The greatest     1     began the night before Spring Festival. Fireworks were being let off across the city, suddenly lighting up the night sky. Children were covering their ears but with an expectant look on their faces. Mrs Chen said that it was to     2     the monster Nian. The fireworks were a lot of fun! We then sat together to enjoy a big dinner,     3     everyone a happy new year.

When people started creating their own avatars, they discovered that they were going to have the power to create new identities that did not look or act like their real selves at all. They could dress their avatars infancy clothes, or they could try being someone of the opposite sex, and call themselves “Andy” instead of “Anna”! When Internet users realised that their avatars would     4     by many people, not just their friends, they started having more than on avatar: a sensible one for work; a friendly, good-looking one for meeting people; and a silly one for having fun. Avatars let you express yourself and give you lots of room for     5    .

Firstly,     6     online is no replacement for face-to-face contact — images really cannot replace a real-life smile or hug. According to a parenting expert, Denise Daniels, communicating through a screen makes     7     more difficult for children to concentrate or show kindness to others. As we know, important social skills are developed through direct contact with other people. It is these skills that enable us     8     lifelong friendships.

Thirdly, online relationships may not be what they appear to be. Friendships are built on the basis of trust, and with online communication you can never be 100 percent sure that the people you are chatting to are being honest about     9     they are. Because of this, going online can be particularly     10     for people who are easily influenced or too trusting.

I gathered all my c    1     to take a bite and was amazed to find it wasn’t so bad. It r    2     me of blue cheese, a similarly strong smelling type of food you either love or hate.

The Revenge of Prince Zidan, the Peking Opera     3    (版本) of Hamlet, brought a completely new sound to my western ears. I was impressed with the performers’     4    (夸张的) movements and unique voices. Feeling the strong e    5     of love, anger, fear and grief in the performance, I could easily recognize the theme of Hamlet.

Good news for our trip! I’ve booked accommodation based on the     6    (预算) we made. I’ve even arranged transfer from the airport to the hotel. We are almost set! All we have to do now is pack l    7    .

Letters from Father Christmas is a fantastic book. The man who wrote these letters is one of the most famous names in English     8    (文学)，J.R.R Tolkien. Every Christmas, an envelope with a North Pole stamp was a    9     to Tolkien’s children, in which a     10    (手写的) letter from Father Christmas could be found.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s biggest airline, has fired three cabin crew members after a passenger aboard a flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong complained of d    1    .

In a viral post on the lifestyle app Xiaohongshu on Monday, the passenger said flight a    2     had made fun of non-English-speaking passengers aboard the plane. The author of the post said she was aboard flight CX987 and overheard cabin crew chatting with each other in Cantonese and English.

“If you cannot say blanket, you cannot have it…the carpet is on the floor, feel free if you want to lie on it,” people are heard saying in a recording. The author also alleged that a woman sitting next to her was also r    3     dismissed when seeking help in English to fill out the customs declaration card.

“I can’t understand why they have such great hostility toward passengers who don’t speak English or Cantonese,” the post said. “Why can’t they give even basic r    4     to passengers?”

Amid the social media storm that ensued, Cathay Pacific said in a statement on Weibo that the three flight attendants involved in the incident were fired after an investigation. The airline added that a cross-departmental working group led by its CEO Ronald Lam would u    5     a comprehensive review of services, staff training, and other systems to prevent such incidents from occurring again.

“The most important thing is to make sure that all our e    6     must respect passengers from different cultural backgrounds and provide professional and consistent services in all serving areas,” Cathay Pacific stated.

On Wednesday, Lam a    7     and reiterated the company’s statement during an off-line event in Guangzhou.

But the spate of apologies and official statements, which even included one from Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, f    8     to quell public outrage.

“For a company that seems unrepentant, is a mere apology sufficient?” asked China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, claiming that the anger on social media highlighted the company’s “arrogance in its bones and cc for its customers.”

Lee said on Weibo Tuesday that he was “very infuriated and disappointed” by the i    9    .

“These disrespectful words and d    10     have hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland, and also undermined the city’s existing culture and values of respect, courtesy, and inclusiveness,” he said.

Our comfort foods are highly     1    . They vary from person to person, depending on our own unique experiences that have     2     our lives. If we grow up eating certain foods in our family, then those foods tend to be linked with positive     3    . For example, we often connect chicken soup with a happy childhood and its     4     becomes tied up with the feeling of being taken care of. When we eat it again, we     5     memories of a time when we were loved and looked after, and this cheers us up.

We often hear of people talking about Karaoke. But what on earth it is about, it r    1    a question for many people. Karaoke is a sort of acoustic (音响的) equipment     2    was invented in Japan around the middle of the 1970’s. It means “a band without people”    3    Japanese. In     4    , it is just a music tape without words. This equipment first appeared in some     5    (公共的) houses and snack bars, and mainly for the     6    (顾客) to enjoy themselves. Most of the music in Karaoke was popular music.

Shortly after its invention, Karaoke was s    7     to the whole world. It was     8    (引进) to China and was welcomed by many people. A    9     you are not a good singer, or even sometimes you may sing out of tune, you can always enjoy     10    by singing Karaoke.