In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice-bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

    Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods and metal {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (create) special design.

    The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (use) twigs(树枝) to remove it. Over time, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (gradual) turned into chopsticks.

    Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) too violent for use at the table.

    Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat {#blank#}10{#/blank#} their hands.

    Home of the copper drum

    Hechi's copper drum culture goes back as far as the Han Dynasty (206 BC—AD 220){#blank#}1{#/blank#} the people living in the area considered copper drums sacred and Hechi is still one of China's {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(large) copper drum sites. A 2003 survey by cultural heritage departments{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (find) more than 1, 400 copper drums in the area, with at least 1,300 copper drums {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) used by local folk artists. In this way, ethnic groups in Hechi have produced a{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (unique) rich and diverse cultural form and customs for festivals, weddings, celebrations, funerals, and religious {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (activity) of local people, with ballads and for rice-planting and frogs. That same year, a copper drum conservation project along the Hongshui River basin joined the Culture Ministry's Top 10 conservation project list for ethnic and folk cultures.

    In 2006, the Zhuang People's Copper Drum Practices{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(add) to the national cultural heritage list by the State Council. In 2008, the Culture Ministry declared Donglan county and{#blank#}8{#/blank#}city of Hechi the “Home of Chinese Copper Drum Art”{#blank#}9{#/blank#} in 2009, its “Copper Drum Practice” became a candidate for the Human Cultural Heritage. There are now more than 2,400 copper drums in the world, at least 1,400 of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (they) in Hechi, making it a Copper Drum Cultural and Ecological Reserve with recognition across Guangxi.

    Davidson Black was a{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(Canada) doctor who organized the excavation that led to the discovery of the bones in the Zhoukoudian{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(cave) near Beijing. He was a specialist in the study of bones{#blank#}3{#/blank#}it was his ambition to find and identify bones of early humans. His university was aware{#blank#}4{#/blank#}the significance of his work. At first they gave him ample time to do his research, but{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(late) they realized he was prepared to pursue it regardless of his students' needs and his{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(teach) career, so they forbade him {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(travel) there any more. It was his assistant, Pei Wenzhong{#blank#}8{#/blank#}made the discovery of these primitive bones and{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(sharpen) tools. Davidson Black knew that his success was almost {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(entire) due to his assistant's systematic hard work.

    I was wandering into the small store, when the store owner received a call from a customer. The customer and his wife had shopped there several months before. When noticing that his wife really liked one thing in the store, he wanted to buy it as a surprise. Because time was limited, out{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (go) the couple without buying it. It was not until several months later that the customer wanted to buy it.

    But the customer was in Tennessee, living far away from the store which was in Maine. What was more, he had been to the store several months before, and it was difficult to believe that the store owner would remember him, or  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} it was that he was referring to. There were{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (diversity) goods in the store. The customer's question was whether she could do it. She said yes. The store owner advised him to describe the thing for her and so he did.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (inform) what the thing was like, the store owner took a few close-up photos with her camera« and e-mailed them to the customer. Having received the photos' then the customer decided which one was the very thing.

Then the customer said, “Now it is time we discussed a price over the phone.” Apart{#blank#}5{#/blank#}discussing the price, they also decided the time to send it. Then she took care of the credit card transaction (交易)online, and the customer proposed the gift{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(send) that afternoon. Then the agreement was reached. The customer said. “I live far away from your place now.{#blank#}7{#/blank#} I would get it myself.”

    The store owner was really smart. She wasn't necessarily{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (talent) for new technology but she was willing to push herself to find new ways to make the transaction (交易) actually happen. It was not a dramatic thing. It was the first time she had ever done it. Never before had she done such a thing.

    {#blank#}9{#/blank#} difficult it was, the store owner discovered a creative solution {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (contribute) to a new way of doing business. In my view, we should realize that challenge and opportunity go hand in hand.

    The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (eight) wonder for the 21st century, opened on the morning of October 24th, 2018. The bridge links three areas, making {#blank#}2{#/blank#} much more convenient to travel from one to another. Since opening, the three-hour drive {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (shorten) to 30 minutes.

    The project involved more than 400 new patents, broke seven world records, and featured {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (independent) developed key techniques and design. After an 8-year struggle, the success of the HZMB achieves {#blank#}6{#/blank#} several generations have been dreaming of, and amazes the whole world with its demonstration of perfect skills and high-level Chinese standards. The bridge is intended to be {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (rely) for more than 120 years. From the Belt and Road Initiative to "Created in China", there is always a group of people {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (provide) strong technical support for each of the country's huge projects. From the beginning in December 2009 to the day of the official opening, all {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (walk) of life made great contributions to the design and construction of HZMB, contributing "{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (wise) of China".