When foreigners come to China, they may be     1     (surprise) at Chinese’s special fondness and preference for seals. To Chinese, seals are an art of deep cultural roots,     2     combines the essence of both calligraphy and sculpture and inspires generations to study, to appreciate and to collect.

    3     is believed that seals came out as early     4     8,000 years ago after our ancestors could make pottery wares and had private property. They tried to make marks on their own possessions to prevent them from being stolen. When the first dynasty     5     (found) the king began to use seals to empower and to show lordly credits. Only the king’s special seal was then called “Xi”,     6     (represent) the highest authority. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, had his “Xi”     7     (make) out of the invaluable and beautiful jade “Heshi Bi”.

Then the local governments also needed seals for     8     same function. Meanwhile, private seals were carved in     9     (vary) of lucky characters and vivid animal patterns.     10     (gradual), the sphragistics (印章学) came into being.

The United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, England—many people are     1     (confuse) by what these different names mean. So what is the     2     (different) between them, if any?     3     (get) to know     4     little bit about British history will help you solve this puzzle.

In the 16th century, the nearby country of Wales was joined to the Kingdom of England. Later, in the 18th century, the country Scotland was joined     5    (create) the Kingdom of Great Britain. In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.     6    (final), in the 20th century, the southern part of Ireland     7     (break) away from the UK, which resulted     8     the full name we have today: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most people just use the shortened name: “the United Kingdom” or “the UK”. People from the UK are called “British”,     9     means the UK is also often     10     (refer) to as Britain or Great Britain.

Many Americans put away their white clothes on Labor Day     1     do not wear them again until the following May.

One reason for the clothing custom relates to the season. In the United States, the     2     (month) between June and September are summer. The weather is usually hot in northeastern cities. Many people there historically wore light-colored clothing in the summertime     3     (keep) cool.

Judith Martin is an expert on manners,     4     spoke to Time Magazine about the history of wearing white in summer. She said Americans in the 1800s and early 1900s wore formal clothes all year long. Wearing white clothes in the summertime may make people more     5     (comfort). Then, in about the 1930s, wearing white clothes in the summertime became fashionable. That is because some wealthy Americans went on vacation     6     weeks or months in the summer. The white clothes then became connected with ease,     7     (beautiful) and money. But at the end of summer, they put those white clothes away and     8     (return) to their lives in the city,     9     (wear) darker and heavier clothes.     10     (final), not wearing white clothes after Labor Day became a bit of a fashion rule.

We seem to be very familiar with teahouses. The function of a teahouse varies widely     1     （depend） on the culture. In China, a teahouse is a place     2     people gather to enjoy tea, chat and socialize. It     3     （consider） as a symbol of Chinese tea culture.

Chinese teahouses enjoy a long-standing history. They developed from tea stands in the Western Jin Dynasty,     4     （take） shape in the Tang Dynasty, developed     5     （gradual） in the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties and became booming in modern times.

In the Song Dynasty, teahouses existed all over cities and villages,     6     a rate comparable with that of restaurants. The owners preferred to decorate their teahouses with paintings of celebrities（名人）and rare and precious plants     7     （attract） customers. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the number of teahouses went beyond that of restaurants, gaining more     8     （popular） and becoming more famous. Later, the acculturation（文化移入）of Western culture forced traditional Chinese teahouses to take on     9     new look. After reform and opening-up, teahouses flowered in China with the development of the economy and evident improvement of     10     （people） living standards.

Switzerland is famous     1     its watches. However, this country didn't invent the watch. It was the British who did it. Here is a story of how the watch     2     （bring） to Switzerland.

Many years ago,    3     Englishman travelled to Italy and on his way he stopped in a small town    4     （call）Geneva in Switzerland. This Englishman travelled in a carriage inside which there was a carriage watch. This was the    5     （early） kind of watch. A blacksmith happened to see the watch. He wondered    6     it was and asked the Englishman about it. "It is a carriage watch," said the Englishman. "This machine can tell the time but now it isn't working." At once the man offered    7     （try） repairing it. So the    8     （travel） handed him the watch. The man was very clever. It was easy for     9     （he） to repair it. He even remembered how it was made. And he made a watch of     10     （exact） the same type.

The Amber Room, one of the greatest     1     (wonder) of the world was a great work that took about ten years to make. In 1716, the Amber Room was     2     (give) to the Russian people as a gift of friendship by William I , who loved soldiers more     3     the Amber Room itself. In Russia, the room first served as a small reception hall for     4     (importance) visitors,     5    later was moved and redesigned by Catherine Ⅱ.       6    (fortunate), the Amber Room disappeared when the Nazi Germans and Russia were at war and until now nobody knows     7    happened to it. In 2003，     8     , a new Amber Room built by the Russians and Germans on the basis of the old photos     9     (be) ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of     10     (they) city.