The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The Spring Equinox (春分), as 【小题1】 fourth term of the year starts on 20 March and ends on 3 April this year.

On the day of the Spring Equinox, the Sun is directly above the equator (赤道). After the equinox, the Sun moves northwards, which results 【小题2】 longer daytime in the Northern Hemisphere (半球) and longer night in the Southern Hemisphere. Here are three of the 【小题3】 (thing) you may not know about the Spring Equinox.

Standing an egg upright 【小题4】 (be) a popular game across the country during the Spring Equinox since 4,000 years ago. People practise it 【小题5】 (celebrate) the coming of spring. It is believed that if someone can make the egg stand, he will have good luck in the future.

【小题8】 (usual), rewarding cattle is popular in the southern area of the Yangtze River. As the Spring Equinox comes, farm work starts, and the farmers and the cattle become busy. Farmers will reward cattle with sticky rice bulls to express 【小题9】 (they) thanks. Meanwhile, to thank the birds for 【小题10】 (bring) signals for farm work and to wish them not to cat grains later in the year, people will also make sacrifice to them. These are what the farmers often do to wish for the harvest of the coming year.

February 6th is National Chopsticks Day. For about one quarter of the world’s population, chopsticks are the eating utensils （餐具） of 【小题1】（choose） for every meal. Just as western children learn to use knife and fork, Asian children learn to use chopsticks, and they 【小题2】（quick） become good at using them. To Asian people, forks are 【小题3】 odd （奇怪的） utensil.

Chopsticks can be made 【小题4】 wood, bamboo, plastic, fine china or metal. In China they are called kuaizi, 【小题5】 means “quick little bamboo fellows”.

Chopsticks have 【小题6】（be） in use for over 5000 years. However, forks were not used in England 【小题7】 1611. Chopsticks originated in China, and are used in all Asian cultures. How 【小题8】（they） use was introduced to other countries is not known.

Take part in National Chopsticks Day, and use chopsticks for all of your 【小题9】（meal）. Chances are （有可能）, you will eat Chinese or other Asian food with chopsticks. But you can eat any food with chopsticks on the day. 【小题10】（make） the day really special, use chopsticks on a homemade Chinese dish. Have fun with chopsticks on the day. Make a game out of picking up peanuts or jelly beans with them.

Chinese people started to build gardens more than 2,000 years ago. Chinese gardens are a special form of t【小题1】 Chinese culture and art.

At the entrance to a Chinese garden, there is usually a huge stone or wall to screen（挡住）your view. This is to give you a pressed-in feeling, in order to later produce unexpected joy w 【小题2】 you turn around the hall to see the amazing rock formations（假山）and a big lake. The best e【小题3】 is the Summer Palace.

Rock formations play an i【小题4】 role in the design of a Chinese-style garden. Without them, a garden could not be considered a Chinese-style garden. They are as important to a Chinese-style garden as sculptures are to a European-style garden. Ge Garden in Yangzhou is famous for i【小题5】 Four Seasons Rockeries（假山花园）.

G【小题6】 in the south are mostly small in size. Chinese garden designers have used the method of “borrowing scenery with a mirror（镜子）” to create a sense of s【小题7】. A mirror is hung opposite a window to take in the outside scenery. A fine example of this is Pian Shi Shan Fang, a rockery in He Garden, Yangzhou. A big mirror is built into the wall of its west corridor. The whole garden will be s【小题8】 in the mirror wherever the visitors are. A pool or a lake in a garden a【小题9】 serves this purpose. A pool runs from south to north through the garden of Pian Shi Shan Fang. East of the rockery, a man-made moon is reflected（倒映）in the p【小题10】.

Whatever methods used, every effort is made to achieve the purpose of giving visitors a sense of space in the garden.