Unlike the earlier Realists who painted in a     1     style, Impressionist painters focused more on their     2     feelings of things and instant impressions. When Impressionism     3     in France in the late 19th century, artists became more interested in everyday subject matter. They were also fascinated by modern objects. As one of the most     4     Impressionist painters, Claude Monet was impressed by the visual effects of the steam engine     5    , and he later produced twelve paintings of a train station in Paris. In 1883, Monet and his large family moved to Giverny, where he     6     a house and some land for his gardens. During his days at Giverny, Monet     7     painting his own gardens, with the water lilies, the pond, and the arched bridge. From this we can see that there were two clear     8     apparent in his work throughout his career: colours and reflections in water.

Guan Yu, an ancient general known for his loyalty and bravery in battles, has been widely worshipped (敬奉). The Temple of Guan Yu in Xiezhou, North China’s Shanxi Province, is the     1    (large) one among countless temples worshipping the general across the country and also a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level.

In 2020, a research institute     2     studied the culture behind this folk belief in Guan Yu was founded in Xiezhou, and eight graduate students were hired. This summer, researchers of     3     institute are compiling chronicles (编年史) for the temple, and studying the fine elements of traditional culture contained in the temple.

Across the country, historical and cultural heritage sites are protected and studied to discover and learn about traditional Chinese culture, amid the nation’s efforts     4    (build) a modern Chinese civilization.     5     total, there are 5,058 major historical and cultural sites protected at the national level. “    6    (witness) the long history and splendid culture of the Chinese nation in the past years, the historical and cultural sites offer     7    (we) rich ‘spiritual nutrients’ in the midst of building a modern Chinese civilization,” said Gao Jiangtao, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In Shanxi, with local protection work     8    (trouble) due to understaffing, a project was started in 2022 to enroll a total of 600 students for a span of five years,     9    (specific) for 117 localities across the province in need of protection professionals. These students will     10    (offer) general education on relics protection during college.

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes     1    (connect) China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe.     2    (establish) when the Han Dynasty in China     3    (official) opened trade with the West in 130 BCE, the Silk Road routes remained     4     use until 1453 CE, when the Ottoman Empire boycotted (抵制) trade with China and closed them. Although it’s been nearly 600 years since the Silk Road     5    (use) for international trade, the routes had a lasting impact on commerce, culture and history that resonates even today.

The Silk Road may have formally opened up trade between the Far East     6     Europe during the Han Dynasty,     7     ruled China from 206 BCE to 220 CE. Han Emperor Wu sent imperial ambassador Zhang Qian     8    (make) contact with cultures in Central Asia in 138 BCE, and his reports from his journeys conveyed valuable     9    (inform) about the people and lands that lay to the West. But the transport of goods and services along these routes     10    (date) back even further.

Wang Anshi （1021 - 1086）, a poet and reformer of Song Dynasty, is still remembered after a long period of time. This year marked the 1, 000th anniversary of Wang’s birthday. To commemorate the occasion, China Post    1    （issue）a collection of stamps in December（2021）.

When he was young, Wang became familiar    2    the hardships of the peasants. After he passed the imperial civil service exams and became     3     official, Wang wanted to change their conditions and initiated a series of reforms.

He implemented new laws to ease farmers’ burdens, loaned grain to farmers and allowed them to repay their debts after the autumn harvest. He attached great importance to    4    （train）talents in different fields, for example, in laws.     5    （unlucky）, these policies harmed the interests of the upper classes and his reforms eventually failed.

Wang’s     6    （brave） to innovate has inspired many people. The former Chinese Premier Wen: Jiabao- quoted Wang in his speech: A true reformer should fear neither strange astronomical    7    （phenomenon）nor comments.

US politician Henry A. Wallace had a book    8    （record）Wang’s reform policies. When the Unitech States faced sudden economic depression during the Roosevelt administration of the 1930s, Wallace applied Wang’s economic principles and helped the country get through the crisis successfully.

During his lifetime, Wang    9    （pen）more than 1, 000 poems. Often short and plainspoken, these poems contain profound topics,     10    won him wide acclaim（称赞）both at home and abroad.

9 . French explorer Jacques Cartier is known mainly for exploring the St. Lawrence River and giving Canada its name.

Like many other European explorers, Jacques Cartier went to North America looking for gold and perhaps a shortcut to Asia.     1     It became France’s main route into Canada.

Jacques Cartier was born on December 31, 1491 in Brittany, a province of France. In about 1534, the king of France asked him to lead an expedition(远征) to the New World in search of riches and a new route to Asia.

    2     There he and his crew explored the land around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and met Native Americans. When he sailed back to France, he took with him two Native Americans.

    3     This time, Cartier sailed deeper into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and into the Saint Lawrence River. The two Native Americans he had taken before had learned French, and they served as guides. About 260 miles inland, Cartier reached the Native American village of Stadacona. Today, the city of Quebec stands near that place.

Cartier and his men were among the first Europeans to winter in what is now Canada.     4     After returning to France he reported tales told by the native people of treasures farther inland.

Cartier once again crossed the Atlantic in 1541.     5     When he returned to France in 1542, he was told that they were just the common minerals pyrite(黄铁矿) (fool’s gold) and quartz(石英).

10 . British English and American English have many differences. The difference also exists in the letters of the alphabet (字母表). Or, more specifically (具体地), the last letter of the alphabet. Z is pronounced as “zed” in Britain while in America, it is pronounced as “zee”.    1    It’s what you’ll hear in every English-speaking country, except for the United States.

    2     Many of our modern letters come directly from the Greek alphabet, including a letter which looked just like our “z”. The Greeks called it “zeta”. “Zeta” gradually developed into the French “zede”, which in turn gave us “zed” as English was shaped by Romance languages like French.

“Zee” showed up on the scene in modern English. Dr. Adam Crowley, an associate professor of English in Husson University’s College of Science and Humanities, suggests that the popularity of “zee” grew because it rhymes (押韵) with so many other letters, like B, C, and P.    3     So, again, this makes sense.

After the Revolutionary War, Americans were trying to set up an identity separate from the British, and words and language played a big role in this.    4     He, sure enough, chose “zee” as the “official” American pronunciation.

And then, there’s The Alphabet Song. In the song, z is pronounced as “zee”.    5     Indeed, teachers in England and other countries sometimes have to re-teach children how to pronounce z after they’ve already learned “zee” from hearing the song.