The lion dance is a traditional Chinese dance performed on big occasions for good luck and prosperity, as     1     is believed that the lion symbolizes power and wisdom. Also, the lion dance is a way     2     (create) a festive atmosphere and bring happiness.

Chinese lion dances     3     (perform) by two “dancers” in a lion costume. Accompanied by the music of beating drums, lion dancers imitate a lion’s various movements or demonstrate martial arts’ agility (敏捷) ,     4     (depend) on the style.

Before the Han Dynasty, only a few lions had reached the Central Plains from the western area of ancient China due to the Silk Road trade. At that time, people imitated the     5     (appear) and actions of the newly arrived lions in a performance,     6     developed into the lion dance in the Three Kingdoms period and then became popular     7     the rise of Buddhism. In the Tang Dynasty, the lion dance was one of the court dances. After that, the lion dance became a custom during the Spring Festival.

The lion dance is     8     excellent example of Chinese folk culture, which has spread across the world with Chinese immigration. Up to now, overseas Chinese in Europe, America, etc.     9     (establish) many lion dance clubs, performing on Chinese festivals or big occasions,     10     (particular) Chinese New Year.

The Guqin, also called Qixianqin, is a seven-stringed Chinese instrument with a history of more than 3000 years. The first character, GU, which means ancient,     1     (add) for classification later on. It has always been viewed as the most popular cultural activity     2     was practiced by rich people in ancient China.

    3     the four honored and cultured skills, Guqin, Chess, Calligraphy and Painting, the Guqin was considered     4     (graceful). Its beautiful melodies helped keep a peaceful mind. The Guqin has a     5     (various) of shapes and types, mainly     6     (tell) apart according to the shape of the body, neck and waist of the instrument. The musical notation (谱) for the Guqin, known as the Jianzi Pu, was created by Cao Rou,     7     Guqin master at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The musical tune of the Guqin is not only beautiful, but also often has a moving story behind it.

In traditional Guqin notations, there is usually an article written     8     (introduce) the story and artistic idea of the piece. It helps musicians better understand the feeling behind the music,     9     (enable) them to play it with the right expression. One of the most famous Guqin songs — “High Mountains and Flowing Water” — tells the story of two true friends Boya and Zhong Ziqi, from which the word “zhī yīn”, meaning a close friend,     10     (original) comes.

4 . Suno stands out by offering full songs custom-tailored choices, making music creation simple and fun for everyone. It’s a glimpse into the future of music, where AI and humans together bring new sounds to life. Here’s how it works:

*Just type in the description for your song. You can mention the style, feel, instruments, speed and what the song is about. The main thing to remember is that you can’t ask Suno to create something in the style of a particular artist.

AI Composition

*Based on your description, Suno’s AI comes up with a song that has everything: melody, chords, beats, instruments, and even singing.

Downloading and Sharing

*You can download the songs as MP3s, which means you can listen to them anywhere or share them with friends.

*You get a maximum of 50 credits per day, which is enough for ten songs with a free account but you can’t use the songs commercially.

Paid Subscriptions (订阅)

*The Pro plan is $8 a month for 500 songs a day.

*The Premier plan is $24 a month for 2,000 songs a day.

*You can use the songs on YouTube or even uploading them to Spotify or Apple Music.

Copyright and Ownership

You own the songs produced using Suno, as long as you’re its Pro or Premier users. If you’re a free user, Suno says it continues to have ownership of the songs.

But this is different from copyright ownership. As Suno’s FAQ section says: “the availability and scope of copyright protection for content generated using artificial intelligence is a complex and dynamic area of law, which is rapidly developing and varies among countries”.

8 . Is there a friend of yours who always sings out of tune (曲调) but never realizes it? Don’t be so hard on them — they may have amusia — the inability to tell the difference in tunes.

Apart from singing out of tune, people with amusia may also find it hard to recognize music they’ve heard before without the help of song lyrics. Besides, people who suffer from Amusia can have difficulty in recognizing melodies and a total inability to tell between different musical sounds, according to Live Science. However, people with amusia can recognize common environmental sounds as well as the high and lows sounds in human voices, meaning that this inability can be specially related to music.

In many cases, people who have amusia are born with it, as 46 percent of these individuals’ family members were found to have similar conditions, according to a 2017 study. Brain imaging shows that their brains receive and respond to music pitch (音高) information, but it is not reaching conscious awareness, meaning that the mind can’t understand the information.

Scientists at the University of Otago in New Zealand also think that amusia is related to people’s special processing skills. They invited people with amusia, musicians and students from non-musical backgrounds to perform a task related to spacial imagination. They were asked to decide whether pairs of images are the same object moving around or mirror images.

The result showed that the amusia group made more mistakes than the other two groups. Amusia might be related to the way brain stores information about the high and low sounds in songs, according to the study.

Although those who aren’t confident about their singing skills often say they’re “tune-deaf”, people with amusia only make up about 1.5 percent of the population, as shown in the 2017 study. “Like dyslexics (诵读困难者) can learn how to read, those with amusia should be able to better their ability to recognize tunes if they start early enough,” Isabelle Peretz, a professor of psychology from the University of Montreal in Canada, told Live Science.

9 . It was a warm evening in August in 1995. Robert Blocker was driving to Yale University after being appointed as the university’s Dean (院长) of Music. He didn’t expect to see many people, but a couple of students met him and showed him around.

“When I looked at the history of the university and how people are devoted to the school’s art programs, I was honored by the chance to work there. I could not wait for the next day to start my job. And that excitement never changed because every day was different. My job as dean was not scheduled. I walked around the campus and students talked to me. I went to rehearsals (排演) by the students and teachers and got inspired by them,” he adds.

After nearly three decades as the Dean of Music at Yale, the 77-year-old retired from the position on Aug 31. Also an expert pianist, he remains a professor of piano at the music school, as well as professor of leadership strategies at Yale School of Management. Among his countless contributions as dean, Blocker developed long-term relationships with fellow musicians in China. He once toured cities, including Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hangzhou, giving lectures to the youngsters.

“China is a very special place for me. I am very happy to be back after the pandemic (疫情) to meet my friends and colleagues,” Blocker says, adding that he is particularly excited about being with young students.

Yang Suxian, director of the Shenzhen Piano Music Festival, says, “He has been very supportive and has participated in the Shenzhen Piano Music Festival for years, even during the pandemic.”

Blocker’s vision of a more hopeful world is reflected in his belief that music bridges the understanding between people.

“Music brings hope. People may speak different languages and have different ideas but music speaks to each other’s heart, and that’s why we keep this work going on and why the work never ends,” he says, “Our job is to let music heal the world by allowing us to understand and find a common place in our hearts.”