1 . Standing on the top of Mount Tai, I watched the sun rising through the cloud and taking its place in the sky. I haven’t seen many _________, but I can feel that seeing one from the top of Mount Tai must be one of the best ways to _________ the beauty of nature.

When I left for China, the _________ of climbing Mount Tai had not even _________ me. I was going to China to _________ its language, history and culture and gain a better understanding of international agricultural trade between my country and China.

Now I have stayed in China for a few weeks. In Beijing, my group have _________ friendship with many Chinese students. Through our broken Chinese and their _________ English, we are still able to teach each other about our cultures. We _________ that we are all just students working towards the same _________ of having careers, families and lives and trying to make the world better. Cultural differences seem __________—even the language almost completely differs from our own. But their daily lives are similar to our own routines(常规). __________, people worry about the same things we do here. They are __________ food safety, pay close attention to the government and feel the effects of the economic markets.

This __________ makes me realize how many cultures my country has in common with other countries around the world. More importantly it makes me have a __________ for travel, and I am looking forward to having more __________ to engage in cross-cultural communication and learning.

3 . The most unforgettable thing during my long summer holiday last year, of course was my trip _______ England. This was my first time to go abroad, so it really made me _______.

There were quite a lot of interesting places in England, _______ Oxford. When we walked around Oxford, we saw quite a lot of ancient buildings on _______ sides of the streets. One of the most famous tourist _______ in Oxford is Christ Church, it’s _______ one of the Oxford University’s 39 colleges. There is a huge hall in Christ Church, _______ was used as the dining hall at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter _______. I felt really excited when I heard this.

_______ place that impressed me ____________ during my trip was a place called Stratford upon Avon. It was a small town. Maybe you haven’t ____________ it, but I’m sure you have heard about William Shakespeare — it’s the great man’s ____________. In Stratford upon Avon, I could ____________ Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Shakespeare Countryside Museum, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and a lot of places that are connected with ______________.

I went to Shakespeare’s Birthplace. It was the house ______________ Shakespeare was born and spent his early years. Its sitting room, hallway (走廊), bedrooms, and kitchen were furnished (布置) in 16th century style. I also went to see the Shakespeare Exhibition. It illustrated (以图解说明) Shakespeare’s life and career in both Stratford and London.

I really enjoyed this nice trip to England, from which I learned a lot. I’m very happy that I could visit such an interesting country. I want to go there again in the future.

4 . You should see the photo. I’m sitting in red dirt, ________ an ugly purple T-shirt. My face is pink and my hair is wet with sweat. Flies buzz around my head. I’m in the northwest of Australia, on a school trip with 20 parents and 20 kids.

It was a strange choice for a holiday. I like sitting by the pool with a cola, not flies and frogs. I like being ________ and quiet, not a busload of kids. I like ________ washed sheets, not dirty-looking blankets.

But here’s the thing about that photo: I am smiling!

The trip sounded good when I ________. We were told that guides would take us into the heart of the place and I would see a new part of Australia and learn about local ________. Besides I knew it would be a valuable chance for me to stay with my youngest daughter. I would also stay with 40 strangers. I just hope there would be good coffee.

In Darwin we got onto a bus. It quickly became tiresome. The kids were ________ and kept on talking but I hate making small talk.

But later when I looked out at the large empty land, I was surprised at and moved by its ________. Our local guide told us about the land and his culture. I felt far from home.

Finally we reached our ________. There the small room I shared with my daughter was a brick cell, full of crickets (蟋蟀), but too dark to see them.

It didn’t matter. The next nine days were ________. Waterfalls, lakes, community visits, and a trip around Katherine Gorge where we even saw giant crocodiles!

On our last night, a water pipe (管子) ________. We awoke to a mess, everything in water. Usually I would have ________, but it just seemed ________ to be dirty.

Indeed, it was ________ to stay clean. We were hiking in red dirt with temperatures of 35 degrees. Still, I felt a kind of energy I hadn’t ________ in years.

Yes, the coffee was bad, but I was too focused on keeping crickets off my face.

I love that photo of me in the dirt. I look messy but happy. Sometimes it’s another way of traveling. There is beautiful ________ and there is dirt. There was always someone to talk to, someone to laugh with.

5 . I used to travel to make myself relaxed. Two years ago, I was rather busy with my business and under a lot of _________, so I went to Las Vegas for a holiday. I just wanted to get away and relax for a while.

When I was on holiday, a(n) _________ suddenly came to me. I had long wished to pay a visit to the Greek island of Santorini. Therefore, the idea of a two-week European _________ alone was born.

I’d driven alone across the US before,but traveling to other countries whose languages aren't the same as mine _________ me. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to _________ with anyone.

But I soon _________ that if I wanted to follow my dreams, I had to step out of my comfort area. If I let _________ take control of me, I’d get nowhere.

As I was in search of more places visit on my trip, I found Mykonos, Greece, which I _________ just as much as I liked Santorini. When I arrived in _________, it was like I was in a dream.

What I appreciated best was the bus ride to Venice. As I rode the bus and enjoyed every new thing I saw, I was completely ____________ from the pressure of my work. How ____________ it was to see people riding their bikes to the ____________ they would like to go to!

Some people might say, “It’s not a big ____________; it’s just Venice. Thousands of people go there every day.” But it was more than that to me. It was about having a ____________ and when it was time for it to come true, don’t be afraid to let it ____________.

6 . When I was 25 years old, I had a big dream in my mind. I wanted to travel around Africa with my _______. So I left my hometown with great confidence and _______ in Cape Town, not really sure what to do next. _______, before my trip actually started, I _______ a kind, old Nigerian man. He gave me the best travel _______ I had ever received: “BE LIKE A STUDENT ON YOUR WAY AROUND THE WORLD.”

It sounded _______, but it really changed my idea about traveling. He helped me _______ that travel is about learning and observing _______. It's far too easy to go into a (n) _______ country and believe your ways are better.

“But if you study, ask questions, and try to __________ the locals, you'll have far richer __________,” he promised me.

When I was on my tour way to Cancún, I was __________ a tourist. I only stayed there for a week to see the __________ and places of interest and then left. The culture didn't __________ me. I left the cities and towns without really __________ anyone or anything that existed in those places to which I had __________ a visit.

This time, I made a promise to myself that I would be a __________ traveler. After seven months of __________ backpacking in Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, I realized that having a student-like mindset (思维模式) helped __________ my trip and helped me learn a lot, which __________ me more than any other trips ever did to me.

7 . I used to travel to make myself relaxed. Two years ago, I was rather busy with my business and under a lot of _______ , so I went to Las Vegas for a holiday. I just wanted to get away and _______ for a while.

When I was on holiday, a(n) _______ suddenly came to me. I had long wished to pay a visit to the Greek island of Santorini. Therefore, the idea of a two-week European _______ alone was born.

I’d driven _______ across the US before, but traveling to other _______ whose languages aren’t the same as mine _______ me. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to _______ with anyone.

But I soon _______ that if I wanted to follow my dreams, I had to ________ out of my comfort area. If I let ________ take control of me, I’d get nowhere.

As I ________ for more places to visit on my trip, I found Mykonos, Greece, which I ________ just as much as I liked Santorini. When I arrived in ________ , it was like I was in a dream.

What I appreciated best was the bus ride to Venice. As I rode the bus and enjoyed every new thing I saw, I was completely ________ from the pressure of my work. How ________ it was to see people riding their bikes to the ________ they would like to go to!

Some people might say, “It’s not a big ________ ；it’s just Venice. Thousands of people go there every day.” But it was more than that to me. It was about having a ________ and when it was time for it to come true, don’t be afraid to let it ________ .

8 . Many people enjoy taking trips by themselves. Unluckily, they do not always have the best_________. Instead, people should consider group tours. Taking a group tour is a wise choice for people to __________themselves.

First, group tours plan travelers’ routes, so people don’t have to_______where they are going next or how they are getting there. They can just_______and enjoy their trip._______, my family once took a group tour to China. The travel agency (旅行社)_______everything for us. We just looked at the schedule the travel agency had_______and followed it. Thanks to the travel agency, we had a _______trip. This made things _______on my father since he didn’t have to worry about where we would go next and ________at night.

Another________of group tours is that they allow people to communicate with one another while traveling. Travelers are able to develop________with people they would never have met________they are traveling together for a number of days. As I know, my parents ________Russia on a group tour for their honeymoon (蜜月). They________another couple on that trip, and everyone had a great time together. Even after many years, they still________together from time to time. If my parents had traveled by themselves, it would have been________for them to get to know this couple.

In short, there is ________better than a group tour when traveling. Group tours schedule everything on the trip, and they give us the________to meet others and make friends with them. Group tours are the ________way to travel when taking a trip.