It’s common to see a barista (咖啡师) create coffee art (咖啡拉花). However, it’s a whole different ball game doing same thing with tea. Over the past several years, Han Zheming, a 40-year-old Shanghai resident,     1       (manage) to perfect the skill, creating tea art in cups, or dian cha in Chinese. “It is similar     2     the foam (泡沫) on top of a cup of coffee, except that it is made of tea rather than milk. ”

Chinese tea culture started to enjoy     3       (popular) during the Tang Dynasty. After hundreds of years of evolution, it thrived throughout the Song Dynasty,     4       tea had become a necessity for almost everyone, just like other items as rice, oil and salt. In the eyes of people of that time, good tea should be white and fine. The better the tea, the whiter it should be, and the     5     (long) the foam should last.

Han is curious about the patterns     6     (create) on the tea foam and he often goes to museums to observe Song paintings. “    7     (usual), it takes a year of practice for one to fully grasp tea-whisking.” It is through trial and error that Han gets going. Now, he can deliver a piece of tea-whisking art in “one take”.

“It’s like     8     (add) bells and whistles to tea and giving people     9     stronger sense of occasion, so drinking tea is more fun,” Han says. It’s also his intention     10     (bring) the old ritual (礼仪) and culture back for more people to appreciate.

3 . “Students with a good mastery of foreign languages need to accumulate (积累) knowledge in other aspects so that they can better ___________ national development, the Belt and Road Initiative, and other major initiatives to help build a community with a shared future for humanity,” said Chen Lin when he was 96 years old. With a “life is to give, not to take”   ___________, Chen devoted his whole life to the ___________ of foreign language education in China.

Born in 1922, Chen worked in foreign education for more than 70 years. In 1949, he ___________ teaching at Beijing Foreign Studies University. At the university, Chen was known for his nickname of “Three UP Professor”, since he always ___________ “standing up” and “speaking up” when teaching. Also, when class was over, he would instantly “shut up”.

Since China’s reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, Chen broke new ground (打破常规) by ___________ one of the country’s ___________ English-language TV programs, which introduced a brand-new way of language learning to China. To help students learn English more effectively, Chen advised providing ___________ English-learning material for students at different levels. In the 1980s, in most English classes, teachers did most of the ___________, while students mostly only listened. But Chen ____________ students to speak and practise more.

In 1999, Chen ____________ experts to develop English curriculum (课程) standards. ____________ that, English teaching ____________ from primary to university had not been connected. But the standards ____________ the situation, making English education work like “one package”.

In 2023, Chen Lin ____________ in Beijing at the age of 101. Chen once said that his lifelong dream was to he 100 years old and still teaching. It was a dream that came true for the senior educator.

4 . Some people can begin a conversation with anyone ——even complete strangers.     1    . This can be particularly stressful if you have social anxiety disorder (SAD). But even if social small talk is hard for you, possibilities exist to improve your conversational skills and make you feel more comfortable talking with strangers.     2    .

A great way to start a conversation with the people around you is to simply comment on your shared surroundings.     3    . For example, if you are sitting in a lecture hall and notice that your professor looks familiar, you could say to the person next to you, “Doesn’t he look a bit like Harry Potter?”

Keep your comments positive——never mean-spirited or critical. You want the other person to feel comfortable getting in on the joke with you. You could follow up on your previous comment about your professor with something like, “I wonder where Hedwig is?”

    4    , which means using this method to start a conversation can be risky. However, if you do find someone who shares your sense of humor, it can be the start of a great friendship.

If you don’t receive a positive response from one person, the method might work with someone else.     5    . With time, you’ll become more confident and won’t need to rely on tricks to get a conversation started and keep it going.

5 . The Ouray Ice Park sits at the mouth of a narrow box canyon sculpted by the Uncompahgre River. As we picked our way up the canyon, Davis, operations manager at the park, pointed out the various projects his staff were rushing to complete before opening day. There was signage to build, a new bridge to check, and of course, lots of ice to grow.

He showed. me the lines of water pipes and sprinklers (洒水器) located along the cliff edge. There are more than 200 of these sprinklers, which spray water directly onto the rock, creating walls of ice containing 100-plus climbs. Starting in November when the temperature drops, the ice farmers wet the rock with water to cool it, essentially building a canvas for the waterfalls. They use existing features on the rock to grow a variety of routes for all skill levels. Though the job involves much labour in freezing weather, Davis described growing ice as a kind of art form. If half an ice farmer’s job is creation, the other half is upkeep. Exposed water pipes in the mountains are easy to freeze and break and it is up to those farmers to fix them.

This winter has been unusually warm and temperatures, even in December, were not cold enough to make sufficient ice. It even rained a day before the park was set to open, destroying 30% of the ice farmers’ efforts. “Winter climate is less certain due to the warming of our planet,” said Heidi Steltzer, a professor of environment and sustainability. “Human-made ice may not be possible every year, but in years when it is, the ice park offers joy, a gathering place and opportunities of earning money to sustain rural mountain life.”

6 . Third grade was the worst year ever. My parents split up that year, and my dad moved out. I know that every divorce is different, and I’m told that not all of them are as painful as ours was. Ours was cruel.

There were other difficult things happening, too. I was epileptic and had a brain tumor. So I had to leave he classroom sometimes, to go to the nurse’s office to take pills or to head to the hospital for blood work, an EEG, or a CAT scan. Not fun.

And I turned, as kids often do, to books. Books were doorways out of my cold house, to imagined ands, full of magical creatures and wishes-come-true. I read from sunup to sundown. I read at breakfast, and I read late into the night. I devoured books.

Originally, in that terrible year, I sought out books that distracted me from my pain. I loved Half Magic; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Mary Poppins, books where regular kids encountered magic in the world around them. I was eager for something unexpected to happen and radically alter my world, so those books were many of my favorites. But they were not my only favorites.

The other books I loved were the books that made me cry. My brain is still full of so many perfect painful moments. Beth, dying in Little Women. I read Oscar Wilde stories in which all hearts were broken. The Nightingale, dead from love.

I’ve thought a lot about why these books mattered so much. And I think it was because I was very alone in my sadness. Lonely, I sought company, the best way I could. Books were company. And though Half Magic was one kind of company, a distracting, cheerful friend ——that wasn’t enough.

So sometimes you need a friend who is also struggling, a friend who is sad in the very way that you are sad, and so makes you feel normal. For me, sad books were that friend. After a sad book, I slept easier.

7 . How Can Volunteering Help You Get a Good Job?

Sometimes, by giving just a little, you can get a lot back in return. This couldn’t ring more true for volunteering. Here are just some of the things volunteering can do for your employ ability.

    1    

Employers like to see evidence of practical work experience on your CV (简历) — it tells them that you have the soft skills needed to work as part of a team and are able to handle responsibility. So, if the “work experience” section of your CV is: looking a little bare, volunteering is a great way to flesh it out. Even if the role isn’t super relevant to the job you want after university, so long as there are transferable (可迁移的) skills, it will be valuable for your CV.

Introduce you to new people

If you are volunteering in the sector you want to eventually work in, it will be a great way for you to network with people who have already broken into the field.     2    . They’d also make great references to refer future employers to.

Help you develop valuable skills

    3    , but getting hands-on experience is key to really being able to transition into employment smoothly. Lectures and seminars can’t really teach you personal skills like leadership, time management, how to best communicate with colleagues or how to act in a professional manner, which are all valuable to employers.     4    

Boost your confidence

You’ll experience so many personal benefits from helping the community or lending a hand for a worthwhile project.     5    . All of this-as well as the practical experience itself-will boost your confidence, meaning you can approach job applications and interviews with renewed courage and belief in yourself.

9 . Montreal is one of those diverse cities that offer something for everyone. The best time to visit Montreal is typically in the spring (March ~ June) or during the fall (September ~November). At these times, you’ll likely find fewer crowds, cheaper accommodations and the best weather for sightseeing as it is neither too hot nor too cold.

Things to do

Go back in time in Old Montreal: A visit to Old Montreal is a must for anyone visiting the city. Even if you don’t have a plan, just wandering the scenic stone streets is worthwhile. You ‘ll see centuries-old buildings blending (融合) perfectly with trendy restaurants and cute cafes and you can easily spend half a day exploring.

Do some shopping along Sainte-Catherine Street: From major department stores to boutiques, there is a lot to shop for on Sainte-Catherine Street. From west to east, it stretches 9miles across the city.

Explore the Old Port: Montreal’s Old Port features a range of things to see and do, making it a great area to spend an afternoon or even a whole day. The Old Port is also where you’ll find the Montreal Science Centre and its IMAX theatre, and in the winter, take advantage of the outdoor skating spot.

Hang out in Pare du Mont-Royal: No matter at what time of a year you visit Montreal, you’ll find something to do at Pare du Mont-Royal. The park is popular among walkers, joggers and bikers as well as picnickers in the spring and summer. While in the winter, you can enjoy skating and skiing.