The combination of slow,    1    (grace) movements and lightning-quick strikes easily distinguishes taijiquan from other martial arts.

The earliest origin of taijiquan can     2    (trace) back to mid-seventeenth century in Central China’s Henan province, home to its first great popularizer Chen Wangting,    3    Ming dynasty general.

In modern times, taijiquan has gained    4    (rise) popularity among Chinese of all ages, genders and ethnic groups.    5    (it) mental and physical health benefits have also gained it enthusiasts across the world. Taijiquan,     6    is influenced by Daoist and Confucian thought, as well as traditional Chinese medicine, is based     7    theories of bodily energies, the yin and yang cycle and the unity of heaven, earth and man. Unlike combat-oriented martial arts, it focuses on internal development, and is characterized by set exercises, the    8    (regulate) of breath, and the cultivation of a righteous, neutral mind.

The taijitu, the diagram of yin and yang, came from observing shadows    9    (throw)on a sundial(日晷)at midday throughout the year. From these observations sprang many important     10     (aspect) of the traditional Chinese calendar.

In 432 B.C., as the cities of Athens and Sparta    1    (battle) in a war, a deadly illness swept through Athens,    2    (strike) fear and panic into her citizens. The disease reached Athens via the port city of Piraeus and spread throughout Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, killing almost a third of its population, even the great leader then, 66-year-old Pericles    3    (include). It seemed the only thing for the citizens to do was    4    they had to wait to die.

    5    (protect) the people of Athens, when the pandemic just broke out, Pericles ordered the Athenians to move within the city’s newly built ‘long walls’, but it was when the real nightmare began. This gave the disease the perfect conditions    6    the pandemic could more quickly infect more of the Athenian population.

In the history Of Greece, the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who fell victim to the disease and survived, wrote that “people in good health were attacked    7    (severe) all of a sudden by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, the inward parts, such as the throat or tongue, becoming bloody and emitted an unnatural and fetid breath”. Despite    8    (write) evidence of the disease, its cause is still unknown. Possibilities might be    9    we call typhoid fever and Ebola nowadays.

Months later, the disease finally became less intense and for a brief period the Athenians were relieved, but it would strike twice more, forcing Athens to yield to Sparta in 404 BCE and ending Athens’ rule in ancient Greece. The history of mankind    10     (consist) of plenty of battles of fighting against epidemics, which can change history itself in turn.

3 . On a fine September day last year, Simon Hunt took his boat from Team Keane Rowing Club down to the River Thames, just as he normally does most days. But on that day, he spotted something in the shallows.

“At first, I thought maybe it’s an animal bone and it would be funny to say to everyone on the water ‘look, I found a bone’. But it was obviously from looking at it, you see the hip, the hip joint. And I thought, no, this is human bone. So, therefore, best to phone the police.” Simon Hunt said.

To determine if the river was a crime scene — having found a human bone there — they took it for carbon dating.

“And I got a phone call from the detective about a week ago. And she said: ‘We’ve got the date, what do you think?’ And, so, it shows my education now — my frame of reference for things that are old — medieval (中世纪的) maybe? Then she goes ‘keep going’. Then she tells me that it’s like 3,500. I was thinking that then 3,000 years old? And of course, she adds BC.W Simon Hunt recalled.

The bone is 5,300 years old — one of the most ancient objects ever found in the Thames. What was going on? What was this place like? Who was this person? Well, like today, there’s almost a causeway (堤道) across this part of the Thames at low tide. But 5,000 years ago, the river was much wider and shallower. Mudflats (泥滩) extending beyond into woodland. The landscape was populated by Neolithic (新石器时代) man.

From the beginning “oh, it’s quite funny I found a bone in the river” to “actually then there it could be potentially criminal”, to then finding out it’s actually archaeologically (考古学的) significant. So, it has been an amazing adventure. I have no place for it in my house. I’m going to give it to the Museum of London so that they can put it on display and hopefully people will connect with the past.

Scientists in Peru have discovered the skull(颅骨) of an ancestor of modern-day whales. The fossilized skull is believed     1    (be) about 36 million years old. Researchers say the discovery suggests that the animal lived in an ocean once     2    (cover) Peru’s southern Ocucaje desert.

The scientists reported the skull was in good condition when     3    (dig) up last year. It has a series of long, pointy     4    (tooth), said Rodolfo Salas, chief of paleontology at Peru’s National University of San Marcos.

Scientists say the ancient mammal was a basilosaurus, which is in the cetacean(鲸目) family. The name basilosaurus means “king lizard(蜥蜴)” and the animal     5    (think) to have been about 12 meters long. But it was not a reptile(爬行动物) although     6    (it) long body might have moved like a large snake.

Salas called the animal “a marine monster” that may belong     7     a new species of basilosaurus. “When it was searching for its food, it     8    (sure) did a lot of damage,” he added.

Salas explained that when the ancient basilosaurus died out, its skull likely sank to the bottom of the ocean,     9     it was quickly buried and remained.

“Back during this age,     10     conditions for fossilization were very good in Ocucaje,” Salas said.

7 . The discovery of the ruined palace in the Mosul Dam reservoir on the banks of the Tigris River inspired an archeological dig that would improve understanding of the Mittani Empire, one of the least-researched empires of the ancient Near East, a team of German researchers said. “The find is one of the most important archeological discoveries in the region in recent decades,” Kurdish archeologist(考古学家) Hasan Qasim said.

The palace would have originally stood just 65 feet from the river on a terrace(梯田). A terrace wall of mud bricks was later added to make the building stable. Ivana Puljiz, an archeologist from the University of Tübingen’s Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies, describes the palace, known as Kemune, as a carefully designed building with mud-brick walls up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) thick.

The team also found wall paintings in shades of red and blue, which were probably a common feature of palaces at the time but have rarely been found preserved. “Discovering wall paintings in Kemune is an archeological sensation,” Puljiz said in a press release, “Kemune is only the second site in the region where wall paintings of the Mittani period have been discovered.”

Ten clay tablets covered in cuneiform, an ancient system of writing, were also discovered and have been sent to Germany for translation. “From the texts we hope to gain information on the inner structure of the Mitani Empire, its economic organization, and the relationship of the Mittani capital with the administrative centers in the neighboring regions,” Puljiz added.

Archeologists first became aware of the site in 2010 when water levels in the reservoir were low, but this is the first time they have been able to dig. However, the site was submerged(淹没) shortly after the dig, Puljiz said, adding“It is unclear when it will come out of water again”.

Labor Day in the US falls     1     the first Monday of September every year. It has     2     rich history centered around workers.     3     most Americans likely consider Labor Day a unique American experience, in reality, Labor Day has     4     (it)origins in Canada.

Caused by the labor conflicts in 1870 in Toronto, a parade was held in 1872 in support of a strike against the 58-hour workweek. As a result, 24 union leaders     5     were responsible for organizing the event were arrested under anti-union laws.

The first Labor Day celebration in the US can     6     (trace)to Sept. 5, 1882. It was designed to comfort city workers after numerous strikes and even     7     (violent)in some cases. Labor Day has been celebrated since. President Grover Cleveland declared that day Labor Day in 1894. The     8     (extend)weekend helps Americans who choose     9     (travel). Originating as a celebration for the working class, Labor Day has also evolved into the unofficial end of the summer season and for many school districts it has been the beginning of the     10     (academy)year again.