Napoleon Bonaparte’s iconic hat was sold at an auction (拍卖会) on Sunday, fetching a history-making $2.1 million. While French auction house Osenat expected the hat     1     (go) for up to $875,328, it went far beyond that amount — and the previous record holder, a Napoleon hat sold at the same auction house for about $2 million in 2014.

Napoleon,     2     was a French general, was key to the French Revolution and then overthrew the French government,     3     (eventual) becoming the emperor of France. The hat with the colors of the French flag — red, white and blue — dates back     4     the 1800s, according to auctioneer Jean Pierre Osenat.

“Our hat     5     (use) by Emperor Napoleon I in the middle of the Empire during the period when Baillon was assigned to the Emperor’s Palace (1806-1815),” the     6     (describe) on the Osenat website reads.

In a video about the hat ahead of the sale, Osenat said this particular hat had been through many     7     (event) and symbolized Napoleon’s history of 15 years that changed France and     8     world. He added, “The image of Napoleon     9     (wear) this type of hat — sideways, unlike everyone else —     10     (be) the image we have in mind when we think about Napoleon’s world.”

Domestic cosmetics (化妆品) firms find products that have traditional Chinese culture attract enouger shoppers better. With buying power    1     (rise) among young, domestic brands are winning hearts of heritage-minded consumers with guochao (国潮).

In one case, brands are embracing solar term (节气), a concept based on China’s ancient calendar     2     divides the year into 24 periods. This type of marketing is used to inject a sense of nature     3     beauty routines.

Grain Rain (谷雨), a Chinese skincare brand,     4     (inspire) by the eighth solar term, guyu, which starts around April 20. It uses the solar term’s traditional association with picking herbs.    5     (stress) the label’s herbal skincare branding.

Generation Z, a major consumer group, is being affected by the country’s cultural renaissance and the development of the internet. They are    6     (independent) in their choices and have a greater sense of national identity, while expressing confidence in     7     (they) by using Chinese brands, marketing experts said.

With the rise of guochao, and the influence of the expansion of China’s manufacturing ability, consumers are showing an increased    8     (prefer) for domestic cosmetics brands, according to a recent report. Although China’s high-end cosmetics market has been dominated for a number of years by international brands, the market influence of homegrown brands has been.    9     (rapid) rising. Especially, in China’s smaller cities,    10     rate of domestic cosmetics excels 90 percent.

For brands to succeed, they must grasp and adapt to evolving consumer taste. Over the past decade, China     1    (witness) a shift in consumer behavior marked by the rise of guochao, a trend emphasizing nationalistic branding. Chinese consumers displayed a strong     2    (prefer) for locally-made products. Therefore, it’s crucial for brands to genuinely comprehend and honor local customs, traditions, and values. While integrating Chinese elements into marketing strategies can be effective, it should be handled thoughtfully     3    (avoid) cultural insensitivity.

During the Christmas season, Care Bears dressed in Santa Claus hats and other decorations, an     1       (adore) toy favoured by kids, can be     2     (easy) found on the shelves of shopping malls in the United States. Care Bears are multicoloured bears     3     are used on greeting cards and later turned into plush (毛绒) bears.

Before these stuffed animals reached their destination, they     4     (produce) in Qinling Mountains in China and journeyed for almost a month across the ocean.

Min Hua, manager of Ankang Heng’an Toy Ltd., said the production of a Care Bear involves nearly 20 workers covering eight     5     (procedure). After     6     (apply) textile (纺织品) printing on piece goods, workers would add embroidery (纺织品刺绣). Then, they use machines to cut patterns, sew them by following the given draft,     7     stuff them. Min Hua noted the toy factory is highly labor-hungry, and that was     8     the company chose to settle down in Ankang, where labour and land costs were relatively low.

    9     (ensure) quick delivery, in 2020, the local government and Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd. (SIPG) co-found a logistics (物流的) company named Ankang SIPG, ensuring multimodal transport     10     a lower cost.

Recently, you may have noticed some new trends in the fashion industry, from “dopamine (多巴胺) dressing” to “tomato girl”. Now, it is the perfect time     1     (try) something new with the “Maillard style” that’s getting popular on social media.

The term “Maillard” originally refers to the Maillard     2     (react). This phenomenon is well-known in Western cuisine. It describes a chemical change that produces flavor chemicals and browning in foods such as toast and steak, as     3     (note) by BBC Science Focus.

    4     (similar), Maillard-inspired fashion creates clothes     5     show different kinds of brown, like rich reddish-browns, warm yellow-browns, and delicate off-whites(米色). This makes     6     easier for people to think of the rich tastes food brings,     7     (create) pleasant emotions in their brains.

    8     (compare) to the bright colors of “dopamine dressing” and the fresh “tomato girl” look, the dark earth colors that Maillard style uses reflect the autumn season and give people a     9     (comfort) feeling.

The style has also become     10     hit among many famous brands. At fashion shows showing off their new autumn products, brands like Miu Miu, Hermes, and Miuccia Prada have all presented Mailard-themed clothes one after another.

Yiwu’s market bounces back after three difficult years

Orders from all over the world     1     (flood) into Yiwu factories since earlier this month, a snapshot of global trade in the post-pandemic era     2     indicates a strong recovery for foreign trade in Zhejiang province in early 2023.

Statistics show that on Feb 2, 75,000 merchants     3     (participate) in the opening ceremony at Yiwu International Trade City — the world’s largest     4     (distribute) center for small commodities — placing orders on-site after almost three years of being unable to do so     5     person since the COVID-19 epidemic began.

Lu Qingrong, manager of the Jingrong Toy Company, said that orders have already been scheduled for May and June,     6     that this year’s sales are expected to be 30 percent     7     (high) than the previous two years.

For the past three years, Yiwu’s manufacturing companies     8     (devote) more energy to innovation and quality as they have upgraded, in a bid to underpin steady and accelerated growth.

Lu added that Jingrong will focus on strengthening innovation and research     9     (satisfy) increasing demands and plans to launch at least 10 new products every week.

In addition, the company is currently adding more production lines, which will raise     10     (efficient) and is expected to increase production by 50 percent.

A cashless society is defined as one that doesn’t use cash in monetary transactions (交易). These societies favor alternative means of payment, such     1     credit cards, or contactless payment.

Of all the companies     2     (move) closer to becoming cashless, most people agree that Sweden is the closest. 85% of the country has access to online banking and only 2% of the country’s transactions consist of cash.

There     3     (be) a number of reasons for this cashless trend. Sweden has access to a popular payment app     4     (call) Swish, which more than 50% of the country uses. But the     5     (big ) catalyst (引发变化的因素) so far is that most Swedish merchants don’t access cash payment.

China also has a vast cashless market,    6     is mostly dominated by Tencent’s WeChat Pay or Alipay, which is owned by Alibaba. But unlike many other countries, China hasn’t embraced (欣然接受) credit card payment. Instead, most Chinese consumers make payment by scanning QR codes (二维码) on     7     (they) phones.

Most merchants request payment via QR codes and it’s not uncommon     8     (see) QR codes located all throughout China. And this trend is starting to spread to other countries that have a lot of Chinese     9     (travel).

The growing cashless trend has led many people to wonder     10     the U.S. will eventually go cashless. It is possible since U.S. consumers are increasingly moving away from cash and embracing other forms of payment.