1 . Nguyen Thi Thu is one of the few remaining artists practicing and constantly enhancing the traditional Vietnamese art of sculpting realistic-looking flowers out of papaya (番木瓜树) fruits.

Thu became ________ in carving various flowers from papaya fruits at the age of 15, when she ________ a class on the art of sculpting fruit. She was fascinated by the ________ art form, but then she had to ________ to Russia and stayed there for 15 years. Thu couldn’t ________ her favorite art form because she was too busy working and had no ________ to green papayas. She ________ it with all sorts of other fruits and vegetables, but nothing was quite like the papaya she ________. When she returned to Hanoi in 2009, she ________ got back into papaya sculpting, and she has been practicing the art ever since.

Over the years, Thu has ________ herself to carve various types of flowers, but her favourite by far is also one of the most ________, the chrysanthemum (菊花). Creating a single flower takes between 45 minutes and over an hour,________ the complexity of the design. “I often fall asleep thinking of how to ________ a certain flower, and then I get out of bed to practice,” Thu said.

Apart from ________ her art form during various public events and creating delicate papaya flowers, Thu also holds classes in Hanoi, as a way of ________ the traditional art form.

2 . Everyone talks about how different Japan’s culture is from the rest of the world but I didn’t believe it. How could such a ________ country have such vastly different cultural beliefs and lifestyle from the western part of the world? I decided that I had to ________ for myself and within 24 hours of arriving in Tokyo, I knew everything I heard about Japan was ________.

I remember arriving at the ________ in Tokyo and having to take the train into the city. I wasn’t sure how and where to take the train, so, I ________ a man in uniform and asked: “Where do you take the train?” To my ________, he did not speak English. Instead, he spoke quickly in Japanese and when he saw my ________ face, he smiled and bowed, which I found very ________ at the time.

How could such a modern country not speak English? ________, I was able to find someone that was able to guide me to where I needed to go. I bought my ticket for the train and went over to the ________ and saw that the train wouldn’t arrive in 5 minutes. In my head, 5 minutes was like ________ 10 minutes.

But little did I know, in exactly 5 minutes, the train ________. When are trains ever on time in your country? I got on the long train ride into the city of Tokyo and I don’t ________ hearing anyone say a single word. No conversation, no phone calls, no music, ________. It was just the sound of the train traveling at high speed and the broadcast from the train. Later I found out it was ________ to talk on the trains, especially on your phone.

3 . The Mid-Autumn Day is a happy time for a family reunion (团聚). But it was a different________after my parents and I came to America. I remember the first Mid-Autumn Day we spent here.

On that morning, I smiled seeing mooncakes on the table. But then I________I had classes at 1:50 pm and felt________. You see, there’s a________in China for this special day but not in America. Noticing my upset, Mom tried to comfort me, “We have duck at lunch, your favorite.________?” The duck cheered me up. We had a delicious lunch, but before we________it was time for class. I had to put down my________and sat before my computer. I couldn’t help________that my Mid-Autumn Day was like this — having online classes with lunch half-eaten. I would never________this in the past.

At the Mid-Autumn Gala (联欢会), the scene (场景) of a family having dinner together made me________. I really missed my grandparents. Although we had________them in the day, it was different from a reunion. How regretful we couldn’t________!

At midnight, I got lost in thought. The day is so important that I felt upset without a good________. But on second thoughts, although the holiday________, the moon was still full.________, although in different countries, all hearts of my family were connected. Realizing this made me filled with warmth.

4 . For a decade, Xie Jincheng has been buried in his duties at the National Library of China (NLC) in Beijing. When asked how old he was, the 37-year-old had to pause for a few seconds to _________.

Each working day, he sits at a desk and focuses on handling ragged yet _________ pieces of paper in front of him. As one of 17 restorers of _________ books at the NLC, he shakes off centuries of old dust to _________ the works he deals with.

Xie doesn’t require a large _________ to use his skills. Using glue, scissors, tweezers (镊子), brushes and several other simple _________, he skillfully restores the pages in front of him.

It’s estimated that the NLC _________ more than 3 million ancient Chinese books. The world’s biggest _________ of its kind, it comprises about 10% of such books in the nation. In China, the term “ancient books” _________ works before 1911.

Xie, who majored in chemistry at college, __________ to cultural relies conservation at graduate school, realizing that there was a __________ of restorers of ancient books in China.

It took Xie more than two yeas of __________ his tutors and developing his talent before he was formally assigned to __________ his first page.

Restoration of books is like seeing a doctor. If the doctor is good, your illness will __________ immediately following treatment. But if not, you may die taking the medicine. So if you cannot see a good __________, you’d better keep your item as it is.

5 . As I hang the first ornament (装饰), I’m singing along with Eartha Kitt. I know they laugh at me because I look like a _________   in my Santa hat, belting out Santa Baby. “But it’s the Sunday before Christmas, _________   day. I’ve chosen the towering Bavarian stick-skier in a red quilted jacket that my dad loved. Not right in front, it’s stupid,” Rachel _________ . She is grown, a working nurse, _________ revisiting the “OMG, Dad!” role of youth.

When I was a kid, my mother had the Christmas-tree bug, and I’ve taken the same _________ joy in the ritual (仪式). I remember her holiday jazz albums _________ from the stand onto the turntable (唱盘) as my two older brothers and I danced, laughed, and dressed the _________ . So I string the lights and build the fire, then let each ornament cause _________ talk and memories. The ugly glass owl? A _________ to Neil’s hunting for owl when he was a kid. The handmade sleeping __________ with a crack across it? My sweet mother-in-law, Ruth, glazed (上釉) that in __________   of our first cat. Only the ornament remains, glued and proud.

Each object fills me with emotions I can’t otherwise always tap. Our dear friends the Nashes __________ the nice mini cowboy boot after they’d moved away. The tiny San Francisco Giants baseball in glass ________ back the incredible day in 2010 when we all finally celebrated, for real. Bent, __________ , or old ornaments join the pretty bulbs up front. We sing along with Luther Vandross --“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”—and I feel all the people and places I’ve been __________ with in life.

6 . It's March 12^th. Li Li and Lin Tao are digging on a hill not far from their school. In China, people across the country plant trees_______on this day.

The idea of planting trees was first put forward in 1911 by Sun Zhongshan, the great_______ in China's history. He said more trees were needed as a_________against flood（洪水）and drought. In 1915, April 5^th was named as Tree Planting Day. Then, in 1979, the day_________to March 12^th, to _______the date on which Sun Zhongshan died.

"Everyone has heard of the Great Wall of China," says Li Li. "But have you heard of the Green Wall of China? That's the biggest tree planting _________ of all. "The Gobi Desert in the north of China was _________every year. So in 1978, a tree planting project was started to _________ Gobi spreading. The government and local farmers have been planting millions of trees to build a great green "wall" along the edge of the desert.

"Tree planting has become a tradition in China now," says Lin Tao. "Almost everyone does it on March 12th. Many people also plant a tree on a _________day. My parents planted a tree when started school. And my cousin planted ________ on his wedding (婚礼) day. We do it for the environment and for ourselves."

7 . To learn another language is more than just learning words and grammar; it _______ learning about another culture, too. We learn much of our own culture’s body language before we learn to speak, from the time we are ______, usually without even being aware of it. Body language is different from culture to culture, and therefore it’s something to which second language ______ should pay attention.

Sometimes, cultural differences in body language can ____ discomfort or misunderstandings too. For example, there are ______ cultural differences in how much distance should be kept between two people who are speaking together. If you are used to people keeping their ______, you will feel very uncomfortable, and probably ______ away repeatedly, if someone keeps trying to stand ______ to you at a party! We call this the “personal comfort zone”.

Another ______ example of misunderstanding is the use of a ______. In some Asian cultures, a smile can show embarrassment or apology. However, smiling back at a teacher who is unhappy with you, or a stranger whose foot you accidentally ______ upon is probably not a good idea in most English speaking cultures!

Even speakers of the same ______, such as British, American, or Australian people, may not use the ______ body language and must adapt if they wish to _______ successfully. British people are said to be more reserved and formal, in general, and this is reflected in their body language. Americans are considered more open and _______, while Australians are seen as casual and relaxed.