1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Protecting friendship

A. appreciation	B. committed	C. marking	D. determined	E. shifted	F. reference
G. coinciding	H. thrown	I. attempt	J. portraying	K. line

For the last 50 years, giant pandas from China have captured the hearts of people in the US.

A “Pandaversary Night” party was    1    on Aug 24 at the Chinese embassy (大使馆) in Washington,    2    the 50th anniversary of giant pandas’ arriving in the US capital. And the Smithsonian’s National Zoo expects the panda craze to last for several more years.

“Giant pandas are worthy ambassadors. They have much longer tenures (任期) than each of the Chinese ambassadors here, and they have many more fans than us,” Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said at the reception. “Year by year, giant pandas have become an icon of mutual    3    and friendship between the two peoples. In particular, the arrival of Xiao Qi Ji (Little Miracle) two years ago has brought us a happy surprise.”

He was referring to the cub’s birth in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic,       4    with the deterioration of China-US bilateral relations to its lowest point in four decades.

The ambassador noted that the number of giant pandas in the wild in China has increased from several hundred 50 years ago to more than 1,800, which meant the species is no longer “endangered”, thanks to unrelenting (持续的) efforts at protection and conservation.

“But sadly, ‘panda-huggers’ are endangered. Now they need protection and conservation,” he said, in    5     to China-US relations, with hawkish (强硬的) US politicians increasingly seeking to “outcompete” China by    6    the country as a challenger or even a threat to the US.

“China’s approach to panda diplomacy has    7     to serve more of a tool to project soft power”, New York Times said in a recent article.

In addition to Xiao Qi Ji, another panda – Kung Fu Panda – was also made in the US. “I still remember a/an    8    from it: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it’s called present!” Qin declared. “At present, we get together to cherish the wonderful gift of the panda. We need more pandas, and we also need more ‘panda-huggers’.”

“I’m absolutely    9    to 50 more years of giant panda care and protection, so I look forward to working with our colleagues in China, as we are     10    about the future for our giant panda program,” said Brandie Smith, director of the National Zoo.