【正确答案】 The Double-Seventh Festival, called Qi xi for short, falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar. It is also known as "the Begging Festival" or "the Maids' Day," and it is a traditional Chinese festival full of romance. According to the legend, Niu lang (Cowherd) and Zhi nv (Weaver Maid) get together on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year. On this day, all the magpies will fly into the heaven and form a bridge so that these two loving birds might come together. On the same night, people can hear the loving whispers between Niu lang and Zhi nv if they hide quietly under the grape trellis. As Zhi nv is a beautiful goddess who is clever in mind and skillful in hand, the secular girls and women will get together in their yards or the gardens, whispering their prayers to the Altair and Vega in the Milky Way, to implore Zhi nv for intelligence and skill. Young girls pray for beauty and happy marriage, while married maids pray for a lovely baby so that their husbands and parents-in-law will love them. These have gradually become customs. In Chinese language, "seven" has the same pronunciation as "expect." The Altair and Vega appear in the sky at the same time in the seventh lunar month every year, and this was referred to as "the date of stars" in ancient times. Behind this lie the good wills and expectations of people for good things, therefore, it has become a wonderful time for loving birds to meet each other.