March 8 is International Women’s Day. It’s a time to celebrate women’s achievements, demand equality and fight for basic rights and freedoms.

International Women’s Day takes place every year on 8 March. It is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements     1     create positive changes for women and girls. All around the world, people are demanding gender equality and protesting about situations     2     women do not have basic rights and freedoms. International Women’s Day is a time to do this work together.

International Women’s Day started with a protest that     3     (take) place in New York City in 1908. Fifteen thousand women went out onto the streets to demand equal rights and working conditions.    4     particular, they wanted     5     (short) working hours, better pay and the right to vote.

At the International Conference of Working Women in Denmark in 1910, a woman     6     (call) Clara Zetkin proposed the idea of an international day for women. Everyone agreed it was a good idea     7     (make) use of the same day every year to take action for women's rights. The first International Women’s Day happened the     8     (follow) year, in 1911.

    9     (general), people celebrate International Women’s Day in many different ways and for a     10     (various) of reasons, but a common goal is gender equality.

After the Lantern Festival, the following joyous celebration in China’s traditional festival calendar is the Huazhao Festival, a traditional flower festival.

With a history of over 2,000 years, the Huazhao Festival     1    (hold) in celebration of the flower goddesses' birthday. Since the climate     2    (vary) in different parts of China, people hold     3     (celebrate) on the second 12th, or 15th day of February in the Chinese lunar calendar.

According     4     ancient beliefs, the flower goddesses controlled the reproduction of mankind. Due to the primitive lifestyle and agriculture-dominated economy, people held that the more members a family has, the     5    (merry). Thus, it later became a custom to celebrate the birthday of the flower goddesses for prosperity.

Once as significant     6     the Lantern Festival and Mid-autumn Festival, the Huazhao Festival has undergone stages of thriving, declining and restoring. Nowadays an increasing number of people in various parts of China have begun to celebrate this flower festival again, some of     7    , dressed in Hanfu, a type of traditional Chinese clothing, perform a series of ceremonies.

    8    (offer) sacrifices, including incense, flowers, wine or fruits, to flower goddesses for good luck was a great event for people in many places. Flower growers dedicated sacrifices to the flower goddesses to beg     9    (them) protection. Spring outings during the Huazhao Festival were popular in ancient China. Since the festival is in early spring, it is exactly the time     10    (have) an outing to enjoy springtime’s floral finery.

The first Buy Nothing Day    1    (celebrate) in September 1992. In1997, it was changed to the Friday following Thanksgiving in November. Soon after, it gained    2    support of Adbusters, a Canadian media company questioning the    3    (important) that cultures give to advertising and shopping. When the group tried to place commercials(广告) on television, the only major TV network     4    accepted them was CNN. Despite these attempts to silence the movement, it spread to the US, Germany, Japan, and several other countries worldwide.

Buy Nothing Day challenges people to avoid    5    (buy) anything for 24 hours. Supporters hope that during this time, people will reflect on the need to “have things”, which is pushed by large companies. By getting people to focus on what they do have, they can become more sympathetic(有同情心的) towards the poor     6    people who have less than they do.

Another activity    7    (call) the zombie walk is to show the way most people shop. In this walk, participants walk around shopping malls like zombies. If anyone asks them what’s happening, they    8    (educate) them about Buy Nothing Day. Whirl-Mart is another funny method of drawing attention to the purpose of Buy Nothing Day. People will take empty shopping carts and form a line inside a supermarket. Then, they will race through the aisles (通道) without putting anything in their empty carts. Other    9    (supporter) celebrate the event by     10    (simple) doing other free activities such as hiking, bicycling, or taking a boat ride. No matter how one participates, Buy Nothing Day presents us with an opportunity to remember that the best things in life are free.