Do you have any idea of New Year paintings? Also {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(know) as "paper paintings" and "painted pictures", New Year paintings are a unique art form in Chinese folk culture. Without New Year paintings, our traditional Chinese folk culture {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(be) much less colorful. The paintings get such a name because they are {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(most) posted during the Chinese New Year holiday for decoration and they are also accepted {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a symbol of New Year's greetings.

    New Year paintings {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(appear) around the Tang dynasty, replacing the previous door pictures believed to be able to protect the residents and drive away ghosts. The New Year paintings {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(belong) to the Song dynasty were created on a large scale. With the advancement of printing technology, the content and forms of New Year paintings became {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(vary). The development of the paintings matured in the Ming and Qing dynasties, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the art hit its heyday(全盛期).

    Traditional printing {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(method) of New Year paintings include woodblock printing, stone-block printing, offset(胶印) printing, traditional Chinese painting, watercolor painting and sketches etc. Woodblock-printed New Year paintings are the most popular and interesting {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, according to a recent survey.

    The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} second-largest art museum in the world after the Louvre, France, both of which are visited by millions of people {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (annual). Hermitage holds not only artistic treasures but also a collection of living history {#blank#}3{#/blank#} well.

    The Hermitage was built as part of the royal Russian family's Winter Palace. Empress Elizabeth had cats brought in {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (rid) the several palace buildings of mice. The cats did their job well and {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (give) homes in the basements of the buildings and the title of Hermitage cats.

    The 74 Hermitage cats live at the museum {#blank#}6{#/blank#} they now lead an extremely {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (comfort) life. A press secretary is in charge of the cats, with three full-time caretakers {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (attend) to their every need. There are even kitchens for preparing meals for the cats because every cat has its own {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (prefer). This may all seem over the top, but Russian and foreign {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (visit) alike love seeing the Hermitage cats while admiring some of the world's greatest artistic treasures.

    So why has English changed {#blank#}1{#/blank#} time? Actually all languages change and develop {#blank#}2{#/blank#} cultures meet and communicate with each other. At first the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was based more on German {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the English we speak at present. Then gradually between about 800 and 1150, English became {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (little) like German because those {#blank#}5{#/blank#} ruled English spoke first Danish and later French. These new comers {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (rich) the English language and especially {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (it) vocabulary. So by the 1600s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (settle) moved to America. Later in the 18^th century some British people {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (take) to Australia too. English began to be spoken in both countries. Today, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} number of people learning English in the world is increasing rapidly.

    My friend had a chance to make a trip to Hong Kong{#blank#}1{#/blank#}August 15, 2015. He had dreamed about {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(visit) it since his boyhood and it was the first time that he{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(be) there. The following was what he had seen.

    Arriving there, he was {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(surprise) by its beautiful scenery and tall {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(building). As we all know, Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers in the world. Wherever he {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(go), he saw many smiling faces. People in Hong Kong were kind, generous, easy-going and ready to help others. Much to his surprise, he saw that people there always kept order in public places. Although a great number of people {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(be)waiting for the next train at the subway station, they were talking in such {#blank#}8{#/blank#} low voice as not to bother others.

    Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. English is {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(wide) used in governments, markets, service centers and other fields.

    Staying there for a week was a good experience for him, {#blank#}10{#/blank#}he would never forget.