2 . When we moved from California to Colorado, 1, 200 miles away from our parents, my husband and I decided that we did not want to travel a long way with our four ______ for Christmas. However, one late October day, I had a phone conversation with my mother-in-law.

“When are you coming?”she asked.

I did not know how to ______ , and changed the subject. When she asked again later in the ______-“When are you coming?”-I knew that we would change our plan and not stay in our own home for Christmas. The thought of not being in our own home caused me to be ______. What would Christmas away from home look like? Would we be ______ the magic of Christmas by not being in our own home? It would be the first time our children would spend ______ away from our own home. “How would you like to give grandparents the best Christmas present ever? We can do that ______ giving them the gift of our presence,” we told our kids. They all agreed we should go and so the trip to California was ______

My husband's large family always kept Christmas very ______. They only attached great importance to the special meal together. My in-laws' faces ______ with joy when our family arrived. Christmas Eve was filled with ______, as we played games and sang our favorite songs.

Sadly, my mother-in-law’s dementia(老年痴呆)became worse. I was ______ that we had made an exception and ______ that Christmas together. I didn't know it at that time, ______ it was the last Christmas with my mother-in-law.

The gift of being ______ with her that year was the best gift I have ever given and received.

3 . Cities are a world of convenience. In cities, people have access to a large number of _________. Public transportation, well-equipped hospitals and social services _________ comfortable living. But services don't make up for the fact that big cities are often lonely, impersonal places. People can easily _________ themselves from others. Creating a sense of community, then, becomes urgent (紧急的). Some psychologists say that community art — art that is made to be shown free of charge in a particular community — can make a big _________.

Unlike the random (随意的) graffiti (涂鸦) that many people _________ an unpleasant thing, community art can bring people together and encourage respect. In the U.S. city of Philadelphia, _________, psychologists are doing a citywide project where mental health patients work with average people to paint murals (壁画). The aim of this project is to reduce the negative effects of _________ illness and promote a new dialogue between people who _________ these issues.

Art also makes neighborhoods more attractive and has a(an) _________ ability to open people up. Neighbors can share comments on a recently painted mural which can __________ their prejudice (偏见) and open their eyes to the world.

__________ can also be improved by community art. In Fort Smith, a town in the U.S. state of Arkansas, artists from around the globe came together to paint murals. One of the goals of the project was to expand the town's cultural offerings in order to __________ more visitors. Not only locals but also tourists were drawn to see the murals. The money they spent while visiting the town __________ local businesses.

"I Love your neighbor" is a(an) __________ job for everyone. But if a little extra color can make cities warmer, more welcoming places, then let's take some __________ and get to work.

4 . China’s cultural relic protection has made progress, but many problems still exist and need to be solved. China has made over 30 _________ based on the law of cultural relic protection.

China has also __________ four international agreements concerning cultural relic protection and investment(投资) in cultural relic protection has also __________.

Statistics(数据) show __________ from 2000 to 2005 when China carried out its 10th Five­Year Development Plan, total investment in the field __________ 7.889 billion yuan. With financial support from government, China also started a nationwide campaign to search and __________ cultural relics in 2003.

China has so far included a total of 2,351 cultural relic __________ and 518 intangible (无形的) cultural relics on the __________ of national protected items. Recovery and protection have been carried out on important cultural relic sites __________ the Potala Palace in Tibet and the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Chinese museums have developed well in recent years. China has more than 2,300 museums that __________ about 150 million people annually.

However, cultural relics in China now face great __________. Many historic cities have been __________. Illegal trade and smuggling (走私) activities have not been forbidden, __________ has led to the loss of national treasures overseas. __________, many important cultural relic sites have disappeared __________ are hard to pass on because of too much exploration and improper use. And cultural relics __________ by minority ethnic groups (少数民族) have lost their character due to the __________ lifestyle of the people.

__________, we should keep our mind clear and take __________ to better protect cultural relics, and __________ the whole society to take part in this cause.

5 . Many western cultures measure their days with the solar calendar. Therefore, they _______ the coming of the New Year on January 1. Cultures in Asia and the Middle East use other calendars and celebrate the New Year at other times. Events and rituals _______ from country to country. But in each place, New Year celebrations are a big _______ .

Most world cultures have been celebrating the New Year for centuries. The earliest New Year celebrations took place during spring or _______ time. With _______weather ahead, or plenty of food to eat in winter, people _______ felt like having a party! As the days became longer and as nature renewed itself, people also felt like they could have a new start. The New Year could bring better fortune, more opportunities and new challenges. Such_______ themes remain the same today.

Some cultures have _______ New Year traditions. Italians throw old things out of their windows at midnight, symbolizing the _______ of the old. Mexicans fire guns into the air to ward off ________. Danes jump off chairs exactly as the clock ________midnight, so they can “jump” into the New Year. Greek children leave their shoes by the fireplace on New Year’s Day. They hope “Santa Claus” will come and fill the shoes with ________. In Vancouver, Canada, some people celebrate the New Year by jumping into the ocean. The weather is freezing cold! As you might expect, most people come to watch the swimmers ________ swim themselves.

London hosts an annual New Year’s Day parade that ________ nearly a million spectators. The largest parade in Europe, it features bands, floats and enormous balloons. These balloons are so huge that they ________ over nearby buildings!

6 . I was born into a family of educators. Growing up, I heard stories about my grandfather, a headmaster in Guyana. His wife was a teacher. My father and mother continued the ____, teaching at the secondary school levels. As National Teacher Appreciation Week is approaching, I am ____ by Charles Blow’s article in The New York Times to ____ two teachers who have never failed me: my parents.

I hardly remember a period when my parents were not engaged in the act of ____ and teaching. When I was born in1991, my dad, William Panaram, was trying to ____ a doctor’s degree in plant science in North Dakota. After we ____ to the Bronx, my mom started night classes to get a master’s degree in nutrition.   ____ my mom studied, she also managed a full-time job, raised me and learned a new city.

As I watch their schooling ____, I learn that receiving an education means much more than getting high grades. In fact, a true education has the meaning when its learners ____.

My parents both show me how to live as a good ____. Both teach me how to love. My parents — my educators for life — make it ____ that a teacher’s job is beyond the classroom. A meaningful teacher stays with students ____, in mind or in person. I am determined to be a good teacher myself, helping young students think freely and ____ their own ideas, which is a result of living, learning, and loving with my first teachers.

We ____ National Teacher Appreciation Week once a year, but the reality is that every single day we need to thank those who ____ more for others than they do for themselves. Who will you thank today?

7 . A family dinner is an important tradition to celebrate Spring festival. For this year's Spring Festival family dinner, my son has_______a table at the best restaurant in town, but I'm a little bit _______ about it. For me, it just won't feel like Spring Festival having the dinner out.

When I was a little boy, the dinner on the eve of Spring Festival was what I looked     forward to most. It was not only for the delicious food that we _______ got to eat, but for the_______to have our whole family gathered together. I would _______the house, listening to the adults chatting about their year. I'd get under my mother’s feet in the kitchen, watching her make dumplings. She'd _______ tokens(象征) in some dumplings: candies for a sweet life and peanuts (花生)for a long and healthy one. In the evening, all of us would sit around the table, _______ the food and being together again. We toasted each other, we _______, and the simple, homemade dishes tasted more delicious than anything cooked by a top chef.

I hope my children and their children will still _______ our memories of preparing the dinner together. To me, the________ is even more important than the dinner itself.

8 . 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.

9 . We should pay attention to different customs in different cultures. For example, in America, if you are invited to a wedding, baby shower, bar mitzvah (成年礼) or other ______, you’re expected to bring a gift. Usually, it should be modest in _______, about $25.

For a ______, the bride will often have “registered” a list of gifts at a local department store, indicating the items she ________. When you buy a registered item, tell the store that you’re doing this, so the couple doesn’t receive the ________ gift twice. For a baby shower, bring a gift ________ for a newborn baby. For a bar mitzvah, bring a gift appropriate for a 13-year-old boy. Because they are such important occasions, gifts for bar mitzvahs tend to be more ________, for example, a lovely pen with the boy’s full name on it is very meaningful and will be ________ by him.

If you wish to give a gift to American friends, choose something that is ________ to your country. It needn’t be valuable or ________, just typical of your home land. Such ________ include a book about your country, an inexpensive souvenir, or something else that reflects the ________ of your country. Young children who like collecting will probably be very ________ with a set of your country’s coins or stamps. Items that are ________ in your country but difficult to find abroad are also good.

If staying with an American family, a good way of ________ your thanks is to take them to a form of ________, such as a basketball game or a concert.

When giving gifts to a business acquaintance, don’t ________ anything too personal, ________ for a woman. A scarf or a hat is okay, but other types of ________ are not. Something fit for the office is also _________.

10 . April 1st is a day on which, in some countries, people try to play tricks on others. If one   _______　 in tricking someone, one laughs and says, “April Fool！”and then the person who is tricked _______　 laughs, too.

One April 1st, a country bus was going along a_______ road when it slowed down and stopped. The driver_______turned switches and pressed buttons, but nothing happened.   _______he turned to the passengers with a worried look on his face and said, “This poor bus is getting     _______. It isn't going as well as it used to. _______only one thing to do if we want to get home today. I’ll   _______three. I want you all to_______forward suddenly as hard as you can. This should ________the bus started again but if it doesn't, I'm afraid there's nothing else I can do. Now, all of you lean back as ________as you can in your seats and get   ________.”

The passengers all pressed back   ________their seats and waited anxiously.

Then the driver turned to the ________and asked, “Are you ready?”The passengers hardly had enough ________to answer, “Yes.”

“One！Two！Three！”counted the driver. The passengers all leant forward ________and the bus started   ________at a great speed.

The passengers breathed more ________and began to smile with relief. But their smile turned to________and laughter when the driver ________cried, “April Fool！”