The Chinese couplet (对联) refers to two poetic lines obeying certain rules, often     1     (write) on red paper for     2     (appreciate).

As a form of Chinese literature, the couplet     3     (vary) in content and style. Some express people’s love to their motherland, some describe the beauty of nature,     4     some convey best wishes for the coming year.

Chinese couplets originated in the Five Dynasties, and since then they     5     (become) commonplace everywhere in China. It was the custom for people     6     (hang) peach wood charms to drive away evil spirits during the Spring Festival. Nowadays, couplets are used in a similar way.

It was said that the     7     (early) couplet was created by Meng Chang, king of Later Shu and it was     8     (wide) popular in the Northern Song Dynasty. At present, writing 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, and its opposite in the second line, is of a level tone.

There was a state     1     (call) Zhou (周) in the Chinese history. One day, the king of Zhou asked his officials for advice on     2     (deal) with prisoners of war. An official said, “If you love someone, you     3     (suppose) to love even the crows on the roof of his house. The prisoners of war are enemies fighting     4     us. In my opinion, we’d better kill them all.”

But the king didn’t agree with him. “I think we should treat the prisoners of war     5     (different) by differing them into those     6     are guilty or not. The guilty ones will be sentenced to death in order to avoid future disasters.”

Then another one said, “Your majesty, I think all the prisoners should be set free and sent back home to work in the fields and support     7     (them) by their own labor.     8     , you should keep strictly the rules for reward and     9     (punish). The people are sure to believe in you if you govern our country by morals and laws.”

The king thought the official’s proposal was quite reasonable so he accepted and followed it. As a result,     10     domestic situation soon settled down and gradually the country became stronger.

Among the many arts in China are the performing arts. Like paintings, sculptures, carvings and other physical arts, the performing arts in China have a long history. The performing arts range from martial arts like kung fu     1     folk songs and dances that vary by region and area.

The performing arts in China date back to ancient times     2     the tribes (部落) took control of the land long before the culture became well developed. As the country began to unify and change, the performing arts used elements of different tribes     3     (create) harmonious performances.

The performing arts     4    (find) in China have constantly grown, developed and changed while keeping elements of the original art.     5     (current), performing arts like singing, acting and the traditional Chinese Opera hold many elements. The elements     6     (discover) in folk songs and dances with a modern change that includes newer    7     (instrument) and techniques.

Chinese art has     8     unique aspect that sets it apart from other cultures. Because several generations spend lots of time     9     (develop) it, Chinese art has a developed and unique design that is a     10     (significance) part of the country’s history.

Archaeologists (考古学家) have found two shipwrecks (沉船) deep in the South China Sea, which serve as a witness to     1     (commerce) and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Along with the shipwrecks, pottery and porcelain (瓷器) have been found, most of     2     were produced in Jingdezhen, known as China’s “porcelain capital”. The locations of the shipwrecks were confirmed as a result of oceanographic detection and underwater investigation using manned submarines that dived 41 times this year.

The No. 1 shipwreck     3     (date) from the era of Emperor Zhengde (1506-1521) of the Ming Dynasty.    4    (base) on studies of the ship, archaeologists believe that it was travelling toward Malacca or another trade center in Southeast Asia. On the No. 2 shipwreck     5     (measure) about 21 meters long and 8 meters wide,     6     total of 36 artworks, including processed logs and porcelain, have been discovered.

This is one of the most important archaeological     7     (program) in South China Sea archaeology. The findings cast new light    8    the study of China’s porcelain-making history. The quality of Longquan porcelain was previously thought     9     (decline) in the late 15th century. However, the discovery of a large number of fine Longquan artworks in shipwreck No. 1     10     (lead) people to reconsider this idea so far.

A Stone Age bird sculpture uncovered in China could be a “missing link” in our understanding of prehistoric art. Dating back almost 13,500 years, the sculpture is now the oldest known example of three-dimensional art in East Asia.

Described     1     being in “an exceptional state of preservation,” the sculpture     2    (find) at an archeological site in Lingjing, Henan Province. It was hand-carved from burned animal bone. Researchers say the sculpture depicts (刻画) a bird on a base, pointing to deliberate marks     3     the creature’s eyes and bill (嘴) would be. It is believed that the bird’s oversized tail was made     4    (prevent) the sculpture from leaning forward when     5    (lay) on a surface. This discovery identifies a(n)     6    (origin) artistic tradition and pushes back by more than 8,500 years the representation of birds in Chinese art. The sculpture differs     7    (technologic) from other sculptures found in Western Europe and Siberia, and it could be the missing link     8    (trace) the origin of Chinese statues back to the early part of the Stone Age. Li Zhanyang, who led     9     study, has contributed to other archeological findings in Lingjing, including various ancient     10    (tool) and two skulls belonging to an extinct species of early humans.

When the Library Cave, known as Cave 17 from the Mogao Cave Complex at Dunhuang, China, was opened in 1900, several tons of manuscripts (手稿) scrolls, booklets and paintings on silk and paper were found literally stuffed into it. These     1     (extreme) valuable writings were collected between     2     9th and 10th centuries CE, by Tang and Song Dynasty Buddhist monks who carved out the cave and then filled it     3     ancient and current manuscripts on topics ranging from religion and philosophy, history and mathematics, to folk songs and dance.

Cave 17 is only one of the 735 human-made     4     (cave) called Mogao Grottoes,     5     were dug into a loess cliff about 15 miles southeast of the town of Dunhuang in Gansu Province. Dunhuang’s long and glorious history reflects     6     (it) significance as a center of     7     (culture) and religious exchange. These caves     8     (dig) and maintained by Buddhist monks from 366 CE and were sealed and hidden about a thousand years ago. It was not until 1900 that they were rediscovered.

The Dunhuang Academy was set up in China in the 1980s,     9     (aim) to collect and preserve the manuscripts; the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) was formed in 1994 to bring the international scholars together     10     (work) jointly on the collections. The IDP has put many of the documents, images and translations online.