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.”

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.

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.

The shelves in most supermarkets are full of family-size this and multi-buy that. However, if you’re shopping for one, buying extra     1     (benefit) from price reductions doesn’t make sense. Either your shopping is then too heavy to carry home     2     you can’t use what you’ve bought while it’s still fresh.

Of course, shops are not charities — they price goods in the way     3     will make them the most money. If most of their customers are happy to buy larger quantities, that’s     4     they’ll promote. But that leaves the solo (单独) customers out of pocket and disappointed.

Many supermarkets are no longer doing “buy one get one free” promotions because of the     5     (criticize) that they lead to waste. Consumers prefer money off individual items. However, though it’s nice to get a few cents off a pack of sausages, it would help even more if they could sometimes     6     (offer) in smaller packs. Even the biggest sausage fan doesn’t want to eat them every day.

If your supermarket sells loose produce, then buying smaller quantities is easier. Over the last two years, some supermarkets     7     (start) selling chicken or salad in packs     8     (design) with two halves containing separate portions (份). Then, when you use one section,     9     other stays fresh.

Who knows, perhaps some of the more forward-looking     10     (one) may yet come out with a whole range of “just for you” pack sizes with special offers as well.

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.

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.