In modern society, many Chinese traditional festivals are still an important part of Chinese culture, and     1     we must protect them and maintain them.

Some traditional festivals teach us a lot about our nation’s history. For example,     2     the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in honour of Qu Yuan. By celebrating the festival with rice dumplings and dragon boat races, the story of Qu Yuan is passed down from generation to generation.

Moreover,     3    传统节日使我们更多了解中国人的价值观. Festivals, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, have a caring, family-centre d message at their heart.     4     The full moon on the festival is considered to stand for family togetherness.

Finally, traditional festivals are a source of national pride and help shape our national identity. For example,     5     我们有腊八节 with unique customs, and these shared experiences bring us together as a people. Traditional festivals tell us who we are and fill us with pride in being Chinese.

2 . The next day would be Christmas. Jim was shopping for a gift for his wife Della. With an income of twenty dollars per week, life was really _________ for the couple, but Jim wanted to buy a perfect gift for Della. He thought of the beautiful set of _________ Della had wanted for so long in one of the shop windows on Broadway. Tomorrow, Jim decided, he was going to make Della’s dream come true.

Jim and Della _________ two things they were both proud of. One was Jim’s gold watch, and the other was Della’s beautiful _________. Jim looked at the gold watch that had been his father’s and his grandfather’s. _________, Jim knew what he had to do: he would sell his watch.

That afternoon, Jim _________ the watch, went to the shop for the combs (发插) and returned home with a package in his pocket. He was sure that they would be the most wonderful gift for Della. He was _________ about what Della was going to think when she saw the gift the next day.

The door opened and Della walked in. Jim looked at her with a puzzled _________. “Jim,” Della cried, “don’t look at me that way. I sold my hair to buy you a watch chain. Give me your watch. Let me see how it looks on it.”

Jim smiled. “Della,” he said, “I sold my watch to buy you a gift.” Jim _________ the package from his pocket and __________ it on the table. Della opened it. There lay the set of combs that she had always wanted. Now they were hers, but her hair was gone.

Are you thinking about traveling alone? You must have a million questions: What should be the first destination? Will there be someone to talk to? How can it be safe? In fact, travelling alone is not as scary as it seems. Here are some good tips.

    1    

It is true that traveling alone for the first time is more about the experience than the destination. So choose a place that you feel comfortable with. It could be somewhere close to home or somewhere you have been with your friends.

    2    

This can make you less nervous when you’re travelling alone for the first time. Besides, when you book your hotel, ask if they will send a driver to pick you up.

Talk to people

If you’re going to a tourist place like Thailand, there are lots of other people who are traveling alone. Most likely, they’ll be easy to talk to and they’ll want to communicate. They might also ask you to join them for dinner or a beer. That happens a lot.

    3    

Your family and friends love you and probably worry about you every day, so text them and let them know what you’re up to throughout your trip. That will make you and them feel safer. And in case something did happen, they’ll know where you are.

Exercise has a range of health benefits. However, some people believe that     1     if some exercise is good, more is always better, so they tend to exercise for a long time without stopping. For example, some people go jogging for several hours at a time because of the step-counting smartphone apps.     2     还有些人周末连续锻炼数个小时 to make up for their lack of exercise during the weekdays. Habits like these put stress on the body, and if maintained over the long term,     3     they can be a serious health risk.

Generally speaking, aerobic routines that last over 100 minutes have a certain health risk. On the other hand,     4     they should not be shorter than 10 minutes. If you do exercise for only a few minutes, you may not be working out long enough to see any benefits from it. When you exercise, aim for the daily average of 30 to 60 minutes.     5     这将会防止你受伤. Moreover, it will ensure that the exercise you do has a positive effect on your physical health.

7 . You can’t buy much for a dollar these days, but when everybody pools their dollars together for a good cause, amazing things can happen.

That is the idea behind Anthony Talley’s $1 Thursday campaign. The Georgian man believes that the world will be changed for the better if everyone just contributes one dollar at a time.

Last year, Anthony Talley managed to raise $8,000 to help a local man who lost everything in a house fire. And he did it all by asking people to donate just one dollar each.

Anthony Talley uses his social media page to raise money. On $1 Thursdays, he tells his friends and fans what goal they’re working toward that week and asks them to contribute just a single dollar to the cause.

Some of the acts of kindness he has been able to perform include helping kids to buy shoes and clothes and even buying ice cream for every primary school student in the city of LaGrange, Hogansville, and West Point!

One of their most recent missions was to raise enough money to help a mother with 10 kids who badly needs a new car. So far, they have raised $576!

You can support his mission through mobile payment services, Cash App or Venmo.

It really does take a village! Anthony is finding a way to allow every single person in his community to become a hero in their neighbors’ lives. After all, it’s only a dollar!

9 . Alice was at her home on Christmas Day when she heard someone shouting on her street. When she looked outside, she saw a man _______ for help in the cold. She brought the man, 64-year-old Joe White, into her home to _______ but she feared it was too late. His hands had frostbite (冻伤) and his body was looking worse and worse the longer he stayed in her home.

In search of _______, Alice took to Facebook Live. “We gotta get some help,” she said on the livestream. “He’s going to lose his fingers. I don’t know what else to do. I have fed him. I have _______ him.” “I’m going crazy because I’m scared. His body has changed rapidly every _______.”

Alice said she made a(n) _______ call but due to the snowstorm, emergency workers were unable to respond to calls for hours over the weekend. Ambulances (救护车) were getting _______ in the thick snow.

_______, her request was answered. A group of men arrived and took Joe to the hospital on Christmas night.

Joe is now _______ in the ICU with fourth-degree frostbite, his sister June said. June has expressed her thanks to Alice. “We were all trying to help each other and it was ________,” June said. “He was in a mess. And Alice clearly saved his life.”

Robots on the farm

What can drones (无人机) do? Their many uses include taking pictures from the sky, observing wild animals and delivering packages. Now these small flying robots are leading a new farming revolution (革命).

When equipped with cameras and other data-gathering devices, drones provide us with an eye in the sky. Here are a few of the farming-related jobs drones can do.

    1    

Drones can scan crops using different kinds of light. Then they produce multispectral images (多谱图像) that can help us find sickly yellow plants within fields of green. Drones can also detect bacteria (检测细菌) that are harmful to crops in the air from a few kilometers away. Farmers can check the drones’ air samples and try to find ways to protect their crops before the bacteria get to them.

    2    

When flying over cattle, drones can track the livestock (牲畜) and find out where fences need fixing. People can also equip drones with thermal imagers (热像仪) and night-vision cameras. This can help farmers know if they have their cattle lost and what animals are a threat to their cattle.

    3    

Most fields aren’t perfectly flat. After watering, some places may dry out faster than others. Other spots might not get water at all. Drones can scan the field and make a 3-D map. Using the map, farmers can figure out which parts of a field are dry or need improvement.