The Chinese New Year is now known   1   the Spring Festival because it starts from the beginning of
spring. Its origin is too old to be traced(追溯).Here is one of the explanations(解释) about its   2    .Long
ago, the beast(兽) Nian had a very big   3   that would swallow(吞噬) a great many people with one bite(咬). People were very   4  . One day, an old man came to subdue( * * ) Nian. After that, the old man
disappeared riding the beast Nian. Before the old man   5   , he had told people to put up red paper decorations(饰品) on their windows and doors at each year's end to   6   away Nian to stop it   7   back again,
because red is the color the beast feared(恐怕) the most. From then on, the tradition of observing(庆祝)
the conquest(征服) of Nian was carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian" was   8   
at the same time. The word "guo" in Chinese has both the   9   of "pass-over" and "observe". The custom
of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers(爆竹) to scare away Nian can be found in China and many   10   Asian countries.