The Laba Festival     1     (observe) on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar (阴历的) month is a traditional Chinese holiday. La in Chinese is the name of the 12th lunar month and ba     2     (mean) eight.

There are several     3     (story) about the origin of this festival and it’s difficult for us to tell which one is true. But today what we do know is     4     this festival began as a way to honour ancestors. It was also a time for the ancient Chinese     5     (pray) to heaven and earth that there would be a good harvest.

The majority of Chinese have long followed the tradition of eating Laba porridge during the Laba Festival.     6     (general), the porridge contains eight ingredients, including some beans, peanuts and rice. Laba porridge is the     7     (important) part of the festival traditionally. Also,     8     is important that family members eat the porridge together.

Another custom is soaking(泡) Laba garlic, which is particularly popular     9     northern China. Garlic is soaked in vinegar for twenty days starting from Laba festival. Then the garlic and vinegar     10     (use) alongside Chinese dumplings around Chinese new year.

Qinqiang Opera is a local Chinese opera that mainly thrives (繁荣) in north west China’s Shaanxi Province, as well as its neighboring regions, like Gansu and Qinghai Provinces. It has the most ancient and     1     (large) musical system of all Chinese operas.

    2     (arise) from local folk songs and dance forms in the Yellow River Valley,     3     is the birthplace of Chinese culture, the opera first appeared in the Qin Dynasty.     4     (it) time-honored history has offered Qinqiang Opera a reputation     5     the forefather of Chinese operas.

Its contents usually feature such themes as anti-aggression (反侵略) wars, as well as a number of other     6     (topic) of strong human interest that reflect the characteristics of local people.

Qinqiang Opera is also one of the earliest operatic musical systems to reflect the emotions of human beings.     7     (equip) with a set of performing skills created by the artists, Qinqiang Opera has influenced other operatic forms for long. During the Qing Dynasty, Qinqiang Opera entered Beijing and     8     (direct) affected the formation of Peking Opera. Qinqiang Opera thrived during     9     rule of Emperor Qianlong when Qinqiang troupes (剧团)     10     (distribute) throughout the country.