Over 40 countries around the world celebrate Mother’s Day. It is a time     1     children show their love and respect to their mothers and thank their mothers for giving birth to them and providing them with the     2     (good) care.

In New Zealand, Mother’s Day     3     (celebrate) on the second Sunday in May. And as     4     idea of celebrating Mother’s Day in New Zealand comes from the USA, the way of celebrating Mother’s Day in New Zealand is much the same as     5     in the USA.

On Mother’s Day, people in New Zealand thank their mothers for their     6     (devote) to their kids. The festival of Mother’s Day has become a big day in New Zealand. People celebrate the day by going out for a picnic or eating together. Markets are     7     (crowd) with people coming to buy presents for their mothers. Many people would buy flowers and cards for their mothers.

People also thank their mothers by serving them with breakfast and     8     (make) special cakes for them. Some people also would like to make their mothers have a day’s rest from the     9     (end) housework, and treat     10     (they) to a big dinner.

The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival,     1     officially opened on January 5 and will run through next month, has turned the city in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang Province into a wonderland.

Last year, more than a million visitors     2     (attract) to Harbin to see the huge sculptures     3     (create) from huge ice blocks and tons of snow by artists from 12 countries.

In the weeks leading up to the latest festival, hundreds of workers spent hours cutting     4     (block) of ice from the nearby Songhua River. Each piece weighed up to 1,554 pounds and almost 261,500 cubic meters of ice were cut     5     transported on site.

When the ice and snow sculptures are lit up by thousands of lanterns, they are very     6     (impress), with the massive main sculpture     7     (measure) 108 feet in height and over 325 feet in     8     (long). From fantasy castles and creatures to recreations of iconic monuments, the incredible ice and snow sculptures allow the public to relive     9     (they) childhood. Many visitors say it is     10     once-in-a-lifetime experience for them!

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is     1     all family members get together just like Christmas in the west. Nowadays, more and more countries around the world are holding celebrations for Chinese Spring Festival and it has become     2    (increase) popular. What’s more, not only are these attended and enjoyed by Chinese citizens     3    (live) abroad,     4     by many other nationalities, too.

Shopping centres have been organizing events and activities to celebrate Chinese Spring Festival for years, while concerts and other performances are also proving     5     big success. Tickets for the 2017 Grand Chinese New Year Concert in St Petersburg sold out, with 90% of the audience local Russians. People are also discovering the fun of interacting with the celebrations, rather than     6    (simple) watching as part of an audience. Over 1,000 Ghanaian junior high school students got up     7    stage to perform Chinese songs and dances     8    (celebrate) the 2017 festival. Students in New York City, meanwhile, have been able to enjoy an official day’s holiday for Chinese Spring Festival since it     9    (begin) in 2016.

It seems that Chinese Spring Festival is becoming a     10    (globe) celebration of joy and love. What do you think of the phenomenon? Write to us to share your opinion!

On the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year,     1    falls on Sunday, Xinhua gathered some of the most famed rabbits in China and also     2    (offer) explanations of their changing symbolism in modern-day China.

Jade Rabbit is probably     3    (famous) rabbit in China. It features on the special stamps issued by China Post to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit and     4    (mention) when the Chinese leadership extended Lunar New Year greetings. Legend has it that Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, is the pet of Lunar Goddess Chang’e. The rabbit’s common association with Earth’s only     5    (nature) satellite led China to name its first moon rover “Yutu”.

The image of     6    white rabbit often leaves a sweet taste in the minds of Chinese children. Born in 1959 in Shanghai, White Rabbit milk candies are a household name in China. The 64-year-old rabbit sweets have enjoyed renewed     7    (popular) among young consumers in recent years.

Lord Rabbit,     8    (know) as Tu’er Ye in Chinese, is an auspicious (吉利的) clay toy for children in Beijing.     9    a human body and a rabbit’s ears and mouth, Lord Rabbit is actually a god governing health and medicine, and an alternate version of the jade rabbit. The legend goes that Beijing once suffered a plague (传染病) before the Mid-Autumn Festival. The goddess Chang’e sent the rabbit     10    (cure) the disease. In gratitude, Beijing people made small clay statues to pay their respects to the rabbit that plague dispeller.

As the capital of 13 dynasties (朝代) throughout Chinese history, Xi’an has never been far from sports. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the city    1    (hold) many sports events, such as cuju.

Cuju was    2     ancient Chinese competitive game involving kicking a ball through an opening. As the ancestor of soccer, it first appeared in the ancient Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce, in which cuju     3    (describe) as one of amusements among the general public.

Later, cuju was    4    (common) played in the army during the Han Dynasty(202BC-220AD). Emperor Hangaozu Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, not only liked watching cuju games,     5    always tried his footwork on the playground. Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty,     6     was crazy about cuju, would set up a cuju field wherever his army went. He used cuju as a way of     7    (train) soldiers.

The     8    (early) record of women cuju players dates back to the Han Dynasty. We can see from the paintings females with their hair    9    (tie), waving their sleeves and looking elegant (优雅的) when they were playing

As a way of national cultural    10    (protect), cuju was listed into the first batch of China’s intangible cultural heritages (非物质文化遗产) in 2006.

【推荐3】Customs play a significant role in festivals,    1    sometimes they can change over time. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may fade away and others may be established. One example is the typical Chinese Spring Festival custom of    2    (light) firecrackers to drive away the evil spirits and celebrate the new year. Nowadays, many big cities    3    (give) up this custom in order to avoid air pollution. Another example is Halloween,    4    slowly became an exciting festival for children, in spite of its religious origins.