During China’s dynastic period, emperors planned the city of Beijing     1     arranged the residential areas according to social classes. The term “hutong”,     2     (original) meaning “water well" in Mongolian, appeared first during the Yuan Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, the center was the Forbidden City,     3     (surround) in concentric (同心的) circles by the Inner City and Outer City. Citizens of higher social classes     4     (permit) to live closer to the center of the circles. The large siheyuan of these high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen often     5     (feature) beautifully carved and painted roof beams and pillars (柱子). The hutongs they formed were     6     (order), lined by spacious homes and walled gardens. Farther from the center lived the commoners and laborers. Their siheyuan were far smaller in scale and       7     (simple) in design and decoration, and the hutongs were narrower.

Hutongs represent an important cultural element of the city of Beijing. Thanks to Beijing’s long history     8     the capital of China, almost every hutong has its stories, and some are even associated with historic     9     (event). In contrast to the court life and upper-class culture represented by the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven, the hutongs reflect     10     culture of grassroots Beijingers.

【推荐3】There's no place in the world like Venice, Italy. Situated in the Adratic Sea, the city of Water is made up of 118 tiny islands. However, it    1     (be) in danger of sinking now. Because    2    city was built on soft soil, it has been sinking under the pressure of its own weight. Scientists say that Venice sinks     3     a rate of nearly two inches every 100 years. Meanwhile, rising sea levels could make Venice go under even faster. Earth's temperature is slowly increasing,     4     is causing sea ice to melt and makes the world's waters rise.

Experts    5    (rush) to save Venice now because of its rich culture. “Many famous artists and opera singers have come from Venice. Some of the world's greatest     6    (paint) can be found on the city's museum walls," explains Melissa Conn.

    7     (keep) the city afloat, experts want to pump about 40 billion gallons of sea water beneath Venice. While scientists work to get their plan     8     (approve), people in Venice live their normal life. When the tide rolls in the locals have ways of keeping everyone dry. Café owners move tables to     9     (high) ground, and hotels pass out high boots to guests.     10    (fortune), dealing with the rising water does not make the natives discouraged.

People’s lives are strongly affected by the sun. If you live in the Italian countryside, you     1    (probable) like to spend a lot of time     2    (play) out of the house. You feel the effects of the sun even in a big city, like Shanghai with its forests of tall buildings. Even during the night, you are sure the sun will come back by morning. But what if you live in a place     3     Longyearbyen, Norway? It is the world’s most     4    (north) town. About one thousand and eight hundred people live there and they have     5     different view of the sun. In fact, for about four months of the year, the sun never sets. And for another four months, it never     6    (rise).

In Norwegian, “Longyearbyen” means “The Longyear Town”. It was named after a person     7     last name happened     8    (be) Longyear. But the people in the town must all have a really difficult time     9     the long year. It is very cold and dark up there, especially during the sunless part! I couldn’t make     10     for more than one day in a place like that!