Following the Lantern Festival, the Huazhao Festival is the next cheerful celebration on China’s     1     (tradition) festival calendar.

With a history of over 2,000 years, the Huazhao Festival     2     (hold) in celebration of the flower goddess’ birthday. Due to the different climates (气候) in different parts of China, people hold celebrations     3     the 2nd, 12th, 15th or 25th day of the second month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

According to ancient beliefs, the flower goddess controlled human reproduction (繁衍). At that time, people believed that the more members a family had, the     4     (happy) it would be. So it later     5     (become) a custom to celebrate the birthday of the flower goddess.

At the Huazhao Festival, spring outings were popular in ancient China.     6     the festival is in early spring, it is exactly the time     7     (have) an outing to admire the beauty of flowers. In addition, people cut colorful cloth into pieces and tied them to the branches of flowers, which is called “shanghong”.

At the Huazhao Festival, people in many places planted flowers and vegetables. It was believed that flowers and vegetables planted on that day would survive (存活)     8     (easy). Around the festival, people also dug wild vegetables.     9     (eat) wild vegetables in early spring was believed to improve health and prevent disease.

The Huazhao Festival, which     10     (remain) silent for centuries, is now celebrated by more and more people in many parts of China. Some people wear hanfu—a Chinese style of clothing on this day to celebrate the festival.

I’m Jack. Today is Saturday. I don’t need to go to school. I like     1     (cook) with my mom on the weekend. I can cook some special dishes. After finishing all     2     (I) homework, I go to the supermarket     3     my mom.

There are different kinds of food in     4     supermarket. My mom     5     (like) vegetables and fruit.     6     (her) wants to make salad. All her food is 80 yuan. I buy two     7     (box) of milk, ten eggs and some flour (面粉). Do you know what kind of food I want to make? I also want to buy hamburgers,     8     my mother says they are not     9     (health). So I don’t buy them.

When we are     10     (leave) the supermarket, I give the salesgirl 150 yuan and she gives 20 yuan back to me. But I return (归还) her 10 yuan and tell her why. “Thank you. You’re a good boy,” she says. Then I go home with my mom.

【推荐3】What can be both red and green, round or sharp, big or small, and more importantly, loved or hated by someone? Yes, the answer is chilies.

Many of us in China enjoy adding chilies into our food, but did you know that this spicy vegetable could be     1     (极坏的)? A 34-year-old man recently ended up in hospital after eating a California Reaper, the spiciest chili people     2     (尝试) so far. After taking a bite of one, the man could     3     (几乎不) breathe with serious cough, reported BBC news. In fact, eating spicy food could cause a     4     (头痛), too. But if chilies are harmful, why do people like this vegetable? That’s because people’s sense of happiness     5     (决定于) on a kind of natural chemicals in our body, and chilies can help produce them. And chilies do good     6     (用，按照，以) another way. Scientists     7     (解释) that people who eat spicy food once or twice a week live longer than those who eat it less than once a week. This     8     (鼓励) people to eat more spicy food to improve health. As a     9     (结果), it seems that chilies are actually good for us. So don’t worry if you     10     (刚刚) had some spicy food.