Each year, on the 15^th day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar(农历), the Ghost Festival is celebrated in many parts of China. During this time, people will burn offerings(祭品) and prepare big meals to remember the _______ .

This holiday may seem strange and even scary to some people. But _______ holidays are seen all around the world. In the western world, people celebrate Halloween on Oct. 31^st every year. In ancient Britain and Ireland, October 31st was the last day of the year. It was the end of the growing _______ and the beginning of winter, a time of darkness and death People believed that on this day ghosts _______ to the earth. In order to scare the ghosts away, people built huge fires and wore costurnes made of animal skins.

Many of the original(最初的) Halloween traditions have developed today into funny activities for children. _______ popular one is "Trick or treat". On Halloween night, children dress up _______ costurnes and go to their neighbors. When someone answers the door，the children cry out, "Trick or treat!" _______ this means is, "Give us a treat, _______ we'll play a trick on you!" The people at each house then give candy or fruit or sometimes _______ coins.

Holidays like these can help us to better understand death as a natural part of life. And it can ________ us to live our best lives.

Thanks for your letter. I’m writing to tell you about my ________ holiday.

I ________ TV at home on Monday. I like the films about animals best. They are very ________. I like ________ very much. So on Tuesday I always play basketball with my friends. On Wednesday I go shopping with my mother. She buys some ________ food. She also buys beautiful clothes for me ________ New Year. On Thursday I go to see my grandparents with my sister. They are happy to see us. On Friday I do ________ homework at home. And my sister helps me with my English. On Saturday I go to a party with my family. We ________ ourselves at it. And then on ________, we go to the zoo. We are very happy there. I like New Year, ________ I can get many good presents. Do you like New Year too? How is your holiday? Please write and tell me about it.

Yours,

Lily

This week, I asked my classmates about their vacations. Here are some of their answers.

Tina _______ to New York City. The _______ was sunny and the people _______ friendly to her. She went there by _______ and the bus trip was relaxing. The food was delicious. She had a _______ vacation.

Sally went to _______ her uncle. Because the weather was windy and _______, she had to stay at the house. She watched TV _______ the TV shows were boring. She went shopping with her cousin but the shop assistants were _______. She had a terrible vacation. Tom stayed at home. At first he did his homework. It was a little difficult. Then he ________ computer games. They were interesting. He thought his vacation was OK.