A strong earthquake hit Tangshan, China on 28 July, 1976. The deadly quake broke out at 3:42 a.m.,     1     (cause) a lot of damage.

Soon after the quake, 150,000 soldiers     2     (send) to Tangshan to dig out those who were trapped and to bury the     3     (die). More than 10,000 doctors and nurses came     4     (provide) medical care. Workers built shelters for survivors     5     homes had been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. Water and food were brought into the city by train, truck, and plane.       6     (slow), the city began to breathe again.

Tangshan started to revive itself and get back up on its     7     (foot).     8     strong support from the government and tireless efforts of the city’s people, a new Tangshan was built upon the earthquake ruins.     9     new city has become a home to more than seven million people with great improvements in transportation, industry and environment. Tangshan city has proved to China and the rest of the world that in times of disaster, people must unify and show the     10     (wise) to stay positive and rebuild for a brighter future.

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He made seven historic voyages to Asia and Africa. Thanks to frequent friendly     1     (exchange) between China and foreign countries, Zheng He successfully     2     （promote）friendship between China and Southeast Asian countries to new heights. From 1403 to 1424, the number of envoys（使者）visit China a record 318 times,     3     average of 15 times a year.

Zheng He’s fleet traveled from the Western Pacific through the Indian Ocean to West Asia and the east coast of Africa,     4     （involve） three oceans and providing valuable records for the history of Chinese navigation（航海）. His voyages,     5     happened earlier than the Westerners’ Voyages of Discovery, came 87 years before Columbus, 92 years before Vasco da Gama, and 116 years before Magellan’s     6     （arrive） in the Philippines.

Sadly, many of the official Chinese records of these voyages were destroyed     7     his death. Zheng He’s rightful place in Chinese history     8     （confirm） by Deng Xiaoping in 1984. Following a more realistic evaluation of Zheng He’s achievements by scholars East and West, his standing as one of the     9     (great) maritime explorers of all time has at last been     10     (firm) recognized worldwide.

A terrible fire began to burn at France’s world-famous Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (巴黎圣母院)    1    the evening of April 15. Flames could be seen rising through the top of the monument.     2    (it) tall, narrow top later fell down. It took 15 hours for 400 French firefighters     3    (put) out the fire.     4    (fortunate), the main stone structure, including the two bell towers, has been saved, but there is little information on the condition of the cathedral’s glass windows and paintings.

Notre-Dame     5    (date) back to the 12th century. French writer Victor Hugo used it as the setting of his famous story, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,    6    was first published in 1831. Sitting in the center of Paris, along the Seine River, Notre-Dame is one of the world’s most famous tourist     7    (site). About 12 million people visit it each year.

One man said, “Notre-Dame     8    (destroy) but the soul of France was not.” French President Emmanuel Macron promised that Notre-Dame would be rebuilt and asked for worldwide help repairing it. Many countries offered assistance, because Notre-Dame is part of the     9     (culture) heritage of mankind and     10    symbol for Europe.