There are many cities in most countries. But every country has one special city—the capital. For example, China’s capital city is Beijing.

The capital city is very important. It is home to a country’s central government (中央政府).

Leaders of a country w    1     and live there. It is often the centre of a country’s economy (经济) and culture too.

The capital city is very special, so countries do not often change it. But Indonesia is going to b    2     a new capital on the island of Borneo. Jakarta, the capital is sinking into the sea now. The city has taken out too much groundwater.

People cannot change the capital city easily in a few m    3    . It will take around 10 years and cost about $32 billion.

There are some interesting things to know about capital cities around the world.

◎   Capitals are usually large cities, but not a    4     the largest city in a country. For example, Canberra is the capital of Australia, but the largest city in Australia is Sydney.

◎   Some countries have more than o    5     capital. For example, South Africa has three and Bolivia has two.

◎   Some s    6     countries take the whole country itself as the capital, such as Singapore in Asia. It just has an area of 719 square kilometers, while Beijing is 16410 square kilometers.

Have you e    1     been to Singapore? Singapore is both the name of country and its capital. It is the s    2     country in Asia. Look at the picture, it’s the symbol of Singapore. It’s half a fish and half a lion. People in Singapore call it Merlion. You can see it all over Singapore.

For many Chinese tourists, this small island in Southeast Asia is a wonderful place to take a holiday. On the one hand, more than three quarters of population(人口) are C    3    , so you can simply speak Chinese a lot of time. On the other hand, Singapore is an English-speaking country, so it’s also a good place to p    4     your English.

There are a lot of beautiful gardens and parks in Singapore, so Singapore is called the “Garden City”. One of the most interesting places to visit in Singapore is the Bird Park. There are hundreds of beautiful birds. They are from many different countries of the world. It takes about two hours to see all the birds.

One great thing about Singapore is that the temperature (温度) is almost the s    5     all year round. This is because it is so n    6     the equator(赤道).

5 . Beijing, Bangkok and Tokyo are all g    1     cities in Asia. They are all the c    2     of their countries. Beijing is n    3     of Shanghai. We can find many m    4    , palaces and parks. T    5     always visit the Great Wall. People in Beijing e    6     eating dumplings. Tokyo is north-east of Shanghai. We can go s    7     in Tokyo because there are so many department s    8     in the streets. Bangkok is famous for its temples and b    9    . Visitors can enjoy diving and s    10     at the nice beaches.

Have you ever been to Hong Kong? Hong Kong is a beautiful place to travel. It lies in the southeastern part of China. She r    1     to our motherland in 1997. If you go to Hong Kong by air, you will arrive at Kai Tak Airport, because there was not enough land. This airport was build out into the sea. It is in the part of Hong Kong called Kowloon. Kowloon is one of the two big cities in Hong Kong. The other city is Hong Kong itself. It is on an i    2    . You can get there by ship or through a tunnel under the sea. Much of Hong Kong is farmland and mountains.

The population of Hong Kong is over six million. People from all over the w    3     travel to Hong Kong every year. You can watch horse racing or motor racing. Some places are quiet and beautiful. When you are hot and tired, there are small cool gardens to rest in. There are also a lot of buildings to live in. Hong Kong is also a good place for Chinese f    4    . You can enjoy many kinds of cooking. For example, fish, meat and vegetables. Beijing duck is famous. There is certainly a lot to see and to do in Hong Kong.

When you are in Hong Kong, you must be very careful in the streets because the traffic drives on the left. It is d    5     from that in other areas of China. If it’s your first time to Hong Kong, you must look to the right side and then the left before you cross the street. When you go by bus in Hong Kong, you have to be careful, too. You must always remember the traffic moves on the l    6    . So you must be careful. Have a look first, or you will go the wrong way.

I live in Denver, a city in the state of Colorado (美国科罗拉多州). I love living in Colorado. It is famous for the Rocky Mountains. There are many fun o    1     activities to do here. People often go hiking, camping, skiing and snowboarding.

To get from Denver to the mountains in a car, it takes about thirty minutes. Many people come to attend college in Colorado, so they can go skiing and camping in the mountains on the weekends. On Friday evening, after class, they l    2     college together in one or two cars. It is a great time.

When I don’t work or have fun in the mountains, I often walk my dogs around town. Denver is a great place to walk dogs. The sidewalks (人行道) are very clean. There are many parks and people are quite f    3    . I usually take my dogs to Cheesman Park, which is a ten-minute walk from my house. There are always lots of people walking their dogs, and the dogs can sometimes p    4     together.

Colorado is a safe place to ride a bike, and there are many famous races here. There are also a lot of biking paths. Although there are many cars or buses in the street, the d    5     are very respectful (对……尊敬) of the bikers and the pedestrians (步行者). Personally, I enjoy running with my brother. We run a few miles every day, and we o    6     took part in a marathon (马拉松) last year. Colorado is great for enjoying life.

10 . I have been to Hainan Island

I have already b    1     to Hainan Island. I went there last summer. Have you ever been to Hainan Island? It is the second l    2     island in China. It’s a beautiful place. If you go there, you should walk along the beaches. The weather in Hainan is very hot, so people like doing many water s    3    , such as scuba diving, fishing, s    4    , surfing and boating.

One great thing about Hainan is that you can try many kinds of sweet fruit. If you go to Hainan, I’m sure you will enjoy y    5    !