New Year’s Day is coming! My family wants to go back to Yiyang next week. That’s     1     hometown (老家).

This morning we come     2     a store. We need to     3     things for my grandparents and cousins. Dad buys a     4     sweater for my grandpa. He     5     red is the color for New Year. Grandma likes sports, so mom buys a pair of sports     6     for her.

But what     7     my cousins Lu Tao and Lu Ling? Lu Tao is twenty years old. I know he likes ball games. He always     8     them on TV.     9     we buy a basketball for him. Lu Ling is only 5 years old. She likes toys (玩具), and 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit (兔子). So we buy a toy rabbit for     10    .

One day my father and I went to the kite flying festival. I was very happy seeing the sky was filled     1     colorful kites. I asked my father to get     2     a kite and a thread（线）. My father went to the shop and came back with a beautiful kite and a roll（卷）of thread soon.

I started     3     the kite. Quickly, my kite flew high up in the sky. After a while, I said, “Father, it seems that the thread is stopping（阻碍）a kite from flying higher. If we break it, it     4     free and will go flying even higher. Can we break it?” So, my father cut the thread. The kite started to go a little     5    . That made me very happy.

But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. And, soon it fell down on the building. I was     6     to see this. I thought my father cut off the thread so that it can fly higher, but     7    , it fell down. I asked my father why it fell down.

My father     8    , “Son, at the height of life, we often think that some things we are tied（捆, 系）with are stopping us from going higher. The thread was not stopping the kite from going higher,     9     it was helping it stay higher when it’s windy. You helped the kite go up higher in a proper direction（方 向）through the thread. And after we cut the thread, it fell down without your     10    .” I realized my mistake.

It was ten past seven in the morning. Tom’s alarm went     1    . He got up and got dressed. Then he stood by the window. He saw the sun     2    . Through the window, the light came into his room. Outside, the storm     3    .Tom looked at the calendar on the wall and he said to     4    . “What’s the date today? Oh, today is August 16th. my     5     birthday.” He realized it was time to get together with Leo and his family.

Leo’s family were     6     lunch when Tom arrived. The kitchen was filled with many good smell. “After Dad finishes the last dish. We’ll     7     our lunch.” Leo told Tom. Then lunch began. At the table Tom asked,” Where are the forks(叉子) and     8    ? “Oh, you won't need those,” Leo said. “I’ll show you how to use chopsticks(筷子).”Just when Tom used chopsticks to pick up some chicken, his hand     9     lost control of them, and the chicken flew across the table. It fell into Leo’s soup. Tom was completely     10    . Then everyone at the table laughed.