In modern society, many Chinese traditional festivals are still an important part of Chinese culture, and     1     we must protect them and maintain them.

Some traditional festivals teach us a lot about our nation’s history. For example,     2     the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in honour of Qu Yuan. By celebrating the festival with rice dumplings and dragon boat races, the story of Qu Yuan is passed down from generation to generation.

Moreover,     3    传统节日使我们更多了解中国人的价值观. Festivals, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, have a caring, family-centre d message at their heart.     4     The full moon on the festival is considered to stand for family togetherness.

Finally, traditional festivals are a source of national pride and help shape our national identity. For example,     5     我们有腊八节 with unique customs, and these shared experiences bring us together as a people. Traditional festivals tell us who we are and fill us with pride in being Chinese.

2 . The Chongyang Festival is a traditional Chinese festival. It is celebrated ________ the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (阴历). It’s also ________ the Double Ninth Festival.

The festival started as early as the Warring States Period. It has a ________ of more than 1,700 years. Among the numbers from zero to nine, ________ is the highest odd number (奇数). People believe that two “ninths” meeting together stand for a ________ life. So it is a special holiday for Chinese people to ________ love and respect (尊重) for their elders. They hold many kinds of activities in ________ of old people to wish them good health and a long life.

The festival comes during the golden time of ________. On the day, people traditionally drink chrysanthemum (菊花) wine, eat Double-Ninth Cakes and ________ mountains. They also carry a kind of plant, dogwood (茱萸). People in ancient times believed that the plant could drive away evil (邪恶的) spirits and ________ them from catching an illness in winter.

Beijing Opera is one of the traditional Chinese drama art forms with a history of more than 200 years.     1     is said that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty loved the theatre. At the beginning, there was no Beijing Opera. Kunqu Opera was the most popular, but Emperor Qianlong gradually became bored with this style. Various local operas were brought     2     Beijing to please the emperor. Drawing on the good points of these local operas, the new Beijing Opera came into being and     3     (become) Qianlong’s favorite.

Beijing Opera mixes different art forms, including     4    (sing), dancing, acrobatics (杂技) and Wushu. All these art forms     5     (put) into one performance. Facial painting is one of the most important     6     (sign) of Beijing Opera. It shows the roles’ personalities. For example, a red face     7     (usual) shows the role’s bravery; a white face shows the treachery (背叛) and guile (狡猾); a black face shows the role is a strict man.

Beijing Opera has spread to many other places. Mei Lanfang, a famous performer, was the first     8    (introduce) Beijing Opera to foreigners and made highly     9    (succeed) tours to foreign countries.

Beijing Opera is China’s national opera     10     it is full of Chinese cultural traditions. Welcome to China and enjoy Beijing Opera.

8 . I ran into quite a few language problems while vacationing ( 度假) with my family last summer. The most embarrassing was when my Mom apologized to the people we were staying with because her “pants were dirty”. They looked at her in amazement, not knowing how to react. You see, Mom had fallen over and gotten mud on her jeans. But in Britain, “pants” means underpants or knickers( 内裤；衬裤), not trousers as it does back home.

Katie — From America

I went to stay with a friend on the west coast last summer. Her flat was on the first floor of a high-rise building so I got the lift up. Then I wandered round for ages looking for her flat but couldn’t find it. Fed up and tired, I finally had to go out to find a phone box. She explained that her flat was on the first floor, which for me meant the ground floor.

David — From Britain

When I asked for the “restroom” in a big department store, people kept directing me to a room with seats where I could sit and “rest”. It took me years to get through to (使...明白)someone that I only wanted the toilet!

Tom — From America

Last summer we went on a two-week family touring holiday, so Dad hired a car over the Internet. This was an old vehicle and there turned out (结果是；证明是)to be lots of things wrong with it. When he phoned the hire company and tried to explain that the lock on the boot was broken, they thought he was talking about footwear! He had no idea their word for “boot” was “trunk”. In the end we went to a garage and just solved the problem.

Mary — From Britain