UN Chinese Language Day is celebrated annually on April 20. The event was set     1     by the UN Department of Public Information in order to get equal use of all six of     2     (it) official working language throughout the organization.

The first Chinese Language Day was celebrated in 2010 on the 12th of November. But since 2011,     3     date has been the 20th of April. It’s because Chinese Guyu is the 6th of 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendar, usually just     4     (begin) around the date, April 20. Each year they will celebrate Guyu in memory of one of the     5     (famous) people: Cangjie, who was believed to create Chinese characters. There’s a story that when Cangjie     6     (create) Chinese characters, it rained millet (粟); Guyu in some way means “rain of millet”.

    7     (help) people learn about Chinese characters based on symbols, the Chinese Language Day for 2021 was especially organized. In the building of the UN in New York, three events which were organized by an organization connected to the UN, focused on three types of Chinese characters based on symbols. The three events were a     8     (guide) tour of the Liangzhu Museum, a language class on Dongba words, and a lecture on the history of Chinese characters,     9     were held from April 19 to 21, 2021.

Chinese was allowed to be an official language of the United Nations in 1946. However, in the early years, Chinese was not commonly used in the work of the United Nations. The situation improved after the     10     (restore) of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations in 1971. Then Chinese was included as a working language. Then more and more UN offices and work members work with the Chinese language.

6 . Soccer, known as football in most of the world, is one of the most popular sports today. Let’s explore its history and how it developed and spread over the years.

It is said that the history of soccer dates back as far as 2500 B. C. in London. In China, the most relevant (相关的) is the Chinese game of Tsu’ Chu (Cuju) . Records of the game began during the Han Dynasty (206B. C. — 220A. D.) and it may have been a training exercise for soldiers. Players kicked a small ball into a net between two bamboo poles. The use of hands was not allowed, but a player could use his feet and other parts of his body.

The modern shape of soccer was formed at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1848, the “Cambridge Rules” were founded at Cambridge University. After they graduated, adult football clubs became more common, players could continue to play the ball.

The Football Association (FA) was created on October 26, 1863. Over the years, more clubs joined the FA until the number reached 128 by 1887. In 1872, the first Football Association Cup was played in London. Other associations were formed, including the Football League in1888 in the north and midlands of the country, and the first championship league games were played.

It did not take long for other European countries to accept the British love for soccer. Leagues began popping up throughout the world: the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889, Argentina in 1893, Chile in 1895, Switzerland and Belgium in 1895, Italy in 1898, Germany and Uruguay in 1900, Hungary in 1901, and Finland in 1907. It was not until 1903 that France formed their league.

In 1930, the first-ever FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay. There were 41 members of FIFA at that time. Today it has over 200 members and the World Cup is one of the biggest events of the year.

Most of us have recently experienced quarantine (隔离) to minimize the risk of meeting somebody who may be carrying the virus. It is certain    1    being under quarantine is no fun. However, with our access to food,    2     (deliver) services and the entertainment    3     (offer) by the internet, we’re actually very lucky. Let’s take a quick look at the history of quarantines.

The idea of quarantining sick people dates    4    ancient times.    5    the word “quarantine” first came into use in the 14th century Europe during the Black Death. People were dropping like flies from the mysterious disease, and as the death toll climbed into the millions—killing approximately half of the European population, cities began to take    6    (measure) to protect their citizens. The port city of Venice, Italy, was an important trading center with ships    7    (come) from all corners of the Earth every day. If a ship    8     (suspect) to be harboring the plague (瘟疫), it was sent to an offshore quarantine and ordered to wait there for 40 days when those abroad either recovered, or    9    (likely), died. The waiting period gave rise to    10    term quarantinario, from the Italian word for 40.

8 . From early times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world’s art treasures.

Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries. It is the biggest art museum in the world.

The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a castle. In 1190, it was the king’s castle with high wails and a round tower. It had a river to keep out the enemies.

Over the years, the number of the buildings around the castle grew. By 1350, the castle no longer needed to be extended. The Louvre became a palace home for French kings and queens.

During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During the days of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings, were damaged.

When Francis I became king of France in 1515, he brought in many artists from other countries. One of the artists was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy. Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is the best-known painting in the museum today.

In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures are kept for everyone to enjoy, every year millions of people from all over the world come to the Louvre to see the masterpieces.

10 . Every so often, a Chinese fashion symbol unknowingly turned the fashion landscape upside down. This time, we unearth the imperial tomb of China’s Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧) (1835-1908) and find her great passion for luxurious nails.

Ancient Chinese nobles started growing long nails during the Warring States Period to show that they weren’t manual laborers (体力劳动者), but it wasn’t until the Ming Dynasty that long nails and nail guards became an important symbol of material prosperity. And the trend reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty, with Cixi as its poster woman. Cixi nurtured a nail length of roughly 20 cm on her ring and pinky fingers (小拇指) and took care of them in gem-laden (镶满宝石), colorful nail guards. During the day, Cixi usually wore nail guards made of gold or silver. According to the memoirs of her maid, before bed, she would switch them into nail pockets made of bright yellow satin (缎子), probably in a motherly manner similar to covering her nail babies into their sleeping bags.

The origins of nail guards began in the Han Dynasty more than 1000 years prior to their mainstream glory. At that time, they weren’t particularly decorative. It wasn’t until the Qing Dynasty that they became as expensive and delicate as people today know them to have been. Common design patterns included plants, flowers, and calligraphy art. Cixi, on the other hand, had unique rights to dragon and phoenix (凤凰) carvings on her nail guards. Needless to say, she didn’t skimp on exercising these rights.

Long nails may no longer be front and center on the fashion stage today. Yet the period drama series like Empresses in the Palace 《甄嬛传》 (2012), Ruyi’ Royal Love in the Palace (2018), and Story of Yanxi Palace (2018) brought in the popularity of the Morandi color palette (莫兰迪调色盘) in China’s nail art circle. Inspired by Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, the manicure (美甲) industry today also adopts a more softened color scheme that gives off a feeling of balance and elegance.