We’re having an amazing time here in South Africa. Our accommodation is perfect. It is in a location     1     we can watch animals wandering past on their way to the waterhole. Sunset is the time of day     2     we sit on the balcony and count how many giraffes or antelopes we can see. I guess this is the reason     3     this place is so popular. Next week, we are going to fly up to Zambia. That’s one of the countries     4     you can visit the famous Victoria Falls.

See you soon.

David

You enter through a round entrance known as a moon gate. There before you, is a     1    (cover )passage made of red wood, leading you past a walled courtyard. Along the edges of the courtyard are piles of rocks, among which     2    (grow) bamboo. The whole scene is like a painting;     3     every step you take, another part of the painting is unrolled.

    4    (step) into the courtyard, you look over the scene. Latticed(格状) windows in the walls reveal yet more bamboo, suggesting that the courtyard is just one part of a     5    (large)garden. At the far end of the courtyard is a room with wooden chairs,     6     windows that create frames for the scene of     7     (strange)shaped rocks beyond them, just like Chinese ink-wash paintings. This little courtyard is     8     picture of the classic Chinese concept of peace and beauty. Yet, you are not in China, but a copy of Chinese garden. The Astor Chinese Garden Court     9    (create)by a team of 26 Chinese craftsmen in 1981, and it represented the first permanent cultural exchange between America and China. The courtyard is a place of rest for a museum     10     (visit). As a museum piece in and of itself, the garden gives a wonderful view of ancient China.