3 . It is likely that on American TV shows you at times will be attracted by rubber balls on people’s desks.     1     People can squeeze them when feeling stressed out. It’s believed that by concentrating on the act of squeezing, they can let go of the negative energy in their bodies.

Indeed, stress is a big problem for many people.     2     In fact, the rubber stress relief balls that are so popular today in the US are believed to date back to ancient China. Back in the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), soldiers used walnuts to get rid of stress. By squeezing them during moments of anxiety, soldiers were able to calm themselves down before going into battle. And in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), ordinary citizens—not just soldiers—developed the habit of rolling two walnuts, or balls made from iron or stone, around in their hands.     3     And today, we have many gadgets (器具) and toys that are designed to reduce stress in addition to stress relief balls. One example is the popular fidget spinner (指尖陀螺).     4     You have to spin the gadget around. There’s also the fidget cube, which features different “gimmicks (机关)” on each side of the cube. You can click, spin, pull, push and rotate different parts of the cube.

    5     But perhaps we should take them more seriously. “After all, the history of stress balls is a history of modern-day coping (应对),” reporter Nadia Berenstein wrote for Woolly magazine.

The United Kingdom has a long and     1    (interest) history to explore,     2     can help you understand much more about the country and its traditions. Almost everywhere you go in the UK, you     3         (surround) by evidence of four different groups of people who took     4     at different times throughout history. The first group, the Romans, came in the first century. Some of     5    (they) great achievements included building towns and roads. Next, the Anglo-Saxons arrived in the fifth century. They introduced the beginnings of the English language, and changed     6     way people built houses. The Vikings came in the eighth century and     7    (leave) behind lots of new vocabulary, and also the names of many     8    (locate) across the UK. The last group were the Normans. They conquered England after the well-known Battle of Hastings in the 11th century. They had castles     9    (build) all around England, and made changes to the legal system. The Normans were French, so many French words     10    (slow) entered into the English language.

5 . Once popular sports in ancient capital Xi’an

As the capital of 13 dynasties throughout Chinese history, Xi’an has never been far from sports.

Cuju: Origin of modern soccer

Cuju first appeared in the anetent Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce, which described cuju as a form of entertainment. Later, cuju was played in the army for military training purposes. The earliest record of women cuju players can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. Cuju was listed into China’s intangible cultural heritages in 2006.

Jiaodi: Chinese-style wrestlíng

Sumo,   known as Japan’s “national sport”, actually originated in ancient China. Sumo was called jiaodi in ancient times. Jiaodi was performed by athletes wearing ox horns and wrestling with each other. In the Tang Dynasty, jiaodi was part of military training and a kind of entertainment and athletic sports.

Jiju: Ancient polo

Jiju is a sport which uses a stick to hit balls while riding on a horse, pretty similar to modern polo. It was popular in the Tang Dynasty. And it was also a major military training program in the army. There is a famous painting unearthed in a prince tomb in Shanxi province in 1971, which shows more than 20 men riding on horses playing polo.

Archery

The origin of archery was closely related with hunting and defense. Ancient archery was not only an athletic event and a military training program, but also part of education. In Zhou Dynasty, the archery was listed as one of the Six Arts. During the Tang Dynasty, archery was an important part of the Wuju Imperial Examinations, and five kinds of archery skills would be tested, including on-horse shot and flat shot.

A fan can drive summer heat away and help bring a cool breeze (微风).     1     ancient times, the Chinese fan has been carrying artistic and unique     2     (nation) style. China has always been regarded as “the kingdom of fans”.

The fan first appeared in China about 3,000 years ago, in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. In the early period, the fan was called “the fan of honor”,     3     (serve) as the symbol of etiquette (礼仪).

After the Qin and Han dynasties, the main     4     (shape) of fans were square, round and hexagon (六边形). The materials used to make fans     5     (be) mainly silk. People called the silk fans “court fans”    6     they were often used in royal court. The person     7     held the silk fan always looked gentle.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the common fans were round fans, feather fans, and some paper fans. The folding fan     8     (gradual) became popular after the Song dynasty. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the folding fan was popular in Zhejiang, Suzhou and Sichuan. Then the     9     (popular) of writing poems and drawing pictures on the cover of a fan was rising. Later, this skill     10     (introduce) to Europe and other parts of the world.

Studying the history of the United Kingdom will make your visit there much more    1    (enjoy). The capital city London is a great place to start, as it has a history    2    (date) all the way back to Roman times. There are countless historic sites    3    (explore), and lots of museums with ancient relics from all over the UK. The UK is a    4    (fascinate) mix of history and modern culture.

9 . A fresh and gentle wind on your face, soft sand under your feet and blue waters as far as the eye can see. Is there any other Olympic sport that is played in such pleasant conditions as beach volleyball？

“I’ve gone to a lot of beautiful places, and met a lot of beautiful people. That wouldn’t have happened if I had been playing another sport.” said Randy Stoklos, America’s most famous beach volleyball player.

The sport began as a four-a-side game on beaches in Southern California in the 1920s. The first recorded two-man game took place there in 1930, and the first tournament (锦标赛) was held in Los Angeles 18 years later. The winners were awarded a case of Pepsi. In the 1950s, women started playing and the sport soon spread to Europe and South America. Yet at that time, beach volleyball was more an entertainment show than a sport, with beauty contests included. The Association of Volleyball Professionals was founded in 1983 and beach volleyball developed into a fast, athletic sport. Its world-wide popularity won beach volleyball a place at the 1996 Olympics in Atalanta, where 24 male teams and 16 female teams took part. At present, the US and Brazil are the best in the world at beach volleyball.

The game came to China in the early 1990s and there have been national tournaments since 1994. It became an official event at the Eighth National Games in 1997. China’s You Wenhui and Wang Lu finished ninth in the women’s beach volleyball world championships in Brazil.