1 . Chinese Spring Festival marks the first day of a new year, so the first meal is rather important. People from the North and the South have different _______ about the foods they eat on this _______ day. In Northern China, people _______ eat Jiaozi. The word Jiaozi in Chinese means the _______ and the beginning of time. According to historical _______, in the past people from the North and the South both ate Jiaozi on Chinese New Year’s Day. Perhaps _______ the areas in Southern China _______ more rice than those in Northern China, southern people slowly _______ to eat many other kinds of food on New Year’s Day. _______, the most common foods for the first ________ are noodles, New Year Cake and Tangyuan. The noodle ________ long life. The New Year Cake is called Niangao in Chinese, which ________ the hope of improvement in ________ year after year. Tangyuan is a symbol of ________ according to the Chinese.

To ________ a New Year visit to relatives and friends is an important activity during the Spring Festival. People also send cards to ________ a New Year’s greeting. What children love most is to set off firecrackers. ________, as the pace of life is becoming faster and faster, people have ________ new ways to celebrate the Chinese traditional New Year. For example, many people no longer send out greeting cards. ________, they use short messages or emails. Also to travel during the New Year holidays has come into ________ .