Cross talk, xiangsheng in Chinese, is a 【小题1】 (tradition) Chinese comedic performing art and one of China’s most popular cultural forms. It’s 【小题2】 (general) believed that cross talk developed sometime in the Qing Dynasty. After the People’s Republic of China 【小题3】 (found) in 1949, this art became increasingly popular. Today, it is 【小题4】 important part in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and other countless shows in China.

There are four 【小题5】 (skill) in cross talk: talking, imitating, teasing and singing. Most of the time, it is performed by two actors—one serves as the leading actor while the other 【小题6】 (play) a supporting role. However, sometimes it is performed as a monologue (独白), 【小题7】 is completed by one person mainly telling jokes, and at other times it is performed by more than two actors, 【小题8】 (call) group performance. Cross talk is humorous and its language is lively and rich 【小题9】 puns (双关语).

Jump into a taxi in Beijing, and chances are that your driver will be listening to a radio broadcast of a cross talk show. These days, more and more foreigners are becoming interested in 【小题10】 (study) the art of cross talk. Cross talk is a huge part of Chinese culture and it appears as if it’s getting even bigger.

Kungfu, also【小题1】（name）as wushu or Chinese martial arts, is【小题2】important part of traditional Chinese culture. It is【小题3】（probable）one of the earliest and longest lasting sports. The theory（原理）of kungfu is based【小题4】classical Chinese philosophy. Over its long history it has developed as a unique combination of exercise, practical self-defense, and art. There are many【小题5】（form）of Kungfu, namely Shaolin Kung Fu, Wing Chun, t’ai chi, etc. Each form of kungfu【小题6】（have）its own principles（原则）and techniques. It is in the late twentieth century【小题7】this term was used in relation to Chinese martial arts by the Chinese community.

Historically, the influence of Chinese kungfu can【小题8】（find）in books and in the performance art. Recently, those influences have appeared in the movies and television that have a much【小题9】（wide）audience. As a result, Chinese kungfu has spread rapidly and has a global influence. Nowadays, it is regarded as a traditional sport and opens a window for the world【小题10】（understand）Chinese culture.

In 432 B.C., as the cities of Athens and Sparta【小题1】(battle) in a war, a deadly illness swept through Athens,【小题2】(strike) fear and panic into her citizens. The disease reached Athens via the port city of Piraeus and spread throughout Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, killing almost a third of its population, even the great leader then, 66-year-old Pericles【小题3】(include). It seemed the only thing for the citizens to do was【小题4】they had to wait to die.

【小题5】(protect) the people of Athens, when the pandemic just broke out, Pericles ordered the Athenians to move within the city’s newly built ‘long walls’, but it was when the real nightmare began. This gave the disease the perfect conditions【小题6】the pandemic could more quickly infect more of the Athenian population.

In the history Of Greece, the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who fell victim to the disease and survived, wrote that “people in good health were attacked【小题7】(severe) all of a sudden by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, the inward parts, such as the throat or tongue, becoming bloody and emitted an unnatural and fetid breath”. Despite【小题8】(write) evidence of the disease, its cause is still unknown. Possibilities might be【小题9】we call typhoid fever and Ebola nowadays.

Months later, the disease finally became less intense and for a brief period the Athenians were relieved, but it would strike twice more, forcing Athens to yield to Sparta in 404 BCE and ending Athens’ rule in ancient Greece. The history of mankind【小题10】 (consist) of plenty of battles of fighting against epidemics, which can change history itself in turn.