2 . Once popular sports in ancient capital Xi’an

As the capital of 13 dynasties throughout Chinese history, Xi’an has never been far from sports.

Cuju: Origin of modern soccer

Cuju first appeared in the anetent Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce, which described cuju as a form of entertainment. Later, cuju was played in the army for military training purposes. The earliest record of women cuju players can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. Cuju was listed into China’s intangible cultural heritages in 2006.

Jiaodi: Chinese-style wrestlíng

Sumo,   known as Japan’s “national sport”, actually originated in ancient China. Sumo was called jiaodi in ancient times. Jiaodi was performed by athletes wearing ox horns and wrestling with each other. In the Tang Dynasty, jiaodi was part of military training and a kind of entertainment and athletic sports.

Jiju: Ancient polo

Jiju is a sport which uses a stick to hit balls while riding on a horse, pretty similar to modern polo. It was popular in the Tang Dynasty. And it was also a major military training program in the army. There is a famous painting unearthed in a prince tomb in Shanxi province in 1971, which shows more than 20 men riding on horses playing polo.

Archery

The origin of archery was closely related with hunting and defense. Ancient archery was not only an athletic event and a military training program, but also part of education. In Zhou Dynasty, the archery was listed as one of the Six Arts. During the Tang Dynasty, archery was an important part of the Wuju Imperial Examinations, and five kinds of archery skills would be tested, including on-horse shot and flat shot.

5 . A fresh and gentle wind on your face, soft sand under your feet and blue waters as far as the eye can see. Is there any other Olympic sport that is played in such pleasant conditions as beach volleyball？

“I’ve gone to a lot of beautiful places, and met a lot of beautiful people. That wouldn’t have happened if I had been playing another sport.” said Randy Stoklos, America’s most famous beach volleyball player.

The sport began as a four-a-side game on beaches in Southern California in the 1920s. The first recorded two-man game took place there in 1930, and the first tournament (锦标赛) was held in Los Angeles 18 years later. The winners were awarded a case of Pepsi. In the 1950s, women started playing and the sport soon spread to Europe and South America. Yet at that time, beach volleyball was more an entertainment show than a sport, with beauty contests included. The Association of Volleyball Professionals was founded in 1983 and beach volleyball developed into a fast, athletic sport. Its world-wide popularity won beach volleyball a place at the 1996 Olympics in Atalanta, where 24 male teams and 16 female teams took part. At present, the US and Brazil are the best in the world at beach volleyball.

The game came to China in the early 1990s and there have been national tournaments since 1994. It became an official event at the Eighth National Games in 1997. China’s You Wenhui and Wang Lu finished ninth in the women’s beach volleyball world championships in Brazil.

The United Kingdom has a long and     1    (interest) history to explore,     2     can help you understand much more about the country and its traditions. Almost everywhere you go in the UK, you     3         (surround) by evidence of four different groups of people who took     4     at different times throughout history. The first group, the Romans, came in the first century. Some of     5    (they) great achievements included building towns and roads. Next, the Anglo-Saxons arrived in the fifth century. They introduced the beginnings of the English language, and changed     6     way people built houses. The Vikings came in the eighth century and     7    (leave) behind lots of new vocabulary, and also the names of many     8    (locate) across the UK. The last group were the Normans. They conquered England after the well-known Battle of Hastings in the 11th century. They had castles     9    (build) all around England, and made changes to the legal system. The Normans were French, so many French words     10    (slow) entered into the English language.

The Silk Road is in fact a relatively recent term. These ancient roads had no particular name until in the mid-19th century, a European    1    (name) the trade and communication network the Silk Road. Since then the term    2    (accept) globally.

In the nineteenth century, a new type of travellers stepped onto the Silk Road, who were eager    3    (look) for adventure. Researchers who came from many countries travelled through the Taklamakan Desert,    4    is now in Xinjiang, to explore ancient sites along the Silk Road,    5    (lead) to many discoveries and studies, and most of all, a renewed interest    6    the history of these routes.

Today, many historic     7    (building) and monuments still stand, marking the passage of the Silk Road through hotels, ports and cities. What's more, the remarkable network is reflected in    8    large number of cultures, languages, customs and religions that have developed for many years along these routes. The passage of merchants and travellers of many    9     (difference) nationalities resulted not only in commercial exchange, but in a widespread and continual process of cultural interaction.    10    ( obvious) , it has become a driving force in the formation (形成) of diverse societies.

10 . In 1823, a young woman noticed a strange fossil (化石) on a beach near Lyme Regis, England. She dug out the bones and had them carried to her home.She carefully arranged the skeleton(骨架) on a table. Then she saw something extraordinary. The creature’s neck was a meter long-more than half the length of its body. It was unlike any animal living on Earth.

Even at a young age, Mary Anning had a talent for spotting unusual fossils. Her father died in 1810, leaving her family in.debt, so Mary began selling her fossils to collectors. At 12, she made her first major discovery—a crocodile-like skull(头骨) with a long skeleton. It turned out to be a sea creature that lived long ago. Named ichthyosaur, or “fish-lizard”, it was the first extinct animal known to science.

Fossil hunting brought in money, but it was a dangerous job. One day, a rock fall killed her dog and almost buried Mary. Despite the dangers, she continued to look for mew finds The long-necked fossil she unearthed in 1823 was another long-dead sea reptile(爬行动物). Known as a plesiosaur, it would inspire legends—including that of the Loch Ness Monster.

Mary was not only a skilled fossil hunter; she also carefully examined and recorded her finds. However, she wasn’t widely recognized in the scientific community. Only one of her scientific writings got published in her lifetime, in 1839. She was also not allowed to join London’s Geological Society, as membership was only available to men.

Mary Anning died in 1847, but her contributions have not been forgotten. Her finds are now displayed in museums in London and Paris. The beach near her home is a UNFSCO World Heritage Site, known as the Jurassic Coast. Her life continues to inspire visitors hoping to find their own fossil wonders. According to Britain’s Natural History Museum, Mary Anning was “the greatest fossil hunter the world has ever known”.