The Asian Games is the largest sporting event in Asia. Its predecessor (前身) was the Far Eastern Games. In 1948, Guru Dutt Sondhi, leader of Indian sports, felt the Far Eastern Games were not good enough     1     (reflect) the level of Asian sports and the unity spirit of Asian people, and suggested     2     (establish) the Asian Games so that all Asian countries could participate.

The 19th Asian Games was held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, 2023,     3     12,417 athletes from all 45 Asian countries and regions participating. Several rising sports     4     are popular among young people made their first     5     (appear) at this year’s Games, such as break dance and e-sports. After a 13-year absence     6     it first appeared at the Guangzhou Games in 2010, Weiqi,     7     mind sport, returned to the Hangzhou Games. Certain     8     (region) sports in Asia, especially dragon boat racing, though not     9     (recognize) as Olympic sports,     10     (be) medal-awarded events at this Asian Games.

The Hangzhou Asian Games served as not just a platform for Asian athletes    1    (compete) in sports, but also a crucial stage to present the cultural     2    (diverse) of Asian nations.

“The Hangzhou Asian Games provided    3    unique opportunity for people from 45 countries and regions to come together.” Yasuhiro Inomata said.

“This holds significant importance in promoting intercultural exchanges, as well as developing peace regionally and    4     (globe),”Inomata added.

“The massive scale of this year’s Asian Games not only reflects the development         5    (achievement) in sports throughout Asia, but also     6     ( symbolize) the unity of Asian people,” Raja Randhir Sing said, noting that the Hangzhou Asian Games presents a positive image of the mutual love and friendship    7     (share) by Asian people.

“     8    spectators, we felt that the message of unity and love was not just words but a feeling that reminded us that, despite our differences, we are all interconnected and    9    (harmony) like one big family,” Kharaz, a reporter from Palestine, said.

“The Asian Games are an important platform    10    diverse traditions and cultures met,” Samir al-Musawi, head of the Iraqi delegation to Hangzhou, said to Xinhua.

The Centuries-old Chinese Go (围棋)

One might mistake the game for a complicated match of checkers (跳棋) with its alternating black and white pieces. But Go dates farther back than checkers and even chess, first     1     (invent) in China over 3,000 years ago, where it remains widely popular. It’s believed to be one of the     2     (old) board games in the world. “If chess is a game, Go is a war.” Go lovers from other countries say, “Every move has its possible effect all over the place. There are battles     3     (go) on everywhere.”

Go’s rules can     4     (demonstrate) quickly and grasped easily. The game is enjoyably played over     5     wide range of skills. Each level of play has its charms, rewards and     6     (discovery). An early mistake can be made up, used to advantage, or reversed as the game     7     (progress). There is no simple procedure to turn a clear lead     8     a victory- only continued good play. The game rewards patience and balance over aggression and greed.

Go combines beauty and intellectual challenge. The patterns formed by the black and white stones are     9     (visual) striking. When played well, Go is a beautiful art     10     black and white dance in delicate balance across the board.

Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Rosario, Argentina, Lionel Messi always dreamed     1     becoming a World Cup champion. Now, he has achieved this.

On Dec 18, Argentina     2    (defeat) France in the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This victory has helped Argentina win     3    (other) World Cup after their last win in 1986. For a long time, Messi     4    (compare) with Maradona, an Argentina soccer legend.

With excellent skills and great accomplishments, these two players are both considered the     5    (great) players in their era. Maradona succeeded in helping his team lift the trophy in the World Cup. Yet, Messi hadn’t before.

Messi has won many honors, including FIFA World Players of the Year. While he led the   Argentina team     6    (take) part in World CuIp four times before, his team’s best result was     7    (mere) runner-up in the 2014 Brazil World Cup. Many Argentine fans felt disappointed and even suspected Messi didn’t want to win     8     World Cup for his country.

But now, all rumors are cleared away. With his     9    (persevere) and skills, the 35-year-old Messi completed the sport of soccer by winning the final trophy     10     still excited him.

The awards ceremony for China’s Amazing Decade: My Story, a contest open to non-Chinese to share their stories about the nation over the past 10 years,    1    (hold) on Thursday in Beijing. A total of 60 works received awards at the event jointly     2    (organize) by China Daily and Bank of China.

The ceremony also saw the launch of the book My China Story: China in the Eyes of Foreign Youth, a compilation (汇编) of 27 essays     3    both English and Chinese from the contest in 2021, by authors from 18 countries.

Liu Weiling, editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the event showcased the great changes in the new age and the achievements of Chinese modernization over the past decade, presenting a     4    (rely), admirable and respectable image of China. “The authors are     5    (witness) and recorders of China’s development in the newer a,    6    quite a few of them are also participants in development over the past decade. When they take the vivid stories and experiences back to    7    (they) home countries, it will benefit the people of those countries and promote cultural exchanges,” he said.

Chang Cai,    8    Australian visiting scholar at Nanjing Agricultural University     9    received second prize in the contest, shared her story of participating in a veterinary epidemiology (兽医流行病学) training project in China,    10    (involve) tens of thousands of veterinary officials and academics from more than 30 universities.

Although failing    1     (qualify) for the FIFA World Cup finals soccer tournament in Qatar, China made a huge contribution to the     2     (large) global sporting event in the world.

China-built stadiums, roads and many other Made-in-China products have won praise    3     many fans and potential customers.

In recent months, Luo Yang, a sales manager at the overseas business unit of Higer Bus Co, a bus and truck maker    4     (base) in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, has kept a close eye on the 1, 815 buses that the company    5     (sell) to Qatar last year.

These vehicles operated shuttle services for the thousands of fans, officials and journalists from different countries during the tournament,     6     was staged from Nov 20 to Dec 18.

“After the World Cup, the buses will be used to take children to and from school,” Luo said,     7     (add) that child monitoring systems in the vehicles will give a signal when a bus arrives at its destination. The driver then moves through the vehicle to ensure the children leave     8     (safe), before pressing a button to turn off the sound.

    9     wide range of Chinese items were available at the tournament, including key rings, horns, flags, clothing and shoes from Yiwu, Zhejiang, and Jinjiang, Fujian province, as well as fireworks from Liuyang, Hunan province.

Market observers said the     10     (abundant) of such products is due to China’s industrial upgrading boom, well-developed supply chains, and green transformation.

Figure skating     1     (come) a long way since its beginning. Back in the 18^th century in the UK, the sport was popular among the people in the highest social class.     2     (gradual), more skating enthusiasts from Germany, the United States and Canada     3     (follow) suit. In the 1860s, Jackson Haines,     4     US ballet dancer and skater, used more artistic moves to make the sport less formal, earning him the title of “the father of modern figure skating”.

Skaters wearing eye-catching trousers, tights or skirts perform     5     (vary) movements. Skaters can compete     6     individuals, pairs or groups. Skaters need to complete two components; short program and free skate.

Figure skating requires the athletes to focus on both technical and performance     7     (aspect) of skating. “A really good skater needs to be able to look effortless when they perform their elements. Without     8     (strong), courage and years of practice, it’s really hard     9     (achieve) that goal and make an emotional connection with audience.” Olympic gold medalist and US retired skater Scott Hamilton told CNN. “And that’s     10     I liked about it.”

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games started on July 23rd, 2021 and ran to August 8th     1     being postponed for a year because of the pandemic.     2     (appoint) to march into the opening ceremony as 110th among the delegations, Team China was led by two flag-bearers-women's volleyball star Zhu Ting and reigning men's taekwondo (跆拳道) Champion Zhao Shuai. There were no spectators during the opening ceremony in an effort     3     (prevent) the spread of the coronavirus infections. Fewer     4     (athlete) attended the ceremony because many were not allowed to stay for the entire Games due to COVID-19 restrictions.

China's Olympic athletes have done well, some of     5     were born after 2000. Chinese athlete Yang Qian claimed     6     first gold medal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a victory in women's 10m air rifle (气步枪) on July 24th. This was also the first gold medal for Team China. Teenage diver Quan Hongchan set the women's 10-meter platform final alight on August 5th when she     7     (score) perfect 10s in three of her five dives to win the gold medal.

Team China     8     （eventual）bagged a total of 88 medals at Tokyo Olympic Games including 38 golds, 32 silvers and 18bronzes,     9     (rank) 2nd on the final medal count. The number of gold medals was also the best achieved by Chinese delegation     10     overseas Olympics, on par with (与……不相上下) London Games in 2012.

How Much Is an Olympic Gold Medal Worth?

If the International Olympic Committee still gave solid gold medals to first place finishers, medals would be pretty     1     (value). But after the 1912 Games, they made the switch to silver medals coated in gold.

The gold medals for the Tokyo Olympics,     2     (create) by the Japanese designer Junichi Kawanishi, consist of about 6 grams of gold atop about 550 grams of pure silver.     3     gold and silver rates, like stock prices, fluctuate(波动) pretty     4     (frequent), the value of the medal isn’t exactly static(不变的). But in general, it’s hovering(徘徊) somewhere above $800. A silver medal, which     5     (make) up of 550 grams of pure silver, comes in at $462; and bronze medals, mostly copper and a little zinc, are worth just a few bucks.

But Olympic gold medals have value beyond the sum of their parts, and plenty of     6     (athlete) have hocked(典当) them for much more than $800 or so. Mark Wells,     7     member of the “Miracle on Ice” US hockey team of 1980,     8     (sell) his to a private collector,     9     auctioned (拍卖) it off for nearly $311,000 in 2010. Wells’s teammate, Mark Pavelich, made $262,900 off his own medal four years later.

Others end up in the auction circuit long after the original     10     (own) are gone. In 2013, for example, one of Jesse Owens’s gold medals from the 1936 Berlin Olympics sold for about $1.47 million.