The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The Spring Equinox(春分), as the fourth term of the year starts on March 20     1     ends on April this year.

The Spring Equinox signals the equal     2     (long) of the day and night time. The day of the Spring Equinox is     3     the sun is directly above the equator. After the equinox, the sun moves northwards, resulting in     4     (gradual) longer day time in the Northern Hemisphere and longer night in the Southern Hemisphere.

Standing an egg upright is a popular game across the country during the Spring Equinox. It is an old custom that       5     (date) back to 4,000 years ago. People practice this tradition to celebrate the coming of spring. It     6     (believe) that if someone can make the egg stand, he will have good luck in the future.

The Spring Equinox is     7     good time to fly kites. In ancient times, people did not have good medical resources. So     8     (pray) for good health, they wrote their medical issues on paper kite. When the kite was     9     the air, people would cut off the stringy let the paper kite float away,     10     (symbolize) the flying away of diseases.

Human memory is notoriously (众所周知地) unreliable. Even people with the sharpest facial recognition skills can only remember so much.

It’s tough to quantify how good a person is     1     remembering. No one really knows how many different faces someone can recall, for example, but various estimates tend to hover in the thousands – based on the number of acquaintances a person     2     have.

Machines aren’t limited this way. Give the right computer a massive database of faces, and it can process what it sees – then recognize a face it     3     (tell) to find – with remarkable speed and precision. This skill is     4     supports the enormous promise of facial-recognition software in the 21^st century. It is also what makes contemporary surveillance (监控) systems so scary.

The thing is, machines still have limitations when it comes to facial recognition. And scientists are only just beginning to understand what those constraints are.     5     (figure) out how computers are struggling, researchers at the University of Washington created a massive database of faces – they call it MegaFace – and     6     (test) a variety of facial-recognition algorithms(算法) as they scales up in complexity. The idea was to test the machines on a database that included up to 1 million different images of nearly 7,000 different people – and not just a large database     7     (feature) a relatively small number of different faces, more consistent with what’s been used in other research.

As the databases grew, machine accuracy dipped across the board. Algorithms     8     were right 95% of the time when they were dealing with a 13,000-image database, for example, were accurate about 70% of the time when     9     (face) with 1 million images. That’s still pretty good, says one of the researchers, Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman. “Much better than we expected,” she said,

Machines also had difficulty adjusting for people who look a lot alike –either doppelgangers (长相极相似的人), whom the machine would have trouble       10     (identify) as two separate people, or the same person who appeared in different photos at different ages or in different lighting, whom the machine would incorrectly view as separate people.

3 . During the Lantern Festival, long lines of customers are waiting outside Daoxiangcun stores in the capital city Beijing. "I feel I'm missing something     1     I don't eat yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival. Getting up early in the morning,     2     (put) on warm clothes and waiting in a long line outside a Daoxiangcun store to buy newly-made yuanxiao is a sort of private ceremony for me and ensures I will have another sweet year." Dong Shanshan,    3     35-year-old Beijinger said. For many people like Dong, eating Daoxiangcun, yuanxiao     4     (be) an essential Lantern Festival tradition.

The Beijing Daoxiangcun Food Company,     5     owns the brand and stores, recently staged an event to mark the official launch of yuanxiao being made at some of its     6     (factory). Shi Yan, the company's representative manager, said, “All     7     (we) yuanxiao are handmade, because it is the only way to maintain the traditional flavor.”

    8     (meet) local demand, the company will demonstrate how yuanxiao are made at some of its stores in Beijing. "This will     9     (hopeful) bring a festive atmosphere to the city and its residents," Shi said. "Young people can learn how the traditional food is made and the culture surrounding this food can     10     (carry) forward and expanded.^”

Shennongjia is a household name in China because it’s the home of the legendary “wild man”. Its folk tale spans the generations.

Between 1976 and 1981, the Chinese Academy of Sciences organized three large scale     1       (science) investigations. They have collected hair, footprints and waste suspected of belonging     2     a “wild man”, but some experts argue that most were the result of bears, monkeys or even human beings. They failed     3     (uncover) the myth of “wild man”, but discovered the area’s rich biodiversity. Although several hundred people have claimed     4     (they) as eyewitnesses of some giant apelike creatures in Shennongjia, there is no tangible evidence to confirm the     5     (exist) of a “wild man”.

Nowadays, Shennongjia’s attraction is not merely about “wild man”. Its appeal     6     (be) more about its lively ecology, rich biodiversity and karst landforms. Shennongjia’s beauty varies over the year as nature     7     (take) its course. Tourists can enjoy flower blossoms in spring, be shaded from the summer heat, appreciate red leaves in autumn     8     go skiing in winter.

The “wild man” legend has been passed on for generations by word-of- mouth. In 2016, the legend of "wild man" in Shennongjia     9     (add) to Hubei province’s intangible cultural heritage list. Today, tourists can visit Wild Man Cave,     10     eyewitnesses claimed that they spotted the creatures, and see “wild man” sculptures.

China set to lead the global charge in flying taxis

Just how close are we to having flying taxis? In China, there is a rush of homegrown talent and international companies who recognize the value of China’s markets. Despite the technical hurdles faced, the speed     1     which entrepreneurs are moving     2     (make) the time for an available service coming to Chinese cities in years, not decades.

Over the last half-decade, China     3     (come) to dominate aerial technologies. The global drone success story speaks for     4     (it), with companies such as DJI and Autel Robotics commanding dominant market shares and supplying the     5     (major) of flying products to both professionals and enthusiasts worldwide.

Likewise, China-based flying taxi companies, such as EHang, are advancing fast,     6     (carry) out multiple test flights with live passengers and employees, with promising results. The company even has its eyes set on expansion once the technology     7     (establish), with Japan as a potential market, and also a venture into the delivery sector,     8     could start as early as 2023.

China has     9     history of taking up new technology quickly. Those who have invested in the future of     10     (afford) electric air mobility industries in China will certainly hope that they will follow the likes of smartphone cashless payments, and hail and ride apps.

As we all know, every sentence we speak    1     (reflect) something about who we are as humans. Even people    2     (speak) the same language have distinct dialects( 方 言 ) that     3     (root) in their history and culture. Language also throws light on    4     (connect) between us and our natural environment. Plants and animals that are given names    5     any language are generally     6     that are relevant to people who are speaking the language.   While we might think of language as having     7     fixed set of words and rules that we learn in school, in fact language is always evolving. New words begin to emerge     8     others fall out of use and pronunciation changes over time. Languages are as diverse as the communities     9     speak them and there are about 7,000 languages around the world. Yet, as many as half of them could go    10     (silence) by the end of this century.

When it comes to ancient civilizations, most people think of the Greeks and Romans. It’s understandable as both     1     (shape) modern society in some way so far, whether it be their social, cultural, or political influences. However, dozens of civilizations had been around long     2     the Greeks and Romans, the lesser-known Jiahu people     3     (include).

The Jiahu settlement is located in the central plain of ancient China,     4     area known today as the Henan Province. The people created the country’s oldest recognized civilization. The area is rich in artifacts,     5     (make) it an archaeologist’s dream. Apart from the usual finds, people have uncovered records of the earliest examples of Chinese writing and proof     6     they were producers of the world’s oldest wine. Another remarkable discoveries was the oldest working bone flutes (长笛).     7     (typical) carved from the wing bone of a crane, they were most likely used in special ceremonies. Rough weaving tools and bone needles also     8     (unearth) from the site, indicating that Jiahu residents may have possessed basic weaving and sewing skills 8,500 years ago.

The settlement’s end came around 5700 BCE when the nearby rivers overflowed and flooded the area. It is assumed that the Jiahu people left their home     9     (settle) elsewhere, even though there is no indication as to     10     that might have been.

The combination of music and study has long been     1     source of disagreement between adults and children.Parents and teachers alike maintain that     2    (silent)is important when learning, whereas youngsters insist that     3    (they)favourite sounds help them concentrate.

Now a study shows that the     4    (grown-up)have been right all along.Psychologists in Florida tested how fast students wrote essays     5     and without music in the background .They     6    (find)that the sounds slowed progress down by about sixty words per hour. “This demonstrates     7    (clear)that it is difficult to cope with listening and writing at the same time,”said Dr.Sarah.She also came to the conclusion     8     it is a myth that instrumental music is less disturbing than songs. “All types of music had the same effect,” she said in her report. “One’s ability to pay attention and write fluently is likely     9     (disturb) by both songs and instrumental music,” she added.

Dr. Sarah claimed the research demonstrated that the idea that music could improve performance was wrong. “Writing an essay is a complex task. You     10     (recall) information and putting it in order. But what is particularly worrying is that more and more teenagers are studying in front of the television.”

On Saturday, an activity to experience farming culture     1     (hold) in Temple of Agriculture in Beijing.

As     2     important ritual architectural complex near the central axis (中心轴) of Beijing, the temple used to be a place for emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911)     3     (dynasty) to perform sacrifices in the hope for good harvests, and     4     (have) become a witness of China’s farming civilization.

    5     (organize) by the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum, the activity this time included a ceremony to start harvest, scholars’     6     (introduce) of 24 solar terms and Temple of Agriculture, and an experience activity in     7     people were invited to reap crops with their own hands.

The activity aims to make more people understand the humanistic spirit of     8     (respect) and valuing agriculture, revering nature and seeking harmonious coexistence     9     human and nature, and feel the profoundness of traditional Chinese farming culture and the wisdom and hard work of the Chinese people.

The activity helps people     10     (well) understand traditional farming culture in China.

Diwali, known as the festival of lights, is a Hindu (印度的) festival     1    (hold) in honour of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. It has long been a cultural holiday, during which people get together, have parties, give gifts to each other and generally pray for     2     better-off future. For some communities, the day after Diwali     3    (mark) the beginning of the new year.

Its dates change each year because they are based on the Hindu lunar calendar, but     4    (typical), the festival is celebrated in October or November. The     5    (celebrate) usually lasts for several days. People will often line candles and lamps throughout their houses and along their driveways     6    (light) up the surroundings.

For Hindus, Diwali is a time     7     charitable giving and selfless service. They are required to reflect on     8     they are grateful for and how they can shine light on others as well. Hindus traditionally perform a deep cleaning of their homes and surroundings, as cleanliness     9    (believe) to be a prayer for the presence of wealth and well-being. Hindus also celebrate with colorful patterns of flowers, powder, rice or sand on the floor,     10     is meant to bring good luck.