This week, we're preparing for one of the newest {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(tradition) events in our country: Black Friday. It's that crazy gathering of retail (零售)-related violence, a time{#blank#}2{#/blank#}stores offer once-a-year promotional sales to set off the customers' greediness and jump-start the Christmas shopping season with a sudden activity in a {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (crowd) space.

    The general feeling has been set by the Hamleys Christmas Toy Parade in London, in which 800,000 people ran into Regent Street, apparently attracted by {#blank#}4{#/blank#}possibility of a “meet-and-greet” with Peppa Pig that sadly {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(have) to be cancelled at the last moment on safety grounds. As it was, a middle-aged woman {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(report) had to be taken to hospital after {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (knock) to the ground in a fight with another woman.

    For the people who dislike shopping, such as me, any day with shopping in it is a black day, and Black Friday is the most worrying {#blank#}8{#/blank#}all. However, I can see the reasoning for retailers. Why spend a lot of money on newspaper ads, when you can offer 50 iPhone Xs at £5 each to the first fifty{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(consume)? The related media {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (cover) of the resulting disorder is, as they say, priceless.

    We use flowers as messengers, to say something we might have trouble saying{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (direct) ourselves. Over time flowers have come to symbolize the most powerful human experiences: beauty, love, hope, and rebirth. Sweet flowers alone can say{#blank#}2{#/blank#} one fears expressing. We've listed some of the most famous flowers {#blank#}3{#/blank#} have a special significance.

    In Mao Zedong's poem Ode to Plum Blossom (《咏梅》), the plum blossom was used{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (praise) great soldiers who sacrificed their lives for a better life for Chinese people.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} great Chinese poet Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty once compared Yang Yuhuan's beautiful face to blooming peonies(牡丹). Flowering in May, peonies' large petals and strong colors are linked to prosperity(成功) and{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (rich) in traditional Chinese culture. The orchid (兰花) is well known for its delicate smell. Beautiful articles and poems{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(call) “lanzhang” by Chinese people in ancient times. Roses, of course, have the{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(colorful) meaning among all the flowers. Red roses mean “I love you.” A red rose, rather than yellow roses,{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (act) as the traditional romantic gift given to your love on Valentine's Day. Sending yellow roses can be risky, as they represent either friendship {#blank#}10{#/blank#} envy.

    The world-known Silk Road across the Eurasian Continent is a friendship bridge{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (link) the Europe and Asian people. It is one of the most important theme tourist routes in the world and the most{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(value) tourist product in China. From the time Zhang Qian{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(open) up the world-famous Silk Road during the Han Dynasty, until the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, it enjoyed {#blank#}4{#/blank#} history of about 1,600 years.

    Silk Road with{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(it) 2,000 years history has witnessed the historical changes and the progress of cultures {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(exchange) between China and the Western countries. The section in China, many ethnic cultures{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (include), is also as a jade belt. The peoples of these ethnic groups such as Mongolians, Huis, Uygurs, Hazaks have maintained their unique traditions and cultures, living habits and religious beliefs{#blank#}8{#/blank#} are from the soul of the Silk Road and attract many tourists to visit. In fact{#blank#}9{#/blank#}the Silk Road in the northwest of China, there are another two trade roads in the southwest of China and by sea, which also contribute{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (great) to the development of the world. They are called the “Southern Silk Road” and the “Silk Road on the Sea”.

    Which would you rather be, a mathematician or{#blank#}1{#/blank#}author? Perhaps you will never be{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(face) with this kind of choice. Lewis Carroll was a mathematician and author. He was a lecturer in mathematics at Oxford University. But he is{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(good) known as the writer of two of the most famous children's books    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} have ever been written (Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass). The author's real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, but he{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(prefer) to use the penname “Lewis Carroll” when he wrote, and this is the name we remember him by. Alice in Wonderland,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(publish) in 1865 when the author was 33 years old, was followed by Through the Looking Glass in 1871.{#blank#}7{#/blank#} books were written for a real girl called Alice and they{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (read) by millions of children since they were first published. These stories are about a dream world in which Alice meets strange creatures and has interesting{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (adventure). I'm sure you know this already,{#blank#}10{#/blank#}if you don't you'd better read the stories yourselves.

    With so much information available in books and online, it's easy {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (learn) a few new facts each day. But how much of that do you {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (actual) remember? {#blank#}3{#/blank#}your answer is not much, here is the good news. Scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, recently designed a new typeface (字体) {#blank#}4{#/blank#} was invented with read-it-and-forget-it people {#blank#}5{#/blank#} mind. Very appropriately, it's called Sans Forgetica.

    The idea behind Sans Forgetica is simple. The typeface is a tiny bit {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (difficulty) to read, which {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (mean) your brain has to work twice as hard to understand what it says. Because of that deeper focus, you'll have a better memory for whatever you're reading. That's not just a theory, either. The typeface was created by a team of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (researcher) from RMIT University's School of Design and its Behavioural Business Lab. The group worked with a famous typographer Stephen Banham to test and improve {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (they) product.

    The typeface uses principles of cognitive psychology to create an effect {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (know) as desirable difficulty, the researchers note, which causes the brain to take part in deeper cognitive processing. The result is improved memory.