The Lantern Festival (or Yuanxiao Festival) is     1     important traditional Chinese festival, which is on the 15th of the first Chinese lunar (阴历的) month. It also marks the end of the Spring Festival. This year, it falls     2     February 15th.

The Lantern Festival is a time for people     3     have fun. At night, people go to streets, watching lanterns, guessing lantern riddles and releasing (放) sky lanterns or river lights.

    4     (watch) lanterns is the most popular thing to do during the festival. Lanterns are     5     (make) in the shapes of different animals, fruits, and other things. The Chinese folk story about a jade rabbit (玉兔) that lives on the moon is     6     popular that rabbits are a big part of the festival. Rabbit lanterns with     7     (wheel) are fun for children. People hold Lantern Festival on the     8     (one) full moon of the year. In some places, people like releasing river lights to give wishes to each other.

Another important tradition for the Lantern Festival is eating small round dumpling balls called yuanxiao or tangyuan. The dumplings are as     9     (big) as ping-pong balls. The fillings inside are sweet or salty. Guizhou is famous for yuanxiao made with chicken. Today, you can also find other fillings such as chocolate and fruit. In a way, yuanxiao has been     10     (simple) a symbol of happiness and unity in China.

How do you celebrate the new year? People in many countries take part in many different a    1    . People in Australia and the United States often enjoy fireworks at midnight. Some people eat with friends and neighbours as a way to hope for good luck. Other people have a party with friends and families. They all believe celebrating the new year is a great way to think about the past and hope for a bright future.

Out with the Old, in with the New

In many countries, it is important to give s    2     for new and good things. People in different areas have different ways of doing so. In many countries, people deal with old things to make room for new ones. Burning Christmas trees to show the end of the Christmas season is one popular way. People in some countries throw out their old or used things. In order to say goodbye to the old year, many people stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. In this way, they can be awake (醒着的) to b    3     the new year.

Splashing (泼洒) Water

Other countries celebrate the new year by splashing water. Some people splash water on each other to bring good luck. Others throw water out of their windows to send away bad luck.

Celebrating with Parties and Food

In many countries, people enjoy good food with their loved ones. Having festival meals and desserts is a way to celebrate the coming year. At New Year’s Eve parties, people often c    4     “ten, nine, … two, one” in the last ten seconds to welcome the new year.

Strange Traditions

You may think these traditions are u    5     but they are common (普遍的) for other people. For example, in Canada, some people celebrate the new year by jumping into the freezing water of English Bay. They do this to bring an end to the year that has passed. These traditions are all done for fun. The important thing about celebrating the new year is thinking about the old year and making plans for the new one.

Spring starts on different dates in different places.

For most     1     (country) in the Northern Hemisphere (北半球), such as China and the US, spring begins in March and ends in May. While, September, October and November are spring months in many     2     (south) Hemisphere countries like Australia and New Zealand.

Spring refers not only to the season     3     the idea of rebirth. Therefore, most countries have special traditions     4     (celebrate) the arrival of this beautiful season.

Chinese people often eat spring pancakes on the day called lichun. This tradition means bite-the-spring (咬春) in Chinese. In the past, people     5     (believe) this would lead to a good harvest year.

In Japan, families and friends celebrate spring by gathering in the parks to enjoy the beauty of cherry blossoms. It is a     6     (tradition) custom known as “hanami”, meaning “watching flowers”, which usually lasts from late March to early May. People hold parties or picnics under the cherry trees. Food, drink and even dancing     7     (be) all part of “hanami”.

In the US,     8     groundhog (土拨鼠) helps to tell the coming of spring. There’s even a special day, Groundhog Day, on every February second.     9     a groundhog sees his shadow (影子) when he comes out, people can expect six more weeks of winter. If there’s no shadow, spring is     10     the way! But the groundhog isn’t always right. Its forecasts are only 39 percent right, according to National Climate Data Center of the US.

Do you know anyone born in the Year of the Tiger? What’s     1    (they) personality like? Are they brave and strong?If so, they are a typical “tiger”. I’m one of them and I’m 24 years old this year. The year of the Tiger is my life year. My aunt makes me     2     (wear) red shorts to ward off evils(避邪). And my parents also tell me things     3     I must pay attention to in the Year of the Tiger.

In Chinese culture, tigers     4     (see) as the king of all animals. They are considered to be the bravest of all the animals, and you can see pictures of tigers on the walls of temples and houses to ward off disasters (避灾) and danger in China. Tigers have     5     important cultural meaning not just in China, but across Asia. For example, in South Korea, the animal is a symbol of fairness and honesty.

Instead     6     tigers, lions are considered the king of all animals in the west. Soldiers are named “the lions” if they fight     7     (brave) in the war. In Europe，the lion is a national symbol of England as well as for Norway, Spain, Belgium and 13 other     8     (country).

However, in the West, tigers are also considered to be the     9     (powerful) of all the animals. In English, there’s a famous phrase “eye of the tiger”, which     10     (mean) to have fierceness (凶猛) and strength.

【推荐2】Is it true that we British people have a different sense of humour from people in other countries? Let’s have a look at what we laugh at in Britain.

To us British people,     1     (power) and important people often cause laughter. It’s not just politicians(政客) who make us laugh, but anyone whose job is to tell other people what to do and who takes     2     (them) too seriously.

We laugh     3     the power, but also, at anyone who is treated badly. We know they cannot win, but if they do win sometimes, it’s even funnier. Our clowns (小丑) are often silly people doing silly things, w    4     in America, they are often clever people doing clever things and winning at last.

The fact that we l    5     when other people might feel hopeless is one of the strangest things to learn about British humour. We do have a strong sense of irony (讽刺). After some terrible experience we might say, “Not very     6     (please)”. And we might say in the middle of a typhoon. “It’s     7     bit windy today.” Or “There is a tiny problem,” when something has gone     8     (total) wrong. We don’t like to express strong feelings, but just “keep calm and carry on”.

Another thing that can make it different to u    9     British humour is that we don’t always laugh or even smile when we say something funny. We often keep a straight face or use an unsmiling expression when we’re making     10     (joke).

Do you think the British sense of humour is special?