10     see how Tang’s play was being performed.”

Although parks of all sizes and types exist at any level, the national parks, in particular, tend     1     (catch) our attention because of their large size and variety. They are     2     (treasure) of American heritage (遗产). How did the national park system come about? On a cool, starry night in mid-September 1870, four men relaxed before a campfire along the Firehole River in     3     is now northwestern Wyoming. They     4    (be) part of a 15-member exploring party that had spent almost five awesome weeks in witness of the natural beauties there.

What should     5    (do) with such a beautiful place? They wondered out loud. This area, with     6     (it) unique and breathtaking natural beauty, must be well preserved     7     all people of the nation to enjoy — as a national park. They all agreed and vowed (承诺) to promote the idea at the     8     (complete) of their journey. Their promotional work paid off. Two years later, 18 years before Wyoming became a state, Yellowstone became the first national park in the United States and the world. Yellowstone was the     9     (large) United States national park — 2.2 million acres — until Wrangell-Saint Elias in southern Alaska,     10     became a national monument in 1978, took the honors as a national park in 1980 with 12.3 million acres.

Heatherwick Studio recently built a greenhouse at the edge of the National Trust’s Woolbeding Gardens. This beautiful structure, named Glasshouse, is at the centre of a new garden that shows how the Silk Road influences English gardens even in modern times.

The latest     1     (engineer) techniques are applied to create this protective     2     (function) structure that is also beautiful. The design features ten steel “sepals (萼片)” made of glass and aluminium (铝). These sepals open on warm days     3     (give) the inside plants sunshine and fresh air. In cold weather, the structure stays     4     (close) to protect the plants.

Further, the Silk Route Garden around the greenhouse     5     (walk) visitors through a journey influenced by the ancient Silk Road, by which silk as well as many plant species came to Britain for     6     first time. These plants included modern Western     7     (favourite) such as rosemary, lavender and fennel. The garden also contains a winding path that guides visitors through the twelve regions of the Silk Road. The path offers over 300 plant species for visitors to see, too.

The Glasshouse stands     8     a great achievement in contemporary design, to house the plants of the southwestern part of China at the end of a path retracing (追溯) the steps along the Silk Route     9     brought the plants from their native habitat in Asia to come to define much of the     10     (rich) of gardening in England.

For thousands of years, people have told fables (寓言)     1     (teach) a lesson or to pass on wisdom. Fables were part of the oral tradition of many early cultures, and the well-known Aesop’s fables date to the     2     (six) century, B. C. Yet, the form of the fable still has values today,     3     Rachel Carson says in “A Fable for Tomorrow.”

Carson uses a simple, direct style common to fable. In fact, her style and tone (口吻) are seemingly directed at children. “There was once a town in the heart of America,     4     all life seemed to enjoy peaceful existence with its surroundings,” her fable begins,     5     (borrow) some familiar words from many age-old fables. Behind the simple style, however, is a serious message     6     (intend) for everyone.

    7     (difference) from traditional fables, Carson’s story ends with an accusation instead of a moral. She warns of the environmental dangers facing society, and she teaches that people must take responsibility     8     saving their environment.

The themes of traditional fables often deal with simple truths about everyday life. However, Carson’s theme is a more weighty     9     (warn) about environmental destruction. Carson proves that a simple literal form that has been passed down through the ages can still     10     (employ) today to draw attention to important truths.

Xiao long bao (soup dumplings), those amazing constructions of delicate dumpling wrappers, encasing hot,     1     (taste) soup and sweet, fresh meat, are far and away my favorite Chinese street food. The dumplings arrive steaming and dangerously hot. To eat one, you have to decide whether     2     (bite) a small hole in it first, releasing the stream and risking a spill (溢出),     3     to put the whole dumpling in your mouth, letting the hot soup explode on your tongue. Shanghai may be the     4     (recognize) home of the soup dumplings but food historians will actually point you to the neighboring canal town of Nanxiang as Xiao long Bao’s birthplace. There you will find them prepared differently — more dumpling and less soup, and the wrappers are pressed     5     hand rather than rolled. Nanxiang aside, the best Xiao long bao have a fine skin, allowing them     6     (lift) out of the steamer basket without tearing or spilling any of     7     (they) contents. The meat should be fresh with     8     touch of sweetness and the soup hot, clear and delicious.

No matter where I buy them, one steamer is     9     (rare) enough, yet two seems greedy, so I am always left     10     (want) more next time.

Beijing is a city bridging the ancient and the modern. From Buddhist temples to museums, narrow hutong     1     royal palaces, it is home to more than 3,000 years of glorious history even down to its layout, with the city keeping its carefully     2     (build) system of ring roads.

But for all its ancient buildings, Beijing is also a place     3     welcomes the fast-paced development of modern life, with 21st-century architectural     4     (wonder) standing side by side with historical buildings of the past.

It is a distinct visual contrast (反差) that shouldn’t work,     5     somehow these two very different worlds make a good combination.     6     (visit) several times over the last 10 years, I     7     (amaze) by the co-existence of old and new, and how a city was able to keep such a rich heritage (遗产) while constantly growing. As a photographer, I have spent the last two years     8       (record) everything I discovered.

The     9     (remark) development of this city, which is consciously designed to protect the past while stepping into the modern world,     10     (mean) there is always something new to discover here, and I could be photographing Beijing for the next 50 years.

Chinese high school principal Zhang Guimei has been honored     1     the title “Role Model of the Times” in recognition of her dedication to education for girls.

With the support of the Party and the government, she helped establish the country’s first senior high school to offer free education for girls from poor families. Since it opened in 2008, it     2    (see) more than 1,800 students progress to universities and colleges.

About 20 years ago, while on the way to visit a student’s house, Zhang Guimei, then a rural teacher in Huaping county, Lijiang, Yunnan province, noticed a girl     3    (sit) on the hillside. She was staring     4    (blank) into space. The girl, 13, told Zhang she was about to get married and it was arranged by her parents.

That fateful encounter(邂逅) persuaded Zhang     5    (build) a free high school for girls, aiming to help break the spell (魔咒)     6     women drop out of education, marry early and spend     7    (they) whole life in the remote mountain.

After years of trying to raise funds, in 2008, Huaping High School for Girls, a free public high school,     8    (found) at the foot of the Shizi Mountain in Huaping, where Zhang is the principal. Over the decades, More than 1,800     9    (graduate) have been admitted to college,     10     is regarded a “miracle” in the remote area, as most students didn’t perform well in academic study before the school was established.

Whenever I tell people that I teach English at the Berlin Zoo, I almost always get a questioning look. Behind it, the person is trying to figure out who exactly I teach…the animals?

Since June 2017, right before the     1     (arrive) of the two new pandas, Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, I have been helping the panda keepers at the zoo to feel more comfortable and     2     (confidence) speaking English. And who do they speak English     3    ?

Not the pandas, even though     4     language used for the medical training instructions is actually English. They talk to the flood of international tourists and to     5     (visit) Chinese zookeepers who often come to check on the pandas, which are on loan from China. They also need to be ready to give     6     (interview) in English with international journalists. This is     7     they need an English trainer.

So, what are they learning?     8     (basic), how to describe a panda’s life. It’s been an honor to watch the panda programme develop     9     to see the pandas settle into their new home. As a little girl, I     10     (wish) to be a zookeeper when I grew up. Now, I’m living out that dream indirectly by helping the panda keepers do their job in English.

I arrived in Beijing three weeks ago; a native Iowan of the United States far from the land-locked Midwestern state I call home. I was eager    1    (experience) all the differences life back home never gave me. Yet soon after    2    (I) arrival I noticed some similarities, although it was laughable at first to try and compare Iowa City, where I live,    3    a population of 70,000people, and Beijing, which has about 20 million people.

I soon recognized our common love for noodles. In Beijing noodles    4    (be) a part of the traditional everyday diet and an essential part of northern Chinese     5    (dish). I’m happy to report that noodles continue to be a part of my meals and are just as affordable.

Iowans know a lot about rural life as an     6    (agriculture) state and depend on it, like China, for jobs. Iowa is also known for raising quality pigs,    7    we love to eat and so do people in China. It is reported that pork makes up nearly three-fourths of the total meat     8    (consume) annually in China and Iowa is the     9    (large) pork producer in the US.

I suppose     10    a Beijinger sat down next to an Iowan on the subway, it would turn to be an interesting conversation.