3 . Not all bodies of water are as evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S-shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic has, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic is rich in oceanic liveliness. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality(生命力) has been much written about by ancient poets.

“Storm at Sea”, a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankind’s earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic.

When the wind is from the west

All the waves that cannot rest

To the east must thunder on

Where the bright tree of the sun

Is rooted in the ocean’s breast.

As the poem suggests, the Atlantic is never dead and dull. It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noise—it is forever thundering, boiling, crashing, and whistling.

It is easy to imagine the Atlantic trying to draw breath—perhaps not so noticeably out in mid-ocean, but where it meets land, its waters are bathing up and down a sandy beach. It copies nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with symbiotic existences, too: unimaginable quantities of creatures, little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub-ocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.

4 . Urbanization

Until relatively recently, the vast majority of human beings lived and died without ever seeing a city. The first city was probably founded no more than 5,500 years ago.    1    In fact, nearly everyone lived on farms or in tiny rural（乡村的）villages. It was not until the 20th century that Great Britain became the first urban society in history—a society in which the majority of people live in cities and do not farm for a living.

Britain was only the beginning.    2    The process of urbanization—the migration（迁徙）of people from the countryside to the city—was the result of modernization, which has rapidly transformed how people live and where they live.

In 1900, fewer than 40% of Americans lived in urban areas. Today, over 82% of Americans live in cities. Only about 2% live on farms.    3    

Large cities were impossible until agriculture became industrialized. Even in advanced agricultural societies, it took about ninety-five people on farms to feed five people in cities.    4    Until modern times, those living in cities were mainly the ruling elite（精英）and the servants, laborers and professionals who served them. Cities survived by taxing farmers and were limited in size by the amount of surplus food that the rural population produced and by the ability to move this surplus from farm to city.

Over the past two centuries, the Industrial Revolution has broken this balance between the city and the country.    5    Today, instead of needing ninety-five farmers to feed five city people, one American farmer is able to feed more than a hundred non-farmers.

Yueyang Tower is     1     ancient Chinese tower on the shore of Lake Dongting. It is one of the Three Great Towers of Jiangnan. Yueyang Tower became famous for Memorial to Yueyang Tower (《岳阳楼记》)     2     (write) by Fan Zhongyan, who was an excellent minister of the northern Song Dynasty (960-1127)in China.

    3     (lie) on the city wall of the west gate of the ancient city in Yueyang City, Hunan province, China, Yueyang Tower faces Junshan Island and overlooks Dongting Lake, being extremely beautiful and     4     (impress). Since ancient times, it     5     (enjoy) the good reputation that Dongting Lake is the     6     (good)among lakes, and Yueyang Tower is incomparable among towers. Yueyang Tower’s roof covered with yellow glazed tiles (黄色琉璃瓦)looks like a general’s helmet in ancient China. It is the only ancient     7     (build) with a helmet roof structure (构造) in China.

Before the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Yueyang Tower was mainly used     8     the military purpose. After the Tang Dynasty, it     9     (gradual) became a famous scenic spot in     10     men of letters chanted poetry and wrote fu.

Ji’an lies next to the Luoxiao Mountains with the Gan River     1     (run) through the middle of the city. It’s a place     2     pleasant climate and abundant rainfall. Mountainous and     3     (hill) regions (区域) occupy more than seventy percent of its land.

As an ancient cultural city, Ji’an, went through wind and storm for thousands of years, with so many     4     (hero) making a commitment to this land. The great     5     (write) Ouyang Xiu and the national hero Wen Tianxiang were     6     representatives of the 2855 successful candidates and 18 No. 1 Scholars in the highest imperial examinations (科举考试),     7     are the pride of the local people.

There is picturesque scenery of the endless cloud-kissing mountains, the clear water and attractive view sights; everyone is     8     (amaze) at the strange flowers, the bright bird singing, as well as the unusual animals. The Mount Wugong, and the Mount Jinggang     9     (be) both famous tourist attractions, As the Beijing-Kowloon high-speed railway goes through here, Ji’an will be refreshed not only in the image of an old revolutionary base area,     10     also the deep-rooted traditional conception.

7 . Mars on Earth

Devon Island has always been a cold and uninhabited(无人居住的) place in the Canadian Arctic. Day after day there are high winds and the temperature is below freezing. But for the first time, despite the terrible weather conditions, Devon Island is the new home for a group of explorers from NASA. They are living here for a few months in order to train and learn how to live and work on Mars. The group’s members come from various backgrounds and nationalities, but they all have the same purpose: to find out how people can live on Mars in the future.

They have chosen Devon Island because the environment and landscape is similar in many ways to Mars. The surface is freezing cold and the ground is rough. However, there are some differences on Mars, where the atmosphere is poisonous to breathe. Devon Island is easier to travel to and it has its own dangers that you won’t find on Mars. For example, you might meet a hungry polar bear on Devon Island!

One thing the team wants to develop is suitable clothing for Mars. This includes a space suit. The suit they are testing at the moment is strong enough but it’s too difficult to put on and take off. It’s very big and bulky, which means that just walking around is very difficult and tiring. In addition, people will need to do experiments on Mars while wearing the suit so they have to be able to move around easily. One team member, Andy Overbeeke, specializes in space suit engineering. He explains, “You have to think about what they’re really going to operate in.”

Another part of daily life on Mars will be meals and food. Creating a new home on Mars requires a lot of food. So the big question is: can you grow plants in order to survive? Scientists believe that growing plants on Mars might be possible. Mars and Earth have many similarities. They both have about the same amount of dry land and a 24-hour day. However, the atmosphere on Mars is totally different, so Canadian scientist Alain Berinstain is attempting to grow plants in a special greenhouse that you could also build on Mars. The greenhouse needs to run 365 days a year, so it uses a combination of solar energy and wind power.

People living on Mars will also want their own transportation. For this, the team on Devon Island have built the “Martian Rover”. It’s a huge heavy vehicle that can travel over rocks and rough terrain. This kind of testing takes many days but so far the work has been valuable and effective. As a result, the whole team now believes their work is crucial and that it’s possible for humans to land on the planet Mars and create a home there. Addy Overbeeke adds: “We know that it’s man’s destiny to go out and do space exploration. It’s always time to think about what you want to do in the future.”

8 . Lost cities that have been found

In 2015, a team of explorers to Honduras in search of “the Lost City of the Monke God” led to the discovery of the White City. It is believed that local people hid here when the Spanish conquerors (征服者) occupied their homeland in the16th century.

The Egyptian cities Canopus and Heracleion, where Queen Cleopatra often visited, weren’t found until 1992. Artifacts (史前器物) showed that the cities once highly developed as a trade network, which helped researchers piece together more about the last queen of Egypt.

A Yale professor discovered “the Lost City in the Clouds” in 1911. Machu Picchu displays the Inca Empire at the height of its rule. Abandoned in the 16th century for unknown reasons, the city was hidden by the local people from the Spanish conquerors for centuries keeping it so well preserved.

The ancient city of Troy in Homer’s The Iliad was considered a fictional setting for his characters to run wild. But in 1871, explorations in northwestern Turkey exposed nine ancient cities layered (层叠) on top of each other, the earliest dating back to about 5,000 years before. It was later determined that the sixth or seventh layer contained the lost city of Troy and that it was actually destroyed by an earthquake, not a wooden horse.

9 . Caves (洞穴) have a primary appeal — they hold the secrets to our past and are mysterious in and of themselves.

Kentucky, USA

The longest cave system in the world lies beneath the Green River Valley in Kentucky and while over 400 miles of passageways have been mapped, it has yet to be fully discovered. The complex limestone labyrinth (石灰岩迷宫) was discovered by humans 4,000 years ago.

Capri, Italy

Once used as the personal swimming hole for the Roman Emperor Tiberius, this extremely bright sea cave is almost 200 feet long and 82 feet wide. Its unique glow comes from the light entering the small opening to the outside.

Beit Shemesh, Israel

Also known as the Soreq Cave Nature Reserve, Avshalom is considered to be the Rosetta Stone of climate history in the Eastern Mediterranean through the packed stalactites (钟乳石) found in the cave, some of which are over 13 feet long, and are as old as 300,000 years.

Naica, Mexico

This unique cave system in Mexico contains some of the largest natural crystals (水晶) ever found—the longest of which is 39 feet long and 13 feet thick. However, it is rarely explored due to logistical difficulties: it is extremely hot due to its location above a volcanic vent, and the huge crystals block also block the passage.

No discussion about Chinese culture is complete without mentioning the Great Wall,     1     is unequalled in the world in its scale(规模) and span of construction, as well as for the great quantities of labor     2     the degree of difficulty involved. Why did this ancient country build the Great Wall over a time span of more than 2,000 years?

The earliest parts of the Great Wall     3    (build) during constant wars. Suffering from the disastrous damage of wars, people realized that building a wall     4    (protect) lives was better than burying the dead. Building walls was     5    (extreme) hard labor, sometimes even     6     the cost of life itself.     7    (compare) with bloody wars, however, the former was preferred by people. The Great Wall served the purposes of military(军事的) defense in the age of cold steel, especially in preventing northern peoples on horseback     8    (attack) people in the south who were mostly farmers. It provided     9     with a sense of security as well as actual protection.

Thus the Great Wall represented people’s longing for a     10    (peace) life.