1 . In China, the Spring Festival is the most important of all the holidays in the year. Two important things ___________ to make this holiday different from all the others: giving presents and spending it ___________ the family. Many weeks ___________ the Spring Festival, we know it is coming. In the ___________ goods for this special holiday appear and outside them are the special New Year decorations. The advertisement ___________ all the newspapers tell us that there are “Only five ___________ shopping days to Spring Festival”. ___________ you go, you will realize that.

Spring Festival, which comes “only ___________ a year”, is coming again. Giving ___________ to one’s family is a very sweet custom. The spirit behind the present matters most, not the present ____________. It is good at Spring Festival to ____________ to the hometown and meet parents, grandparents and as many aunts, uncles and cousins as possible.

In the past, ____________ New Year’s Eve, all the members of a family ____________ stay at home making dumplings together. ____________ many people enjoy watching TV. During the day, children wear their new clothes. The evening is usually spent in games, talking, more eating and ____________.

2 . I remember to this day the feeling of the cold wind causing my ears to hurt. However, that didn’t _________ me at this time. It was Hogmanay and the bays of the town were carrying out the _________ of going from house to house on this special evening.

It is thought that the tradition came from the Vikings who were settlers in the Western Isles. Honestly, that wasn’t _________ to me. I was out and about having _________.

There were about 25 houses to visit in my town of North Boisdale. The start time was 19:00 and all the boys would _________ at one end of the town and begin to _________ each house. Each person had a pillowcase (枕头套) that would be filled with goodies (好吃的东西) _________ from householders.

Outside each house one person would ask the man of the house for permission (许可) to _________. Once inside the house a candle would be lit by the oldest boy in the group and _________ the candle would be passed round all family members. After that, the mother of the house would bring out the __________. Fruit, biscuits and of course sweets. On __________ each house the oldest boy in the group would __________ the family luck in the coming year.

After being to each house the pillowcases would be __________ and heavy and it was at the last house that the fun began. The pillowcases would be __________ and the goodies shared out equally.

The last house would also provide a small party that would, __________ before midnight so all the boys were home before the bells.

3 . 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.