Water goes around and around the earth in a never-ending journey     1    (call) the water cycle. The sun heats up lakes, oceans and other wet places on earth. When the water gets enough     2     (warm), it changes into vapour (蒸汽). Plants also give off lots of water vapour. After     3     (cool) off high in the sky and becoming clouds, some of the vapour falls back to earth in a new place     4     rain or snow. This cycle happens over and over again.

The ground can absorb water. If you could see the groundwater, it wouldn’t look like     5     lake or river. The groundwater is mixed in with the rocks and sand     6     lie in layers below earth’s surface.

Groundwater moves along slowly. Can you imagine     7     slowly? Maybe 1.5 kilometers in one century. Some of this water has been underground for     8     (thousand) of years. And once groundwater     9     (draw) out of the ground from a deep well by people, it may take many years for water from another place to take     10     (it) place.

The first time I went abroad was     1     I went to London. It was in the summer holidays about five or six years ago and I went with my friends. The plane and train were quite expensive, so we decided to travel     2     coach (汽车). We left at five o'clock in the morning and the journey to London took about sixteen hours.

We stayed in London for three days, in a youth hostel (青年旅社) not far from the center. My friends and I had a big room on     3     top floor. The beds were not very comfortable and the bathroom was very small but it had a wonderful view    4     (overlook) the Thames.

While we were in London we walked a lot. First, we went to see all the famous     5     (attract): Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus (皮卡迪利广场), and Buckingham Palace (白金汉宫). Then we went shopping in Oxford Street. On the last day my friends and I went to Camden Market. You can buy all kinds of jewellery and clothes there. I bought a silver ring (银戒指) for my sister. It was really sunny in the afternoon, so we went to watch a football game.     6     (fortune), I think the ring fell out of my pocket during the game, and I had to buy     7     one. Later, I went to a nearby restaurant, only     8     (find) some drinks there.

I really enjoyed visiting London     9     the youth hostel was not perfect. Next time, I will stay at the Ritz but I will ever feel as     10     (excitement) as I did that first time.

New discoveries at Sanxingdui Ruins

Chinese archaeologists announced the discovery of over 500 cultural relics, during an ongoing excavation(挖掘) at the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Guanghan, Southwest China’s Sichuan province. The relics were uncovered in six sacrificial pits (深坑)     1     date back over 3,200 years.

Among the important     2    ( culture)finds are gold and bronze masks, bronze ware, more     3    100 ivory tusks, textiles and jade among other artifacts(手工艺品).

In No 3 pit, a rich reservoir for bronze ware, archaeologists found two square zun jars,     4    typical ancient Chinese bronze ritual vessel(容器).

Such artifacts were not found in 1986. Some of the bronze ware items     5    ( decorate)with dragon and ox patterns. The Sanxingdui Ruins is dubbed as one of the world's greatest archeological     6    ( discovery )of the 20th century. The site was     7    ( original )discovered in the 1920s     8     a farmer. A huge surprise came in 1986     9    two sacrificial pits filled with more than 1,000 relics,     10    ( include )gold masks, bronze sacred trees, bronze ware, jade ware and ivory, were discovered by local workers excavating clay for bricks.

Now whenever I get close to losing my     1     (patient), I’ll think of a report that I watched on TV years ago. It     2     (report) that nearly 100,000 people died from traffic accidents that year, causing a lot of damage and pain for individuals and society. Road safety has aroused     3     (wide) attention of the public than ever before. In recent years, many rules     4     (make) to reduce the traffic crashes, especially for the ones    5     (involve) in the pedestrians. As far as I’m concerned, we should take road safety     6     (serious) in our daily life. While     7     (use) the road, we must walk on the pavement, take notice of the traffic lights and learn to protect ourselves. Besides, car drivers should obey the traffic rules,     8     is both good for themselves and others. Above all, we should teach our children to treasure life and get to know and obey the traffic rules.

All in all, life is so precious that we can’t afford to lose it. Obeying the traffic rules is     9     all of us should pay attention to particularly. Only by attaching great importance to traffic safety can we all live    10     better life.

The glass harp(竖琴) is one of the most extraordinary instruments in the world. It doesn’t even appear to be     1    instrument at first glance, and it isn’t actually a harp at all. Instead, it’s just a set of glasses on a table. The glasses are of different sizes and some are filled with water.

    2    (play) the glass harp, performers wet and rub their fingers along the tops of the glasses. Each glass will then produce a high     3     low sound, depending on its shape and how much water it     4     (contain). Many people think the sound     5     (create) is delightful, like music you would hear in heaven.

It’s a mystery who invented the glass harp. Some say it first appeared in China, while others say Persia, but it was in Europe     6     it became the most popular. By the 1700s European glass harp masters could play works    7    Mozart and Beethoven on the instrument. This love for glass harps didn’t last long, however, as people lost interest     8     a while.

Glass harps haven’t entirely disappeared, though. You can still find some street     9     (music) playing them to entertain large crowds. If you’re lucky enough to catch such a performance, sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful sounds of this     10     (usual) instrument.