阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The willow branch (柳树枝) is a part of the willow tree. In ancient China, willow branches were often used as a parting gift between friends and family ____（1）____ (member). Even today, willow branches ____（2）____ (mention) in many cases as a symbol of saying goodbye. Do you know ____（3）____?

One reason is that willow trees are strong. They can live ____（4）____ (easy) in any place, wet or dry, north or south. Because of this, giving a willow branch to say goodbye to loved ones is a way to tell them you hope they will get used to ____（5）____ (they) new living environment.

For another reason, the pronunciation for the willow tree “liu (柳)” is similar ____（6）____ the character “liu (留)” in Chinese, which means inviting someone ____（7）____ (stay) —only the tones are different. So ____（8）____ (offer) a willow branch means asking the other party to live for a longer time, even though we know that they must leave.

It’s said that this custom became popular during the Han Dynasty. At that time, Baqiao, a bridge in Chang’an, today’s Xi’an, was ____（9）____ common place to say goodbye. People often ______（10）______ (stop) there and handed willow branches to people who were leaving.

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