If you ever visit Scotland, you may want to visit The Pineapple. Built in 1751, this summerhouse sits among     1     (love) gardens. The top of the house was shaped into a huge pineapple, giving     2     the name. Why on earth would anyone want to put a huge pineapple     3     top of their summerhouse? In the 17th and 18th     4     (century), wealthy people in Europe were attracted by the fruit. Not only was the fruit in high demand, but also it was     5     (real) difficult to grow the pineapple in Europe. So pineapples     6     (call) the “the king of fruits”. The wealthy     7     (require) their gardeners to find ways to grow the fruit. They began to do so in hothouses. The Pineapple also has a hothouse     8     (grow) pineapples. Nowadays,     9     the Pineapple is not popular, it is still thought as one of most classical buildings all over the world. If you have     10     chance, just visit it! You will see how amazing The Pineapple is.

Madagascar (马达加斯加) has two seasons, a warm, wet season from November to April, and a cool, dry season between May and October. But different parts of the country have very different weather.

The east coast is     1     (hot) and wetter, with up to 4000mm of rainfall per year. In the rainy season, there are strong winds, and these can cause a lot of damage. Avoid     2     (visit) eastern Madagascar between January and March     3     the weather can make road travel very difficult. The dry season is cooler and more     4     (please).

The high, central part of the country is much drier and cooler. About 1,400 mm of rain     5     (fall) in the rainy season,     6     some thunderstorms. The summer is usually sunny and dry,     7     it can be cold, especially in the mornings, with freezing showers, and it may snow in mountain areas above 2,400m, and even stay there for several days.

The western part is the driest part of the island. Here, the winter     8     (month) are nice with little rain, cool temperatures and the blue sky. The summers can be extremely hot,     9     (especial) in the southwest. This part of the country is semi-desert, and only gets around 300mm of rain     10     year.

A new student joins our class today. She comes from Los Angles, America. She’s telling     1     (we) all about Los Angles, one of the biggest cities in California. We     2     (learn) in school last week that in 1900 there were only 1,000,000 people there. Now there     3     (be) 10,000,000 people there. There are great universities (大学) with around 44,288     4     (student).

It is mostly     5     (sun) there. It gets very hot in summer—up to 28℃. In summer they often get a thick smog (烟雾)     6     there are too many cars there. Some people even wear masks (口罩) on     7     (real) bad days.

Our city Oxford is much smaller than LA. The university here is famous because it is one of the oldest universities     8     the country. The university starts from the     9     (twelve) century (世纪). Now there are about 9,400 students.     10     city of Oxford is popular with visitors because of the beautiful old houses.

I was born in Pittsburgh, USA. It is the second     1     city in Pennsylvania. The city is named after William Pitt, who was the Prime Minister of Britain in the 1700s. Pittsburgh lies on the banks of three rivers, which are crossed by over 400 bridges,     2     it is sometimes called “The City of Bridge”.

Fifty years ago, Pittsburgh was a busy industrial (工业) town. It had many     3     (factory). However, in the 1970s and 80s they closed. The streets     4     (become) empty and dangerous. Today, a lot of these streets are full of life again, filled     5     shops, restaurants and theaters.

All around Pittsburge, there are many hills. From there, you can     6     enjoy great views of the city. There are views that many artists     7     (paint) since over one hundred years ago. One local artist is Linda Barnicott, who drew My Home Town. Oittsburgh is also home to the Andy Warhol Warhol Museum, where you can find     8     large number of pictures by this famous local artist.

The city is now named one of the “World’s Most Liveable Cities”. I moved away ten years ago, but I often return     9     (visit). Pittsburgh is full of people who have lived through good times and bad, and I miss     10     (they) friendly character. They make me proud to call Pittsburgh my hometown.

Once you decide to study in the US, you should know which city is right     1     you. Let’s look into one of     2     (exciting) and famous cities — Seattle.

Seattle is a large coastal city with about 3.2 million people. Because of     3     (it) evergreen forests, Seattle is a good place to have outdoor activities such as camping,     4     (climb), hiking and so on.

There’s always something to do in Seattle. You’ll be     5     (interest) in film festivals, fan clubs and concerts. Hundreds of films around the world are shown during the Seattle International Film Festival.     6     wonderful!

While you     7     (study) in Seattle, it is important to have a university experience. Seattle is the home to lots of famous     8     (university) which will surely meet your needs.

If you want to learn     9     (much) information about Seattle, search on the Internet. But do remember to take     10     umbrella — it does rain from time to time.

Which do you like better, living in the city or living in the countryside? I used to think living in the village is not     1    （有乐趣的）at all. However, last year, I got a     2    （机会）to live in the village for one month. This     3    （旅程）changed my idea and I became interested in the village life.

When I was in the city, life was usually quite     4    （无聊的）. I didn’t go out a lot because     5    （停泊）the car could be a big problem. However, in the village, people liked to stay    6    （在……外面）the house and talk with each other. I could walk around and have     7    （谈话）with others in the village. They were friendly and gave me the     8    （温暖的）smile in the world. What’s more, living in the village     9    （允许）me to get close to the     10    （自然）, I could also enjoy the fresh air everywhere.

Maybe one day I would choose to live in a small village.