1 . It was July 2019 and Mum had taken me on a 120-km mother-and-son walking holiday as a treat for my birthday. Although I was still on my first special ________, I’d love to see some ancient civilisation.

“Why don’t we go to Egypt?” I said. “It sounds ________, but I’m not paying for it,” Mum smiled and replied.

“I’ll save up my pocket money, and get a ________,” I said. I started saving my $10-a-week pocket money and washed my parents’ car for ________ cash.

In 2020, we moved to Perth. One day, I ________ a brochure in the letter box which was advertising a job delivering catalogues (目录). I applied for the job, and ________ I got it a week later.

On a Monday, a mountain of catalogues were ________ at our house. It took me nine hours to sort through them, and then I ________ them to 430 houses. At first, I used my bike and ________ the catalogues in my backpack, but this wasn’t very ________ so I bought a trolley (手推车) which improved my speed. As time went by, people started ________ me and saying hello on my rounds.

After three and half years, I’d ________ a massive $6,500, and in January this year I flew to Egypt. I had a good time visiting the powerful pyramids at Giza, ________ local food and sailing down a river. I fully ________ that nothing can stop a person from following his ________.

3 . On sunny and warm days, I love to wander through high mountains. I also love it when fog goes down and _______ me in a state of quietness.

One day while I was visiting a mountaintop, the fog blew in. I was _______ because I’d gone there to take some photos and needed a clear shot of the mountains in the _______. Instead I was _______ the middle of a gray cloud. I carried my camera and made my _______ back to the car to wait, hoping the fog would _______.

As I sat there, I began to see things that I’d never _______ before. I spied an old tree with rough branches of interesting _______. I observed the cliffs behind me. All this new­to­me scenery _______ me back out of the car, and soon I was happily ________ a part of this landscape I’d never seen before.

As I ________ home, with a camera full of images and a heart full of ________ for the nature, I thought about what had happened.

The nature has used those times when everything around me seemed like ________ to show me things I wouldn’t have seen ________. I experienced that especially when my son was in the military. Often the weight of what he was facing covered me with ________. It was in those times that nature revealed itself most warmly.

5 . When it comes to experiencing other cultures, there’s no doubt that traveling is one of the most effective ways. ____, if you don’t have the time, money, or energy to ____ a trip abroad, you have other choices. In fact, you probably don’t even need to ____ your hometown to ____ other cultures!

Given the great ____ of America today, chances are that even the people you meet every day represent a ____ range of cultural heritage and experiences. Your friends, neighbors, and co-workers may ____ people of different national, religious, or ethnic backgrounds, all within arm’s reach. Take the ____ to get to know more about them. You might be ____ at the variety of people living right next to you.

Other types of cultural exploration can be ____. Consider spending a weekend learning about a different culture by ____ some activities such as visiting your local museum, reading a book and trying new cuisine.

In the ____, you can learn about works of art from other countries, look at archaeological finds from distant lands and think about how they may have ____ particular cultures. Read a book that explains the history of different societies and how they’ve evolved (进化) into the culture they are today. That can help you ____ how their customs, traditions, and food got to be the way they are today. Even food offers chances to ____ cultural variety and how it is expressed through cuisine.