With a history of more than 2,000 years, the Silk Route dates back to Han dynasty. Through this route, the Chinese highly     1     (qualify) silk made its fame to the western countries. The merchants in different regions     2     (seek) the opportunity of trading Chinese silk     3     they indeed made their fortune along this route.

That route functioned     4     the life blood of international trade at that time. Meanwhile, the Chinese civilization was introduced to the Western countries and vice versa. The Silk Route     5     (consider) as a new chapter recording the friendship between the European and Asian peoples.

Throughout all these years, many great figures have made great     6     (contribute) to the development of the Silk Route. Today, the Silk Route has a poetic name     7     (call) One Belt One Road,    8     (aim) to help those connected regions in culture and economy exchange with a more advanced road. The main cities alongside it are becoming     9     (large) and more important in helping trade and culture exchange. Many countries have gained great benefits along the trading process. All in all, the ancient Silk Road is more like     10     historical textbook for everyone to read and to know about what happened during that ancient time. It has been playing a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China.

Many people are     1     (confuse) about the meaning of the names: the United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain and England.     2     (solve) this puzzle, it is necessary for people to know a little bit about British.

In the 16th century, the nearby country of Wales     3     (join) to the Kingdom of England, followed by the country Scotland in the 18th century. In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Finally, in the 20th century, the     4     (south) part of Ireland broke away from the UK,     5     resulted in the full name we have today: “the United Kingdom” or “the UK”. People from the UK are called “British”, meaning the UK is also often referred to     6     Britain or Great Britain.

Even though the four countries     7     (belong) to the United Kingdom work together in some areas, such as using the same flag, sharing the same currency and military     8     (defend), they also have some differences. Anyhow, the United Kingdom has     9     long and interesting history to explore     10     it can help you understand much more about the country and its traditions.

The ancient Chinese built two great engineering wonders: the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Though the Great Wall’s effect in military     1     (defend) has worn off over time, the Grand Canal remains an important channel of cultural communication.

The Grand Canal,     2     is made up of three parts (Suitang Grand Canal, Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal and Zhedong Grand Canal), is a     3     (run) epic (史诗) of transformation. The man-made waterway runs more than 2,000 kilometres from north to south across the large eastern flatland of China. It is about 16 times     4     size of the Suez Canal in Egypt and 33 times     5     (long) than the Panama Canal, the world’s second- and third-largest man-made waterways. “It sees the striking and early development of water engineering,” the UNESCO website says     6     (official).

In ancient times, the Grand Canal served     7     the key waterway for grain transport and every kind of economic and cultural exchange. It also improved the time-consuming journeys of workers     8     materials for the building of the Forbidden City in Beijing, the imperial city of the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Years ago, it     9     (inspire) the name of Chenchen, one of the three mascots (吉祥物) of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Chenchen, from the Gongchen Bridge, which goes across the Hangzhou part of the Grand Canal, is coloured blue     10     (suggest) science and technology.

The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes,     1     joined East Asia to the Mediterranean. The most important network is the Chang’an- Tianshan Corridor,which     2     (stretch) over a distance of around 5,000 kilometres     3     covers a total of 8,700 kilometres of trade routes. The starting point of the corridor and the entire Silk Road network is Chang’an (present-day Xi’an), in Shaanxi Province of north-west China. It was famous as the capital of the Han and Tang Dynasties. The Silk Road was beginning     4     (develop) in the 2nd century BCE.     5     (assign ) by the emperor,the ambassador Zhang Qian journeyed from Chang’an to Central Asia and     6     (seek) to build bridges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions.     7     the initial stage of the Silk Road development, silk was the main item in the trade list thanks to its light weight and high value. In addition to trade exchange, the network served as     8     bridge for cultural exchange. All of these     9     (activity) contributed to a great age of     10     (expand) as trade and cultural exchanges gave people access to new goods, knowledge and ideas.

The Chinese couplet (对联) refers to two poetic lines obeying certain rules, often written on red paper for     1     (appreciate).

As a form of Chinese literature, the couplet     2     (vary) in content and style. Some express people’s love to their motherland, some describe the beauty of nature,     3     some convey best wishes for the coming year.

Chinese couplets     4     (originate) in the Five Dynasties, and became widespread in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was a custom for people     5     (hang) peach wood charms to drive away evil spirits during the Spring Festival. Nowadays, couplets are used     6     a similar way.

It was said that the     7     (early) couplet was written by Meng Xu, king of Houshu State and it was     8     (extreme) popular in the Northern Song Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty, to write couplets     9     (regard) as a mark of the cultured life of scholars.

The couplet has two equal-length lines. However,     10     number of characters in each line can be from four to seven or more. The first and the second lines have opposite tone patterns. The last character of the first line is of an oblique tone (仄声), and its opposite in the second line, of a level tone (平声).

Covering vast distance and     1     astonishing variety of landscapes, the Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes,     2     (extend) from East Asia to the Mediterranean. A key section of the extensive Silk Road network is the Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor,     3     stretches over a distance of around 5,000 kilometres and covers a total of 8,700 kilometres of trade routes.

The Silk Road began to develop in the 2nd century BCE. Zhang Qian, an ambassador assigned by the emperor,     4     (journey) from Chang’an to Central Asia. Several routes     5     (seek) by Zhang Qian to build bridges between the major powers of the time with the routes network reaching as far as the Roman Empire. The network expanded     6     (gradual) and remained in use until the 16th century. The routes were alive with strings of camels carrying     7     (load) of goods. In addition to trade exchange, the network served     8    a bridge for cultural exchange.

These amazingly long routes connected Eastern and Western civilizations, which achieved a     9     (share) development. The addition of the Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor to the UNESCO World Heritage List is a milestone in     10     (recognize) of the Silk Road as a crucial part of humanity’s common heritage.