Winter Solstice (冬至)

Winter Solstice, also     1    (know)as Midwinter or Winter Festival, means the     2    (arrive) of winter.

Winter Solstice is the 22nd in the present system of solar terms, but it was in fact the first one to     3    (create) and observed by people in ancient China. They     4    (believe) that from Winter Solstice, the next cycle began. Winter Solstice, therefore, was regarded as the     5    (begin) of a new year,     6     explains why Winter Solstice was not only set as a solar term, but has also been observed as     7     important festival.

The winter season starts in most areas in China from the day on. But because     8     its huge land area, the climate differs greatly from place to place. For example, the night time temperature during this period in northeast China drops to as low as -20℃ , while it is still around 10℃ in some places in South China like Guangzhou.

Eating dumplings on Winter Solstice is a tradition in northern China. Compared with dumplings, sweet dumplings (tangyuan) are even     9    (popular) for locals in southern China. In     10    (they) mind, the round shape of sweet dumplings symbolizes the reunion.

Annie was     1    （excite）to find her name on the list of the people     2    （invite）to the royal ball at Windsor Castle. She took out the dress     3    （buy）long ago for a special day. She turned around, enjoying her look in the mirror. The next day at the ball, she was well received as an     4    （honour）guest. She danced with a few polite young men     5    （introduce）to her. All in all, she found Windsor Castle to be a place which never made people feel     6    （bore）.

China has many     1    (tradition) festivals attracting people such as Dragon Boat Festival, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and so on. People prepare     2     (decorate) them with flowers, lanterns and fancy     3    (decoration). In many places, people like to set     4     fireworks.

Till today, some of them     5    (hold) around the country,     6     (attract) countless visitors to participate in them. There are     7    (variety) activities in these festivals     8     people hold lots of competitions to entertain themselves.     9    (interesting), guessing lantern riddles is essential part of the festival.

What’s more, celebrating western festivals are becoming     10     common phenomenon around the country.

    1     (observe) on the first day of the first lunar month, Chinese Lunar New Year, also     2     (call) the Spring Festival, is well     3     (receive) by all the Chinese people all over the world. At the Spring Festival, most people have big meals     4     (cook) by themselves and chat with family members while others may take a trip to visit their friends or to spend their long holiday. Besides, people will say “Happy New Year” to express good wishes for the coming New Year. It is also a children’s festival when they are     5     (dress) in their favorite clothes and go to their relatives’ homes with their parents to get lucky money in red envelopes.

8 . It was my tenth birthday. The _________ list began with a few close friends, but it quickly grew to a total of seventeen. Nearly every girl in my fifth grade class had been invited to my house for a big_________. I was especially happy when they excitedly accepted the_________. It would be a night of scary stories, pizza and lots of presents. But as I later realized, I would truly_________ only one gift I received that night.

That night, we were playing games when the doorbell rang. “Judy, come here for a minute,” Mom called from the front door.

I_________ my eyes and shrugged to my friends as if to say, “Now who would dare_________ me at a time like this?” I walked toward the front door reluctantly, and then stopped. There on the front porch stood Sarah Westly— the quiet girl who sat next to me in music class—and she was holding a gift.

How had I forgotten to invite Sarah? I remembered that I only_________ a name to the list when someone had shown an interest in me. But Sarah had never done that. Never once did she squeeze (挤) into the_________ of kids surrounding me at lunch time.

I guess I had forgotten to invite her simply because she wasn’t_________ to be invited.

“I can’t__________,” she said, looking down. “My dad’s waiting in the car.” “Can you come in for a little while?” I nearly__________.

“Thanks, but I have to go,” she said, turning toward the door.

Inside the box was a small__________ about three inches tall with its tail wagging (摇 摆) in the air. It was the best gift I had received, __________ I was never really into dogs. I later found out that the figurine looked exactly like Sarah’s dog, Seymour.

I didn’t know it then, but now I__________ that Sarah was my one true childhood friend. She was an__________ friend who stood by me, always encouraging and understanding me.