The 40th Weifang International Kite Festival, which kicked off Saturday in Shandong Province’s Weifang city, has attracted kite fanciers from China and all over the world.

The festival, featuring a variety of kites in different shapes and sizes, has become one of the most impressive international events     1    （hold）in China since the late 1970s. Apart from competitions for making, flying and fighting kites, the festival also     2    （include）a range of other activities such as cultural     3    （perform）, exhibitions, lantern fairs, concerts and food stalls serving local delicacies.

According to the organizers, more than 600 kite lovers from 59 countries and regions attended this year’s festival. “Weifang is     4    （extreme）famous among kite lovers around the world,” said Stanislav Kolbintsev from Russia,     5     was seen with a giant bird-shaped kite. Amazed by the huge public passion     6     the sport, he said he hoped to visit more Chinese cities     7    （fly）kites.

The first Weifang International Kite Festival was held in 1984. Known as the “Capital of Kites”, Weifang has     8     long history of kite making, with some records     9    （suggest）the first wooden kite was invented there during the Spring and Autumn period more than 2,000 years ago. The city develops a thriving（繁荣的）kite industry, employing more than 80,000 people in     10    （it）600-plus companies involved in the production and sale of kites.

The annual CCTV Spring Festival gala    1     (broadcast) live on Feb 9, Lunar New Year’s Eve, attracting 679 million viewers,     2     a year-on-year increase of 12.69 percent.

The gala was also aired in about 200 countries in 68 languages,     3     (receive) warm feedback.

This year, the gala, besides Beijing, had four branch venues in Shenyang, Liaoning province, Xi’an, Shaanxi province, Changsha, Hunan province, and Kashgar in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Audience enjoyed a     4     (diverse) of local cultural elements from those places, such as folk     5     (music) instruments and folk dances.

Since    6     (it) inaugural broadcast in 1983, the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala     7     (become) one of the most important part of celebrations in the country     8     (enjoy) in the Chinese New Year.     9    major entertainment during Lunar New Year’s Eve, the gala marks the joyous moment     10     families gather together to celebrate.

As we all know, festivals     1     (celebrate) all around the world and they have     2     wide range of origins, such as the seasons of the year, religions, famous figures, and important events. Of all the     3     (tradition) festivals, the harvest festival,     4     takes place after all the crops have been gathered in, can be found in almost every culture. People celebrate     5     (show) that they are grateful for the year’s supply of food. Customs play a significant role     6     festivals, but sometimes they can change over time.

With the     7     (develop) of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may fade away and others may be established. Festivals are becoming more and more commercial, with businesses     8     (take) advantage of the celebrations. Festivals reflect people’s wishes, beliefs, faiths, and attitudes towards life.     9     you study festivals carefully, you may be surprised to find that different cultures     10     (actual) have a lot in common after all.

The International Workers’ Day, sometimes     1     (call) Labour Day or May Day, is not only a celebration of workers’ rights, but also a     2     (season) celebration in many countries. The holiday is a celebration of laborers in about 90 countries.

This holiday     3     (observe) since 1920 to show people’s awareness of protecting the working class     4     exploitation (剥削). In China, people don’t need to go to work from May 1st until May 3rd, many of     5     take this opportunity to meet up friends     6     go for short trips, with no specific public events during the holiday.

A recent report was issued by the China Tourism Academy,     7     (say) that the number of domestic tourist trips will reach about 4.55 billion,     8     increase of 73 percent year on year. “China’s tourism market has embarked on a track of     9     (recover) this year. And we will see a continuous ‘travel frenzy’ during the May Day holiday. This is because people are looking forward to the holiday to enjoy     10     (they),” said Li Huigin, a tourism expert with the China University of Geosciences.

The best time to see beautiful lanterns is during the Lantern Festival (元宵节),     1    falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Last year it was on Feb.8th, marking the end of Spring Festival. However, because of the COVID-19 (新型冠状病毒), we had to stay     2     home last year.

As is known to us,     3     (watch) lanterns is a great activity. Lanterns are in different kinds of sizes and shapes, from animals to plants and flowers.     4     (make) it more fun, people paste riddles (贴谜语) on the lanterns. In some     5     (place), people like “releasing sky” lanterns (放天灯), which     6     (call) Kongming Lanterns. A sky lantern is a small hot-air balloon made of paper with an opening at the bottom where there is a small fire source. When the bright lights fly high in the sky, people can bless members     7    make wishes. In old times, the Lantern Festival was also     8     (interest). At that time, young girls were not allowed to go out very often except during certain festivals. Therefore, looking at lanterns gave young people a chance to meet each other. A line from Xin Qiji,     9     poet during the Song Dynasty, shows this: “Restless, I searched for her in thousands, hundreds of ways.     10     (sudden) I turned, and there she was in the receding light.”

When Nadim invited me to attend his sister’s wedding, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime. The wedding ceremony     1     (take) place in a hotel room which was     2     (bright) decorated. There are hundreds of guests, all     3     (dress) up in formal clothes. Some customs made a deep impression     4     me, one of which was the bridegroom’s entrance on a beautiful white horse. The scene     5     the couple made promises about how they were going to support each other and live together happily was very     6     (romance).

To experience the spirit of the Carnival for     7     (I), I went to a street party. I could see some dancers and a band in fancy costumes     8     (stand) in the street. The crowd waited with     9     (excite). I was     10     caught up in the party that I hardly noticed five hours fly by!

The first Buy Nothing Day     1     (celebrate) in September 1992. In1997, it was changed to the Friday following Thanksgiving in November. Soon after, it gained     2     support of Adbusters, a Canadian media company questioning the     3    (important) that cultures give to advertising and shopping. When the group tried to place commercials (广告) on television, the only major TV network     4     accepted them was CNN. Despite these attempts to silence the movement, it spread to the US, Germany, Japan, and several other countries worldwide.

Buy Nothing Day challenges people to avoid     5     (buy) anything for 24 hours. Supporters hope that during this time, people will reflect on the need to “have things”, which is pushed by large companies. By getting people to focus on what they do have, they can become more sympathetic (有同情心的) towards the poor     6     people who have less than they do.

Another activity     7     (call) the zombie walk is to show the way most people shop. In this walk, participants walk around shopping malls like zombies. If     8     (ask) what’s happening, they will educate them about Buy Nothing Day. Whirl-Mart is another funny method of drawing attention to the purpose of Buy Nothing Day. People will take empty shopping carts and form a line inside a supermarket. Then, they will race through the aisles (通道)     9     putting anything in their empty carts. Other supporters celebrate the event by     10     (simple) doing other free activities such as hiking, bicycling, or taking a boat ride. No matter how one participates, Buy Nothing Day presents us with an opportunity to remember that the best things in life are free.

The celebrations of Chinese New Year, also     1     (call) Chinese Spring Festival, were born out of fear and myth (神话). Legend (传说) spoke of the wild beast Nian (which also is the word for “year”)     2     appeared at the end of each year,     3     (attack) villagers. Loud noises and bright lights were used     4     (scare) the beast away, and the Chinese New Year celebrations were born. Today, the Spring Festival     5     (observe) with a week of vacation in China. Much like the Western New Year (January 1st), the biggest celebration is on the eve of the holiday.

The Chinese New Year’s Eve meal is the most important dinner of the year.     6     (typical), families gather at a designated (指定的) relative’s house for dinner, but these days, more and more families choose to hold New Year’s Eve dinner at a restaurant. Many restaurants require     7     (reserve) months ahead.

There are also some families that hire (雇用) a professional chef to come cook at home. Chefs are often busy running from one home     8     another cooking dinners for different families on New Year’s Eve.

Chinese New Year is a 15-day celebration and each day, many families take turns to hold celebrations among homes of     9     (they) relatives. The festivities are day-long and sometimes, a family ends up cooking two meals for relatives, once at lunch     10     once at dinner.

The International Workers’ Day, sometimes     1     (call) Labour Day or May Day, is not only a celebration of workers’ rights, but also a seasonal celebration in many countries. The holiday is a     2    （celebrate) of laborers in about 90 countries.

People     3     (observe) this holiday since 1920 to show their     4     (aware) of protecting the working class    5     exploitation (剥削). In China, people don’t need to go to work from May 1st until May 3^rd, many of     6    take this opportunity to meet up friends     7     go for short trips, with no specific public events during the holiday.

A recent report was issued by the China Tourism Academy,    8     (say) that the number of domestic (国内的) tourist trips will reach about 4.55 billion,    9     increase of 73 percent year on year. “China’s tourism market has embarked on a track of recovery this year. And we will see a     10     (continue) ‘travel frenzy (狂热)’ during the May Day holiday,” said Li Huigin, a tourism expert with the China University of Geosciences.