In Chinese tradition, the autumn season is associated with the color white, the sound of weeping, the emotions of both courage and sadness. Autumn, however, for westerners, is considered to be the direction of dreams and visions.

What does all this mean? It’s the very system     1     describes how nature works. To the Chinese, nature means more than just the cycling of the seasons. Nature is within and around us, in all things. The basic cycles of nature, as understood by the ancient Chinese,     2     (be) easily comprehensible by Western students of nature. They ring true. After all, Chinese civilization flourished for many centuries before the Roman Empire     3     (come) to be. Today we know it’s part of Chinese culture to maintain and add to ancient     4     (wise).     5     contrast, the Western world tend     6     (replace) old ideas with new ideas.

Here is     7     simple example. While summer is associated with the emotion of joy, autumn is associated with both courage and sadness. You can     8     (probable) feel the truth of that association for yourself, because, in autumn, things are dying. The light is dying, as Earth’s orbit around the sun and tilt(倾斜) on its axis(轴) combine to carry us in this hemisphere further away from     9     (receive) the sun’s rays most directly. The days are getting     10     (short). Plants and trees are winding down their cycle of growth. Sadness and courage are natural emotions as these changes are taking place.

First Snow

It is the first time that I     1     (see) snow this year. It is not only an event but a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up to find     2     (you) in another completely different. The secrecy and     3     (quiet) will make it more magical. When I got up this morning, I found the world dead white and pale blue. The light     4     (come) through the windows was very strange,     5     made the familiar business of splashing, shaving, brushing teeth and dressing strange too. When the sun came out, the snow became pink. The plum tree stood in full sunlight. An hour     6     two later, everything was a cold sparkle of white and blue. The little Japanese prints had disappeared. The ground went on and on, the sky was thick grey, and all the trees were black and in     7     (threaten) shapes. Now the snow is falling     8     (heavy) in great soft flakes so that you can hardly see across the shallow valley. The     9     (roof) are thick and the trees are all bending. I can see the children     10     (flatten) their noses against the window.