2 . A skywell, or "tian jing", is a typical feature of a traditional home in China. ________ a northern Chinese courtyard, or “yuan zi”a skywell is smaller and less exposed to the outdoor environment. They are________ seen in homes dating to Ming and Qing dynasties, which were designed to________different generations of relatives.

Although a skywell's size and design vary from region to region, it is always rectangular and located in the Core of a house, either________by rooms on four sides or three sides plus a wall. Skywells were designed to cool buildings before air-conditioning existed. When wind blows above a skywell house, it can enter the indoor space through the opening. Because outdoor air is often cooler than indoor air, the ________breeze travels down the walls to the lower storeys and create air ________ by replacing warmer indoor air,   which rises and leaves through the opening.

The main purpose of a skywell is to allow in light, improve ventilation (通风) and ________ rainwater. In Huizhou, a skywell is small but tall, and the rooms around it can ________ sunlight on hot days, enabling the bottom of the skywell to stay cool. ________ hot air inside the house can rise and escape through the opening above the skywell, which“works just like a ________”

As a(n) ________ space between indoor life and the outdoor environment, a skywell acts as an effective heat buffer(缓冲)to shield residents from the hot air outside. But the largest part of skywell's cooling effect actually comes when there are bodies of water in the enclosure.

Evaporated water cools hot air, a process known as evaporative cooling which is ________ in Huizhou skywells. In the past, Huizhou families collected rainwater in their skywells because they believed this could safeguard and boost their wealth. Skywells therefore have channels around them to ________ rainwater coming from the roofs.

Though existing in China for hundreds of years, in recent times they have often been forgotten by people who prefer modern________. Over the past two decades, however, due to a ________ of traditional Chinese architecture, skywell buildings have been making a comeback.

3 . Every summer, as a child, I spent with my parents the annual family holiday, flying away from our home in the West Midlands to their birthplace in Ireland.

I enjoyed it, but once, I behaved differently and left home. Package tours and long-distance flights became my idea of a holiday. I then went and ran into an Englishman who also came of Irish stock, and we both felt the urge to renew our knowledge of Ireland.

It was important for us to discover something different from our childhood visits. So that’s how we came to drive along the winding St John’s Point Peninsula (半岛) in Donegal, part of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, to visit a unique part of the 20th-century history — the Donegal Corridor.

When anyone drives to the point where the land runs out, he sees giant white stones fixed firmly in green grass spelling out “EIRE” and “70”, while the Atlantic wind fiercely blows across the headland and the ice-white waves smash into the rocks below. The meaning behind the stones? They date back to the Second World War when St John’s Point was number 70 in a total of 83 Look Out Points (LOPs), observation stations set up and maintained by Ireland all around its coast.

There lies a bit of curious UK-Ireland history. Although Ireland was officially neutral during the war, the Battle of the Atlantic was being fought close to Irish shores, and these LOPs, staffed by local volunteers known as Coast watchers, passed on information on activities connected with the sea and weather fronts to London.

At St John’s Point, we were standing right under the Donegal Corridor, a long narrow area of airspace in which Ireland ensured safe passage during World War II to planes in the RAF (Royal Air Force) from bases in the UK-governed North of Ireland. The stone markings acted as reference points to aircrews.

Standing on this rough area of land surrounded by the wild and windy ocean brought home to us the conditions in which the Coast watchers and aircrews in the RAF cooperated in a shared history.

I revolted against my family tradition that summer, and I fulfilled my aim of discovering something new and absorbed all Donegal has to offer: empty golden beaches, mysterious ancient stone circles, folk music and crafts, and tasty food. I had fallen in love with Ireland all over again.

4 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

How Digital Modeling Plays a Key Role in Restoring the Notre Dame Cathedral (巴黎圣母院)

It’s been more than four years since a fire damaged Notre Dame, the Catholic cathedral in Paris that’s historically drawn millions of visitors every year.

Since then, people from around the world have united to support an effort,     1     by French President, that’s intended to have the building back open to the public by the end of next year. Teams working to restore the Gothic cathedral have     2     to rebuild much of the damaged sections using materials like oak wood (橡木) and stone that have stood the test of centuries.

But the builders, architects and engineers do have the     3     of some 21st century technologies, including modern building information modeling (BIM) software that enables them to work with a(n)     4     detailed 3D digital model of the cathedral and surrounding site, backed by powerful cloud computing technology.

“It allows you to really understand a lot of how a building fits together, how it’s constructed,” says Andrew Anagnost, CEO of design software     5     Autodesk. It has contributed technical consulting, software and financial assistance to the project since shortly after the fire. A digital model, which took more than a year to create, includes more than 12,000 objects.

It was a complex process. Onsite workers captured the point-by-point 3D     6     of the cathedral with laser (激光) and photo equipment. Then, others turned the data points from that process into detailed shapes and objects, down to individual building stones. That let experts see how the building shifted in the fire — important for     7     any stability issues — and plan out the process of reconstruction.

“It’s like Mission: Impossible when they plan,” says Nicolas Mangon, VP of architecture, engineering and construction industry strategy at Autodesk. “Every little piece is done     8    , and with the 3D model you can simulate (模拟) everything.”

Even when the cathedral is     9    , the model may still serve important roles. Mangon says the company is currently in discussions about using it to manage aspects of the complex going forward,     10     using sensors that could show the exact location of any future fires.

In today’s lecture we will center on the people who lived five thousand years ago in the Sahara Desert. Most of these desert people moved across the countryside throughout the year. But if the journey was long, extra food and tools were sometimes stored in caves. One of these caves is now an exciting historic site. Even though the cave is very large, it was certainly too dark and dusty for people to live in, but it was a great place to hide things. And huge amounts of food supplies and daily tools have been found there. The food includes dried fish and nuts. Some decorations were also found in the caves. There are necklaces, earrings, and so on. Most of them are made of bone. From the above talk, we can see that there are really a lot of differences between ancient people’s lives and our lives today.

Welcomes all school groups to explore technology and the natural environment on a field trip designed to meet the learning needs of the students.

You can visit the museum from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Groups must have at least one teacher for every ten students. Students must be supervised at all times, and teachers are responsible for their behavior inside the museum. Unsafe behavior is not permitted and will result in the entire group being asked to leave.

No backpacks, headphones, candy, gum, or lunches are allowed inside the museum. Lunches may be eaten outside in the park. We regret that the museum is unable to provide a place to have lunch indoors. In the event of bad weather, please plan to eat in your vehicle.

My Life on an Island

We live on the island of Hale. It’s about four kilometers long and two kilometers wide at its broadest point, and it’s joined to the mainland by a causeway     1     (call) Stand—a narrow road built across the mouth of the river     2     separates us from the rest of the country. Most of the time you wouldn’t know we’re on an island because the river mouth between us and the mainland is just a vast stretch of tall grasses and brown mud. But when there’s a high tide and the water rises a half meter or so above the road and nothing can pass     3     the tide goes out again a few hours later, then you know it’s an island.

We were on our way back     4     the mainland. My old brother, Dominic, had just finished his first year at university in a town 150 km away. Dominic’s train was due in at five and he’d asked for a lift back from the station. Now, Dad normally hates being disturbed when he     5     (write) (which is just about all the time), and he also hates having to go anywhere, but despite the typical sighs and moans –why can’t he get a taxi? What’s wrong with the bus? — I could tell by the flash in the eyes that he was really looking forward to     6     (see) Dominic.

So, anyway, Dad and I had driven to the mainland and picked up Dominic from the station. He had been talking non-stop from the moment he’d got in the car. University this, university that, writers, books, parties, people, money…I didn’t like the way he spoke and waved his hands around     7     he was some kind of scholar or something. It was embarrassing. It made me feel uncomfortable—that kind of discomfort you feel when someone you like, someone close to you, suddenly starts acting like a complete idiot. And I didn’t like the way he was ignoring me, either. For all the attention I was getting I     8     as well not have been there. I felt a stranger in my own car.

We were about halfway across when I saw a boy. My first thought was how odd it was     9     (see) someone walking on the Stand. You don’t often see people walking around here. As we drew     10     (close), he became clearer. He was actually a young man rather than a boy. It’s hard to explain…

Skywell

A skywell, or “tian jin”, as it is commonly called, is a typical feature of a traditional home in southern and eastern China. Skywells were designed to reduce temperature in buildings well before air-conditioning existed. When wind blows above a skywell house, it can enter the indoor space through the opening. Because outdoor air is often cooler than indoor air, the incoming wind travels down the walls to the lower stories and creates    1    by replacing warmer indoor air, which rises and leaves through the opening.

The main purpose of a skywell is to allow in light, improve ventilation (通风) and harvest rainwater. In Huizhou, a skywell is small but tall, and the rooms around it    2    out sunlight on hot days, enabling the bottom of the skywell to stay cool. Meanwhile, hot air inside the house can rise and escape through the opening above the skywell.

Architects are now looking towards the    3    behind skywells while designing new buildings to save energy. One example is the National Heavy Vehicle Engineering Technology Research Centre in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan. The 18-storey glass-walled tower block has a giant inner skywell in the middle, which    4    from the fifth to the top floor. The elevators, toilets and meeting rooms are all situated around this channel, which helps improve the lighting and ventilation and    5    the overall energy consumption.

Ancient “green wisdom” such as skywells continue to inspire today’s climate adaptive design and innovations in methods that depend on design and technology to    6    a building without the use of power.

However, there are some    7    for bringing skywells into modern designs. The mechanisms of courtyards facilitating natural lighting, ventilation and rain collection are well known, but applying these methods needs to be    8    . Because traditional skywells had different shapes, sizes and features, which were    9    dependent on their natural surroundings, adding skywells into modern buildings requires designers to be    10    to their project’s context and situation, making it difficult to apply them as a universal solution.