As China’s catering (餐饮) income reaches record highs, new trends are developing that combine ancient and modern elements. This comes among the noticeable growth of trends like guochao,       1     features modern designs mixed with Chinese cultural elements. Guochao has now found     2     (it) way into dim sum, a traditional food.

Beijing’s time-honored dim sum brand Daoxiangcun, founded in 1895,     3     (become) quite popular among young people in recent years. At Location Zero, a renewed Daoxiangcun store, the counter is filled     4     all kinds of Chinese pastries (糕点) .

The pipa cake, shaped like the traditional Chinese musical instrument, the     5     (delicate) made “paper cuttings” square pastry, and the “jade cabbage” pastry all draw     6     (inspire) from elements of traditional Chinese culture.

Among the new products, the cloisonne cake, like a gourd-shaped (葫芦形) vase, is a special product jointly    7     (launch) by Beijing Daoxiangcun and the Beijing Cloisonne Factory. The gourd shape symbolizes blessings and prosperity (繁荣) , showing the unique beauty of traditional craftsmanship.

With the rapid development of live-streaming e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce, innovations in Chinese dim sum     8     (product) are speeding up. Data from Tianyancha,     9     online query (查询) platform for company information, shows that there are currently over 25, 000 enterprises related to Chinese dim sum.

Chinese dim sum, with its characteristic of being low in sugar and fat, is gradually becoming a new favorite     10     is welcoming new opportunities, gradually moving towards healthier and more diversified channels of development.

China aims to accelerate research and development of key core technologies and application-oriented technological innovations this year, said Liu Zhenfang, president of China State Railway Group. Liu, also a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, said they would continue to     1     (immense) promote independent research and the industrial application of key core technologies this year       2     (boost) self-reliance in railway technology.

China’s high-speed railways are a successful example of independent innovation in our country, and the overall technological level of China’s railways     3     (enter) the forefront of the world so far.

The group plans to unveil a more advanced bullet train, the CR450—with     4     top operating speed of 400 km/h and an experimental speed of up to 450 km/h-by next year.

Currently, the fastest bullet trains in China     5     (programme) at speeds of 350km/h along several lines, including the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway and the Beijing-Tianjin High-Speed Railway. A train     6     (travel) at 400 km/h would shorten the journey       7     Beijing to Shanghai to 2. 5 hours. China aims to achieve technological     8     (breakthrough) to improve operational safety.

“China’s overall level of railway infrastructure has reached the forefront globally, providing the foundation and conditions for     9     (far) advancement toward a higher level of modernization,” Liu added, “China aims to have 165,000 km of track by the end of next year, 50,000 km of     10     will be high-speed.”

The first poem that I ever fell in love with was Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,”    1     often quoted phrase “nevermore” seems to tell much about Americans as they will “nevermore” willingly read poetry. At the peak of poetry’s     2     (popular) in 2017, only about 28 million Americans reported that they had read a poem within the last year.

As humans, we are     3     (constant) trying to acknowledge the fact that some feelings cannot     4     (convey) clearly, and yet we shy away from an art form that depends on collecting emotion from every day and     5     (translate) it onto paper so that it becomes concrete.

In between lines, poets can transform heavy topics of love and loss     6     easy words that are not only understood but also felt. We need poetry     7     (remind) us of what we can be “if only we’re brave enough,” as Gorman would say.

Yes, poems are confusing at times,    8     it is your understanding that lends itself to meaning. Everything, from capitalization to punctuation (标点) marks, can be picked apart and thrown together; in the end, it is up to you to find     9     you need.

Regardless of     10     (they) shapes, poems are all reflections of the human desire to feel. Nathalie Handal in her piece “Love Letter” put it best, “I’d like to be a poem, to reach your heart and stay.”

So let it stay.

The third season of the music show Infinite and Beyond concluded recently on a video-streaming platform. The program brought together a diverse group of singers, involving various age groups,     1    （perform）classic Chinese pop music pieces.

These classic pop songs     2    （recognize）as the peak of creative achievement     3     their respective eras. They not only reflect the     4    （high）level of musical craftsmanship at the time but also leave an enduring impact, becoming     5    （influence）pieces of Chinese pop music.     6     is evident that the decision to reinterpret these songs on a music show is an intentional effort to show the history of Chinese pop music.

From December 2023 to February 2024, the program     7    （present） six concerts and six themed singing competitions.     8    （cover）a range of topics including self-discovery, love and daily life, the music show aimed to exhibit different     9    （aspect）of Chinese pop music. Through this exploration, it sought to arouse the shared memories and emotions of the Chinese people, creating collective experiences     10     produced everlasting memories with audiences.

Archaeological (考古的) discoveries at the Chenghe site in Jingmen, Hubei province, have revealed a water-control system dating back about 5,000 years ago.

However, some questions still leave archaeologists     1     (confuse). Here is one of them: the city     2     (establish) by the Chenghe River and its branches, which flowed outside the city. But since there was a hill between the city site and the branches, how did people in ancient times get water     3     outside the city to pass through the hill and enter?

Archaeologists reveal they found an artificial ridge (山脊) to     4     northeast of the city, which stretched across the valley of the branches of the Chenghe River. It measures about 260 meters in     5     (long) from north to south     6    is 39 meters at its widest point from east to west. Its maximum visible height is 6.5 meters.

Based on explorations, archaeologists think this ridge     7     was built by people of the Qujialing Culture was used to block water from the branches, raising the water level and creating a reservoir (水库). Then, water could enter the city through man-made channels built through the hill.

Another artificial ridge     8     (belong) to the early period of Qujialing Culture at the site is inferred to be part of a wall which was built     9     (prevent) flooding.

The discovery enhances our understanding of ancient     10     (people) control over water. In the early period, they built a wall to block water, and later they created a reservoir to make use of water.

Released on Aug 30, 2023, a three-episode web series     1     (title) Escape From the British Museum has become popular online for its touching and innovative story. The series follows the journey home of a Chinese jade teapot that has come to life as a girl. She runs away from the British Museum and comes across a Chinese journalist     2     helps the artifact (文物) return to China. The series aims to raise broader awareness of Chinese artifacts that     3       (keep) abroad.

Wake up early enough and probably you     1     （hear） a pleasant chorus of birds. This early singing can start as early as 4 a. m. and last for several hours. Birds do it     2     （attract） mates and warn other birds to avoid their place. One theory as to     3     they choose the early morning to communicate these important messages is that the low visibility makes it hard to do other bird activities, like searching for food. Keeping their activity level low, they choose to sing instead.

In America, people use both “fall” and “autumn” to describe the     1     (three) season of the year. According to Dictionary. com, these two words were first documented within a few     2     (century). The period between summer and winter was called “harvest”     3     old English. This word has Germanic origins highlighting the act of gathering and preserving crops before winter. In the 1500s, English speakers     4     (begin) referring to the season between cold and warm months as the “fall of the leaf” which later shortened to “fall”.

The famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven did not inherit much musical talent from his ancestors, according to a new study. Researchers say the findings are a good example of how     1     (we) DNA doesn’t determine what talents will be developed in life.

The researchers examined Beethoven’s DNA using a hair sample     2     (collect) during a separate study last year. Their goal was to explore his genetic predisposition(倾向) for music,     3     is closely tied to musical ability.     4     (do) this, they compared Beethoven’s DNA with that of nearly 14,500 other individuals in database. With his genetic information, they calculated a polygenic(多基因的) score     5     a sign of his predisposition for musical talent.

“Interestingly, Beethoven, one of the     6     (well-known) musicians in history, had an unremarkable score for general musicality —     7     (rank) around the top 10% of people based on modern samples,” said Tara Henechowicz from the team.

The authors who published the study in Current Biology said it would be wrong to conclude that Beethoven had little talent, but it does highlight the problems in making predictions based     8     (pure) on DNA.

“The mismatch between the DNA-based forecast and Beethoven’s musical genius     9     (provide) a valuable teaching moment because it demonstrates that DNA tests cannot give us a final answer about     10     a given child will end up being musically gifted,” said Ms. Henechowicz.