Last week, a grand ceremony paying respect to Huangdi,    1     legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation,     2     (hold) at the Xiandu Scenic Spot in Jinyun, Zhejiang province, on the Chongyang Festival.

The ceremony,     3     started at 9:50 am, consisted of nine parts, including striking bells, offering flower baskets and wine to a carols. It     4     (have) the theme of "showing respect to Chinese ancestors with efforts all over the world and opening new     5    (chapter) for attaining common prosperity". During the ceremony, drums were played 34 times and bells were rung 15 times,     6     (represent) 1.5 billion Chinese from 34 provinces, municipalities，autonomous regions and special administrative regions in China and overseas Chinese.

The     7     (year) ceremony for Huangdi in Jinyun dates back     8     the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Showing respect to Huangdi in the new times is reverence (敬畏) for the ancestors who started the Chinese civilization. What's     9     (much), it can inspire the Chinese     10     (unite), helping build the common spiritual home for all Chinese.

    1    (tradition), Thanksgiving is a time "to give thanks" for a plentiful harvest, because it     2    (celebrate) on the last Thursday of November at the end of the harvest season. However, the history of Thanksgiving is not clear, because the harvest season is celebrated in many countries and     3    (culture). Americans commonly celebrate     4     first harvest of the "pilgrims", or the first colonists     5    (settle) in North America, in 1621. Many colonists came to the New World for religious     6    (free), because England did not allow diversity in religion. Native Americans and colonists did not always live together peacefully,     7     they did learn from each other by     8    (trade)goods and farming methods. So many people celebrate the first     9    (success) harvest of the colonists. Traditional Thanksgiving foods served with turkey are sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Stores are said to sell     10    (much)food at Thanksgiving than at any other time of the year. And many people eat more food at Thanksgiving than at any other time of the year

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.

The Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, is observed on January 15th on Chinese lunar calendar. It is the first full moon night in Chinese lunar year,     1    (symbol) harmony, reunion and the coming back of the spring.The Lantern Festival is deemed as a good day for family get-together.

As for the traditions for this festival, just     2     its name indicates, hanging and looking at lanterns is the main tradition. Lanterns of     3    (vary) of shapes and sizes are displayed on trees, or along river banks. Some are in the shapes of butterflies, birds, flowers, and boats, others     4    (shape) like dragon, fruit and animal symbols of that year.   

Another tradition is solving lantern riddles. Thousands of riddles     5    (hang) on lanterns for people to shoot down and solve. The riddles are usually short, wise, and sometimes humorous. The answer     6     a riddle can be a Chinese character, a famous person’s name, a place name or a proverb. This tradition is said     7    (become) a popular game with serious staying power even as social development changes other traditions.

Aside from that, the most important thing to do today is to eat sweet dumplings. In northern China, sweet dumplings made of glutinous rice flour are called “Yuanxiao” while in     8    (south) part they are called “Tangyuan”. Typical sweet dumplings are filled with black sesame sauce, sweetened bean paste, or hawthorn and the round shape of it is a symbol of wholeness, completeness and unity.

The lantern festival is an occasion when the families get together and everyone—young, old, rich and poor     9    (have) fun. Making “ Yuanxiao” today is like a game or     10     activity, so it’s seldom done without a group of friends or family present to help out.

Chinese Language Day

Language Days at the Untied Nations seek to celebrate multilingualism（多语言）and cultural diversity as well as     1     （promote）equal use of all six official languages throughout the organization.

The date for the Chinese day was selected from Guy, which is the     2     （six）of 24 solar terms in the traditional East Asian calendars（日历）,     3     （usual）beginning around April 20.

Chinese was established as an official language of the United Nations in 1946. However, in early     4     （year）, Chinese was not commonly used in the work of the United Nations.     5     situation was improved after the People's Republic of China regained（重获）the lawful rights in the United Nations in 1971. In 1973, they     6     （include）Chinese as a working language,     7     was used by more and more UN offices and staff members.

In     8     （celebrate）of United Nations Chinese Language Day 2021, UNSRC Chinese Book Club is organizing three events under the theme “Highlighting Pictographs（象形文字）”. The three events focus     9     three types of characters     10     （connect）with three cultures and three UNESCO World Heritage sites. All the three events will be shown live.

Camping is gaining     1     (popular) as a way for many people in the United States     2     (spend) their vacation. When people camp, they can sleep in a tent or a camper. Some people like to really “rough it” and use no shelter except for a sleeping bag and sleep     3     the stars. Some people drive across the U.S. in     4     is known as a recreational vehicle or RV, which is a trailer. Inside there are beds, a tiny bathroom and a kitchen.

There are campgrounds all over the United States. Many of these campgrounds     5     (equip) with water and electricity so that people can wash dishes and     6     (they) and plug in a radio or their computers. Most campsites also have a fire ring,     7     is a hole in the ground where people can make a fire for roasting food     8     (safe). There usually is also a picnic table for people to eat their meals. Many of these campgrounds provide     9     (share) bathrooms complete with showers. Usually, it is     10     (legal) to camp in a place not designated as an official campsite, meaning you can’t just pitch a tent in a forest.

When Peggy Zheng first stepped into Wangmantian Village in Anhui Province, she was amazed by     1     primitive it was.

    2     (hide) deep inside a mountainous area 40 kilometers away from the     3     (near) bus station, Wangmantian attracted Zheng, a handicraft enthusiast from Beijing, because of its fish lantern parade, a folk custom     4     (date) back more than 200 years.

“The parade is actually held every year around the Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month,     5     this year because of COVID-19 , I missed the event and didn’t get to visit the village until June,” she said.

The village still     6     (look) pretty much like it did a century ago. Ancient buildings and bridges     7     (construct) in typical Hui-style architecture, a Chinese style that has prevailed in the ancient area of Huizhou, including what is today’s Anhui.

People still live     8     (happy) in a pre-Internet era, communicating     9     other by dropping around rather than texting or using mobile phones.

“All the     10     (family) are more or less related to each other, mostly surnamed Wang,” Zheng said. “It is so safe here that the villagers don’t bother locking their doors during the day.”