The Spring Festival is a great festival. It's one of 1 festivals in China. People usually go home to be with their family2 the festival is coming.

    In fact, from Little New Year, people start 3 preparations for the Spring Festival. They want to have 4fresh beginning in the new year. The first thing that people usually do is to clean 5 houses. They believe good cleaning can sweep bad luck away. They also buy food to welcome the festival.

    There is a story about the Spring Festival. A long time ago, a monster called Nian6 people on New Year's Eve. People did not know what to do at first. Finally, they knew Nian was afraid7 red, fire and loud noise. Then they posted red couplets (对联), set off fireworks and played the drums. Later, Nian never came to the village again. Even today, people celebrate the festival in this way.

    During the Spring Festival, people usually visit their family members, friends and wish each other good luck. The traditional ways of 8 the Spring Festival are having a big family dinner on New Year's Eve and watching the Spring Festival Gala. In 2020, the Spring Festival 9 on January 25. Did you10a happy time? Did you do anything special?

With the development of Chinese and Western cultures, more and more people go to different countries  for  exchanging  and  learning.  So  knowing  more  about the differences becomes so

necessary.

First, Western people express themselves directly, while Chinese act oppositely ( 相 反 地 ). Chinese are implicative (含蓄的) most of the time. When Chinese get angry or unsatisfied (不满的), most of them will say nothing. But if you are unsatisfied with a foreigner, you need to speak it out. Don't hide your feelings because he or she doesn't like it or can't understand your thoughts.

Second, the value about things is different between Chinese and Western people. Chinese seem to be more worried about tomorrow, while Western people like to spend tomorrow's money in advance. Western people believe that they should enjoy themselves at the moment and tomorrow is another day. So they enjoy everything they have now, having no clear plans for the future.

But remember, there is no judgement (评判) about which one is better.When    in    Rome,    do    asthe    Romans    do. We just need to know the differences and learn to understand each other. Every country's culture has its own special meaning. What we need to do is to respect (尊重) each other's

culture and gel along with each other peacefully.

Tara:Hey, Erin. Are you free this Saturday?

Erin:Well, on Saturday morning I have to clean my room. I'm free on Saturday afternoon.

Tara:Do you want to go skating(溜冰) this Saturday afternoon? Everyone says it's really cool.

Erin: Sure! And then let's go to the new shopping center. We can eat and watch a movie there.

Tara:Sorry,I can't. I have to be home before 8:00 p. m.

Erin:But tomorrow's Saturday! Do you have to be home before 8:00 p. m. on weekends too?

Tara:Oh, I forgot. I can stay out until 10:00 p. m. on Saturdays, but still 8:00 p. m.on Sundays.

Erin: Really? I don't have to be back until 11:00 p. m. on weekends.

Tara:You're lucky. This Sunday evening I'll go to my classmate Sandra's birthday party. I want to stay there until 9:00 p. m., but my parents say I must follow the family rules.

Erin: Wow, they are too strict with you.

Sam wants to be a musician. When he was a young kid，he loved music very much. Now he enjoys playing many instruments such as the guitar，the violin and the drum  but he loves playing the piano most.

Sam has wanted to be a musician since he first learned to play the piano. He likes to play the piano because it always makes him quiet when he is angry or sad. Also，he likes to listen to all kinds of music. 

He'd like to be a musician and play great music in his concerts. He hopes his friends and many other people will go to his concerts. Then he can get a lot of money from the concerts and give all the money to other children who need money. 

Of course，he will have to practice very hard if he wants to be a musician. We hope that he can become a musician. Then he'll be very happy and do some things to help many people. 

 Linda is an American student in Grade 7. The summer holidays are coming. Her parents want to take her to visit Fujian, China. Now she is reading the website of an international travel agency (旅行社).

 What is my favorite festival? It is the Spring Festival. It is in 1 or February. For the festival, we do many things and buy many things, so we are always 2 . The color of the Spring Festival is 3 . We wear red 4 and put up(张贴) red paper-cuts(窗花). And we put lucky money in red packets (红包).5 are always happy during those days because they can get lucky 6 from their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts. What do we usually 7 at the Spring Festival day? Damplings. It's my favorite food. In the evening, the family will 8 togother, but children don't like watching TV for a 9 time. It's really boring(无聊的) for from. They always play 10 with their friends.

 What about you? What festival do you like best?