1 . The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall was the part of the Great Wall I liked to visit. _______, one day in May 2000, I chose something wilder, more _______: Simatai. This section of the Great Wall has far fewer visitors than most other sections of the wall.

At the entrance to Simatai was a group of vendors (小贩) trying to _______ postcards. One tiny old lady seemed to _______ me wherever I went, and I was becoming increasingly _______. “How many times does it take for ‘No!' to sink in?” I thought. I finally ended up running away just to   _______ this tiny woman.

Once I caught sight of the Great Wall, _______ overtook me, and the tiny old lady with the postcards _______ from my thoughts. I raced up the Great Wall _______. Then, halfway up, I stopped and suddenly realised I was rushing along a ________ “path” no wider than a meter. There were ________ “walls” — only steep drops on either side. I remembered then that ________ had fallen to their deaths in this section. I was so fearful that I ________ there completely stock-still.

Suddenly, I felt a small hand on my back and a ________ voice telling me, in Chinese, not to be   ________, that she would slowly lead me to the top. Half an hour later, we ________ a section that had a few remnants (剩余的小部分) of the wall. I was able to turn around to see who had given such ________ to me in my hour of greatest ________. It was the tiny old lady I'd told a dozen times — eventually shouting at her — that I didn't want any ________. I felt really ________ of myself. I gave her a big hug, and then later bought every one of her postcards.