1 . Depths of our Earth hold great wonders. Below we explore four deepest places on Earth.

Its entrance is located 2,285 meters above sea level. In 2018, scientists reached its bottom at 2,212 meters down. They squeezed through tiny openings to get from one cave to another. Rockfalls and floods waited secretly at every turn. Scientists could develop new medicines from microorganisms found in cave samples. Caves also record ancient life and past climates.

The Mariana Trench, with the maximum depth of 11,034 meters, is the deepest part of Earth’s surface. Pressure there is intolerable, but creatures like sea cucumbers (海参) still exist. Scientists exploring it can gain deeper insights into how plates move and why earthquakes and volcanoes occur.

The Dead Sea is the lowest point on land at about 1,400 feet (about 400 meters) below sea level. It’s nearly ten times saltier than ocean water, so you literally can’t sink in the Dead Sea! Scientists think it could go dry in a few decades. Despite its name, the Dead Sea holds life. A few kinds of algae (藻类) and bacteria love its salty water.

At the depth of 1,642 meters, Lake Baikal is the deepest inland body of water. The Baikal seal is the only known seal that lives in this world’s deepest freshwater lake. Scientists study the lake not only for the solid stuff beneath it that records climate history but because it’s in a zone where a plate is splitting apart, causing earthquakes.

Located in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the Jiuzhai Valley runs more than 50 kilometers, towards the Sichuan Basin. The Jiuzhai Valley got     1    (it) name because there are nine Tibetan villages in the valley. It consists of three main valleys,    2    form a “Y” in shape. The clear mountain lakes, splendid waterfalls, colorful forests and the local ,Tibetan, ethnic culture all make it a unique tourist    3    (attract).

More than 400 million years ago, the region was    4    ideal breeding ground for various, prehistoric lifeforms. However, with the time    5    (pass), many lifeforms died off. Now the region is home    6    nationally protected animal species and 74 endangered plants. Historically, the ancestors of the Jiuzhai Valley    7    (be) from the remote Ngari region in Tibet. Today, the local people still maintain their Tibetan religious and folk customs.

In 1978, the Jiuzhai Valley    8    (name) as the Jiuzhai Valley Nature Reserve, becoming the first nature reserve     9    (protect)landscape and natural scenery in China.

Now a network of wooden walkways has been built to provide a     10    ( powerful) protection to the natural environment than before.

From dunes (沙丘) and stone paintings     1     cliffs and towers, Moab is     2     dream for the adventure travelers.     3    (locate) in the heart of the Colorado Plateau, this small city in southeast Utah is one of North America’s greatest outdoor recreation     4    (center).

Millions of years of erosion by ancient oceans, freshwater lakes, streams and windblown sand dunes     5    (shape) the sandstone arches (拱桥), mountain peaks, rock formations     6     canyons here.

Mountain bikers, hikers, campers, climbers and off-road drivers arrive here     7    (explore) this red rock playground. There are more than 3 million visitors     8    (annual), a figure that     9    (increase)sharply since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Visits to arches grew 8.8 percent between 2019 and 2021; visits to Canyon Lands — the     10    (large)and more remote of the two national parks — increased a huge 24.2 percent, according to the National Park Service(NPS).

The Tianshan Tuomuer Grand Canyon is about 25 kilometers long from east to west and 20 kilometers wide from north to south. It consists of three main     1     (valley) in the shape of the Chinese character “川”.     2     (situate) in the northwest of Xinjiang at the foot of Tuomur Peak, it is also known     3     “Kuduluk Grand Canyon”,     4     means “thrilling and mysterious” in Uygur (维吾尔语). It is the only way to the ancient post road in the northern and southern Tianshan Mountains.

On June 21, 2013, the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang     5     (list) as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. The area in which the Tuomur Grand Canyon lies is the     6     (large) among the four places in the Tianshan Mountains,     7     (account) for 59.87 percent of the whole site.

With its red canyons set against the snow-capped mountains in the distance, the dreamlike landscape     8     (complete) makes visitors lost in the beautiful and impressive view of nature. At night, you can see the stars. Remember that the temperature difference there is very large. While wearing short sleeves at noon, evenings may require     9     down jacket and other warm clothes. There is no tour bus service, but visitors can drive to the canyon by     10     (they) or hire a bus. Apart from it, Xinjiang is in possession of many appealing tourist spots, attracting a good number of visitors at home and abroad.

China’s First National Park

China’s first national park in Northwest of China’s Sanjiangyuan area,     1     (cover)a total area of 123,100 square kilometers, was officially established in 2020     2     schedule. The national park is the country’s calling card, and unlike nature reserves,     3     protect unique species, national parks stress the protection of the entire ecosystem.

Under the national park management, herders and     4     (farmer) will be turned into the forces of     5     (environment) protection in the Sanjiangyuan area. The work     6     (expect) to provide jobs, boost incomes and give people an     7     (encourage) to protect the environment. The ecological environment of the Sanjiangyuan area has greatly improved in recent years. The grassland coverage of the area has risen sharply     8     (compare) with the last decade. The last decade also saw a significant increase in the number of wild animals, because the number of Tibetan antelopes     9     (be) over 70,000 from less than 20,000 in     10     1980s.

Today’s skiers are used to relying on ski lifts at resorts to take them to the top of a mountain before     1     (experience)the addictive thrill of skiing down the mountain.     2    , in some snow-covered villages in Altay prefecture (辖区) of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, it’s common in winter to see local herdsmen, with boards     3     (attach) to their feet, climb the snowy slopes without any other forms of assistance.

The pair of boards are wrapped with horsehide(马革),     4     serves a double purpose. Remarkably, the horsehide not only can provide friction (摩擦) to prevent skiers from slipping while going up, but also helps them slide more     5     (smooth)down the slopes.

According to rock carvings uncovered in the area by archaeologists, such     6     (ski) have served for around 12,000 years     7     a means of transportation for the snowfield inhabitants of Altay. The fur skiing boards gradually lost     8     (they) popularity in recent decades after paved roads linked houses to the outside world.

However, Altay plans to protect and promote its skiing culture. The local government department     9     (want) to pass its skiing tradition to future generations. The prefecture is working     10     (develop)the area as a popular destination for skiers and snowboarders. As a result, the ancient fur skiing boards and the craft of making them have found a new lease of life in modern times.

8 . Peru is the third largest country in South America, after Brazil and Argentina. It is made up of a variety of landscapes, from mountains and beaches to deserts and rain forests. Most people live along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, where the capital, Lima, is located.

Along Peru’s west coast is a narrow strip (狭长地带) of desert, which is about 1, 555 miles long. Ancient people, called the Chimú and the Nasca, first lived in this region thousands of years ago. The coastal desert makes up only about 10 percent of Peru, but it is home to more than half of all Peruvians.

The world’s largest rain forest, the Amazon, covers nearly half of Peru. Called the selva in Spanish, this huge jungle (丛林), which also covers half of Brazil, is home to plants and animals that do not live anywhere else on Earth, Some scientists think there may even be Indian tribes (部落) there that have never seen the outside world.

The second highest mountain range in the world runs through Peru. These peaks, called the Andes, are so tall and forbidding that the ancient Inca people thought they were gods. They run from north to south and can be seen from Peru’s beaches 50 miles to the west. The highest peak of it, Mount Huascaran, is 22, 205 feet high.

To their credit the four countries     1     work together in some areas（eg, the currency and international relations）, but they will have very different institutions.

England is the largest of the four countries, and for,     2     it is divided roughly into three zones. . . You find most of the population     3     in the south, but most of the industrial cities in the Midlands and the North of England. Although, nationwide, these cities are not as large as     4     as China, they have world-famous football teams and some of them even have two!