The Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most famous buildings in the world,     1    (consider) to be one of the most recognisable     2     (image) of the modern world, although the building has been open for only about 40 years. The Sydney Opera House is     3     representative of Australia as the pyramids of Egypt.

6, 225 square metres of glass and 645 kilometres of electric cable were used to build the Opera House,     4     (include) 900 rooms. It is 183 metres long and 118 metres wide. The building’s roof sections weigh about 15 tons and there are about 1 million tiles on the roof,     5     provides guided tours for 200,000 people a year.

But do you know the Opera House with a roof was designed by a famous Danish architect, Utzon? In the late1950s, the     6     (Australia) government established an appeal fund to finance the     7     (construct) of the Sydney Opera House, and conducted a competition for its design. Utzon devoted a few years to     8     (rework) the design and it was 1961 before he had solved the problem of     9     to build the distinguishing feature — the sails of the roof.

The venture experienced cost blowouts. In 1966, the situation reached a crisis point and Utzon resigned from the project. The building was finally completed by others in 1973. The Sydney Opera House was opened by Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ on 20th October, 1973.

The Sydney Opera House,     10     (locate) on Bennelong Point, reaches out into the harbour. The skyline of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the blue water of the harbour and the Sydney Opera House, viewed from a ferry or from the air, is dramatic and unforgettable.

Fujian Tulou is a unique large-scale rammed earth (夯土) residential building in a mountainous area, as well as a masterpiece of     1     (create) architecture. Tulou shows a reasonable layout (布局), for it takes advantage of the small flat land in the mountains     2     (skillful), which follows the concept of traditional Chinese architectural design.

Tulou has diverse styles of shape. The square building, round building and wufeng building are the three most common     3     (pattern). Among them, the round building’s ventilation (通风), lighting, anti-typhoon and earthquake, as well as the defense function     4     (be) the best. The most unique style is the large circular building     5     is five or six floors high. There are buildings in the building, and the outside building is high and the inside one is low.

Tulou     6     (build) of local materials, mainly earth, stone and wood. Among them, the     7     (construct) of the earth wall uses the long-standing earth ramming technique to the fullest. The rammed earth wall is thick at the bottom and thin at     8     top, and the thickest part can reach 1.5 meters. The earth wall is solid and firm. This kind of high and solid building     9     (make) of the most common material and turning the ordinary     10     something magic, reflects the creativity of local residents.

As one of the most well-known tourist destinations in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Li River     1    (attract) millions of visitors each year.     2    , the river’s water quality has suffered greatly     3     increasing tourists, many of     4     threw garbage into the river. Previously, many tour boats,     5     number of commercial and industrial     6     (enterprise) as well as the rising local population led to severe water quality issues,     7    (cause) a decrease in the number of fish species. Luckily, many measures have been taken     8    (restore) the river’s original beauty. It’s believed that the beauty of the Li River     9    (preserve) for generations to come. With the policy of “Water Ten Plan” and the “River Chief System”, China’s waterways are heading towards a clean and     10    (sustain) future.

After Li Daiyu and her cousin arrived in Toronto, the largest and     1     (wealthy) city in Canada, they went on     2     tour of the city.     3     (see) in the distance, misty clouds were rising from the great Niagara Falls,     4     made them astonished. Then at a restaurant     5     downtown Chinatown, they met Lin Fei, who     6    (move) to Canada many years earlier. The train left late that night and arrived in Montreal early the next morning. At the station, they heard people     7    (talk) in French. They were surprised     8     (find) many people spoke English with an accent. They met Jean-Philippe, a     9    (photograph). That night the train was speeding. The cousins dreamt     10    (happy) of the beautiful scenery of Montreal.

Travelling around Europe is always     1     (excite), because it’s full of interesting things to see, from historical, culturally important monuments (历史遗迹) to natural sites. But Europe is also full     2     magical and mysterious locations that will surprise even the experienced travellers and blow the minds of anyone who sees     3     (they).

Some of them are natural, while others are man-made. But there’s something similar about all these places — all of them are so mysterious     4     if you go there, you’ll feel completely different and you’ll never forget your experience.

Are you ready     5     (take) the most amazing journey of your life? First and foremost, put Crooked Forest in Europe on your list!

One of the most wonderful     6     (forest) in the world, Crooked Forest is located in Poland, close to the border with Germany. It’s a small grove (小树林) and all trees in it have a quite strange shape. They     7     (bend) over almost 90 degrees at the trunk and then they twist back straight again and keep on growing straight up, like all normal trees do.

The only thing we know about this forest is that it was planted in     8     1930s. Why the trees took this strange shape still remains a mystery. According to one of the theories, it was done to produce     9     (natural) bended wood for boats, but the     10     (produce) was stopped as a result of the German invasion.