1 . The Qingming Festival is usually celebrated with a three-day national holiday, whose name originates (起源) from the saying “Plants start to revive (复活) and prosper at Qingming in a clean and bright way.” Thus, the festival is called Qingming, which means “clean and bright”.     1    Tomb sweeping is aimed at commemorating family ancestors, while going on a spring outing allows everyone the chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery and enjoy the season.

Traditional customs

Tomb sweeping.     2     On this day, the whole family gathers in front of their ancestral tombs. They offer fruit and wine to their ancestors and clear the weeds from around the tomb. Finally, they kowtow and pray, hoping for their ancestors’ blessing for the rest of the year.

Spring outings. The time around the Qingming Festival is one of the most suitable seasons for a spring outing, as plants are thriving and flowers are blooming. People can have a great time outdoors with their friends and family.     3    

Traditional food

Qingtuan is a green rice ball tiny enough to fit into your hand.     4     It is a mixture of sticky rice powder and green vegetable juice. Stuffed (装满) with sweetened bean paste, Qingtuan tastes sweet with the fresh fragrance of Aicao, a green spring vegetable. In celebration of Qingming, people from Shaanxi make steamed buns known as Huamo, which are made into different shapes.     5     Some are for peaceful family life, while others represent (象征) the wish for health.

4 . The Double Seventh Festival, also known as the Qixi Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival. Here is a beautiful story _______ it.

Long，long ago, there was a young man named Niulang(Cowherd), One day, he_______a   beautiful girl- Zhinu( Weaver girl)， the Goddess s seventh daughter. She had just run away from the_______ heaven(天国) to look for fun on Earth. Zhini soon_______Niulang, and they got married without telling the Goddess. Niulang worked in the field and Zhinu wove(织布) at home. They_______a happy life and gave birth to a boy and a girl. Unluckily, the Goddess soon found out the fact and_______ Zhinii to return to heaven. After Zhini left， Niulang was _______upset. With the help of his magic cow,Niulang flew to heaven with his children to look for his wife. The Goddess discovered this and was very_______Taking out her hairpin(发簪), the Goddess created a wide river in the sky to separate(分开) the two_______. From then on, Niulang and Zhini had to live________ on the two sides of the river. However,their true love________ all the magpies(喜鹊) in the world, ________once a year tens of thousands of   magpies would fly up to heaven to make a bridge- the bridge of magpies for the couple to meet each other. At last, the Goddess allowed ________ to meet each   other on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. That's________the Double Seventh Festival started. Today,   it is a great________for Chinese young people to express their love.

8 . A British friend told me he couldn’t understand why Chinese people love eating sunflower seeds (嗑瓜子) as a snack so much. “I’ve met a lot of older Chinese and many have a crack in their front teeth, I believe that’s from cracking the seeds,” he said.

I had never noticed the habit, but once he mentioned it, I suddenly became more aware. I realized that whenever I’m watching TV or typing a report, I always start mindlessly cracking sunflower seeds. My friend doesn’t like sunflower seeds, and, to him, it seems unnecessary to work so much just to get one small seed.

When we were young, the whole family would usually get together for Chinese New Year. Then, we all lived close to one another, usually in a small city, and sometimes even neighbors would go door-to-door on Chinese New Year’s Eve to check out what every family was making.

I remember my parents would be in the kitchen cooking. Out in the living room, a large table would already be laid out, complete with fancy tablecloth, ready-made dumpling fillings, and dishes full of candy, fruits and sunflower seeds. Some of the dishes were to be offered to our ancestors later, while others were for neighbors and children to eat before the evening feast. I must have learned how to crack sunflower seeds back then.

I don’t think it’s right to criticize (批评) one’s choice in food or eating habits, no matter how strange they may seem.

It’s not only in China. When I went abroad, I found people had all sorts of strange habits when it came to food. In Denmark, they put salted red fish on bread and eat it for dinner, no matter how much it ruins your breath. They think it’s delicious, and it’s connected to their certain culture. I think it’s a wonderful tradition.

9 . Why did Chinese people have more than one name in ancient times?

In ancient China, people’s names had three parts, their family name, given name and courtesy name. Take famous poet Li Bai for example. His family name, which came from his father’s name, was Li. His given name was Bai, and his courtesy name was Taibai.

People used their given names when they were among family members. But in social life, they called each other by their courtesy names to show respect. This was mostly done among people of similar ages. If you were talking about yourself, or if your elders were talking about you, the given name would be used instead of the courtesy name.

Men would get their courtesy names when they turned 20. It was a symbol of adulthood (成年礼). Women would get their courtesy names after getting married.

One’s courtesy name often had something to do with one’s given name. For example, the name of Mencius was Meng Ke. His courtesy name was Ziyu. Both Ke and Ziyu mean “carriage (马车)”. Zhuge Liang’s given name was Liang, which means “bright”. His courtesy name was Kongming, which means “very bright”.