The sheepskin raft (羊皮筏), the oldest means of transportation along the Yellow River, has a history of nearly 2,000 years. The airbag of the raft is made of     1     whole sheepskin and goes through many processes including heating to remove hair, soaking in salty oil, sewing, drying     2     blowing. Then the airbags     3     (fasten) to a wooden stand, enabling its use for transporting people and goods across the water.

It is said that the largest sheepskin raft in old times     4     (consist) of more than 600 sheepskin airbags, with an impressive length of 22 meters and a     5     (wide) of 7 meters. It was capable of carrying around 30 tons of goods and drifting over 200 kilometers in one day.

In the early 20th century, before the 1950s,     6     railways were not yet in operation and road traffic was     7    (convenient), the sheepskin raft served as the most important means of transportation for residents     8     (live) along the Yellow River.

However, with the rapid development of society, the sheepskin raft has largely played its historical role     9     transporting people and goods. Nowadays, it can only be found along the banks of the Yellow River in some cities in Gansu province. It has become a tool for people     10     (do) some sightseeing on the Yellow River.

The Park Hyalt Ningbo drew us to visit this city in China that we may otherwise have not yet discovered. We planned to book a First Class ticket to Ningbo but when     1     tickets for that cabin were sold out, we chose Business Class. We had no knowledge about     2     the train cabins and seats would look like, so we were more than     3     (pleasant) surprised to see that as we boarded the train. Inside, the spacious leather seats     4     (surround) by a hard shell which gives a small feeling of     5     (private).

We enjoyed traveling the CRH in Business so much     6     we decided to book the same class ticket     7     our trip back to Shanghai on our return. This time however when we boarded the train there was a small automatic door to our left and the cabin had only 9 Business Class seats. This     8     (small) cabin felt much more private. The ride was smooth and peaceful. There was also a train attendant     9     came around with water, juice and a light snack. It was great to have so much space for our luggage as well.

This is one of those cases where it really made sense for us to spend a little bit more for a far better experience.

If we find ourselves     10     (board) a CRH train again in the future, I would choose the Business Class ticket again.

About 226 million passenger trips     1     (make) during this year’s week-long Spring Festival holiday, a significant increase from last year     2     still fewer than 2019. This Monday     3     (mark) the peak of the yearly travel rush.     4     the epidemic (疫情) has caused major decreases     5     public traffic, more private cars traveled on expressway networks during the rush.

From Jan 7 to Sunday, small passenger     6     (car) made 744 million trips on expressways, 14.6 percent more than the same period in 2019 and 21.5 percent more     7     that in 2022, according to the     8     (office) statistics.

A “return peak” was seen across the country on Friday as     9     public holiday ended. On that day some 50.92 million trips were made, a year-on-year increase of 83.1 percent from last year,     10     (show) people are getting life back from the year-long epidemic.