Book crossing, a new way of reading, is developing, with book lovers leaving     1     (they) books in public places, to be picked up and “borrowed” by others.

The Belarusian National Technical University was     2     first to support the idea in the country. Several     3     (year) ago, the director of its library, Alexey Kalaban,     4     (see) a large glass box of books which were free for anyone to read, at a Swedish (瑞典的) airport. He was very excited.     5     great the idea was! So he wanted to bring it to his country. The question was only where such books might be     6     (keep) in public.

“We put the bookcase in the main building. It is free to everyone. People can be     7     (easy) encouraged to read.” Kalaban explained. “Inside the case, there is a special list     8     (show) who gave the book and when they gave it.”

Teachers, students and even people living in the neighbourhood brought their books. Besides. booksellers gave away a number of books too.     9     the help of so many people, every year, more such “safe” places are found. Not long ago, a nightclub set up a shelf of books and magazines. During the dance break, people can pick up to read.

Nowadays, book crossing is being     10     (well) known to the world than before. No doubt, it’s a great way to push more people to read and make the whole world a library.

【推荐2】My family and I arrived in Beijing by air three days ago. It’s     1     good idea to take the plane and it is fast. We     2     (visit) Tian’anmen Square and the Palace Museum yesterday. I like taking the taxi     3     the driver will tell us more about the city. Tomorrow we plan to visit the Great Wall. It is one of the     4     (great) wonders of the world. Moreover, it is about more than 6, 000 kilometers long and runs from the east to the west.     5     (surprising), the Great Wall is wide enough for ten people to walk side by side. It was made with stones and bricks about 2, 500 years ago. But now some parts of it are damaged.

There     6     (be) tall watchtowers along the Great Wall. Once upon a time, the soldiers kept     7     (watch) the enemies (敌人) in the watch-towers day and night. They made fire on the towers to tell     8     (them) people when the enemies came. Nowadays we don’t use the Great Wall to keep away the enemies any more. It has become a famous place of interest. Every year     9     (thousand) of people visit it from all over the world. Beijing is a city     10     a long history, and I hope more people can come here and learn all about China’s history.

【推荐3】The students at the American International School were excited. They worked hard to raise money for a trip. They washed cars, sold magazines and     1     (collect) bottles. Finally, they f    2     to Cairo to visit the pyramids of Egypt (埃及金字塔)!

The students studied the pyramids in school before the trip. They learned about the Pharaohs, the rulers of ancient Egypt. They also learned that the Egyptians considered the Pharaohs to be living gods, and that the pyramids were built     3     tombs (陵墓) of the Pharaohs.

On     4     first day of the trip, the students went to the Great Pyramid at Giza. It was built for the Pharaoh Khufu around 2,560 BC. It's the     5     (tall) pyramid in the world. At first, it was about 146 meters high. Now it is about 136 meters high. The students measured (测量) all four sides of the Great Pyramid at Giza.

No one knows     6     the ancient Egyptians built these huge things. Scientists believe Egyptians didn't invent the wheel at that time. They     7     /ɡes/ people moved the stones very slowly. Thousands of Egyptians worked for many years on each pyramid.

When the students returned home, they prepared     8     (speech) and invited the community. Everyone was     9     (shock) by how much the students learned.

【推荐1】It’s winter in Siberia in the east of Russia. Lake Baikal is covered with ice. If you want to get to Olkhon Island, more than a kilometer out from the shore, you can’t take a boat. You have to drive across the ice. But don’t w    1    — the ice is about 60 centimeters thick. Just try not to think about how much water is b    2    you. Try to forget that you’re traveling over the deepest lake in the world.

At its deepest, Lake Baikal is 1,642 meters deep. It is more than 640 kilometers long. The lake is about twenty-five million years old. On either side of it, there are mountains which are very s    3    moving apart — by about 2 centimeters each year.

Around the beginning of the twentieth century, the Trans-Siberian Railway was built, crossing Russia from west to east. Before then, it was difficult to travel across Siberia’s long d    4    ，so Lake Baikal was quite an isolated (与世隔绝的) place. Building the railroad along the shore of the lake was a big，difficult job, but it e    5    more people to visit the area.

Olkhon is the largest island in the lake. For the local people, it is a sacred place. For them, Lake Baikal is not simply a lake. It is Baikal, the father of 337 daughters. These daughters are all the rivers and streams around the lake. In a legend, one of the daughters, Angara, ran away from the family. T    6    explains why the Angara River flows out of the lake while her 336 “sisters” flow into it.

Lake Baikal is usually f    7    from January to May. When the weather gets warmer and the ice breaks, visitors can take a boat to Olkhon to enjoy the quiet beauty of this place.

【推荐2】The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. It     1    (cover) almost a third of the Earth.

The smallest ocean is the Arctic Ocean. It’s about 10 times     2    (small) than the Pacific Ocean.

The deepest spot in the ocean is the Mariana Trench. It’s about 10,011m deep in the Pacific Ocean. That’s deeper than the     3    (high) of Mount Everest (8,850m), the highest mountain in the world!

The lowest lake is the Dead Sea.     4     (it) water is 408m below sea level. The Dead Sea is     5     the saltiest lake in the world. That’s why almost nothing     6    (can) live in it.

The River Nile in Egypt is the longest river. It’s 6,671km long and flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Amazon in South America is the largest river     7     the greatest water flow (水流). This is     8     it flows through the Amazon rainforest, the largest and     9    (wet) rainforest on our planet.

Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest waterfall in the world at 979m. It’s also one of the most beautiful waterfalls.

    10     you are interested in more water facts, please join us and make the geography project together!

You may have heard the saying “The Yangtze River is China’s mother river.” As the world’s     1     (three) longest river, its valley(流域) covers one-fifth of China’s land area.

China passed the Yangtze River Protection Law(法律) last year. It is the first law     2     ( protect) a waterway in China. It began being carried out     3     March 1, 2021.

The “mother river” is in great need of protection     4     something is wrong with it. For example, because of overfishing and water pollution, the river’s Chinese paddlefish(白鲟) have     5     (complete) disappeared after living for 150 million years. It is     6     pity that we can no longer see them in the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River Protection Law includes bans(禁止) on activity that could be     7    (harm) to the river. It also includes much     8    (heavy) punishments for those who don’t follow the law.

Under the law, fishing is banned in all of the Yangtze’s natural waterways. Those who are caught fishing there     9    (make) to give 50,000 to 500,000 yuan as a punishment. Besides, sand mining(采沙) is strictly limited(限制) in the river valley. Many factories used to mine sand along the river. However, this led to low water levels on the river.

Factories along the river need to give special attention to green development from now on. Those factories that produce dangerous chemicals(化学品) have been ordered to move away. This can make a     10    (different) to the protection of the ecosystem of the Yangtze River.

【推荐2】Have you ever     1     (hear) of Stonehenge? Every year it     2     (receive) more than 750,000 visitors. People like to go to this place especially in June as they want to see the sun     3     (rise) on the longest day of the year.

For many years, historians believed Stonehenge was a temple where ancient leaders     4     (try) to communicate with the gods.

However, historian Paul Stoker thinks this can’t     5     (be) true because Stonehenge     6     (build) so many centuries ago. Other people believe the stones have a medical purpose. They think the stones can prevent illness and     7     (keep) people healthy.

No one is sure what Stonehenge was used for. Some think it might be a burial place or a place     8     (honor) ancestors. Others think it was built to celebrate a victory over an enemy.