1 . The other day, my friend Jane was invited to a 40^th birthday party. The time printed on the _______ was 7:30pm. Jane went off with her husband, expecting a _______ evening of wine, _______, and song.

By 9:45, everybody was having great fun, but no food had _______. Jane and David were restless. Other guests began whispering that they, too, were _______. But no one wanted to _______, just in case some food was about to appear. By 11:00, there was still no food, and everyone was _______ off their heads. Jane and David left _______ and angry.

Their _______ suggests that the words on the printed invitations need to be made ____________. Everyone ____________ and understands the invitations ____________. Most of us would agree that 6:30-8:30pm means drinks only, go out to dinner afterwards; 8:00pm or 8:30pm means possible ____________, but 9:30pm and any time thereafter means no food, eat beforehand, arrive late.

But this is not always the case. If ____________ to a students’ party at 6:30pm, it is normal for guests not to appear before midnight, if at all, and no one cares. Being the first to arrive—looking ____________—is social death. When my mother is asked to a party for 6:30, she likes to be there, if not ____________, then no later than seven. My ____________ group (late thirties) falls somewhere between the two, but because we still think we’re ____________, we’re probably closer to student-time than grown-up time.

The accepted custom at present is ____________, sometimes annoying, and it often means you may go home hungry, but it does lend every party that precious element of ____________.

2 . In the United States, it is not customary（习惯的）to telephone someone very early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the morning, __________ he is shaving or having breakfast, the __________ of the call shows that the matter is very important and __________ immediate attention. The same meaning _________with telephone calls made after 11:00 pm. If someone __________ a call during sleeping hours, he considers it a matter of life and __________.The time chosen for the call communicates its importance.

In __________ life, time plays a very important part. In the U.S., ____________ may feel they are not well _________ if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But it is ______ in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered ____________ to make an appointment too far ahead of ___________ because plans made for a date more than a week away may be_________. The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings _________between people from cultures that treat time differently. Promptness（准时）is __________ highly in American life, for example. If not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully __________. In the U.S. no one would think of keeping a business ____waiting for an hour, it would be too impolite. A person who is five minutes late is __________ to make a short _________. If he is less than five minutes late, he will say a few words of __________, though perhaps he will not complete the sentence.

3 . It was a few days before Christmas many years ago. It looked like it would be a(n) ______ one for my family. The factory where I was working had laid off(解雇) many of us workers, so we didn’t have much ______. My wife and I had saved to buy our young children some toys, ______ an unexpected car repair had taken most of our cash. We decided that we could only ______ to get one small gift for each of our children.

We arrived at the ______, walked down the parking lot and saw people putting gifts into their ______. We searched all through the store ______ to find one thing each of our small children would like. ______, we were able to get one for each of them. We ______ the checkout (结账台), bought the toys and were ______ that we even had a few dollars ______ finning. As we walked out of the store into the winter ______, I stopped and dropped those ______ into the charity box. I didn’t have a dime (一角硬币) left but that didn’t ______. Suddenly, it felt like Christmas.

I think the ______ actress Dale Evans ______ it best when she said: “Christmas, my child, is love in ______.” It doesn’t have to be a gift of money, either. When we ______ our smile, it’s Christmas. When we give others our ______ and compassion (同情), it’s Christmas. When we do anything at any time to ______ another, it’s Christmas. May you do all you can to make it Christmas every day of the year and every day of your life here.

4 . We’re told that writing is dying. Typing on keyboards and screens _______ written communication today. Learning cursive (草书的), joined-up handwriting was once _______ in schools. But now, not so much. Countries such as Finland have dropped joined-up handwriting lessons in school _______ typing courses. And in the US, the requirement to learn cursive has been left out of core standards since 2013. A few US states still place value on formative cursive education, such as Arizona, but they’re not the _______.

Some experts point out that writing lessons can have indirect benefits. Anne Trubek author of The history and Uncertain Future of Handwriting, argues that such lessons can _______ a skill called auto-maticity. That’s when you’ve perfected a task, and can do it almost without thinking, granting you _______ mental bandwidth to think about or do other things while you’re doing the task. In this sense, Trubek compares handwriting to driving.

“Once you have driven for a while, you don’t _______ think ‘Step on gas now’ or ‘Turn the steering wheel a bit,’” he explains. “You just do it. That’s what we want children to _______ when learning to write. You and I don’t think ‘now make a loop going up for the ‘I”-or “now look for the letter ‘r’ on the keyboard’. Trubek has written many essays and books on handwriting, and she doesn’t believe it will die out for a very long time. _______, she believes students are learning auto-maticity faster with keyboards than with handwriting: students are learning how to type without looking at the keys at earlier ages, and to type faster than they could write, granting them extra time to think about word choice or sentence __________. In an essay for the New York Times last year, Trubek argued that due to the __________ automaticity of keyboards, today’s children may well become better communicators in text as handwriting takes up less of their education. This is a view that has attracted both criticism and support.

She explains that two of the most common arguments she hears from __________ regarding the decline of handwriting is that not protecting it will result in a “loss of history” and a “loss of __________ touch.”

On the former she __________ that 95% of handwritten manuscripts can’t be read by the average person anyway-“that’s why we have paleographers (古文字学家),” she explains, paleography being the study of ancient styles of writing-while the __________ refers to the warm associations we give to handwritten personal notes, such as thank-you cards. Some educators seem to agree, at least to an extent.

5 . The "Double Seven Festival" is a traditional Chinese festival. It has a longer history than the_________ of Valentine's Day in the West.

The origin of this festival is related to a cowboy and a weaving girl, ___________ love story has become a part of the Chinese culture. ___________ there are many different versions of the story,   the most popular one begins with a poor cowboy. Living with his elder and___________ brother, who treated him badly, the cowboy looked after an old cow every day. Though life was tough and boring, he_____________it in silence, without complaining

_____________ , even such a hard life didn't last long. His brother got rid of him and all he got was the old cow. Although they couldn't talk to each other, they___________ on each other for company. One day, miracle happened. The old cow started talking and told him that there would be seven fairies coming down to the Earth to___________in a pond. All he should do was to_________ the dress of one of the fairies. Then that fairy would be his wife.____________ but excited, the cowboy followed the cow's advice.

Every day,   the cowboy went to work____________ the fairy wove cloth at home. However, their ____________ life came to an end when the Heavenly Goddess learned about it. She took the weaving girl away and drew a line in the____________ that turned into the Milky Way, which____________ the cowboy meeting her wife. Due to the strong reaction from the young____________, the Goddess finally allowed them to see each other only once a year. The day was on the____________ day of the seventh month. That is ______________ the Double Seven Festival came into being.

Although the love story doesn't end up with a happy ending, it is to be told from one______________ to another. It reminds people to cherish every moment____________with their loved ones and not to regret until we ______________ them.

6 . Christmas Eve means a lot to almost every family in the US, and mine is of no exception. Every December 24, we used to head to my parents’ house and spend the night, along with my brother’s family, and my sister’s family. We’d eat lots of foods such as candies and my mom’s ______ chocolate cookies.

We’d play a card game for hours until one team proved ______ over all other sides. ______, my sister Martie and I won, and when we beat every other ______, we’d sing and even dance. Yes, we were ______. The kids always put out cookies and milk for Santa, and my dad would sit down and color a picture with his grandchildren to ______ it for Santa Claus. And then we’d ______ every person in the family to open just one ____. After everything settled down, my father would read the story of Christmas, ______ us all of the true meaning of Christmas. Our Christmas Eves are a little ______ now as my parents have moved to heaven and my girls are in college, but December is still ______. Candies and my mom’s favorite chocolate cookies are ____ our favorite foods. Martie and I still like card games, ______ my daughter Ally and her boyfriend, Wesley, actually ______ us easily. We still open one gift that night. And, Martie’s husband, Jan, has ______ the duty to read the Christmas story.

I can hardly wait for the ______ to come! It’s my favorite time of a year because we’re all ____. I’ ll bet your family has wonderful holiday ______, too. Whatever your traditions are, I hope one of them is reading the story of Christmas. Why not teach your children the ______ meaning of Christmas this year? Because that’s the ______ gift you could ever give them!

7 . Among 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, the Bouyei occupies the smallest with about 3, 000 people living in a few small villages._______the fact that the Bouyei has the smallest population, Bouyei people still_______their typical customs and culture. Boayei people live mainly on_______farms. Up to now, the husband has been the only one who can_______everything in family. In each family, three or four_______are living under the same roof.

On_______day the younger sister of the groom will ride a beautiful_______to fetch the bride_______the groom is not allowed to go to bring the bride home.Sons don't cut the hair of their father and daughters don't comb the hair of their mother. Only when their parents_______are they allowed to comb their parents' hair. During 3 years of mourning their parent, sons don't__________wine, daughters don't wear jewellery and neither of them are__________to get married.

Annually, Bouyei people__________four main festivals including Lunar New Year, the 1st lunar month of the year, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month's festival of killing insects and New Rice Festival. During each festival, they__________ steamed glutinous rice(糯米)and cakes made of glutinous rice for worshipping their ancestors(祖先)and__________for health, good weather, and a good harvest. At family events and festivals Bouyei people sing their__________songs which are said to be divided into some styles of welcome, congratulations, and weddings.

Bouyei people__________wear navy blue shirts, the button of which is on the right side. Women's costumes are more eye-catching with colorful__________. Women wear shirts,__________dresses , and headscarves.

Currently, Ha Giang Province's government has supported Bouyei people in__________their culture and customs by creating a project to protect the folk songs of Bouyei people: documenting songs and__________old people to teach the songs to young people.

8 . Dongba，literally meaning "wise man"，plays a major role in Nakhi people's lives and culture. They are intellectuals with wide _______, covering fields like music, dance, classics, writing, history, painting, medicine and fortunetelling.

Li Xiuhua learned Dongba papermaking from his father He Zhiben, a famous master of Dongba culture after marrying He Yonghong at 22, and became the only female inheritor (继承人) of the national-level intangible _______ heritage. Dongba paper, which is used to _______ Dongba scriptures (经文) and draw pictures for the Nakhi people, is a kind of _______, ethnic handmade paper. The material for making the paper is _______ resistant to insects, so Dongba paper is bug-proof (防虫的) and can be _______ for a very long time.

He and Li couple make about 7,000 pieces of paper each year in their spare time, _______ work on the farm and in the house that keeps them busy, and part-time tour guide work. They _______ less than 20,000 yuan from papermaking each year, almost enough for the tuition fees for their two kids _______ in the town, but far from the whole household expenses.

__________ papermaking doesn't bring in much money, His family __________ the tradition and keeps making the most __________ Dongba paper totally by hand. They take __________ in teaching other villagers and visitors everything about Dongba culture, from papermaking to Dongba characters.

Li and He have long dreamed of __________ a private Dongba culture museum but they __________ have enough money to do so.

Li won't give up her dream of __________ Dongba culture. Many people try to __________ her to use the modern way to make paper. Li knows it can cut __________. However, as a member of a Dongba family, Li will never __________ their tradition for money. Li will try her best to set up their museum. Li knows it's hard，but she's __________ in the future.

9 . I never thought a misunderstanding over strawberries would send my mother-in-law out to the hills at dusk, just to pick an entire basket for me, an English.

It happened in May many years ago. I lived with my in-laws （公婆）in their _______. One day at the dinner time. I thought I had _______ somebody say miaozi., the term for strawberries in the local _______ . They were my favorite fruit in _______ . so I didn't wait to ask if there were some in the house.

It turned out that I was _______ ,but that didn't stop my Chinese in-laws from regarding my _______ as a veiled （含蓄的）request. Then. my father-in-law, _______ my mother-in-law to go into the hills and _______ some for me.

I was so _______ and I begged her not to do this. ________ she just smiled and disappeared into the kitchen for a while. Just as we prepared to ________ the table after the meal, she appeared in the dining room, carrying a basket of the very fruit.

Although I ________ my head for that was not my intention. I also ________ it for what it really was—another way to show how much she ________ me.

My Chinese in-laws have ________ told me "I love you." nor have they ever ________ or kissed me like my parents do. But I've felt that same care and regard in ________ ways.

While all this has meant learning a ________ language of love. I've come to appreciate just how ________ Chinese families will go to show their affection—even into a hillside in such a rural ( 农村的）village at __________   looking for strawberries.

10 . Every year, families across the US and the UK hang up little strange-shaped pickles (腌黄瓜) to decorate their Christmas trees. The practice is ______ by many English-speaking families, and is thought to be brought over from _______.

The tradition involves hiding the pickle ornament(装饰品) among the branches, and _____ the child who finds it with the chance to open gifts first. It’s also believed that person will get good   ____   for the year.

The origin of the   ______, however, is a bit confusing. In fact, it doesn’t seem to have actually   _____ in Germany at all, since most Germans don’t practice it. In 2016, a survey conducted among 2,057 Germans found that 91 percent had never even heard of it.

Another   ____   is that the tradition of   _____ a pickle didn’t actually start in Germany, but with a German immigrant in the US. The ______ goes that a German man named John Lower   _____ to the US and became ill when he was in prison during the Civil War. He ______ a guard to give him a pickle as a last meal, but he _____surviving. After being _______, he honored that pickle by starting his own ______ tradition of hiding a pickle in his Christmas tree for the kids ---- saying ______ found it would have the same good ______ he did.

Of course, that story is also _______, and could just be a tale coming out nowhere to explain the pickles later on. According to Wide Open Country, the whole pickle game was most ______ a marketing trick to sell German glass ornaments to Americans.

It was said to be ______ by F.W. Woolworth when the store began importing the ornaments in 1880. Each one would come with a card telling the story of the tradition.

Whether the tradition is real or manufactured, pickle ornaments have become ______ everywhere.