I am so excited. Guess what—it is my dad’s 40^th 【小题1】 (生日) next week. So we are going to London to 【小题2】 (庆祝) it! On Tuesday afternoon, we are going to the 【小题3】 (机场). I will take my 【小题4】 (照相机) with me. As soon as we arrive, we will go on a tour of the city. We will take a trip on the River Thames. On 【小题5】 (星期三) morning, we are going to 【小题6】 (参观) the Tate Modern. Since it is not far from our 【小题7】 (宾馆), we are 【小题8】 (计划) to walk there. In the afternoon, we are going to the London Eye. I can’t wait to see the Houses of Parliament from up there. Saturday is for shopping. I will buy a teddy bear for my cousin as a 【小题9】 (礼物) because I 【小题10】 (承诺) him. On Sunday morning, we are going to Hyde Park, and we are going home by plane in the afternoon. It is my dream trip—and it is happening.

Hope everything is OK with you.

Lots of love

Cynthia

When I was a child, I spent each Thanksgiving with my large family at my 【小题1】 (grandparents) in Maryland, US. It’s a wooden cabin (小屋) on the side of a hill, in 【小题2】 small and green forest. For me, that cabin meant Thanksgiving.

Our 【小题3】 (one) greeting (打招呼) was from Grandma’s dog, Jesse. He met us at our car and jumped up and down 【小题4】 (excited) when we carried our bags into the house. Inside were my grandparents, aunts uncles and cousins. Aunt Sue touched my face and told me how big I’d gotten. Grandpa 【小题5】 (shake) my hands to welcome us.

The next day, by the time I woke up, Grandma and Mom had already begun cooking. We all helped out. Dinner was finally 【小题6】 (serve) at about 4 p.m. Before we ate, Grandma asked each person to say at least one thing that he or she was thankful for. I said, “I want to say 【小题7】 (thank) to my parents, my grandparents and the food!” I was too hungry to think of anything better. 【小题8】 everyone finished speaking, we enjoyed ourselves together. It was all delicious food. What we like the 【小题9】 (good) was the homemade apple pies.

Then, we took a long walk through the forest. Under the late-autumn stars, we made a campfire (营火) and talked 【小题10】 things when we were together. I looked back up the hill at the cabin, and one word appeared: “Happiness” .

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. This day is always the first full moon in the new year. Ancient people also c【小题1】 it Shangyuan Festival. Celebrations and t【小题2】 on this day began from the Han Dynasty (朝代) and became popular in the Tang Dynasty.

Watching the red 1【小题3】 is one of the main traditions. Lanterns of different shapes and sizes are usually put on trees, or a【小题4】 river banks on show. It is said that sky lanterns were first used by Zhuge Kongming to ask for help when he was in trouble. Today, when the lanterns slowly r【小题5】 into the air, people make wishes.

Another tradition is g【小题6】 lantern riddles (谜语). The riddles are usually short, wise,and sometimes humorous (幽默的). The answer to a riddle can be a Chinese character (汉字), a famous person’s name, or a name of a place.

The most i【小题7】 thing is to eat sweet dumplings with different tastes, because they are symbols of re union and wishes for good luck. In northern China, they are called yuanxiao w【小题8】in southern part they’re named tangyuan. Because making sweet dumplings is like a game or an activity, they are usually done happily by a group of friends or r【小题9】.

In old times, the Lantern Festival was also romantic (浪漫的). W【小题10】 lanterns gave young people a chance to meet each other. A line from Xin Qiji, a poet during the Song Dynasty, shows this.

Hundreds and thousands of times I searched for her in the crowd. Suddenly I turned, and there she stood, in the dim light.