May 21st this year marks the first International Tea Day, which was named officially     1     the United Nations on November 27th, 2019. To celebrate     2     festival, a number of events took place at the Chinese Businessman Museum in Beijing on Thursday.

The chairman of the China Culture Promotion Society     3     (address) the opening ceremony. “As a main promoter of the International Tea Day, the birthplace of tea and the     4     (large) tea­producing country, China has a     5     (responsible) to work with other countries to promote the healthy development of the tea industry. It can help to build a community with a     6     (share) future for mankind,” he said.

The “First International Tea Day Tea Road Cooperative Initiative” issued (发布) at the ceremony calls for people working in the tea industry to come together to promote international cooperation     7     cultural exchanges. A four­year tea promotion — Tea Road Cooperative Plan — was also issued in accordance with the initiative.

    8     (strengthen) the connection with young people, the event included a number of public promotional activities on social media,    9    (invite) twenty­nine tea professionals from around the world to have thirty­six hours of uninterrupted live broadcasts.

The Chinese Ancient Tea Museum was officially unveiled (揭幕) at the ceremony, opening     10     (it) first exhibition: The Avenue of Truth—A Special Exhibition of Pu’er Tea.

Every culture in the world celebrates festivals. Though different festivals have different origins, the spirit of     1     (share) joy, gratitude, love, or peace is common in all festivals.

The harvest festival,     2     takes place after all the crops have been gathered in, can be found in almost every culture. People celebrate it       3     (show) their gratitude to the year’s supply of food. But the     4     (celebrate) vary from country to country. In ancient Egypt, it featured a parade and a great feast with music, dancing, and sports during the springtime     5     during the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, families gather to admire the shining moon and enjoy delicious mooncakes.

Customs change with the     6     (develop) of modern society. In China, many big cities     7     (give) up the custom of lighting   firecrackers in order to avoid air pollution.

Nowadays, businesses take advantage of the celebrations and make festivals     8     (commercialise). Although some are     9     it, others believe the increase in spending is good for the economy and public happiness.

Festivals reflect people’s wishes, beliefs, faiths and attitudes towards life. If you study festivals     10     (careful), you may be surprised to find that different cultures actually have a lot in common after all.

Here is some advice for teenagers about what to do at parties in the UK.

First, dress     1     (appropriate). Some parties     2     (hold) for a specific formal purpose, like a graduation party or a wedding. Some may be informal, like     3     small dinner or birthday party. So if it is a formal occasion, you should dress smartly. Wear a neat black suit     4     a tie, for example. But if it is an informal party, you can wear anything you like, like T­shirts and    5     (jean). Second, bring some presents, like snacks or puddings and try not     6     (be) late. You should always be on time. Third, be polite. When you arrive, it is polite to say hello and thank the host for     7     (invite) you. If you don’t know them well, you should introduce    8     (you) and make small talk. And say goodbye and thank them again     9     you leave. If it is a graduation or a wedding, don’t forget to offer your congratulations and good wishes. It is also     10     (importance) to make an effort to talk to other people.

The all-male Beijing Master Choir (合唱团) performed patriotic (爱国的) and folk songs during a performance at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing     1     March 7th. This     2     (kick) off a series of concerts celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

The newly founded choir,     3     performance gives classics a fresh new sound, will tour Beijing, Tianjin and cities in Hebei Province with 10 concerts during the first half of 2021,     4     (cover) a variety of art forms, such as symphony (交响乐), traditional Chinese musie, dance and piano recitals (钢琴独奏). Zheng Jian, co-founder and artistic director of the choir said more Chinese folk songs would be included.

“Over the past century, the Party     5     (make) a great commitment to     6     (improve) the lives of the people,” says Xu Jjian, general manager of the Forbidden City Concert Hall. “We hope to pay tribute to those     7     made a contribution to the     8     (develop) of the country.”

According to Xu, both Dongfang Hong and the concert of the Long March Suite will tour     9     (national) with 25     10     (performance) in total.

If you live in northeastern China, you expect long, cold winters. People     1     (live) in Harbin don’t just stand the cold, however; they welcome it. The city is home to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture (雕塑) Festival,     2     is considered to be the largest ice festival in the world. Even with temperatures usually close to zero, thousands of people head to city parks     3     (see) great ice sculptures, many bathed in colored lights.

The festival includes several thousand ice sculptures. Some of these works     4     (be) the recreations of castles, historic landmarks and famous people, lit up at night in bright colors.     5     (visit) can climb ice stairways and go down ice slides (滑坡). They can also take part     6     sporting events, including skating, ice football     7     well as ice swimming.

The city started     8     (it) icy event in 1963 with the Ice Lantern (灯笼) Garden Party, a celebration of the tradition of creating lanterns out of blocks of ice. The larger festival     9     (begin) in 1985 and added sculptures, which have grown in number and size over the years. As it has gotten bigger, the festival has become popular outside the city.

    10     (official), the festival starts on January 5th and lasts over one month.

It is well­known that the Chinese have great respect for their elders, and here is an occasion to show it—the Chongyang Festival. It falls     1     the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. In Chinese, nine     2     (regard) as the number of “yang”. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the day that has two “yang” numbers, and “chong” in Chinese means double, which is     3     the name “Chongyang” came into being.

The festival can date back to the Warring States Period. However, it was not     4     (formal) set as a festival until the Tang Dynasty. In 1989, the Chinese government     5     (declare) the ninth day of the ninth lunar month to be the Seniors’ Day—a day to respect     6     elderly and to let them enjoy     7     (they)．

Traditionally, people climb mountains, drink chrysanthemum (菊花) wine, and eat Chongyang cakes. Since “cake” in Chinese is pronounced “gao” meaning “high”, people consider climbing a high mountain to be the same as eating cakes in the hope of     8     (raise) to high positions. And people often think that chrysanthemum wine can get rid of all kinds of diseases and     9     (disaster)．

Today many activities are held     10     (show) respect to the seniors like organising a trip for them, sending them gifts and more on the day of the festival.