On January 25,2020,over a billion people in China and millions around the world will celebrate the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival. The ancient tradition,    1     date is determined by the lunar calendar and falls somewhere between January 21 and February 20 each year is the longest and       2    important of all Chinese festivals.

The preparations will     3    (official)begin with Little Year on January 17,2020 .It is observed with a day of memorial and prayer ceremonies.    4    ,cleaning the house     5    (sweep)away bad luck and hanging spring couplets(春联）on doorways for wealth are also common activities observed by people. Since red     6    (believe)to keep misfortune and evil spirits away, it can be noticed in everything from clothing to lanterns used to decorate houses.

Often     7    (consider)the most important meal of the year, is the reunion dinner is both delicious and rooted in Chinese tradition.    8     whole chicken symbolizes family togetherness, while long uncut noodles show longevity(长寿）.Wealth is represented by dumplings and spring rolls. Children receive red envelopes filled     9    money and inspiring messages from elders and are often allowed to stay up late to watch the     10    （amaze)fireworks shows.

The two-week long celebrations will end on February 8-the day of the full moon-with the Lantern Festival.

From London’s Trafalgar Square to major cities across Britain, tens of thousands of British people have joined Chinese communities    1     (welcome) the arrival of the Chinese New Year.

In Manchester there was a Dragon Parade,    2     (lead) by a very breathtaking 54-meter long dragon, ending in Chinatown    3    people could enjoy a wide range of Chinese food and enjoy a spectacular fireworks show.    4     (celebrate) also took place in Liverpool, Birmingham, Lake District, Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Newcastle.

Academic Dr. Wu Kegang said, “ The Chinese New Year event in Britain is now     5    (impress) than ever and it is growing every year”.

On arrival in Britain 26 years ago from Guangdong, south China,    6     first thing Wu noticed was that Chinese New Year was celebrated    7    (main) in towns and cities with big Chinese communities. “You would go to London Chinatown and join your countrymen to celebrate,    8     to Chinatowns in places like Liverpool and Manchester for events almost only held for Chinese people,” Wu recalled.

“    9     is different now, is that we are seeing local communities all over the country taking part alongside their own Chinese populations,” he said. “ It is clear to me that the event will continue to grow in Britain where Chinese New Year    10    (earn) its place in the calendar of events so far.”

International Chinese Language Day     1    (fall) on April 20, and this year a series of celebrations, themed Together for the Future, were held by three different organizations at home and abroad     2    (successful).

Officials from the organizations attended the event and delivered speeches, in which Chinese and foreign cooperation     3    (praise) to have contributed to the rapid and fruitful development of Chinese language education around the world. The Chinese language left the impression of having built a     4    (culture) bridge that promoted the exchange of cooperation between China and the world, as well as the global peace and development.

During the celebration, experts and scholars vividly interpreted the beauty of Chinese culture from three aspects: Chinese characters, Chinese painting, and traditional Chinese medicine,     5     the attenders said greatly impressed them.

Professor Yue Qi remarked on the concept of “If Chinese characters could speak”, and proposed that more Chinese stories could be discovered, spread, heard and     6    (understand) through Chinese characters. Director Liu Hong also presented a documentary     7    (feature) Chinese characters. Professor Yang Lei and Zhang Liang discussed Chinese poetry and painting while Dai Jingang exposed the audience to the charm of traditional Chinese medicine and the     8    (wise) of health preservation.

The event aims to express support     9     international Chinese education, and to reveal the charm of Chinese language and culture, while enhancing the cooperation between the Chinese and foreign education partners to eventually build     10     bright future together.