Representing wisdom, power, and wealth, dragons are respected and honored in Chinese culture, which are said     1     (scare) away evil spirits and bad luck. In ancient times, when there was no rain for a long time, people not only prayed     2     rain with a dragon dance,     3     prayed against insect attacks after planting.

If you’ve seen a Chinese New Year parade (庆祝游行), you’ve probably seen a colorful dragon     4     (wind) its way down the street. The dragon dance,     5     time-honored traditional folk activity in Chinese culture dating back to the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago,     6     (observe) during festive celebrations much like the lion dance. Dragon dances can be performed in different ways with dragon costumes of different colors.     7     (specific), as many as 9 to 15 dancers use long poles to guide the dragon’s head and snakelike body, the tricks of     8     are often jumps or moves that make the dragon turn in     9     (variety) of ways.

The culture of dragon and lion dances has spread beyond China to southeast Asia, and even to some regions with significant Chinese communities in Europe, America, Australia, and New Zealand. It has become a     10     (substance) symbol of Chinese culture.

Canadian Prime Minister led the government officials through Vancouver’s historic Chinatown for the city’s annual Chinese New Year Parade.

Last month, lion dancers,    1     (dress) in silver, purple and red, danced to the drum beats outside the Chinese Cultural Centre. The event marks the largest gathering of all lion dancers     2     live in Canada. A     3     (mass) golden dragon danced under the control of about a dozen young men.

Vancouver is home    4       more than 400,000 Chinese-Canadians. “I love the Chinese New Year Parade because it’s     5       inclusive activity and we highlight the     6     (strong) of each person,” said Mayor Gregor.

Penny Lim,     7     (hold) a camera in her hand, was one of the viewers. Before Penny Lim was born, her father    8    (move) to Vancouver from Guangdong Province. Lim has been coming to the parade for decade     9     (record) and photograph the lion dancers. “The colors are various, and the combinations of orange, pink, yellow are quite exciting,” she said. “It’s a connection to our culture, and     10     (essential) it’s festive and a lot of fun.”

5 . There once lived a monster named Nian, who lived deep in the sea and climbed up to eat cattle and ______ people.

Then, one New Year’s Eve, the villagers were in a great ______ to run away. Some were closing windows and locking doors, some were ______ and others were driving cattle and sheep. There came a beggar (乞丐), saying “I’ll drive away the ______ .”

Around ______ Nian rushed into the village. He found the grandmother’s house was bright with red paper ______ on the doors. The monster gave a loud cry, looked ______ for a moment and went to the door. There suddenly came the sounds of explosions (爆炸). Shaking all over, the monster dared not take a step ______ . It turned out that the colour ______ flames and explosions were what Nian feared the most. The monster ran away quickly in the darkness. All the villagers felt ______ and came back to thank the beggar.

To ______ such good luck, the villagers put on their ______ clothes and hats and went to their relatives and friends to send their ______ and congratulations. These ______   have been passed down through the generations, which is the ______ of the Spring Festival.

6 . The Longtaitou Festivl, which means “dragon-raises head” in Chinese, is a traditional Chinese festival held on the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar. So, it’s also called Eryueer Festival. In Chinese culture, the dragon is an auspicious (吉利的) animal that dominates clouds and rains. The 2nd day of the 2nd lunar month is thought to be the day when dragon awakes and raises its head according to the Chinese folk legend. So the day is called Dragon Heads-raising Day. After the day, spring is coming and there will be more and more rain. People think these credits (功劳) go to the dragon. So the day is also called Spring Dragon Festival. Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), Chinese people have had the custom of spending the Spring Dragon Festival.

The most popular custom on the Dragon Heads-raising Day is cutting hair. Dragon is highly honored for its dignity (尊贵) and power for good. It is thought to be auspicious to cut hair on the Dragon Heads-raising Day. Luck and opportunities will always knock you in the year. So, on that day, barbershops’ (理发店的) businesses are growing and full of customers.

The most common foods for celebrating the festival are popcorns, pancakes, noodles, dumplings, fired soy beans and pig’s head. People in different areas have different traditions about the food on the day. In Beijing, people eat Lvdagunr (Glutinous Rice Rolls with Sweet Bean Flour) and spring pancakes on the day. In Shanxi, people like to eat fried dough twists (油条) and pancakes. In Shandong, fried soy beans, noodles and dumplings are the festival food. In Fuzhou, the salted porridge made of glutinous rice, celery, scallion, garlic, fry dried shrimps and shredded meat is eaten. These show people’s hope to be blessed (保佑) with favorable weather and plentiful grain harvest by the dragon.

7 . Peter walked home from school. Salty tears ran down his cheeks. He didn’t know what to do. Grandma saw him and asked why. Peter replied, “I have to give a(n)________ about a family tradition. I know we have lots of beliefs and customs. Can you ________ me of one?”

Grandma smiled and nodded her head. She went to a closet and ________ to reach the top shelf. Pulling out a small box and ________ the dust, she handed it to Peter. Peter opened the box. He ________ a wooden hoop with string woven and twisted around. It was in the shape of a circle, like a spider web. Peter wiped away his ________ and smiled.

“This is a dream catcher,” said Grandma. “Our people have made these for many years. ________are symbols of unity and strength. Hang it over your bed and it will ________ your bad dreams in the web, and your good dreams will fall through the center. Maybe it will give you ________ to do your presentation.”

“Can I take this one to school?” asked Peter. “No,” said Grandma. “This dream catcher is ________ . It means a lot to me.”

Peter felt ________ because he wanted to share it with his class. “We could make you one,” said Grandma. They worked together and ________ a dream catcher. The next morning he told Grandma his plan — to show his class how to make one. “Great! Let’s ________ after your presentation. We will have a ________ party,” said Grandma.

Peter did as he had planned. Peter didn’t feel ________ or scared at all. He felt proud in his culture and felt pride in himself, too.