1 . Silk Road countries celebrated at a forum

I was honored to be invited to the International Forum on the Silk Roads at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Headquarters in April.

Before ________ this event, I didn’t know much about what UNESCO was, except that they had ________ the World Heritage (遗产) List. However, as I did more ________, I realized that there was so much more about UNESCO than just listing valuable heritage sites around the world.

UNESCO was ________ in 1942 in the midst of World WarⅡ. Many European ________ that had been fighting against Nazi Germany came together to ________ ways of rebuilding the ________ system after the war was over. Since then, the organization has expanded (扩大) beyond Europe to include all ________ of the United Nations while keeping to their ________ goal of achieving ________ through the intellectual and moral education of humanity.

I had high expectations for this event, which ________ to be an evening of music, dance and a display of arts by three countries along the Silk Road. The performances were indeed excellent. The three musical performances by the Kazakh band, filled with wonderful music and low drum beats, had everyone on the edge of their ________. I also enjoyed the hanfu fashion show which was the final performance for the evening. The history of hanfu was ________ by models wearing clothes from different Chinese dynasties. They walked onto the stage while the host explained the details of each hanfu style. I found the event to be not only ________ entertaining, but also a great opportunity to explore the ________ of different countries along the Silk Road. UNESCO’s events offer chances to celebrate and appreciate their unique beauty.

    1     majority of people suffer from so-called “Just-me-ism”. That is, you leave the tap     2    (run) while brushing your teeth, leave a light on when going out or drop a piece of waste and are unwilling to pick it     3    . It is absolutely wrong, but in your opinion, it doesn’t matter if only one person does it and no one will know it. But if there are millions of people doing like this, resources would be wasted and litter would be dropped, which     4    (be) quite harmful to our environment.

Therefore,     5    (encourage) people to take measures to protect the environment, Roots & Shoots     6    (establish) by Jane Goodall. The     7    (organise) is called Roots & Shoots because roots can form a firm foundation while seemingly weak shoots can break open brick walls to reach the light. The roots and shoots are you, your friends and young people all around the world, who can change the world into a better place.

Every individual is     8    (value) and useful to the world. Every individual can play a role in our world. It is every individual     9     matters. Now you can make a choice to make a difference to our environment and make Roots & Shoots     10    (root) in everyone’s heart!

5 . Disneyland’s opening day, July 17, 1955, was a nightmare. Rides broke down. Restaurants ran out of food and drink. Long lines formed at bathrooms. All in front of a national audience of 90 million, Disney’s opening day would be known in Disney history as Black Sunday. But Disneyland’s story actually twenty years earlier with what Walt Disney called “Daddy’s Day”.

On Saturdays in the 1930s and 1940s, Disney would take his two daughters to ride the Griffith Park merry-go-round. Disney saw the amusement parks they often visited as dirty and unimaginative places run by unfriendly employees. He thought he could do better.

In 1939, he asked two employees to work on a plan for an amusement park. The pair spent six weeks visiting parks around the country and came up with a proposal （提议）.

In 1948, Disney laid out his plans for a Mickey Mouse Park, which included a town square, a city hall, a fire station and a movie theater.

By 1952 the idea had grown into a 16-acre park proposal that he presented to Burbank, California official. However, the City Council didn’t accept the proposal.

Disney counted the refusal as a fortunate setback. By now, his dreams for a theme park had gone far beyond the space available in Burbank. He examined locations throughout Southern California. 160-acre land, 22 miles south of Los Angeles, was soon chosen.

Groundbreaking took place in July 1954, and Disney walked the site daily to offer direction and encouragement.

Disneyland wasn’t ready on opening day, but Disney decided to open the gates anyway to the media and invited guests. After the madness of opening day, newspaper headlines wrote: “Walt’s Nightmare”. The media foresaw a quick and early end.

However, the public didn’t listen. Visitors arrived in droves, and within weeks Disneyland was a success. Within two months, the park had welcomed its millionth visitor. Sixty years later, Disneyland’s popularity continues to grow, and shows no signs of slowing down with total overall attendance topping 700 million.

For many people, bookstores remain an important part of the cityscape. They help provide quiet, green escape from the pressures of the concrete jungle, calm     1     （enjoy）of   knowledge and soothing spots for self-reflection     2    （recharge）the mind and body.

But     3     is it like to have a contemporary bookstore in an ancient village, deep in the mountains? A recent assignment to Chenjiapu village in Songyang county of Lishui city, East China's Zhejiang province,     4    （point）to the answer-the Librairie Avant-Garde, or“cliffside bookstore".

    5    （found）in the city of Nanjing in 1996, Librairie Avant-Garde is a well-known bookstore brand in China. Since its establishment, it     6    （explore）a cultural and creative business model, with     7    （theme）ranging from that of cultural salon or coffee and art gallery, to elements of film, music, lifestyle and fashion, all built on a public platform for openness, discussion and sharing.

The bookstore has become     8     must-see attraction in Songyang, with the traffic it helps draw to the area, making a     9    （consider）impact and bringing real benefits to the local community, Zhao said.

Chenjiapu itself is being praised     10     a model of rural vitalization efforts in the national drive for inclusive growth, amid（在……中）the designation of Zhejiang, one of the country's most developed provinces, as a demonstration zone for closing urban-rural development gaps and achieving common prosperity.

10 . If knowledge is power, then books are fuel and libraries are power stations! Here are four amazing libraries that can get you positively charged.

New York Public Library—New York

Opened in 1911, New York Public Library was the largest marble building in the world. Over the years the library has a collection of 53 million items, including rare first edition books, 300 million pages of historical newspapers and around 40 ,000 restaurant menus dating back to 1850!

Chetham's Library— Manchester

Founded in 1653, Chetham's Library is a free public library with the longest history in the UK. The building itself is even older —built in 1421, it's one of the most well—protected medieval buildings in England!

With 100 ,000 + books lining the shelves, the special atmosphere of the library attracts students and scholars alike to attend guided tours offered throughout the year.

The Library of Congress Washington, D. C.

Located on Capitol Hill, the Library of Congress is considered the national library of the US and the second largest library in the world. The library has around 168 million items, adding 10 ,000 to this number every day.

Need to catch up on the news? The Library of Congress, which was founded in 1800, holds the world’s largest newspaper collection, with some dating back as far as 1659!

The British Library—London

The British Library was founded in 1973. With around 170 million items spread across 750 km of shelving, it's the largest library in the world. And this number is continually growing and 8 km of shelving has to be added every year! This is partly because the British Library must receive a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland, by law.