1 . In 2019, I went on a winter break trip with my family. One of our _________ was London. The first thing that I _________ when I landed in London was the weather. It was too _________ for my liking as it required me to wear a thick jacket.

After some _________ using a map of London, we decided to go to Buckingham Palace first.

Buckingham Palace was one of the _________ of a “hop-on, hop-off (随上随下)” bus that we took. The palace itself didn’t look very big or impressive from the entrance _________ it got much more impressive when you entered the gates.

While continuing on the “hop-on, hop-off” bus, we _________ the London Bridge, which I didn’t notice until the driver pointed it out to me. While it felt kind of special to be driving on such an iconic (符号的) bridge, the _________ was not as cool as one would imagine it to be.

Besides its history, this bridge was just another bridge that _________ two masses of land, something that pretty much all __________ do.

When we __________ Big Ben, we decided to hop off the bus and take some __________. Big Ben was a pretty __________ experience for me. In many pictures of London, Big Ben is a very visible (看得见的) building in the skyline, and it was very nice for me to see the clock tower __________. I am a big fan of skyscrapers (摩天大楼) and skyscraper-like buildings so this clock tower certainly caught my __________.

2 . Do you know that the Czech Republic is among the countries that possess the most castles in the world? Among those 2, 000 castles is Hluboka Castle. ________ it is not ranked in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, its unbelievable ________ attracts both domestic and foreign tourists. After living in Prague for more than six years, I was finally able to organize a trip to this ________ castle this summer.

It was a lovely summer day when my two university friends and I decided to travel to Hluboka Castle. The castle is ________ in a town of the________ name, Hluboka, which lies in the southern part of Prague. At 7: 30, we________ the bus station in the main train station of Prague, and after two and half hours, we arrived at our ________.

We walked about 10 minutes from the bus station to the city center. There we had to climb a smooth slope to reach the castle, during which I could already hear the horses’ hooves（蹄脚） and carriage wheels rolling across the ________.

We first saw an extensive English garden with a lawn and colorful flowers. It was first built in Gothic style by King Premysl Otakar II in the 13th century. Later ________ by the famous German-Czech noble house Schwarzenberg, the castle was rebuilt several times. The ________ style was changed first to baroque and later to the same romantic style as England's Windsor Castle.

There are several routes for________, but we only________ the route for representative rooms, which contained the bedroom, dining room, kids' theatre and library. It is ________ for Czech castles to have a guide to________ the history of the castle, which I ________ very much. The castle is________ in many ways. It is mostly decorated by huge tapestries（挂毯画）and jalousie windows. There are also armories （军械库）________ hunting weapons, armor and horse saddles.

I have seen many castles in many countries, but Hluboka Castle still surprised me. After discussing with my friends, I realized that unlike other countries, Czech castles are usually not possessed by kings but ________ families-such as Schwarzenberg, who during their peak period owned ________ castles on Czech land. I am amazed by the interesting history and amazing________ that Hluboka provided.

3 . I picked up my phone to take a picture of the beautiful scenery we were passing through while the tour guide spoke. I swiped my phone lock screen to get to my ________ and got a message that was one of my worst nightmares during a vacation: Cannot take a picture. There is not enough ________ storage in Settings. So I quickly went to my camera roll to see what pictures I could remove. No ________ . I needed to keep all 1, 560 of the photos I already had. Then I tried to ________ some apps,but I needed all of them.

In the minutes that I spent working through my storage issue, I ________ many beautiful views. I probably never get to see them again. And wasn’t I on this ________ to see them?

Suddenly I ________ that though I got to see some things when I gave myself a chance to ________ every once in a while between taking pictures, I was ________ myself of the experiencing time. While at first I was ________   at myself and heartbroken that I wouldn’t have pictures of my own, it was actually a ________ in disguise(伪装). Then I took mental pictures and________the trip.

Recently as I ________ my travel experiences with my friends I no longer use countless pictures that they would see on the Internet to tell my story. ________ , I use my unique experiences to create an ________ in their minds that no picture could ever ________ because this experience is ________ : The mental pictures I took, the beautiful and sometimes horrible smells, the ________ of different cuisines and the first time I ________ touched a snowflake. These were all things that I touched and felt ________ a screen getting in the way.

4 . If you've never been to Moscow, you should go and see this fantastic city. There, you can ____ Russian culture first-hand, especially if you are a(n) ____ lover.

One of the many exciting parts ____ the famous Red Square that has a magical effect on all visitors to Moscow. From Red Square, you can see the most important ____ in the capital: the Kremlin, the State Historical Museum and of course, the Saint Basil's Cathedral with domes (穹顶) that look like a beautiful stone flower ____ by the architects of the 16th century.

Not many people realize that Red Square's ____ has nothing to do with Communism (共产主义) or Soviet Russia. The Old Russian word for “beautiful” and “red” was the ____; Red Square means “Beautiful Square.” All major streets in Moscow radiate (向周围伸展) from here, and Red Square is the ____ square of Moscow ____ the symbolic center of all Russia. Its history ____ the 1490s when a new red-brick Kremlin was built. Businessmen from all over the world came to ____ here and the square became a big market. On days of great festivals, there were many celebrations here, turning the ____ into an open-air gathering (聚集) place.

Moscow's tourists travel to the Red Square to ____ its beautiful architecture and history. Besides the square, there are so many places of ____ in this beautiful city. If you are visiting Europe, don't forget to see Red Square with your own ____.

5 . Considered a symbol( 象征) of ancient Chinese_________, the Great Wall of China was enlisted in the World Heritage by the UNESCO in 1987 as one of the _________of the world. Just like a huge_________, the Great Wall winds( 蜿蜒) its way up and down from east to west, across deserts, over mountains, _________ valleys till at last it reaches the sea, with a _________of more than 6000 kilometers.

No one can tell for sure when the building of the Great Wall was _________, but it is popularly believed that the Great Wall was first built over 2500 years   ago during   the West   Zhou Dynasty to _________ the nation against the northern tribes( 部落). Emperor Qin Shihuang united the different small countries into one _________. To keep the enemies out, he had all the walls _________ up; thus, the great wall came into being. It had been playing an important _________ in wars in ancient Chinese history. It was very _________ work to build such a wall in the ancient days without any modern machines, as all the work was done by _________. Thousands of men died and were _________under the wall they built. Some parts of the Great Wall are now in _________ or even entirely disappeared.

Today the Great Wall has become a _________ for every visitor to China. Many of them have come to know the famous Chinese saying:“He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man.”

6 . Do you like history? Ancient history can seem so far ________ daily life, ________ when you just learn it from a textbook. Lists of dates and people and pictures of places ________ little interest ________ you’re studying for an exam. But going to locations and seeing famous structures for yourself make history come ________. Pictures may be worth a thousand ________ , but the real thing is worth much more! You will be in awe (惊叹) when you visit Xi’an, one of China’s oldest cities. Rulers of several dynasties including Zhou, Han, Sui and Tang made Xi’an their ________. An ________ wall surrounds the city center, originally built during the Tang Dynasty but ________ in the Ming Dynasty. The wall has 18 gates, and several allow ________ to the city. The South Gate is the most spectacular (壮观的) and has recently been beautifully ________. Two museums near the south gate ________ treasures from the city’s past.

One of the main reasons why people visit Xi’an ________ 35 kilometers from the city. They go to see the burial site of Emperor Qin Shihuang. He wanted an army to ________him in the afterlife, so he had craftsmen create 8,000 terracotta soldieries and horses. These were buried in pits(深坑) ________ Qin’s own tomb. About 2,000 ________ the 6,000 warriors and horses buried there have been unearthed. Visitors walk on a walkway ________the pit to view row upon row of soldiers. It’s an amazing ________.

There is much more ________ to discover in Xi’an. And it’s much more exciting than reading about it in a ________!