2 . 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 __________.

4 . A hundred years ago, the largest city in the world was London, with a population of 6.5 million. Today it is beaten by Tokyo. With barely a quarter the population of London a century ago, the Tokyo metropolitan area has since ______ to 34 million, promoting it to first place in the global city league table. Tokyo’s phenomenal growth is largely due to a single factor: migration from the countryside to the city.

This ______ migration can now be seen in scores of cities around the globe. And it has brought us to a crucial moment in human history. In 1990, most people lived in the countryside, with a little over 10 percent of the world’s population living in ______. From next year, the UN Population Division predicts that for the first time in history, more people will live in cities than in the country, and the biggest growth will be in “mega-cities,” with populations over 10 million.

The ______ of mega-cities - there are now 20 in total - has brought with it huge environmental and social problems. Cities occupy just two percent of the land surface of the Earth but consume three-quarters of the resources that are used up each year. Their residents are making ruinous ______ on soils and water supplies for food and on forests for wood and paper.

______ the world’s population to the countryside isn’t an option. Dividing up the planet into plots of land on which we could all survive self-sufficiently would create its own natural disasters, not to mention being highly unlikely to ever ______. If we are to protect what is left of nature, and meet the demand to improve the quality of living for the world’s developing nations, a new form of city living is the only option. ______, governments, planners, architects, and engineers are beginning to wake up to this idea, and are dreaming up new ways to green the mega-cities. Their approaches ______ two main principles: recycle whatever possible and remove as many cars as possible. So as well as developing energy-efficient buildings, emphasis is being placed on increasing the use of ______ and redesigning how cities are organized to integrate work and living areas into a single neighborhood, rather than ______ cities into residential, commercial, and industrial zones.

Planners and architects now agree that to improve the social and environmental condition of cities the top ______ is to cut car use. They say zero-emission cars running on electricity or burning hydrogen are not ______. What is needed is a wholesale rethink of how new cities are laid out — and how existing ones expand — to ______ the need for cars in the first place. One way of achieving this is to build cities with multiple centers where people live ______ their work in high-rise blocks that are also near public transport hubs. In parts of the world this is already taking place.

5 . Glamping in Shangri-La helps tourists discover a passion for the great and challenging outdoors. For the past decade, Constantin, a Frenchman has been _______ a “glamping”－luxurious camping—business in Shangri-La in Southwest China’s Yunnan province.

In December 2019, he went back to France for a vacation for several _______. However, following the _______ of COVID-19, he found it difficult to return.

Fortunately, his _______ Guillaume was able to get a flight to China in February, 2020, before limitations _______. Constantin, therefore, has had to pay close attention to his beloved glamping business in China from afar.

_______, most of his customers were international guests who were drawn to the beautiful landscape in Shangri-La. But since last year, even with boss _______, his company has managed to attract _______ tourists who, unable to travel abroad under the _______, have discovered the joys of glamping.

The company has still managed to ________ five horse caravans (大篷车) this year, ________ difficulty due to the pandemic (流行病) and the death of his partner. It was a(an) ________ loss for Constantin, so he considered closing the business. However, his partner’s wife ________ him to keep the business open.

Constantin was ________ able to return to China last month. He has made friends with many ________, who have helped his foreign guests better understand Yunnan and the Tea Horse Road.

7 . I grew up in Michigan and have loved boats since I was young. I’d go out on my dad’s fishing boat, and every birthday I’d get a miniature boat with a viewing window. In Michigan, we’re _________ by lakes and I soon discovered that I loved diving and _________ skipped school days for the beach.

Three years ago, I _________ put forward an idea of running glass-bottom boat tours to an investor. It started in 2018. At present, My sons _________, manning the deck(甲板)and phones. We head out on the Cheboygan river and Lake Huron. We sail past lots of places of_________, with a historian on board explaining the history. We often scan the river to see what we can find.

One weekend this year, I met a _________ client. I thought I should find something to show him and managed to find a giant shell. Then I saw a green bottle. I swam to my boat, took a photo and then opened the bottle. It was full of water and had a paper inside. I _________ the paper and saw the date —November 1926. We were all amazed. The note_________: “Return this paper to George Morrow.” I was so excited to have found it.

We made sure to keep the paper safe. Before leaving the harbor, I posted a picture on my Facebook page and didn’t expect what followed.

The next morning, my phone _________ with messages. While I was driving home, I got a phone call from Michele Primeau. She told me she was George Morrow’s daughter. I didn’t believe her __________. She said her dad would float notes in bottles when he went on vacation or __________ them in walls when redecorating. She __________ he had posted this one on his 18th birthday.

In autumn, Michele came to visit. She brought some of his writing and the handwriting matched. She __________ I keep the message and the bottle.

It now sits in a display case in my shop. That Facebook post now has 87,000 __________. In a hard year, the discovery has brought purejoy.__________a Scuba diver(水肺潜水员), this feels like a lifetime achievement.

9 . When my father and I traveled to Paris, Notre Dame was our first stop. But when we arrived at Notre Dame, we saw a long line outside it. Even so, we didn’t want to _________. We decided to go to the back garden of Notre Dame where there were few tourists.

Immersed in the beautiful natural scenery, we wanted to take some _________ photos. As we tried to find a photographer, a tall, slim Frenchman _________ toward us and showed us he was willing to take pictures for us.

Trying to get the perfect shot, he kept changing the _________ of the camera. However, after a few _________, he didn’t return our camera. His behavior confused us. But after a while, it became _________. He asked for 10 euros as payment before he would return our camera.

At that point, I was so angry that I _________ to argue with him. But my father stopped me and paid the money, with a(n)_________ expression on his face, the man walked away quickly to search for his next _________.

Later, my father __________ to me: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. So it’s __________ to ask for a payment after taking photos for us. But if someone offers to help you, never __________ the kindness just because of this particular event. Most acts of kindness are pure and without any __________ intention.

__________, we met a lot of warm-hearted locals who guided us and lent a hand when we needed them. So just remember, we can’t throw away the __________ because of its core.