1 . Chinese traditional painting and dance are two vital parts of the art world. But what about when they meet each other?

This year, a dance drama titled Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》) was staged on CCTV’ Spring Festival Gala and went viral.

According to CCTV, this poetic dance programme was inspired by the about 900-year-old Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains(《千里江山图》). Created by Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng at the age of 18, the painting is amazing in its marvellous size, rich coloration and the expressive details, reported CCTV. It shows a Chinese blue-green landscape: mountains and groupings of infinite rise and fall between cloudless sky and rippling water.

When the dancers moved elegantly, audiences seemed to be looking at the moving mountains and rivers. “It brings me a pure experience of beauty. It is not only dance but also an ‘exhibition’. Vast mountains and rivers are coming to life!” An Internet user Mo Weisha wrote in a review, “About a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still wow people as they did long ago.

Some people even decided to watch the dance again when it was staged in the theaters later. In fact, in recent years, more and more modern shows highlight Chinese traditional culture and have received warm welcome. As for why, it is due to people’s great love for traditional culture.

“The younger generations have grown up with a more open mindset. They embrace Chinese culture and are proud of it. ”Yao Wei, director of Henan TV Station’s Innovation Center, told China Daily.

Tap Dance is a special dance form. It     1     to the 1700s. The tap dancers make different     2     through their skills of footwork. In 1844, an African American dancer, William Henry Lane     3     the famous Irish American dancer, John Diamond, in a competition in New York. And this won him the     4     of the Champion Dancer of the World. And in today’s world, we have Michelle Dorrance. Dorrance is a     5     female tap dancer. She got her degree in art from the Gallatin School at New York University in 2001. After that, she has been a member of the Broadway Dance Center since 2002. During all these years, she has     6     many wonderful tap dance works. And she     7     drive the art of tap dance to a higher level. In SOUNDspace in 2011, she     8     the stage space by moving dancers in and out of view. The Blues Project in 2013 describes the history of blues.     9    , tap dance has become one of the most popular dances in the world. However, there are still some     10     about it...

One Direction was one of the most popular bands, and it     1    (make) up of five artists. After years of breaking records, the band started to slow down. In early 2015, it was announced on Facebook that Zayn Malik, one of the members, would be leaving the band. In his first interview after leaving the band, Zayn Malik said that the reason why he left was     2     it didn’t fit his style. And he said he “never    3     (true) spoke to Harry”, his former bandmate and that he had never been under the    4    (impress) they would keep in touch after Malik left the band. “Our relationships     5     (change) since we were in a band together, but I think that’s just life,” said Malik. This came as    6    surprise to fans because in the Facebook post announcing his departure, Malik wrote that he had “four friends for life”. In contrast to the typical pop music, Malik shared an R&B album in 2016 and his    7    (late) album Nobody Is Listening, in 2021.

    8     (speak) with Vogue UK, he referred    9    One Direction as a “machine”. He describes the band’s sudden rise to fame and busy touring plans by saying, “I wasn’t really ever able    10     (enjoy) the experience. The machine had gone too fast.”

6 . Music is not just a set of sounds and rhythms. Its influence on brain is much deeper than any other human experience. Keep on reading to know all these amazing power of music.

A recent study suggests that preterm (早产的) babies appear to experience less pain and feed more when listening to music. Experts led by Dr. Manoj Kumar of the University of Alberta,Canada,found that music had a beneficial effect on reducing pain for preterm babies experiencing painful medical tests. It also appeared to benefit full-term babies during operations.

Many people experiencing brain damage have speech and movement-related problems. Music can help recover from brain injuries. As a different and effective treatment, doctors often advise such patients to listen to good music to improve the parts of the brain responsible for these two functions. When people with neurological (神经的) disorders hear a musical beat, it helps them to regain a balanced walk.

Though music cannot make deafness disappear, it really can stave off the loss of hearing. There was an experiment involving 163 people where 74 were musicians. Participants were asked to pass some listening tests. Musicians heard the sounds better than non-musicians, and this difference gets clearer with age. This means that a 70-year-old musician hears better than a 50-year-old non-musician, even in a noisy environment.

Besides, music mends a broken heart. It is not about a thrown-away love,   but about a heart attack. The matter is that music can help people recover from a heart attack or heart operation by reducing blood pressure, slowing down the heartbeat rate, and reducing anxiety. Listening to the quality music produces positive emotions, improves the movement of blood, and expands blood vessels, thus, promoting quick recovery of the whole cardiovascular (心血管的) system.

The Chang’an ancient music, also known as Xi’an Guyue, dated from the Tang Dynasty. Initial, it was playing only for royal gatherings. And now, the music becomes popular among common people. It is a typical representative of Chinese tradition music. Its history is much more longer than the western symphony, that appeared in the 18th century. In a process of performing traditional Chang’an ancient music, all performer must keep all the tunes in mind. As more and more people fall in love the music, this ancient art is now injected(注入) with new life, attracts more and more audiences from China and abroad.

Yours,

Li Hua

10 . When I was 4 years old, my aunt put a pair of headphones around my ears one day. For the first time I listened to classical music. My first experience with it was ______. The moment she put those headphones on, I stopped everything and stared ______ out into the universe, ______ by what was going on between my ears.

______ her, I had an early enjoyable experience with classical music that ______ my life path. I started taking piano lessons and composing my pieces of music at 9. In high school I ______ a band with my best friends playing and recording music and it had become a huge part of my life and ______.

None of these, though, would have much story ______ without some complications. In college, I started ballroom dancing, and all of us began to pursue our individual life ______. Music took a ______ seat until one day in 2017.

It was a usual Sunday afternoon and I played a bit on the piano, but this time was a little ______. Somehow, something out of nowhere   ______ me and I was motivated for action. How could I have given up on music? I went online immediately to buy some such ______ as micophone stands, a mixer and some good microphones to start recording. The things you don’t do today will end up being the ______ of tomorrow.

So I started playing with ______, writing and posting my own pieces showing my inner thoughts online. In a few months, I had dozens of pieces published and my ______ was on fire.

As more people began to listen to my music, I got ______ feedback. They said my music made them think and relax. I told them that I could ______. For some it was even good sleep aid or a good way to ______ stress from a hard day at work. I began to realize that my music wasn’t just for me — it could heal and ______ others in a meaningful way.