Greenland is the largest island in the world. It is in the northeast of North America.

Near Greenland is ____ island. It is small. ____ name is Iceland. Do you think that Greenland is green and warm? Do you think that Iceland is white ____ ice? If you do, you are ____. Not many people live on the big island of Greenland. There are more people in your hometown than those in the whole Greenland. That is ____ Greenland is not green. Greenland is white. Most of the island is covered ____ ice. The ice covering Greenland is ____ than the tallest building in the world. What ____ Iceland? Is it colder than Greenland? No, it isn’t. Iceland has ice, but not so much ice ____ Greenland. Iceland has a lot of hot springs(温泉). They give out hot water and steam. The climate(气候)is not so ____ as Greenland. And there are a lot more people who live in Iceland.

John Smith is an exchange student from New York. Here is a letter to his friend in his hometown.

How time flies! It’s been 3 months since I came to China. I’m having fun on my student exchange program here. I am used to life here and have known a lot about traditional Chinese culture. I will share some with you.

In China, there are many different kinds of traditional art forms, such as paper cutting, Chinese clay art, kite making and so on. Among them, the kite interests me most. The first ancient Chinese kite appeared more than 2,000 years ago. Then flying kites spread to Japan, Korea and Malaysia during the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. Kites are regarded as the earliest craft(飞行器). They played an important role in the process of inventing the plane.

Tea culture is important in China. Tea was discovered as a kind of drink by accident about 5,000 years ago. It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th centuries. It didn’t appear in England until around 1,660. The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. Now tea has become one of the most popular drinks around the world.

Lastly, I’d like to tell you something about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Chinese people have been celebrating it and enjoying moon cakes for centuries.

If you’d like to know more about traditional Chinese culture, I will talk about it in the next letter.

Best wishes!

Yours,

John

Do you know Venice? It is considered to be one of     26     most beautiful cities in the world. It has been known     27     the “City of Canals (运河)”, “City of Bridges”, and “City of Water”. It is made up of about 100     28     (island), 150 canals, and 400 bridges. There are no roads in the city, so there are no cars. The only forms of transportation(交通) are on water and on foot. There are roads, a train station,     29     an airport at the edge(边缘) of the city. One of the famous symbols of Venice is a “gondola (平底船)”. Gondolas are still used today, though(虽然)     30     (main) by tourists. All Venetian gondolas are     31     (paint) black. It was a law(法律) that was passed in the     32     (sixteen) century. Most Venetians travel by water buses called “Vaporetti”. Venice has one of the world’s most famous bridges     33     (call) the Rialto Bridge, built in 1591.

Venezuela, a country in South     34     (American), means “little Venice”. This is because the early European visitors to Venezuela first met the local people who lived in homes built over the water, reminding     35     (they) of Venice.