Niangao, a sweet rice cake, is a popular dessert eaten during the Spring Festival. It was originally used as an offering before it gradually became a Spring Festival food. The     1     (pronounce) of niangao sounds like “year high” in Chinese, symbolizing a much higher income, a much higher position, the growth of children, and the promise of a much     2     (good) year. It is considered good luck to eat it during the Spring Festival period. Niangao has a legend about its origin. In the Spring and Autumn Period of ancient China, the whole country     3     (divide) into different small kingdoms and people suffered a lot in wars. At that time, strong walls were built to protect the Wu Kingdom from repeated     4     (attack). Many people stopped worrying about wars, except for Wu Zixu. He told his entourages (随从), “Wars should not be viewed     5     (light). In case things go badly, remember to dig a hole under the wall. ” After Wu Zixu passed away, a war broke out and many people died from lack     6     food. Some people did what Wu Zixu had told them before     7     found that the wall under the earth was built with special bricks     8     (make) from glutinous (黏的) rice flour. As a result, the bricks     9     (save) many people from hunger. After that, people made niangao every year in memory of Wu Zixu. As time passed, niangao became     10     we eat today.

Stinky tofu,       1     (know) as chou doufu in China, is a much-loved street food, sold in night markets and roadside stands as     2     delicious snack. It     3     (invent) by a man named Wang Zhihe, who lived in Anhui Province during the Qing dynasty.     4     (original) , Wang was a scholar, but after     5     (fail) his official exam, he decided to sell tofu in the streets of Beijing. One day, he didn’t sell all his tofu, so he cut it     6     pieces and placed them in a jar for storage. When he reopened the jar several days later, he met with a terrible smell,     7     he decided to taste the tofu anyway. Finding it surprisingly delicious, he began to sell this new, smelly tofu at his store. If people wanted to try some, they just followed the smell,     8     was like a burnt sports shoe, and then they could find his store, where it could be found in     9     (vary) forms, including deep-fried, steamed or served in soups. The fans thought the smellier, the better! Nowadays, stinky tofu, featuring in documentaries and international food     10     (show) , has gained popularity around the world.