Just like spoken language, body language     1     (vary)   from culture to culture. The crucial thing is using body language in a way that is appropriate to the culture you are in. For example,     2     (make) eye contact—looking into someone’s eyes—in some countries is       3     way to display interest. In other countries, by contrast, eye contact is not always approved of.

Each year, the women of Olney, England, and Liberal, Kansas, compete in     1     unusual footrace. Dressed in     2     (apron) and headscarves, they wait at both towns’ starting lines. Each woman holds a frying pan     3     one pancake inside. At the signal, the women flip their pancakes and they are off.

This “pancake racing” tradition is said to have started on Shrove Tuesday, 1445, in Olney,     4     is the day before the Christian season of Lent(大斋期) begins. During Lent, many people decide to give up sugary or fatty foods.

Legend says that in 1445, an Olney woman     5     (make) pancakes to use up some of her sugar and cooking fats before Lent. She lost track of time and     6     (sudden) heard the church bells ring, signaling the     7     (begin) of the Shrove Tuesday service.     8     (realize) that she was going to be late for church, she     9     (race) out, still wearing her apron and headscarf and holding her frying pan with a pancake in it.

In the following years, the woman’s neighbors imitated her dash to church,     10     pancake racing was born. Olney women continue this Shrove Tuesday tradition more than five hundred years later.

Tea is part of daily life in China. Serving a cup of tea    1    (be)more than a matter of politeness.It is a symbol of togetherness, and a way of showing respect to visitors.

The Chinese have such a close relationship with tea    2    they have developed an entire“Tea Culture”.It includes articles, poems,and paintings about tea,as well as the art of making and drinking tea, and     3    (vary)related customs.

Although there has been    4    increasing amount of literature about tea in recent years, such literature is certainly not new. During the Tang Dynasty, Lu Yu,    5    is known as the “Tea Sage (茶圣)”, wrote a book. It described     6    detail the process of planting tea bushes, harvesting tea leaves, and preparing for the making of tea.

The Chinese have high    7     ( require)for the quality of the tea leaf, the water , the wares (器皿) they use to prepare and serve tea. Normally, the    8    ( fine)tea is grown at altitudes of 900 to 2,100 meters. Water from good springs    9     ( consider)the best. The purple clay wares    10    (make) in Yixing, Jjiangsu province are the most popular.

Move over, mochaccino — Chinese tea culture is coming! If a group of senior high school     1    (student) get their way, the world will quite soon be drinking Chinese tea instead     2     coffee. The students created     3     project to make Chinese tea and tea culture     4     (popular) at home and abroad. They     5     (give) speeches on the history and traditions of Chinese tea     6    organized a lot of exciting activities, in     7     people could taste different kinds of tea and even try     8     (pick) tea leaves. The students also used the internet     9     (make) teenagers more interested in tea culture. The project was so     10     (succeed) that the students won second prize in a big international competition. Best of all, they learned to work as a team and use their creativity.

I experienced the Naadam Festival in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for the first time this year. The festival falls on the     1    (four) day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, usually     2    (last) for three days. Naadam means "games" in Mongolian and it is represented by three events: horse racing, wrestling, and archery,     3     are all so     4    (excite) to watch.

On the first day, I set off to the games early with my friend Burin. I saw a lot of people     5    (wear) fancy Mongolian robes. Mongolians travel every year from near and far     6    (attend) the festival, just    7     their ancestors had done for centuries.

After the opening ceremony and some     8    (amaze) performances, the wrestling competition     9    (begin). Mongolian wrestling is different     10     the wrestling in the Olympic Games. There are no rounds, and wrestlers are not separated by    11    (weigh). The wrestler loses if any part of his body above his knee touches the ground. After     12    (sing) some songs, the     13    (compete) danced onto the green field     14    ( wave) their arms in the air as if they were eagles. I was quite     15    (move) by their show of strength and grace.

I     16    (absolute) enjoyed the archery, too, but the horse races were my favourite part. However, I was surprised to see that the riders were boys and girls! I heard it is because children are     17    (light) and the horses can run faster and farther. At first, I was a little worried about the children's     18    (safe), but Burin said, " Don't worry. They've been riding horses all their lives. They'll be just fine. " That was the moment I started to understand     19    people say Horses are at the heart of Mongolian culture.

I' m finally back home now,     20    (feel) really tired, but celebrating Naadam with my friend was totally worth it. He invited me back for the winter to stay in a traditional Mongolian tent and eat hot pot. I can't wait!

Qiang Shuping was so busy making cloth shoes     1     she didn’t even rest during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. The woman from Baipu county, Jiangsu province,     2     (make) shoes since she was 19 years old, and this year marks her 31st year making cloth shoes. She spends the entire day in her tiny studio, which measures less than 10 square meters altogether, filled with cloth shoes in     3     (variety) stages of completion.

Nowadays, many stores make cloth shoes     4     (use) machines, but Qiang sticks to the technique of making shoes entirely     5     hand. She says the shoes     6     (produce) by machine are not of the same quality as handmade ones. The handmade cloth shoes are more durable (耐用的) and comfortable     7     (soft), and absorb sweat better.

Some people buy cloth shoes out of nostalgia (怀旧), while     8     trust their quality. Making shoes isn’t     9     profitable job, but Qiang still insists as she wants to preserve the craft and pass it down to the younger generation.

Handmade cloth shoes are also called qian ceng di (shoes with a thousand layers),     10     can date back to the ancient Zhou Dynasty (1050—221 BC). In 2009, the making technique of qian ceng di was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.

The Dragon Boat Festival has been marked by eating zongzi and racing dragon boats for thousands of years. It     1     (fall) on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese lunar calendar in honor of Qu yuan,     2     is said to have committed suicide by drowning himself.

Qu was minister of the state of Chu     3     (locate) in the present-day Hunan and Hebei provinces during the Warring States period. He was upright, loyal and     4     (high) respected.     5    , he was fired from office due to his suggestion to fight against Qin in cooperation with other states. During his stay in other states, he wrote many poems to express his strong love for his country. When Chu     6     (defeat) by Qin. He realized     7     he could do about it was nothing. Qu jumped into Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month.

After the     8     (dead) of Qu Yuan, people of Chu went to Miluo River to mourn (悼念) over the great poet they loved so much. People threw eggs and rice wrapped in leaves     9     the river to feed the fish to keep them away from Qu Yuan. Now the Dragon Boat Festival has become a       10    ( tradition) festival for the Chinese people.

It is a big challenge     1     (balance) the progress and the protection of cultural sites. We all need to take responsibility     2     it. And we should know that it is a time which     3     (hold) both challenges and solutions.

Paper-cutting was recognized as a national cultural heritage(遗产)in 2006.According to   experts，paper-cutting conveys the culture shared between China     1     the West to wish for family reunions and maintain links with loved ones，alive or dead.

In the movie Coco，for instance，the 12-year-old Miguel and his family dance and sing to   celebrate the Day of the Dead，a       2     (tradition)festival in Mexico，when colorful paper-cuts are hung on the street.Chinese people also cut images of small figures     3     (call) back the spirits of the dead.The difference is that most Chinese paper-cuts are red，while those in other countries       4     (be)often made in many other colors.

Fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen liked to cut     5     (character)，such as princesses and angels，out of paper while     6     (tell)stories to children.In China，female friends and family members used to chat and make paper-cuts together.

“     7    the patterns and colors may be different，paper-cuts share the same function of   maintaining emotional ties among people，”says Yang Huizi，     8     art teacher at Beijing Union.

Yang     9     (study)and performed the art for over a decade.Besides routine university   courses，she also organizes nonprofit paper-cutting activities     10    are open to the public in   Beijing to promote basic knowledge of paper-cutting.

From red lanterns to red envelopes，did you ever wonder     1     the color red is so popular in China，especially during the Chinese New Year? It is said that it all began with Nian，a wild beast     2     would frighten villagers on the New Year，    3     (eat)crops，livestock(家畜)，and even children.But villagers learned that this animal     4     a lion head was afraid of three things:fire，noise，and the color red.Nian was defeated，and from then on，the color red was considered     5     (bring)good luck and good fortune to all.

“Usually red lanterns are hung outside the doors to ward off(避开)bad luck，”suggests Karen Katz，author of     6     picture book My First Chinese New Year.“Also red cutout papers       7     (use)as decorations to hang on the walls.If you live near a Chinese neighborhood，you should be able to purchase these     8     (item)，but if not，go online and order them.You can also make your own cutouts.”

Still，the most popular way to celebrate the Chinese New Year     9     (be)to hand out red envelopes filled with money.However，like toys under the Christmas tree，some traditions are meant for children，and Chinese red envelopes are given to     10     (they)to ward off evil spirits.