1 . Venice is regarded as the most romantic city of the world. It’s a ____ that I always wanted to hold in my arms. Venice is most ____ in autumn with the sparkling (闪烁的) colors of glassy arts and crafts. More than that, a ____ can indulge in (尽情享受) the floating and happy feeling in Venice.

When we first walked out of Santa Lucia station, my friend and I smiled because we then ____ the reason why people can’t deny the ____ of Venice. In the light sunshine of autumn, Venice was so fantastic with the blue colors of the Grand Canal, the ____ of luggage (行李) being pulled by visitors chatting with each other, and of course the smell of ____ in neighboring restaurants that have been ____ guests for ages.

We ____ traveled around the Grand Canal by vaporetti (水上巴士). Passing bridges and some small squares, we arrived at Osteria Al Portego restaurant to enjoy a ____ of special dishes, including sarde in saor and baccalà alla vicentina. The dishes were ____ cooked following recipes dating right back to the 17th and 18th centuries! Since Italy is ____ for pizza, spaghetti, pasta and lasagna (千层面) worldwide, we tried to taste other dishes to truly ____ the local cuisine.

After lunch, we decided to explore Venice in our own way without a map. We ____ narrow streets, crossed big and small squares and viewed remarkable structures throughout the city. They all appeared so charming that ____ traveler would remark on the city’s beauty.

2 . When it comes to my fathering lessons, few adventures compare to the motorcycle trips I’ve shared with my daughter, Ewa.

Our first_______, in August 2017, was a winding (蜿蜒的) ride around the Catskills and Finger Lake districts of New York state. We _______ big highways and spent the week on_______ scenic back roads. At one point, I found myself _______along a Catskills meadow (草地) not far from Woodstock, keeping pace with a deer and shouting, “Go Bambi, go!”

On our second day, we _______ in a small town for ice cream. I asked the woman at the picnic table next to us: “What’s the_______ of this town?” “Interlaken,” she answered.“Where are you trying to get to?”

Me: “We don’t know. ”

It _______ to me then that I’d always wanted to do this no-schedule kind of trip, when you ride just for riding. Ask any middle-aged _______: We’ve all dreamed about doing the Easy Rider (逍遥骑士) thing, throwing our wristwatches into the ditch and heading toward the horizon without a_______. Now, travelling with no plan became a________ of my rides with Ewa.

Since we almost ________ knew where we were going, we were almost never ________ when we arrived, pulling ________ the road at the end of each day with satisfaction. The reason to celebrate? We________! The truth is that life on a motorbike is one close call (死里逃生) after another. On the way, riders must stay ________ 100 percent of the time. A tiny stone can be deadly. I used to be nervous, but Ewa had a different take: “To me, motorcycling is like meditation(冥想). ”

4 . I’m standing on Rio’s beach, one of the most famous _______ of sand. In this lively, multicultural country, the beach is not just a place;it’s a state of mind—a way of thinking and living.

Every Brazilian has his or her own ideas of the perfect beach, _______ to tell you where to find it. I’m happy to take their advice but my ultimate goal is to find my own dream beach. First, I go to Prainha’s beach _______ by a row of perfect palm trees, moving softly in the ocean breeze. Its beauty is magnificent-its perfect graceful lines are like something in a _______. But for me, it’s somewhat too perfect. I am searching for something a bit _______.

I continue my search heading north to a legendary beach: Jeri. As an international destination, it attracts visitors from Tokyo to Toronto. Luckily, Jeri hasn’t been _______ by tourists mostly because of its isolated(偏远的)location—at least five hours from any airport. I take a beach buggy(沙地车), driving for three hours. The boats lie on their sides while nets _______ to dry on lines between fishermen’s houses. Peaceful and beautiful! How can it possibly get any better? I _______.

My final stop is the islands of Fernando, _______ a few hundred kilometers out in the Atlantic. They once were used as a prison and later by the army. Today, they are a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, ________ with birds and sea life. The beach there is a perfect ________of sand, sea, and sky. The water is pale blue and warm, alive with colorful fish, ________, and other marine life; the sand is the color of ________. In the rocks and strong winds that ________ come in from the Atlantic, there is the wilderness I was seeking. Finally, I’ve found the beach of my dreams. I ________ my toes in the sand deeply and imagine I can hold on to this place forever.

6 . Brad hadn’t seen Grandma Joy for six years since their fierce argument. At his brother’s wedding, he ________ her again. He saw her walk unsteadily into the church and helped her get to the seat. But they didn’t say much.

Six months after the wedding, Brad hiked the Appalachian Trail. He found himself ________ a lot about his grandmother and the time they had spent at Blue Rock State Park, which is close to her house. There, they’d lift rocks in the river to find fish. It puzzled him why that ________ in particular stayed with him. He decided to call Grandma Joy.

It would be their first real ________ in years. She invited him over and he said “yes”. When the door opened, everything inside looked the same. But he was looking at a woman who had ________. They made small talk. Grandma Joy said that she had many ________ in her life. One of them was that except her time at Blue Rock State Park, she’d never had the chance to see what she called the great outdoors.

Brad left his grandmother’s house and went back to his routine. But he couldn’t help thinking of Grandma Joy and her sadness of not seeing more of ________. She just lived a simple life that stopped at the edge of the county line. He thought it would be a lifelong pity if he didn’t ________ her. Then he came up with an idea that even he knew was ________. He would take his 85-year-old grandma on a camping trip to a national park. He told her his crazy idea. The old lady ________ him by asking, “When do we leave?”

Having arrived there, Brad made a campfire. They sat next to each other, feeling the warmth and looking at stars. They ________ the lockbox of their past, talking about families and friends, about loss and pain. They told each other they’d wasted too many years being ________. So they decided to go on more trips together.

They have now visited 62 national parks. The open road provided time for the pair to ________ their secrets. Grandma Joy highly valued Brad’s company during the trips. She said she wouldn’t ________ him for anybody. Now, they’re not just traveling partners, not just grandmother and grandson, but ________.

8 . Liam Garner, an 18-year-old high school graduate from Long Beach, California, has completed a solo journey of over 14,000 miles. He _________ from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to Ushuaia, the southernmost point of South America.

Garner had been _________ by a book by adventurer Jedidiah Jenkins and had _________ ridden from Los Angeles to San Francisco. He _________ on a mountain bike with only a tent, sleeping bag, food and water, portable batteries, a medical kit and spare bike parts. Garner documented his _________ on TikTok, cycling through 14 _________, including Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina.

Although Garner’s parents were worried about his _________ at first, both became active supporters of his adventure _________. Worrying about his financial ability to complete the trip initially, Garner was able to _________ on a budget of $430 per month. He was accompanied for part of the journey by a friend but travelled alone for the rest.

Garner was robbed at least five times, and he had to spend a month in hospital after coming off his __________ in Colombia and landing on his head. Although experiencing some crushing lows, Garner __________ cycling to be the best way to travel, “It’s the most __________ way to travel,” he says. “You __________ so slow, and you have to physically work to get to places.”

Garner hopes to inspire others to start similar __________ and to show that cycling can be an inexpensive way to travel, __________ to people from all economic and ethnic backgrounds.

9 . The Negative Impacts of Volunteer Tourism

Volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, is an increasingly popular form of altruistic travel. Its appeal lies in being an experience that allows visitors to feel good by being a part of some kind of meaningful change. But despite good intentions from participants, volunteering abroad has been the target of heavy criticism over the past few years.

Voluntourists only have a limited amount of time, and the ability to change the systems and provide support for the places they visit. Being volunteers, they also simply don’t have the skills to do so. And they can sometimes inadvertently perpetuate unhelpful and even patronizing(自视高人一等的)ideas about the places they visit. A number of studies have shown that volunteer tourism can have negative impacts, ___________benefiting the local communities.

*Unskilled labor creates more work

Previously, volunteering opportunities were often___________to skilled professionals, but this is not the___________of volunteer tourism. Anyone can become a voluntourist, which brings a series of problems. Though___________, they are often unskilled, especially when it comes to work such as construction and digging. This can often lead to locals being forced to take on the added responsibility for rebuilding homes and schools that would have been___________inadequate.

*Volunteers take local jobs

In the meantime, this takes jobs away from locals who would have been paid to do the same work. It also prevents them from learning or being taught the skills that could then be used to___________the community. As a famous proverb says, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” The time and efforts of volunteers could be better___________making local communities more economically independent and self-sufficient, allowing them to improve___________even after they depart.

*There is no long-term commitment

Lots of communities do need the help and assistance of volunteers, but what are they able to address in the few short weeks of their “___________”? Most places tend to benefit more from long-term engagement, and often the largest number of meaningful volunteers come from the communities themselves, rather than from____________eager to fix things. While short-term volunteers can do a lot of good, it is often so only when they have skills and training that____________the specific needs, such as medical aid, construction, conservation, teaching, or even religious work; as well as having experience doing the required work and with different cultures.

* There is a lot of focus on__________the volunteer

Voluntourism tends to place a lot of emphasis on the volunteers, sometimes even at the expense of the community they are looking to help. Travel companies attract individuals with promises of____________but immediately-rewarding experiences. This, in turn, can lead to large numbers of volunteers who, instead of helping create a change, can actually____________local communities from becoming more economically independent due to their very presence.

What Can We Do Instead?

Short-term volunteers, especially students, also need to be given the opportunity to explore various different cultures and destinations. But they should take the time to learn about the socio-cultural backgrounds of the places they visit. Short-term placements thus become more about experiences and____________exchange, where they may gain knowledge and respect other cultures, rather than go on trips that “help the poor”.

This kind of cross-cultural engagement can do a lot of good in a world that is increasingly leaning towards violence and xenophobia.

10 . I’ ve been living in China for 6 years. I am ______ to say that I have a talent in finding the cool ______ local spots. As a ______, I am never fed up with eating various Chinese foods and other cultures. What’s most important is ______ the real country and culture. So I always try to find something representing ______ culture, and offering an interaction with the locals.

My reputation for doing this has ______. I’m often asked to give people ______ . Since I am fluent in Chinese, I could ______ people for this and become somewhat of an official tour ______ . I choose not to, ______. Because to me, the most important thing is making sure that the tourist has the most ______ experience. It is also about creating a lifelong ______ with that person, and with the locals we interact with during our time together. These tourists could spend much money on the guided tour that is ______ to the local culture. I choose to give them an experience that’s deeper and opens their ______ , all for free.

You can do the ______. When you have someone ______ your hometown, don’t just take them to the tourist spots. Show them the places with great ______ to you. Show them your heart through the places you show them and the experience you give them. There’s always something ______ in almost every town there. If you don’t have any spots in your hometown that you like, ______ to find the good where you live. If you do, you will also find it in your- self. It’s a time that both you and the tourist will never forget. Don’t ______ the experience, but thoroughly enjoy every moment with that person. The tourist and your heart will thank you for it.