There are many things we can do to become better learners. We all have two voices. Our inner voice tells us personal opinions and our outer voice deals with others’ opinions and things we have heard. If we listen to our inner voice too much, it can     1     block us from learning. If your inner voice is difficult to control, you can     2    disagree with it. One of the best ways to promote active learning is to ask questions. This helps you     3     gain more knowledge about a topic.    4    In a word, we should never stop being curious. Active learners also    5    try to question the world around them and understand the truth     6     deep within every idea. Finally, as active learners, we should never form opinions about people     7    on the basis of first impressions.

The best experiences can’t be planned, so I recently traveled to San Francisco some meetings and found myself with a half day to kill. My options: The 49ers’first game of the season, against the Green Bay Packers. The America’s Cup sailing     1     . Or I could get lost.

After a horrendously long line at the car rental center, I was free. So I disappear into the fog and clouds covering the Pacific Coast Highway and     2     south with absolutely no     3     in mind.

I drove through     4     carved out of the mountains and stopped at a few state beaches; at one, I watched a wedding out on the cliffs among the crashing waves.

Back in the car, I drove toward San Gregorio, a town that you can     5     miss. I know because I drove right through it and ended up on a pine tree-bordered ribbon of asphalt that felt like it would go on forever. A few people     6     around outside the San Gregorio General Store, smoking cigarettes and talking about the motorcycles they’ve owned over the years, Inside, I found a bar with regular patrons, a guitar duo, and, of course, a full-on store. I ordered a Pacifico, grabbed a seat, and watched the guitarists jam out. Then I congratulated them, threw a couple of     7     dollars in their bucket, and walked back out into the world.

The day could have been so different: crammed into a stadium or bar half-watching sports. But this was much more     8     .Hours prior, I was on a flight with the masses, going through the motions. Then I was out on my own, having an unexpected and unrepeatable experience. I learned something on September 8: Don’t be afraid to get lost—on purpose or     9     —and have zero     10    . It will be good for you. I promise.

The term ‘dark tourism’ is far newer than the practice, which long predates(早于) Pompeii's     1     as a dark attraction. Dr Philip Stone, perhaps the world’s leading academic expert on dark tourism, considers the Roman Colosseum to be one of first dark tourist sites, where people travelled long distances to watch death as sport. Later, until the late 18" century, the appeal was crueler in central London, where people paid money to sit in grandstands to watch mass hangings. Dealers would sell pies at the site, which was     2     where Marble Arch stands today.

It was only in 1996 that ‘dark tourism’ entered the scholarly vocabulary when two academics in Glasgow     3     it while looking at sites associated with the murder of John F.Kennedy. Those who study dark tourism     4     plenty of reasons for the growing phenomenon, including raised awareness of it as an identifiable thing.     5    to sites has also improved with the arrival of cheap air travel. It’s hard to imagine that the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum would now welcome more than two million visitors a year were it not for its     6     to Krakow’s international airport. Peter Hohenhaus, a     7     travelled dark tourist based in Vienna, also points to the broader rise in off-the-beaten track tourism, beyond the territory of popular guidebooks and TripAdvisor rankings. “A lot of people don't want     8     tourism and that often means engaging with places that have a more recent history.” he says. “ You go to Sarajevo and most people remember the war being in the news so it feels closer to one’s own biography.” Hohenhaus is also a fan of beauty in decay, the contemporary cultural movement in which urban ruins have become     9     matter for expensive coffee-table books and a thousand Instagram accounts. The crossover with death is clear. “ I have always been drawn to ruined things,” the 54-year-old says. But while, like any tourism, dark tourism at its best is     10     , the example of Grenfell Tower (a London tower block, destroyed by a fire in 2017 with 71 deaths) hints at the unease felt at some sites. “ ...I would not stand in the street taking a selfie merrily.”

I still remember my time spent travelling in Paris. Almost everything there left me impressed. I visited some famous     1     sites and further studied the local traditions and customs there. I was surprised to find old buildings such as Palace of Versailles and the Louvre Museum quite well     2     . At the same time, many futuristic buildings with     3     high-tech facilities could be found all over. The local     4     were friendly, whom you can turn to for help when in trouble. It was really     5     to take a trip there.