In August 1996, Peter Hessler, a young American teacher of English,     1    ( arrive) In the town of Fuling on the Yangtze River. He and a colleague were to spend two years there    2    ( teach) English at a teacher training college. At the end of January they had four weeks     3    for the Spring Festival. They decided     4    (take) a boat downstream. They bought tickets for the Jiangyou boat. The sun was shining     5    (bright )as they sailed downstream through a hilly region. They slept through the first gorge,     6    is called the Qutang Gorge. The gorge narrows to 350 feet as the river rushes through the two-mile-high mountains. At Wushan they made    7    detour up the Daning River. As they came out of the Xiling Gorge, they sailed into the     8    (construct) site of the dam. All the passengers came on deck, took pictures and pointed at the site, but they     9     (not allow) to get off the boat. On a distant mountain was a sign in 20-foot     10    (character)."Build the Three Gorges Dam, Exploit the Yangtze River, "it said.

As one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, Xi’an is a city with a long history and heavy cultural heritage and     1     is among the first batch (批) of national historical and cultural cities recognized by the People’s Republic of China.

As one of the world’s     2     (civilize), Xi’an has unique tourism resources. Xi’an,     3     (surround) by more than 120 imperial tombs and relies, including Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum,     4     is among the first batch of Chinese relies     5     (list) in World Heritage (遗产) List.

The ancient city wall of Xi’an is the world’s well preserved and largest ancient city wall. In recent years, the development of Han Yangling caused quite     6     stir in the world. The city has Banpo Ruins with 6,000 years of history and over 300 Tibetan stone tablets, which     7     ( make) in the Ming Dynasty. Shaanxi History Museum preserves the     8     (much) heritage of the country. The famous Mansoleum of the Yellow Emperor, the Great Mosque, and other tombs are great attractions     9     tourists. With its rich cultural and     10     (nature) landscape, this ancient city provides many reasons for visitors to be attracted.