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 . In Europe, men do not usually wear skirts. But the Scottish national costume for men is a kind of skirt. It is called a kilt. The Scottish like to be ______. They are also proud of their country and its ______ and they feel that the kilt is part of that history. That’s why the men still wear kilts at old-style dances and on national holidays. They believe they are wearing the same clothes that Scottish men always used to wear.

That's what they believe. ______, kilts are not really so old. Before 1730, Scottish men wore a long shirt and a ______ around their shoulders. These clothes got ______ the way when the men started to work in ______. So, in 1730 a factory owner changed the blanket into a skirt; the kilt. That’s how the first kilt was made.

Then, in the late 1700s Scottish soldiers in the ______ Army began to wear kilts to be different from the English soldiers. The Scottish soldier ______ very hard and became famous. The kilt was part of that fame, and in the early 1800s men all around Scotland began to wear kilts.

These kilts had ______ stripes going up and down and across. In the 1700s and early 1800s, the colour of the stripes had no ______ meaning. But later the colours became important to the Scottish ______. Most families had special colours for their kilts. In fact, each family just chose the ______ they liked best.

This is not the ______ you will hear today if you are in Scotland. Most Scottish people still believe that kilts are as ______ as Scotland and that the colours are as old as the Scottish families. Sometimes feelings are stronger than ______!

4 . Have you ever worked on holidays?I spent my last Christmas Day working the whole day!

Due to the nature of my job,I had to go back to my_________ and spent my whole Christmas Day there.Of course,it _________ no good! Surely you will get sad when almost all of your friends are either resting at home,watching TV,listening to music,_________ watching movies in the cinema,and you are the only one that is not _________.The feeling is really bad.And I really did not feel like getting up and going to work in the morning.But I _________ went to work.I am a responsible guy.Since the arrangement was like that,I _________ it.

Of course,there is something _________ about working on Christmas Day and most public holidays.First of all,since I had no plan to go out,or do any _________ activities on that day,I most likely would _________ the day at home playing computer games.So why not go to work and __________ some extra money?It makes sense to me.Besides,it is a holiday for almost the whole world.It __________ most of my company’s offices in other countries would probably not be working,__________ those in China and Japan as Christmas is not a holiday for people there.Less users,less problems,meaning less __________ for us to do.And the best part is the office is ours! I can __________ my laptop(笔记本电脑) to the office,watch movies,play games,and at the same time,get my extra __________! Well,what do you think of working on holidays then?

5 . Cars have become more than vehicles for moving things. They have stolen our American’s hearts. After the Second World War, middle-class white-collar workers _________ into the suburbs in large numbers, taking their cars with them.

Our car culture really began to _________ in the fifties. More jobs and economic growth _________ the rapid development of driving. The idea spread that cars _________ freedom—hot, fast and good-looking. We were on the road. _________ by self-important fashions, we drove through the twentieth century, and into the harbor of twenty-first century.

We are a nation _________ our cars. Go to any small town in this country and count how many classic cars you see. Pull into a shopping mall parking lot and _________ the luxury(豪华) cars. Ask any teenager how _________ he or she wants to get a driver’s license, or any _________ citizen how long he or she would like to keep his/her own car.

My dad was particularly __________ to that national romance which has affected America for many years. In my childhood I often joked that I never knew what kind of car my dad might __________ the parking space with. I was half serious. My dad had a strange interest in trading cars. For a while, the bigger it was, the __________. Some of my dad’s cars __________ little more than a month. Some lasted a couple of years. And at his very worst, late last year, he owned two Buicks, an Audi A6 and a truck. Somewhere among them, my mother __________ to find a place to park her little Fiat finally. Although we laugh at him a little, compared with those who love cars, my dad is not that __________.

6 . I always remember one Christmas when we_________outside of town. My elder brother had a job in a different city_________he always made it home to celebrate the holidays. During the few days before Christmas Day, we experienced a violent snowstorm with powerful winds. It was so_________that the country road was almost impassable.

The day before Christmas was more_________than I had ever imagined. My elder brother was stuck at a stranger's home where he had been_________to stay overnight because of the storm. The person was kind enough to let him stay until morning. But, the_________was that he couldn’t get his car to start and there was no assistance available.

So, my dad and I_________. We were lucky enough to make it to where my brother was_________. After his car warmed up, he thought it was much wiser to head back to his place rather than try and make it home for Christmas. So we headed in_________direction.

The drive back got even worse. We got stuck in a huge snowdrift. A(n)__________had to be made. We placed a shovel（铲子）about ten feet behind the car to__________anyone else that there was an obstruction（障碍物）ahead.

We left the cars in the snow, wrapped blankets around our heads and__________on top of the snowdrifts. We made it about a mile up the road to a neighbor's farmhouse where we__________for the next mile walk home. We all made it safely home that night.

Christmas was very__________that year. It didn’t matter if there were__________or not under the tree the next morning. We each got our gift—the gift of life, home with our family safe and sound. What better gift is there? None.

7 . 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.

8 . 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.

9 . Wang Dewen, known as “Grandpa Amu” online, is a 63-year-old man. He has skills beyond the _______ of ordinary people and creates woodwork with nothing _______ a single piece of wood. He has brilliant traditional carpentry (木工) skills, _______ first-time viewers online with his woodwork.

The Chinese carpenter has been _______ Lu Ban in modern times. His most _______ video — making a wooden arch bridge, has spread quickly on overseas social platforms, _______ more than 42 million views! Grandpa Amu _______ ancient Chinese mortise and tenon (榫卯) structures in his work, a technique _______ used in traditional Chinese architecture and furniture. The entire _______ of building the arch bridge involves no nails or glue. A man ________ under the video, “A block of wood is ________ into a great work of art. You’re not a carpenter; you’re an ________.”

He has become a real ________ on overseas social platforms — so far attracting millions of fans overseas.____________, Grandpa Amu insists that he is not an Internet celebrity but just an ________ farmer. He has used his extraordinary skills mostly to ________ his young grandson, making all kinds of toys. He is also trying to________ unique Chinese techniques to the world. “We ________ the idea of making the videos because we are ________ to bring our priceless culture to others and make these ancient Chinese technique come to people’s ________,” said Grandpa Amu’s daughter-in-law.

10 . My father , a soldier , was deployed(调度) again . The ukulele I had watched him play was _________ The musical instrument sat there lifeless .

It came as a ________ because we had just moved into the present duty station a few weeks before . It was the fourth time we’d moved to a new place in just two years . Still ,________ was the thing that connected my father with Hawaii , a _______of his home and culture . We learned about our   ancestors   and   family   traditions mostly through his music .

But this time , everything was ________ . We were finally “home” in Hawaii and expected to ________ a place that we’d only heard about in my parents’ stories. We were just arriving, but he was already prepared to leave again, this time without us._______ ,we were surrounded by cousins and aunties who grew up knowing each other and ________ a cultural tradition of which we only knew the surface. We were ________ in the family. The person who made us fit, our father ,was gone. That was when I noticed my father’s ukulele. As I plucked（弹拨） the strings tunelessly , I felt ________ to him and our Hawaiian roots . So I picked up an old song book , and I ________ myself to play . I would play and sing,   as if my father had been here. After my father eventually________ , he bought another ukulele, and we had a mini concert. He was________ that I had learned so much. But what I really gained knowledge of was that music has the________ to do truly extraordinary things ________ us to our culture and each other , our past and our present.