1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. approach     B. bare     C. consistent     D. covered     AB. economies AC. hit     AD. record     BC. set     BD. stormed     CD. tough ABC. updates

The weather has been so warm, and snow so scarce, that Windham Mountain Resort in the Catskills opened its chairlifts to mountain bikers last weekend instead of skiers.

Ski resorts and their fans in the Northeast are hoping for a much better January. It has been a(n)     1    season. Judging by listings on Sno-country.com, which provides     2     on the slopes, roughly half of the ski areas in the Northeast haven’t opened yet for skiers but aimed to do so soon.

Snow making equipment needs temperatures in the high 20s or below. At Windham, eight trails out of 54 had enough snow to open on Friday, but Chip Seamans, general manager at Windham, predicted many more will be     3     next weekend.

“It looks like finally tonight and tomorrow and into next week we’ll get some     4     snowfalls so we’e very excited,” Mr. Seamans said.

Last month was the warmest December on     5     in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service. It said last month the average daily temperature in New York City     6     50.8 degrees, which is 13.3 degrees warmer than normal. Last month beat the previous December record of 44.1 degrees,     7     in 2001.

Tyler Fairbank, chief executive of the Fairbank Group, said the ski industry overall typically did 20% to 25% of its business over the Christmas holidays so the     8     slopes had a terrible impact. It also hurt hotels, equipment stores and local     9    .

Mr. Fairbank said about 25% to 30% of the slopes were open at his group’s mountains and he expected that to rise to 70% in a week.

The National Weather Service predicted Friday’s late night lows would range from the mid-20s inland to the lower 30s for New York City. It said a cold front would     10     Sunday evening, with the chilliest air of the season thus far coming on Monday.

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is ONE WORD MORE than you need.

A. dash     B. literally     C. complex     D. locally     E. intangible     F. superior G. array     H. crafted     I. modified     J. launched     K. personalized

As pandemic measures persist, vacationing locally remains a main option for holiday

“Tailor-made trips", “staycation” and “cultural tours” have become the buzzwords describing the domestic tourism market during the recent National Day holiday, which ran from Oct 1 through Friday.

On an online platform for travel customization, a user can book a     1     itinerary with a click of a button after providing information such as place of departure, destination, travel dates and number of travelers, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“The tour customization specialist who received my order     2     a travel plan for me according to my specifications in terms of food, accommodation, transport and recreational activities,” a tourist from the eastern city of Qingdao told Xinhua. “A dedicated driver and guide were assigned to us, and any details could be     3     at my request.”

Dai Xuefeng, director of the division for tourism and leisure at the National Academy of Economic Strategy from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua: “Bespoke holidays are an inevitable result of the development of the tourism industry and of economic growth.”

Vacationing     4     remains a main option as COVID-19 precautions continue. In the week leading up to the holiday, on-demand services platform Meituan saw searches for “local tours” and “suburban attractions” surge by 440 percent week-on-week.

Suburban attractions in Beijing, such as Universal Beijing Resort and Beijing Wtown, were among the popular choices for local residents, Xinhua reported.

In the Central China province of Hubei, rural tours, fruit and vegetable picking experiences, and camping trips emerged as the top options. They were expected to take in more than 60 percent of the province’s tourist spending during the holiday week, according to Xinhua.

Zhou Qiao, a resident of Hubei’s Yichang city who vacationed at the local Bailihuang scenic area during the holiday, told Xinhua: “We booked tents in advance and took our family here to experience the wonder of watching the sunrise in the morning and counting the stars in the evening. My children loved the experience very much.”

The wide     5     of cultural events and destinations in cities drew huge numbers of urban residents during the holiday week.

Historical architectural     6     Sanfang Qixiang, which     7     means “three lanes and seven alleys”, in Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian province, entertained tourists with     8     cultural heritage-themed talent shows and Yueju Opera performances, among others.

In Shanghai, many museums     9     exhibitions, cultural activities, as well as night tours to add a(n)     10     of culture to the holiday fun, said China Central Television.

Li Xinjian, a professor at Beijing International Studies University’s School of Tourism Sciences, told Xinhua that the integration of culture and tourism highlights the cultural experiences in tourist trips, and tailor-made tours offer in-depth cultural experiences that large group tours are unable to provide.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. housing        B. leisurely        C. sought        D. reference        E. primarily     F. leg G. winding        H. wildly        I. pioneered        J. major        K. highlight

18^th Century Grand Tour of Europe

The Grand Tour began in the 16^th century and gained popularity during the 17 th century. Privileged（有特权的）young European graduates     1     a trend where they traveled across the continent in search of art and cultural experiences upon their graduation. This practice, which grew to be     2     popular, became known as the Grand Tour. Specialty guidebooks, tour guides, and other aspects of the tourist industry were developed during this time to meet the needs of wealthy 20-something male and female travelers as they explored the European continent.

These young, classically - educated Tourists were rich enough to fund multiple years abroad for themselves and they took full advantage of this. They carried letters of     3     and introduction with them as they departed from southern England to communicate with and learn from people they met in other countries. Some Tourists     4     to continue their education and broaden their horizons while abroad, some were just after fun and     5     travels, but most desired a combination of both.

A typical journey through Europe was long and     6     with many stops along the way. London was commonly used as a starting point and the Tour was usually kicked off with a difficult trip across the English Channel. Crossing the wide channel was and is not easy. 17^th – and - 18^th - century Tourists risked sea-sickness, illness, and even shipwreck on this first     7     of travel.

Grand Tourists were     8     interested in visiting cities that were considered centers of culture at the time, so Paris, Rome, and Venice were not to be missed. The average Grand Tourist traveled from city to city, usually spending weeks in smaller cities and months in the three     9     ones.

The vast majority of Tourists took part in similar activities during their exploration with art at the center of it all. Once a Tourist arrived at a destination, he would look for     10     and settle in for anywhere from weeks to months, even years. Though certainly not an overly trying experience for most, the Grand Tour presented a unique set of challenges for travelers to overcome.