9 . When the bell rang on the last day of school, Susanna cheered along with her classmates. School was over, and summer was beginning!

Some students were ________ to go to summer camp while others were just happy to stay at home and rest. However, summertime for Susanna ________ only one thing: the cottage.

On sunny days at the cottage, there was so much ________ ! The sunshine made the lake shine like a diamond. The gentle wind ________ the leaves on the trees, sounding like a waterfall. Susanna was ________ to go swimming with her parents in the clear lake on the hottest days. She also liked rowing herself on a paddle board (浆板), ________ she often fell off it!

On ________ days, the family would stay indoors, watching movies or ________ challenging jigsaw puzzles. At night they would do some ________ , embracing (拥抱) the wonder of literature while listening to the sounds of the rain falling on the roof.

Susanna loved the way her whole family spent the summer there. However, the ________ was her cousins’ visit. They would light a campfire at night, singing and dancing to music outdoors. Once inside, ________ themselves under blankets, Susanna and her cousins would tell ________ and laugh to tears until the adults found them and told them to be quiet. ________ , they would fall asleep, one by one, until only Susanna remained ________ . She would fall asleep to the gentle snores of exhausted children, wishing that summer at the cottage would never ________.

People of the Dai ethnic group in southwest China’s Yunnan province annually celebrate their Water Splashing (泼洒) Festival. It lasts for three days and marks the official New Year celebration for over one million people     1     (live) in China, mainly in Xishuangbanna and Dehong. The festival     2     (include) in China’s National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006.

Originating in Persia in the 5th century, the water splashing ceremony spread to China around 1200 AD, and gradually became     3     folk custom among Dai people. On the first two days, people clean their houses, have their hair cut, and take showers. Various     4     (performance) can also be seen. Some people send Kongming lanterns into the sky, dance and sing freely on the streets, and watch     5     (color) dragon boat races on the Lancang River. On the third day of the festival,     6     marks the first day of the New Year on the Dai calendar, people often get up early in the morning     7     (wash) Buddha statues (佛像) in temples with clean water. After that, they     8     (joyful) join in the mass water splashing. People use anything at hand to splash water over others,     9     friends and neighbors to strangers, as an     10     (express) of their wishes for good luck for whoever is on the receiving end.