A City Frozen in Time

The year 79 AD would have seemed just like any other year in the Roman city of Pompeii. Each day , the street     1    (fill) with the sounds of busy shops and customers enjoying the city’s many café. People bathed and chatted happily in     2     (they) beautifully built baths.

No one gave any     3    (think) to Mount Vesuvius, a volcano close to Pompeii. Vesuvius had been inactive for years. The soil in that area was good     4     agriculture. The people of Pompeii had no reason     5     (fear) the volcano. But one day, the sleeping mountain woke up out of the blue.

The eruption when it happened, was unlike anything witnessed before. A huge cloud of hot ash and rock rose into the air, covering the     6     (surround) area. Pompeii was left in total darkness.

A young man, watching from a distance, recorded how the thick dark cloud spread everywhere. He described how people were frighten by the sudden disaster. They took     7     they could as they tried to get away from the city.     8     many people were trapped by falling building.

Suddenly, there was a powerful flow of gas, ash and rock. It moved down Vesuvius at a speed of about 450 kilometres     9    hour. When it reached Pompeii, it     10    (immediate) killed anyone in its path. The city was covered by up to six metres of ash. Pompeii became a city frozen in time.

The knot button (盘扣), in Chinese, is a distinctive feature of traditional Chinese clothing Eyen today, it is still     1     (high) visible on garments like qi pao—cheongsam. Though normally     2     (associate) with tradition, the knot buttons are currently enjoying renewed popularity.

The history of knot buttons dates back to the prehistoric era, in     3     ropes were firs used as a primitive form of belts. In the 4th century BC, the knot button took     4     (it) present form and remained largely unchanged until the Qing Dynasty. In the second half of the 17th century, jackets and cheongsam of the Manchurian ruling class had     5     wider use of knot buttons.

Knot buttons come in wide     6    (variety) of forms, ranging from plain and simple straight knots to graceful flowery knots. However, generally speaking, the two major groups are distinguished     7     the basis of functions and decorations.

Recent years     8     (see) a comeback of knot buttons in contemporary clothing. Knot buttons of various shapes and sizes,     9     (represent) the creativity of their makers, are being used on different types of garments. The use of Chinese aesthetics(美学)and cultural heritage can attract both Chinese and foreigners who admire the beauty and     10     (unique).

History of pizza

Pizza is probably the most globally recognizable food today. Originally a food for the poor    1    (become)a dish for everyone as a result of a transformation developed over the centuries.

The ancestor of pizza is the simple bread. It dominates history as one of the most used foods for the poor who    2    (force)to eat only cereals and the few products that nature was offering. They used their own imagination and fantasy to create    3    tasteful for their meals. Barley(大麦)was the commonest ingredient used to prepare bread and the first bread    4    (take)the form of pizza appeared around 3,000 years ago. Through the centuries pizza took its own course and developed    5    the dish that we know today. This dish has inspired many writers and artists in our history and it’s from their documents and notes    6    we know that pizza has truly old origins. The modern pizza was developed after the introduction of the tomato to Italy in the 16th century.

Pizza did not find its way into the United States    7    after the end of the Second World War. At that time, US soldiers returned home from Europe,    8    they had developed an appetite for pizza. Along with their return came the pizza enthusiasm. Pizza parlours began to spring up in more and more places as hungry people started to eat this one-dish food on a regular basis.

Today,     9    (depend)on where you live, you can usually find a pizza parlour near your home. Many parlours will even deliver their food right to your front door! Or, if you prefer, most grocery stores sell    10    (freeze)pizzas and pizza-making kit as well as the separate ingredients for making your own styles of pizza too!