Chinese Spring Festival is the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar. With the Spring Festival     1     (approach), people are busy purchasing goods, cleaning the houses and cooking traditional food. Some families decorate their windows     2     paper-cuts, putting up New Year pictures and couplets. It is an occasion     3     the whole family gather to enjoy quality family time. During the Spring Festival holidays, all kinds of     4     (celebrate) are held, including temple fairs, performances, and lantern exhibitions,     5     last nearly half a month.

At his studio in Beijing, artist Zhang Xiaodong piles hundreds of sheets of thin top of one another until they form a complete image. When there is a slight air, the pages flow, giving life to the book     1     (it).This dragon scale bookbinding(装订),     2    (stretch)back more than 1,000 years to the Tang dynasty.

With few of the books     3     (survive)to the present day, the bookbinding technique was     4     the risk of disappearing before Zhang decided to research and bring it back to life. After half a year’s study, he finally learned     5     the ancient bookbinding worked.     6     (source)materials traditionally used in bookbinding Zhang also visited old towns and heritage (遗址)sites. Then came the     7     (crucial)-and difficult-part of the binding process: controlling the placement of each page. In order to create a complete picture, each sheet needs to be placed in     8     (exact)the right place. Zhang said that an error of just     9     hundredth of a centimeter can produce a huge, visible error when a book’s hundreds of pages are displayed together.

Zhang’s     10     (prepare)that went into producing this particular work shows the very modern way that the artist tries to understand the subject matter.

The dumpling is a traditional lucky food in China and enjoys worldwide popularity now. With a history of 1,800 years, it is not only    1    staple food of people in Northern China, but also an essential dish in various festivals, especially in Chinese New Year.

The classic fold of Chinese dumplings    2    (shape) like a silver ingot(锭)，a currency in ancient China. The belief is that the    3    dumplings you make and eat, the more money and wealth you will make for the New Year. Dumplings represent the changing or exchange of new time. By    4    (eat) the dumplings you are welcoming the new year and new fortunes.

    5    (usual), families will gather    6    Lunar New Year’s Eve to make dumplings together. Wheat flour wraps are filled with regional ingredients such as pork, shrimp, chicken, or    7    (vegetable). Sometimes dumplings are folded to look like small purse,    8    is another symbol of wealth. “They can be steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried. If you want    9    (start) your own dumpling-making tradition,    10    (try) my Chinese Mushroom Pot stickers and Vegetable Tofu Dumplings,” said Chef Henry Lu of   Loosie’s Kitchen in Brooklyn, New York.

4 . You might think that simple things like saying hello and goodbye are the same in every culture. Think again!

Shaking hands to say hello or goodbye was a Western custom at first.     1    

Traditionally, the Chinese custom for greeting was to hold one’s hands together and nod their head a little.

Japanese people greet each other by bowing.When greeting an older or more important person, it is usual to bow lower and for longer.    2     But only men did it.

People in European countries such as Italy often greet each other with a kiss on both cheeks (脸颊). Even men greet each other like this.    3    

Eskimos, a group of people living in the very cold northern areas of North America, greet each other by lightly rubbing their noses together.    4     Often, Eskimos only leave their eyes and noses uncovered. And the rest of their bodies are covered with warm clothing and their hands with gloves.

When you’re not sure what the customs are in a new country, there’s one greeting that is the same all over the world: a smile.    5