Yours,

Li Hua

3 . Dan Buettner, the author of Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zone Way, set out to find the happiest places on earth, and he thinks he’s discovered four competitors on four different continents.

Singapore

With one of the highest population densities (密度) in the world and residents known for being workaholics, it’s hard to imagine the city-state of Singapore having one of the happiest populations on earth. And yet in a recent survey, 95% of them said they were either very happy or quite happy. They give their city high marks for cleanliness and safety. Subways are unfailingly arrive on time, and police are seen as helpful and good at their jobs.

Arhus, Denmark

The residents of Arhus cheerfully part with 68% of their income in taxes, knowing that in return they will be guaranteed free healthcare, free daycare, and a topnotch education for their children. A robust city of 300,000 with a lively cultural scene and a diverse number of religions represented, the sense of community and equality (the range in incomes is narrow), as well as easy access to the nearby sea and surrounding countryside, make Arhus seem more like a small town. “We believe that a rich person is not necessarily the one with a lot of money.”

San Luis Obispo, CA

According to a 2008 Gallup-Healthways study, people who live in San Luis Obispo are more likely than residents of other U.S. cities to smile and experience joy and are less likely to experience pain or depression. Some 64,000 of the 260,000 people volunteer at over 11,000 non-profit organizations. Business signs are unremarkable by law, fewer than 11% of residents smoke—the lowest rate in the U.S. , and the city’s plaza draws lots of people for free concerts on summer Fridays.

Monterrey, Mexico

Unlike San Luis Obispans, the people of Monterrey don’t enjoy high household incomes or access to good healthcare. Instead, there’s a profound sense of gratitude for the new political freedom enjoyed since the oppressive Institutional Revolutionary Party lost power in 2000. Another reason Monterrey residents may be so happy is their faith in God and family. “We laugh at sickness, poverty and even death,” says Basanez. “We even have a holiday to celebrate death. November 2, the Day of the Dead, is one of the biggest holidays of the year.”

It was a short flight    1     Shanghai to Xi’an. Xi’an is one of the four great ancient capitals of China with a history of over 3,100 years.     2     (date) from the Ming Dynasty, its ancient walls are the best preserved in the world. There are bicycles for people to hire. It is     3     (amaze)to ride along the walls to survey this fascinating city.

The Tang Dynasty Music and Dance show is not to be missed, but my favorite is     4     art gallery,where we can enjoy some beautiful artwork and learn how to write Chinese characters.

Most visitors make their way to Xi’an to see the life-size terracotta warriors(兵马俑)and we were not     5     (difference) at all. The collection,     6     shows the armies of the first Em-peror of China,remained hidden until 1974 when they     7     (discover)by a farmer digging a well.     8     (walk)among the statues is forbidden unless you are a VIP-but there are plenty of souvenir     9    (shop)in which tourists can buy the replicas(复制品)of them.

All too soon it was time     10     (leave). I really enjoyed my stay in Xi’an. It is indeed a place of interest worth a second visit.

I like travelling and my dream of visit Beijing, the capital city of our country, come true during National Day this year. In October 1st, I went to Tian’anmen Square with my parents, which we watched the flag-raising ceremony. As I watched flag rising slowly, I sang the national anthem, feeling extremely exciting. Then we went to some other famous tourist attraction, like the Great Wall. Standing on the Great Wall, I felt very proudly. I thought of the old saying that “One who fail to reach the Great Wall is not a hero.” Although I was tired, but I really had a good time.

9 . Tokyo is one of those places that you can love and hate at the same time.

In Tokyo there are always too many people in the places where I want to be. Of course there are too many cars. The Japanese drive very fast, but in Tokyo they often spend a long time in traffic jams. Tokyo is not different from London, Paris or New York in that. It is different when one wants to walk.

At certain times of the day there are a lot of people on foot in London Oxford Street. But the streets near the Ginze in Tokyo are always crowded with a lot of people on foot, and sometimes it is really difficult to walk. People are very polite; there are just too many of them.

The worst time to be in the street is at 11:30 at night. That is when the nightclubs are closing and everybody wants to go home. There are 35,000 nightclubs in Tokyo, and you do not often see one that is empty.

During the day, most people go to work by train. Tokyo people buy six million train tickets every day. At most stations, trains arrive every two or three minutes, but at certain hours there do not seem to be enough trains. Although they are usually crowded, Japanese trains are very good. They always leave and arrive on time. On a London train you would see everybody reading a newspaper. In Tokyo trains everybody in a seat seems to be asleep, whether his journey is long or short.

In Tokyo, I stand outside the station for five minutes. Three fire engines（消防车） race past on the way to one of the many fires that Tokyo has every day. Tokyo has so many surprises that none of them can really surprise me now.

Located in the north-east of Italy, Venice is known     1     "The Floating City". It is made up of over 100 small islands,     2     are connected by waterways and bridges. Unfortunately, water is also putting Venice in great     3    (dangerous). Saltwater is     4     ( slow) damaging the bases of Venice's buildings. The Floating City is, in fact,sinking.

More problems     5     (cause) by floods, which usually hit the city each winter. But these floods could now be a thing of the past thanks to a new flood prevention project.     6     (lie) in the middle of a lagoon, Venice was often hit by seawater caused by rain and strong winds every year, which travels through the     7     (nature) gaps to Venice.Dozens of gates have been built to hold back the sea until now. Each of these gates is 20 meters wide, with     8    longest about 30 meters long. In the event of a big rise in the water level, the gates will be raised to separate the city from the sea.

But only time will tell whether this project is the right solution. The important thing is that action is being taken    9    (protect) this unique city for future    10     (generation). And if it works, it means a longer, drier future for Venice.