1 . Although we lack accurate statistics about child mortality in the pre-industrial period, we do have evidence that in the 1660s, the mortality rate for children who died within 14 days of birth was as much as 30 percent. Nearly all families _______ some premature death. Moreover, to protect themselves from the emotional consequences of children’s death, parents avoided making any emotional _______ to an infant.

The 18th century witnessed the _______ from an agrarian (土地的) economy to an industrial one, one of the vital social changes taking place in the Western world. An increasing number of people moved from their villages and small towns to big cities where life was quite different. Social supports which had _______ existed in smaller communities were replaced by problems such as poverty, crime, substandard housing and disease. Due to the need for additional income to support the family, young children from the poorest families were _______ into early employment and thus their childhood became painfully short. Children as young as 7 might be required to work full-time, _______ to unpleasant and unhealthy circumstances, from factories to prostitution.

The lives of children _______ a drastic change during the 1800s in the United States. Previously, children from both rural and urban families were expected to participate in everyday labour due to the bulk of manual hard working. _______ , thanks to the technological advances of the mid-1800s, _______ the rise of the middle class and redefinition of roles of family members, work and home became less synonymous over time. People began to purchase toys and books for their children. When the country depended more upon ________ , children in rural and urban areas, were less likely to be required to work at home. Beginning from the Industrial Revolution and rising slowly over the course of the 19th century, this ________ increased dramatically after the Civil War. John Locke was one of the most ________ writers of his period. He created the first clear and ________ statement of the “environmental position” that family education ________ a child’s life, and via this, he became the father of modern learning theory. During the colonial period, his teachings about childcare gained a lot of ________ in America.

4 . It took brave European explorers less than 300 years, between 1420 and 1713, to establish that all the seas of the world formed an enormous and continuous ocean. This discovery encouraged them to _____ into areas which hadn’t been charted until then. With the discovery of new lands, new trade routes were _____. In many parts of the world, colonies and settlements were established and many odd-looking products were brought back to _____, arousing great interest and _____ wealth.

It was probably the irresistible desire for wealth that _____ persuaded Europeans of the fifteenth century to _____ their legendary dangers and explore further out into the open seas. They were also _____ by the love for their countries. Many explorers wanted to serve their kings and countries as well as gain personal _____ from their exploring.

The most effective way of gaining wealth was through _____. Silk, gold, silver and ______ stones, and more importantly spices, such as gingers and peppers, were the most profitable trade goods in Europe. Spices were of the greatest ______ because they enabled the Europeans to make their winter diet of salted meat more delicious. These items were ______ mostly from the East by a difficult overland route. The Italian ______, who bought goods from the Arabs of Alexandria, controlled the trade along this route. Other countries of the Mediterranean ______ the wealth which this trade generated and they were ______ to discover new routes which would allow them to share in it.

5 . Yoghurt has a long history in Bulgaria. Many Bulgarians say it was accidentally discovered around 4,000 years ago when nomadic tribes wandered the land, carrying their mild(麦芽啤酒)in animal skins, which created a ripe environment for bacteria to grow, thus producing yoghurt. Yoghurt probably _________in Balkan lands. _________, the Balkans is one of the many places enjoying the specific bacteria and temperature ranges needed to _________produce yoghurt. Wherever it was discovered, what we do know is that Bulgaria played a vital role in introducing yoghurt to the West and turning it into the contemporary commercial product.

A Bulgarian scientist, Dr Stamen Grigorov, was said to be the first to _________the composition of yoghurt. He _________the essential bacterium, Lactobacillus bulgaricus(保加利亚乳杆菌), in homemade yoghurt, forever linking the nation to yoghurt production. His work _________the exact composition of yoghurt was picked up by a Russian biologist and Nobel Prize-winner, who _________a connection between yoghurt consumption and longer lives. This idea that yoghurt extends life _________a health craze in European countries, involving the previously little-known food into the Western European diet.

But this new demand for Bulgarian yoghurt fundamentally changed the product. It was previously made at home, by women, using measurements based on _________. When scientists and manufacturers took over the process, they introduced strict measurements, specialist equipment and ”pure cultures”(纯培养发酵剂)that __________any additional microflora found naturally in homemade yoghurt. Besides, traditional yoghurts were produced with different types of __________milk, such as buffalo and sheep milk, depending on the area or time of year. Nowadays, cow’s milk is used, which is a result of the industrialization.

The state __________of the dairy industry in 1949 led to further changes, although many Bulgarian people continued to make yoghurt at home. Yoghurt became a __________image, distinguishing Bulgaria from the other countries. But since yoghurt was made in different Bulgarian regions and households and its knowledge was passed down by generations, the state had to create official Bulgarian yoghurt.

Microbiologists collected samples of homemade yoghurt across the country, and then conducted experiments to select most beneficial bacteria in terms of health as well as taste. The “Bulgarian” yoghurt lies in its __________, not in one standardized product.

The state-owned company LB Bulgaricum holds and licenses its patent to countries such as Japan and South Korea. Interestingly, __________the unique mixture of bacteria native to Bulgaria cannot be reproduced in other countries, these Asian companies must continuously import new starter cultures(发酵剂)to create their version of Bulgarian yoghurt.

6 . Zheng He (郑和) from China Might Have Discovered America Before Columbus

In 1405, a Chinese eunuch, Zheng He, launched the first of seven voyages west from China across the Indian Ocean. During the next 30 years (till 1433), he was in command of the world’s largest fleet_________ by the Ming emperor, and sailed to the east coast of Africa into the Persian Gulf. This is_________ history.

But a map titled “General Chart of the Integrated World” shows that he travelled much further west and even reached_________, 74 years ahead of Chistopher Columbus. On the top right corner of this article is an 18th-century copy of a 1418 map, which claims to show the world that Zheng He_________. This map came to light in the year 2001 when a Shanghai lawyer, Liu Gang, claimed to have bought it from a local dealer for around $500. He believes that Zheng_________ the waters around both poles, the Americas, the Mediterranean and Australia, too.

This map shows two hemispheres of the world, a way to show the image of the round Earth on_______ paper. Continents are recognizable. Both North and South America are clear, and so are the rivers running from far inland. The Himalayas, among whose foothills Zheng He was born, are marked as the highest mountain range in the world. And according to experts, some aspects in the map are_________ Chinese: the blue, fan-like waves and annotations (注释) with textual descriptions of places are parts of China’s map-making tradition.

Though Columbus and Zheng He both sailed across the oceans, their_________ were quite different. Columbus’s mission was commercial, while Zheng He’s was_________— he was sent to bring back envoys (使节) from other countries to pay respect to the new Yongle emperor who had__________ power from his nephew and needed to find a way to assert his legitimacy (正统性). With the end of Zheng He’s life, China’s explorations on the high seas__________ as there was a new emperor with less needs to finance pricey expeditions.

For the next few hundred years, China largely__________ on itself and the Chinese have remained in their land for hundreds of years, which meant a lasting isolation from the ocean civilization. Europeans, __________, continued their expeditions and recorded their history. ________, mainstream western historians don’t want to believe Zheng’s map to be true and they are__________ that only their explorers’ maps had such details. “ It took many European sailors decades to travel across the globe to make such maps, how come Zheng He alone made it within 30 years?” said one of the historians.

7 . When Did Shaking Hands Become a Standard Way of Greeting Someone?

Shaking hands seems like a gesture that has been around forever. Indeed, the Iliad, a Greek epic poem, dated to the 8th century BC. Centuries later, Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It that two characters “shook hands and swore brothers.” It might seem like shaking hands is an ancient custom, the________ of which are lost to the sands of time.

Some historians have noticed that handshaking in the________ sense of a greeting doesn’t appear until the mid-19th century, when it was considered a slightly________ gesture that should only be used with friends. But if Shakespeare was writing about shaking hands a few hundred years earlier, what happened?

The________ may come from differing definitions of the handshake. The early hand-shakes mentioned above were part of making deals or making peace: in the Iliad, Diomedes and Glaucus shook hands when they realized they were “guest-friends”. Shakespeare was________ describing settlement of a conflict.

The modern handshake as a form of greeting is________ to trace. Traditionally, the origins are often given to the Quakers. But as Dutch sociologist Herman Roodenburg wrote, “More than in any other field, the study of gesture is one in which the historian has to________ only a few clues.” For instance, the 16th-century German translation adds________ to shaking hands.

There’s________ evidence for a handshaking tradition in that era: In 1607 the author James Cleland claimed that instead of things like bowing down to everyone’s shoes and kissing hands, he’d rather “maintain our good old Scottish shaking of the two right hands together at meeting”.

As the centuries progressed, handshaking was________ by more “hierarchical (等级体系的)” ways of greeting — like bowing. Handshaking survived only in a few places, like in Dutch towns where they’d use the gesture to be friendly after________. Then, as the hierarchies of the continent weakened, the handshake re-emerged as a standard greeting among equals — the way it remains today. Not everyone fell in love with the handshake,________. For example, a society has been recently formed to________ “shake-hands” as a rude English innovation.

As for why shaking hands was thought a good method of greeting, rather than some other gesture, the most popular explanation is that it makes the right hand________ for weapon holding. In the 19th century it was argued that shaking hands without removing gloves was quite rude and required an immediate apology.

________, in a world where obscure translations provide critical evidence, the true reason may remain forever unknown.

8 . In 1961, President John F. Kennedy Jr. set a goal: he wanted to land a man on the moon to show America’s_________ in the Space Race.

_________ a decade later, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon on Sunday, July 20, 1969. Aldrin later joined him on the moon’s surface and they_________a US flag, took photographs, and_________ the first samples from our satellite.

The Apollo crew of Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins travelled 240,000 miles in 76 hours to reach the moon. During the mission, the food items the astronauts ate on the surface of the moon in the lunar module_________ the following: beef stew, bacon squares, date fruit cake, and grape punch.

Over 400,000 people supported the_________, including people from the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Armstrong’s famous first words “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”_________ on television channels and through newspapers around the world.

After World War Ⅱ_________ on September 2, 1945, a new conflict began between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States and the Soviet Union had_________ ideologies(意识形态): the United States was capitalist,__________ the Soviet Union was socialist.

The Space Race started when a Soviet missile launched Sputnik(Russian for “traveller”), the world’s first artificial satellite on October 4, 1957. Sputnik became the first man-made__________ to orbit Earth. The US decided to act quickly in order to prove __________. From 1961 to 1964, NASA’s budget __________ by 500 percent. When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, America was declared the__________ of the Space Race. The US had spent about $25 billion on the program, over $100 billion in today’s dollars.

More than 50 years after Apollo, NASA vows to land the first woman on the moon with the Artemis program and with the help of an increase in NASA’s budget by $1.6 billion by former President Trump. The new mission,__________ the twin sister of Apollo and Greek Goddess of the moon, will be headed to the moon’s south pole where the craters(火山口)hold large deposits of water ice.

9 . For many people, the Renaissance means 14th to 16th century Italy, and the developments in art and architecture, music and literature which _______ there at that time. But there is one work which, perhaps more than any other, expresses the spirit of the Renaissance: the Mona Lisa._______ is believed to be the best example of a new life-like style of painting that _______ people when it was first used._______ by Leonardo da Vinci in the years 1503-1506, the Mona Lisa is a mysterious masterpiece. People want to know who Mona Lisa is, and why she is smiling. _______ people do not know much about the Renaissance, they have _______ this painting.

But the Renaissance is, of course, _______ just the Mona Lisa. Renaissance _______ a French word which means “rebirth” and it first appeared in English in the 19th century. The word was used to describe a period in European history _______ began with the arrival of the first Europeans in America, an age of exploration, and the beginning of the modern world. It was as if Europe was waking up after the long sleep of ________. From Italy, the ideas of the Renaissance rapidly spread northwards to France, Germany, England, and the rest of Europe.

Trade with other parts of the world meant that Europe was ________ richer, too. This meant that people had money to ________ on the arts; and it became easier for artists to find people who could afford to buy their works or employ them. Leonardo worked for important people ________ the Duke of Milan, and, towards the end of his life, the King of France.

Renaissance artists found new ideas for their work in classical Greece and Rome. But they looked forward, too, by opening new frontiers in the arts. Painters ________ how to use ________ and the effects of light; composers put different voices together and created polyphony (many voices); architects ________ designing buildings with more light which contrasted with the heaviness of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages.

________, Leonardo was ________ extraordinary genius, an example of what has been described ________ “Renaissance man”: someone interested in everything and with many different talents. But even if his only contribution to history ________ the Mona Lisa, it would have been genius enough for all time.

10 . Shikumen Residence

Typical Shikumen Residence, literally meaning “Stone Warehouse Gate”, is regarded as the most representative house style of Shanghai. This sort of residence combines the _________ styles of southern China and western countries.

These residences can date back to the 1870s, when the Taiping Rebellion against the_________ of the Qing Dynasty broke out. Due to the warfare, the businessmen, ministers and wealthy people moved to the concession (租界) for protection. As a result, many foreign_________businessmen had many residences built to earn money. Those residences were, therefore, inspired by western style.

Construction Features of Shikumen Residence

A Shikumen Residence is usually a two-floor building constructed with bricks and wood. As the residences are usually linked, a lane naturally comes into being. Two copper door-knockers_________ in the whole lane when they are struck. _________ the stone gate, you enter a patio (天井), from which the sunshine lights the whole yard. Right in front of the patio, there is a living room where the hosts meet or treat their _________. Passing through the living room, another patio appears where the cooking bench is set.

Under the influence of western architecture, the doors and outside walls were gradually_________ with the arc-shaped or rectangular carvings and paintings. So, from the outside, the block of residences looks like western-style townhouses. _________, the lintel(过梁)was usually constructed with Chinese traditional bricks and black tiles.

_________ of Shikumen Residence

It’s said that before the 1950s, these residences __________ 60% of all the Shanghai dwellings and sheltered 60% of the local population. They almost monopolized (垄断) the city’s estate market due to their comfortable, practical and convenient advantages. __________ these, they were popular because of their good locations and convenient transportation. As time passed by, they gradually __________ with the pace of the reconstruction of the old areas. Later, when some influential architects put forward that these residences should be __________ as a symbol of the typical Shanghai culture, great attention started to be paid to them.

Shikumen Culture

The appearance of these residences broke through the Chinese traditional lifestyle, under which a large __________ family lived in a big courtyard. The new smaller-sized courtyard came into being to lay a foundation for the later Lane Culture. This local culture had a great influence on Shanghai’s politics, economy, literature, arts and lifestyle. For example, the literature__________ of “Ting Zi Jian” was born at the same time. Later, the scholars continued to create many masterpieces.