1 . Twenty years ago, the Urban Land Institute defined the two types of cities that dominated the US landscape: smaller cities that operated around standard 9-5 business hours and large metropolitan areas that ran all 24 hours of the day.

In recent years, many mid-sized cities have begun to adopt a middle-of-the-road approach incorporating the excitement and opportunity of large cities with small cities’ quiet after midnight.     1     What is underlying this new movement in real estate, and why do these cities have so much appeal?

18-hour cities combine the best of 24-hour and 9-5 cities, which contributes to downtown revitalization. For decades, many downtown cores in small to mid-sized cities were abandoned after work hours by workers who lived in the suburbs.     2     This generated little commerce for downtown businesses in the evenings, which made business and generating tax revenue for municipal upkeep difficult. With the rise of a new concept in urban planning that aims to make life easier and more convenient, however, increasing popularity for urban areas that caused the real estate pushes, in major cities like San Francisco or New York, has inspired a type of forward-thinking urbanity in smaller cities.

Transforming downtown areas so that they incorporate modern housing and improved walkability to local restaurants, retail, and entertainment — especially when combined with improved infrastructure for cyclists and public transit — makes them appeal to a more affluent demographic.     3     Access to foot traffic and proximity to transit allow the type of entertainment-oriented businesses such as bars and restaurants to stay open later, which attracts both younger, creative workers and baby boomers, nearing retirement alike.

These 18-hour cities are rapidly on the rise and offer great opportunities for homeowner investment. In many of these cities such as Denver, a diverse and vigorous economy attracted to the urban core has offered stable employment for residents.     4    

A Changing City

For centuries, Beijing has been the promised land of China. Originally a walled bastion for emperors and officials, it remains a majestic political and architectural marvel. Today, people from the countryside still flock to the city in search of the elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The lure of the capital proves too enticing. Meanwhile, down the road by the Friendship Store, smartly     1    (dress) customers clutching mobile phones head for the nearest banquet or disco.

Perhaps nowhere else in China more than in Beijing is the generation gap    2    (visible). Appalled by the current drive to 'modernize', many older people still wax euphoric(兴高采烈地谈论) about the years of sacrifice for the socialist revolution. But many youngsters are more interested --like youngsters everywhere-- in money, motorbikes, fashion, video games and rock music(though not necessarily in that order)

Foreigners seem to enjoy Beijing since the city offers so much to see and do. Things    3    (change) drastically in the last ten years or so. The Beijing of today is a forest of construction cranes, bulldozers and 24-hour work crews    4    (scramble) to build the new China. Plush shopping malls and five-star hotels rise     5    the rubble.    6     number of the road signs and advertising billboards are now in English.    7    one says about Beijing today, it probably won’t be true tomorrow. The city is changing so rapidly that it makes you dizzy.

Whatever impression you come away with, Beijing is one of the most fascinating places in China. It     8     be something of a showcase ,but what capital city isn’t? Within its environs you will find some of China's most stunning sights -the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Great Wall, to name just a few .The city     9     offers so much of interest that the main complaint of most visitors is     10    they simply run out of time before seeing it all.

Norway is Teaching Travelers to Travel

After 15 people died during Easter in 1967, the Norwegian Trekking Association and the Red Cross announced their campaign ‘Welcome to the mountains, but be responsible’. Fjellvettreglene, the ‘mountain code’     1     encourages people to have a healthy and respectful relationship with nature, has since become a crucial part of Norwegian culture. It includes points such as bringing necessary equipment   to assist yourself and others,     2    (seek)shelter if necessary and feeling no shame in turning around.

Nationally, Norway     3     (experience) an 11% increase in tourism in the past decade. Trolltunga, a piece of rock,     4     (see) 1,800 visitors in one 2017 day alone. Why? Because people want the same picture they see on Instagram and Facebook. A lot don’t care     5     the experience of the hike. They just want proof that they did it.     6     this tourism boom is good for the economy, it has become a threat to   Norway’s natural environment.

    7    (use) toilet paper, abandoned bottles and plastic bags can be found littered all around Trolltunga. And with the high amount of people who come unprepared for such an active hike, Norway’s leading hiking group, Friluftsliv, also has called for regulations on the number of tourists hiking to Trolltunga. Lasse Heimdal, leader of the outdoor organization said, “On a busy day, you may have to wait in line for an hour and a half just     8    (get) a picture. To control this, we’d like to regulate     9     people can hike in a day. Starting hike times should also have regulations so people don’t start too late and find     10     trapped here.”

Few countries have such a diverse and appealing“ Outdoors” as the USA. The landscape is     1     varied and spectacular. In the west there are Rocky Mountains with their     2     peaks, and in the east the forest-covered Appalachians, whose highest

summit is nearly 7000 feet. There is also an abundance of waterfalls, rivers, lakes that are small and intimate or     3     like the Great Lakes. In winter and spring, tourists are     4     by the clear skies and breathtaking multi-colored rocks of Arizona,Colorado and New Mexico.

Everything worth seeing in the USA is     5     to picnickers and vacationers by highways and unpaved secondary roads, which     6     people to places from where where they can push off onto the wilderness. Once in the wilderness,the chief worry will be, not how to avoid other hikers, but how not to get lost!

Many Americans, young and old, prefer camping in vehicles called"campers”. There exist many different kinds from the extremely extravagant to the cheap convertible pick-up truck. There are monster campers with every imaginable     7    , from deep freezers and microwave ovens, to plush carpets and color television sets.They can     8     four people comfortably.

Horseback riding also holds a     9     for many but it's a more expensive sport.There are ranches in Texas and other border states where you can stay and live the life of a cowboy or cowgirl. Other great outdoor pastimes for     10     can be skiing in the Rockies and hunting in Alaska, surfing, waterskiing in Florida.

Imagine     1    (live) in a huge house, a house so big that you don't know how many rooms it has! Lady Carnarvon, owner of Highclere Castle, is not sure about the number of rooms, but she does know that Highclere is one of the biggest houses in England. From the outside, the castle looks like the Houses of Parliament in London. In fact, the same person, Sir Charles Barry,     2    (build) both places. When Barry finished building Highclere in 1842, the castle had more than 50 rooms, including one room with a 15-meter-high ceiling! But this room was only used     3    special occasions.

Nowadays, Highclere is one of the most well-known homes in Britain, but it's not because of its interesting past. It is because Highclere is the star of a British TV show called Downton Abbey. The show is all about the life of     4     upper-class family in the 1910s, and most of the story takes place inside Highclere. The castle is such a marvelous place     5    is in the show. Fans love coming to Highclere and many hope to see their favourite actors too!

8 . How to Volunteer Abroad and Actually Help People

Fear of “voluntourism” shouldn’t stop you from doing something great. We’ve all heard it. Those “voluntourists” going to Africa think they’re helping, but they’re actually going for a holiday, wasting money, and strengthening dangerous stereotypes (刻板印象). I am, though, against the idea that we shouldn’t volunteer abroad at all. How would the world be a better place without people devoting their time and resources to help others who need it?

I chose my organization well. As a student, there are so many options for volunteering abroad. I travelled with Cambridge Development Initiative, a student-run project that works on sustainable development projects in Tanzania. There were four branches and I was on the business team. We were trained on the dangers of voluntourism and on best volunteer practices. We learned about the culture and even learned some basic Swahili, the local language, before travelling. When we were in Tanzania, we stayed in the same accommodation alongside our Tanzanian team members, ate the same food, and spent our free time in the same places.

When I told my friend I was travelling to Tanzania to volunteer for the summer, he said, “Oh, you’re going to have one of those summers where you go away for a couple of months and it totally changes your profile (头像) picture.”

I didn’t change my profile picture, but I did help 23 young people start their own companies. They brainstormed ideas, surveyed target communities, improved their designs, came up with business plans, and collected seed capital for their startups. They came up with creative ideas, such as a “mini-grid” (微型电网) providing electricity to an off-grid village and a plastic-waste recycling company.

Before I went to Tanzania, I was “this close” to taking an internship in a company instead because I worried I would be contributing to the negative practice of voluntourism. Here’s how I made sure that didn’t happen, and why I think the benefits of volunteering abroad far outweigh the benefits of taking some questionable moral high reasons back home.

9 . Six Best Places for ________ in Paris

10 . Traveling with small children has a lot of challenges. From the near constant complaining about being uncomfortable and thirsty to the never-ending need to see every bathroom along the way. it is a wonder that anyone survives. But. everyone does it because family holidays are fun. They are supposed to be fun right?

Too often what could be great memories are overshadowed by the stress of just keeping the kids from killing each other. I am not going to tell you that I can make a long car or plane trip pleasant or instruct you to happily sing songs in the front seat to spread your joy around. That is all crazy talk. What you can do is try a few things that might make the portion of your holiday you spend confined in a small space with your offspring bearable.

Load your Phone. Before you leave, go the app store and load up your iPhone with kid' games. There are a ton of tree games that will keep your kids busy for hours. Even if you have to spend $ 1.99, it's worth it. As a backup. toss a couple movies on there too. I am telling you, the thrill of even holding a parents' phone is a thrill for kid: having it loaded with activities is even better. By the way, bring headphones unless you like hearing the Sponge-Bob game lyrics for hours.

Make surprise bags for the children. Take little brown bags or whatever is handy and put in a little inexpensive toy or game, stickers, a little coloring book and crayons. Make one for each hour you will be in the car or plane and pass them out accordingly. Hopefully, it will keep them occupied for about twenty minutes of each hour.

The most important of all travel tips is to take it easy on yourself. The more upset you get, the worse your child will behave. They sense stress and it gets them stressed out too. Finally, and this is really important, w hen you arrive at your destination pour yourself a big glass of wine. You earned it.