Our grandparents seems to have magic powers sometimes. Give them a Chinese lunar calendar    1    they will know what the weather will be like days or even months later.

What's the secret? They are following the 24 Solar Terms (节气),     2    were added on Nov. 30 to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (人类非物资文化遗产) by the United Nations (UN). It is a knowledge system and social practice    3    (form) through people's observations of the sun's annual movements and its influence on the climate.

The 24 Solar Terms    4    (come) into being during the Qin and Han    5     (dynasty). At that time, most Chinese people made their living on farms, so weather changes were    6    (extreme) important for them. But of course, they had no satellite, internet or weather broadcast    7    (help) them.    8    these difficulties, they managed to work out 24 Solar Terms by studying the sun's movement and also    9    (pay) attention to other natural changes such as air temperature, water and crop growth.

It is honored as China's    10    (five) great invention, after papermaking, printing, the compass and gunpowder. Now, it is still widely used in daily life even in the age of technology-based modern farming.

2 . Then comes the July, and with it are examinations; but these are soon finished and with them ends the school year. Boys and girls have nearly two months holiday before them as they leave school by train and car to return home to their fathers and mothers.

The summer holidays are the best part of the year for most children. The weather is usually good, so that one can spend most of one’s time playing in the garden or, if one lives in the country, out in the woods and fields. Even if one lives in a big town, one can usually go to the park to play.

The best place for a summer holiday, however, is the seaside. Some children are lucky enough to live near the sea, but for others who do not, a week or two at one of the big seaside towns is something which they will talk about for the whole of the following year.

In England, it is not only the rich who can take their children to the seaside; if a factory worker or a bus driver, a street cleaner or a waiter wants to take his wife and children to Southend or Margate, Blackpool or Clacton, he is usually quite able to do so.

Now, why do children like so much about the seaside? I think it is the sand, sea and sun more than any other things. Of course, there are lots of new things to see, nice things to eat, and exciting things to do, but it is the feeling of sand under one’s feet, of salt water on one’s skin, and of the warm sun on one’s skin, and of the warm sun on one’s back that make the seaside what it is.