I have recently returned from an extended 26-day trip to China. I made two    1    (early) trips to China in 2012. On my previous visits my travel    2    (limit) to the three major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing. This time I, together with my family, was able    3    (visit) some of the more remote cities and holiday destinations    4    (miss) on the previous trips and revisit Beijing and Shanghai to observe the great changes there in just four short years.

The many contradictions and    5    (struggle) within China today are very impressive. No one can ignore the rich culture dating back to ancient times changing into the modern age at a speed and scale    6    has never been witnessed.    7    happens in China, the third largest country in the world with 20 percent of the world’s population, will    8    (definite) shape the immediate and distant futures of    9    (we) all.

On this blog I will be posting a travel journal    10    photographs and drawings. Marked on the map are the cities and villages I visited while in China.

As an attractive city in the Netherlands, Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly    1    (city) in the world having over 800, 000 bikes in the capital. By comparison, the city has a population of only 750, 000 less than the number of bikes. According to a survey    2    (make) 5 years ago 490, 000 people used bicycles everyday.

Up to now, people in Amsterdam    3    (enjoy) the convenience of cycling for decades. The city has special facilities for cyclists,    4    can be used for free. Compared with other transportation in the city, bikes are    5    (clean) and less expensive while also    6    (offer) health benefits.    7    reason for bicycle riding is that bicycle traffic is    8    (relative) safe. Amsterdammers ride a wide    9    (vary) of bicycles. Many tourists also discover Amsterdam by bike, which is    10    typical Dutch way.

For the first time in 94 years, the Palace Museum has extended its opening hours, allowing the public     1    (celebrate)the Lantern Festival at night in the ancient palace.

About 3,000 lucky visitors received free tickets from the government, among     2     was Zhang Zhifu, a 77-year-old public security volunteer. It's an expression of gratitude     3     her volunteer work. "It is truly     4     honor to be granted this special privilege, " Zhang said.

To guarantee the     5    (safe)of the palace, festival organizers     6    (plan)this year's Lantern Festival event used LED lights rather than traditional paper lanterns and red candles. It's a fascinating event for visitors to absorb     7    (they)in the festive atmosphere in the museum Discussion of the Palace Museum's new look lit up social media following Tuesday's display.

Since he became director of the Palace Museum, Shan Jixiang     8    (bring)many changes to the world's largest royal complex (建筑群). Once in a speech the 64-year-old director shared his idea about how to make     9    (tradition)treasures come alive again. "What matters to a museum is not how many visitors they have,     10     how close they are to people's daily lives, " be said.

The two     1    (gentleman) had been having a heated argument for a couple of days, and had decided to make     2     bet which would settle their argument. They were going to find someone to take part in     3    (they) bet when they saw Henry walking on the street outside. They invited him into their house, where Henry told them he had landed in Britain     4     accident. Although he had gone to the American consulate     5     (seek) help, he had not received any. Henry hoped that the brothers would offer him some jobs because he had no money. Henry     6     (get) upset with the brothers when they seemed too happy about his bad luck. They     7     (quick) told him not to feel that way and they gave him an envelope with money in it. They said the letter inside would explain     8     it was all about, but he had to postpone     9    (open) it until 2 o'clock. Henry felt that was odd. The story ended with Henry leaving their house and promising that he     10     (not) open the letter until 2 o'clock.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Later, Disney     1     (produce) some of its most loved movies, including The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, during its golden age of animation (动画片),     2     (know) as the Disney Renaissance (复兴). This helped create     3     situation in which later animations, like the hit movie Frozen became popular. The Little Mermaid helped to prove that fairy tales and animation weren’t just for children     4     (enjoy).

Jodi Benson,     5     lent her voice to the brave and stubborn Ariel, didn’t expect much when she tried out     6     the role. In fact, she had forgotten all about it by the time she was hired the next year. Back in those days, voice acting     7     (consider) just something to add to a resume (简历). Benson’s life, however, changed all at once. The     8     (succeed) of The Little Mermaid led to two Grammy awards and three Academy Award nominations (提名).

Now, there is a live-action remake on the way and the     9     (origin) animated film will be re-released on Blu-Ray this year. This will give new     10     (generation) the chance to recognize Benson’s voice and to all in love with Ariel like others before.

8 . Yuan Longping was born in 1930 and graduated from college in 1953, when hunger was a big problem for many people in    1    countryside. Since then, finding ways to grow more rice    2    (be)his life goal. He began to search    3    a way to increase rice    4    has a high output.    5    (use)his hybrid rice, farmers manage to produce harvests twice as large as before. Now, he is considered as a pioneer, who devotes his life to    6    (rid) the world of hunger.

Yuan Longping is quite content with his life.    7    , he doesn’t care about being famous. He feels it gives him less    8    (free) to do his research. He would rather keep time for his    9    (hobby). He enjoys listening to violin music, swimming and reading. Money means very little to him. Indeed, he believes that a person with too much money has more rather than    10    (few) troubles.