Although the modern picnic     1    (believe) to be a concept originating in Europe in the 1700s, China’s version of such excursions (短途旅行), commonly known     2    “spring outings” or “stepping on the green”, can be traced back to at     3    (little) the Wei and Jin dynasties (220-420) when people went on excursions or held banquets (宴会) by the water     4    (celebrate) the Shangsi Festival on the third day of the third lunar month. Scholars would drink and compose     5    (poem) by streams.

The activity became more common among women as well in the Tang dynasty (618-907). A special picnic for women, often daughters of officials and rich families,     6    (emerge). As recorded in the book A History of the Tang Under Emperor Xuanzong’s Reign, groups of ladies would compete on the value and beauty of the flowers they wrote     7    (normal) between the two spring solar terms “The Beginning of Spring” and “Rain Water”.

In the Song dynasty (960-1279), the Qingming Festival     8     Tomb Sweeping Festival included traditions of the Shangsi Festival and the Cold Food Festival,     9     cold food was eaten. At that time, people had a seven-day holiday for the festival, and would not only pay respect to     10     dead, but also enjoy scenery, food, and drinks on spring excursions.

Recently, some 10th graders from my school held a series of Harry Potter-themed activities that brought many students’ dreams of magic to life, among     1     the cosplay show was the most interesting. Han Xinrui,     2     Harry Potter fan who cosplayed Hermione, said, “The     3     (prepare) was complicated but interesting. We edited clips of the characters we played from the     4     (origin) movies and projected them on the background for our performance. After numerous rehearsals, the actors put on their wizard robes and wigs,     5     (step) onto the stage and waved their hands, acting like     6     (superstar). Apart from the cosplay shows, the students     7     (encourage) to write out some famous quotes from the novels in beautiful handwriting. As one quote said, “It does not do well to be obsessed with dreams     8     forget to live. Working hard is important. But there is something     9     matters even more: believing     10     yourself.” These classic lines were inspiring to the students, encouraging them to keep looking ahead.

You might have noticed how everyone focuses on their gadgets (小装置) during family gatherings or staying with friends. As      1     result, the opportunity to improve your connection might be lost. However, here are some ways you and your friends can do and enjoy while      2     (take) a break from your gadgets.

Firstly, if you want to spend quality time     3     each other, all of you need to turn off your gadgets,     4     could be the first step you can do. Secondly, before the      5     (appear) of high-tech gadgets, a board game had always been the source of entertainment. So playing board games is an excellent starter    6     (settle) your thoughts and feelings. Thirdly, eating together is a chance to bond and relax. Bonding with your friends over food is a good way to make conversations,     7     (especial) during dinner. Finally, entertainment isn’t the only way to interact with your friends. While       8     is necessary to enjoy your get-together, you don’t know     9     your friends are going through, and making room for a heart-to-heart talk might be what they need.

Keep in mind that nothing    10     (beat) real conversations with your loved ones.

Leisure time (休闲时光) should be advocated. The main reason that leisure time is important is that it gives a person the balance     1     (need) to focus on his or her other more stressful, daily activities. Leisure time relieves     2     (sad) and stress and also improves one’s physical (身体的) and emotional health.

Taking time to do    3     (enjoy) leisure activities gives a person’s mind a rest from daily stress. Combining work     4     leisure time allows people to be more focused and efficient when working. In this sense, a company which emphasizes leisure time has a good prospect for growth. Physical leisure activities, apart from    5     (calm) the mind, also help keep the body healthy.

Quality leisure time is also vital because it has the ability     6     (improve) one’s communication skills and self-respect. By taking part in group leisure activities based    7    shared interests, such as book clubs, painting clubs or exercise groups, people can widen their circles of friends. Group activities can also benefit those    8     are shy.

Joining in all kinds of leisure activities is also    9    good role model for children. It helps to teach them about valuable life skills, such as    10     (social) acceptable behavior.

Since 2015, Shanghai Disney Resort (迪士尼度假区) has been carrying out monthly bird-watching activities in its Wishing Star Park. Over the past eight years, more than 120    1     (kind) of birds have been observed in this park. Such bird-watching activities have been held in Shanghai for more than 20 years. A team of hundreds of people    2     (regular) takes part in these activities. Many visitors also go to wetland parks in    3    they can take many pictures of birds.

Winter in Quebec, Canada is very different from that in England. When I first arrived, I was     1     (slight) worried about the winter. I couldn’t imagine     2     it would be like to have 3 metres of snow, and what on earth I was going to do when the weather was so bad. However, here, life goes on as usual. Trains and buses continue, and people socialise and even better.     3     number of new sports take over.

For me, skiing means downhill skiing, in ski resorts (度假胜地), with ski lifts taking you up the mountain. Before     4     (arrive), I did not know there were in fact different     5     (type) of skiing. Imagine a sunny but cold day, and you have taken a chairlift to the top of a mountain     6     (cover) with snow. An hour seems like a few minutes, as you carve your way down a run to the bottom, and then do it all again. It is my new favourite sport.

Ice skating on a frozen (结冰的) lake is another     7     (excite) sport for me. Once I could hardly stand on a pair of ice skates, but now I am able to make laps (圈) of the 3 km route on the lake,     8     is frozen during January and February.

Indeed having 3 metres of snow was a bit frightening. School     9     (cancel) once because of a big snowstorm, but I was     10     busy enjoying all these cool sports that winter finished too soon!

Good morning, and welcome to your tour of Bob and Betty’s Ice Cream Factory. Here you’ll learn a lot about how ice cream     1     (make)! Let’s begin.

In this room, cream will be taken out of our large refrigerators first. Then the cream     2     (put) into this machine. While the cream is mixing, sugar will be poured ( 倒 ) slowly into the cream by our ice cream makers.

Today we are making banana nut ice cream. Right now, different kinds of nuts are being chopped (切碎) in a large chopper. It’s a very expensive machine, but it chops nuts very quickly.

When the nuts and bananas are ready, they     3     (add) to the sugar and cream in a special machine that     4     (invent) by Betty a few years ago.

The ice cream     5     (keep) in a large cold room until it     6     (send) by trucks all over the country.

That is the end of our tour. Thank you for visiting our factory, and now we’d like to invite you to go to our tasting room, where our delicious ice cream can     7     (enjoy) by all our visitors.