The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It     1     (build) originally to protect the city     2     the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible       3     (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.

We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.

After     4     (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what     5     (good) than to ride on a piece of history!

We     6     (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky     7     did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all     8     way around the Xi’an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and     9     (watchtower) to take pictures or just to watch the local people going about their     10     (day) routines.

Hello, everyone! I’ll show you around the Louvre today through our live broadcast. First of all, let’s take a look at the sculpture at the top of the     1     (stair). It is the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Take a closer look, and you will see how incredible it is! Though it is made of stone, you can see that her dress     2     (fold) by the wind. Now, here is the room in     3     the famous painting Mona Lisa is kept. One moment she seems to be laughing at you, but then again you will catch a sense of     4     (sad) in her smile. It is a really secret smile! Here we are in front of the self-portrait of Rembrandt. This famous painter     5     (make) more than 90 self-portraits throughout his life. No one knows why. Perhaps it was simply     6     (cheap) to paint himself than to pay for     7     model. With about 35,000 works     8     (keep) in its over 300 rooms, the Louvre is so grand that it would take you a lifetime     9     (see) everything in this museum. I do hope that you can pay a visit to this museum and enjoy these amazing artworks for     10     (you).

The highest point on Earth has a     1    (new) announced height. Mount Everest is 29,031. 69 feet above sea level, according to survey results presented today. That is more than two feet higher     2    the altitude previously recognized by the government of Nepal.

The height,     3     was announced on December 8 in a joint     4    (state) by the Survey Department of Nepal and Chinese authorities, is the result of a multiyear project to measure the mountain. As the first serious survey of Everest in 16 years, the effort has been closely followed by the geographic community—particularly scientists analyzing how a devastating 7. 8 magnitude earthquake in 2015     5    (affect) the region.

Last spring a small group of Nepalese surveyors and guides experienced the     6    （bite) wind of a nighttime climbing, reaching the top at 3 a. m. local time.

“We long     7    (deliver) the message that we can do something with our own resources and     8    (technique) manpower,” Khimlal Gautam, chief survey officer for the project, told National Geographic last year.

In 1856, mathematician Radhanath Sickdhar found that Everest was the     9     (high) mountain in the world while he was working for the Great Trigonometrical Survey, a project devoted to surveying and mapping the Indian subcontinent. Since then, a handful     10     surveys have sought to pin down the mountain's true height with the best technology available at the time.