Delicate, lustrous (光亮的), and soft to touch. The ethereal fabric we now call silk has threaded its way throughout China’s history.

One cannot be certain of its origin, but the ancient Chinese people credited their own wisdom to Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor (the legendary ancestor of all Chinese people), as     1     inventor of sericulture (养蚕).

Like almost all genres of art on the vast land of China, the style and texture of silk     2    (be) also multifarious. Hangluo satin from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, is well known     3     its airy and sheer texture, while Yunjin brocade (凸花纹织物) from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, a luxurious fabric often     4    (use) for royal garments, represents China’s silk weaving technique at its prime.

Yunjin brocade     5    (make) by hand on giant looms (织布机), in a complex procedure     6     comprises more than a hundred steps. Even the most skilled artisans can only weave a few centimeters a day. Time, patience and deftness all play necessary roles to its heavenly beauty or as its name suggests, its cloud-like splendor.

In the Western Han Dynasty, with diplomat and explorer Zhang Qian     7    (open) up the routes to the western regions, silk graced many     8    (country) in Central Asia, later extending its reach to other parts of Eurasia and beyond. Fittingly, its name marked China’s major international trade routes, the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.

In the hands of Chinese artists, the     9    (thin) threads can weave pictures of immense possibilities, and the softest material can go through thousands of years. As one of the many marvels of ancient China, silk is not     10     (mere) a type of textile. It is a cultural icon, and a symbol of elegance and grace.

Wing Chun Kung Fu (咏春拳) is     1     excellent hobby for children and assuring (令人放心的) for parents concerned about their safety. It is easy to learn and     2       (huge) practical. It offers smaller people the ability to overcome larger attackers because the movements     3       (base) on skill rather than size or strength.

The International Wing Chun Academy     4     (train) children in Australia since 1973. Our Little Dragons classes for children     5     (age) from five to thirteen are safe and fun. Children can quickly learn the skills to notice and avoid dangerous situations when     6     can find no one for help.     7       the Academy’s aims, to teach children how to escape from a threatening situation without using violence is the most important one.

Wing Chun Kung Fu helps build the confidence of     8    (pupil) and helps build character,     9     makes it an ideal interest for shy children. Learning Wing Chun Kung Fu is a     10       (positive) step on the road to a healthy and active lifestyle than other forms of exercise.

A comforting cup of tea is     1     essential part of the day for hundreds of millions of people around the globe. Worldwide, three cups of tea     2     (consume) for every cup of coffee. To fully appreciate the ancient roots of the herbal drink, a visit to the China National Tea Museum might be in order. The institution has a long history.

    3     (locate) in Hangzhou, the museum occupies a parklike setting. Inside, various halls demonstrate the story of tea, its ceremonies and its tools. Records of tea drinking date     4     far back as the tenth century B. C. in China.     5     (origin) the leaves were baked into a brick, a part of     6     could be broken off and made into a powder. Tea spread into northern China during the Tang Dynasty; by the Song Dynasty it     7     (acquire) a loose-leaf production as well as the ceremonies that made     8     (it) consumption an art form.

The art of tea extended to its fancy     9     (contain), which are on display at the museum. Gracefully rounded kettles date back 5,000 years; tea bowls from the Tang Dynasty have a beautiful simplicity. Today visitors can observe a tea ceremony that might be enough    10     (change) even the most passionate coffee drinker.

Confucianism (儒家思想),     1     (develop) from thoughts by Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period, is a philosophical system which has become     2     important part of Chinese culture. It was first set up by Confucius (551–479 BC) and later was developed by philosophers, including Mencius, Dong Zhongshu, Wang Yangming and others.

Confucianism means a lot not only to China, but also to the world. In 1988, 75 Nobel prizewinners said that     3     mankind is to survive, it must go back 25 centuries in time to tap the wisdom of Confucius. Today, sentences from Confucianism     4     (hear) frequently in speeches or talks given by famous foreign people. Besides, people around the globe can have access     5     Confucius ideas in Confucius Institutes and Chinese Culture Centers abroad     6     (free). The institutes and centers serve as non-profit public institutions to help foreigners better understand China     7     before through language teaching and culture introduction.

So far China     8     (found) 465 Confucius Institutes in 123 countries and regions. There are also 713 Confucius classrooms operating in middle and primary schools.   What’s more, Chinese Culture Centers in Cairo, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and Denmark, to name a few, are introducing China by holding cultural     9     (activity), opening training classes, and     10     (build) libraries.

Pottery (陶器) may be the oldest artwork of human beings. As far back as more than 8,000 years ago, people in China first made pottery by mixing clay (黏土) with water     1     baking it until it held     2     shape. Ancient people used pottery to create various vessels and tools     3     (improve) the quality of life.

As time passed, the technique became perfect. Different kinds of pottery appeared in different times and     4     (region). For example, during the Tang Dynasty people made pottery by adding various metallic oxide (金属氧化物) and baking it at a low temperature. The pottery would appear to be light yellow, reddish brown and light green.     5     (prefer) by many foreigners, the tricolored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty (唐三彩) had been transported all over     6     world.

Purple clay pottery won a great reputation for the next hundreds of years. As early as the Song Dynasty, people     7     (find) that purple clay teapots looked much     8     (grace) than those of other materials. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people     9     liked drinking tea held firm to the     10     (believe) that tea in the purple clay pot smelled better and could retain (保留) the original quality.

China’s Explosive Artist

Cai Guoqiang’s practice spans from, gunpowder drawings to ephemeral sculptures and monumental installations, all of     1     are rich with references to Chinese history, Taoist cosmology and current political events. Cai deals with the latter in a spectacular installation for I Want to Believe, his 2008 retrospective in New York, from the centre of the Guggenheim rotunda the artist—a     2     (train) set designer, by the way—suspended Inopportune: Stage One (2004), consisting of a series of nine cars     3     (hover) in mid air to represent in cinematic progression the effect of a car bomb.

Since the 1980s, Cai has been working on drawings realized by     4     (ignite) explosive powder on large sheets of paper. These works possess an aura     5     evokes both the vivid gestures of abstract expressionism and the quieter surfaces of Chinese traditional painting. Gunpowder is also at the centre of a series of environmental works, begun in 1989,     6     combine the tradition of Land Art with     7     of Chinese fireworks. For his explosion events, Cai stages pyrotechnical choreographies that sketch temporary drawing space.

Cai’s     8     (participate) in many international events, imposes himself as one of the strongest in the sky. These events are also meant to act as social, festive collective experiences that the artist—not without irony—believes could be perceived even from outer artists to emerge from China. At the Venice Biennale 1999 he     9     (award) the Golden Lion far Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard (1999), a series of unfired clay sculptures     10     organized the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.