1 . Cities are often noisy and dirty places, and many people prefer the peaceful life of the countryside, with open lands and natural sights. However, there are many good reasons to live in cities-jobs, exciting things to do and plenty of new people to meet. Some architects (建筑师) are now trying to bring the country into the city by creating “green skyscrapers (摩天大楼)”.

The Bosco Verticale in Milan is a skyscraper which tries to create a “forest in the sky”. It opened in 2014 and has two towers, one just over 100 meters high and the other around 80 meters high. Inside, it is mainly apartments, but there are also some offices. The special thing about this skyscraper is that there are nearly 1,000 trees, and also hundreds of smaller plants, growing all over it.

Skyscrapers like this are more difficult and more expensive to build. There are problems with planting trees so high up-not all kinds of trees can live in the strong winds at this height. Also, someone has to look after the plants, to water them in hot weather and cut them back when they grow too big, so they don’t spoil the view for the people who live there. This could be a lot of work for the people who live there, but at Bosco Verticale, a special team of professional gardeners takes care of it.

But green skyscrapers also has a lot of advantages. The trees and plants clean the air, keep the apartments cool in hot weather and reduce (减少) the amount of noise that people hear inside the building. More importantly, most people would agree that they are much more attractive (吸引人的) to look at than the usual metal and glass. Some architects believe that over the next 20 years green buildings could change the skyline of our cities to make them look more like forests.

I visited Singapore recently and stayed in the Parkroyal on Pickering hotel. This “hotel in a garden”is a great example of a green skyscraper. The building is covered in plants, and there is a “skygarden”, where guests can sit and enjoy views of the city. There are plants everywhere or waterfalls! Rooms aren’t cheap, but the price is worth paying to get the chance to escape from the noise and dirt outside and enjoy a little bit of the countryside in the heart of the city.

How the Grand Canyon was created remains one of the geology’s greatest mysteries. Some geologists believed that the process was a gradual one: the Colorado River which goes through the canyon slowly cut deeper and deeper into the ground over millions of years. But some rocks of the volcanoes, which have been discovered in the canyon recently, suggest that the canyon was down-cut instead.

Down-cutting is when a flood of water rushes over a place with enough force to cut deeply into the ground and leaves behind a canyon. Such a flood is usually released when a natural or man-made dam breaks.

Robert Webb, a research geologist, says natural dams seem to have formed and broken across the Colorado River several times during the last million years. The dams were built when lava from the nearby volcanoes flowed into the river. The lava hardened into hard rocks and blocked the river, causing it to back up and form a lake. Each time the lake grew so huge that it broke the rock dam, releasing a flash flood that furthered the down-cutting process and deepened the canyon.

Down-cutting is not only an earthly event. Satellite photos sent back from Mars suggest that the process has happened there, too, say many other scientists. The photos, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor, indicate that an enormous lake existed on Mars 3.5 billion years ago. The lake spilled into a large nearby hole. One edge of the hole broke, releasing a flash flood that quickly carved out a huge canyon. The finding of down-cutting on Mars is just one more piece of evidence that the formation of the Grand Canyon was not a gradual course.

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7 . Do you put up your hand when you want to speak in class? If so, you have followed a rule. Rules can be as simple as putting up your hand. They can also be as complicated(复杂的) as knowing when you are”out”in a game.

Rules can be made by anyone. Parents make rules to help children grow up healthily. Rules at home might include washing dishes or cleaning rooms.

Teachers make rules to help students learn and stay safe. Putting up your hand before asking a question helps the class pay attention to the lesson. Students make rules in games to make sure that they can play without fighting. Rules can be changed often. If you change your minds, you can change the rules.

Laws are rules too, but they are made differently. Laws are made by elected representatives(被选出的代表). Voters(选民) allow their representatives to make laws that can protect people’s rights, safety and make sure everyone can be treated fairly. Laws cannot be changed often, so representatives consider laws carefully before making new ones.

The biggest difference between rules and laws is the punishment(处罚) for breaking them. If you break a rule, your punishment might be small, like losing a turn in a game. However, if a person breaks an important law, the punishment might be a fine(罚款) or time in prison.

Rules and laws keep everyone safe. People can work and live together in peace by following rules and laws.

The Chinese have a long tradition of art, and painting is one of the major art forms. It is still popular nowadays.

Figure painting

Starting from the Han dynasty, artists made people as the main subject of their painting. These paintings are called figure paintings.

Gu Kaizhi(345—409) became famous for his figure paintings during the Jin dynasty. He used fine brushes to outline the people in black. Then he filled them with colour. This detailed, realistic style of painting was known as gongbi. The use of gongbi style resulted in more lifelike figure paintings.

Wu Daozi(680—759)was known as the Sage of Painting for his unique painting style. He was very good at painting human figures and created special techniques for painting clothes that seemed to flow with the light wind.

Landscape painting

Between the Tang and Song dynasties, landscape painting became popular. Artists did ink wash painting with a brush and ink. Many landscape painters were scholar artists. They liked to express themselves through painting. Instead of painting what they saw, they painted the landscapes from their imagination. They also added poems to their paintings.

Modern Chinese painters have inherited（继承）the long tradition of Chinese painting and brought this form of art to the world. Zhang Daqian (1899—1983) is regarded as “the Picasso of China” and Wu Guanzhong (1919—2010) was the first Chinese painter whose works were shown at the British Museum.

9 . Language shows the environment where we live. We name the things around. Usually, the important things own many specific names, while the less important things only have some general names. So in one culture, people may have a large vocabulary to describe a certain object, while in another culture, such vocabulary is small.

For instance, the Chinese have many words for “rice” and for “family members”. The British use many different expressions for “rain”. Kids growing up on a farm may be able to offer ten different words for plow, a farming tool.

In some cultures, there is an amazingly large vocabulary to describe a certain thing. Eskimos have about 100 words for snow. For them, snow is so important to life that each of its forms and conditions has to own a name. They divide snow into four main categories, such as snow lying on the ground, snow floating in the sky, snow piling up, and snow piles. These different kinds of snow will tell them different weather conditions. It’s the same with the Arabians, whose life depends much on camels. In the Arabic language, according to camels’ appearance, characters, drinking behaviours, and the roles they play, there are hundreds of different words for the camel and all of its parts. Snow and camel are far less important in English-speaking cultures, and the single words “snow” and “camel” can usually satisfy their needs. When the needs become more specific, however, they can make up longer phrases to meet the needs: “corn snow”, “flying snow”, “big camel”, “funny camel”, etc.

As we can see, there is a 4 between the words and the ideas of that culture. So it’s not hard to understand that each culture passes on its ideas and thoughts through word.

10 . While dogs are the most popular household pet, cats run a close second. Cats are not often noticed by people choosing a new four-legged friend. An animal expert explains why they make fantastic pets.

Cats VS Dogs It seems that many people prefer dogs to cats. Often people who grew up with dogs find it difficult to imagine owning and loving cats. But they can be surprised to learn how friendly and responsive cats are.

Good points of keeping cats Cats are always in small size. They can be a great pet choice for people with limited space and busy lifestyles. They don’t have the exercise requirements like dogs. Besides, they are quiet and clean. In a word, cats are low maintenance and happy to be left alone indoors. Cats can be very playful and interactive with children and offer them chances to learn to care for another, living being.

Keeping dogs and cats together Dogs and cats become great companions(伙伴), especially if they are raised at the same time. They can become friends with each other, the younger, the better.

Help to decide If you’ve never actually owned a cat, but are thinking of it, talk to cat owners, or offer to house-sit for a cat owner. You could visit an animal centre and interact with cats. It helps decide whether you might enjoy their companionship. You may be surprised to discover how wonderful cats really are.

Though it seems that there are more dog lovers than cat lovers, an animal expert tells some     1     of keeping cats. If people keep cats as pets, they must be surprised to find they are friendly and responsive. Compared with dogs, cats have some     2    . They are quiet and clean. Also they need less space and are     3     to look after, while dogs always need to be walked. Dog lovers can also raise cats as dogs’ companions when they are young. Besides, keeping cats can     4     children’s sense of caring for other living beings: The     5     of the following activities help you decide to keep cats, like talking to cat owners or visiting an animal centre and interacting with cats.