请将下面这段话翻译成英文：

在中国北方的一些地区，冬至要喝饺子汤;其他一些地区的居民则会吃饺子，他们认为吃饺子可以免受来年的霜冻。然而，在南方，最常见的庆祝方法是一家人聚到一起，吃上一顿用红豆和糯米做成的饭，他们相信这样可以驱鬼辟邪。还有一些地区会吃汤圆。冬至的汤圆也可能会被用于祭祀，或者馈赠亲友。台湾人甚至还保留着向祖先进贡九层糕的习俗。他们用糯米粉捏成鸡、鸭、龟、猪、牛、羊等象征福禄寿的动物，然后用蒸笼分层蒸熟。

参考答案:四级阅读理解技巧

In some parts of north China, people have jiaozi soup on this day; while residents of some other places eat jiaozi, saying doing so will keep them from frost in the upcoming winter. But in south China, it is commonplace for the whole family to get together to have a meal made of red beans and glutinous rice. They believe, by doing this, they can drive away ghosts and other evil things. In other places, people also eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour. The Winter Solstice rice dumplings may be used as sacrifices to ancestors, or gifts for friends and relatives. The Taiwanese even keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. They made cakes in the shape of chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them on different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition.