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.

Morgan’s Inspiration Island is a water park in San Antonio, Texas. It is accessible to people with disabilities. The attractions, which include Rainbow Reef, Shipwreck Island, and even a boat ride,    1     (be) all wheelchair accessible. Though all people are welcome, the park offers free     2     (admit) to anyone with a disability.

The water park    3    (found) by Gordon and Maggie Hartman. Their daughter, Morgan, has special needs, and they were     4    (concern) about how inaccessible many theme parks were to her. So they set out to create a park of their own    5    people with disabilities could play. Before the water park’s official opening, the Hartmans invited members of the disabled community     6     (try) out the park. Teaming up     7    doctors, theme park experts, and special education teachers, they’ve created a seriously creative experience.

The University of Pittsburgh helped create a new kind of wheelchair particularly for     8    park. To make it convenient for guests sensitive (敏感的) to the cold, the park has a feature that     9     (rapid) warms up the water. In addition, recycling the water it uses is one of the park’s     10    (way) to make the park environmentally friendly.

Where is Napa Valley?

Napa Valley wine country is     1     (locate) in northern California, 50 miles northeast of San Francisco. It     2     (know) for world-class wine, as well as beautiful countryside and near perfect weather all the year round.

Napa Valley is home to more than 400 wineries (酿酒厂) and tasting rooms, and some of the world’s best grapevines (葡萄藤).

Napa Valley is also home to more than 150     3     (restaurant). There are more than 130 overnight accommodation for you     4     (choose) from in the Napa Valley, including hotels, country inns, and bed and breakfasts.

The Napa Valley is     5     is commonly referred to as a wine region. In the United States, the legal term is American Viticultural (栽培葡萄的) Area, or AVA, and Napa Valley was the first area in California to be given such a name in 1981.

If you’re looking     6     the spirit of the Napa Valley, you’ll find it in the creative talents     7     power its businesses — and wineries are just the     8     (begin). There’s a diverse community of makers at work in restaurant kitchens, design studios and health centres. The work of these local makers is so     9     (attract) that you’ll surely be inspired to experience the Napa Valley for     10     (you).

Guilin is my favorite city in China because of its    1     (beautiful), its waterways, its cafes, and most of all because I met my wife there. It is    2     (she) hometown and we will both retire there in a few years.

Not only is Guilin a fascinating city, but there are many    3     (interest) places to visit within a short drive from there. The Lingqu Canal is one of the     4     (old) canals in the world. It was built about 2,200 years ago and connects two major river systems, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River.

It’s very comfortable in Guilin during the winter and spring,     5     it gets pretty hot in the summertime. That’s OK because I grew up in the Midwest of the US    6    it gets very hot and humid during the summer months because of the rain. It rarely    7    (freeze) in the winter and the spring and autumn are pleasant.

Being from California I’m used to    8    (have) a car to get around. In fact, it’s practically     9    necessity in California. But in Guilin almost everything is within walking distance. If you need to go further, public buses are available every five minutes on the busy streets. It’s a really perfect place     10    (retire).

Do you know the place Jinli? It’s a street     1     (lie) in Chengdu, Sichuan. The street has a long history and is rich     2    traditional Chinese culture.

The street is about 550 meters long. You can see some ancient-style     3     (building) along the well-known street. Years ago, Jinli     4     (view)   as   the   “National Top Ten City Commercial Pedestrian Street (商业步行街)”. Each year, a large number of travelers come to the street to enjoy    5     (they), especially during the Spring Festival.

There are many restaurants     6    special snacks are offered. In this street, you’ll be attracted by local snacks, which will make your mouth water. One well-known local snack is San Da Pao, which is made of rice, brown sugar, and so on. Some other    7     (equal) attractive local snacks provided in Jinli include boiled dumplings. All of them are delicious and are waiting for you     8     (taste).

In addition to the delicious snacks, there are many other     9     (impress) attractions in Jinli. If you have time, pay     10    visit to this street and have fun.

Peru is a country on the Pacific coast of South America with three main     1     (area). In the 1400s and 1500s, Peru was the centre of the ancient Inca Empire. Spain     2     (control) Peru in the 16th century and ruled it until 1821.

Fly from Cusco into the Amazon rainforest, where you take a boat to get to your accommodation in     3     middle of the forest. Then spend three days     4     (hike) and exploring nature.

You will be     5     (amaze) by Machu Picchu.     6     (especial) amazing is the Incas’ dry stone method of building. Stones     7     (cut) to exact sizes so that nothing was needed to hold walls together other than the perfect fit of the stones.

Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th     8     the 16th century. There, you can enjoy the unique Spanish and local Indian culture. Stay in a local hotel, visit the museums, admire the architecture, enjoy the excellent local food, and go     9     (shop) at the local markets.

When arriving in Lake Titicaca, a boat will take you to a local Uros family on an island for three days. Both the island and the Uros homes are made     10     water plants from the lake.

Huangshan, which lies in Anhui province, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is one of the top scenic     1     (attraction) in China. HuangShan     2     (it) does not have good transportation links. Most travelers stop in either Tangkou or Tunxi for the nights before and after a visit to Huangshan.

Huangshan has 36 separate peaks, all     3     (rise) above 1,800 meters. Famous throughout Chinese artistic history, Huangshan represents the typical (有代表性的) mountain in Chinese paintings. So far, over 1,450 kinds of plants     4     (find) there.

The main thing to do in Huangshan is walk pround and take photographs of the scenery, which is spectacular (壮观的),     5     (beauty), different and changing in appearance with every change of weather.     6     same view looks quite different by day in fine weather and with cloud, early morning and late evening. Sunrise and sunset are famous but, of course, they depend     7     the weather.

When there is good weather and clear skies, watching the stars at night is     8     (fair) rewarding. If you are staying overnight at a hotel on the mountain then before dark     9     (come), find some good areas     10     you can get away from the hotel lights and look up. You are likely to view a sky full of stars.

The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It     1     (build) originally to protect the city     2     the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible       3     (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.

We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.

After     4     (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what     5     (good) than to ride on a piece of history!

We     6     (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky     7     did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all     8     way around the Xi’an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and     9     (watchtower) to take pictures or just to watch the local people going about their     10     (day) routines.

Going to Mount Huangshan reminds me of the popular Beatles’ song “The Long and Winding Road”.     1     is so breathtaking about the experience is the out-of-this-world scenes. The rolling sea of clouds you see once you are at the top will remind you how tiny we     2     (human) are.

The hot spring at the foot of the mountain is something you must try after the climb. It will     3    (undoubted) help you get refreshed! The amazing thing about the spring is that the colder the temperature gets, the     4     (hot) the spring! Strange, isn’t it? But that’s how nature is — always leaving us     5     (astonish).

What comes next is the endless series of steps. You can’t help wondering how hard it     6     (be) for the people then to put all those rocks into place. Though it is the only unnatural thing on your way up the mountain, still it highlights the whole adventure     7    offers a place where you can sit down to rest your     8     (ache) legs.

As the song goes, this long and winding road “will never disappear”, and it will always stick in the visitor’s memory. It sure does in     9     (I). While you’re in China, Mount Huangshan is     10     must to visit!