Before the Tangshan Earthquake, Strange things    1    (happen) in the countryside. For several days, the water in the village wells     2       ( rise) and fell. There were deep cracks     3       appeared in the well walls. At least one well had some     4     (smell) gas coming out of it. Chickens and even pigs were too nervous     5     (eat), and dogs refused to go inside buildings.    6     (mouse)ran out of the fields looking for places to hide, and fish jumped out of the water. At about 3:00 a.m.,    7    28 July 1976, bright lights     8     (see) in the sky outside the city of Tangshan and loud noises were heard.       9       the city’s one million people were asleep as usual that night.     10       (fortunately), it led to a lot of people losing their lives.

Cold Food Festival is a    1     (tradition) Chinese holiday celebrated before Qingming Festival, which usually falls    2     April 4 or 5.

Legend has it that Chong’er, a prince of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period, experienced many hardships while he moved around the warring states. Once, when the prince suffered from     3     (starve), Jie Zitui, offered him food. Later, when Chong’er became the duke of Jin, he ordered a search for Jie who had gone into hiding in the remote mountains with his mother. The duke wanted Jie    4     ( serve) as one of his ministers. Contrary to    5     many people might assume, Jie, who preferred living a simple life in the Mianshan Mountain to     6     (become) a politician, refused the duke’s invitation. Chong’er ordered the mountain to be burned down to force Jie out of hiding.     7     (fortune), Jie did not give in and the fire ended up killing him and his mother. Feeling extremely sorry, Chong’er required that the setting of fire    8     (forbid) on the anniversary of Jie’s death. This meant all food was eaten cold. Therefore the festival is thus named.

Mianshan Mountain,     9     the tragedy happened, is now a famous tourist destination in Shanxi Province. In many areas of Shanxi, locals still remember this tradition.     10     cold food is not the only choice for people during the celebration, the practices of making typical cold dishes for the event have been preserved.

It was Sunday, December 7, 1941.     1     usual, the wake-up call came at 5: 45 a. m. It looked like it was going to be a normal day on board the ship. Just then there was a huge crashing sound from above. The ship shook     2     (violent) and the men looked at each other in horror. Above their heads, hundreds of Japanese planes circled like eagles. They were diving down to drop bombs on Pearl Harbor. Moments later, a bomb hit the uses Arizona.

The surprise attack came as a great shock to     3     whole nation. The next day, President Roosevelt made his famous Pearl Harbor Speech,     4     (ask) the US Congress to declare war on Japan. In     5     (respond) to the attack and the president’s address, the US     6     (join) World War II. Today, the uses Arizona lies     7     it sank: in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Its location     8     (mark) with a memorial shaped like a bridge, which crosses the ship’s sunken     9     (ruin). Although about eight decades years has passed, the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of the     10     (dark) episode in American history, will never be forgotten.

More than 2,000 years ago, the brave and hardworking people of Eurasia explored and opened up several routes of trade and     1     (culture) exchanges that linked the major civilizations of Asia, Europe and Africa,     2     (general) called the Silk Road by later generations. For thousands of years, the Silk Road spirit—“peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness(包容性), mutual learning and mutual benefit” —    3     (pass) from generation to generation. In the 21^st century, a new period is marked by     4     theme of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit. It is more important     5     us to carry on the Silk Road spirit in face of the weak     6     (recover) of the global economy, and complex international situations.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping     7     (visit) Central Asia in September 2013, he raised the idea of     8       (build) the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 218-Century Maritime Silk Road,     9     have attracted close attention from all over the world. The Belt and Road Initiative is a systematic project, whose goal is     10     (meet) the interests of all, and efforts should be made to combine the development strategies of the countries along the Belt and Road.

Code­named “Operation Overlord”， it was the     1     (large) combined sea, air and land operation in history, the aim being     2     (free) north­west Europe from German occupation. After waiting for the perfect     3     (combine) of weather, moon and tides, the date for the start of Operation Overlord     4     (set) for 6 June. With the commander’s order     5     (ring) in their ears, Allied soldiers prepared for what would become known as D­Day.     6     dawn on 6 June, thousands landed by parachute behind enemy lines in northern France. Meanwhile, thousands more were journeying across the English Channel to Normandy,     7     (protect) by fighter planes in the skies above them. The fiercest fighting was at Omaha Beach. Boats were hit and men drowned,     8     those who did make it to the beach faced heavy machine gunfire. But, despite the high cost in human life, the D­Day landings were     9     success and were seen     10     (wide) as the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

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.