1 . Newcomers always have a good time during Spring Festival.

Huda Mohammed, a doctoral student is looking forward to ________ her third Spring Festival in China. Her favorite part of Lunar New Year is the ________. She went out with her friends to the street at 11 pm on New Year’s Eve in 2021 to see the fireworks. Her friends even searched online to ________ locations where fireworks could be seen, and visited them to ________ the displays. After the eye-catching fireworks, they returned to the ________ and had some dumplings. She also had ________ with the online red envelope games on WeChat. People can give and ________ digital red envelopes, or hongbao, ________ real money.

The best thing about spending Spring Festival in Beijing is the lack of passengers on public transportation. For foreigners, it’s a good time to ________ around and enjoy the city. Many people leave the city and it’s really easy to get around. Bill Siggins, 60, an editor from Canada, loves to go to Miaohui — a type of fair (集市，集会) ________ during Spring Festival — to enjoy traditional food and ________ shows in public parks and buy a Chinese New Year symbol to ________ on the door. He often travels to his wife’s hometown, Xi’an, to spend the festival with her ________. “It’s always good to see my mother and father-in-law. We eat too much food, have too much fun ________ the TV gala (盛会，演出) on New Year’s Eve,” he said. This year, he ________ to drive to Xi’an for the coming holiday.

Lunar New Year becomes increasingly recognized across the world.

2 . Top 4 Traditional Festivals in China

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, falls on the first day of the first lunar month. Chinese New Year is the most important festival in China. It is an important family reunion time for Chinese people around the world.

2022 Date: February 1 (Tuesday)

2023 Date: January 22 (Sunday)

The Lantern Festival, also known as Yuanxiao Jie or Shangyuan Festival, falls on the15th day of the first lunar month, it traditionally marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration.

Tangyuan, also called yuanxiao, is a must-eat food for the Lantern Festival. Shaped like a round ball, tangyuan symbolizes people’s desires for happiness and family reunions. Besides eating tangyuan, Chinese people would also light colourful lanterns and guess lantern riddles to celebrate this festival.

2022 Date: February 15 (Tuesday)

2023 Date: February 5 (Sunday)

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duan Wu Jie in Chinese, falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Chinese people celebrate this festival by racing dragon boats, eating zongzi, drinking realgar wine, and hanging Chinese Mugwort to honour Qu Yuan.

2022 Date: June 3 (Friday)

2023 Date: June 22 (Thursday)

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Like the Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also an important time for family reunions. Chinese people would eat moon cakes, admire the full moon, and hang up colourful lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

2022 Date: September 10 (Saturday)

2023 Date: September 29 (Friday)

5 . An 85-year-old primary school constructed in 1935 in Shanghai has been lifted off the ground in its entirety and relocated using new technology called the “walking machine.” The project marks the first time this “walking machine” method has been used in Shanghai to relocate a historical building.

Urbanization（都市化）has continued to significantly threaten architectural heritage. In the capital Beijing, for instance, more than 1,000 acres of its historic hutongs and traditional courtyard homes were destroyed between 1990 and 2010.

In the early 2000s, cities including Nanjing and Bejjing-due to the critics’ protest about the loss of old neighborhoods-drew up long-term plans to preserve what was left of their historic sites, with protections introduced to safeguard buildings and restrict developers.

These conservation efforts have taken different forms. In Beijing, a near-ruined temple was transformed into a restaurant and gallery, while in Nanjing, a cinema from the 1930s was restored to its original form, with some additions providing it for modern use. In 2019, Shanghai welcomed Tank Shanghai, an arts center built in renovated（重修的）oil tanks.

“Relocation is not the first choice, but better than destroying,” said Lan, the Shanghai primary school’s project supervisor. “I’d rather not touch the historical buildings at all.” Building relocations he said however, are “a workable option.” “The central government is putting more emphasis on the protection of historical buildings. I’m happy to see that progress in recent years.”

Shanghai has arguably been China’s most progressive city when it comes to heritage preservation. The survival of a number of 1930s buildings and 19th-century “shikumen” （or “stone gate”） house have offered examples of how to give old buildings new life.

“We have to preserve the historical building no matter what, ” Lan said. “The relocation has challenges, but in general, it is cheaper than destroying and then rebuilding something in a new location.”

6 . It was a cold December, at the end of the Great Depression, and things were tough. Mum had a _________ time raising us kids on her own. Looking back, I realize what Mum _________ sending us to school. Constant _________ was typical for my family, and it didn’t look like we’d be in our current house much longer. Rent was $25 a month, but Mum couldn’t pay it.

The holidays were fast _________ , and we received S25 for Christmas from social services. Mum said instead of buying food and Christmas gifts, she was going to pay back our _________ with it. That way we’d have a roof over our heads for a little while longer.

Unknown to Mum, I had been _________ Christmas trees, shoveling (铲) snow and doing odd jobs to earn enough money to buy a new pair of boots.

The _________ day came on Christmas Eve afternoon. I was very _________ as I hurried to catch the bus into town. On the way a house with Christmas decorations reminded me that at our house, we had no such things and no _________ for Christmas goodies. Suddenly, I felt a sense of __________ . Here I was going to spend S23 on a pair of boots, while Mum was probably home __________ , wondering how to explain why there were no __________ . As I arrived at the bus stop, the driver opened the door. I stood there for what seemed a century, until __________ the driver asked, “Son, are you getting on this bus or not?” I finally blurted out, “No thanks, sir. I’ve __________ my mind.”

The bus drove off and I stood alone, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I went into a __________ across the street, with __________ and excitement. I bought a turkey, ham and all the Christmas trimmings. I spent every dime of my __________ money.

Two boys with carriers on their bicycles ran those groceries to our house. After we __________ piled (堆) the groceries against the door, I __________ the door. I could hardly wait to see my mother’s face! When Mum opened the door, some of the groceries fell inside onto the floor, and she just stood there, extremely __________ . Holding back the tears, I yelled, “Merry Christmas, Mother! There really is a Santa Claus!”

7 . Chinese traditional clothing, or hanfu, has been increasingly ______by Western fashion in recent decades. However, in the past few years, many young people in China have been ______to the past and wearing traditional hanfu, as this style of clothing is currently______a renaissance (复兴).

One of the reasons for this trend is a desire to strengthen national______and promote traditional culture and pride in Chinese heritage. The popularity of hanfu has ______to the increase in interest in traditional Chinese clothing.

The phenomenon of hanfu is not just limited to China; there has also been a growing interest from people worldwide. One example is the TV drama The Story of Minglan, which______more than 400 million viewers in just three days.

However, there is no______definition of what counts as hanfu since each dynasty has its own style, although the clothes are generally______by loose, flowing robes.

For some enthusiasts, hanfu is more than just fashion; it is a way to connect with Chinese history and culture. For example, a Chinese-American woman recalled that when she was a child, she and her sister would ______ to wear beautiful clothes by wearing sheets and blankets around themselves.

And many people are______of hanfu. The support of the government for Chinese culture has______the hanfu community. There are even some organizations, such as the Communist Youth League of China conference on traditional clothing, that show______efforts to promote hanfu. According to them, clothes are the______of culture, and not wearing traditional clothing means losing a part of Chinese culture.

Some organizations and individuals are making efforts to popularize hanfu. Some, like the Hanfu Club, have received______from the Communist Youth League of China.

As one member of the Hanfu Club stated, “If we even______or forget about the clothes we wear every day, how can we talk about other essential parts of our culture?”

8 . What do the following places have in common: the Serengeti Desert, Edinburgh’s Old Town and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve?

The Serengeti Desert is in Tanzania and Kenya, Africa. It contains (包含) thousands of kilometers of dry grasslands and many rare kinds of animals.

Edinburgh’s Old Town is in the capital city of Scotland. It has many old buildings and streets.There are very few new buildings in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is near Mexico City in Mexico. It has beautiful flowers and forests. It is also the home of millions of butterflies in the winter.

There three places are very different. But they are all under special protection by UNESCO (联合国教科文组织). They are World Heritage Sites.

The story of World Heritage Sites begins more than 3, 000 years ago. At that time, the great king of Egypt built many temples. But after thousands of years, sand covered them.

Stories tell of a young boy named Abu Simbel who found the temples. One day, Abu Simbel saw something under the sand. Soon, the ancient temples of Ramses Ⅱ were officially rediscovered. But they were not safe. The government of Egypt planned to build a dam on the Nile River. It would create a large lake, which would cover the temples in water.

Many people did not want the temples destroyed. UNESCO agreed and raised 40 million dollars from around the world to save the temples. From 1964 to 1968, engineers took the temples apart in many pieces and rebuilt them hundreds of meters back from the Nile River. Today, they are called the Abu Simbel Temples, in memory of the young boy who first found them.

The effort to save the Abu Simbel Temples was a success. So in 1972, UNESCO formed the World Heritage Committee, which protects places on the earth that are of great cultural or natural value.

Any country in the world can ask for protection from UNESCO.The countries send a list of places to the World Heritage Committee. Once a year, the World Heritage Committee meets and votes on which places to protect. When they choose a place, it officially becomes a World Heritage Site.