Have you ever tasted or perhaps heard of sugar painting? As fewer people choose to make this kind of painting, the traditional Chinese folk craft might have become a {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(distance)memory in some ways.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}, a 38-year old craftsman, Li Jianzhong, is committed to{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(keep)the art of sugar painting alive.

     Li worked as a miner for more than ten years. After {#blank#}4{#/blank#}mine closed down, Li turned to housing decoration, until he {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(force) to give that up due to a finger injury. Earlier this year, he discovered sugar painting, something he really had an interest in and a strong desire to learn.

     Since there was no sugar painting craftsman in his village, he studied by {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(he) through large quantities of videos and information on the internet. Li loved painting when he was young, and he found it easy{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(learn) the skill in sugar painting. He soon mastered the skill and could make a {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(vary) of sugar paintings. A sugar painting is made with melted brown or white sugar. Craftsmen {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(normal) paint animals and flowers on a stone board with the syrup(糖浆). When the sugar cools down, {#blank#}10{#/blank#}appears is a piece of sugar art.

    I have been learning English for the last five years and one of the things {#blank#}1{#/blank#} has helped me to improve is reading. I love reading and often read during my free time. First, I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (start) reading easy things in English, like recipes (食谱) for cooking and short stories {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (write) especially for language learners. Then I moved onto longer stories and newspaper articles. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} first I found that reading was difficult because of the variety of vocabulary and the grammar, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} this soon became easier and I found that I could understand more and more of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I was reading. I didn't worry if I didn't know all the words, as I could still understand the main ideas. Reading has helped improve my English in many ways. I'm not only {#blank#}7{#/blank#} better and quicker reader, but also my {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (spell), writing, grammar and vocabulary are all much better. I think I have improved faster {#blank#}9{#/blank#} some of my friends who have been learning at the same time as me. So, I would say that everyone who wants to learn a language {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (quick) should read.