My hometown Zhangye, which lies in the northwest of Gansu Province, is a city with rolling hills, valleys and basins. It's beautiful place for people to live in. Its economy has been growing rapid during the past ten year. New bridges and roads have been setting up and high buildings stood in many parts of the city. The number of schools and hospitals available to people are also on the increase. So there are still some problems, such as like frequent traffic jams and severe air pollution, which have a bad influence on people's daily life. Despite these problems, I am convinced that my hometown will become much beautiful. Time permitting, you are welcome to visit them.

England is the larger of the four countries, and for convenience it is divided rough into three zones. The zone nearest France is called the South of England, the middle zone is called the Midlands and the one nearest to Scotland is known for the North. You find most of the population settled in the south, and most of the industrial city in the Midlands and the North of England.

Although. nationwide, these cities are not as large as those in China,but they have world-famous football teams and some of which even have two! It is pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteen century do not attract visitors. For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns building by the Romans.

5 . If you think about World Heritage Sites, you probably think of places connected with ancient art and culture, historical buildings and monuments. And of course, many of these are on the World Heritage List (WHL) (世界遗产名录). But the WHL contains a lot of sites that are not so obvious. Let’s look at a few of them.

Robben Island in South Africa

This island was used through the centuries as a prison, a hospital and a military base. But it’s probably most famous as a maximum-security prison for political prisoners in the twentieth century. Nelson Mandela was one of its most famous residents. The WHL says it represents “the triumph of democracy (民主) and freedom over oppression and racism”.

Borders of France and Spain

This is an area of great natural beauty and the mountains have many interesting geological formations. But it is also an area of small farms. People there still use a type of agriculture (农业) that used to be common in mountainous areas of Europe but that has almost completely disappeared in modern times.

The city of Brasilia, Brazil

Brasilia is a capital city that was created from nothing in 1956. The WHL calls it “a landmark in the history of town planning”. The different areas of the city and the buildings themselves were all designed at the same time carefully. Every part of the city shows the ideas of the planner and architect.

Simien National Park, Ethiopia

Simien National Park was one of the first sites to be listed in 1978. It is one of the highest mountainous areas in Africa, and the WHL calls it “one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world”. It is also important for its wildlife. The population of some rare animals is getting smaller and smaller.

The Truth about Whisky

Whisky is probably     1     most famous product of Scotland. Whisky making provides work     2     several thousand people in the Scottish Highlands and islands, and whisky is Scotland's biggest goods     3     (sell) to every corner of the world.

The qualities of whisky come from the water which     4     (use) to make it the rich "peaty"(多泥炭的) water of Scotland. When whisky is first made, it is     5     (actual) clear, not brown in colour. The colour comes from the wooden     6     (container) in which the whisky is stored for several years to allow it     7     (mature) from a little added sugar.

For many years, whisky has been one of the most popular drinks all over the world, and Scotland     8     (produce) more and more of it so far. But whisky sales have not increased as fast, so there are now large reserves of whisky in Scotland, especially the better and     9     (much) expensive whisky. So a lot of the whisky sold today was made several years ago when people thought that whisky would get more and more popular. That is     10    , today, a lot of the whisky in the shops is marked with "Ten years old", or even "Fifteen years old".