The Water Splashing Festival of the Dai ethnic minority (少数民族),     1     falls in April, is the most important festival for the Dai people in the Dehong area of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. It is the New Year for the Dai, a festival to send off the old and greet the new.

During the festival which lasts for three or four days, people     2    (dress) in their best clothes and take part in a     3    (various) of rich and colorful activities. Dragon boat racing, fireworks displays and other     4    (performance) such as peacock dance are held on the first day. And the most popular event is water-splashing on the second day. People splash water on each other,     5    (hope) to take away sickness and disasters. The wetter you get, the     6    (lucky) you will be. The last day is usually for the young people to play games as a way     7    (express) their love for each other.

The Water Splashing Festival     8    (vivid) exhibits the Dai’s respect     9     water and the culture of music and dance, food, and costumes. It is also a cultural bridge between Xishuangbanna and Southeast Asian countries that share     10     same festival culture of water-splashing.

The summer solstice (夏至) has been widely recognized as a festival throughout the world.

The word solstice originates (起源) from the Latin sol and sistere,    1    (mean) “sun-standing”.    2    the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky. It is one of the great turning points of the year, when the sun is at its    3    (high) point in the sky during a year.

Today, the day is celebrated around the world. In England thousands gather to welcome the sunrise on the summer solstice. Throughout Europe groups light a fire and stay up all night to welcome the dawn. In Paris, the day    4    (mark) with free concerts during the every year’s Fête de la Musique. When it comes    5    the U. S., the city of Santa Barbara in California holds the county’s biggest    6    (celebrate) that lasts a full three-day time. On the East Coast, New York City    7    (tradition) welcomes the summer solstice with a music concert at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

In the southern part of China, eating lychees (荔枝) during the summer solstice    8    (be) a long tradition because eating lychees will cause less “heat” to the body. There is a saying in Shandong province    9    goes, “eating dumplings on the winter solstice day and eating    10    (noodle) on the summer solstice day.”

Global warming could make humans shorter.Scientists claim to have found evidence that it caused the world's first horses     1     (become) smaller nearly 50 million years ago.In fact，a team from the universities of Florida and Nebraska says,     2     has found a link between the earth heating up and the size of horses，during the last time the world heated up.The scientists used fossils to follow the evolution of horses from their earliest     3     (appear)56 million years ago.As temperatures went up，their size went     4    . The scientists say that the current warming could have the same effect     5     mammals and could even make humans     6    (small)．“Horses started out small，about the size of a small dog.What's     7    (surprise) is that after they first appeared，they then became even smaller and then dramatically increased in size，and that     8     (exact)corresponds to(符合)the global warming event，followed by cooling.”“It had been known that mammals     9     (be) small during the last warm time，    10     we hadn't realised that temperature specifically was driving the evolution of body size，”Dr Bloch said in the Science journal.

Classical(古典的)Chinese poetry is traditional Chinese poetry     1    (write) in classical Chinese and is a symbol of traditional culture.Many     2    (poem) come from particular historical periods，such as the poetry of the Tang Dynasty and the verse of the Song Dynasty.    3    (it) history dates back to at least as early as the publication of the Classic of Poetry or Shijing.There are     4    (difference) combinations(组合) of forms and genres，most of     5     appeared at the end of the Tang Dynasty.

The development of Classical Chinese poetry     6    (active) continued up to 1919，when the May Fourth Movement     7    (take) place，and it is still popular even today.Classical Chinese poetry created during this 2，500－year period has been developing continuously，producing a great deal of diversity—classified by both major historical periods     8     dynastic periods.

One of the key parts of Classical Chinese poetry is its close     9    (connect) with other forms of Chinese art，such as Chinese painting and Chinese calligraphy(书法)．Classical Chinese poetry has been proven to have a strong influence     10     poetry worldwide.

How much sleep does a person need? We are all different. Some people need only three hours of sleep a day     1    others need ten hours or more. The amount of sleep     2     (suggest) is 8 hours for people aged 18 to 21 and 7 hours for people over 21. As people get older, they need less sleep time,    3     decreases to 6.5 hours a night after age 65.

Most people have     4     experience where they sometimes cannot fall asleep at night. About one third of Americans have difficulty in falling     5     (sleep).The name of this illness     6     (call) insomnia. This is not the modern disease. Many famous people in history had insomnia.    7     (actual), some of these people had special ideas     8     (make) themselves sleep. Benjamin Franklin, the famous statesman and     9     (invent), had four beds. He moved from one to another to make himself sleep. Mark Twain, the famous American humorist, had a different way. He     10     (lie)on his side across the end of the bed.

Paper cutting is a folk culture with so long a history. When Chinese Lunar New Year is coming, it is a custom     1     northern people to paste the paper cutting on the window. Gradually, it develops into an art form, one of the     2     (popular) traditional decoration arts. It is recorded that there were decorations made by gold and silver foil, leather and silk products in 1600 BC. We can say that paper cutting came from these art forms.

In the early time, people made images of humans and subjects by hemp paper     3     (bury) together with the body in the tomb or to burn on the funerals. With the special symbolization meaning, paper cutting     4     (use) as decorations on sacrificing ceremonies. In 105 AD, Cai Lun improved the paper making technique and a large amount of paper was produced,     5     laid a foundation for the spread of paper cutting. Beautiful patterns (图案) were created and gradually, the patterns were     6     (wide) used in other fields later.

There were more records of paper cutting after 960 AD (Song dynasty).     7     (profession) paper cutting artists appeared,     8     (specialize) in different patterns. Some were good at cutting flowers     9     others were expert at characters’ cutting. Thus the patterns were abundant (丰富的) and colorful. One of the most important     10     (contribution) of paper cutting in the Song dynasty was that patterns were used on the china.

Most of us relate wealth to a     1     (success) career, a big house and expensive clothes.However, a recent study,     2    (carry) out by a US-based bank and brokerage company , showed that more than six     3    ten of the people surveyed treasured time withtheir family in daily lives.

Not long ago, a spokesman for UK company Luxury Family Hotel told the Daily Mail,Society is     4    (gradual) becoming a materialistic (物质主义的) place where the message from modern famous people.    5    (seem) to be that fashion, and foreign holidays as well as expensive jewels are of great    6       (important) . However, the study shows that many people still feel things such as family and relationships, compared to    7     (spend) money,are much    8     (value) regardless of their race, age and nationality. Indeed,     9    is often the case, we leave home to seek our fortune and, when we get    10    , we go home and share with our family.

As is known to all, art     1     (influence) by the customs and faith of a people. Styles in Western art have changed many times.

In the 5th century, the art of the Middle Ages came into being and the main aim of     2     (paint) was to represent religious themes.     3     a result, some pictures at this time were full of religious symbols,     4     (create) a feeling of respect and love for God. During the   Renaissance,   people   began   to concentrate     5     (little) on religious themes and adopt a more humanistic attitude     6     life. In the late 19th century, some painters became the Impressionists. And they were the first painters     7     (paint) outdoors. Paintings can reflect the     8     (develop) of civilization, and it is interesting to predict     9     styles of paintings there will be in the future.     10     not try to visit some art galleries to appreciate different styles of paintings?

Up to 82 percent of children with healthy mothers are not easy to be obese（肥胖的）, according to research. A mother,     1     has a healthy weight, exercises regularly, eats a healthy diet, doesn’t smoke and only     2    (drink) wine in moderation, is significantly less likely     3    (have)a fat child, scientists say.

And research suggests it could be more to do with nurture(养育)    4     nature, as a mother's lifestyle appears     5    (direct) linked to the health of her child. When both mother and child follow a healthy lifestyle, the risk of obesity     6    (reduce)even more, the study of more than 24,000 children found.

The study examined the medical history and lifestyles of more than 24,000 children aged nine     7     fourteen, born to almost 17,000 women in the US. Researchers looked at the link between overall mother health and likelihood of a child     8    (be) obese.

The mother's health was judged on her height-to-weight ratio(比例), her diet, amount of physical     9    (active), smoking status and how much alcohol she drank. A healthy weight and diet, regular exercise, no smoking and moderate drinking all reduce the chance of a woman having     10     obese child.