Copy and paste schools

How will geography affect your future? For some children around the world, the environment they grow up     1     has a huge impact on their lives. For example, children in Madagascar now stand to benefit from the large amount of sunlight their country receives. One non-governmental organization (NGO) is building 3D-printed schools     2     run on solar power.

Maggie Grout was just 15 years old when she founded her NGO-Thinking Huts. Now 22, she is celebrating the     3     (complete) of her NGO’s first 3D-printed school in Madagascar.

She     4     (lead) the entire process from start to finish, working with a professor from the university supporting her NGO. First, they scouted (搜寻) several locations and ultimately decided on Madagascar due to     5     need for schools and ability to provide     6     renewable energy source. Then Grout drew a design layout for the school considering many elements.

Next, Grout had to find the right architect and 3D printing firm for the job. Using an architecture-scale 3D printer, the school was built layer by layer form the ground up. This method of construction decreases the need for concrete (混凝土)     7     up to 50 percent and emits less CO₂,     8     (mean) the school can be completed with in a week.     9     (increase) sustainability, the process included sourcing local materials to build doors, windows and roof.

What’s more, the NGO employed a local labor force and trained them to use a 3D printer so that they can build more schools on their own in the future. She plans to print another school in a     10     (remote) part of the country where one in five children don’t have the chance to attend primary school.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the specific definition of a zero energy building is an energy-efficient building     1    , on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than or equal     2     the on-site renewable exported energy. It harvests solar energy using panels installed on the roof. When there is     3    (sufficient) solar energy, the building will draw energy from the power grid. Over the course of the year,     4    amount of energy taken from the grid will be zero, achieving net-zero energy consumption.

Net-Zero Energy (NZE) buildings are a response to rapidly     5       (rise) energy prices and urgency to take action regarding climate change. Currently, the development of several technologies critical to the support of NZE buildings     6    (advance) rapidly, namely PV panel efficiency, appliance efficiency and increased lighting efficiency. The NZE concept can be applied not only to individual buildings but also to groups of buildings     7    (serve) by a renewable energy system.

One     8    (limit) of the NZE concept is that, at present energy consumption levels, it is very difficult to apply to single story buildings and virtually impossible to a multi-story building, unless wide site area is available for PV systems.

    9    there are difficulties in implementation, it appears that NZE marks a major shift in high-performance green buildings, which combines extreme energy conservation and efficiency with renewable energy systems     10    (produce) buildings that are energy self-sufficient.

Guilin is considered one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world with its blue rivers, and rolling mountains. It has a rich ethnic tradition that     1     (attract) millions of local and foreign tourists every year and has served as the     2     (culture) center of the region since over 1,000 years ago.

Guilin was at the top of my must-see list last October. I took a boat down the Lijiang River to Yangshuo. I spent roughly four hours on the boat     3     (wind) down the river. The river is so famous for its     4     (beautiful) that it’s even printed on the 20-yuan note. As I watched a water buffalo cool off in the water and fishermen float past on their bamboo rafts, I suddenly felt very far     5     (remove) from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai.

Though every place I visited was beautiful, none was more picturesque     6     Yangshuo. It’s a paradise (天堂) for anyone     7     loves nature and the great outdoors. The mountains were the main reason why I’d traveled to Guilin, so I wanted to make sure I was outside exploring as much as possible and the best way to take it all in was     8     bike.

It was difficult to avoid crowds in Guilin during the October holiday. However, I found once I headed off the beaten track, I     9     (surround) by a sense of peace and calm set against one of     10     (nature) most amazing background.

The wilderness(荒野) is one of Canada’s treasures and the Canadian national parks are the system through     1     the Canadian government protects, preserves and displays some of the country’s most     2     (impress) territory for the benefit of residents, visitors and the environment.

Every national park in Canada is a little bit different, but the majority are     3     (heavy) forested areas with mountainous landscapes that get snowy in the winter. Most national parks can be used     4     hiking, cycling and camping, as well as skiing during snowy months.

All of Canada’s national parks     5    (run) by the Canadian federal government and many have unique rules that must be obeyed. In theory, any park can be visited,     6     many national parks do not permit camping outside of campsite areas, or require campers     7    (get) permission to camp in advance. While the majority of national parks have government facilities within them, such as visitor centers or ranger stations(护林站) to provide emergency     8    (assist) for visitors, many do not,     9    (mean) visitors may be taking     10     serious personal risk when exploring. Canada is famous for its wild animals, which tend to be numerous in national parks.

    1    a history of over 2,500 years, Zhenjiang is a beautiful city of Jiangsu province, which was once    2    provincial capital (省会) of Jiangsu province during the rule of the Republic of China.     3    (actual), the city is situated on the crossway of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, the longest man-made canal in the world.

Zhenjiang is a famous    4    (history) and cultural city and a top tourist destination. The most famous tourist    5    (site) in Zhenjiang are “the three hills”, namely Gold Hill, Jiao Mountain and Beigu Hill, all    6    (stand) by the Yangtze River. Along with Three Hills, another famous scenic spot, Maoshan Mountain,    7    (list) as a National AAAAA Tourist Spot since 2014.

The best time for travel in Zhenjiang is spring and autumn,    8    a variety of festivals are held, such as New Year’s bell striking and wish making at Jinshan Temple. Furthermore, Zhenjiang has a long history of religious culture. Tianchan Temple is the first temple    9    (hold) Shui Lu Dao Chang. Maoshan Taoist Temple is regarded as “the Eighth Sight” and “the First Holly Land” by Taoists. Every year thousands of Buddhist monks (和尚) and nuns (尼姑) come to Baohua Mountain to get    10    (they) ordained (授予圣秩).

Have you ever traveled around the world while staying in other people’s homes for free. It might sound too good to be true. But a     1    (retire) couple from Norfolk, England have managed to do just that.

Jonathan and Julie Ashworth sold their house in 2017 and then traveled around the world while looking after other people’s houses and pets in exchange    2     free accommodation.

The Ashworths booked their first house-sitting in early 2018 and said they’d never looked back ever since. While they were initially     3    (doubt) about the idea, they tried     4    (sign) up for Trusted Housesitters,     5     owners and house-sitters leave reviews for each other. As they were new to the practice, the couple     6    (choose) to house-sit locally to build up their profiles, and with a number of positive reviews, they began to apply for house-sitting slightly    7    (far) afield.

While house-sitting might sound like a piece of cake, it’s     8    (rare) as simple as just walking the owner’s dog every day. In order to ensure they were prepared for each hous-sitting the pair generally arrived a few hours before the owners left, so that they could meet and discuss any     9    (concern).

Due to COVID-19, the couple were forced to return to the UK. They are staying in a caravan (拖车)     10     they are able to begin house-sitting again.

The 2022 “Focus On Zhejiang” International Cultural Exchange Activity was launched at Deqing World Geographic Information Town, in Huzhou city, East China’s Zhejiang province on Friday.

A folk music piece    1    (title) “Picturesque Zhejiang” raised the curtains to the opening ceremony of this event, featuring typical elements of Zhejiang, such as silk, tea, bamboo, and poetry. At the opening ceremony, the 2008 Nobel Prize winner for literature French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio,    2    had once visited Hangzhou, made an    3    (appear) through a video. He recited Chinese ancient poet Li Bai’s poem Southern Maiden    4    French and    5    (express) his eagerness to travel to China. This year’s event will be more diverse than    6    of last year and it is scheduled to last until the end of the year, according to the organizer.

The “Asian Games International Class” was specially set up for foreign friends living in Zhejiang    7    (welcome) the 19th Asian Games, which will introduce the cultural and tourism resources of Zhejiang. Led by sports stars and foreign internet celebrities, the class will present various    8    (achieve) of the construction of beautiful homes in Zhejiang and common prosperity.

“Focus On Zhejiang” International Cultural Exchange Activity,    9    (joint) sponsored by Information Office of Zhejiang Provincial Government and Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism,    10    (hold) consistently for three years.

After three days in Hangzhou, we     1     (wind) our way up a road that looked like a black snake along the tight curves around Mo Gan Mountain. The trees and bushes waved in the mild breezes     2    , before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, made Mo Can Mountain a favorite place often     3     (visit) by wealthy foreign colonialists     4     (seek) a short escape from the heated plains below.

Giant bamboo blanketed the mountains so     5     (thick) that they resembled green feathers, waving in the wind.     6     when the road led us beneath the     7     (tower) bamboo they became great cathedrals — an endless living tunnel opening into an almost unusual light.

As we inched around curves, the bamboo cover sometimes gave way     8     a magnificent view of Swiss-looking villages, their wooden shingled (盖木瓦的) homes with carved wooden balconies nestled in alpine valleys far below. I     9     (spend) a summer on MoGan Fountain happily but we were already behind schedule, and after too brief     10     stay we pushed on to the Great Ditch.

With the rise in COVID -19 cases, this year’s May Day holiday didn’t offer the usual opportunities for travel that it generally would. However, some of my favorite spots remained open. I     1     (take) the chance to visit one of them, Beihai Park. And I was able to explore it in     2     (great) detail and restudy it from a fresher point of view.

Actually, I had visited Beihai Park many times in all seasons. This time, rather than heading straight to     3     (it) most popular site, the White Pagoda, I explored some of the temples and places to its south.     4     the mass of crowds constantly forcing me forward, I felt much less pressure to move from place to place.

I was able to take my time and focus more on the     5     (unbelievable) complex details of these buildings, in particular the mythical creatures on the corners of the     6     (roof ). The size and amount of these creatures played multiple role for buildings in the past, both     7     (represent) its significance -- the greater the number of creatures, the more important it was.

    8     these creations follow a general style, the colors and designs on display have a unique flavor. The park has amazing feature and pieces of culture and history     9     are not obvious at first sight. By making the most of the current situation, I’ve been able to have     10     better understanding of it and realize that I still know so little about it.

Located at the foot of Haba Snow Mountain, the White Water Terrace, known as Baishuitai in Chinese,     1    (be) a gorgeous natural terrace with beautiful Cliffside pools. It is about 100 kilometers southeast from Shangri-La County,     2     takes about 3 hours by vehicle.

    3     (measure) 140 meters in length and 160 meters in width, the terrace is one of the biggest of its kind in China. It looks like a large white marble carving among the green mountains and local people call it “a field     4    (leave) by fairies”. The terrace is covered by a layer of white deposits of calcium carbonate. Spring water runs down from the mountain     5     (steady), leaving crystallized sodium carbonate along its slopes, giving the impression of a marble sculpture.

The White Water Terrace is the birthplace of Dongba culture of the Naxi Ethnic Group. It is a sacred place for the Naxi people. A Dongba     6     ( believe) passed down from ancestors explains that the white color represents good luck and dignity. According to the Naxi culture, a man     7     any experience of visiting the White Water Terrace cannot be a true believer.

In addition to the splendid terrace     8     (it), travelers can also learn more about the Naxi ethnic culture in the nearby Baidi village. On the eighth day of the second lunar month, the Naxi people come     9     (show) their respect for this sacred site. Dressed in their holiday costumes, they sing and dance to celebrate     10    ethnic festival.