A Chinese factory, called “mother-friendly factory”, has arranged flexible working for the women who work there. This measure allows them     1     (balance) their careers with caring for their children.

Mothers often have to make a tough     2     (decide) in rural areas—whether to stay home to raise their children or work elsewhere to contribute financially.

Gong Qin, a worker at the factory, now and then glances over at her 4-year-old daughter with a smile. It brings her comfort to see her child playing with friends nearby while she focuses     3     her task. “My little girl is considerate and never     4     (bother) me during work,” Gong said with pride.

Gong began working at the factory eight years ago, and when she     5    (face) with the challenge of her husband working away from home, she suggested     6     (bring) her children to work. To her delight, the factory welcomed her suggestion. Since then, Gong’s son has stayed with her in the workshop after school, where he and other children engage in playful learning     7     complete their homework.

Zhang Tiantian, a manager, says the factory employs over 120 women, 80 percent of     8     are mothers with young children. Around 50 mothers work together with their children year-round.

To further support children's development, the mother-friendly factory has established     9     parent-child canteen with nutritious meals, repaired 16     10     (apartment) for mothers and children, and organized volunteer-led after-school care.

In March 2017, Enea Dumitru-Sorin came to Beijing International Studies University (BISU)    1     (teach) Romanian on a 7-year Eastern European languages teaching program. He was     2     (immediate) impressed when he arrived in Beijing.

“Everything looks so big, and I was afraid I would get lost. When     3     (arrive), I only knew how to say hi, how to pronounce my name and how to say where I come from in Chinese. Luckily, I discovered the Chinese people are very friendly and many of them can speak English. I found out that the phone apps can help figure out the solutions     4     some problems,” said Sorin.

He     5     (fascinate) by China’s picturesque scenery when he went traveling in July 2023. “Xizang is beautiful and is different from what I thought. I had the impression that it would be covered in snow     6     would be very cold because of the high altitude. I didn’t expect that Xizang would be so dry and have so much desert. So far the efforts people     7     (make) to have forests there are amazing. I think that in the future, most parts of Xizang will be greener and the life of the people will be     8     (easy),” said Sorin.

“I like my job, and I like to work with Chinese students,    9     are smart and hardworking. I have very good relations with my colleagues, and I feel we are like     10     big family,” he added.

Now Zack is bringing the broadcast from the largest museum on Earth—the Louvre,    1    (vivid) showing us some of the Louvre’s most amazing treasures.

    2    the top of these stone stairs is the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It looks like she has just    3     (fly) down out of the sky and is standing on a ship. Her head and arms are missing, but you can imagine her    4     (hold) her arms up high, celebrating the result of an ancient battle. Then he guides us to see the painting Mona Lisa.

    5     (protect) by glass, it looks smaller than we would expect. When you look into her eyes, she seems to have a mind     6    her own. Finally, the self-portrait of Rembrandt,     7    is one of history’s greatest artists, is shown to us. It     8    (paint) by Rembrandt himself about 400 years ago. Throughout his life, he made over 90 self-portraits. However, no one really knows the reasons.

In total there are about 35,000 works currently     9    (display) in the Louvre and it would take a lifetime to see everything. Zack recommends the fantastic place and hopes that we can visit it one day     10    (feel) the power of these great works of art for ourselves.

Any visitor to the Chinese Culture Week at the University of Tehran would be amazed by the tea, food, Chinese knots (中国结) and traditional paper-cutting artworks     1    display, all produced by Iranian students of Chinese language.

“Chinese knots     2     (believe) to bring good luck and act as charms (护身符) that protect people against evil spirits,” said Zeinab Ghafourian, a 19-year-old student     3     (study) Chinese at the Confucius Institute of the University of Tehran, on Nov. 28.

Chinese Culture Week,     4     was held at the hall of the institute from Nov. 25 to 29, seeks     5    (introduce) Chinese culture to more Iranians. Ghafourian said that one of the reasons why she chose to study Chinese was that she had been interested in East Asian cultures since childhood. “In     6    (add), Chinese films have become more popular. The people of both countries enjoy many cultural commonalities, as they were culturally and     7     (economic) connected via the Silk Road in the past,” she said.

More importantly, given Iran’s good ties with China, mastering Chinese offers relatively competitive employment prospects on the Iranian job market     8     (compare) with other languages.

“Each of the students here is     9    window onto China, helping the Iranians have a more realistic picture of the country     10    improving relations between the two countries,” said Hamed Vafaei, the Iranian director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Tehran.

Hanfu has experienced large     1     (grow) during the Spring Festival. The horse face skirt is     2     (particular) popular for its combination (结合) of traditional and modern beauty, especially among young Chinese.

During the Spring Festival, many performers and tourists in Luoyang, Henan province,     3     (wear) the horse face skirts. Impressive hanfu shows in Caoxian county, Shandong province, highlighted (凸显) the elegance of the long tradition of Chinese clothing. Consumers (消费者)     4     were interviewed expressed their wish     5     (promote) traditional Chinese culture.

The sales of horse face skirts are rising. Caoxian county is one of the major hanfu production     6     (base) in China, with sales of hanfu reaching over 7 billion yuan every year. The sales of new year’s clothes for the Year of the Dragon, mainly horse face skirts, were more than 300 million yuan in Caoxian county.

Data from e-commerce platforms (电商平台) show a great increase in the search for hanfu since January. Among the various hanfu styles, the horse face skirt has become     7     most popular one.

Zhang Mingqiang, the general manager of a factory, expressed both happiness and concern due     8     the growing daily orders (订单). So far more than 30,000 orders for horse face skirts     9     (put) off by the factory, which is taking measures to improve production     10     to meet the high demand. The new trend of Chinese-style fashion, led by horse face skirts, is gaining popularity among overseas consumers as well.

Have you ever felt stressed and anxious when your maths teacher asks you     1     question? Or when you are doing your maths homework? If so, you might have experienced     2     is called maths anxiety — the feeling of being extremely nervous when     3     (face) with doing basic mathematics. If you have experienced maths anxiety, you are not alone.

Mathematics     4     (be) a necessary skill that people use throughout their lives.     5     (fortunate), many people feel anxious when they have to do maths. That seed of fear may come from many sources. Cultural expectations may also be     6     (blame) — girls may be more likely to catch maths anxiety, perhaps because of stereotypes (刻板印象) that girls are naturally not very good at maths. Your genes, meanwhile, might lead you to anxiety more generally —    7     (make) you more likely to respond unwillingly to maths.

Whatever its origins, once the seed of the fear takes root, it may grow by     8     (it): the more anxious you feel, the worse you perform; the more you shy away from maths, the more you worry when you face it again. Adults with maths anxiety often have trouble     9     maths in their careers and everyday life. Adults with maths anxiety are     10     (little) likely to show interest, enter, and succeed in careers relating to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

A skywell, or “tian jing” in Chinese, is a typical feature of a traditional home in Southern and Eastern China. They are commonly seen in homes     1     (date) to the Ming and Qing dynasties, which     2     (design) to house different generations of relatives. Despite their varied sizes and designs, these skywells are typically square and located in     3     heart of the house. They serve to allow in light, enhance airflow, and harvest rainwater.

Since decades ago, the government     4     (advocate) green buildings, promoting environmentally-friendly practice. The increased interest towards traditional Chinese architecture is leading to the restoration of historic buildings with skywells     5     modern use. Architects are also looking towards the principles behind skywells while designing new buildings     6     (save) energy. The Dongguan TBA Tower in Guangdong Province, for example, brings natural airflows into every floor with internal “windpipes”    7     function in a similar way to skywells. The aim is to keep the building's temperature     8     (comfort) in all seasons, using only natural airflow.

The fact that skywells still exist today shows     9     clever ancient builders were in using nature's elements to create energy-sufficient and sustainable living spaces. These timeless architectural     10     (wonder) continue to inspire architects in their efforts to find green solutions for cooling homes and buildings.

My favourite sport

I like table-tennis, chess and football. Football is    1    (I) favourite sport. I’m good at    2    (play)football. I think it is easy    3    me. I have my favourite football    4    (play). He is Shevchenko. He is    5     AC Milan Club. I want    6    (be) a famous football player     7     Shevchenko. I often play football    8    my father at weekends.    9     Sunday I like     10    (watch) football matches.

On October 18, world leaders came together in Beijing for an eye-catching forum (论坛) to celebrate     1     tenth anniversary (周年) of the Belt and Road Initiative (“一带一路”倡议). The forum was considered     2     (extreme) important in building the Belt and Road.

Chinese President Xi Jinping     3     (give) a speech at the opening. He said that over the past 10 years, plans of Belt and Road cooperation had been turned into real projects. He also said that China would take eight major steps     4     (support) high-quality Belt and Road cooperation,     5     (include) green development and the advance of science and technology.

So far, the Belt and Road Initiative has become the world’s     6     (large) platform (平台) for international cooperation. By June 2023, China had worked together with 152 countries and 32 international     7     (organisation) to build the Belt and Road. Over 3,000 cooperation projects have been started in the past 10 years, one of which is the China-Laos Railway.     8     was put into use in December 2021, helping Laos become a country with easy transport in Southeast Asia.

“Belt and Road cooperation was suggested by China,     9     its fruits are for the world to share,” President Xi Jinping said. There is no doubt     10     the Belt and Road Initiative will continue to make a great difference to the world in the future.

Xiaoxue (Noel) is an exchange student, now studying international relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Since Xiaoxue showed great interest in Chinese martial arts (武术), she decided to try Chinese wrestling (摔跤) after     1     classmate introduced her to it.

She had never learned Chinese martial arts before she came to China,     2     she had learned a little bit of Taekwondo   (跆拳道) in her country. At first, she     3     (think) it would be similar because they’re both martial arts. But then she found that Taekwondo and Chinese martial arts have     4     (they) own uniqueness. And she also found that Taekwondo usually uses the feet     5     (fight), but in Chinese martial arts, they use force from the hands to attack.

According to her, she feels very happy and very     6     (relax) after she learned to wrestle. She’s also happy that she can learn new skills every day. She says friendliness is the     7     (big) feeling she has had about China and Chinese people since she came to China.

When she was not familiar     8     China, many of her Chinese friends helped her to get used to the life here. She also took part in many exchange     9     (activity) to feel the culture and traditions of China. Now she tries to share the culture of her country with everyone. She     10     (believe) it is a good chance to improve understanding between the two countries.